Interference-free acquisition of overlapping sequences in explicit spatial memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Eggert, Thomas; Drever, Johannes; Straube, Andreas

2014-04-01

Some types of human sequential memory, e.g. the acquisition of a new composition by a trained musician, seem to be very efficient in extending the length of a memorized sequence and in flexible reuse of known subsequences in a newly acquired sequential context. This implies that interference between known and newly acquired subsequences can be avoided even when learning a sequence which is a partial mutation of a known sequence. It is known that established motor sequences do not have such flexibility. Using learning of deferred imitation, the current study investigates the flexibility of explicit spatial memory by quantifying the interferences between successively acquired, partially overlapping sequences. After learning a spatial sequence on day 1, this sequence was progressively modified on day 2. On day 3, a retention test was performed with both the initial and the modified sequence. The results show that subjects performed very well on day 1 and day 2. No spatial interference between changed and unchanged targets was observed during the stepwise progressive modification of the reproduced sequence. Surprisingly, subjects performed well on both sequences on day 3. Comparison with a control experiment without intermediate mutation training showed that the initial training on day 1 did not proactively interfere with the retention of the modified sequence on day 3. Vice versa, the mutation training on day 2 did not interfere retroactively with the retention of the original sequence as tested on day 3. The results underline the flexibility in acquiring explicit spatial memory. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Spatially explicit modeling in ecology: A review

Science.gov (United States)

DeAngelis, Donald L.; Yurek, Simeon

2017-01-01

The use of spatially explicit models (SEMs) in ecology has grown enormously in the past two decades. One major advancement has been that fine-scale details of landscapes, and of spatially dependent biological processes, such as dispersal and invasion, can now be simulated with great precision, due to improvements in computer technology. Many areas of modeling have shifted toward a focus on capturing these fine-scale details, to improve mechanistic understanding of ecosystems. However, spatially implicit models (SIMs) have played a dominant role in ecology, and arguments have been made that SIMs, which account for the effects of space without specifying spatial positions, have an advantage of being simpler and more broadly applicable, perhaps contributing more to understanding. We address this debate by comparing SEMs and SIMs in examples from the past few decades of modeling research. We argue that, although SIMs have been the dominant approach in the incorporation of space in theoretical ecology, SEMs have unique advantages for addressing pragmatic questions concerning species populations or communities in specific places, because local conditions, such as spatial heterogeneities, organism behaviors, and other contingencies, produce dynamics and patterns that usually cannot be incorporated into simpler SIMs. SEMs are also able to describe mechanisms at the local scale that can create amplifying positive feedbacks at that scale, creating emergent patterns at larger scales, and therefore are important to basic ecological theory. We review the use of SEMs at the level of populations, interacting populations, food webs, and ecosystems and argue that SEMs are not only essential in pragmatic issues, but must play a role in the understanding of causal relationships on landscapes.

Implicit and Explicit Gender Beliefs in Spatial Ability: Stronger Stereotyping in Boys than Girls

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Karin Vander Heyden

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Sex differences in spatial ability are a seriously debated topic, given the importance of spatial ability for success in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM and girls’ underrepresentation in these domains. In the current study we investigated the presence of stereotypic gender beliefs on spatial ability (i.e., ‘spatial ability is for boys’ in 10- and 12-year-old children. We used both an explicit measure (i.e., a self-report questionnaire and an implicit measure (i.e., a child IAT. Results of the explicit measure showed that both sexes associated spatial ability with boys, with boys holding more male stereotyped attitudes than girls. On the implicit measure, boys associated spatial ability with boys, while girls were gender-neutral. In addition, we examined the effects of gender beliefs on spatial performance, by experimentally activating gender beliefs within a pretest – instruction – posttest design. We compared three types of instruction: boys are better, girls are better, and no sex differences. No effects of these gender belief instructions were found on children’s spatial test performance (i.e., mental rotation and paper folding. The finding that children of this age already have stereotypic beliefs about the spatial capacities of their own sex is important, as these beliefs may influence children’s choices for spatial leisure activities and educational tracks in the STEM domain.

Implicit and Explicit Gender Beliefs in Spatial Ability: Stronger Stereotyping in Boys than Girls.

Science.gov (United States)

Vander Heyden, Karin M; van Atteveldt, Nienke M; Huizinga, Mariette; Jolles, Jelle

2016-01-01

Sex differences in spatial ability are a seriously debated topic, given the importance of spatial ability for success in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and girls' underrepresentation in these domains. In the current study we investigated the presence of stereotypic gender beliefs on spatial ability (i.e., "spatial ability is for boys") in 10- and 12-year-old children. We used both an explicit measure (i.e., a self-report questionnaire) and an implicit measure (i.e., a child IAT). Results of the explicit measure showed that both sexes associated spatial ability with boys, with boys holding more male stereotyped attitudes than girls. On the implicit measure, boys associated spatial ability with boys, while girls were gender-neutral. In addition, we examined the effects of gender beliefs on spatial performance, by experimentally activating gender beliefs within a pretest-instruction-posttest design. We compared three types of instruction: boys are better, girls are better, and no sex differences. No effects of these gender belief instructions were found on children's spatial test performance (i.e., mental rotation and paper folding). The finding that children of this age already have stereotypic beliefs about the spatial capacities of their own sex is important, as these beliefs may influence children's choices for spatial leisure activities and educational tracks in the STEM domain.

The need for spatially explicit quantification of benefits in invasive-species management.

Science.gov (United States)

Januchowski-Hartley, Stephanie R; Adams, Vanessa M; Hermoso, Virgilio

2018-04-01

Worldwide, invasive species are a leading driver of environmental change across terrestrial, marine, and freshwater environments and cost billions of dollars annually in ecological damages and economic losses. Resources limit invasive-species control, and planning processes are needed to identify cost-effective solutions. Thus, studies are increasingly considering spatially variable natural and socioeconomic assets (e.g., species persistence, recreational fishing) when planning the allocation of actions for invasive-species management. There is a need to improve understanding of how such assets are considered in invasive-species management. We reviewed over 1600 studies focused on management of invasive species, including flora and fauna. Eighty-four of these studies were included in our final analysis because they focused on the prioritization of actions for invasive species management. Forty-five percent (n = 38) of these studies were based on spatial optimization methods, and 35% (n = 13) accounted for spatially variable assets. Across all 84 optimization studies considered, 27% (n = 23) explicitly accounted for spatially variable assets. Based on our findings, we further explored the potential costs and benefits to invasive species management when spatially variable assets are explicitly considered or not. To include spatially variable assets in decision-making processes that guide invasive-species management there is a need to quantify environmental responses to invasive species and to enhance understanding of potential impacts of invasive species on different natural or socioeconomic assets. We suggest these gaps could be filled by systematic reviews, quantifying invasive species impacts on native species at different periods, and broadening sources and enhancing sharing of knowledge. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

Spatially Explicit Assessment of Agricultural Water Equilibrium in the Korean Peninsula

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Chul-Hee Lim

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In agriculture, balancing water use and retention is an issue dealt with in most regions and for many crops. In this study, we suggest agricultural water equilibrium (AWE as a new concept that can facilitate a spatially explicit management of agricultural water. This concept is based on the principle of supply and demand of agricultural water, where the virtual water content of crops (VWC can be defined as the demand, and cropland water budget (CWB as the supply. For assessing the AWE of the Korean Peninsula, we quantified the CWB based on the hydrological cycle and the VWC of rice, a key crop in the Peninsula. Five factors, namely crop yield, growing season evapotranspiration, annual evapotranspiration, runoff, and annual precipitation, were used to assess the AWE, of which the first four were estimated using the spatially explicit large-scale crop model, Geographical Information System (GIS-based Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (GEPIC. The CWB and VWC were calculated for a period of three decades, and the AWE was computed by deducting the VWC from the CWB. Our results show a latitudinal difference across the Korean Peninsula. On analyzing the AWE of the major river basins, we found most basins in North Korea showed very low values inferring unsustainable overconsumption of water. The latitudinal difference in AWE is a reflectance of the latitudinal changes in the VWC and CWB. This can be explained by decoupling the demand and supply of agricultural water. Although the AWE values presented in this study were not absolute, the values were sufficient to explain the latitudinal change, and the demand and supply of agricultural water, and establish the usefulness of the indicator.

A stage-structured, spatially explicit migration model for Myotis bats: mortality location affects system dynamics

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Erickson, Richard A.; Thogmartin, Wayne E.; Russell, Robin E.; Diffendorfer, James E.; Szymanski, Jennifer A.

2014-01-01

Bats are ecologically and economically important species because they consume insects, transport nutrients, and pollinate flowers.  Many species of bats, including those in the Myotis genus, are facing population decline and increased extinction risk.  Despite these conservation concerns, few models exist for providing insight into the population dynamics of bats in a spatially explicit context.  We developed a model for bats by considering the stage-structured colonial life history of Myotis bats with their annual migration behavior.  This model provided insight into network dynamics.  We specifically focused on two Myotis species living in the eastern United States: the Indiana bat (M. sodalis), which is a Federally listed endangered species, and the little brown bat (M. lucifugus), which is under consideration for listing as an endangered species.  We found that multiple equilibria exist for the local, migratory subpopulations even though the total population was constant.  These equilibria suggest the location and magnitude of stressors such as White-nose Syndrome, meteorological phenomena, or impacts of wind turbines on survival influence system dynamics and risk of population extirpation in difficult to predict ways.

[A spatially explicit analysis of traffic accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists in Berlin].

Science.gov (United States)

Lakes, Tobia

2017-12-01

In many German cities and counties, sustainable mobility concepts that strengthen pedestrian and cyclist traffic are promoted. From the perspectives of urban development, traffic planning and public healthcare, a spatially differentiated analysis of traffic accident data is decisive. 1) The identification of spatial and temporal patterns of the distribution of accidents involving cyclists and pedestrians, 2) the identification of hotspots and exploration of possible underlying causes and 3) the critical discussion of benefits and challenges of the results and the derivation of conclusions. Spatio-temporal distributions of data from accident statistics in Berlin involving pedestrians and cyclists from 2011 to 2015 were analysed with geographic information systems (GIS). While the total number of accidents remains relatively stable for pedestrian and cyclist accidents, the spatial distribution analysis shows, however, that there are significant spatial clusters (hotspots) of traffic accidents with a strong concentration in the inner city area. In a critical discussion, the benefits of geographic concepts are identified, such as spatially explicit health data (in this case traffic accident data), the importance of the integration of other data sources for the evaluation of the health impact of areas (traffic accident statistics of the police), and the possibilities and limitations of spatial-temporal data analysis (spatial point-density analyses) for the derivation of decision-supported recommendations and for the evaluation of policy measures of health prevention and of health-relevant urban development.

A spatially explicit and quantitative vulnerability assessment of ecosystem service change in Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Metzger, M.J.; Schröter, D.; Leemans, R.; Cramer, W.

2008-01-01

Environmental change alters ecosystem functioning and may put the provision of services to human at risk. This paper presents a spatially explicit and quantitative assessment of the corresponding vulnerability for Europe, using a new framework designed to answer multidisciplinary policy relevant

DEFINING RECOVERY GOALS AND STRATEGIES FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES USING SPATIALLY-EXPLICIT POPULATION MODELS

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We used a spatially explicit population model of wolves (Canis lupus) to propose a framework for defining rangewide recovery priorities and finer-scale strategies for regional reintroductions. The model predicts that Yellowstone and central Idaho, where wolves have recently been ...

Counting Cats: Spatially Explicit Population Estimates of Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus Using Unstructured Sampling Data.

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Femke Broekhuis

Full Text Available Many ecological theories and species conservation programmes rely on accurate estimates of population density. Accurate density estimation, especially for species facing rapid declines, requires the application of rigorous field and analytical methods. However, obtaining accurate density estimates of carnivores can be challenging as carnivores naturally exist at relatively low densities and are often elusive and wide-ranging. In this study, we employ an unstructured spatial sampling field design along with a Bayesian sex-specific spatially explicit capture-recapture (SECR analysis, to provide the first rigorous population density estimates of cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus in the Maasai Mara, Kenya. We estimate adult cheetah density to be between 1.28 ± 0.315 and 1.34 ± 0.337 individuals/100km2 across four candidate models specified in our analysis. Our spatially explicit approach revealed 'hotspots' of cheetah density, highlighting that cheetah are distributed heterogeneously across the landscape. The SECR models incorporated a movement range parameter which indicated that male cheetah moved four times as much as females, possibly because female movement was restricted by their reproductive status and/or the spatial distribution of prey. We show that SECR can be used for spatially unstructured data to successfully characterise the spatial distribution of a low density species and also estimate population density when sample size is small. Our sampling and modelling framework will help determine spatial and temporal variation in cheetah densities, providing a foundation for their conservation and management. Based on our results we encourage other researchers to adopt a similar approach in estimating densities of individually recognisable species.

Counting Cats: Spatially Explicit Population Estimates of Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) Using Unstructured Sampling Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Broekhuis, Femke; Gopalaswamy, Arjun M

2016-01-01

Many ecological theories and species conservation programmes rely on accurate estimates of population density. Accurate density estimation, especially for species facing rapid declines, requires the application of rigorous field and analytical methods. However, obtaining accurate density estimates of carnivores can be challenging as carnivores naturally exist at relatively low densities and are often elusive and wide-ranging. In this study, we employ an unstructured spatial sampling field design along with a Bayesian sex-specific spatially explicit capture-recapture (SECR) analysis, to provide the first rigorous population density estimates of cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) in the Maasai Mara, Kenya. We estimate adult cheetah density to be between 1.28 ± 0.315 and 1.34 ± 0.337 individuals/100km2 across four candidate models specified in our analysis. Our spatially explicit approach revealed 'hotspots' of cheetah density, highlighting that cheetah are distributed heterogeneously across the landscape. The SECR models incorporated a movement range parameter which indicated that male cheetah moved four times as much as females, possibly because female movement was restricted by their reproductive status and/or the spatial distribution of prey. We show that SECR can be used for spatially unstructured data to successfully characterise the spatial distribution of a low density species and also estimate population density when sample size is small. Our sampling and modelling framework will help determine spatial and temporal variation in cheetah densities, providing a foundation for their conservation and management. Based on our results we encourage other researchers to adopt a similar approach in estimating densities of individually recognisable species.

Spatially explicit shallow landslide susceptibility mapping over large areas

Science.gov (United States)

Bellugi, Dino; Dietrich, William E.; Stock, Jonathan D.; McKean, Jim; Kazian, Brian; Hargrove, Paul

2011-01-01

Recent advances in downscaling climate model precipitation predictions now yield spatially explicit patterns of rainfall that could be used to estimate shallow landslide susceptibility over large areas. In California, the United States Geological Survey is exploring community emergency response to the possible effects of a very large simulated storm event and to do so it has generated downscaled precipitation maps for the storm. To predict the corresponding pattern of shallow landslide susceptibility across the state, we have used the model Shalstab (a coupled steady state runoff and infinite slope stability model) which susceptibility spatially explicit estimates of relative potential instability. Such slope stability models that include the effects of subsurface runoff on potentially destabilizing pore pressure evolution require water routing and hence the definition of upslope drainage area to each potential cell. To calculate drainage area efficiently over a large area we developed a parallel framework to scale-up Shalstab and specifically introduce a new efficient parallel drainage area algorithm which produces seamless results. The single seamless shallow landslide susceptibility map for all of California was accomplished in a short run time, and indicates that much larger areas can be efficiently modelled. As landslide maps generally over predict the extent of instability for any given storm. Local empirical data on the fraction of predicted unstable cells that failed for observed rainfall intensity can be used to specify the likely extent of hazard for a given storm. This suggests that campaigns to collect local precipitation data and detailed shallow landslide location maps after major storms could be used to calibrate models and improve their use in hazard assessment for individual storms.

Whole-system carbon balance for a regional temperate forest in Northern Wisconsin, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Peckham, S. D.; Gower, S. T.

2010-12-01

The whole-system (biological + industrial) carbon (C) balance was estimated for the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest (CNNF), a temperate forest covering 600,000 ha in Northern Wisconsin, USA. The biological system was modeled using a spatially-explicit version of the ecosystem process model Biome-BGC. The industrial system was modeled using life cycle inventory (LCI) models for wood and paper products. Biome-BGC was used to estimate net primary production, net ecosystem production (NEP), and timber harvest (H) over the entire CNNF. The industrial carbon budget (Ci) was estimated by applying LCI models of CO2 emissions resulting from timber harvest and production of specific wood and paper products in the CNNF region. In 2009, simulated NEP of the CNNF averaged 3.0 tC/ha and H averaged 0.1 tC/ha. Despite model uncertainty, the CNNF region is likely a carbon sink (NEP - Ci > 0), even when CO2 emissions from timber harvest and production of wood and paper products are included in the calculation of the entire forest system C budget.

Predicting continental-scale patterns of bird species richness with spatially explicit models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rahbek, Carsten; Gotelli, Nicholas J; Colwell, Robert K

2007-01-01

the extraordinary diversity of avian species in the montane tropics, the most species-rich region on Earth. Our findings imply that correlative climatic models substantially underestimate the importance of historical factors and small-scale niche-driven assembly processes in shaping contemporary species-richness......The causes of global variation in species richness have been debated for nearly two centuries with no clear resolution in sight. Competing hypotheses have typically been evaluated with correlative models that do not explicitly incorporate the mechanisms responsible for biotic diversity gradients....... Here, we employ a fundamentally different approach that uses spatially explicit Monte Carlo models of the placement of cohesive geographical ranges in an environmentally heterogeneous landscape. These models predict species richness of endemic South American birds (2248 species) measured...

A spatially explicit scenario-driven model of adaptive capacity to global change in Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Acosta, L.; Klein, R.J.T.; Reidsma, P.; Metzger, M.J.; Rounsevell, M.D.A.; Leemans, R.

2013-01-01

Traditional impact models combine exposure in the form of scenarios and sensitivity in the form of parameters, providing potential impacts of global change as model outputs. However, adaptive capacity is rarely addressed in these models. This paper presents the first spatially explicit

Exploring spatial change and gravity center movement for ecosystem services value using a spatially explicit ecosystem services value index and gravity model.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Yingbin; Chen, Youqi; Tang, Huajun; Yao, Yanmin; Yang, Peng; Chen, Zhongxin

2011-04-01

Spatially explicit ecosystem services valuation and change is a newly developing area of research in the field of ecology. Using the Beijing region as a study area, the authors have developed a spatially explicit ecosystem services value index and implemented this to quantify and spatially differentiate ecosystem services value at 1-km grid resolution. A gravity model was developed to trace spatial change in the total ecosystem services value of the Beijing study area from a holistic point of view. Study results show that the total value of ecosystem services for the study area decreased by 19.75% during the period 1996-2006 (3,226.2739 US$×10(6) in 1996, 2,589.0321 US$×10(6) in 2006). However, 27.63% of the total area of the Beijing study area increased in ecosystem services value. Spatial differences in ecosystem services values for both 1996 and 2006 are very clear. The center of gravity of total ecosystem services value for the study area moved 32.28 km northwestward over the 10 years due to intensive human intervention taking place in southeast Beijing. The authors suggest that policy-makers should pay greater attention to ecological protection under conditions of rapid socio-economic development and increase the area of green belt in the southeastern part of Beijing.

Hydroclimatology of Dual Peak Cholera Incidence in Bengal Region: Inferences from a Spatial Explicit Model

Science.gov (United States)

Bertuzzo, E.; Mari, L.; Righetto, L.; Casagrandi, R.; Gatto, M.; Rodriguez-Iturbe, I.; Rinaldo, A.

2010-12-01

The seasonality of cholera and its relation with environmental drivers are receiving increasing interest and research efforts, yet they remain unsatisfactorily understood. A striking example is the observed annual cycle of cholera incidence in the Bengal region which exhibits two peaks despite the main environmental drivers that have been linked to the disease (air and sea surface temperature, zooplankton density, river discharge) follow a synchronous single-peak annual pattern. A first outbreak, mainly affecting the coastal regions, occurs in spring and it is followed, after a period of low incidence during summer, by a second, usually larger, peak in autumn also involving regions situated farther inland. A hydroclimatological explanation for this unique seasonal cycle has been recently proposed: the low river spring flows favor the intrusion of brackish water (the natural environment of the causative agent of the disease) which, in turn, triggers the first outbreak. The summer rising river discharges have a temporary dilution effect and prompt the repulsion of contaminated water which lowers the disease incidence. However, the monsoon flooding, together with the induced crowding of the population and the failure of the sanitation systems, can possibly facilitate the spatial transmission of the disease and promote the autumn outbreak. We test this hypothesis using a mechanistic, spatially explicit model of cholera epidemic. The framework directly accounts for the role of the river network in transporting and redistributing cholera bacteria among human communities as well as for the annual fluctuation of the river flow. The model is forced with the actual environmental drivers of the region, namely river flow and temperature. Our results show that these two drivers, both having a single peak in the summer, can generate a double peak cholera incidence pattern. Besides temporal patterns, the model is also able to qualitatively reproduce spatial patterns characterized

Development and Validation of Spatially Explicit Habitat Models for Cavity-nesting Birds in Fishlake National Forest, Utah

Science.gov (United States)

Randall A., Jr. Schultz; Thomas C., Jr. Edwards; Gretchen G. Moisen; Tracey S. Frescino

2005-01-01

The ability of USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) generated spatial products to increase the predictive accuracy of spatially explicit, macroscale habitat models was examined for nest-site selection by cavity-nesting birds in Fishlake National Forest, Utah. One FIA-derived variable (percent basal area of aspen trees) was significant in the habitat...

[Application of spatially explicit landscape model in soil loss study in Huzhong area].

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Chonggang; Hu, Yuanman; Chang, Yu; Li, Xiuzhen; Bu, Renchang; He, Hongshi; Leng, Wenfang

2004-10-01

Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) has been widely used to estimate the average annual soil loss. In most of the previous work on soil loss evaluation on forestland, cover management factor was calculated from the static forest landscape. The advent of spatially explicit forest landscape model in the last decade, which explicitly simulates the forest succession dynamics under natural and anthropogenic disturbances (fire, wind, harvest and so on) on heterogeneous landscape, makes it possible to take into consideration the change of forest cover, and to dynamically simulate the soil loss in different year (e.g. 10 years and 20 years after current year). In this study, we linked a spatially explicit landscape model (LANDIS) with USLE to simulate the soil loss dynamics under two scenarios: fire and no harvest, fire and harvest. We also simulated the soil loss with no fire and no harvest as a control. The results showed that soil loss varied periodically with simulation year, and the amplitude of change was the lowest under the control scenario and the highest under the fire and no harvest scenario. The effect of harvest on soil loss could not be easily identified on the map; however, the cumulative effect of harvest on soil loss was larger than that of fire. Decreasing the harvest area and the percent of bare soil increased by harvest could significantly reduce soil loss, but had no significant effects on the dynamic of soil loss. Although harvest increased the annual soil loss, it tended to decrease the variability of soil loss between different simulation years.

Spatial self-organization in a multi-strain host–pathogen system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Quan-Xing; Van de Koppel, Johan; Wang, Rong-Hua; Jin, Zhen; Alonso, David

2010-01-01

We develop stochastic spatial epidemic models with the competition of two pathogenic strains. The dynamics resulting from different approaches are examined using both non-spatial and spatially explicit models. Our results show that pair approximation, well-mixed ordinary differential equations (ODEs), Gillespie-algorithm-based simulations and spatially explicit models give similar qualitative results. In particular, the temporal evolution of the spatial model can be successfully approximated by pair equations. Simulation results obtained from the spatially explicit model show that, first, mutation plays a major role in multi-strain coexistence, second, mild virulence remarkably decreases the coexistence domain of the parameter space and, third, large-scale self-organized spatial patterns emerge for a wide range of transmission and virulence parameter values, where spatial self-organized clusters reveal a power law behavior within the coexistence domain

The assessment of mangrove biomass and carbon in West Africa: a spatially explicit analytical framework

Science.gov (United States)

Wenwu Tang; Wenpeng Feng; Meijuan Jia; Jiyang Shi; Huifang Zuo; Carl C. Trettin

2015-01-01

Mangrove forests are highly productive and have large carbon sinks while also providing numerous goods and ecosystem services. However, effective management and conservation of the mangrove forests are often dependent on spatially explicit assessments of the resource. Given the remote and highly dispersed nature of mangroves, estimation of biomass and carbon...

An unified framework to integrate biotic, abiotic processes and human activities in spatially explicit models of agricultural landscapes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabrice eVinatier

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Recent concern over possible ways to sustain ecosystem services has triggered important research worldwide on ecosystem processes at the landscape scale. Understanding this complexity of landscape functioning calls for coupled and spatially-explicit modelling approaches. However, disciplinary boundaries have limited the number of multi-process studies at the landscape scale, and current progress in coupling processes at this scale often reveals strong imbalance between biotic and abiotic processes, depending on the core discipline of the modellers. We propose a spatially-explicit, unified conceptual framework that allows researchers from different fields to develop a shared view of agricultural landscapes. In particular,we distinguish landscape elements that are mobile in space and represent biotic or abiotic objects (for example water, fauna or flora populations, and elements that are immobile and represent fixed landscape elements with a given geometry (for example ditch section or plot. The shared representation of these elements allows setting common objects and spatio-temporal process boundaries that may otherwise differ between disciplines. We present guidelines and an assessment of the applicability of this framework to a virtual landscape system with realistic properties. This framework allows the complex system to be represented with a limited set of concepts but leaves the possibility to include current modelling strategies specific to biotic or abiotic disciplines. Future operational challenges include model design, space and time discretization, and the availability of both landscape modelling platforms and data.

SPATIALLY EXPLICIT MICRO-LEVEL MODELLING OF LAND USE CHANGE AT THE RURAL-URBAN INTERFACE. (R828012)

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This paper describes micro-economic models of land use change applicable to the rural–urban interface in the US. Use of a spatially explicit micro-level modelling approach permits the analysis of regional patterns of land use as the aggregate outcomes of many, disparate...

Spatially Explicit Assessment of Ecosystem Resilience: An Approach to Adapt to Climate Changes

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Haiming Yan

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The ecosystem resilience plays a key role in maintaining a steady flow of ecosystem services and enables quick and flexible responses to climate changes, and maintaining or restoring the ecosystem resilience of forests is a necessary societal adaptation to climate change; however, there is a great lack of spatially explicit ecosystem resilience assessments. Drawing on principles of the ecosystem resilience highlighted in the literature, we built on the theory of dissipative structures to develop a conceptual model of the ecosystem resilience of forests. A hierarchical indicator system was designed with the influencing factors of the forest ecosystem resilience, including the stand conditions and the ecological memory, which were further disaggregated into specific indicators. Furthermore, indicator weights were determined with the analytic hierarchy process (AHP and the coefficient of variation method. Based on the remote sensing data and forest inventory data and so forth, the resilience index of forests was calculated. The result suggests that there is significant spatial heterogeneity of the ecosystem resilience of forests, indicating it is feasible to generate large-scale ecosystem resilience maps with this assessment model, and the results can provide a scientific basis for the conservation of forests, which is of great significance to the climate change mitigation.

Spatially Explicit Landscape-Level Ecological Risks Induced by Land Use and Land Cover Change in a National Ecologically Representative Region in China

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Jian Gong

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Land use and land cover change is driven by multiple influential factors from environmental and social dimensions in a land system. Land use practices of human decision-makers modify the landscape of the land system, possibly leading to landscape fragmentation, biodiversity loss, or environmental pollution—severe environmental or ecological impacts. While landscape-level ecological risk assessment supports the evaluation of these impacts, investigations on how these ecological risks induced by land use practices change over space and time in response to alternative policy intervention remain inadequate. In this article, we conducted spatially explicit landscape ecological risk analysis in Ezhou City, China. Our study area is a national ecologically representative region experiencing drastic land use and land cover change, and is regulated by multiple policies represented by farmland protection, ecological conservation, and urban development. We employed landscape metrics to consider the influence of potential landscape-level disturbance for the evaluation of landscape ecological risks. Using spatiotemporal simulation, we designed scenarios to examine spatiotemporal patterns in landscape ecological risks in response to policy intervention. Our study demonstrated that spatially explicit landscape ecological risk analysis combined with simulation-driven scenario analysis is of particular importance for guiding the sustainable development of ecologically vulnerable land systems.

Behavioral response to contamination risk information in a spatially explicit groundwater environment: Experimental evidence

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jingyuan; Michael, Holly A.; Duke, Joshua M.; Messer, Kent D.; Suter, Jordan F.

2014-08-01

This paper assesses the effectiveness of aquifer monitoring information in achieving more sustainable use of a groundwater resource in the absence of management policy. Groundwater user behavior in the face of an irreversible contamination threat is studied by applying methods of experimental economics to scenarios that combine a physics-based, spatially explicit, numerical groundwater model with different representations of information about an aquifer and its risk of contamination. The results suggest that the threat of catastrophic contamination affects pumping decisions: pumping is significantly reduced in experiments where contamination is possible compared to those where pumping cost is the only factor discouraging groundwater use. The level of information about the state of the aquifer also affects extraction behavior. Pumping rates differ when information that synthesizes data on aquifer conditions (a "risk gauge") is provided, despite invariant underlying economic incentives, and this result does not depend on whether the risk information is location-specific or from a whole aquifer perspective. Interestingly, users increase pumping when the risk gauge signals good aquifer status compared to a no-gauge treatment. When the gauge suggests impending contamination, however, pumping declines significantly, resulting in a lower probability of contamination. The study suggests that providing relatively simple aquifer condition guidance derived from monitoring data can lead to more sustainable use of groundwater resources.

Patterns in the spatial distribution of Peruvian anchovy ( Engraulis ringens) revealed by spatially explicit fishing data

Science.gov (United States)

Bertrand, Sophie; Díaz, Erich; Lengaigne, Matthieu

2008-10-01

Peruvian anchovy ( Engraulis ringens) stock abundance is tightly driven by the high and unpredictable variability of the Humboldt Current Ecosystem. Management of the fishery therefore cannot rely on mid- or long-term management policy alone but needs to be adaptive at relatively short time scales. Regular acoustic surveys are performed on the stock at intervals of 2 to 4 times a year, but there is a need for more time continuous monitoring indicators to ensure that management can respond at suitable time scales. Existing literature suggests that spatially explicit data on the location of fishing activities could be used as a proxy for target stock distribution. Spatially explicit commercial fishing data could therefore guide adaptive management decisions at shorter time scales than is possible through scientific stock surveys. In this study we therefore aim to (1) estimate the position of fishing operations for the entire fleet of Peruvian anchovy purse-seiners using the Peruvian satellite vessel monitoring system (VMS), and (2) quantify the extent to which the distribution of purse-seine sets describes anchovy distribution. To estimate fishing set positions from vessel tracks derived from VMS data we developed a methodology based on artificial neural networks (ANN) trained on a sample of fishing trips with known fishing set positions (exact fishing positions are known for approximately 1.5% of the fleet from an at-sea observer program). The ANN correctly identified 83% of the real fishing sets and largely outperformed comparative linear models. This network is then used to forecast fishing operations for those trips where no observers were onboard. To quantify the extent to which fishing set distribution was correlated to stock distribution we compared three metrics describing features of the distributions (the mean distance to the coast, the total area of distribution, and a clustering index) for concomitant acoustic survey observations and fishing set positions

Spatially explicit population estimates for black bears based on cluster sampling

Science.gov (United States)

Humm, J.; McCown, J. Walter; Scheick, B.K.; Clark, Joseph D.

2017-01-01

We estimated abundance and density of the 5 major black bear (Ursus americanus) subpopulations (i.e., Eglin, Apalachicola, Osceola, Ocala-St. Johns, Big Cypress) in Florida, USA with spatially explicit capture-mark-recapture (SCR) by extracting DNA from hair samples collected at barbed-wire hair sampling sites. We employed a clustered sampling configuration with sampling sites arranged in 3 × 3 clusters spaced 2 km apart within each cluster and cluster centers spaced 16 km apart (center to center). We surveyed all 5 subpopulations encompassing 38,960 km2 during 2014 and 2015. Several landscape variables, most associated with forest cover, helped refine density estimates for the 5 subpopulations we sampled. Detection probabilities were affected by site-specific behavioral responses coupled with individual capture heterogeneity associated with sex. Model-averaged bear population estimates ranged from 120 (95% CI = 59–276) bears or a mean 0.025 bears/km2 (95% CI = 0.011–0.44) for the Eglin subpopulation to 1,198 bears (95% CI = 949–1,537) or 0.127 bears/km2 (95% CI = 0.101–0.163) for the Ocala-St. Johns subpopulation. The total population estimate for our 5 study areas was 3,916 bears (95% CI = 2,914–5,451). The clustered sampling method coupled with information on land cover was efficient and allowed us to estimate abundance across extensive areas that would not have been possible otherwise. Clustered sampling combined with spatially explicit capture-recapture methods has the potential to provide rigorous population estimates for a wide array of species that are extensive and heterogeneous in their distribution.

Analysis of Spatial Concepts, Spatial Skills and Spatial Representations in New York State Regents Earth Science Examinations

Science.gov (United States)

Kastens, Kim A.; Pistolesi, Linda; Passow, Michael J.

2014-01-01

Research has shown that spatial thinking is important in science in general, and in Earth Science in particular, and that performance on spatially demanding tasks can be fostered through instruction. Because spatial thinking is rarely taught explicitly in the U.S. education system, improving spatial thinking may be "low-hanging fruit" as…

Spatial effects in meta-foodwebs.

Science.gov (United States)

Barter, Edmund; Gross, Thilo

2017-08-30

In ecology it is widely recognised that many landscapes comprise a network of discrete patches of habitat. The species that inhabit the patches interact with each other through a foodweb, the network of feeding interactions. The meta-foodweb model proposed by Pillai et al. combines the feeding relationships at each patch with the dispersal of species between patches, such that the whole system is represented by a network of networks. Previous work on meta-foodwebs has focussed on landscape networks that do not have an explicit spatial embedding, but in real landscapes the patches are usually distributed in space. Here we compare the dispersal of a meta-foodweb on Erdős-Rényi networks, that do not have a spatial embedding, and random geometric networks, that do have a spatial embedding. We found that local structure and large network distances in spatially embedded networks, lead to meso-scale patterns of patch occupation by both specialist and omnivorous species. In particular, we found that spatial separations make the coexistence of competing species more likely. Our results highlight the effects of spatial embeddings for meta-foodweb models, and the need for new analytical approaches to them.

Harnessing Big Data to Represent 30-meter Spatial Heterogeneity in Earth System Models

Science.gov (United States)

Chaney, N.; Shevliakova, E.; Malyshev, S.; Van Huijgevoort, M.; Milly, C.; Sulman, B. N.

2016-12-01

Terrestrial land surface processes play a critical role in the Earth system; they have a profound impact on the global climate, food and energy production, freshwater resources, and biodiversity. One of the most fascinating yet challenging aspects of characterizing terrestrial ecosystems is their field-scale (˜30 m) spatial heterogeneity. It has been observed repeatedly that the water, energy, and biogeochemical cycles at multiple temporal and spatial scales have deep ties to an ecosystem's spatial structure. Current Earth system models largely disregard this important relationship leading to an inadequate representation of ecosystem dynamics. In this presentation, we will show how existing global environmental datasets can be harnessed to explicitly represent field-scale spatial heterogeneity in Earth system models. For each macroscale grid cell, these environmental data are clustered according to their field-scale soil and topographic attributes to define unique sub-grid tiles. The state-of-the-art Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) land model is then used to simulate these tiles and their spatial interactions via the exchange of water, energy, and nutrients along explicit topographic gradients. Using historical simulations over the contiguous United States, we will show how a robust representation of field-scale spatial heterogeneity impacts modeled ecosystem dynamics including the water, energy, and biogeochemical cycles as well as vegetation composition and distribution.

Whole body imaging system mechanism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carman, R.W.; Doherty, E.J.

1980-01-01

A radioisotope scanning apparatus for use in nuclear medicine is described in detail. The apparatus enables the quantification and spatial location of the radioactivity in a body section of a patient to be determined with high sensitivity. It consists of an array of highly focussed collimators arranged such that adjacent collimators move in the same circumferential but opposite radial directions. The explicit movements of the gantry are described in detail and may be controlled by a general purpose computer. The use of highly focussed collimators allows both a reasonable solid angle of acceptance and also high target to background images; additionally, dual radionuclide pharmaceutical studies can be performed simultaneously. It is claimed that the high sensitivity of the system permits the early diagnosis of pathological changes and the images obtained show accurately the location and shape of physiological abnormalities. (U.K.)

Explicit high-order non-canonical symplectic particle-in-cell algorithms for Vlasov-Maxwell systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiao, Jianyuan; Liu, Jian; He, Yang; Zhang, Ruili; Qin, Hong; Sun, Yajuan

2015-01-01

Explicit high-order non-canonical symplectic particle-in-cell algorithms for classical particle-field systems governed by the Vlasov-Maxwell equations are developed. The algorithms conserve a discrete non-canonical symplectic structure derived from the Lagrangian of the particle-field system, which is naturally discrete in particles. The electromagnetic field is spatially discretized using the method of discrete exterior calculus with high-order interpolating differential forms for a cubic grid. The resulting time-domain Lagrangian assumes a non-canonical symplectic structure. It is also gauge invariant and conserves charge. The system is then solved using a structure-preserving splitting method discovered by He et al. [preprint http://arxiv.org/abs/arXiv:1505.06076 (2015)], which produces five exactly soluble sub-systems, and high-order structure-preserving algorithms follow by combinations. The explicit, high-order, and conservative nature of the algorithms is especially suitable for long-term simulations of particle-field systems with extremely large number of degrees of freedom on massively parallel supercomputers. The algorithms have been tested and verified by the two physics problems, i.e., the nonlinear Landau damping and the electron Bernstein wave

Explicit high-order non-canonical symplectic particle-in-cell algorithms for Vlasov-Maxwell systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xiao, Jianyuan [School of Nuclear Science and Technology and Department of Modern Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China; Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, CAS, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China; Qin, Hong [School of Nuclear Science and Technology and Department of Modern Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China; Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08543, USA; Liu, Jian [School of Nuclear Science and Technology and Department of Modern Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China; Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, CAS, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China; He, Yang [School of Nuclear Science and Technology and Department of Modern Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China; Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, CAS, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China; Zhang, Ruili [School of Nuclear Science and Technology and Department of Modern Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China; Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, CAS, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China; Sun, Yajuan [LSEC, Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 2719, Beijing 100190, China

2015-11-01

Explicit high-order non-canonical symplectic particle-in-cell algorithms for classical particle-field systems governed by the Vlasov-Maxwell equations are developed. The algorithms conserve a discrete non-canonical symplectic structure derived from the Lagrangian of the particle-field system, which is naturally discrete in particles. The electromagnetic field is spatially discretized using the method of discrete exterior calculus with high-order interpolating differential forms for a cubic grid. The resulting time-domain Lagrangian assumes a non-canonical symplectic structure. It is also gauge invariant and conserves charge. The system is then solved using a structure-preserving splitting method discovered by He et al. [preprint arXiv: 1505.06076 (2015)], which produces five exactly soluble sub-systems, and high-order structure-preserving algorithms follow by combinations. The explicit, high-order, and conservative nature of the algorithms is especially suitable for long-term simulations of particle-field systems with extremely large number of degrees of freedom on massively parallel supercomputers. The algorithms have been tested and verified by the two physics problems, i.e., the nonlinear Landau damping and the electron Bernstein wave. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.

A Spatially Explicit Dual-Isotope Approach to Map Regions of Plant-Plant Interaction after Exotic Plant Invasion.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christine Hellmann

Full Text Available Understanding interactions between native and invasive plant species in field settings and quantifying the impact of invaders in heterogeneous native ecosystems requires resolving the spatial scale on which these processes take place. Therefore, functional tracers are needed that enable resolving the alterations induced by exotic plant invasion in contrast to natural variation in a spatially explicit way. 15N isoscapes, i.e., spatially referenced representations of stable nitrogen isotopic signatures, have recently provided such a tracer. However, different processes, e.g. water, nitrogen or carbon cycles, may be affected at different spatial scales. Thus multi-isotope studies, by using different functional tracers, can potentially return a more integrated picture of invader impact. This is particularly true when isoscapes are submitted to statistical methods suitable to find homogeneous subgroups in multivariate data such as cluster analysis. Here, we used model-based clustering of spatially explicit foliar δ15N and δ13C isoscapes together with N concentration of a native indicator species, Corema album, to map regions of influence in a Portuguese dune ecosystem invaded by the N2-fixing Acacia longifolia. Cluster analysis identified regions with pronounced alterations in N budget and water use efficiency in the native species, with a more than twofold increase in foliar N, and δ13C and δ15N enrichment of up to 2‰ and 8‰ closer to the invader, respectively. Furthermore, clusters of multiple functional tracers indicated a spatial shift from facilitation through N addition in the proximity of the invader to competition for resources other than N in close contact. Finding homogeneous subgroups in multi-isotope data by means of model-based cluster analysis provided an effective tool for detecting spatial structure in processes affecting plant physiology and performance. The proposed method can give an objective measure of the spatial extent

Spatially explicit inference for open populations: estimating demographic parameters from camera-trap studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Gardner, Beth; Reppucci, Juan; Lucherini, Mauro; Royle, J Andrew

2010-11-01

We develop a hierarchical capture-recapture model for demographically open populations when auxiliary spatial information about location of capture is obtained. Such spatial capture-recapture data arise from studies based on camera trapping, DNA sampling, and other situations in which a spatial array of devices records encounters of unique individuals. We integrate an individual-based formulation of a Jolly-Seber type model with recently developed spatially explicit capture-recapture models to estimate density and demographic parameters for survival and recruitment. We adopt a Bayesian framework for inference under this model using the method of data augmentation which is implemented in the software program WinBUGS. The model was motivated by a camera trapping study of Pampas cats Leopardus colocolo from Argentina, which we present as an illustration of the model in this paper. We provide estimates of density and the first quantitative assessment of vital rates for the Pampas cat in the High Andes. The precision of these estimates is poor due likely to the sparse data set. Unlike conventional inference methods which usually rely on asymptotic arguments, Bayesian inferences are valid in arbitrary sample sizes, and thus the method is ideal for the study of rare or endangered species for which small data sets are typical.

Quantifying multiple telecouplings using an integrated suite of spatially-explicit tools

Science.gov (United States)

Tonini, F.; Liu, J.

2016-12-01

Telecoupling is an interdisciplinary research umbrella concept that enables natural and social scientists to understand and generate information for managing how humans and nature can sustainably coexist worldwide. To systematically study telecoupling, it is essential to build a comprehensive set of spatially-explicit tools for describing and quantifying multiple reciprocal socioeconomic and environmental interactions between a focal area and other areas. Here we introduce the Telecoupling Toolbox, a new free and open-source set of tools developed to map and identify the five major interrelated components of the telecoupling framework: systems, flows, agents, causes, and effects. The modular design of the toolbox allows the integration of existing tools and software (e.g. InVEST) to assess synergies and tradeoffs associated with policies and other local to global interventions. We show applications of the toolbox using a number of representative studies that address a variety of scientific and management issues related to telecouplings throughout the world. The results suggest that the toolbox can thoroughly map and quantify multiple telecouplings under various contexts while providing users with an easy-to-use interface. It provides a powerful platform to address globally important issues, such as land use and land cover change, species invasion, migration, flows of ecosystem services, and international trade of goods and products.

sGD: software for estimating spatially explicit indices of genetic diversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Shirk, A J; Cushman, S A

2011-09-01

Anthropogenic landscape changes have greatly reduced the population size, range and migration rates of many terrestrial species. The small local effective population size of remnant populations favours loss of genetic diversity leading to reduced fitness and adaptive potential, and thus ultimately greater extinction risk. Accurately quantifying genetic diversity is therefore crucial to assessing the viability of small populations. Diversity indices are typically calculated from the multilocus genotypes of all individuals sampled within discretely defined habitat patches or larger regional extents. Importantly, discrete population approaches do not capture the clinal nature of populations genetically isolated by distance or landscape resistance. Here, we introduce spatial Genetic Diversity (sGD), a new spatially explicit tool to estimate genetic diversity based on grouping individuals into potentially overlapping genetic neighbourhoods that match the population structure, whether discrete or clinal. We compared the estimates and patterns of genetic diversity using patch or regional sampling and sGD on both simulated and empirical populations. When the population did not meet the assumptions of an island model, we found that patch and regional sampling generally overestimated local heterozygosity, inbreeding and allelic diversity. Moreover, sGD revealed fine-scale spatial heterogeneity in genetic diversity that was not evident with patch or regional sampling. These advantages should provide a more robust means to evaluate the potential for genetic factors to influence the viability of clinal populations and guide appropriate conservation plans. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Analyzing Variability in Landscape Nutrient Loading Using Spatially-Explicit Maps in the Great Lakes Basin

Science.gov (United States)

Hamlin, Q. F.; Kendall, A. D.; Martin, S. L.; Whitenack, H. D.; Roush, J. A.; Hannah, B. A.; Hyndman, D. W.

2017-12-01

Excessive loading of nitrogen and phosphorous to the landscape has caused biologically and economically damaging eutrophication and harmful algal blooms in the Great Lakes Basin (GLB) and across the world. We mapped source-specific loads of nitrogen and phosphorous to the landscape using broadly available data across the GLB. SENSMap (Spatially Explicit Nutrient Source Map) is a 30m resolution snapshot of nutrient loads ca. 2010. We use these maps to study variable nutrient loading and provide this information to watershed managers through NOAA's GLB Tipping Points Planner. SENSMap individually maps nutrient point sources and six non-point sources: 1) atmospheric deposition, 2) septic tanks, 3) non-agricultural chemical fertilizer, 4) agricultural chemical fertilizer, 5) manure, and 6) nitrogen fixation from legumes. To model source-specific loads at high resolution, SENSMap synthesizes a wide range of remotely sensed, surveyed, and tabular data. Using these spatially explicit nutrient loading maps, we can better calibrate local land use-based water quality models and provide insight to watershed managers on how to focus nutrient reduction strategies. Here we examine differences in dominant nutrient sources across the GLB, and how those sources vary by land use. SENSMap's high resolution, source-specific approach offers a different lens to understand nutrient loading than traditional semi-distributed or land use based models.

A new approach to spatially explicit modelling of forest dynamics: spacing, ageing and neighbourhood competition of mangrove trees

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berger, U.; Hildenbrandt, H.

2000-01-01

This paper presents a new approach to spatially explicit modelling that enables the influence of neighbourhood effects on the dynamics of forests and plant communities to be analysed. We refer to this approach as 'field of neighbourhood' (FON). It combines the 'neighbourhood philosophy' of

Mapping of soil organic carbon stocks for spatially explicit assessments of climate change mitigation potential

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vågen, Tor-Gunnar; Winowiecki, Leigh A

2013-01-01

Current methods for assessing soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks are generally not well suited for understanding variations in SOC stocks in landscapes. This is due to the tedious and time-consuming nature of the sampling methods most commonly used to collect bulk density cores, which limits repeatability across large areas, particularly where information is needed on the spatial dynamics of SOC stocks at scales relevant to management and for spatially explicit targeting of climate change mitigation options. In the current study, approaches were explored for (i) field-based estimates of SOC stocks and (ii) mapping of SOC stocks at moderate to high resolution on the basis of data from four widely contrasting ecosystems in East Africa. Estimated SOC stocks for 0–30 cm depth varied both within and between sites, with site averages ranging from 2 to 8 kg m −2 . The differences in SOC stocks were determined in part by rainfall, but more importantly by sand content. Results also indicate that managing soil erosion is a key strategy for reducing SOC loss and hence in mitigation of climate change in these landscapes. Further, maps were developed on the basis of satellite image reflectance data with multiple R-squared values of 0.65 for the independent validation data set, showing variations in SOC stocks across these landscapes. These maps allow for spatially explicit targeting of potential climate change mitigation efforts through soil carbon sequestration, which is one option for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Further, the maps can be used to monitor the impacts of such mitigation efforts over time. (letter)

Conjugate whole-body scanning system for quantitative measurement of organ distribution in vivo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsui, B.M.W.; Chen, C.T.; Yasillo, N.J.; Ortega, C.J.; Charleston, D.B.; Lathrop, K.A.

1979-01-01

The determination of accurate, quantitative, biokinetic distribution of an internally dispersed radionuclide in humans is important in making realistic radiation absorbed dose estimates, studying biochemical transformations in health and disease, and developing clinical procedures indicative of abnormal functions. In order to collect these data, a whole-body imaging system is required which provides both adequate spatial resolution and some means of absolute quantitation. Based on these considerations, a new whole-body scanning system has been designed and constructed that employs the conjugate counting technique. The conjugate whole-body scanning system provides an efficient and accurate means of collecting absolute quantitative organ distribution data of radioactivity in vivo

Spatially explicit models, generalized reproduction numbers and the prediction of patterns of waterborne disease

Science.gov (United States)

Rinaldo, A.; Gatto, M.; Mari, L.; Casagrandi, R.; Righetto, L.; Bertuzzo, E.; Rodriguez-Iturbe, I.

2012-12-01

Metacommunity and individual-based theoretical models are studied in the context of the spreading of infections of water-borne diseases along the ecological corridors defined by river basins and networks of human mobility. The overarching claim is that mathematical models can indeed provide predictive insight into the course of an ongoing epidemic, potentially aiding real-time emergency management in allocating health care resources and by anticipating the impact of alternative interventions. To support the claim, we examine the ex-post reliability of published predictions of the 2010-2011 Haiti cholera outbreak from four independent modeling studies that appeared almost simultaneously during the unfolding epidemic. For each modeled epidemic trajectory, it is assessed how well predictions reproduced the observed spatial and temporal features of the outbreak to date. The impact of different approaches is considered to the modeling of the spatial spread of V. cholera, the mechanics of cholera transmission and in accounting for the dynamics of susceptible and infected individuals within different local human communities. A generalized model for Haitian epidemic cholera and the related uncertainty is thus constructed and applied to the year-long dataset of reported cases now available. Specific emphasis will be dedicated to models of human mobility, a fundamental infection mechanism. Lessons learned and open issues are discussed and placed in perspective, supporting the conclusion that, despite differences in methods that can be tested through model-guided field validation, mathematical modeling of large-scale outbreaks emerges as an essential component of future cholera epidemic control. Although explicit spatial modeling is made routinely possible by widespread data mapping of hydrology, transportation infrastructure, population distribution, and sanitation, the precise condition under which a waterborne disease epidemic can start in a spatially explicit setting is

Changing relationships between land use and environmental characteristics and their consequences for spatially explicit land-use change prediction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bakker, M.; Veldkamp, A.

2012-01-01

Spatially explicit land-use change prediction is often based on environmental characteristics of land-use types, such as soil type and slope, as observed at one time instant. This approach presumes that relationships between land use and environment are constant over time. We argue that such

Pod systems: an equivariant ordinary differential equation approach to dynamical systems on a spatial domain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elmhirst, Toby; Stewart, Ian; Doebeli, Michael

2008-01-01

We present a class of systems of ordinary differential equations (ODEs), which we call 'pod systems', that offers a new perspective on dynamical systems defined on a spatial domain. Such systems are typically studied as partial differential equations, but pod systems bring the analytic techniques of ODE theory to bear on the problems, and are thus able to study behaviours and bifurcations that are not easily accessible to the standard methods. In particular, pod systems are specifically designed to study spatial dynamical systems that exhibit multi-modal solutions. A pod system is essentially a linear combination of parametrized functions in which the coefficients and parameters are variables whose dynamics are specified by a system of ODEs. That is, pod systems are concerned with the dynamics of functions of the form Ψ(s, t) = y 1 (t) φ(s; x 1 (t)) + ··· + y N (t) φ(s; x N (t)), where s in R n is the spatial variable and φ: R n × R d → R. The parameters x i in R d and coefficients y i in R are dynamic variables which evolve according to some system of ODEs, x-dot i = G i (x, y) and y-dot i = H i (x, y), for i = 1, ..., N. The dynamics of Ψ in function space can then be studied through the dynamics of the x and y in finite dimensions. A vital feature of pod systems is that the ODEs that specify the dynamics of the x and y variables are not arbitrary; restrictions on G i and H i are required to guarantee that the dynamics of Ψ in function space are well defined (that is, that trajectories are unique). One important restriction is symmetry in the ODEs which arises because Ψ is invariant under permutations of the indices of the (x i , y i ) pairs. However, this is not the whole story, and the primary goal of this paper is to determine the necessary structure of the ODEs explicitly to guarantee that the dynamics of Ψ are well defined

Investigation of a whole-body DOI-PET system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohi, Junichi; Tonami, Hiromichi

2007-01-01

In this study, we were conducting basic research on a whole-body depth of gamma-ray interaction (DOI) positron emission tomography system which provides spatial resolution that is both high and uniform, and also minimizes costs. The detectors consist of double-layer 9x10 GSO/GSO phoswich crystal blocks, a light guide and two rectangular PMTs. Individual crystal sizes are 2.45x5.1x15 mm 3 , and each layer of crystal blocks has a different decay time. Many of the circuit boards used in our current conventional PET system (SET-3000G SHIMADZU Japan) have been optimized for DOI acquisition. The detectors are arranged to form a 332.5 mm radius detection ring, and spatial resolution is obtained from the center to the edge of the 250 mm radius field of view. The effect of DOI was confirmed using a comparison with the non-DOI systems

Assessment of flood susceptible areas using spatially explicit, probabilistic multi-criteria decision analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Zhongqian; Zhang, Hua; Yi, Shanzhen; Xiao, Yangfan

2018-03-01

GIS-based multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) is increasingly used to support flood risk assessment. However, conventional GIS-MCDA methods fail to adequately represent spatial variability and are accompanied with considerable uncertainty. It is, thus, important to incorporate spatial variability and uncertainty into GIS-based decision analysis procedures. This research develops a spatially explicit, probabilistic GIS-MCDA approach for the delineation of potentially flood susceptible areas. The approach integrates the probabilistic and the local ordered weighted averaging (OWA) methods via Monte Carlo simulation, to take into account the uncertainty related to criteria weights, spatial heterogeneity of preferences and the risk attitude of the analyst. The approach is applied to a pilot study for the Gucheng County, central China, heavily affected by the hazardous 2012 flood. A GIS database of six geomorphological and hydrometeorological factors for the evaluation of susceptibility was created. Moreover, uncertainty and sensitivity analysis were performed to investigate the robustness of the model. The results indicate that the ensemble method improves the robustness of the model outcomes with respect to variation in criteria weights and identifies which criteria weights are most responsible for the variability of model outcomes. Therefore, the proposed approach is an improvement over the conventional deterministic method and can provides a more rational, objective and unbiased tool for flood susceptibility evaluation.

Toward whole-core neutron transport without spatial homogenization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewis, E. E.

2009-01-01

Full text of publication follows: A long-term goal of computational reactor physics is the deterministic analysis of power reactor core neutronics without incurring significant discretization errors in the energy, spatial or angular variables. In principle, given large enough parallel configurations with unlimited CPU time and memory, this goal could be achieved using existing three-dimensional neutron transport codes. In practice, however, solving the Boltzmann equation for neutrons over the six-dimensional phase space is made intractable by the nature of neutron cross-sections and the complexity and size of power reactor cores. Tens of thousands of energy groups would be required for faithful cross section representation. Likewise, the numerous material interfaces present in power reactor lattices require exceedingly fine spatial mesh structures; these ubiquitous interfaces preclude effective implementation of adaptive grid, mesh-less methods and related techniques that have been applied so successfully in other areas of engineering science. These challenges notwithstanding, substantial progress continues in the pursuit for more robust deterministic methods for whole-core neutronics analysis. This paper examines the progress over roughly the last decade, emphasizing the space-angle variables and the quest to eliminate errors attributable to spatial homogenization. As prolog we briefly assess 1990's methods used in light water reactor analysis and review the lessons learned from the C5G7 benchmark exercises which were originated in 1999 to appraise the ability of transport codes to perform core calculations without homogenization. We proceed by examining progress over the last decade much of which falls into three areas. These may be broadly characterized as reduced homogenization, dynamic homogenization and planar-axial synthesis. In the first, homogenization in three-dimensional calculations is reduced from the fuel assembly to the pin-cell level. In the second

Capacity analysis of spectrum sharing spatial multiplexing MIMO systems

KAUST Repository

Yang, Liang

2014-12-01

This paper considers a spectrum sharing (SS) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system operating in a Rayleigh fading environment. First the capacity of a single-user SS spatial multiplexing system is investigated in two scenarios that assume different receivers. To explicitly show the capacity scaling law of SS MIMO systems, some approximate capacity expressions for the two scenarios are derived. Next, we extend our analysis to a multiple user system with zero-forcing receivers (ZF) under spatially-independent scheduling and analyze the sum-rate. Furthermore, we provide an asymptotic sum-rate analysis to investigate the effects of different parameters on the multiuser diversity gain. Our results show that the secondary system with a smaller number of transmit antennas Nt and a larger number of receive antennas Nr can achieve higher capacity at lower interference temperature Q, but at high Q the capacity follows the scaling law of the conventional MIMO systems. However, for a ZF SS spatial multiplexing system, the secondary system with small Nt and large Nr can achieve the highest capacity throughout the entire region of Q. For a ZF SS spatial multiplexing system with scheduling, the asymptotic sum-rate scales like Ntlog2(Q(KNtNp-1)/Nt), where Np denotes the number of antennas of the primary receiver and K represents the number of secondary transmitters.

Verifying Real-Time Systems using Explicit-time Description Methods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hao Wang

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Timed model checking has been extensively researched in recent years. Many new formalisms with time extensions and tools based on them have been presented. On the other hand, Explicit-Time Description Methods aim to verify real-time systems with general untimed model checkers. Lamport presented an explicit-time description method using a clock-ticking process (Tick to simulate the passage of time together with a group of global variables for time requirements. This paper proposes a new explicit-time description method with no reliance on global variables. Instead, it uses rendezvous synchronization steps between the Tick process and each system process to simulate time. This new method achieves better modularity and facilitates usage of more complex timing constraints. The two explicit-time description methods are implemented in DIVINE, a well-known distributed-memory model checker. Preliminary experiment results show that our new method, with better modularity, is comparable to Lamport's method with respect to time and memory efficiency.

Gap-filling a spatially explicit plant trait database: comparing imputation methods and different levels of environmental information

Science.gov (United States)

Poyatos, Rafael; Sus, Oliver; Badiella, Llorenç; Mencuccini, Maurizio; Martínez-Vilalta, Jordi

2018-05-01

The ubiquity of missing data in plant trait databases may hinder trait-based analyses of ecological patterns and processes. Spatially explicit datasets with information on intraspecific trait variability are rare but offer great promise in improving our understanding of functional biogeography. At the same time, they offer specific challenges in terms of data imputation. Here we compare statistical imputation approaches, using varying levels of environmental information, for five plant traits (leaf biomass to sapwood area ratio, leaf nitrogen content, maximum tree height, leaf mass per area and wood density) in a spatially explicit plant trait dataset of temperate and Mediterranean tree species (Ecological and Forest Inventory of Catalonia, IEFC, dataset for Catalonia, north-east Iberian Peninsula, 31 900 km2). We simulated gaps at different missingness levels (10-80 %) in a complete trait matrix, and we used overall trait means, species means, k nearest neighbours (kNN), ordinary and regression kriging, and multivariate imputation using chained equations (MICE) to impute missing trait values. We assessed these methods in terms of their accuracy and of their ability to preserve trait distributions, multi-trait correlation structure and bivariate trait relationships. The relatively good performance of mean and species mean imputations in terms of accuracy masked a poor representation of trait distributions and multivariate trait structure. Species identity improved MICE imputations for all traits, whereas forest structure and topography improved imputations for some traits. No method performed best consistently for the five studied traits, but, considering all traits and performance metrics, MICE informed by relevant ecological variables gave the best results. However, at higher missingness (> 30 %), species mean imputations and regression kriging tended to outperform MICE for some traits. MICE informed by relevant ecological variables allowed us to fill the gaps in

Spatially explicit models for inference about density in unmarked or partially marked populations

Science.gov (United States)

Chandler, Richard B.; Royle, J. Andrew

2013-01-01

Recently developed spatial capture–recapture (SCR) models represent a major advance over traditional capture–recapture (CR) models because they yield explicit estimates of animal density instead of population size within an unknown area. Furthermore, unlike nonspatial CR methods, SCR models account for heterogeneity in capture probability arising from the juxtaposition of animal activity centers and sample locations. Although the utility of SCR methods is gaining recognition, the requirement that all individuals can be uniquely identified excludes their use in many contexts. In this paper, we develop models for situations in which individual recognition is not possible, thereby allowing SCR concepts to be applied in studies of unmarked or partially marked populations. The data required for our model are spatially referenced counts made on one or more sample occasions at a collection of closely spaced sample units such that individuals can be encountered at multiple locations. Our approach includes a spatial point process for the animal activity centers and uses the spatial correlation in counts as information about the number and location of the activity centers. Camera-traps, hair snares, track plates, sound recordings, and even point counts can yield spatially correlated count data, and thus our model is widely applicable. A simulation study demonstrated that while the posterior mean exhibits frequentist bias on the order of 5–10% in small samples, the posterior mode is an accurate point estimator as long as adequate spatial correlation is present. Marking a subset of the population substantially increases posterior precision and is recommended whenever possible. We applied our model to avian point count data collected on an unmarked population of the northern parula (Parula americana) and obtained a density estimate (posterior mode) of 0.38 (95% CI: 0.19–1.64) birds/ha. Our paper challenges sampling and analytical conventions in ecology by demonstrating

Improved Satellite-based Crop Yield Mapping by Spatially Explicit Parameterization of Crop Phenology

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Jin, Z.; Azzari, G.; Lobell, D. B.

2016-12-01

Field-scale mapping of crop yields with satellite data often relies on the use of crop simulation models. However, these approaches can be hampered by inaccuracies in the simulation of crop phenology. Here we present and test an approach to use dense time series of Landsat 7 and 8 acquisitions data to calibrate various parameters related to crop phenology simulation, such as leaf number and leaf appearance rates. These parameters are then mapped across the Midwestern United States for maize and soybean, and for two different simulation models. We then implement our recently developed Scalable satellite-based Crop Yield Mapper (SCYM) with simulations reflecting the improved phenology parameterizations, and compare to prior estimates based on default phenology routines. Our preliminary results show that the proposed method can effectively alleviate the underestimation of early-season LAI by the default Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM), and that spatially explicit parameterization for the phenology model substantially improves the SCYM performance in capturing the spatiotemporal variation in maize and soybean yield. The scheme presented in our study thus preserves the scalability of SCYM, while significantly reducing its uncertainty.

Medieval land use management and geochemistry - spatial analyses on scales from households properties to whole fields systems

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Horák, Jan; Janovský, Martin; Klír, Tomáš; Šmejda, Ladislav; Legut-Pintal, Maria

2017-04-01

We present the final or preliminary results of our researches of five villages: Spindelbach (Ore Mountains, North-Western Bohemia), Hol (near Prague, Central Bohemia), Lovětín and Regenholz (near Třešť, Czech-Moravian Upland) and Goschwitz (near Wroclaw, Poland). Our research is methodically based on broad spatial sampling of soil samples and mapping of basic soil conditions. We use XRF spectrometry as a main tool for multi-elemental analyses and as a tool for first step screening of large areas. The crucial factor of our methods is also a design of sampling based on a respect to historical land and land use features like parts of village field system or possesions of the households. Also macroscopic visual method of getting data and knowledge of the site is crucial. It was revealed that generally used and acknowledged human indicator - Phosphorus - can be present at only very low levels of concentration, or undetectable, even in the nearness of households. The natural conditions cannot be the causing factor at all cases. This situation is caused also by last human activity intensity and by its spatial manifestation. In such cases, multi-elemental analysis is very useful. Zinc is usually correlated with Phosphorus, which is also connected to Lead. The past human activity indicators are spatially usually connected to modern pollution indicators. These two inputs can be sometimes distinguished by statistical analyses and by spatial visualisation of data. Working with just concentrations can be misleading. Past land use management and its strategies were important for spatial distribution of soil geochemical indicators. Therefore, we can use them not only as quantifiers of human impact on nature, but we can also detect different management or knowledge and experience. As it was revealed e. g. by analyses of households` possessions differences. For example, generally presumed decreasing gradient of management intensity (e.g. manuring) along the distance from

Spatially explicit measures of production of young alewives in Lake Michigan: Linkage between essential fish habitat and recruitment

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Hook, Tomas O.; Rutherford, Edward S.; Brines, Shannon J.; Mason, Doran M.; Schwab, David J.; McCormick, Michael; Desorcie, Timothy J.

2003-01-01

The identification and protection of essential habitats for early life stages of fishes are necessary to sustain fish stocks. Essential fish habitat for early life stages may be defined as areas where fish densities, growth, survival, or production rates are relatively high. To identify critical habitats for young-of-year (YOY) alewives (Alosa pseud oharengus) in Lake Michigan, we integrated bioenergetics models with GIS (Geographic Information Systems) to generate spatially explicit estimates of potential population production (an index of habitat quality). These estimates were based upon YOY alewife bioenergetic growth rate potential and their salmonine predators’ consumptive demand. We compared estimates of potential population production to YOY alewife yield (an index of habitat importance). Our analysis suggested that during 1994–1995, YOY alewife habitat quality and yield varied widely throughout Lake Michigan. Spatial patterns of alewife yield were not significantly correlated to habitat quality. Various mechanisms (e.g., predator migrations, lake circulation patterns, alternative strategies) may preclude YOY alewives from concentrating in areas of high habitat quality in Lake Michigan.

Spatially explicit modeling of conflict zones between wildlife and snow sports: prioritizing areas for winter refuges.

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Braunisch, Veronika; Patthey, Patrick; Arlettaz, Raphaël

2011-04-01

Outdoor winter recreation exerts an increasing pressure upon mountain ecosystems, with unpredictable, free-ranging activities (e.g., ski mountaineering, snowboarding, and snowshoeing) representing a major source of stress for wildlife. Mitigating anthropogenic disturbance requires the spatially explicit prediction of the interference between the activities of humans and wildlife. We applied spatial modeling to localize conflict zones between wintering Black Grouse (Tetrao tetrix), a declining species of Alpine timberline ecosystems, and two free-ranging winter sports (off-piste skiing [including snow-boarding] and snowshoeing). Track data (snow-sports and birds' traces) obtained from aerial photographs taken over a 585-km transect running along the timberline, implemented within a maximum entropy model, were used to predict the occurrence of snow sports and Black Grouse as a function of landscape characteristics. By modeling Black Grouse presence in the theoretical absence of free-ranging activities and ski infrastructure, we first estimated the amount of habitat reduction caused by these two factors. The models were then extrapolated to the altitudinal range occupied by Black Grouse, while the spatial extent and intensity of potential conflict were assessed by calculating the probability of human-wildlife co-occurrence. The two snow-sports showed different distribution patterns. Skiers' occurrence was mainly determined by ski-lift presence and a smooth terrain, while snowshoers' occurrence was linked to hiking or skiing routes and moderate slopes. Wintering Black Grouse avoided ski lifts and areas frequented by free-ranging snow sports. According to the models, Black Grouse have faced a substantial reduction of suitable wintering habitat along the timberline transect: 12% due to ski infrastructure and another 16% when adding free-ranging activities. Extrapolating the models over the whole study area results in an overall habitat loss due to ski infrastructure of

SMART: a spatially explicit bio-economic model for assessing and managing demersal fisheries, with an application to italian trawlers in the strait of sicily.

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Tommaso Russo

Full Text Available Management of catches, effort and exploitation pattern are considered the most effective measures to control fishing mortality and ultimately ensure productivity and sustainability of fisheries. Despite the growing concerns about the spatial dimension of fisheries, the distribution of resources and fishing effort in space is seldom considered in assessment and management processes. Here we propose SMART (Spatial MAnagement of demersal Resources for Trawl fisheries, a tool for assessing bio-economic feedback in different management scenarios. SMART combines information from different tasks gathered within the European Data Collection Framework on fisheries and is composed of: 1 spatial models of fishing effort, environmental characteristics and distribution of demersal resources; 2 an Artificial Neural Network which captures the relationships among these aspects in a spatially explicit way and uses them to predict resources abundances; 3 a deterministic module which analyzes the size structure of catches and the associated revenues, according to different spatially-based management scenarios. SMART is applied to demersal fishery in the Strait of Sicily, one of the most productive fisheries of the Mediterranean Sea. Three of the main target species are used as proxies for the whole range exploited by trawlers. After training, SMART is used to evaluate different management scenarios, including spatial closures, using a simulation approach that mimics the recent exploitation patterns. Results evidence good model performance, with a noteworthy coherence and reliability of outputs for the different components. Among others, the main finding is that a partial improvement in resource conditions can be achieved by means of nursery closures, even if the overall fishing effort in the area remains stable. Accordingly, a series of strategically designed areas of trawling closures could significantly improve the resource conditions of demersal fisheries in

SMART: a spatially explicit bio-economic model for assessing and managing demersal fisheries, with an application to italian trawlers in the strait of sicily.

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Russo, Tommaso; Parisi, Antonio; Garofalo, Germana; Gristina, Michele; Cataudella, Stefano; Fiorentino, Fabio

2014-01-01

Management of catches, effort and exploitation pattern are considered the most effective measures to control fishing mortality and ultimately ensure productivity and sustainability of fisheries. Despite the growing concerns about the spatial dimension of fisheries, the distribution of resources and fishing effort in space is seldom considered in assessment and management processes. Here we propose SMART (Spatial MAnagement of demersal Resources for Trawl fisheries), a tool for assessing bio-economic feedback in different management scenarios. SMART combines information from different tasks gathered within the European Data Collection Framework on fisheries and is composed of: 1) spatial models of fishing effort, environmental characteristics and distribution of demersal resources; 2) an Artificial Neural Network which captures the relationships among these aspects in a spatially explicit way and uses them to predict resources abundances; 3) a deterministic module which analyzes the size structure of catches and the associated revenues, according to different spatially-based management scenarios. SMART is applied to demersal fishery in the Strait of Sicily, one of the most productive fisheries of the Mediterranean Sea. Three of the main target species are used as proxies for the whole range exploited by trawlers. After training, SMART is used to evaluate different management scenarios, including spatial closures, using a simulation approach that mimics the recent exploitation patterns. Results evidence good model performance, with a noteworthy coherence and reliability of outputs for the different components. Among others, the main finding is that a partial improvement in resource conditions can be achieved by means of nursery closures, even if the overall fishing effort in the area remains stable. Accordingly, a series of strategically designed areas of trawling closures could significantly improve the resource conditions of demersal fisheries in the Strait of

Ecosystem accounts define explicit and spatial trade-offs for managing natural resources.

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Keith, Heather; Vardon, Michael; Stein, John A; Stein, Janet L; Lindenmayer, David

2017-11-01

Decisions about natural resource management are frequently complex and vexed, often leading to public policy compromises. Discord between environmental and economic metrics creates problems in assessing trade-offs between different current or potential resource uses. Ecosystem accounts, which quantify ecosystems and their benefits for human well-being consistent with national economic accounts, provide exciting opportunities to contribute significantly to the policy process. We advanced the application of ecosystem accounts in a regional case study by explicitly and spatially linking impacts of human and natural activities on ecosystem assets and services to their associated industries. This demonstrated contributions of ecosystems beyond the traditional national accounts. Our results revealed that native forests would provide greater benefits from their ecosystem services of carbon sequestration, water yield, habitat provisioning and recreational amenity if harvesting for timber production ceased, thus allowing forests to continue growing to older ages.

A Risk Assessment Example for Soil Invertebrates Using Spatially Explicit Agent-Based Models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reed, Melissa; Alvarez, Tania; Chelinho, Sonia

2016-01-01

Current risk assessment methods for measuring the toxicity of plant protection products (PPPs) on soil invertebrates use standardized laboratory conditions to determine acute effects on mortality and sublethal effects on reproduction. If an unacceptable risk is identified at the lower tier...... population models for ubiquitous soil invertebrates (collembolans and earthworms) as refinement options in current risk assessment. Both are spatially explicit agent-based models (ABMs), incorporating individual and landscape variability. The models were used to provide refined risk assessments for different...... application scenarios of a hypothetical pesticide applied to potato crops (full-field spray onto the soil surface [termed “overall”], in-furrow, and soil-incorporated pesticide applications). In the refined risk assessment, the population models suggest that soil invertebrate populations would likely recover...

Global spatially explicit CO2 emission metrics at 0.25° horizontal resolution for forest bioenergy

Science.gov (United States)

Cherubini, F.

2015-12-01

Bioenergy is the most important renewable energy option in studies designed to align with future RCP projections, reaching approximately 250 EJ/yr in RCP2.6, 145 EJ/yr in RCP4.5 and 180 EJ/yr in RCP8.5 by the end of the 21st century. However, many questions enveloping the direct carbon cycle and climate response to bioenergy remain partially unexplored. Bioenergy systems are largely assessed under the default climate neutrality assumption and the time lag between CO2 emissions from biomass combustion and CO2 uptake by vegetation is usually ignored. Emission metrics of CO2 from forest bioenergy are only available on a case-specific basis and their quantification requires processing of a wide spectrum of modelled or observed local climate and forest conditions. On the other hand, emission metrics are widely used to aggregate climate impacts of greenhouse gases to common units such as CO2-equivalents (CO2-eq.), but a spatially explicit analysis of emission metrics with global forest coverage is today lacking. Examples of emission metrics include the global warming potential (GWP), the global temperature change potential (GTP) and the absolute sustained emission temperature (aSET). Here, we couple a global forest model, a heterotrophic respiration model, and a global climate model to produce global spatially explicit emission metrics for CO2 emissions from forest bioenergy. We show their applications to global emissions in 2015 and until 2100 under the different RCP scenarios. We obtain global average values of 0.49 ± 0.03 kgCO2-eq. kgCO2-1 (mean ± standard deviation), 0.05 ± 0.05 kgCO2-eq. kgCO2-1, and 2.14·10-14 ± 0.11·10-14 °C (kg yr-1)-1, and 2.14·10-14 ± 0.11·10-14 °C (kg yr-1)-1 for GWP, GTP and aSET, respectively. We also present results aggregated at a grid, national and continental level. The metrics are found to correlate with the site-specific turnover times and local climate variables like annual mean temperature and precipitation. Simplified

A spatially explicit model of functional connectivity for the endangered Przewalski's gazelle (Procapra przewalskii in a patchy landscape.

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Chunlin Li

Full Text Available Habitat fragmentation, associated with human population expansion, impedes dispersal, reduces gene flow and aggravates inbreeding in species on the brink of extinction. Both scientific and conservation communities increasingly realize that maintaining and restoring landscape connectivity is of vital importance in biodiversity conservation. Prior to any conservation initiatives, it is helpful to present conservation practitioners with a spatially explicit model of functional connectivity for the target species or landscape.Using Przewalski's gazelle (Procapra przewalskii as a model of endangered ungulate species in highly fragmented landscape, we present a model providing spatially explicit information to inform the long-term preservation of well-connected metapopulations. We employed a Geographic Information System (GIS and expert-literature method to create a habitat suitability map, to identify potential habitats and to delineate a functional connectivity network (least-cost movement corridors and paths for the gazelle. Results indicated that there were limited suitable habitats for the gazelle, mainly found to the north and northwest of the Qinghai Lake where four of five potential habitat patches were identified. Fifteen pairs of least-cost corridors and paths were mapped connecting eleven extant populations and two neighboring potential patches. The least-cost paths ranged from 0.2 km to 26.8 km in length (averaging 12.4 km and were all longer than corresponding Euclidean distances.The model outputs were validated and supported by the latest findings in landscape genetics of the species, and may provide impetus for connectivity conservation programs. Dispersal barriers were examined and appropriate mitigation strategies were suggested. This study provides conservation practitioners with thorough and visualized information to reserve the landscape connectivity for Przewalski's gazelle. In a general sense, we proposed a heuristic framework

A spatially explicit whole-system model of the lignocellulosic bioethanol supply chain: an assessment of decentralised processing potential

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Shah Nilay

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Lignocellulosic bioethanol technologies exhibit significant capacity for performance improvement across the supply chain through the development of high-yielding energy crops, integrated pretreatment, hydrolysis and fermentation technologies and the application of dedicated ethanol pipelines. The impact of such developments on cost-optimal plant location, scale and process composition within multiple plant infrastructures is poorly understood. A combined production and logistics model has been developed to investigate cost-optimal system configurations for a range of technological, system scale, biomass supply and ethanol demand distribution scenarios specific to European agricultural land and population densities. Results Ethanol production costs for current technologies decrease significantly from $0.71 to $0.58 per litre with increasing economies of scale, up to a maximum single-plant capacity of 550 × 106 l year-1. The development of high-yielding energy crops and consolidated bio-processing realises significant cost reductions, with production costs ranging from $0.33 to $0.36 per litre. Increased feedstock yields result in systems of eight fully integrated plants operating within a 500 × 500 km2 region, each producing between 1.24 and 2.38 × 109 l year-1 of pure ethanol. A limited potential for distributed processing and centralised purification systems is identified, requiring developments in modular, ambient pretreatment and fermentation technologies and the pipeline transport of pure ethanol. Conclusion The conceptual and mathematical modelling framework developed provides a valuable tool for the assessment and optimisation of the lignocellulosic bioethanol supply chain. In particular, it can provide insight into the optimal configuration of multiple plant systems. This information is invaluable in ensuring (near-cost-optimal strategic development within the sector at the regional and national scale. The framework

Gap-filling a spatially explicit plant trait database: comparing imputation methods and different levels of environmental information

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R. Poyatos

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The ubiquity of missing data in plant trait databases may hinder trait-based analyses of ecological patterns and processes. Spatially explicit datasets with information on intraspecific trait variability are rare but offer great promise in improving our understanding of functional biogeography. At the same time, they offer specific challenges in terms of data imputation. Here we compare statistical imputation approaches, using varying levels of environmental information, for five plant traits (leaf biomass to sapwood area ratio, leaf nitrogen content, maximum tree height, leaf mass per area and wood density in a spatially explicit plant trait dataset of temperate and Mediterranean tree species (Ecological and Forest Inventory of Catalonia, IEFC, dataset for Catalonia, north-east Iberian Peninsula, 31 900 km2. We simulated gaps at different missingness levels (10–80 % in a complete trait matrix, and we used overall trait means, species means, k nearest neighbours (kNN, ordinary and regression kriging, and multivariate imputation using chained equations (MICE to impute missing trait values. We assessed these methods in terms of their accuracy and of their ability to preserve trait distributions, multi-trait correlation structure and bivariate trait relationships. The relatively good performance of mean and species mean imputations in terms of accuracy masked a poor representation of trait distributions and multivariate trait structure. Species identity improved MICE imputations for all traits, whereas forest structure and topography improved imputations for some traits. No method performed best consistently for the five studied traits, but, considering all traits and performance metrics, MICE informed by relevant ecological variables gave the best results. However, at higher missingness (> 30 %, species mean imputations and regression kriging tended to outperform MICE for some traits. MICE informed by relevant ecological variables

Teleportation in an indivisible quantum system

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Kiktenko E.O.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Teleportation protocol is conventionally treated as a method for quantum state transfer between two spatially separated physical carriers. Recent experimental progress in manipulation with high-dimensional quantum systems opens a new framework for implementation of teleportation protocols. We show that the one-qubit teleportation can be considered as a state transfer between subspaces of the whole Hilbert space of an indivisible eight-dimensional system. We explicitly show all corresponding operations and discuss an alternative way of implementation of similar tasks.

Spatially explicit rangeland erosion monitoring using high-resolution digital aerial imagery

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Gillan, Jeffrey K.; Karl, Jason W.; Barger, Nichole N.; Elaksher, Ahmed; Duniway, Michael C.

2016-01-01

Nearly all of the ecosystem services supported by rangelands, including production of livestock forage, carbon sequestration, and provisioning of clean water, are negatively impacted by soil erosion. Accordingly, monitoring the severity, spatial extent, and rate of soil erosion is essential for long-term sustainable management. Traditional field-based methods of monitoring erosion (sediment traps, erosion pins, and bridges) can be labor intensive and therefore are generally limited in spatial intensity and/or extent. There is a growing effort to monitor natural resources at broad scales, which is driving the need for new soil erosion monitoring tools. One remote-sensing technique that can be used to monitor soil movement is a time series of digital elevation models (DEMs) created using aerial photogrammetry methods. By geographically coregistering the DEMs and subtracting one surface from the other, an estimate of soil elevation change can be created. Such analysis enables spatially explicit quantification and visualization of net soil movement including erosion, deposition, and redistribution. We constructed DEMs (12-cm ground sampling distance) on the basis of aerial photography immediately before and 1 year after a vegetation removal treatment on a 31-ha Piñon-Juniper woodland in southeastern Utah to evaluate the use of aerial photography in detecting soil surface change. On average, we were able to detect surface elevation change of ± 8−9cm and greater, which was sufficient for the large amount of soil movement exhibited on the study area. Detecting more subtle soil erosion could be achieved using the same technique with higher-resolution imagery from lower-flying aircraft such as unmanned aerial vehicles. DEM differencing and process-focused field methods provided complementary information and a more complete assessment of soil loss and movement than any single technique alone. Photogrammetric DEM differencing could be used as a technique to

Creating a spatially-explicit index: a method for assessing the global wildfire-water risk

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Robinne, François-Nicolas; Parisien, Marc-André; Flannigan, Mike; Miller, Carol; Bladon, Kevin D.

2017-04-01

The wildfire-water risk (WWR) has been defined as the potential for wildfires to adversely affect water resources that are important for downstream ecosystems and human water needs for adequate water quantity and quality, therefore compromising the security of their water supply. While tools and methods are numerous for watershed-scale risk analysis, the development of a toolbox for the large-scale evaluation of the wildfire risk to water security has only started recently. In order to provide managers and policy-makers with an adequate tool, we implemented a method for the spatial analysis of the global WWR based on the Driving forces-Pressures-States-Impacts-Responses (DPSIR) framework. This framework relies on the cause-and-effect relationships existing between the five categories of the DPSIR chain. As this approach heavily relies on data, we gathered an extensive set of spatial indicators relevant to fire-induced hydrological hazards and water consumption patterns by human and natural communities. When appropriate, we applied a hydrological routing function to our indicators in order to simulate downstream accumulation of potentially harmful material. Each indicator was then assigned a DPSIR category. We collapsed the information in each category using a principal component analysis in order to extract the most relevant pixel-based information provided by each spatial indicator. Finally, we compiled our five categories using an additive indexation process to produce a spatially-explicit index of the WWR. A thorough sensitivity analysis has been performed in order to understand the relationship between the final risk values and the spatial pattern of each category used during the indexation. For comparison purposes, we aggregated index scores by global hydrological regions, or hydrobelts, to get a sense of regional DPSIR specificities. This rather simple method does not necessitate the use of complex physical models and provides a scalable and efficient tool

A spatially explicit risk assessment approach: Cetaceans and marine traffic in the Pelagos Sanctuary (Mediterranean Sea.

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Maria Grazia Pennino

Full Text Available Spatially explicit risk assessment is an essential component of Marine Spatial Planning (MSP, which provides a comprehensive framework for managing multiple uses of the marine environment, minimizing environmental impacts and conflicts among users. In this study, we assessed the risk of the exposure to high intensity vessel traffic areas for the three most abundant cetacean species (Stenella coeruleoalba, Tursiops truncatus and Balaenoptera physalus in the southern area of the Pelagos Sanctuary, which is the only pelagic Marine Protected Area (MPA for marine mammals in the Mediterranean Sea. In particular, we modeled the occurrence of the three cetacean species as a function of habitat variables in June by using hierarchical Bayesian spatial-temporal models. Similarly, we modelled the marine traffic intensity in order to find high risk areas and estimated the potential conflict due to the overlap with the cetacean home ranges. Results identified two main hot-spots of high intensity marine traffic in the area, which partially overlap with the area of presence of the studied species. Our findings emphasize the need for nationally relevant and transboundary planning and management measures for these marine species.

Modeling the fate of nitrogen on the catchment scale using a spatially explicit hydro-biogeochemical simulation system

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Klatt, S.; Butterbach-Bahl, K.; Kiese, R.; Haas, E.; Kraus, D.; Molina-Herrera, S. W.; Kraft, P.

2015-12-01

The continuous growth of the human population demands an equally growing supply for fresh water and food. As a result, available land for efficient agriculture is constantly diminishing which forces farmers to cultivate inferior croplands and intensify agricultural practices, e.g., increase the use of synthetic fertilizers. This intensification of marginal areas in particular will cause a dangerous rise in nitrate discharge into open waters or even drinking water resources. In order to reduce the amount of nitrate lost by surface runoff or lateral subsurface transport, bufferstrips have proved to be a valuable means. Current laws, however, promote rather static designs (i.e., width and usage) even though a multitude of factors, e.g., soil type, slope, vegetation and the nearby agricultural management, determines its effectiveness. We propose a spatially explicit modeling approach enabling to assess the effects of those factors on nitrate discharge from arable lands using the fully distributed hydrology model CMF coupled to the complex biogeochemical model LandscapeDNDC. Such a modeling scheme allows to observe the displacement of dissolved nutrients in both vertical and horizontal directions and serves to estimate both their uptake by the vegetated bufferstrip and loss to the environment. First results indicate a significant reduction of nitrate loss in the presence of a bufferstrip (2.5 m). We show effects induced by various buffer strip widths and plant cover on the nitrate retention.

The “Destabilizing” Effect of Cannibalism in a Spatially Explicit Three-Species Age Structured Predator-Prey Model

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Aladeen Al Basheer

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Cannibalism, the act of killing and consumption of conspecifics, is generally considered to be a stabilising process in ODE models of predator-prey systems. On the other hand, Sun et al. were the first to show that cannibalism can cause Turing instability, in the classical Rosenzweig-McArthur two-species PDE model, which is an impossibility without cannibalism. Magnússon’s classic work is the first to show that cannibalism in a structured three-species predator-prey ODE model can actually be destabilising. In the current manuscript we consider the PDE form of the three-species model proposed in Magnússon’s classic work. We prove that, in the absence of cannibalism, Turing instability is an impossibility in this model, for any range of parameters. However, the inclusion of cannibalism can cause Turing instability. Thus, to the best of our knowledge, we report the first cannibalism induced Turing instability result, in spatially explicit three-species age structured predator-prey systems. We also show that, in the classical ODE model proposed by Magnússon, cannibalism can act as a life boat mechanism, for the prey.

Explicit appropriate basis function method for numerical solution of stiff systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Wenzhen; Xiao, Hongguang; Li, Haofeng; Chen, Ling

2015-01-01

Highlights: • An explicit numerical method called the appropriate basis function method is presented. • The method differs from the power series method for obtaining approximate numerical solutions. • Two cases show the method is fit for linear and nonlinear stiff systems. • The method is very simple and effective for most of differential equation systems. - Abstract: In this paper, an explicit numerical method, called the appropriate basis function method, is presented. The explicit appropriate basis function method differs from the power series method because it employs an appropriate basis function such as the exponential function, or periodic function, other than a polynomial, to obtain approximate numerical solutions. The method is successful and effective for the numerical solution of the first order ordinary differential equations. Two examples are presented to show the ability of the method for dealing with linear and nonlinear systems of differential equations

Optimization of Solar Water Heating System under Time and Spatial Partition Heating in Rural Dwellings

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Yanfeng Liu

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes the application of time and spatial partition heating to a solar water heating system. The heating effect and system performance were analyzed under the continuous and whole space heating and time and spatial partition heating using TRNSYS. The results were validated by comparing with the test results of the demonstration building. Compared to continuous and whole space heating, the use of time and spatial partition heating increases the solar fraction by 16.5%, reduces the auxiliary heating by 7390 MJ, and reduces the annual operation cost by 2010 RMB. Under time and spatial partition heating, optimization analyses were conducted for the two system capacity parameters of the solar collector area and tank volume and the one operation parameter of auxiliary heater setting outlet temperature. The results showed that a reasonable choice of the solar collector area can reduce the dynamic annual cost, the increased tank volume is advantageous to heat storage, and the auxiliary heater setting outlet temperature have greater influence on the indoor heating effect. The advanced opening of solar water heating system and the normal opening of passive air vents are recommended. Based on the comparison of the two modes, the time and spatial partition heating technology is a better choice for rural dwellings.

Integrating spatially explicit indices of abundance and habitat quality: an applied example for greater sage-grouse management.

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Coates, Peter S; Casazza, Michael L; Ricca, Mark A; Brussee, Brianne E; Blomberg, Erik J; Gustafson, K Benjamin; Overton, Cory T; Davis, Dawn M; Niell, Lara E; Espinosa, Shawn P; Gardner, Scott C; Delehanty, David J

2016-02-01

Predictive species distributional models are a cornerstone of wildlife conservation planning. Constructing such models requires robust underpinning science that integrates formerly disparate data types to achieve effective species management.Greater sage-grouse Centrocercus urophasianus , hereafter 'sage-grouse' populations are declining throughout sagebrush-steppe ecosystems in North America, particularly within the Great Basin, which heightens the need for novel management tools that maximize the use of available information.Herein, we improve upon existing species distribution models by combining information about sage-grouse habitat quality, distribution and abundance from multiple data sources. To measure habitat, we created spatially explicit maps depicting habitat selection indices (HSI) informed by >35 500 independent telemetry locations from >1600 sage-grouse collected over 15 years across much of the Great Basin. These indices were derived from models that accounted for selection at different spatial scales and seasons. A region-wide HSI was calculated using the HSI surfaces modelled for 12 independent subregions and then demarcated into distinct habitat quality classes.We also employed a novel index to describe landscape patterns of sage-grouse abundance and space use (AUI). The AUI is a probabilistic composite of the following: (i) breeding density patterns based on the spatial configuration of breeding leks and associated trends in male attendance; and (ii) year-round patterns of space use indexed by the decreasing probability of use with increasing distance to leks. The continuous AUI surface was then reclassified into two classes representing high and low/no use and abundance. Synthesis and application s. Using the example of sage-grouse, we demonstrate how the joint application of indices of habitat selection, abundance and space use derived from multiple data sources yields a composite map that can guide effective allocation of management

Integrating spatially explicit indices of abundance and habitat quality: an applied example for greater sage-grouse management

Science.gov (United States)

Coates, Peter S.; Casazza, Michael L.; Ricca, Mark A.; Brussee, Brianne E.; Blomberg, Erik J.; Gustafson, K. Benjamin; Overton, Cory T.; Davis, Dawn M.; Niell, Lara E.; Espinosa, Shawn P.; Gardner, Scott C.; Delehanty, David J.

2016-01-01

Predictive species distributional models are a cornerstone of wildlife conservation planning. Constructing such models requires robust underpinning science that integrates formerly disparate data types to achieve effective species management. Greater sage-grouse Centrocercus urophasianus, hereafter “sage-grouse” populations are declining throughout sagebrush-steppe ecosystems in North America, particularly within the Great Basin, which heightens the need for novel management tools that maximize use of available information. Herein, we improve upon existing species distribution models by combining information about sage-grouse habitat quality, distribution, and abundance from multiple data sources. To measure habitat, we created spatially explicit maps depicting habitat selection indices (HSI) informed by > 35 500 independent telemetry locations from > 1600 sage-grouse collected over 15 years across much of the Great Basin. These indices were derived from models that accounted for selection at different spatial scales and seasons. A region-wide HSI was calculated using the HSI surfaces modelled for 12 independent subregions and then demarcated into distinct habitat quality classes. We also employed a novel index to describe landscape patterns of sage-grouse abundance and space use (AUI). The AUI is a probabilistic composite of: (i) breeding density patterns based on the spatial configuration of breeding leks and associated trends in male attendance; and (ii) year-round patterns of space use indexed by the decreasing probability of use with increasing distance to leks. The continuous AUI surface was then reclassified into two classes representing high and low/no use and abundance. Synthesis and applications. Using the example of sage-grouse, we demonstrate how the joint application of indices of habitat selection, abundance, and space use derived from multiple data sources yields a composite map that can guide effective allocation of management intensity across

Spatial Relation Predicates in Topographic Feature Semantics

Science.gov (United States)

Varanka, Dalia E.; Caro, Holly K.

2013-01-01

Topographic data are designed and widely used for base maps of diverse applications, yet the power of these information sources largely relies on the interpretive skills of map readers and relational database expert users once the data are in map or geographic information system (GIS) form. Advances in geospatial semantic technology offer data model alternatives for explicating concepts and articulating complex data queries and statements. To understand and enrich the vocabulary of topographic feature properties for semantic technology, English language spatial relation predicates were analyzed in three standard topographic feature glossaries. The analytical approach drew from disciplinary concepts in geography, linguistics, and information science. Five major classes of spatial relation predicates were identified from the analysis; representations for most of these are not widely available. The classes are: part-whole (which are commonly modeled throughout semantic and linked-data networks), geometric, processes, human intention, and spatial prepositions. These are commonly found in the ‘real world’ and support the environmental science basis for digital topographical mapping. The spatial relation concepts are based on sets of relation terms presented in this chapter, though these lists are not prescriptive or exhaustive. The results of this study make explicit the concepts forming a broad set of spatial relation expressions, which in turn form the basis for expanding the range of possible queries for topographical data analysis and mapping.

Spatially explicit analysis of metal transfer to biota: influence of soil contamination and landscape.

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Clémentine Fritsch

Full Text Available Concepts and developments for a new field in ecotoxicology, referred to as "landscape ecotoxicology," were proposed in the 1990s; however, to date, few studies have been developed in this emergent field. In fact, there is a strong interest in developing this area, both for renewing the concepts and tools used in ecotoxicology as well as for responding to practical issues, such as risk assessment. The aim of this study was to investigate the spatial heterogeneity of metal bioaccumulation in animals in order to identify the role of spatially explicit factors, such as landscape as well as total and extractable metal concentrations in soils. Over a smelter-impacted area, we studied the accumulation of trace metals (TMs: Cd, Pb and Zn in invertebrates (the grove snail Cepaea sp and the glass snail Oxychilus draparnaudi and vertebrates (the bank vole Myodes glareolus and the greater white-toothed shrew Crocidura russula. Total and CaCl(2-extractable concentrations of TMs were measured in soils from woody patches where the animals were captured. TM concentrations in animals exhibited a high spatial heterogeneity. They increased with soil pollution and were better explained by total rather than CaCl(2-extractable TM concentrations, except in Cepaea sp. TM levels in animals and their variations along the pollution gradient were modulated by the landscape, and this influence was species and metal specific. Median soil metal concentrations (predicted by universal kriging were calculated in buffers of increasing size and were related to bioaccumulation. The spatial scale at which TM concentrations in animals and soils showed the strongest correlations varied between metals, species and landscapes. The potential underlying mechanisms of landscape influence (community functioning, behaviour, etc. are discussed. Present results highlight the need for the further development of landscape ecotoxicology and multi-scale approaches, which would enhance our

The Electronic Spatial Information System – tools for the monitoring of asbestos in Poland

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Krówczyńska Małgorzata

2014-06-01

Full Text Available On January 1, 2005 the use of asbestos-containing products was banned in the European Union. According to the Act of 19 June 1997 banning the use of these products, their usage in Poland should be abated by the end of 2032. The whole process is being monitored by the Electronic Spatial Information System for the Monitoring of Asbestos Products Removal. The system design was based on a geodatabase. The research area of the study is the whole territory of Poland at the national, provincial and local level of detail. The monitoring process embraces spatial analysis through the preparation and interpretation of a range of maps. The results obtained from the deployed methods proved that the system has been useful for decision making purposes during the monitoring process. The proposed solutions were appreciated by the EU.

Reducing fertilizer-nitrogen losses from rowcrop landscapes: Insights and implications from a spatially explicit watershed model

Science.gov (United States)

McLellan, Eileen; Schilling, Keith; Robertson, Dale M.

2015-01-01

We present conceptual and quantitative models that predict changes in fertilizer-derived nitrogen delivery from rowcrop landscapes caused by agricultural conservation efforts implemented to reduce nutrient inputs and transport and increase nutrient retention in the landscape. To evaluate the relative importance of changes in the sources, transport, and sinks of fertilizer-derived nitrogen across a region, we use the spatially explicit SPAtially Referenced Regression On Watershed attributes watershed model to map the distribution, at the small watershed scale within the Upper Mississippi-Ohio River Basin (UMORB), of: (1) fertilizer inputs; (2) nutrient attenuation during delivery of those inputs to the UMORB outlet; and (3) nitrogen export from the UMORB outlet. Comparing these spatial distributions suggests that the amount of fertilizer input and degree of nutrient attenuation are both important in determining the extent of nitrogen export. From a management perspective, this means that agricultural conservation efforts to reduce nitrogen export would benefit by: (1) expanding their focus to include activities that restore and enhance nutrient processing in these highly altered landscapes; and (2) targeting specific types of best management practices to watersheds where they will be most valuable. Doing so successfully may result in a shift in current approaches to conservation planning, outreach, and funding.

Spatial allocation of forest recreation value

Science.gov (United States)

Kenneth A. Baerenklau; Armando Gonzalez-Caban; Catrina Paez; Edgard Chavez

2009-01-01

Non-market valuation methods and geographic information systems are useful planning and management tools for public land managers. Recent attention has been given to investigation and demonstration of methods for combining these tools to provide spatially-explicit representations of non-market value. Most of these efforts have focused on spatial allocation of...

A Hybrid Interpolation Method for Geometric Nonlinear Spatial Beam Elements with Explicit Nodal Force

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Huiqing Fang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Based on geometrically exact beam theory, a hybrid interpolation is proposed for geometric nonlinear spatial Euler-Bernoulli beam elements. First, the Hermitian interpolation of the beam centerline was used for calculating nodal curvatures for two ends. Then, internal curvatures of the beam were interpolated with a second interpolation. At this point, C1 continuity was satisfied and nodal strain measures could be consistently derived from nodal displacement and rotation parameters. The explicit expression of nodal force without integration, as a function of global parameters, was founded by using the hybrid interpolation. Furthermore, the proposed beam element can be degenerated into linear beam element under the condition of small deformation. Objectivity of strain measures and patch tests are also discussed. Finally, four numerical examples are discussed to prove the validity and effectivity of the proposed beam element.

Spatially Explicit Estimation of Optimal Light Use Efficiency for Improved Satellite Data Driven Ecosystem Productivity Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Madani, N.; Kimball, J. S.; Running, S. W.

2014-12-01

Remote sensing based light use efficiency (LUE) models, including the MODIS (MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) MOD17 algorithm are commonly used for regional estimation and monitoring of vegetation gross primary production (GPP) and photosynthetic carbon (CO2) uptake. A common model assumption is that plants in a biome matrix operate at their photosynthetic capacity under optimal climatic conditions. A prescribed biome maximum light use efficiency parameter defines the maximum photosynthetic carbon conversion rate under prevailing climate conditions and is a large source of model uncertainty. Here, we used tower (FLUXNET) eddy covariance measurement based carbon flux data for estimating optimal LUE (LUEopt) over a North American domain. LUEopt was first estimated using tower observed daily carbon fluxes, meteorology and satellite (MODIS) observed fraction of photosynthetically active radiation (FPAR). LUEopt was then spatially interpolated over the domain using empirical models derived from independent geospatial data including global plant traits, surface soil moisture, terrain aspect, land cover type and percent tree cover. The derived LUEopt maps were then used as primary inputs to the MOD17 LUE algorithm for regional GPP estimation; these results were evaluated against tower observations and alternate MOD17 GPP estimates determined using Biome-specific LUEopt constants. Estimated LUEopt shows large spatial variability within and among different land cover classes indicated from a sparse North American tower network. Leaf nitrogen content and soil moisture are two important factors explaining LUEopt spatial variability. GPP estimated from spatially explicit LUEopt inputs shows significantly improved model accuracy against independent tower observations (R2 = 0.76; Mean RMSE plant trait information can explain spatial heterogeneity in LUEopt, leading to improved GPP estimates from satellite based LUE models.

Frequency response function-based explicit framework for dynamic identification in human-structure systems

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Xiaojun; Živanović, Stana

2018-05-01

The aim of this paper is to propose a novel theoretical framework for dynamic identification in a structure occupied by a single human. The framework enables the prediction of the dynamics of the human-structure system from the known properties of the individual system components, the identification of human body dynamics from the known dynamics of the empty structure and the human-structure system and the identification of the properties of the structure from the known dynamics of the human and the human-structure system. The novelty of the proposed framework is the provision of closed-form solutions in terms of frequency response functions obtained by curve fitting measured data. The advantages of the framework over existing methods are that there is neither need for nonlinear optimisation nor need for spatial/modal models of the empty structure and the human-structure system. In addition, the second-order perturbation method is employed to quantify the effect of uncertainties in human body dynamics on the dynamic identification of the empty structure and the human-structure system. The explicit formulation makes the method computationally efficient and straightforward to use. A series of numerical examples and experiments are provided to illustrate the working of the method.

A second-order iterative implicit-explicit hybrid scheme for hyperbolic systems of conservation laws

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dai, Wenlong; Woodward, P.R.

1996-01-01

An iterative implicit-explicit hybrid scheme is proposed for hyperbolic systems of conservation laws. Each wave in a system may be implicitly, or explicitly, or partially implicitly and partially explicitly treated depending on its associated Courant number in each numerical cell, and the scheme is able to smoothly switch between implicit and explicit calculations. The scheme is of Godunov-type in both explicit and implicit regimes, is in a strict conservation form, and is accurate to second-order in both space and time for all Courant numbers. The computer code for the scheme is easy to vectorize. Multicolors proposed in this paper may reduce the number of iterations required to reach a converged solution by several orders for a large time step. The feature of the scheme is shown through numerical examples. 38 refs., 12 figs

An explicit MOT-TDVIE scheme for analyzing electromagnetic field interactions on nonlinear scatterers

KAUST Repository

Ulku, Huseyin Arda

2015-02-01

An explicit marching on-in-time (MOT) based time domain electric field volume integral equation (TDVIE) solver for characterizing electromagnetic wave interactions on scatterers with nonlinear material properties is proposed. Discretization of the unknown electric field intensity and flux density is carried out by half and full Schaubert-Wilton-Glisson basis functions, respectively. Coupled system of spatially discretized TDVIE and the nonlinear constitutive relation between the field intensity and the flux density is integrated in time to compute the samples of the unknowns. An explicit PE(CE)m scheme is used for this purpose. Explicitness allows for \\'easy\\' incorporation of the nonlinearity as a function only to be evaluated on the right hand side of the coupled system of equations. A numerical example that demonstrates the applicability of the proposed MOT scheme to analyzing electromagnetic interactions on Kerr-nonlinear scatterers is presented. © 2015 IEEE.

Modeling single versus multiple systems in implicit and explicit memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Starns, Jeffrey J; Ratcliff, Roger; McKoon, Gail

2012-04-01

It is currently controversial whether priming on implicit tasks and discrimination on explicit recognition tests are supported by a single memory system or by multiple, independent systems. In a Psychological Review article, Berry and colleagues used mathematical modeling to address this question and provide compelling evidence against the independent-systems approach. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Spatial analysis of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in China

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Yang Hong

2006-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS is endemic in many provinces with high incidence in mainland China, although integrated intervention measures including rodent control, environment management and vaccination have been implemented for over ten years. In this study, we conducted a geographic information system (GIS-based spatial analysis on distribution of HFRS cases for the whole country with an objective to inform priority areas for public health planning and resource allocation. Methods Annualized average incidence at a county level was calculated using HFRS cases reported during 1994–1998 in mainland China. GIS-based spatial analyses were conducted to detect spatial autocorrelation and clusters of HFRS incidence at the county level throughout the country. Results Spatial distribution of HFRS cases in mainland China from 1994 to 1998 was mapped at county level in the aspects of crude incidence, excess hazard and spatial smoothed incidence. The spatial distribution of HFRS cases was nonrandom and clustered with a Moran's I = 0.5044 (p = 0.001. Spatial cluster analyses suggested that 26 and 39 areas were at increased risks of HFRS (p Conclusion The application of GIS, together with spatial statistical techniques, provide a means to quantify explicit HFRS risks and to further identify environmental factors responsible for the increasing disease risks. We demonstrate a new perspective of integrating such spatial analysis tools into the epidemiologic study and risk assessment of HFRS.

Time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) coupled with reference interaction site model self-consistent field explicitly including spatial electron density distribution (RISM-SCF-SEDD)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yokogawa, D., E-mail: d.yokogawa@chem.nagoya-u.ac.jp [Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Chikusa, Nagoya 464-8602 (Japan); Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (WPI-ITbM), Nagoya University, Chikusa, Nagoya 464-8602 (Japan)

2016-09-07

Theoretical approach to design bright bio-imaging molecules is one of the most progressing ones. However, because of the system size and computational accuracy, the number of theoretical studies is limited to our knowledge. To overcome the difficulties, we developed a new method based on reference interaction site model self-consistent field explicitly including spatial electron density distribution and time-dependent density functional theory. We applied it to the calculation of indole and 5-cyanoindole at ground and excited states in gas and solution phases. The changes in the optimized geometries were clearly explained with resonance structures and the Stokes shift was correctly reproduced.

Spatially Explicit Modeling Reveals Cephalopod Distributions Match Contrasting Trophic Pathways in the Western Mediterranean Sea.

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Patricia Puerta

Full Text Available Populations of the same species can experience different responses to the environment throughout their distributional range as a result of spatial and temporal heterogeneity in habitat conditions. This highlights the importance of understanding the processes governing species distribution at local scales. However, research on species distribution often averages environmental covariates across large geographic areas, missing variability in population-environment interactions within geographically distinct regions. We used spatially explicit models to identify interactions between species and environmental, including chlorophyll a (Chla and sea surface temperature (SST, and trophic (prey density conditions, along with processes governing the distribution of two cephalopods with contrasting life-histories (octopus and squid across the western Mediterranean Sea. This approach is relevant for cephalopods, since their population dynamics are especially sensitive to variations in habitat conditions and rarely stable in abundance and location. The regional distributions of the two cephalopod species matched two different trophic pathways present in the western Mediterranean Sea, associated with the Gulf of Lion upwelling and the Ebro river discharges respectively. The effects of the studied environmental and trophic conditions were spatially variant in both species, with usually stronger effects along their distributional boundaries. We identify areas where prey availability limited the abundance of cephalopod populations as well as contrasting effects of temperature in the warmest regions. Despite distributional patterns matching productive areas, a general negative effect of Chla on cephalopod densities suggests that competition pressure is common in the study area. Additionally, results highlight the importance of trophic interactions, beyond other common environmental factors, in shaping the distribution of cephalopod populations. Our study presents

Spatial Working Memory Interferes with Explicit, but Not Probabilistic Cuing of Spatial Attention

Science.gov (United States)

Won, Bo-Yeong; Jiang, Yuhong V.

2015-01-01

Recent empirical and theoretical work has depicted a close relationship between visual attention and visual working memory. For example, rehearsal in spatial working memory depends on spatial attention, whereas adding a secondary spatial working memory task impairs attentional deployment in visual search. These findings have led to the proposal…

Spatially explicit modeling of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) habitat in Nevada and northeastern California: a decision-support tool for management

Science.gov (United States)

Coates, Peter S.; Casazza, Michael L.; Brussee, Brianne E.; Ricca, Mark A.; Gustafson, K. Benjamin; Overton, Cory T.; Sanchez-Chopitea, Erika; Kroger, Travis; Mauch, Kimberly; Niell, Lara; Howe, Kristy; Gardner, Scott; Espinosa, Shawn; Delehanty, David J.

2014-01-01

Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus, hereafter referred to as “sage-grouse”) populations are declining throughout the sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystem, including millions of acres of potential habitat across the West. Habitat maps derived from empirical data are needed given impending listing decisions that will affect both sage-grouse population dynamics and human land-use restrictions. This report presents the process for developing spatially explicit maps describing relative habitat suitability for sage-grouse in Nevada and northeastern California. Maps depicting habitat suitability indices (HSI) values were generated based on model-averaged resource selection functions informed by more than 31,000 independent telemetry locations from more than 1,500 radio-marked sage-grouse across 12 project areas in Nevada and northeastern California collected during a 15-year period (1998–2013). Modeled habitat covariates included land cover composition, water resources, habitat configuration, elevation, and topography, each at multiple spatial scales that were relevant to empirically observed sage-grouse movement patterns. We then present an example of how the HSI can be delineated into categories. Specifically, we demonstrate that the deviation from the mean can be used to classify habitat suitability into three categories of habitat quality (high, moderate, and low) and one non-habitat category. The classification resulted in an agreement of 93–97 percent for habitat versus non-habitat across a suite of independent validation datasets. Lastly, we provide an example of how space use models can be integrated with habitat models to help inform conservation planning. In this example, we combined probabilistic breeding density with a non-linear probability of occurrence relative to distance to nearest lek (traditional breeding ground) using count data to calculate a composite space use index (SUI). The SUI was then classified into two categories of use

Memory Efficient Data Structures for Explicit Verification of Timed Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Taankvist, Jakob Haahr; Srba, Jiri; Larsen, Kim Guldstrand

2014-01-01

Timed analysis of real-time systems can be performed using continuous (symbolic) or discrete (explicit) techniques. The explicit state-space exploration can be considerably faster for models with moderately small constants, however, at the expense of high memory consumption. In the setting of timed......-arc Petri nets, we explore new data structures for lowering the used memory: PTries for efficient storing of configurations and time darts for semi-symbolic description of the state-space. Both methods are implemented as a part of the tool TAPAAL and the experiments document at least one order of magnitude...... of memory savings while preserving comparable verification times....

A Spatially Explicit Method to Assess the Economic Suitability of a Forest Road Network for Timber Harvest in Steep Terrain

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Leo Gallus Bont

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Despite relatively high road density in the forests of Switzerland, a large percentage of that road network does not fulfill best practice requirements. Before upgrading or rebuilding the road network, harvesting planners must first determine which areas have insufficient access. Traditional assessment methods tend to only report specific values such as road density. However, those values do not identify the exact parcels or areas that are inaccessible. Here, we present a model that assesses the economic suitability of each timbered parcel for wood-harvesting operations, including tree-felling and processing, and off- and on-road transport (hauling, based on the existing road network. The entire wood supply chain from forest (standing trees to a virtual pile at the border of the planning unit was captured. This method was particularly designed for steep terrain and was tested in the Canton of Grisons in Switzerland. Compared with classical approaches, such as the road density concept, which only deliver average values, this new method enables planners to assess the development of a road network in a spatially explicit manner and to easily identify the reason and the location of shortcomings in the road network. Moreover, while other related spatially explicit approaches focus only on harvesting operations, the assessment method proposed here also includes limitations (road standards of the road network.

Spatially-explicit estimation of geographical representation in large-scale species distribution datasets.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalwij, Jesse M; Robertson, Mark P; Ronk, Argo; Zobel, Martin; Pärtel, Meelis

2014-01-01

Much ecological research relies on existing multispecies distribution datasets. Such datasets, however, can vary considerably in quality, extent, resolution or taxonomic coverage. We provide a framework for a spatially-explicit evaluation of geographical representation within large-scale species distribution datasets, using the comparison of an occurrence atlas with a range atlas dataset as a working example. Specifically, we compared occurrence maps for 3773 taxa from the widely-used Atlas Florae Europaeae (AFE) with digitised range maps for 2049 taxa of the lesser-known Atlas of North European Vascular Plants. We calculated the level of agreement at a 50-km spatial resolution using average latitudinal and longitudinal species range, and area of occupancy. Agreement in species distribution was calculated and mapped using Jaccard similarity index and a reduced major axis (RMA) regression analysis of species richness between the entire atlases (5221 taxa in total) and between co-occurring species (601 taxa). We found no difference in distribution ranges or in the area of occupancy frequency distribution, indicating that atlases were sufficiently overlapping for a valid comparison. The similarity index map showed high levels of agreement for central, western, and northern Europe. The RMA regression confirmed that geographical representation of AFE was low in areas with a sparse data recording history (e.g., Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine). For co-occurring species in south-eastern Europe, however, the Atlas of North European Vascular Plants showed remarkably higher richness estimations. Geographical representation of atlas data can be much more heterogeneous than often assumed. Level of agreement between datasets can be used to evaluate geographical representation within datasets. Merging atlases into a single dataset is worthwhile in spite of methodological differences, and helps to fill gaps in our knowledge of species distribution ranges. Species distribution

The spatial limitations of current neutral models of biodiversity.

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Rampal S Etienne

Full Text Available The unified neutral theory of biodiversity and biogeography is increasingly accepted as an informative null model of community composition and dynamics. It has successfully produced macro-ecological patterns such as species-area relationships and species abundance distributions. However, the models employed make many unrealistic auxiliary assumptions. For example, the popular spatially implicit version assumes a local plot exchanging migrants with a large panmictic regional source pool. This simple structure allows rigorous testing of its fit to data. In contrast, spatially explicit models assume that offspring disperse only limited distances from their parents, but one cannot as yet test the significance of their fit to data. Here we compare the spatially explicit and the spatially implicit model, fitting the most-used implicit model (with two levels, local and regional to data simulated by the most-used spatially explicit model (where offspring are distributed about their parent on a grid according to either a radially symmetric Gaussian or a 'fat-tailed' distribution. Based on these fits, we express spatially implicit parameters in terms of spatially explicit parameters. This suggests how we may obtain estimates of spatially explicit parameters from spatially implicit ones. The relationship between these parameters, however, makes no intuitive sense. Furthermore, the spatially implicit model usually fits observed species-abundance distributions better than those calculated from the spatially explicit model's simulated data. Current spatially explicit neutral models therefore have limited descriptive power. However, our results suggest that a fatter tail of the dispersal kernel seems to improve the fit, suggesting that dispersal kernels with even fatter tails should be studied in future. We conclude that more advanced spatially explicit models and tools to analyze them need to be developed.

Spatially explicit genetic structure in the freshwater sponge Ephydatia fluviatilis (Linnaeus, 1759 within the framework of the monopolisation hypothesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Livia Lucentini

2013-02-01

Full Text Available An apparent paradox is known for crustaceans, rotifers and bryozoans living in inland small water bodies: a potential for wide distribution due to the presence of resting stages is coupled with marked genetic differences between nearby water bodies, with enclave distributions masking clear phylogeographic patterns. According to the monopolisation hypothesis, this is due to the accumulation of resting stages, monopolising each water body. Freshwater sponges could represent a useful system to assess the generality of the mo- nopolisation hypothesis: these organisms i live in the same habitats as crustaceans, rotifers and bryozoans, ii produce resting stages that can accumulate, and iii have indeed a wide distribution. Currently, no studies on spatially explicit genetic differentiation on fresh- water sponges are available. The aim of the present study is to provide additional empirical evidence in support of the generality of the scenario for small aquatic animals with resting stages by analysing genetic diversity at different spatial scales for an additional model system, the freshwater sponge ephydatia fluviatilis (Linnaeus, 1759. We expected that system genetic variability would follow enclave distributions, no clear phylogeographical patterns would be present, and nearby unconnected water bodies would show markedly different populations for this new model too. We analysed the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer regions 5.8S-ITS2-28S, the D3 domain of 28S subunit, the mitochondrial Cytochrome c Oxidase I (COI and ten specific microsatellite markers of nine Italian and one Hungarian populations. Mitochondrial and nuclear sequences showed no or very low genetic polymorphism, whereas high levels of differentiation among populations and a significant polymorphism were observed using microsatellites. Microsatellite loci also showed a high proportion of private alleles for each population and an overall correlation between geographic and genetic

Whole-body MRI screening

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Puls, Ralf [HELIOS Klinikum Erfurt (Germany). Inst. of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology; Hosten, Norbert (ed.) [Universitaetsklinikum Greifswald (Germany). Diagnostic Radiology and Neuroradiology

2014-07-01

The advent of dedicated whole-body MRI scanners has made it possible to image the human body from head to toe with excellent spatial resolution and with the sensitivity and specificity of conventional MR systems. A comprehensive screening examination by MRI relies on fast image acquisition, and this is now feasible owing to several very recent developments, including multichannel techniques, new surface coil systems, and automatic table movement. The daily analysis of whole-body MRI datasets uncovers many incidental findings, which are discussed by an interdisciplinary advisory board of physicians from all specialties. This book provides a systematic overview of these incidental findings with the aid of approximately 240 high-quality images. The radiologists involved in the project have written chapters on each organ system, presenting a structured compilation of the most common findings, their morphologic appearances on whole-body MRI, and guidance on their clinical management. Chapters on technical and ethical issues are also included. It is hoped that this book will assist other diagnosticians in deciding how to handle the most common incidental findings encountered when performing whole-body MRI.

Whole-body MRI screening

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Puls, Ralf; Hosten, Norbert

2014-01-01

The advent of dedicated whole-body MRI scanners has made it possible to image the human body from head to toe with excellent spatial resolution and with the sensitivity and specificity of conventional MR systems. A comprehensive screening examination by MRI relies on fast image acquisition, and this is now feasible owing to several very recent developments, including multichannel techniques, new surface coil systems, and automatic table movement. The daily analysis of whole-body MRI datasets uncovers many incidental findings, which are discussed by an interdisciplinary advisory board of physicians from all specialties. This book provides a systematic overview of these incidental findings with the aid of approximately 240 high-quality images. The radiologists involved in the project have written chapters on each organ system, presenting a structured compilation of the most common findings, their morphologic appearances on whole-body MRI, and guidance on their clinical management. Chapters on technical and ethical issues are also included. It is hoped that this book will assist other diagnosticians in deciding how to handle the most common incidental findings encountered when performing whole-body MRI.

Explicit strong stability preserving multistep Runge–Kutta methods

KAUST Repository

Bresten, Christopher; Gottlieb, Sigal; Grant, Zachary; Higgs, Daniel; Ketcheson, David I.; Né meth, Adrian

2015-01-01

High-order spatial discretizations of hyperbolic PDEs are often designed to have strong stability properties, such as monotonicity. We study explicit multistep Runge-Kutta strong stability preserving (SSP) time integration methods for use with such discretizations. We prove an upper bound on the SSP coefficient of explicit multistep Runge-Kutta methods of order two and above. Numerical optimization is used to find optimized explicit methods of up to five steps, eight stages, and tenth order. These methods are tested on the linear advection and nonlinear Buckley-Leverett equations, and the results for the observed total variation diminishing and/or positivity preserving time-step are presented.

Explicit strong stability preserving multistep Runge–Kutta methods

KAUST Repository

Bresten, Christopher

2015-10-15

High-order spatial discretizations of hyperbolic PDEs are often designed to have strong stability properties, such as monotonicity. We study explicit multistep Runge-Kutta strong stability preserving (SSP) time integration methods for use with such discretizations. We prove an upper bound on the SSP coefficient of explicit multistep Runge-Kutta methods of order two and above. Numerical optimization is used to find optimized explicit methods of up to five steps, eight stages, and tenth order. These methods are tested on the linear advection and nonlinear Buckley-Leverett equations, and the results for the observed total variation diminishing and/or positivity preserving time-step are presented.

Resilience in rural social-ecological systems : a spatially explicit agent-based modelling approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schouten, M.A.H.

2013-01-01

Rural areas are increasingly changed by drivers on large spatial scales such as economic globalization and climate change. These international drivers may bring forth abrupt disturbances, such as high output price peaks and falls, water floods and droughts, and massive outbreaks of animal

Analyzing key constraints to biogas production from crop residues and manure in the EU—A spatially explicit model

Science.gov (United States)

Persson, U. Martin

2017-01-01

This paper presents a spatially explicit method for making regional estimates of the potential for biogas production from crop residues and manure, accounting for key technical, biochemical, environmental and economic constraints. Methods for making such estimates are important as biofuels from agricultural residues are receiving increasing policy support from the EU and major biogas producers, such as Germany and Italy, in response to concerns over unintended negative environmental and social impacts of conventional biofuels. This analysis comprises a spatially explicit estimate of crop residue and manure production for the EU at 250 m resolution, and a biogas production model accounting for local constraints such as the sustainable removal of residues, transportation of substrates, and the substrates’ biochemical suitability for anaerobic digestion. In our base scenario, the EU biogas production potential from crop residues and manure is about 0.7 EJ/year, nearly double the current EU production of biogas from agricultural substrates, most of which does not come from residues or manure. An extensive sensitivity analysis of the model shows that the potential could easily be 50% higher or lower, depending on the stringency of economic, technical and biochemical constraints. We find that the potential is particularly sensitive to constraints on the substrate mixtures’ carbon-to-nitrogen ratio and dry matter concentration. Hence, the potential to produce biogas from crop residues and manure in the EU depends to large extent on the possibility to overcome the challenges associated with these substrates, either by complementing them with suitable co-substrates (e.g. household waste and energy crops), or through further development of biogas technology (e.g. pretreatment of substrates and recirculation of effluent). PMID:28141827

Analyzing key constraints to biogas production from crop residues and manure in the EU-A spatially explicit model.

Science.gov (United States)

Einarsson, Rasmus; Persson, U Martin

2017-01-01

This paper presents a spatially explicit method for making regional estimates of the potential for biogas production from crop residues and manure, accounting for key technical, biochemical, environmental and economic constraints. Methods for making such estimates are important as biofuels from agricultural residues are receiving increasing policy support from the EU and major biogas producers, such as Germany and Italy, in response to concerns over unintended negative environmental and social impacts of conventional biofuels. This analysis comprises a spatially explicit estimate of crop residue and manure production for the EU at 250 m resolution, and a biogas production model accounting for local constraints such as the sustainable removal of residues, transportation of substrates, and the substrates' biochemical suitability for anaerobic digestion. In our base scenario, the EU biogas production potential from crop residues and manure is about 0.7 EJ/year, nearly double the current EU production of biogas from agricultural substrates, most of which does not come from residues or manure. An extensive sensitivity analysis of the model shows that the potential could easily be 50% higher or lower, depending on the stringency of economic, technical and biochemical constraints. We find that the potential is particularly sensitive to constraints on the substrate mixtures' carbon-to-nitrogen ratio and dry matter concentration. Hence, the potential to produce biogas from crop residues and manure in the EU depends to large extent on the possibility to overcome the challenges associated with these substrates, either by complementing them with suitable co-substrates (e.g. household waste and energy crops), or through further development of biogas technology (e.g. pretreatment of substrates and recirculation of effluent).

Spatially explicit simulation of hydrologically controlled carbon and nitrogen cycles and associated feedback mechanisms in a boreal ecosystem

Science.gov (United States)

Govind, Ajit; Chen, Jing Ming; Ju, Weimin

2009-06-01

Ecosystem models that simulate biogeochemical processes usually ignore hydrological controls that govern them. It is quite possible that topographically driven water fluxes significantly influence the spatial distribution of C sources and sinks because of their large contribution to the local water balance. To investigate this, we simulated biogeochemical processes along with the associated feedback mechanisms in a boreal ecosystem using a spatially explicit hydroecological model, boreal ecosystem productivity simulator (BEPS)-TerrainLab V2.0, that has a tight coupling of ecophysiological, hydrological, and biogeochemical processes. First, the simulated dynamics of snowpack, soil temperature, net ecosystem productivity (NEP), and total ecosystem respiration (TER) were validated with high-frequency measurements for 2 years. The model was able to explain 80% of the variability in NEP and 84% of the variability in TER. Further, we investigated the influence of topographically driven subsurface base flow on soil C and N cycling and on the spatiotemporal patterns of C sources and sinks using three hydrological modeling scenarios that differed in hydrological conceptualizations. In general, the scenarios that had nonexplicit hydrological representation overestimated NEP, as opposed to the scenario that had an explicit (realistic) representation. The key processes controlling the NEP differences were attributed to the combined effects of variations in photosynthesis (due to changes in stomatal conductance and nitrogen (N) availability), heterotrophic respiration, and autotrophic respiration, all of which occur simultaneously affecting NEP. Feedback relationships were also found to exacerbate the differences. We identified six types of NEP differences (biases), of which the most commonly found was due to an underestimation of the existing C sources, highlighting the vulnerability of regional-scale ecosystem models that ignore hydrological processes.

Analyzing key constraints to biogas production from crop residues and manure in the EU-A spatially explicit model.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rasmus Einarsson

Full Text Available This paper presents a spatially explicit method for making regional estimates of the potential for biogas production from crop residues and manure, accounting for key technical, biochemical, environmental and economic constraints. Methods for making such estimates are important as biofuels from agricultural residues are receiving increasing policy support from the EU and major biogas producers, such as Germany and Italy, in response to concerns over unintended negative environmental and social impacts of conventional biofuels. This analysis comprises a spatially explicit estimate of crop residue and manure production for the EU at 250 m resolution, and a biogas production model accounting for local constraints such as the sustainable removal of residues, transportation of substrates, and the substrates' biochemical suitability for anaerobic digestion. In our base scenario, the EU biogas production potential from crop residues and manure is about 0.7 EJ/year, nearly double the current EU production of biogas from agricultural substrates, most of which does not come from residues or manure. An extensive sensitivity analysis of the model shows that the potential could easily be 50% higher or lower, depending on the stringency of economic, technical and biochemical constraints. We find that the potential is particularly sensitive to constraints on the substrate mixtures' carbon-to-nitrogen ratio and dry matter concentration. Hence, the potential to produce biogas from crop residues and manure in the EU depends to large extent on the possibility to overcome the challenges associated with these substrates, either by complementing them with suitable co-substrates (e.g. household waste and energy crops, or through further development of biogas technology (e.g. pretreatment of substrates and recirculation of effluent.

Modeling spatially explicit fire impact on gross primary production in interior Alaska using satellite images coupled with eddy covariance

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Shengli; Liu, Heping; Dahal, Devendra; Jin, Suming; Welp, Lisa R.; Liu, Jinxun; Liu, Shuguang

2013-01-01

In interior Alaska, wildfires change gross primary production (GPP) after the initial disturbance. The impact of fires on GPP is spatially heterogeneous, which is difficult to evaluate by limited point-based comparisons or is insufficient to assess by satellite vegetation index. The direct prefire and postfire comparison is widely used, but the recovery identification may become biased due to interannual climate variability. The objective of this study is to propose a method to quantify the spatially explicit GPP change caused by fires and succession. We collected three Landsat images acquired on 13 July 2004, 5 August 2004, and 6 September 2004 to examine the GPP recovery of burned area from 1987 to 2004. A prefire Landsat image acquired in 1986 was used to reconstruct satellite images assuming that the fires of 1987–2004 had not occurred. We used a light-use efficiency model to estimate the GPP. This model was driven by maximum light-use efficiency (Emax) and fraction of photosynthetically active radiation absorbed by vegetation (FPAR). We applied this model to two scenarios (i.e., an actual postfire scenario and an assuming-no-fire scenario), where the changes in Emax and FPAR were taken into account. The changes in Emax were represented by the change in land cover of evergreen needleleaf forest, deciduous broadleaf forest, and shrub/grass mixed, whose Emax was determined from three fire chronosequence flux towers as 1.1556, 1.3336, and 0.5098 gC/MJ PAR. The changes in FPAR were inferred from NDVI change between the actual postfire NDVI and the reconstructed NDVI. After GPP quantification for July, August, and September 2004, we calculated the difference between the two scenarios in absolute and percent GPP changes. Our results showed rapid recovery of GPP post-fire with a 24% recovery immediately after burning and 43% one year later. For the fire scars with an age range of 2–17 years, the recovery rate ranged from 54% to 95%. In addition to the averaging

Integral assessment of floodplains as a basis for spatially-explicit flood loss forecasts

Science.gov (United States)

Zischg, Andreas Paul; Mosimann, Markus; Weingartner, Rolf

2016-04-01

A key aspect of disaster prevention is flood discharge forecasting which is used for early warning and therefore as a decision support for intervention forces. Hereby, the phase between the issued forecast and the time when the expected flood occurs is crucial for an optimal planning of the intervention. Typically, river discharge forecasts cover the regional level only, i.e. larger catchments. However, it is important to note that these forecasts are not useable directly for specific target groups on local level because these forecasts say nothing about the consequences of the predicted flood in terms of affected areas, number of exposed residents and houses. For this, on one hand simulations of the flooding processes and on the other hand data of vulnerable objects are needed. Furthermore, flood modelling in a high spatial and temporal resolution is required for robust flood loss estimation. This is a resource-intensive task from a computing time point of view. Therefore, in real-time applications flood modelling in 2D is not suited. Thus, forecasting flood losses in the short-term (6h-24h in advance) requires a different approach. Here, we propose a method to downscale the river discharge forecast to a spatially-explicit flood loss forecast. The principal procedure is to generate as many flood scenarios as needed in advance to represent the flooded areas for all possible flood hydrographs, e.g. very high peak discharges of short duration vs. high peak discharges with high volumes. For this, synthetic flood hydrographs were derived from the hydrologic time series. Then, the flooded areas of each scenario were modelled with a 2D flood simulation model. All scenarios were intersected with the dataset of vulnerable objects, in our case residential, agricultural and industrial buildings with information about the number of residents, the object-specific vulnerability, and the monetary value of the objects. This dataset was prepared by a data-mining approach. For each

A Spatially Explicit Approach for Sensitivity and Uncertainty Analysis of GIS-Multicriteria Landslide Susceptibility Mapping. GI_Forum 2013 – Creating the GISociety|

OpenAIRE

Feizizadeh, Bakhtiar; Jankowski, Piotr; Blaschke, Thomas

2016-01-01

GIS multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) methods are increasingly being used in landslide susceptibility mapping for the prediction of future hazards, decision making, as well as hazard mitigation plans. However, the uncertainties associated with MCDA techniques are inevitable and model outcomes are prone to multiple types of uncertainty. In this paper, the spatiality explicitly method is employed to assess the uncertainty associated with two methods of GIS-MCDA namely, Analytical Hierarchi...

Remote Sensing of Vegetation Nitrogen Content for Spatially Explicit Carbon and Water Cycle Estimation

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Y. L.; Miller, J. R.; Chen, J. M.

2009-05-01

Foliage nitrogen concentration is a determinant of photosynthetic capacity of leaves, thereby an important input to ecological models for estimating terrestrial carbon and water budgets. Recently, spectrally continuous airborne hyperspectral remote sensing imagery has proven to be useful for retrieving an important related parameter, total chlorophyll content at both leaf and canopy scales. Thus remote sensing of vegetation biochemical parameters has promising potential for improving the prediction of global carbon and water balance patterns. In this research, we explored the feasibility of estimating leaf nitrogen content using hyperspectral remote sensing data for spatially explicit estimation of carbon and water budgets. Multi-year measurements of leaf biochemical contents of seven major boreal forest species were carried out in northeastern Ontario, Canada. The variation of leaf chlorophyll and nitrogen content in response to various growth conditions, and the relationship between them,were investigated. Despite differences in plant type (deciduous and evergreen), leaf age, stand growth conditions and developmental stages, leaf nitrogen content was strongly correlated with leaf chlorophyll content on a mass basis during the active growing season (r2=0.78). With this general correlation, leaf nitrogen content was estimated from leaf chlorophyll content at an accuracy of RMSE=2.2 mg/g, equivalent to 20.5% of the average measured leaf nitrogen content. Based on this correlation and a hyperspectral remote sensing algorithm for leaf chlorophyll content retrieval, the spatial variation of leaf nitrogen content was inferred from the airborne hyperspectral remote sensing imagery acquired by Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (CASI). A process-based ecological model Boreal Ecosystem Productivity Simulator (BEPS) was used for estimating terrestrial carbon and water budgets. In contrast to the scenario with leaf nitrogen content assigned as a constant value without

Not just another variable: untangling the spatialities of power in social-ecological systems

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Micah L. Ingalls

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Increased attention has been paid to how the spatial dimensions of social-ecological systems are formative in shaping their ability to negotiate change and remain resilient. This paper moves this research further by exploring how diverse forms of power play a crucial role in shaping these spatial dimensions and the production of social-ecological outcomes. Grounding these explorations in a National Protected Area in Lao PDR, this paper explores how power relationships operate through the spatial and temporal domains of complex systems. Findings suggest (at least four important insights: (1 the exercise of power materializes in policies and programs and becomes written onto the spaces of social-ecological systems through boundary creation, zonation, and other social processes that (redefine spatial meanings; these meanings vary by social actor; (2 policies and programs map out unevenly across space and time as they interact with antecedent social-ecological conditions in ways that preclude linear causal relationships between policy and outcomes; (3 although local in their expression, spatialized disputes in social-ecological systems draw on cross-scalar discourses and networks of power to bolster, undermine, and (delegitimize competing environmental and social narratives; and (4 however powerful institutions and actor-networks may be, they are never fully hegemonic as they are attenuated by other discourses and operations of power, although these all play out across a highly uneven sociopolitical terrain. Paying greater attention to the spatial and temporal dynamics of power may be much more than a project of introducing yet another variable into the already complex admixture of analytic elements. Rather, by rendering these explicit as objects of analysis, common insights may change entirely or even be overturned.

Spatially Explicit Simulation of Mesotopographic Controls on Peatland Hydrology and Carbon Fluxes

Science.gov (United States)

Sonnentag, O.; Chen, J. M.; Roulet, N. T.

2006-12-01

A number of field carbon flux measurements, paleoecological records, and model simulations have acknowledged the importance of northern peatlands in terrestrial carbon cycling and methane emissions. An important parameter in peatlands that influences both net primary productivity, the net gain of carbon through photosynthesis, and decomposition under aerobic and anaerobic conditions, is the position of the water table. Biological and physical processes involved in peatland carbon dynamics and their hydrological controls operate at different spatial scales. The highly variable hydraulic characteristics of the peat profile and the overall shape of the peat body as defined by its surface topography at the mesoscale (104 m2) are of major importance for peatland water table dynamics. Common types of peatlands include bogs with a slightly domed centre. As a result of the convex profile, their water supply is restricted to atmospheric inputs, and water is mainly shed by shallow subsurface flow. From a modelling perspective the influence of mesotopographic controls on peatland hydrology and thus carbon balance requires that process-oriented models that examine the links between peatland hydrology, ecosystem functioning, and climate must incorporate some form of lateral subsurface flow consideration. Most hydrological and ecological modelling studies in complex terrain explicitly account for the topographic controls on lateral subsurface flow through digital elevation models. However, modelling studies in peatlands often employ simple empirical parameterizations of lateral subsurface flow, neglecting the influence of peatlands low relief mesoscale topography. Our objective is to explicitly simulate the mesotopographic controls on peatland hydrology and carbon fluxes using the Boreal Ecosystem Productivity Simulator (BEPS) adapted to northern peatlands. BEPS is a process-oriented ecosystem model in a remote sensing framework that takes into account peatlands multi

EdgeMaps: visualizing explicit and implicit relations

Science.gov (United States)

Dörk, Marian; Carpendale, Sheelagh; Williamson, Carey

2011-01-01

In this work, we introduce EdgeMaps as a new method for integrating the visualization of explicit and implicit data relations. Explicit relations are specific connections between entities already present in a given dataset, while implicit relations are derived from multidimensional data based on shared properties and similarity measures. Many datasets include both types of relations, which are often difficult to represent together in information visualizations. Node-link diagrams typically focus on explicit data connections, while not incorporating implicit similarities between entities. Multi-dimensional scaling considers similarities between items, however, explicit links between nodes are not displayed. In contrast, EdgeMaps visualize both implicit and explicit relations by combining and complementing spatialization and graph drawing techniques. As a case study for this approach we chose a dataset of philosophers, their interests, influences, and birthdates. By introducing the limitation of activating only one node at a time, interesting visual patterns emerge that resemble the aesthetics of fireworks and waves. We argue that the interactive exploration of these patterns may allow the viewer to grasp the structure of a graph better than complex node-link visualizations.

Explicit simulation of a midlatitude Mesoscale Convective System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alexander, G.D.; Cotton, W.R. [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)

1996-04-01

We have explicitly simulated the mesoscale convective system (MCS) observed on 23-24 June 1985 during PRE-STORM, the Preliminary Regional Experiment for the Stormscale Operational and Research and Meterology Program. Stensrud and Maddox (1988), Johnson and Bartels (1992), and Bernstein and Johnson (1994) are among the researchers who have investigated various aspects of this MCS event. We have performed this MCS simulation (and a similar one of a tropical MCS; Alexander and Cotton 1994) in the spirit of the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment Cloud Systems Study (GCSS), in which cloud-resolving models are used to assist in the formulation and testing of cloud parameterization schemes for larger-scale models. In this paper, we describe (1) the nature of our 23-24 June MCS dimulation and (2) our efforts to date in using our explicit MCS simulations to assist in the development of a GCM parameterization for mesoscale flow branches. The paper is organized as follows. First, we discuss the synoptic situation surrounding the 23-24 June PRE-STORM MCS followed by a discussion of the model setup and results of our simulation. We then discuss the use of our MCS simulation. We then discuss the use of our MCS simulations in developing a GCM parameterization for mesoscale flow branches and summarize our results.

Spatially and financially explicit population viability analysis of Maculinea alcon in The Netherlands.

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Viktoriia Radchuk

Full Text Available The conservation of species structured in metapopulations involves an important dilemma of resource allocation: should investments be directed at restoring/enlarging habitat patches or increasing connectivity. This is still an open question for Maculinea species despite they are among the best studied and emblematic butterfly species, because none of the population dynamics models developed so far included dispersal.We developed the first spatially and financially explicit Population Viability Analysis model for Maculinea alcon, using field data from The Netherlands. Implemented using the RAMAS/GIS platform, the model incorporated both local (contest density dependence, environmental and demographic stochasticities, and regional population dynamics (dispersal rates between habitat patches. We selected four habitat patch networks, contrasting in several basic features (number of habitat patches, their quality, connectivity, and occupancy rate to test how these features are affecting the ability to enhance population viability of four basic management options, designed to incur the same costs: habitat enlargement, habitat quality improvement, creation of new stepping stone habitat patches, and reintroduction of captive-reared butterflies. The PVA model was validated by the close match between its predictions and independent field observations on the patch occupancy pattern. The four patch networks differed in their sensitivity to model parameters, as well as in the ranking of management options. Overall, the best cost-effective option was enlargement of existing habitat patches, followed by either habitat quality improvement or creation of stepping stones depending on the network features. Reintroduction was predicted to generally be inefficient, except in one specific patch network.Our results underline the importance of spatial and regional aspects (dispersal and connectivity in determining the impact of conservation actions, even for a species

Global Research on Artificial Intelligence from 1990–2014: Spatially-Explicit Bibliometric Analysis

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Jiqiang Niu

2016-05-01

Full Text Available In this article, we conducted the evaluation of artificial intelligence research from 1990–2014 by using bibliometric analysis. We introduced spatial analysis and social network analysis as geographic information retrieval methods for spatially-explicit bibliometric analysis. This study is based on the analysis of data obtained from database of the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-Expanded and Conference Proceedings Citation Index-Science (CPCI-S. Our results revealed scientific outputs, subject categories and main journals, author productivity and geographic distribution, international productivity and collaboration, and hot issues and research trends. The growth of article outputs in artificial intelligence research has exploded since the 1990s, along with increasing collaboration, reference, and citations. Computer science and engineering were the most frequently-used subject categories in artificial intelligence studies. The top twenty productive authors are distributed in countries with a high investment of research and development. The United States has the highest number of top research institutions in artificial intelligence, producing most single-country and collaborative articles. Although there is more and more collaboration among institutions, cooperation, especially international ones, are not highly prevalent in artificial intelligence research as expected. The keyword analysis revealed interesting research preferences, confirmed that methods, models, and application are in the central position of artificial intelligence. Further, we found interesting related keywords with high co-occurrence frequencies, which have helped identify new models and application areas in recent years. Bibliometric analysis results from our study will greatly facilitate the understanding of the progress and trends in artificial intelligence, in particular, for those researchers interested in domain-specific AI-driven problem-solving. This will be

A spatially explicit hydro-ecological modeling framework (BEPS-TerrainLab V2.0): Model description and test in a boreal ecosystem in Eastern North America

Science.gov (United States)

Govind, Ajit; Chen, Jing Ming; Margolis, Hank; Ju, Weimin; Sonnentag, Oliver; Giasson, Marc-André

2009-04-01

SummaryA spatially explicit, process-based hydro-ecological model, BEPS-TerrainLab V2.0, was developed to improve the representation of ecophysiological, hydro-ecological and biogeochemical processes of boreal ecosystems in a tightly coupled manner. Several processes unique to boreal ecosystems were implemented including the sub-surface lateral water fluxes, stratification of vegetation into distinct layers for explicit ecophysiological representation, inclusion of novel spatial upscaling strategies and biogeochemical processes. To account for preferential water fluxes common in humid boreal ecosystems, a novel scheme was introduced based on laboratory analyses. Leaf-scale ecophysiological processes were upscaled to canopy-scale by explicitly considering leaf physiological conditions as affected by light and water stress. The modified model was tested with 2 years of continuous measurements taken at the Eastern Old Black Spruce Site of the Fluxnet-Canada Research Network located in a humid boreal watershed in eastern Canada. Comparison of the simulated and measured ET, water-table depth (WTD), volumetric soil water content (VSWC) and gross primary productivity (GPP) revealed that BEPS-TerrainLab V2.0 simulates hydro-ecological processes with reasonable accuracy. The model was able to explain 83% of the ET, 92% of the GPP variability and 72% of the WTD dynamics. The model suggests that in humid ecosystems such as eastern North American boreal watersheds, topographically driven sub-surface baseflow is the main mechanism of soil water partitioning which significantly affects the local-scale hydrological conditions.

Spatial separation and entanglement of identical particles

Science.gov (United States)

Cunden, Fabio Deelan; di Martino, Sara; Facchi, Paolo; Florio, Giuseppe

2014-04-01

We reconsider the effect of indistinguishability on the reduced density operator of the internal degrees of freedom (tracing out the spatial degrees of freedom) for a quantum system composed of identical particles located in different spatial regions. We explicitly show that if the spin measurements are performed in disjoint spatial regions then there are no constraints on the structure of the reduced state of the system. This implies that the statistics of identical particles has no role from the point of view of separability and entanglement when the measurements are spatially separated. We extend the treatment to the case of n particles and show the connection with some recent criteria for separability based on subalgebras of observables.

Role of Alpha-band Oscillations in Spatial Updating across Whole Body Motion

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Tjerk Peter Gutteling

2016-05-01

Full Text Available When moving around in the world, we have to keep track of important locations in our surroundings. In this process, called spatial updating, we must estimate our body motion and correct representations of memorized spatial locations in accordance with this motion. While the behavioral characteristics of spatial updating across whole body motion have been studied in detail, its neural implementation lacks detailed study. Here we use electro-encephalography (EEG to distinguish various spectral components of this process. Subjects gazed at a central body-fixed point in otherwise complete darkness, while a target was briefly flashed, either left or right from this point. Subjects had to remember the location of this target as either moving along with the body or remaining fixed in the world while being translated sideways on a passive motion platform. After the motion, subjects had to indicate the remembered target location in the instructed reference frame using a mouse response. While the body motion, as detected by the vestibular system, should not affect the representation of body-fixed targets, it should interact with the representation of a world-centered target to update its location relative to the body. We show that the initial presentation of the visual target induced a reduction of alpha band power in contralateral parieto-occipital areas, which evolved to a sustained increase during the subsequent memory period. Motion of the body led to a reduction of alpha band power in central parietal areas extending to lateral parieto-temporal areas, irrespective of whether the targets had to be memorized relative to world or body. When updating a world-fixed target, its internal representation shifts hemispheres, only when subjects’ behavioral responses suggested an update across the body midline. Our results suggest that parietal cortex is involved in both self-motion estimation and the selective application of this motion information to

Dynamic modeling and explicit/multi-parametric MPC control of pressure swing adsorption systems

KAUST Repository

Khajuria, Harish

2011-01-01

Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) is a flexible, albeit complex gas separation system. Due to its inherent nonlinear nature and discontinuous operation, the design of a model based PSA controller, especially with varying operating conditions, is a challenging task. This work focuses on the design of an explicit/multi-parametric model predictive controller for a PSA system. Based on a system involving four adsorbent beds separating 70% H2, 30% CH4 mixture into high purity hydrogen, the key controller objective is to fast track H2 purity to a set point value of 99.99%. To perform this task, a rigorous and systematic framework is employed. First, a high fidelity detailed dynamic model is built to represent the system\\'s real operation, and understand its dynamic behavior. The model is then used to derive appropriate linear models by applying suitable system identification techniques. For the reduced models, a model predictive control (MPC) step is formulated, where latest developments in multi-parametric programming and control are applied to derive a novel explicit MPC controller. To test the performance of the designed controller, closed loop simulations are performed where the dynamic model is used as the virtual plant. Comparison studies of the derived explicit MPC controller are also performed with conventional PID controllers. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Towards anatomic scale agent-based modeling with a massively parallel spatially explicit general-purpose model of enteric tissue (SEGMEnT_HPC).

Science.gov (United States)

Cockrell, Robert Chase; Christley, Scott; Chang, Eugene; An, Gary

2015-01-01

Perhaps the greatest challenge currently facing the biomedical research community is the ability to integrate highly detailed cellular and molecular mechanisms to represent clinical disease states as a pathway to engineer effective therapeutics. This is particularly evident in the representation of organ-level pathophysiology in terms of abnormal tissue structure, which, through histology, remains a mainstay in disease diagnosis and staging. As such, being able to generate anatomic scale simulations is a highly desirable goal. While computational limitations have previously constrained the size and scope of multi-scale computational models, advances in the capacity and availability of high-performance computing (HPC) resources have greatly expanded the ability of computational models of biological systems to achieve anatomic, clinically relevant scale. Diseases of the intestinal tract are exemplary examples of pathophysiological processes that manifest at multiple scales of spatial resolution, with structural abnormalities present at the microscopic, macroscopic and organ-levels. In this paper, we describe a novel, massively parallel computational model of the gut, the Spatially Explicitly General-purpose Model of Enteric Tissue_HPC (SEGMEnT_HPC), which extends an existing model of the gut epithelium, SEGMEnT, in order to create cell-for-cell anatomic scale simulations. We present an example implementation of SEGMEnT_HPC that simulates the pathogenesis of ileal pouchitis, and important clinical entity that affects patients following remedial surgery for ulcerative colitis.

Exploring the Dynamic Mechanisms of Farmland Abandonment Based on a Spatially Explicit Economic Model for Environmental Sustainability: A Case Study in Jiangxi Province, China

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Hualin Xie

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Farmland abandonment has important impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem recovery, as well as food security and rural sustainable development. Due to rapid urbanization and industrialization, farmland abandonment has become an increasingly important problem in many countries, particularly in China. To promote sustainable land-use management and environmental sustainability, it is important to understand the socioeconomic causes and spatial patterns of farmland abandonment. In this study, we explored the dynamic mechanisms of farmland abandonment in Jiangxi province of China using a spatially explicit economical model. The results show that the variables associated with the agricultural products yield are significantly correlated with farmland abandonment. The increasing opportunity cost of farming labor is the main factor in farmland abandonment in conjunction with a rural labor shortage due to rural-to-urban population migration and regional industrialization. Farmlands are more likely to be abandoned in areas located far from the villages and towns due to higher transportation costs. Additionally, farmers with more land but lower net income are more likely to abandon poor-quality farmland. Our results support the hypothesis that farmland abandonment takes place in locations in which the costs of cultivation are high and the potential crop yield is low. In addition, our study also demonstrates that a spatially explicit economic model is necessary to distinguish between the main driving forces of farmland abandonment. Policy implications are also provided for potential future policy decisions.

Modeling Behavior by Coastal River Otter (Lontra Canadensis in Response to Prey Availability in Prince William Sound, Alaska: A Spatially-Explicit Individual-Based Approach.

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Shannon E Albeke

Full Text Available Effects of climate change on animal behavior and cascading ecosystem responses are rarely evaluated. In coastal Alaska, social river otters (Lontra Canadensis, largely males, cooperatively forage on schooling fish and use latrine sites to communicate group associations and dominance. Conversely, solitary otters, mainly females, feed on intertidal-demersal fish and display mutual avoidance via scent marking. This behavioral variability creates "hotspots" of nutrient deposition and affects plant productivity and diversity on the terrestrial landscape. Because the abundance of schooling pelagic fish is predicted to decline with climate change, we developed a spatially-explicit individual-based model (IBM of otter behavior and tested six scenarios based on potential shifts to distribution patterns of schooling fish. Emergent patterns from the IBM closely mimicked observed otter behavior and landscape use in the absence of explicit rules of intraspecific attraction or repulsion. Model results were most sensitive to rules regarding spatial memory and activity state following an encounter with a fish school. With declining availability of schooling fish, the number of social groups and the time simulated otters spent in the company of conspecifics declined. Concurrently, model results suggested an elevation of defecation rate, a 25% increase in nitrogen transport to the terrestrial landscape, and significant changes to the spatial distribution of "hotspots" with declines in schooling fish availability. However, reductions in availability of schooling fish could lead to declines in otter density over time.

Spatial patterns of whole brain grey and white matter injury in patients with occult spastic diplegic cerebral palsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Mu, Xuetao; Nie, Binbin; Wang, Hong; Duan, Shaofeng; Zhang, Zan; Dai, Guanghui; Ma, Qiaozhi; Shan, Baoci; Ma, Lin

2014-01-01

Spastic diplegic cerebral palsy (SDCP) is a common type of cerebral palsy (CP), which presents as a group of motor-impairment syndromes. Previous conventional MRI studies have reported abnormal structural changes in SDCP, such as periventricular leucomalacia. However, there are roughly 27.8% SDCP patients presenting normal appearance in conventional MRI, which were considered as occult SDCP. In this study, sixteen patients with occult SDCP and 16 age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects were collected and the data were acquired on a 3T MR system. We applied voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) analysis to investigate whole brain grey and white matter injury in occult SDCP. By using VBM method, the grey matter volume reduction was revealed in the bilateral basal ganglia regions, thalamus, insula, and left cerebral peduncle, whereas the white matter atrophy was found to be located in the posterior part of corpus callosum and right posterior corona radiata in the occult SDCP patients. By using TBSS, reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) values were detected in multiple white matter regions, including bilateral white matter tracts in prefrontal lobe, temporal lobe, internal and external capsule, corpus callosum, cingulum, thalamus, brainstem and cerebellum. Additionally, several regions of white matter tracts injury were found to be significantly correlated with motor dysfunction. These results collectively revealed the spatial patterns of whole brain grey and white matter injury in occult SDCP.

Spatially Rearranged Object Parts Can Facilitate Perception of Intact Whole Objects

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Laura eCacciamani

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The familiarity of an object depends on the spatial arrangement of its parts; when the parts are spatially rearranged, they form a novel, unrecognizable configuration. Yet the same collection of parts comprises both the familiar and novel configuration. Is it possible that the collection of familiar parts activates a representation of the intact familiar configuration even when they are spatially rearranged? We presented novel configurations as primes before test displays that assayed effects on figure-ground perception from memories of intact familiar objects. In our test displays, two equal-area regions shared a central border; one region depicted a portion of a familiar object. Previous research with such displays has shown that participants are more likely to perceive the region depicting a familiar object as the figure and the abutting region as its ground when the familiar object is depicted in its upright orientation rather than upside down. The novel primes comprised either the same or a different collection of parts as the familiar object in the test display (part-rearranged and control primes, respectively. We found that participants were more likely to perceive the familiar region as figure in upright vs. inverted displays following part-rearranged primes but not control primes. Thus, priming with a novel configuration comprising the same familiar parts as the upcoming figure-ground display facilitated orientation-dependent effects of object memories on figure assignment. Similar results were obtained when the spatially rearranged collection of parts was suggested on the groundside of the prime’s border, suggesting that familiar parts in novel configurations access the representation of their corresponding intact whole object before figure assignment. These data demonstrate that familiar parts access memories of familiar objects even when they are arranged in a novel configuration.

Spatially rearranged object parts can facilitate perception of intact whole objects.

Science.gov (United States)

Cacciamani, Laura; Ayars, Alisabeth A; Peterson, Mary A

2014-01-01

The familiarity of an object depends on the spatial arrangement of its parts; when the parts are spatially rearranged, they form a novel, unrecognizable configuration. Yet the same collection of parts comprises both the familiar and novel configuration. Is it possible that the collection of familiar parts activates a representation of the intact familiar configuration even when they are spatially rearranged? We presented novel configurations as primes before test displays that assayed effects on figure-ground perception from memories of intact familiar objects. In our test displays, two equal-area regions shared a central border; one region depicted a portion of a familiar object. Previous research with such displays has shown that participants are more likely to perceive the region depicting a familiar object as the figure and the abutting region as its ground when the familiar object is depicted in its upright orientation rather than upside down. The novel primes comprised either the same or a different collection of parts as the familiar object in the test display (part-rearranged and control primes, respectively). We found that participants were more likely to perceive the familiar region as figure in upright vs. inverted displays following part-rearranged primes but not control primes. Thus, priming with a novel configuration comprising the same familiar parts as the upcoming figure-ground display facilitated orientation-dependent effects of object memories on figure assignment. Similar results were obtained when the spatially rearranged collection of parts was suggested on the groundside of the prime's border, suggesting that familiar parts in novel configurations access the representation of their corresponding intact whole object before figure assignment. These data demonstrate that familiar parts access memories of familiar objects even when they are arranged in a novel configuration.

Spatially-Explicit Simulation Modeling of Ecological Response to Climate Change: Methodological Considerations in Predicting Shifting Population Dynamics of Infectious Disease Vectors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Justin V. Remais

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Poikilothermic disease vectors can respond to altered climates through spatial changes in both population size and phenology. Quantitative descriptors to characterize, analyze and visualize these dynamic responses are lacking, particularly across large spatial domains. In order to demonstrate the value of a spatially explicit, dynamic modeling approach, we assessed spatial changes in the population dynamics of Ixodes scapularis, the Lyme disease vector, using a temperature-forced population model simulated across a grid of 4 × 4 km cells covering the eastern United States, using both modeled (Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF 3.2.1 baseline/current (2001–2004 and projected (Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5; 2057–2059 climate data. Ten dynamic population features (DPFs were derived from simulated populations and analyzed spatially to characterize the regional population response to current and future climate across the domain. Each DPF under the current climate was assessed for its ability to discriminate observed Lyme disease risk and known vector presence/absence, using data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Peak vector population and month of peak vector population were the DPFs that performed best as predictors of current Lyme disease risk. When examined under baseline and projected climate scenarios, the spatial and temporal distributions of DPFs shift and the seasonal cycle of key questing life stages is compressed under some scenarios. Our results demonstrate the utility of spatial characterization, analysis and visualization of dynamic population responses—including altered phenology—of disease vectors to altered climate.

Spatially-Explicit Simulation Modeling of Ecological Response to Climate Change: Methodological Considerations in Predicting Shifting Population Dynamics of Infectious Disease Vectors.

Science.gov (United States)

Dhingra, Radhika; Jimenez, Violeta; Chang, Howard H; Gambhir, Manoj; Fu, Joshua S; Liu, Yang; Remais, Justin V

2013-09-01

Poikilothermic disease vectors can respond to altered climates through spatial changes in both population size and phenology. Quantitative descriptors to characterize, analyze and visualize these dynamic responses are lacking, particularly across large spatial domains. In order to demonstrate the value of a spatially explicit, dynamic modeling approach, we assessed spatial changes in the population dynamics of Ixodes scapularis , the Lyme disease vector, using a temperature-forced population model simulated across a grid of 4 × 4 km cells covering the eastern United States, using both modeled (Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) 3.2.1) baseline/current (2001-2004) and projected (Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 and RCP 8.5; 2057-2059) climate data. Ten dynamic population features (DPFs) were derived from simulated populations and analyzed spatially to characterize the regional population response to current and future climate across the domain. Each DPF under the current climate was assessed for its ability to discriminate observed Lyme disease risk and known vector presence/absence, using data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Peak vector population and month of peak vector population were the DPFs that performed best as predictors of current Lyme disease risk. When examined under baseline and projected climate scenarios, the spatial and temporal distributions of DPFs shift and the seasonal cycle of key questing life stages is compressed under some scenarios. Our results demonstrate the utility of spatial characterization, analysis and visualization of dynamic population responses-including altered phenology-of disease vectors to altered climate.

A web-tool to find spatially explicit climate-smart solutions for the sector agriculture

Science.gov (United States)

Verzandvoort, Simone; Kuikman, Peter; Walvoort, Dennis

2017-04-01

Europe faces the challenge to produce more food and more biomass for the bio-economy, to adapt its agricultural sector to negative consequences of climate change, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) solutions and technologies improve agriculture's productivity and provide economic growth and stability, increase resilience, and help to reduce GHG emissions from agricultural activities. The Climate Smart Agriculture Booster (CSAb) (http://csabooster.climate-kic.org/) is a Flagship Program under Climate-KIC, aiming to facilitate the adoption of CSA solutions and technologies in the European agro-food sector. This adoption requires spatially explicit, contextual information on farming activities and risks and opportunities related to climate change in regions across Europe. Other spatial information supporting adoption includes Information on where successful implementations were already done, on where CSA would profit from enabling policy conditions, and where markets or business opportunities for selling or purchasing technology and knowledge are located or emerging. The Spatial Solution Finder is a web-based spatial tool aiming to help agri-food companies (supply and processing), authorities or agricultural organisations find CSA solutions and technologies that fit local farmers and regions, and to demonstrate examples of successful implementations as well as expected impact at the farm and regional level. The tool is based on state of the art (geo)datasets of environmental and socio-economic conditions (partly open access, partly derived from previous research) and open source web-technology. The philosophy of the tool is that combining existing datasets with contextual information on the region of interest with personalized information entered by the user provides a suitable basis for offering a basket of options for CSA solutions and technologies. Solutions and technologies are recommended to the user based on

Statistical methods in spatial genetics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Guillot, Gilles; Leblois, Raphael; Coulon, Aurelie

2009-01-01

The joint analysis of spatial and genetic data is rapidly becoming the norm in population genetics. More and more studies explicitly describe and quantify the spatial organization of genetic variation and try to relate it to underlying ecological processes. As it has become increasingly difficult...... to keep abreast with the latest methodological developments, we review the statistical toolbox available to analyse population genetic data in a spatially explicit framework. We mostly focus on statistical concepts but also discuss practical aspects of the analytical methods, highlighting not only...

New Explicit Solutions of (1 + 1)-Dimensional Variable-Coefficient Broer-Kaup System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan Zhilian; Zhou Jianping

2010-01-01

By using the compatibility method, many explicit solutions of the (1 + 1)-dimensional variable-coefficient Broer-Kaup system are constructed, which include new solutions expressed by error function, Bessel function, exponential function, and Airy function. Some figures of the solutions are given by the symbolic computation system Maple. (general)

System-centred tobacco management: from 'whole-person' to 'whole-system' change.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonevski, Billie

2014-01-01

Patient-centred tobacco management is a pragmatic approach for helping smokers achieve their goals in terms of either cessation or harm reduction. However, the success of the approach is dependent on clinicians embracing and delivering it as intended. There are a number of structural and systemic organisational barriers which are limiting clinician-delivered patient-centred tobacco dependence. In response, 'whole system' approaches which help support clinicians in the delivery of patient-centred tobacco management are required. Health system changes to support clinicians and facilitate the delivery of patient-centred tobacco management are worth further investigation, particularly in settings where tobacco smoking rates are high. © 2013 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

Preserved memory-based orienting of attention with impaired explicit memory in healthy ageing.

Science.gov (United States)

Salvato, Gerardo; Patai, Eva Z; Nobre, Anna C

2016-01-01

It is increasingly recognised that spatial contextual long-term memory (LTM) prepares neural activity for guiding visuo-spatial attention in a proactive manner. In the current study, we investigated whether the decline in explicit memory observed in healthy ageing would compromise this mechanism. We compared the behavioural performance of younger and older participants on learning new contextual memories, on orienting visual attention based on these learnt contextual associations, and on explicit recall of contextual memories. We found a striking dissociation between older versus younger participants in the relationship between the ability to retrieve contextual memories versus the ability to use these to guide attention to enhance performance on a target-detection task. Older participants showed significant deficits in the explicit retrieval task, but their behavioural benefits from memory-based orienting of attention were equivalent to those in young participants. Furthermore, memory-based orienting correlated significantly with explicit contextual LTM in younger adults but not in older adults. These results suggest that explicit memory deficits in ageing might not compromise initial perception and encoding of events. Importantly, the results also shed light on the mechanisms of memory-guided attention, suggesting that explicit contextual memories are not necessary. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Spatially explicit analysis of field inventories for national forest carbon monitoring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David C. Marvin

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Tropical forests provide a crucial carbon sink for a sizable portion of annual global CO2 emissions. Policies that incentivize tropical forest conservation by monetizing forest carbon ultimately depend on accurate estimates of national carbon stocks, which are often based on field inventory sampling. As an exercise to understand the limitations of field inventory sampling, we tested whether two common field-plot sampling approaches could accurately estimate carbon stocks across approximately 76 million ha of Perúvian forests. A 1-ha resolution LiDAR-based map of carbon stocks was used as a model of the country’s carbon geography. Results Both field inventory sampling approaches worked well in estimating total national carbon stocks, almost always falling within 10 % of the model national total. However, the sampling approaches were unable to produce accurate spatially-explicit estimates of the carbon geography of Perú, with estimates falling within 10 % of the model carbon geography across no more than 44 % of the country. We did not find any associations between carbon stock errors from the field plot estimates and six different environmental variables. Conclusions Field inventory plot sampling does not provide accurate carbon geography for a tropical country with wide ranging environmental gradients such as Perú. The lack of association between estimated carbon errors and environmental variables suggests field inventory sampling results from other nations would not differ from those reported here. Tropical forest nations should understand the risks associated with primarily field-based sampling approaches, and consider alternatives leading to more effective forest conservation and climate change mitigation.

Whole body scan system based on γ camera

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma Tianyu; Jin Yongjie

2001-01-01

Most existing domestic γ cameras can not perform whole body scan protocol, which is of important use in clinic. The authors designed a set of whole body scan system, which is made up of a scan bed, an ISA interface card controlling the scan bed and the data acquisition software based on a data acquisition and image processing system for γ cameras. The image was obtained in clinical experiment, and the authors think it meets the need of clinical diagnosis. Application of this system in γ cameras can provide whole body scan function at low cost

An explicit method in non-linear soil-structure interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kunar, R.R.

1981-01-01

The explicit method of analysis in the time domain is ideally suited for the solution of transient dynamic non-linear problems. Though the method is not new, its application to seismic soil-structure interaction is relatively new and deserving of public discussion. This paper describes the principles of the explicit approach in soil-structure interaction and it presents a simple algorithm that can be used in the development of explicit computer codes. The paper also discusses some of the practical considerations like non-reflecting boundaries and time steps. The practicality of the method is demonstrated using a computer code, PRESS, which is used to compare the treatment of strain-dependent properties using average strain levels over the whole time history (the equivalent linear method) and using the actual strain levels at every time step to modify the soil properties (non-linear method). (orig.)

A spatially explicit model for an Allee effect: why wolves recolonize so slowly in Greater Yellowstone.

Science.gov (United States)

Hurford, Amy; Hebblewhite, Mark; Lewis, Mark A

2006-11-01

A reduced probability of finding mates at low densities is a frequently hypothesized mechanism for a component Allee effect. At low densities dispersers are less likely to find mates and establish new breeding units. However, many mathematical models for an Allee effect do not make a distinction between breeding group establishment and subsequent population growth. Our objective is to derive a spatially explicit mathematical model, where dispersers have a reduced probability of finding mates at low densities, and parameterize the model for wolf recolonization in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). In this model, only the probability of establishing new breeding units is influenced by the reduced probability of finding mates at low densities. We analytically and numerically solve the model to determine the effect of a decreased probability in finding mates at low densities on population spread rate and density. Our results suggest that a reduced probability of finding mates at low densities may slow recolonization rate.

SPATIALLY-EXPLICIT BAT IMPACT SCREENING TOOL FOR WIND TURBINE SITING

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Versar, Inc.; Exponent, Inc.

2013-10-28

As the U.S. seeks to increase energy production from renewable energy sources, development of wind power resources continues to grow. One of the most important ecological issues restricting wind energy development, especially the siting of wind turbines, is the potential adverse effect on bats. High levels of bat fatality have been recorded at a number of wind energy facilities, especially in the eastern United States. The U.S. Department of Energy contracted with Versar, Inc., and Exponent to develop a spatially-explicit site screening tool to evaluate the mortality of bats resulting from interactions (collisions or barotrauma) with wind turbines. The resulting Bat Vulnerability Assessment Tool (BVAT) presented in this report integrates spatial information about turbine locations, bat habitat features, and bat behavior as it relates to possible interactions with turbines. A model demonstration was conducted that focuses on two bat species, the eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis) and the Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis). The eastern red bat is a relatively common tree-roosting species that ranges broadly during migration in the Eastern U.S., whereas the Indiana bat is regional species that migrates between a summer range and cave hibernacula. Moreover, Indiana bats are listed as endangered, and so the impacts to this species are of particular interest. The model demonstration used conditions at the Mountaineer Wind Energy Center (MWEC), which consists of 44 wind turbines arranged in a linear array near Thomas, West Virginia (Tucker County), to illustrate model functions and not to represent actual or potential impacts of the facility. The turbines at MWEC are erected on the ridge of Backbone Mountain with a nacelle height of 70 meters and a collision area of 72 meters (blade height) or 4,071 meters square. The habitat surrounding the turbines is an Appalachian mixed mesophytic forest. Model sensitivity runs showed that bat mortality in the model was most sensitive to

The SOA/VOC/NOx system: an explicit model of secondary organic aerosol formation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Madronich

2007-11-01

Full Text Available Our current understanding of secondary organic aerosol (SOA formation is limited by our knowledge of gaseous secondary organics involved in gas/particle partitioning. The objective of this study is to explore (i the potential for products of multiple oxidation steps contributing to SOA, and (ii the evolution of the SOA/VOC/NOx system. We developed an explicit model based on the coupling of detailed gas-phase oxidation schemes with a thermodynamic condensation module. Such a model allows prediction of SOA mass and speciation on the basis of first principles. The SOA/VOC/NOx system is studied for the oxidation of 1-octene under atmospherically relevant concentrations. In this study, gaseous oxidation of octene is simulated to lead to SOA formation. Contributors to SOA formation are shown to be formed via multiple oxidation steps of the parent hydrocarbon. The behaviour of the SOA/VOC/NOx system simulated using the explicit model agrees with general tendencies observed during laboratory chamber experiments. This explicit modelling of SOA formation appears as a useful exploratory tool to (i support interpretations of SOA formation observed in laboratory chamber experiments, (ii give some insights on SOA formation under atmospherically relevant conditions and (iii investigate implications for the regional/global lifetimes of the SOA.

Lie Symmetries and Solitons in Nonlinear Systems with Spatially Inhomogeneous Nonlinearities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belmonte-Beitia, Juan; Perez-Garcia, Victor M.; Vekslerchik, Vadym; Torres, Pedro J.

2007-01-01

Using Lie group theory and canonical transformations, we construct explicit solutions of nonlinear Schroedinger equations with spatially inhomogeneous nonlinearities. We present the general theory, use it to show that localized nonlinearities can support bound states with an arbitrary number solitons, and discuss other applications of interest to the field of nonlinear matter waves

Spatially explicit models of full-season productivity and implications for landscape management of Golden-winged Warblers in the western Great Lakes Region: Chapter 9

Science.gov (United States)

Peterson, Sean M.; Streby, Henry M.; Andersen, David E.

2016-01-01

The relationship between landscape structure and composition and full-season productivity (FSP) is poorly understood for most birds. For species of high conservation concern, insight into how productivity is related to landscape structure and composition can be used to develop more effective conservation strategies that increase recruitment. We monitored nest productivity and fledgling survival of Golden-winged Warblers (Vermivora chrysoptera), a species of high conservation concern, in managed forest landscapes at two sites in northern Minnesota, and one site in southeastern Manitoba, Canada from 2010 to 2012. We used logistic exposure models to identify the influence of landscape structure and composition on nest productivity and fledgling survival. We used the models to predict spatially explicit, FSP across our study sites to identify areas of low relative productivity that could be targeted for management. We then used our models of spatially explicit, FSP to simulate the impact of potential management actions on our study sites with the goal of increasing total population productivity. Unlike previous studies that suggested wetland cover types provide higher quality breeding habitat for Golden-winged Warblers, our models predicted 14% greater productivity in upland cover types. Simulated succession of a 9-ha grassland patch to a shrubby upland suitable for nesting increased the total number of fledglings produced by that patch and adjacent upland shrublands by 30%, despite decreasing individual productivity by 13%. Further simulated succession of the same patch described above into deciduous forest reduced the total number of fledglings produced to independence on a landscape by 18% because of a decrease in the area available for nesting. Simulated reduction in the cumulative length of shrubby edge within a 50-m radius of any location in our landscapes from 0.6 to 0.3 km increased FSP by 5%. Our models demonstrated that the effects of any single management

Human Mobility Patterns and Cholera Epidemics: a Spatially Explicit Modeling Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Mari, L.; Bertuzzo, E.; Righetto, L.; Casagrandi, R.; Gatto, M.; Rodriguez-Iturbe, I.; Rinaldo, A.

2010-12-01

Cholera is an acute enteric disease caused by the ingestion of water or food contaminated by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Although most infected individuals do not develop severe symptoms, their stool may contain huge quantities of V.~cholerae cells. Therefore, while traveling or commuting, asymptomatic carriers can be responsible for the long-range dissemination of the disease. As a consequence, human mobility is an alternative and efficient driver for the spread of cholera, whose primary propagation pathway is hydrological transport through river networks. We present a multi-layer network model that accounts for the interplay between epidemiological dynamics, hydrological transport and long-distance dissemination of V.~cholerae due to human movement. In particular, building on top of state-of-the-art spatially explicit models for cholera spread through surface waters, we describe human movement and its effects on the propagation of the disease by means of a gravity-model approach borrowed from transportation theory. Gravity-like contact processes have been widely used in epidemiology, because they can satisfactorily depict human movement when data on actual mobility patterns are not available. We test our model against epidemiological data recorded during the cholera outbreak occurred in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa during years 2000--2001. We show that human mobility does actually play an important role in the formation of the spatiotemporal patterns of cholera epidemics. In particular, long-range human movement may determine inter-catchment dissemination of V.~cholerae cells, thus in turn explaining the emergence of epidemic patterns that cannot be produced by hydrological transport alone. We also show that particular attention has to be devoted to study how heterogeneously distributed drinking water supplies and sanitation conditions may affect cholera transmission.

Biomass supply from alternative cellulosic crops and crop residues: A spatially explicit bioeconomic modeling approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Egbendewe-Mondzozo, Aklesso; Swinton, Scott M.; Izaurralde, César R.; Manowitz, David H.; Zhang, Xuesong

2011-01-01

This paper introduces a spatially-explicit bioeconomic model for the study of potential cellulosic biomass supply. For biomass crops to begin to replace current crops, farmers must earn more from them than from current crops. Using weather, topographic and soil data, the terrestrial ecosystem model, EPIC, dynamically simulates multiple cropping systems that vary by crop rotation, tillage, fertilization and residue removal rate. EPIC generates predicted crop yield and environmental outcomes over multiple watersheds. These EPIC results are used to parameterize a regional profit-maximization mathematical programming model that identifies profitable cropping system choices. The bioeconomic model is calibrated to 2007–09 crop production in a 9-county region of southwest Michigan. A simulation of biomass supply in response to rising biomass prices shows that cellulosic residues from corn stover and wheat straw begin to be supplied at minimum delivered biomass:corn grain price ratios of 0.15 and 0.18, respectively. At the mean corn price of $162.6/Mg ($4.13 per bushel) at commercial moisture content during 2007–2009, these ratios correspond to stover and straw prices of $24 and $29 per dry Mg. Perennial bioenergy crops begin to be supplied at price levels 2–3 times higher. Average biomass transport costs to the biorefinery plant range from $6 to $20/Mg compared to conventional crop production practices in the area, biomass supply from annual crop residues increased greenhouse gas emissions and reduced water quality through increased nutrient loss. By contrast, perennial cellulosic biomass crop production reduced greenhouse gas emissions and improved water quality. -- Highlights: ► A new bioeconomic model predicts biomass supply and its environmental impacts. ► The model captures the opportunity cost of switching to new cellulosic crops. ► Biomass from crop residues is supplied at lower biomass price than cellulosic crops. ► Biomass from cellulosic crops has

Spatially and temporally explicit water footprint accounting

OpenAIRE

Mekonnen, Mesfin

2011-01-01

The earth’s freshwater resources are subject to increasing pressure in the form of consumptive water use and pollution (Postel, 2000; WWAP, 2003, 2006, 2009). Quantitative assessment of the green, blue and grey water footprint of global production and consumption can be regarded as a key in understanding the pressure put on the global freshwater resources. The overall objective of this thesis is, therefore, to analyse the spatial and temporal pattern of the water footprint of humans from both...

A High-Resolution Spatially Explicit Monte-Carlo Simulation Approach to Commercial and Residential Electricity and Water Demand Modeling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morton, April M [ORNL; McManamay, Ryan A [ORNL; Nagle, Nicholas N [ORNL; Piburn, Jesse O [ORNL; Stewart, Robert N [ORNL; Surendran Nair, Sujithkumar [ORNL

2016-01-01

Abstract As urban areas continue to grow and evolve in a world of increasing environmental awareness, the need for high resolution spatially explicit estimates for energy and water demand has become increasingly important. Though current modeling efforts mark significant progress in the effort to better understand the spatial distribution of energy and water consumption, many are provided at a course spatial resolution or rely on techniques which depend on detailed region-specific data sources that are not publicly available for many parts of the U.S. Furthermore, many existing methods do not account for errors in input data sources and may therefore not accurately reflect inherent uncertainties in model outputs. We propose an alternative and more flexible Monte-Carlo simulation approach to high-resolution residential and commercial electricity and water consumption modeling that relies primarily on publicly available data sources. The method s flexible data requirement and statistical framework ensure that the model is both applicable to a wide range of regions and reflective of uncertainties in model results. Key words: Energy Modeling, Water Modeling, Monte-Carlo Simulation, Uncertainty Quantification Acknowledgment This manuscript has been authored by employees of UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. Accordingly, the United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes.

Spatial Data Management System (SDMS)

Science.gov (United States)

Hutchison, Mark W.

1994-01-01

The Spatial Data Management System (SDMS) is a testbed for retrieval and display of spatially related material. SDMS permits the linkage of large graphical display objects with detail displays and explanations of its smaller components. SDMS combines UNIX workstations, MIT's X Window system, TCP/IP and WAIS information retrieval technology to prototype a means of associating aggregate data linked via spatial orientation. SDMS capitalizes upon and extends previous accomplishments of the Software Technology Branch in the area of Virtual Reality and Automated Library Systems.

Low-storage implicit/explicit Runge-Kutta schemes for the simulation of stiff high-dimensional ODE systems

Science.gov (United States)

Cavaglieri, Daniele; Bewley, Thomas

2015-04-01

Implicit/explicit (IMEX) Runge-Kutta (RK) schemes are effective for time-marching ODE systems with both stiff and nonstiff terms on the RHS; such schemes implement an (often A-stable or better) implicit RK scheme for the stiff part of the ODE, which is often linear, and, simultaneously, a (more convenient) explicit RK scheme for the nonstiff part of the ODE, which is often nonlinear. Low-storage RK schemes are especially effective for time-marching high-dimensional ODE discretizations of PDE systems on modern (cache-based) computational hardware, in which memory management is often the most significant computational bottleneck. In this paper, we develop and characterize eight new low-storage implicit/explicit RK schemes which have higher accuracy and better stability properties than the only low-storage implicit/explicit RK scheme available previously, the venerable second-order Crank-Nicolson/Runge-Kutta-Wray (CN/RKW3) algorithm that has dominated the DNS/LES literature for the last 25 years, while requiring similar storage (two, three, or four registers of length N) and comparable floating-point operations per timestep.

Development of personnel dose control system and whole body counter system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ooki, Yasushi; Harato, Kenji

2005-01-01

We delivered Personnel Dose Control System to Higashidohri nuclear plant of Tohoku Electric Power Company, in November 2004. In this system development, we automated the registration of radiation worker with close link between this system and Whole Body Counter System. In addition, this system enables the user to reduce workload for accumulation and notification of personal exposure data, because we adopted the system to extract the data effectively operating the terminal PC which the associate company gets ready in their office. We also delivered Whole body Counter System in December 2004, which was developed to measure internal exposure without feeling of oppression in chair-style device for the first time in Japan. This system enables non-operator system for measurement allowing workers to operate by themselves. (author)

Spatially explicit animal response to composition of habitat

Science.gov (United States)

Benjamin P. Pauli; Nicholas P. McCann; Patrick A. Zollner; Robert Cummings; Jonathan H. Gilbert; Eric J. Gustafson

2013-01-01

Complex decisions dramatically affect animal dispersal and space use. Dispersing individuals respond to a combination of fine-scale environmental stimuli and internal attributes. Individual-based modeling offers a valuable approach for the investigation of such interactions because it combines the heterogeneity of animal behaviors with spatial detail. Most individual-...

System design description for the whole element furnace testing system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ritter, G.A.; Marschman, S.C.; MacFarlan, P.J.; King, D.A.

1998-05-01

This document provides a detailed description of the Hanford Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) Whole Element Furnace Testing System located in the Postirradiation Testing Laboratory G-Cell (327 Building). Equipment specifications, system schematics, general operating modes, maintenance and calibration requirements, and other supporting information are provided in this document. This system was developed for performing cold vacuum drying and hot vacuum drying testing of whole N-Reactor fuel elements, which were sampled from the 105-K East and K West Basins. The proposed drying processes are intended to allow dry storage of the SNF for long periods of time. The furnace testing system is used to evaluate these processes by simulating drying sequences with a single fuel element and measuring key system parameters such as internal pressures, temperatures, moisture levels, and off-gas composition

Explicit Nonlinear Model Predictive Control Theory and Applications

CERN Document Server

Grancharova, Alexandra

2012-01-01

Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC) has become the accepted methodology to solve complex control problems related to process industries. The main motivation behind explicit NMPC is that an explicit state feedback law avoids the need for executing a numerical optimization algorithm in real time. The benefits of an explicit solution, in addition to the efficient on-line computations, include also verifiability of the implementation and the possibility to design embedded control systems with low software and hardware complexity. This book considers the multi-parametric Nonlinear Programming (mp-NLP) approaches to explicit approximate NMPC of constrained nonlinear systems, developed by the authors, as well as their applications to various NMPC problem formulations and several case studies. The following types of nonlinear systems are considered, resulting in different NMPC problem formulations: Ø  Nonlinear systems described by first-principles models and nonlinear systems described by black-box models; �...

Modular and Spatially Explicit: A Novel Approach to System Dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

The Open Modeling Environment (OME) is an open-source System Dynamics (SD) simulation engine which has been created as a joint project between Oregon State University and the US Environmental Protection Agency. It is designed around a modular implementation, and provides a standa...

Designing Optimal LNG Station Network for U.S. Heavy-Duty Freight Trucks using Temporally and Spatially Explicit Supply Chain Optimization

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Allen

The recent natural gas boom has opened much discussion about the potential of natural gas and specifically Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in the United States transportation sector. The switch from diesel to natural gas vehicles would reduce foreign dependence on oil, spur domestic economic growth, and potentially reduce greenhouse gas emissions. LNG provides the most potential for the medium to heavy-duty vehicle market partially due to unstable oil prices and stagnant natural gas prices. As long as the abundance of unconventional gas in the United States remains cheap, fuel switching to natural gas could provide significant cost savings for long haul freight industry. Amid a growing LNG station network and ever increasing demand for freight movement, LNG heavy-duty truck sales are less than anticipated and the industry as a whole is less economic than expected. In spite of much existing and mature natural gas infrastructure, the supply chain for LNG is different and requires explicit and careful planning. This thesis proposes research to explore the claim that the largest obstacle to widespread LNG market penetration is sub-optimal infrastructure planning. No other study we are aware of has explicitly explored the LNG transportation fuel supply chain for heavy-duty freight trucks. This thesis presents a novel methodology that links a network infrastructure optimization model (represents supply side) with a vehicle stock and economic payback model (represents demand side). The model characterizes both a temporal and spatial optimization model of future LNG transportation fuel supply chains in the United States. The principal research goal is to assess the economic feasibility of the current LNG transportation fuel industry and to determine an optimal pathway to achieve ubiquitous commercialization of LNG vehicles in the heavy-duty transport sector. The results indicate that LNG is not economic as a heavy-duty truck fuel until 2030 under current market conditions

Explicit homoclinic tube solutions and chaos for Zakharov system with periodic boundary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dai Zhengde; Huang Jian; Jiang Murong

2006-01-01

In this Letter, the explicit homoclinic tube solutions for Zakharov system with periodic boundary conditions, and even constraints, are exhibited. The results show that there exist two family homoclinic tube solutions depending on parameters (a,p), which asymptotic to a periodic cycle of one dimension. The structures of homoclinic tubes have been investigated

Spatial effects on the fluctuations of a nuclear power reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salinas-Rodriguez, E.; Rodriguez, R.F.; Wio, H.S.

1990-01-01

The effects of spatial inhomogeneities in a nuclear system are studied by using the compounding moments method. In particular, the neutron density and temperature equilibrium correlation functions are explicitly calculated for a realistic linearized nuclear reactor model described in terms of a master equation. (author)

Explicit goal-driven attention, unlike implicitly learned attention, spreads to secondary tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Addleman, Douglas A; Tao, Jinyi; Remington, Roger W; Jiang, Yuhong V

2018-03-01

To what degree does spatial attention for one task spread to all stimuli in the attended region, regardless of task relevance? Most models imply that spatial attention acts through a unitary priority map in a task-general manner. We show that implicit learning, unlike endogenous spatial cuing, can bias spatial attention within one task without biasing attention to a spatially overlapping secondary task. Participants completed a visual search task superimposed on a background containing scenes, which they were told to encode for a later memory task. Experiments 1 and 2 used explicit instructions to bias spatial attention to one region for visual search; Experiment 3 used location probability cuing to implicitly bias spatial attention. In location probability cuing, a target appeared in one region more than others despite participants not being told of this. In all experiments, search performance was better in the cued region than in uncued regions. However, scene memory was better in the cued region only following endogenous guidance, not after implicit biasing of attention. These data support a dual-system view of top-down attention that dissociates goal-driven and implicitly learned attention. Goal-driven attention is task general, amplifying processing of a cued region across tasks, whereas implicit statistical learning is task-specific. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Parallel, explicit, and PWTD-enhanced time domain volume integral equation solver

KAUST Repository

Liu, Yang

2013-07-01

Time domain volume integral equations (TDVIEs) are useful for analyzing transient scattering from inhomogeneous dielectric objects in applications as varied as photonics, optoelectronics, and bioelectromagnetics. TDVIEs typically are solved by implicit marching-on-in-time (MOT) schemes [N. T. Gres et al., Radio Sci., 36, 379-386, 2001], requiring the solution of a system of equations at each and every time step. To reduce the computational cost associated with such schemes, [A. Al-Jarro et al., IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., 60, 5203-5215, 2012] introduced an explicit MOT-TDVIE method that uses a predictor-corrector technique to stably update field values throughout the scatterer. By leveraging memory-efficient nodal spatial discretization and scalable parallelization schemes [A. Al-Jarro et al., in 28th Int. Rev. Progress Appl. Computat. Electromagn., 2012], this solver has been successfully applied to the analysis of scattering phenomena involving 0.5 million spatial unknowns. © 2013 IEEE.

How and Why Do Number-Space Associations Co-Vary in Implicit and Explicit Magnitude Processing Tasks?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carrie Georges

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Evidence for number-space associations in implicit and explicit magnitude processing tasks comes from the parity and magnitude SNARC effect respectively. Different spatial accounts were suggested to underlie these spatial-numerical associations (SNAs with some inconsistencies in the literature. To determine whether the parity and magnitude SNAs arise from a single predominant account or task-dependent coding mechanisms, we adopted an individual differences approach to study their correlation and the extent of their association with arithmetic performance, spatial visualization ability and visualization profile. Additionally, we performed moderation analyses to determine whether the relation between these SNAs depended on individual differences in those cognitive factors. The parity and magnitude SNAs did not correlate and were differentially predicted by arithmetic performance and visualization profile respectively. These variables, however, also moderated the relation between the SNAs. While positive correlations were observed in object-visualizers with lower arithmetic performances, correlations were negative in spatial-visualizers with higher arithmetic performances. This suggests the predominance of a single account for both implicit and explicit SNAs in the two types of visualizers. However, the spatial nature of the account differs between object- and spatial-visualizers. No relation occurred in mixed-visualizers, indicating the activation of task-dependent coding mechanisms. Individual differences in arithmetic performance and visualization profile thus determined whether SNAs in implicit and explicit tasks co-varied and supposedly relied on similar or unrelated spatial coding mechanisms. This explains some inconsistencies in the literature regarding SNAs and highlights the usefulness of moderation analyses for understanding how the relation between different numerical concepts varies between individuals.

Systems Analysis of Ten Supply Chains for Whole Tree Chips

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helmer Belbo

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Whole trees from energy thinnings constitute one of many forest fuel sources, yet ten widely applied supply chains could be defined for this feedstock alone. These ten represent only a subset of the real possibilities, as felling method was held constant and only a single market (combustion of whole tree chips was considered. Stages included in-field, roadside landing, terminal, and conversion plant, and biomass states at each of these included loose whole trees, bundled whole trees or chipped material. Assumptions on prices, performances, and conversion rates were based on field trials and published literature in similar boreal forest conditions. The economic outcome was calculated on the basis of production, handling, treatment and storage costs and losses. Outcomes were tested for robustness on a range of object volumes (50–350 m3solid, extraction distances (50–550 m and transport distances (10–70 km using simulation across a set of discrete values. Transport was calculated for both a standard 19.5 m and an extended 24 m timber truck. Results showed that the most expensive chain (roadside bundling, roadside storage, terminal storage and delivery using a 19.5 m timber truck at 158 € td−1 was 23% more costly than the cheapest chain (roadside chipping and direct transport to conversion plant with container truck, at 128 € td−1. Outcomes vary at specific object volumes and transport distances, highlighting the need to verify assumptions, although standard deviations around mean supply costs for each chain were small (6%–9%. Losses at all stages were modelled, with the largest losses (23 € td−1 occurring in the chains including bundles. The study makes all methods and assumptions explicit and can assist the procurement manager in understanding the mechanisms at work.

Spatial Domain Adaptive Control of Nonlinear Rotary Systems Subject to Spatially Periodic Disturbances

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yen-Hsiu Yang

2012-01-01

Full Text Available We propose a generic spatial domain control scheme for a class of nonlinear rotary systems of variable speeds and subject to spatially periodic disturbances. The nonlinear model of the rotary system in time domain is transformed into one in spatial domain employing a coordinate transformation with respect to angular displacement. Under the circumstances that measurement of the system states is not available, a nonlinear state observer is established for providing the estimated states. A two-degree-of-freedom spatial domain control configuration is then proposed to stabilize the system and improve the tracking performance. The first control module applies adaptive backstepping with projected parametric update and concentrates on robust stabilization of the closed-loop system. The second control module introduces an internal model of the periodic disturbances cascaded with a loop-shaping filter, which not only further reduces the tracking error but also improves parametric adaptation. The overall spatial domain output feedback adaptive control system is robust to model uncertainties and state estimated error and capable of rejecting spatially periodic disturbances under varying system speeds. Stability proof of the overall system is given. A design example with simulation demonstrates the applicability of the proposed design.

Explicitly-correlated ring-coupled-cluster-doubles theory: Including exchange for computations on closed-shell systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hehn, Anna-Sophia; Holzer, Christof; Klopper, Wim, E-mail: klopper@kit.edu

2016-11-10

Highlights: • Ring-coupled-cluster-doubles approach now implemented with exchange terms. • Ring-coupled-cluster-doubles approach now implemented with F12 functions. • Szabo–Ostlund scheme (SO2) implemented for use in SAPT. • Fast convergence to the limit of a complete basis. • Implementation in the TURBOMOLE program system. - Abstract: Random-phase-approximation (RPA) methods have proven to be powerful tools in electronic-structure theory, being non-empirical, computationally efficient and broadly applicable to a variety of molecular systems including small-gap systems, transition-metal compounds and dispersion-dominated complexes. Applications are however hindered due to the slow basis-set convergence of the electron-correlation energy with the one-electron basis. As a remedy, we present approximate explicitly-correlated RPA approaches based on the ring-coupled-cluster-doubles formulation including exchange contributions. Test calculations demonstrate that the basis-set convergence of correlation energies is drastically accelerated through the explicitly-correlated approach, reaching 99% of the basis-set limit with triple-zeta basis sets. When implemented in close analogy to early work by Szabo and Ostlund [36], the new explicitly-correlated ring-coupled-cluster-doubles approach including exchange has the perspective to become a valuable tool in the framework of symmetry-adapted perturbation theory (SAPT) for the computation of dispersion energies of molecular complexes of weakly interacting closed-shell systems.

Explicit formulation for natural frequencies of double-beam system with arbitrary boundary conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mirzabeigy, Alborz; Madoliat, Reza [Iran University of Science and Technology, Narmak, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Dabbagh, Vahid [University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)

2017-02-15

In this paper, free transverse vibration of two parallel beams connected through Winkler type elastic layer is investigated. Euler- Bernoulli beam hypothesis has been applied and it is assumed that boundary conditions of upper and lower beams are similar while arbitrary without any limitation even for non-ideal boundary conditions. Material properties and cross-section geometry of beams could be different from each other. The motion of the system is described by a homogeneous set of two partial differential equations, which is solved by using the classical Bernoulli-Fourier method. Explicit expressions are derived for the natural frequencies. In order to verify accuracy of results, the problem once again solved using modified Adomian decomposition method. Comparison between results indicates excellent accuracy of proposed formulation for any arbitrary boundary conditions. Derived explicit formulation is simplest method to determine natural frequencies of double-beam systems with high level of accuracy in comparison with other methods in literature.

Coupling biophysical processes and water rights to simulate spatially distributed water use in an intensively managed hydrologic system

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Bangshuai; Benner, Shawn G.; Bolte, John P.; Vache, Kellie B.; Flores, Alejandro N.

2017-07-01

Humans have significantly altered the redistribution of water in intensively managed hydrologic systems, shifting the spatiotemporal patterns of surface water. Evaluating water availability requires integration of hydrologic processes and associated human influences. In this study, we summarize the development and evaluation of an extensible hydrologic model that explicitly integrates water rights to spatially distribute irrigation waters in a semi-arid agricultural region in the western US, using the Envision integrated modeling platform. The model captures both human and biophysical systems, particularly the diversion of water from the Boise River, which is the main water source that supports irrigated agriculture in this region. In agricultural areas, water demand is estimated as a function of crop type and local environmental conditions. Surface water to meet crop demand is diverted from the stream reaches, constrained by the amount of water available in the stream, the water-rights-appropriated amount, and the priority dates associated with particular places of use. Results, measured by flow rates at gaged stream and canal locations within the study area, suggest that the impacts of irrigation activities on the magnitude and timing of flows through this intensively managed system are well captured. The multi-year averaged diverted water from the Boise River matches observations well, reflecting the appropriation of water according to the water rights database. Because of the spatially explicit implementation of surface water diversion, the model can help diagnose places and times where water resources are likely insufficient to meet agricultural water demands, and inform future water management decisions.

The Future Role of GIS Education in Creating Critical Spatial Thinkers

Science.gov (United States)

Bearman, Nick; Jones, Nick; André, Isabel; Cachinho, Herculano Alberto; DeMers, Michael

2016-01-01

Teaching of critical spatial thinking in higher education empowers graduates to effectively engage with spatial data. Geographic information systems (GIS) and science are taught to undergraduates across many disciplines; we evaluate how this contributes to critical spatial thinking. The discipline of GIS covers the whole process of spatial…

Reconstructing satellite images to quantify spatially explicit land surface change caused by fires and succession: A demonstration in the Yukon River Basin of interior Alaska

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Shengli; Jin, Suming; Dahal, Devendra; Chen, Xuexia; Young, Claudia; Liu, Heping; Liu, Shuguang

2013-01-01

Land surface change caused by fires and succession is confounded by many site-specific factors and requires further study. The objective of this study was to reveal the spatially explicit land surface change by minimizing the confounding factors of weather variability, seasonal offset, topography, land cover, and drainage. In a pilot study of the Yukon River Basin of interior Alaska, we retrieved Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), albedo, and land surface temperature (LST) from a postfire Landsat image acquired on August 5th, 2004. With a Landsat reference image acquired on June 26th, 1986, we reconstructed NDVI, albedo, and LST of 1987–2004 fire scars for August 5th, 2004, assuming that these fires had not occurred. The difference between actual postfire and assuming-no-fire scenarios depicted the fires and succession impact. Our results demonstrated the following: (1) NDVI showed an immediate decrease after burning but gradually recovered to prefire levels in the following years, in which burn severity might play an important role during this process; (2) Albedo showed an immediate decrease after burning but then recovered and became higher than prefire levels; and (3) Most fires caused surface warming, but cooler surfaces did exist; time-since-fire affected the prefire and postfire LST difference but no absolute trend could be found. Our approach provided spatially explicit land surface change rather than average condition, enabling a better understanding of fires and succession impact on ecological consequences at the pixel level.

"Tacit Knowledge" versus "Explicit Knowledge"

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sanchez, Ron

creators and carriers. By contrast, the explicit knowledge approach emphasizes processes for articulating knowledge held by individuals, the design of organizational approaches for creating new knowledge, and the development of systems (including information systems) to disseminate articulated knowledge...

Parallel PWTD-Accelerated Explicit Solution of the Time Domain Electric Field Volume Integral Equation

KAUST Repository

Liu, Yang

2016-03-25

A parallel plane-wave time-domain (PWTD)-accelerated explicit marching-on-in-time (MOT) scheme for solving the time domain electric field volume integral equation (TD-EFVIE) is presented. The proposed scheme leverages pulse functions and Lagrange polynomials to spatially and temporally discretize the electric flux density induced throughout the scatterers, and a finite difference scheme to compute the electric fields from the Hertz electric vector potentials radiated by the flux density. The flux density is explicitly updated during time marching by a predictor-corrector (PC) scheme and the vector potentials are efficiently computed by a scalar PWTD scheme. The memory requirement and computational complexity of the resulting explicit PWTD-PC-EFVIE solver scale as ( log ) s s O N N and ( ) s t O N N , respectively. Here, s N is the number of spatial basis functions and t N is the number of time steps. A scalable parallelization of the proposed MOT scheme on distributed- memory CPU clusters is described. The efficiency, accuracy, and applicability of the resulting (parallelized) PWTD-PC-EFVIE solver are demonstrated via its application to the analysis of transient electromagnetic wave interactions on canonical and real-life scatterers represented with up to 25 million spatial discretization elements.

Parallel PWTD-Accelerated Explicit Solution of the Time Domain Electric Field Volume Integral Equation

KAUST Repository

Liu, Yang; Al-Jarro, Ahmed; Bagci, Hakan; Michielssen, Eric

2016-01-01

A parallel plane-wave time-domain (PWTD)-accelerated explicit marching-on-in-time (MOT) scheme for solving the time domain electric field volume integral equation (TD-EFVIE) is presented. The proposed scheme leverages pulse functions and Lagrange polynomials to spatially and temporally discretize the electric flux density induced throughout the scatterers, and a finite difference scheme to compute the electric fields from the Hertz electric vector potentials radiated by the flux density. The flux density is explicitly updated during time marching by a predictor-corrector (PC) scheme and the vector potentials are efficiently computed by a scalar PWTD scheme. The memory requirement and computational complexity of the resulting explicit PWTD-PC-EFVIE solver scale as ( log ) s s O N N and ( ) s t O N N , respectively. Here, s N is the number of spatial basis functions and t N is the number of time steps. A scalable parallelization of the proposed MOT scheme on distributed- memory CPU clusters is described. The efficiency, accuracy, and applicability of the resulting (parallelized) PWTD-PC-EFVIE solver are demonstrated via its application to the analysis of transient electromagnetic wave interactions on canonical and real-life scatterers represented with up to 25 million spatial discretization elements.

An Efficient Explicit Finite-Difference Scheme for Simulating Coupled Biomass Growth on Nutritive Substrates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. F. Sun

2015-01-01

Full Text Available A novel explicit finite-difference (FD method is presented to simulate the positive and bounded development process of a microbial colony subjected to a substrate of nutrients, which is governed by a nonlinear parabolic partial differential equations (PDE system. Our explicit FD scheme is uniquely designed in such a way that it transfers the nonlinear terms in the original PDE into discrete sets of linear ones in the algebraic equation system that can be solved very efficiently, while ensuring the stability and the boundedness of the solution. This is achieved through (1 a proper design of intertwined FD approximations for the diffusion function term in both time and spatial variations and (2 the control of the time-step through establishing theoretical stability criteria. A detailed theoretical stability analysis is conducted to reveal that our FD method is indeed stable. Our examples verified the fact that the numerical solution can be ensured nonnegative and bounded to simulate the actual physics. Numerical examples have also been presented to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed scheme. The present scheme is applicable for solving similar systems of PDEs in the investigation of the dynamics of biological films.

Making context explicit for explanation and incremental knowledge acquisition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brezillon, P. [Univ. Paris (France)

1996-12-31

Intelligent systems may be improved by making context explicit in problem solving. This is a lesson drawn from a study of the reasons why a number of knowledge-based systems (KBSs) failed. We discuss the interest to make context explicit in explanation generation and incremental knowledge acquisition, two important aspects of intelligent systems that aim to cooperate with users. We show how context can be used to better explain and incrementally acquire knowledge. The advantages of using context in explanation and incremental knowledge acquisition are discussed through SEPIT, an expert system for supporting diagnosis and explanation through simulation of power plants. We point out how the limitations of such systems may be overcome by making context explicit.

Explicit dissipative structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roessler, O.E.

1987-01-01

Dissipative structures consisting of a few macrovariables arise out of a sea of reversible microvariables. Unexpected residual effects of the massive underlying reversibility, on the macrolevel, cannot therefore be excluded. In the age of molecular-dynamics simulations, explicit dissipative structures like excitable systems (explicit observers) can be generated in a computer from first reversible principles. A class of classical, 1-D Hamiltonian systems of chaotic type is considered which has the asset that the trajectorial behavior in phase space can be understood geometrically. If, as nuatural, the number of particle types is much smaller than that of particles, the Gibbs symmetry must be taken into account. The permutation invariance drastically changes the behavior in phase space (quasi-periodization). The explicity observer becomes effectively reversible on a short time scale. In consequence, his ability to measure microscopic motions is suspended in a characteristic fashion. Unlike quantum mechanics whose holistic nature cannot be transcended, the present holistic (internal-interface) effects - mimicking the former to some extent - can be understood fully in principle

Evaluation of conventional imaging performance in a research whole-body CT system with a photon-counting detector array.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Zhicong; Leng, Shuai; Jorgensen, Steven M; Li, Zhoubo; Gutjahr, Ralf; Chen, Baiyu; Halaweish, Ahmed F; Kappler, Steffen; Yu, Lifeng; Ritman, Erik L; McCollough, Cynthia H

2016-02-21

This study evaluated the conventional imaging performance of a research whole-body photon-counting CT system and investigated its feasibility for imaging using clinically realistic levels of x-ray photon flux. This research system was built on the platform of a 2nd generation dual-source CT system: one source coupled to an energy integrating detector (EID) and the other coupled to a photon-counting detector (PCD). Phantom studies were conducted to measure CT number accuracy and uniformity for water, CT number energy dependency for high-Z materials, spatial resolution, noise, and contrast-to-noise ratio. The results from the EID and PCD subsystems were compared. The impact of high photon flux, such as pulse pile-up, was assessed by studying the noise-to-tube-current relationship using a neonate water phantom and high x-ray photon flux. Finally, clinical feasibility of the PCD subsystem was investigated using anthropomorphic phantoms, a cadaveric head, and a whole-body cadaver, which were scanned at dose levels equivalent to or higher than those used clinically. Phantom measurements demonstrated that the PCD subsystem provided comparable image quality to the EID subsystem, except that the PCD subsystem provided slightly better longitudinal spatial resolution and about 25% improvement in contrast-to-noise ratio for iodine. The impact of high photon flux was found to be negligible for the PCD subsystem: only subtle high-flux effects were noticed for tube currents higher than 300 mA in images of the neonate water phantom. Results of the anthropomorphic phantom and cadaver scans demonstrated comparable image quality between the EID and PCD subsystems. There were no noticeable ring, streaking, or cupping/capping artifacts in the PCD images. In addition, the PCD subsystem provided spectral information. Our experiments demonstrated that the research whole-body photon-counting CT system is capable of providing clinical image quality at clinically realistic levels of x

Evaluation of conventional imaging performance in a research whole-body CT system with a photon-counting detector array

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu, Zhicong; Leng, Shuai; Li, Zhoubo; Chen, Baiyu; Yu, Lifeng; McCollough, Cynthia H; Jorgensen, Steven M; Ritman, Erik L; Gutjahr, Ralf; Kappler, Steffen; Halaweish, Ahmed F

2016-01-01

This study evaluated the conventional imaging performance of a research whole-body photon-counting CT system and investigated its feasibility for imaging using clinically realistic levels of x-ray photon flux. This research system was built on the platform of a 2nd generation dual-source CT system: one source coupled to an energy integrating detector (EID) and the other coupled to a photon-counting detector (PCD). Phantom studies were conducted to measure CT number accuracy and uniformity for water, CT number energy dependency for high-Z materials, spatial resolution, noise, and contrast-to-noise ratio. The results from the EID and PCD subsystems were compared. The impact of high photon flux, such as pulse pile-up, was assessed by studying the noise-to-tube-current relationship using a neonate water phantom and high x-ray photon flux. Finally, clinical feasibility of the PCD subsystem was investigated using anthropomorphic phantoms, a cadaveric head, and a whole-body cadaver, which were scanned at dose levels equivalent to or higher than those used clinically. Phantom measurements demonstrated that the PCD subsystem provided comparable image quality to the EID subsystem, except that the PCD subsystem provided slightly better longitudinal spatial resolution and about 25% improvement in contrast-to-noise ratio for iodine. The impact of high photon flux was found to be negligible for the PCD subsystem: only subtle high-flux effects were noticed for tube currents higher than 300 mA in images of the neonate water phantom. Results of the anthropomorphic phantom and cadaver scans demonstrated comparable image quality between the EID and PCD subsystems. There were no noticeable ring, streaking, or cupping/capping artifacts in the PCD images. In addition, the PCD subsystem provided spectral information. Our experiments demonstrated that the research whole-body photon-counting CT system is capable of providing clinical image quality at clinically realistic levels of x

High spatial resolution whole-body MR angiography featuring parallel imaging: initial experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quick, H.H.; Vogt, F.M.; Madewald, S.; Herborn, C.U.; Bosk, S.; Goehde, S.; Debatin, J.F.; Ladd, M.E.

2004-01-01

Materials and methods: whole-body multi-station MRA was performed with a rolling table platform (AngioSURF) on 5 volunteers in two imaging series: 1) standard imaging protocol, 2) modified high-resolution protocol employing PAT using the generalized autocalibrating partially parallel acquisitions (GRAPPA) algorithm with an acceleration factor of 3. For an intra-individual comparison of the two MR examinations, the arterial vasculature was divided into 30 segments. Signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR) were calculated for all 30 arterial segments of each subject. Vessel segment depiction was qualitatively assessed applying a 5-point scale to each of the segments. Image reconstruction times were recorded for the standard as well as the PAT protocol. Results: compared to the standard protocol, PAT allowed for increased spatial resolution through a 3-fold reduction in mean voxel size for each of the 5 stations. Mean SNR and CNR values over all specified vessel segments decreased by a factor of 1.58 and 1.56, respectively. Despite the reduced SNR and CNR, the depiction of all specified vessel segments increased in PAT images, reflecting the increased spatial resolution. Qualitative comparison of standard and PAT images showed an increase in vessel segment conspicuity with more detailed depiction of intramuscular arterial branches in all volunteers. The time for image data reconstruction of all 5 stations was significantly increased from about 10 minutes to 40 minutes when using the PAT acquisition. (orig.) [de

Age effects on explicit and implicit memory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emma eWard

2013-09-01

Full Text Available It is well documented that explicit memory (e.g., recognition declines with age. In contrast, many argue that implicit memory (e.g., priming is preserved in healthy aging. For example, priming on tasks such as perceptual identification is often not statistically different in groups of young and older adults. Such observations are commonly taken as evidence for distinct explicit and implicit learning/memory systems. In this article we discuss several lines of evidence that challenge this view. We describe how patterns of differential age-related decline may arise from differences in the ways in which the two forms of memory are commonly measured, and review recent research suggesting that under improved measurement methods, implicit memory is not age-invariant. Formal computational models are of considerable utility in revealing the nature of underlying systems. We report the results of applying single and multiple-systems models to data on age effects in implicit and explicit memory. Model comparison clearly favours the single-system view. Implications for the memory systems debate are discussed.

Age effects on explicit and implicit memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Ward, Emma V; Berry, Christopher J; Shanks, David R

2013-01-01

It is well-documented that explicit memory (e.g., recognition) declines with age. In contrast, many argue that implicit memory (e.g., priming) is preserved in healthy aging. For example, priming on tasks such as perceptual identification is often not statistically different in groups of young and older adults. Such observations are commonly taken as evidence for distinct explicit and implicit learning/memory systems. In this article we discuss several lines of evidence that challenge this view. We describe how patterns of differential age-related decline may arise from differences in the ways in which the two forms of memory are commonly measured, and review recent research suggesting that under improved measurement methods, implicit memory is not age-invariant. Formal computational models are of considerable utility in revealing the nature of underlying systems. We report the results of applying single and multiple-systems models to data on age effects in implicit and explicit memory. Model comparison clearly favors the single-system view. Implications for the memory systems debate are discussed.

Sleep-effects on implicit and explicit memory in repeated visual search.

Science.gov (United States)

Geyer, Thomas; Mueller, Hermann J; Assumpcao, Leonardo; Gais, Steffen

2013-01-01

In repeated visual search tasks, facilitation of reaction times (RTs) due to repetition of the spatial arrangement of items occurs independently of RT facilitation due to improvements in general task performance. Whereas the latter represents typical procedural learning, the former is a kind of implicit memory that depends on the medial temporal lobe (MTL) memory system and is impaired in patients with amnesia. A third type of memory that develops during visual search is the observers' explicit knowledge of repeated displays. Here, we used a visual search task to investigate whether procedural memory, implicit contextual cueing, and explicit knowledge of repeated configurations, which all arise independently from the same set of stimuli, are influenced by sleep. Observers participated in two experimental sessions, separated by either a nap or a controlled rest period. In each of the two sessions, they performed a visual search task in combination with an explicit recognition task. We found that (1) across sessions, MTL-independent procedural learning was more pronounced for the nap than rest group. This confirms earlier findings, albeit from different motor and perceptual tasks, showing that procedural memory can benefit from sleep. (2) Likewise, the sleep group compared with the rest group showed enhanced context-dependent configural learning in the second session. This is a novel finding, indicating that the MTL-dependent, implicit memory underlying contextual cueing is also sleep-dependent. (3) By contrast, sleep and wake groups displayed equivalent improvements in explicit recognition memory in the second session. Overall, the current study shows that sleep affects MTL-dependent as well as MTL-independent memory, but it affects different, albeit simultaneously acquired, forms of MTL-dependent memory differentially.

Reconstructing the 2003/2004 H3N2 influenza epidemic in Switzerland with a spatially explicit, individual-based model

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background Simulation models of influenza spread play an important role for pandemic preparedness. However, as the world has not faced a severe pandemic for decades, except the rather mild H1N1 one in 2009, pandemic influenza models are inherently hypothetical and validation is, thus, difficult. We aim at reconstructing a recent seasonal influenza epidemic that occurred in Switzerland and deem this to be a promising validation strategy for models of influenza spread. Methods We present a spatially explicit, individual-based simulation model of influenza spread. The simulation model bases upon (i) simulated human travel data, (ii) data on human contact patterns and (iii) empirical knowledge on the epidemiology of influenza. For model validation we compare the simulation outcomes with empirical knowledge regarding (i) the shape of the epidemic curve, overall infection rate and reproduction number, (ii) age-dependent infection rates and time of infection, (iii) spatial patterns. Results The simulation model is capable of reproducing the shape of the 2003/2004 H3N2 epidemic curve of Switzerland and generates an overall infection rate (14.9 percent) and reproduction numbers (between 1.2 and 1.3), which are realistic for seasonal influenza epidemics. Age and spatial patterns observed in empirical data are also reflected by the model: Highest infection rates are in children between 5 and 14 and the disease spreads along the main transport axes from west to east. Conclusions We show that finding evidence for the validity of simulation models of influenza spread by challenging them with seasonal influenza outbreak data is possible and promising. Simulation models for pandemic spread gain more credibility if they are able to reproduce seasonal influenza outbreaks. For more robust modelling of seasonal influenza, serological data complementing sentinel information would be beneficial. PMID:21554680

Preserved memory-based orienting of attention with impaired explicit memory in healthy ageing.

OpenAIRE

Salvato, G; Patai, EZ; Nobre, AC

2015-01-01

It is increasingly recognised that spatial contextual long-term memory (LTM) prepares neural activity for guiding visuo-spatial attention in a proactive manner. In the current study, we investigated whether the decline in explicit memory observed in healthy ageing would compromise this mechanism. We compared the behavioural performance of younger and older participants on learning new contextual memories, on orienting visual attention based on these learnt contextual associations, and on expl...

Spatially explicit simulation of peatland hydrology and carbon dioxide exchange: Influence of mesoscale topography

Science.gov (United States)

Sonnentag, O.; Chen, J. M.; Roulet, N. T.; Ju, W.; Govind, A.

2008-06-01

Carbon dynamics in peatlands are controlled, in large part, by their wetness as defined by water table depth and volumetric liquid soil moisture content. A common type of peatland is raised bogs that typically have a multiple-layer canopy of vascular plants over a Sphagnum moss ground cover. Their convex form restricts water supply to precipitation and water is shed toward the margins, usually by lateral subsurface flow. The hydraulic gradient for lateral subsurface flow is governed by the peat surface topography at the mesoscale (˜200 m to 5 km). To investigate the influence of mesoscale topography on wetness, evapotranspiration (ET), and gross primary productivity (GPP) in a bog during the snow-free period, we compare the outputs of a further developed version of the daily Boreal Ecosystem Productivity Simulator (BEPS) with observations made at the Mer Bleue peatland, located near Ottawa, Canada. Explicitly considering mesoscale topography, simulated total ET and GPP correlate well with measured ET (r = 0.91) and derived gross ecosystem productivity (GEP; r = 0.92). Both measured ET and derived GEP are simulated similarly well when mesoscale topography is neglected, but daily simulated values are systematically underestimated by about 10% and 12% on average, respectively, due to greater wetness resulting from the lack of lateral subsurface flow. Owing to the differences in moss surface conductances of water vapor and carbon dioxide with increasing moss water content, the differences in the spatial patterns of simulated total ET and GPP are controlled by the mesotopographic position of the moss ground cover.

Modelling Spatial Interactions in the Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Symbiosis using the Calculus of Wrapped Compartments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristina Calcagno

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM is the most wide-spread plant-fungus symbiosis on earth. Investigating this kind of symbiosis is considered one of the most promising ways to develop methods to nurture plants in more natural manners, avoiding the complex chemical productions used nowadays to produce artificial fertilizers. In previous work we used the Calculus of Wrapped Compartments (CWC to investigate different phases of the AM symbiosis. In this paper, we continue this line of research by modelling the colonisation of the plant root cells by the fungal hyphae spreading in the soil. This study requires the description of some spatial interaction. Although CWC has no explicit feature modelling a spatial geometry, the compartment labelling feature can be effectively exploited to define a discrete surface topology outlining the relevant sectors which determine the spatial properties of the system under consideration. Different situations and interesting spatial properties can be modelled and analysed in such a lightweight framework (which has not an explicit notion of geometry with coordinates and spatial metrics, thus exploiting the existing CWC simulation tool.

Spatially explicit exposure assessment for small streams in catchments of the orchard growing region `Lake Constance

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Golla, B.; Bach, M.; Krumpe, J.

2009-04-01

1. Introduction Small streams differ greatly from the standardised water body used in the context of aquatic risk assessment for the regulation of plant protection products in Germany. The standard water body is static, with a depth of 0.3 m and a width of 1.0 m. No dilution or water replacement takes place. Spray drift happens always in direction to the water body. There is no variability in drift deposition rate (90th percentile spray drift deposition values [2]). There is no spray drift filtering by vegetation. The application takes place directly adjacent to the water body. In order to establish a more realistic risk assessment procedure the Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) and the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) aggreed to replace deterministic assumptions with data distributions and spatially explicit data and introduce probabilistic methods [3, 4, 5]. To consider the spatial and temporal variability in the exposure situations of small streams the hydraulic and morphological characteristics of catchments need to be described as well as the spatial distribution of fields treated with pesticides. As small streams are the dominant type of water body in most German orchard regions, we use the growing region Lake Constance as pilot region. 2. Materials and methods During field surveys we derive basic morphological parameters for small streams in the Lake Constance region. The mean water width/depth ratio is 13 with a mean depth of 0.12 m. The average residence time is 5.6 s/m (n=87) [1]. Orchards are mostly located in the upper parts of the catchments. Based on an authoritative dataset on rivers and streams of Germany (ATKIS DLM25) we constructed a directed network topology for the Lake Constance region. The gradient of the riverbed is calculated for river stretches of > 500 m length. The network for the pilot region consists of 2000 km rivers and streams. 500 km stream length are located within a distance of 150 m to orchards. Within

Dissociation of spatial memory systems in Williams syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Bostelmann, Mathilde; Fragnière, Emilie; Costanzo, Floriana; Di Vara, Silvia; Menghini, Deny; Vicari, Stefano; Lavenex, Pierre; Lavenex, Pamela Banta

2017-11-01

Williams syndrome (WS), a genetic deletion syndrome, is characterized by severe visuospatial deficits affecting performance on both tabletop spatial tasks and on tasks which assess orientation and navigation. Nevertheless, previous studies of WS spatial capacities have ignored the fact that two different spatial memory systems are believed to contribute parallel spatial representations supporting navigation. The place learning system depends on the hippocampal formation and creates flexible relational representations of the environment, also known as cognitive maps. The spatial response learning system depends on the striatum and creates fixed stimulus-response representations, also known as habits. Indeed, no study assessing WS spatial competence has used tasks which selectively target these two spatial memory systems. Here, we report that individuals with WS exhibit a dissociation in their spatial abilities subserved by these two memory systems. As compared to typically developing (TD) children in the same mental age range, place learning performance was impaired in individuals with WS. In contrast, their spatial response learning performance was facilitated. Our findings in individuals with WS and TD children suggest that place learning and response learning interact competitively to control the behavioral strategies normally used to support human spatial navigation. Our findings further suggest that the neural pathways supporting place learning may be affected by the genetic deletion that characterizes WS, whereas those supporting response learning may be relatively preserved. The dissociation observed between these two spatial memory systems provides a coherent theoretical framework to characterize the spatial abilities of individuals with WS, and may lead to the development of new learning strategies based on their facilitated response learning abilities. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

An effect of age on implicit memory that is not due to explicit contamination: implications for single and multiple-systems theories.

Science.gov (United States)

Ward, Emma V; Berry, Christopher J; Shanks, David R

2013-06-01

Recognition memory is typically weaker in healthy older relative to young adults, while performance on implicit tests (e.g., repetition priming) is often comparable between groups. Such observations are commonly taken as evidence for independent explicit and implicit memory systems. On a picture version of the continuous identification with recognition (CID-R) task, we found a reliable age-related reduction in recognition memory, while the age effect on priming did not reach statistical significance (Experiment 1). This pattern was consistent with the predictions of a formal single-system model. Experiment 2 replicated these observations using separate priming (continuous identification; CID) and recognition phases, while a combined data analysis revealed a significant effect of age on priming. In Experiment 3, we provide evidence that priming in this task is unaffected by explicit processing, and we conclude that the age difference in priming is unlikely to have been driven by differences in explicit processing between groups of young and older adults ("explicit contamination"). The results support the view that explicit and implicit expressions of memory are driven by a single underlying memory system. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Modeling Agricultural Watersheds with the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT): Calibration and Validation with a Novel Procedure for Spatially Explicit HRUs.

Science.gov (United States)

Teshager, Awoke Dagnew; Gassman, Philip W; Secchi, Silvia; Schoof, Justin T; Misgna, Girmaye

2016-04-01

Applications of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model typically involve delineation of a watershed into subwatersheds/subbasins that are then further subdivided into hydrologic response units (HRUs) which are homogeneous areas of aggregated soil, landuse, and slope and are the smallest modeling units used within the model. In a given standard SWAT application, multiple potential HRUs (farm fields) in a subbasin are usually aggregated into a single HRU feature. In other words, the standard version of the model combines multiple potential HRUs (farm fields) with the same landuse/landcover, soil, and slope, but located at different places of a subbasin (spatially non-unique), and considers them as one HRU. In this study, ArcGIS pre-processing procedures were developed to spatially define a one-to-one match between farm fields and HRUs (spatially unique HRUs) within a subbasin prior to SWAT simulations to facilitate input processing, input/output mapping, and further analysis at the individual farm field level. Model input data such as landuse/landcover (LULC), soil, crop rotation, and other management data were processed through these HRUs. The SWAT model was then calibrated/validated for Raccoon River watershed in Iowa for 2002-2010 and Big Creek River watershed in Illinois for 2000-2003. SWAT was able to replicate annual, monthly, and daily streamflow, as well as sediment, nitrate and mineral phosphorous within recommended accuracy in most cases. The one-to-one match between farm fields and HRUs created and used in this study is a first step in performing LULC change, climate change impact, and other analyses in a more spatially explicit manner.

Development of a new extracorporeal whole-liver perfusion system.

Science.gov (United States)

Naruse, Katsutoshi; Sakai, Yasuyuki; Guo, Lei; Natori, Takeshi; Shindoh, Junichi; Karasawa, Yasuaki; Iida, Yuhki; Kojima, Kentaro; Michishita, Kazuya; Makuuchi, Masatoshi

2003-01-01

We have developed a new extracorporeal whole-liver accommodation device in which a whole swine liver is placed in a physiological state by modeling the intraabdominal arrangement in the pig body, with the liver supported by a special inferior vena cava tube. Furthermore, we employed a diaphragm-type artificial heart in our system to produce pulsatile blood flow through the hepatic artery, which is considered to be indispensable to dilate peripheral vessels and supply oxygenated whole blood to the peripheral liver tissue. Beneficial effects were demonstrated in visual findings and bile juice secretion. The color of the liver surface in our system remained bright red, indicating that the liver vessels were well drained and free from congestion, and bile juice secretion was maintained at more than 10 ml/h throughout the perfusion period. Our system exhibited excellent ammonia removal and urea nitrogen synthesis, and serum aspartate aminotransferase levels showed no increase, indicating the absence of hepatocyte destruction. Histological findings showed that the liver could expand appropriately and was free from compression caused by its own weight. In conclusion, our original liver accommodation device enabled appropriate expansion of the whole liver and supplied adequate oxygenated blood to peripheral areas by means of a pulsatile pump.

The importance of spatial fishing behavior for coral reef resilience

Science.gov (United States)

Rassweiler, A.; Lauer, M.; Holbrook, S. J.

2016-02-01

Coral reefs are dynamic systems in which disturbances periodically reduce coral cover but are normally followed by recovery of the coral community. However, human activity may have reduced this resilience to disturbance in many coral reef systems, as an increasing number of reefs have undergone persistent transitions from coral-dominated to macroalgal-dominated community states. Fishing on herbivores may be one cause of reduced reef resilience, as lower herbivory can make it easier for macroalgae to become established after a disturbance. Despite the acknowledged importance of fishing, relatively little attention has been paid to the potential for feedbacks between ecosystem state and fisher behavior. Here we couple methods from environmental anthropology and ecology to explore these feedbacks between small-scale fisheries and coral reefs in Moorea, French Polynesia. We document how aspects of ecological state such as the abundance of macroalgae affect people's preference for fishing in particular lagoon habitats. We then incorporate biases towards fishing in certain ecological states into a spatially explicit bio-economic model of ecological dynamics and fishing in Moorea's lagoons. We find that feedbacks between spatial fishing behavior and ecological state can have critical effects on coral reefs. Presence of these spatial behaviors consistently leads to more coherence across the reef-scape. However, whether this coherence manifests as increased resilience or increased fragility depends on the spatial scales of fisher movement and the magnitudes of disturbance. These results emphasize the potential importance of spatially-explicit fishing behavior for reef resilience, but also the complexity of the feedbacks involved.

Environmental sustainability analysis of UK whole-wheat bioethanol and CHP systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martinez-Hernandez, Elias; Ibrahim, Muhammad H.; Leach, Matthew; Sinclair, Phillip; Campbell, Grant M.; Sadhukhan, Jhuma

2013-01-01

The UK whole-wheat bioethanol and straw and DDGS-based combined heat and power (CHP) generation systems were assessed for environmental sustainability using a range of impact categories or characterisations (IC): cumulative primary fossil energy (CPE), land use, life cycle global warming potential over 100 years (GWP 100 ), acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential (EP) and abiotic resources use (ARU). The European Union (EU) Renewable Energy Directive's target of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission saving of 60% in comparison to an equivalent fossil-based system by 2020 seems to be very challenging for stand-alone wheat bioethanol system. However, the whole-wheat integrated system, wherein the CHP from the excess straw grown in the same season and from the same land is utilised in the wheat bioethanol plant, can be demonstrated for potential sustainability improvement, achieving 85% emission reduction and 97% CPE saving compared to reference fossil systems. The net bioenergy from this system and from 172,370 ha of grade 3 land is 12.1 PJ y −1 providing land to energy yield of 70 GJ ha −1 y −1 . The use of DDGS as an animal feed replacing soy meal incurs environmental emission credit, whilst its use in heat or CHP generation saves CPE. The hot spots in whole system identified under each impact category are as follows: bioethanol plant and wheat cultivation for CPE (50% and 48%), as well as for ARU (46% and 52%). EP and GWP 100 are distributed among wheat cultivation (49% and 37%), CHP plant (26% and 30%) and bioethanol plant (25%, and 33%), respectively. -- Highlights: ► UK whole-wheat energy system can achieve 85% GHG emission reduction. ► UK whole-wheat energy system can achieve 97% primary energy saving. ► The land to energy yield of the UK whole-wheat system is 70 GJ ha −1 y −1 . ► Fertiliser production is the hotspot. ► DDGS and straw-based CHP system integration to wheat bioethanol is feasible

A GIS based spatially-explicit sensitivity and uncertainty analysis approach for multi-criteria decision analysis☆

Science.gov (United States)

Feizizadeh, Bakhtiar; Jankowski, Piotr; Blaschke, Thomas

2014-01-01

GIS multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) techniques are increasingly used in landslide susceptibility mapping for the prediction of future hazards, land use planning, as well as for hazard preparedness. However, the uncertainties associated with MCDA techniques are inevitable and model outcomes are open to multiple types of uncertainty. In this paper, we present a systematic approach to uncertainty and sensitivity analysis. We access the uncertainty of landslide susceptibility maps produced with GIS-MCDA techniques. A new spatially-explicit approach and Dempster–Shafer Theory (DST) are employed to assess the uncertainties associated with two MCDA techniques, namely Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) and Ordered Weighted Averaging (OWA) implemented in GIS. The methodology is composed of three different phases. First, weights are computed to express the relative importance of factors (criteria) for landslide susceptibility. Next, the uncertainty and sensitivity of landslide susceptibility is analyzed as a function of weights using Monte Carlo Simulation and Global Sensitivity Analysis. Finally, the results are validated using a landslide inventory database and by applying DST. The comparisons of the obtained landslide susceptibility maps of both MCDA techniques with known landslides show that the AHP outperforms OWA. However, the OWA-generated landslide susceptibility map shows lower uncertainty than the AHP-generated map. The results demonstrate that further improvement in the accuracy of GIS-based MCDA can be achieved by employing an integrated uncertainty–sensitivity analysis approach, in which the uncertainty of landslide susceptibility model is decomposed and attributed to model's criteria weights. PMID:25843987

A GIS based spatially-explicit sensitivity and uncertainty analysis approach for multi-criteria decision analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Feizizadeh, Bakhtiar; Jankowski, Piotr; Blaschke, Thomas

2014-03-01

GIS multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) techniques are increasingly used in landslide susceptibility mapping for the prediction of future hazards, land use planning, as well as for hazard preparedness. However, the uncertainties associated with MCDA techniques are inevitable and model outcomes are open to multiple types of uncertainty. In this paper, we present a systematic approach to uncertainty and sensitivity analysis. We access the uncertainty of landslide susceptibility maps produced with GIS-MCDA techniques. A new spatially-explicit approach and Dempster-Shafer Theory (DST) are employed to assess the uncertainties associated with two MCDA techniques, namely Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) and Ordered Weighted Averaging (OWA) implemented in GIS. The methodology is composed of three different phases. First, weights are computed to express the relative importance of factors (criteria) for landslide susceptibility. Next, the uncertainty and sensitivity of landslide susceptibility is analyzed as a function of weights using Monte Carlo Simulation and Global Sensitivity Analysis. Finally, the results are validated using a landslide inventory database and by applying DST. The comparisons of the obtained landslide susceptibility maps of both MCDA techniques with known landslides show that the AHP outperforms OWA. However, the OWA-generated landslide susceptibility map shows lower uncertainty than the AHP-generated map. The results demonstrate that further improvement in the accuracy of GIS-based MCDA can be achieved by employing an integrated uncertainty-sensitivity analysis approach, in which the uncertainty of landslide susceptibility model is decomposed and attributed to model's criteria weights.

Cholera in the Lake Kivu region (DRC): Integrating remote sensing and spatially explicit epidemiological modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Finger, Flavio; Knox, Allyn; Bertuzzo, Enrico; Mari, Lorenzo; Bompangue, Didier; Gatto, Marino; Rodriguez-Iturbe, Ignacio; Rinaldo, Andrea

2014-07-01

Mathematical models of cholera dynamics can not only help in identifying environmental drivers and processes that influence disease transmission, but may also represent valuable tools for the prediction of the epidemiological patterns in time and space as well as for the allocation of health care resources. Cholera outbreaks have been reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since the 1970s. They have been ravaging the shore of Lake Kivu in the east of the country repeatedly during the last decades. Here we employ a spatially explicit, inhomogeneous Markov chain model to describe cholera incidence in eight health zones on the shore of the lake. Remotely sensed data sets of chlorophyll a concentration in the lake, precipitation and indices of global climate anomalies are used as environmental drivers in addition to baseline seasonality. The effect of human mobility is also modelled mechanistically. We test several models on a multiyear data set of reported cholera cases. The best fourteen models, accounting for different environmental drivers, and selected using the Akaike information criterion, are formally compared via proper cross validation. Among these, the one accounting for seasonality, El Niño Southern Oscillation, precipitation and human mobility outperforms the others in cross validation. Some drivers (such as human mobility and rainfall) are retained only by a few models, possibly indicating that the mechanisms through which they influence cholera dynamics in the area will have to be investigated further.

Large scale spatially explicit modeling of blue and green water dynamics in a temperate mid-latitude basin

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Liuying; Rajib, Adnan; Merwade, Venkatesh

2018-07-01

Looking only at climate change impacts provides partial information about a changing hydrologic regime. Understanding the spatio-temporal nature of change in hydrologic processes, and the explicit contributions from both climate and land use drivers, holds more practical value for water resources management and policy intervention. This study presents a comprehensive assessment on the spatio-temporal trend of Blue Water (BW) and Green Water (GW) in a 490,000 km2 temperate mid-latitude basin (Ohio River Basin) over the past 80 years (1935-2014), and from thereon, quantifies the combined as well as relative contributions of climate and land use changes. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is adopted to simulate hydrologic fluxes. Mann-Kendall and Theil-Sen statistical tests are performed on the modeled outputs to detect respectively the trend and magnitude of changes at three different spatial scales - the entire basin, regional level, and sub-basin level. Despite the overall volumetric increase of both BW and GW in the entire basin, changes in their annual average values during the period of simulation reveal a distinctive spatial pattern. GW has increased significantly in the upper and lower parts of the basin, which can be related to the prominent land use change in those areas. BW has increased significantly only in the lower part, likely being associated with the notable precipitation change there. Furthermore, the simulation under a time-varying climate but constant land use scenario identifies climate change in the Ohio River Basin to be influential on BW, while the impact is relatively nominal on GW; whereas, land use change increases GW remarkably, but is counterproductive on BW. The approach to quantify combined/relative effects of climate and land use change as shown in this study can be replicated to understand BW-GW dynamics in similar large basins around the globe.

Abnormalities in gray and white matter volumes associated with explicit memory dysfunction in patients with generalized anxiety disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Moon, Chung-Man; Jeong, Gwang-Woo

2017-03-01

Background The neuroanatomical abnormalities associated with behavioral dysfunction on explicit memory in patients generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) have not yet been clearly identified. Purpose To investigate the regional gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) volume alterations over the whole brain in patients with GAD, as well as the correlation between the brain structural abnormality and explicit memory dysfunction. Material and Methods Twenty patients with GAD and 20 healthy controls matched for age, sex, and education level underwent high-resolution T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The participants performed the explicit memory tasks with the neutral and anxiety-inducing words. Results Patients with GAD showed significantly reduced GM volumes in the midbrain (MB), thalamus, hippocampus (Hip), insula, and superior temporal gyrus (STG); and reduced WM volumes in the MB, anterior limb of the internal capsule (ALIC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and precentral gyrus (PrG). It is important to note that the GM volume of the Hip and the WM volume of the DLPFC were positively correlated with the recognition accuracy (%) in the explicit memory tasks with neutral and anxiety-inducing words, respectively. On the other hand, the WM volume of the PrG was negatively correlated with the reaction time in the same memory tasks. Conclusion This study demonstrated the regional volume changes on whole-brain GM and WM and the correlation between the brain structural alteration and explicit memory dysfunction in GAD patients. These findings would be helpful to understand the association between the brain structure abnormality and the functional deficit in the explicit memory in GAD.

A neurocomputational theory of how explicit learning bootstraps early procedural learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Paul, Erick J; Ashby, F Gregory

2013-01-01

It is widely accepted that human learning and memory is mediated by multiple memory systems that are each best suited to different requirements and demands. Within the domain of categorization, at least two systems are thought to facilitate learning: an explicit (declarative) system depending largely on the prefrontal cortex, and a procedural (non-declarative) system depending on the basal ganglia. Substantial evidence suggests that each system is optimally suited to learn particular categorization tasks. However, it remains unknown precisely how these systems interact to produce optimal learning and behavior. In order to investigate this issue, the present research evaluated the progression of learning through simulation of categorization tasks using COVIS, a well-known model of human category learning that includes both explicit and procedural learning systems. Specifically, the model's parameter space was thoroughly explored in procedurally learned categorization tasks across a variety of conditions and architectures to identify plausible interaction architectures. The simulation results support the hypothesis that one-way interaction between the systems occurs such that the explicit system "bootstraps" learning early on in the procedural system. Thus, the procedural system initially learns a suboptimal strategy employed by the explicit system and later refines its strategy. This bootstrapping could be from cortical-striatal projections that originate in premotor or motor regions of cortex, or possibly by the explicit system's control of motor responses through basal ganglia-mediated loops.

Intelligent spatial ecosystem modeling using parallel processors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maxwell, T.; Costanza, R.

1993-01-01

Spatial modeling of ecosystems is essential if one's modeling goals include developing a relatively realistic description of past behavior and predictions of the impacts of alternative management policies on future ecosystem behavior. Development of these models has been limited in the past by the large amount of input data required and the difficulty of even large mainframe serial computers in dealing with large spatial arrays. These two limitations have begun to erode with the increasing availability of remote sensing data and GIS systems to manipulate it, and the development of parallel computer systems which allow computation of large, complex, spatial arrays. Although many forms of dynamic spatial modeling are highly amenable to parallel processing, the primary focus in this project is on process-based landscape models. These models simulate spatial structure by first compartmentalizing the landscape into some geometric design and then describing flows within compartments and spatial processes between compartments according to location-specific algorithms. The authors are currently building and running parallel spatial models at the regional scale for the Patuxent River region in Maryland, the Everglades in Florida, and Barataria Basin in Louisiana. The authors are also planning a project to construct a series of spatially explicit linked ecological and economic simulation models aimed at assessing the long-term potential impacts of global climate change

Implicit and explicit ethnocentrism: revisiting the ideologies of prejudice.

Science.gov (United States)

Cunningham, William A; Nezlek, John B; Banaji, Mahzarin R

2004-10-01

Two studies investigated relationships among individual differences in implicit and explicit prejudice, right-wing ideology, and rigidity in thinking. The first study examined these relationships focusing on White Americans' prejudice toward Black Americans. The second study provided the first test of implicit ethnocentrism and its relationship to explicit ethnocentrism by studying the relationship between attitudes toward five social groups. Factor analyses found support for both implicit and explicit ethnocentrism. In both studies, mean explicit attitudes toward out groups were positive, whereas implicit attitudes were negative, suggesting that implicit and explicit prejudices are distinct; however, in both studies, implicit and explicit attitudes were related (r = .37, .47). Latent variable modeling indicates a simple structure within this ethnocentric system, with variables organized in order of specificity. These results lead to the conclusion that (a) implicit ethnocentrism exists and (b) it is related to and distinct from explicit ethnocentrism.

Advanced Controls for Residential Whole-House Ventilation Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Turner, William [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Walker, Iain [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Sherman, Max [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2014-08-01

Whole-house ventilation systems are becoming commonplace in new construction, remodeling/renovation, and weatherization projects, driven by combinations of specific requirements for indoor air quality (IAQ), health and compliance with standards, such as ASHRAE 62.2. Ventilation systems incur an energy penalty on the home via fan power used to drive the airflow, and the additional space-conditioning load associated with heating or cooling the ventilation air. Finding a balance between IAQ and energy use is important if homes are to be adequately ventilated while not increasing the energy burden. This study used computer simulations to examine RIVEC the Residential Integrated Ventilation Controller - a prototype ventilation controller that aims to deliver whole-house ventilation rates that comply with ventilation standards, for the minimum use of energy. Four different whole-house ventilation systems were simulated, both with and without RIVEC, so that the energy and IAQ results could be compared. Simulations were conducted for 13 US climate zones, three house designs, and three envelope leakage values. The results showed that the RIVEC controller could typically return ventilation energy savings greater than 40percent without compromising long-term chronic or short-term acute exposures to relevant indoor contaminants. Critical and average peak power loads were also reduced as a consequence of using RIVEC.

Thermal Analysis of Ball screw Systems by Explicit Finite Difference Method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Min, Bog Ki [Hanyang Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Park, Chun Hong; Chung, Sung Chong [KIMM, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-01-15

Friction generated from balls and grooves incurs temperature rise in the ball screw system. Thermal deformation due to the heat degrades positioning accuracy of the feed drive system. To compensate for the thermal error, accurate prediction of the temperature distribution is required first. In this paper, to predict the temperature distribution according to the rotational speed, solid and hollow cylinders are applied for analysis of the ball screw shaft and nut, respectively. Boundary conditions such as the convective heat transfer coefficient, friction torque, and thermal contact conductance (TCC) between balls and grooves are formulated according to operating and fabrication conditions of the ball screw. Explicit FDM (finite difference method) is studied for development of a temperature prediction simulator. Its effectiveness is verified through numerical analysis.

The reorientation of spatial planning in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Galland, Daniel

2011-01-01

comprehensiveness and integration that once characterised planning policies and institutional practices occurring within and across the different administrative levels that constitute the Danish planning system have long since been at stake. Accordingly, the social and welfarist rationales behind spatial planning...... could be clarified in accordance with three different yet also interrelated categorisations: (a) the evolving conception of spatial planning; (b) the shifting roles of spatial planning in handling spatial development and economic growth; and (c) the changing governance structures embedded in spatial...... planning practices at different administrative levels. As a whole, the outcome of this dissertation confirms that there is an increasing policy and institutional mismatch between national, regional and urban/local planning practices. It further suggests that the lack of spatial reflexion embedded...

The time course of explicit and implicit categorization.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, J David; Zakrzewski, Alexandria C; Herberger, Eric R; Boomer, Joseph; Roeder, Jessica L; Ashby, F Gregory; Church, Barbara A

2015-10-01

Contemporary theory in cognitive neuroscience distinguishes, among the processes and utilities that serve categorization, explicit and implicit systems of category learning that learn, respectively, category rules by active hypothesis testing or adaptive behaviors by association and reinforcement. Little is known about the time course of categorization within these systems. Accordingly, the present experiments contrasted tasks that fostered explicit categorization (because they had a one-dimensional, rule-based solution) or implicit categorization (because they had a two-dimensional, information-integration solution). In Experiment 1, participants learned categories under unspeeded or speeded conditions. In Experiment 2, they applied previously trained category knowledge under unspeeded or speeded conditions. Speeded conditions selectively impaired implicit category learning and implicit mature categorization. These results illuminate the processing dynamics of explicit/implicit categorization.

Detecting spatial regimes in ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Sundstrom, Shana M.; Eason, Tarsha; Nelson, R. John; Angeler, David G.; Barichievy, Chris; Garmestani, Ahjond S.; Graham, Nicholas A.J.; Granholm, Dean; Gunderson, Lance; Knutson, Melinda; Nash, Kirsty L.; Spanbauer, Trisha; Stow, Craig A.; Allen, Craig R.

2017-01-01

Research on early warning indicators has generally focused on assessing temporal transitions with limited application of these methods to detecting spatial regimes. Traditional spatial boundary detection procedures that result in ecoregion maps are typically based on ecological potential (i.e. potential vegetation), and often fail to account for ongoing changes due to stressors such as land use change and climate change and their effects on plant and animal communities. We use Fisher information, an information theory-based method, on both terrestrial and aquatic animal data (U.S. Breeding Bird Survey and marine zooplankton) to identify ecological boundaries, and compare our results to traditional early warning indicators, conventional ecoregion maps and multivariate analyses such as nMDS and cluster analysis. We successfully detected spatial regimes and transitions in both terrestrial and aquatic systems using Fisher information. Furthermore, Fisher information provided explicit spatial information about community change that is absent from other multivariate approaches. Our results suggest that defining spatial regimes based on animal communities may better reflect ecological reality than do traditional ecoregion maps, especially in our current era of rapid and unpredictable ecological change.

An efficient explicit marching on in time solver for magnetic field volume integral equation

KAUST Repository

Sayed, Sadeed Bin

2015-07-25

An efficient explicit marching on in time (MOT) scheme for solving the magnetic field volume integral equation is proposed. The MOT system is cast in the form of an ordinary differential equation and is integrated in time using a PE(CE)m multistep scheme. At each time step, a system with a Gram matrix is solved for the predicted/corrected field expansion coefficients. Depending on the type of spatial testing scheme Gram matrix is sparse or consists of blocks with only diagonal entries regardless of the time step size. Consequently, the resulting MOT scheme is more efficient than its implicit counterparts, which call for inversion of fuller matrix system at lower frequencies. Numerical results, which demonstrate the efficiency, accuracy, and stability of the proposed MOT scheme, are presented.

The effectiveness of the motion picture association of America's rating system in screening explicit violence and sex in top-ranked movies from 1950 to 2006.

Science.gov (United States)

Nalkur, Priya G; Jamieson, Patrick E; Romer, Daniel

2010-11-01

Youth exposure to explicit film violence and sex is linked to adverse health outcomes and is a serious public health concern. The Motion Picture Association of America's (MPAA's) rating system's effectiveness in reducing youth exposure to harmful content has been questioned. To determine the MPAA's rating system's effectiveness in screening explicit violence and sex since the system's initiation (1968) and the introduction of the PG-13 category (1984). Also, to examine evidence of less restrictive ratings over time ("ratings creep"). Top-grossing movies from 1950 to 2006 (N = 855) were coded for explicitness of violent and sexual content. Trends in rating assignments and in the content of different rating categories since 1968 were assessed. The explicitness of violent and sexual content significantly increased following the rating system's initiation. The system did not differentiate violent content as well as sexual content, and ratings creep was only evident for violent films. Explicit violence in R-rated films increased, while films that would previously have been rated R were increasingly assigned to PG-13. This pattern was not evident for sex; only R-rated films exhibited higher levels of explicit sex compared to preratings period. While relatively effective for screening explicit sex, the rating system has allowed increasingly violent content into PG-13 films, thereby increasing youth access to more harmful content. Assignment of films in the current rating system should be more sensitive to the link between violent media exposure and youth violence. Copyright © 2010 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Whole brain radiation-induced impairments in learning and memory are time-sensitive and reversible by systemic hypoxia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Junie P Warrington

Full Text Available Whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT is commonly used for treatment of primary and metastatic brain tumors; however, cognitive impairment occurs in 40-50% of brain tumor survivors. The etiology of the cognitive impairment following WBRT remains elusive. We recently reported that radiation-induced cerebrovascular rarefaction within hippocampal subregions could be completely reversed by systemic hypoxia. However, the effects of this intervention on learning and memory have not been reported. In this study, we assessed the time-course for WBRT-induced impairments in contextual and spatial learning and the capacity of systemic hypoxia to reverse WBRT-induced deficits in spatial memory. A clinical fractionated series of 4.5Gy WBRT was administered to mice twice weekly for 4 weeks, and after various periods of recovery, behavioral analyses were performed. To study the effects of systemic hypoxia, mice were subjected to 11% (hypoxia or 21% oxygen (normoxia for 28 days, initiated 1 month after the completion of WBRT. Our results indicate that WBRT induces a transient deficit in contextual learning, disruption of working memory, and progressive impairment of spatial learning. Additionally, systemic hypoxia completely reversed WBRT-induced impairments in learning and these behavioral effects as well as increased vessel density persisted for at least 2 months following hypoxia treatment. Our results provide critical support for the hypothesis that cerebrovascular rarefaction is a key component of cognitive impairment post-WBRT and indicate that processes of learning and memory, once thought to be permanently impaired after WBRT, can be restored.

A Neurocomputational Theory of how Explicit Learning Bootstraps Early Procedural Learning

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Erick Joseph Paul

2013-12-01

Full Text Available It is widely accepted that human learning and memory is mediated by multiple memory systems that are each best suited to different requirements and demands. Within the domain of categorization, at least two systems are thought to facilitate learning: an explicit (declarative system depending largely on the prefrontal cortex, and a procedural (non-declarative system depending on the basal ganglia. Substantial evidence suggests that each system is optimally suited to learn particular categorization tasks. However, it remains unknown precisely how these systems interact to produce optimal learning and behavior. In order to investigate this issue, the present research evaluated the progression of learning through simulation of categorization tasks using COVIS, a well-known model of human category learning that includes both explicit and procedural learning systems. Specifically, the model's parameter space was thoroughly explored in procedurally learned categorization tasks across a variety of conditions and architectures to identify plausible interaction architectures. The simulation results support the hypothesis that one-way interaction between the systems occurs such that the explicit system "bootstraps" learning early on in the procedural system. Thus, the procedural system initially learns a suboptimal strategy employed by the explicit system and later refines its strategy. This bootstrapping could be from cortical-striatal projections that originate in premotor or motor regions of cortex, or possibly by the explicit system’s control of motor responses through basal ganglia-mediated loops.

Producing Distribution Maps for a Spatially-Explicit Ecosystem Model Using Large Monitoring and Environmental Databases and a Combination of Interpolation and Extrapolation

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Arnaud Grüss

2018-01-01

Full Text Available To be able to simulate spatial patterns of predator-prey interactions, many spatially-explicit ecosystem modeling platforms, including Atlantis, need to be provided with distribution maps defining the annual or seasonal spatial distributions of functional groups and life stages. We developed a methodology combining extrapolation and interpolation of the predictions made by statistical habitat models to produce distribution maps for the fish and invertebrates represented in the Atlantis model of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM Large Marine Ecosystem (LME (“Atlantis-GOM”. This methodology consists of: (1 compiling a large monitoring database, gathering all the fisheries-independent and fisheries-dependent data collected in the northern (U.S. GOM since 2000; (2 compiling a large environmental database, storing all the environmental parameters known to influence the spatial distribution patterns of fish and invertebrates of the GOM; (3 fitting binomial generalized additive models (GAMs to the large monitoring and environmental databases, and geostatistical binomial generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs to the large monitoring database; and (4 employing GAM predictions to infer spatial distributions in the southern GOM, and GLMM predictions to infer spatial distributions in the U.S. GOM. Thus, our methodology allows for reasonable extrapolation in the southern GOM based on a large amount of monitoring and environmental data, and for interpolation in the U.S. GOM accurately reflecting the probability of encountering fish and invertebrates in that region. We used an iterative cross-validation procedure to validate GAMs. When a GAM did not pass the validation test, we employed a GAM for a related functional group/life stage to generate distribution maps for the southern GOM. In addition, no geostatistical GLMMs were fit for the functional groups and life stages whose depth, longitudinal and latitudinal ranges within the U.S. GOM are not entirely covered by

Explicit memory creation during sleep demonstrates a causal role of place cells in navigation.

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de Lavilléon, Gaetan; Lacroix, Marie Masako; Rondi-Reig, Laure; Benchenane, Karim

2015-04-01

Hippocampal place cells assemblies are believed to support the cognitive map, and their reactivations during sleep are thought to be involved in spatial memory consolidation. By triggering intracranial rewarding stimulations by place cell spikes during sleep, we induced an explicit memory trace, leading to a goal-directed behavior toward the place field. This demonstrates that place cells' activity during sleep still conveys relevant spatial information and that this activity is functionally significant for navigation.

Metamaterial-based transmit and receive system for whole-body magnetic resonance imaging at ultra-high magnetic fields.

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Herrmann, Tim; Liebig, Thorsten; Mallow, Johannes; Bruns, Christian; Stadler, Jörg; Mylius, Judith; Brosch, Michael; Svedja, Jan Taro; Chen, Zhichao; Rennings, Andreas; Scheich, Henning; Plaumann, Markus; Hauser, Marcus J B; Bernarding, Johannes; Erni, Daniel

2018-01-01

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at ultra-high fields (UHF), such as 7 T, provides an enhanced signal-to-noise ratio and has led to unprecedented high-resolution anatomic images and brain activation maps. Although a variety of radio frequency (RF) coil architectures have been developed for imaging at UHF conditions, they usually are specialized for small volumes of interests (VoI). So far, whole-body coil resonators are not available for commercial UHF human whole-body MRI systems. The goal of the present study was the development and validation of a transmit and receive system for large VoIs that operates at a 7 T human whole-body MRI system. A Metamaterial Ring Antenna System (MRAS) consisting of several ring antennas was developed, since it allows for the imaging of extended VoIs. Furthermore, the MRAS not only requires lower intensities of the irradiated RF energy, but also provides a more confined and focused injection of excitation energy on selected body parts. The MRAS consisted of several antennas with 50 cm inner diameter, 10 cm width and 0.5 cm depth. The position of the rings was freely adjustable. Conformal resonant right-/left-handed metamaterial was used for each ring antenna with two quadrature feeding ports for RF power. The system was successfully implemented and demonstrated with both a silicone oil and a water-NaCl-isopropanol phantom as well as in vivo by acquiring whole-body images of a crab-eating macaque. The potential for future neuroimaging applications was demonstrated by the acquired high-resolution anatomic images of the macaque's head. Phantom and in vivo measurements of crab-eating macaques provided high-resolution images with large VoIs up to 40 cm in xy-direction and 45 cm in z-direction. The results of this work demonstrate the feasibility of the MRAS system for UHF MRI as proof of principle. The MRAS shows a substantial potential for MR imaging of larger volumes at 7 T UHF. This new technique may provide new diagnostic potential

An open and extensible framework for spatially explicit land use change modelling in R: the lulccR package (0.1.0)

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Moulds, S.; Buytaert, W.; Mijic, A.

2015-04-01

Land use change has important consequences for biodiversity and the sustainability of ecosystem services, as well as for global environmental change. Spatially explicit land use change models improve our understanding of the processes driving change and make predictions about the quantity and location of future and past change. Here we present the lulccR package, an object-oriented framework for land use change modelling written in the R programming language. The contribution of the work is to resolve the following limitations associated with the current land use change modelling paradigm: (1) the source code for model implementations is frequently unavailable, severely compromising the reproducibility of scientific results and making it impossible for members of the community to improve or adapt models for their own purposes; (2) ensemble experiments to capture model structural uncertainty are difficult because of fundamental differences between implementations of different models; (3) different aspects of the modelling procedure must be performed in different environments because existing applications usually only perform the spatial allocation of change. The package includes a stochastic ordered allocation procedure as well as an implementation of the widely used CLUE-S algorithm. We demonstrate its functionality by simulating land use change at the Plum Island Ecosystems site, using a dataset included with the package. It is envisaged that lulccR will enable future model development and comparison within an open environment.

Explicit symplectic algorithms based on generating functions for charged particle dynamics

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Zhang, Ruili; Qin, Hong; Tang, Yifa; Liu, Jian; He, Yang; Xiao, Jianyuan

2016-07-01

Dynamics of a charged particle in the canonical coordinates is a Hamiltonian system, and the well-known symplectic algorithm has been regarded as the de facto method for numerical integration of Hamiltonian systems due to its long-term accuracy and fidelity. For long-term simulations with high efficiency, explicit symplectic algorithms are desirable. However, it is generally believed that explicit symplectic algorithms are only available for sum-separable Hamiltonians, and this restriction limits the application of explicit symplectic algorithms to charged particle dynamics. To overcome this difficulty, we combine the familiar sum-split method and a generating function method to construct second- and third-order explicit symplectic algorithms for dynamics of charged particle. The generating function method is designed to generate explicit symplectic algorithms for product-separable Hamiltonian with form of H (x ,p ) =pif (x ) or H (x ,p ) =xig (p ) . Applied to the simulations of charged particle dynamics, the explicit symplectic algorithms based on generating functions demonstrate superiorities in conservation and efficiency.

The Tacit-Explicit Dimension of the Learning of Mathematics: An Investigation Report

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Frade, Cristina; Borges, Oto

2006-01-01

This paper reports on study that investigated the tacit-explicit dimension of the learning of mathematics. The study was carried out in a secondary school and consisted of an episode analysis related to a class discussion about the difference between plane figures and spatial figures. The data analysis was based on integration between some aspects…

Spatial Variation of Estimated 137Cs Intakes in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic After the Chernobyl Accident and Comparison with Whole Body Measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liland, A.; Borghuis, S.; Malatova, I.; Foltanova, S.; Mirchi, R.; Kanyar, B.; Krajewski, P.; Sanchez, A.; Tarjan, S.; Varga, B.

2001-01-01

Full text: This work has been performed as part of the EC project SAVEC (Spatial Analysis of Vulnerable Areas in Central Europe) under DGXII, expanding the EC project SAVE (Spatial Analysis of Vulnerable Ecosystems in Europe) under DGXI. The scope of this work was to collect data on 137 Cs contamination of foodstuffs after the Chernobyl accident and dietary habits varying according to district, age, gender and profession across the three Central-European countries. The spatial variation in 137 Cs intake from contaminated foodstuffs could thus be estimated. Dietary data from Poland, based on household budget surveys, are broken down according to region, country, age, gender and socio-economic status. Data from Hungary, based on household budget surveys, are broken down according to region, age and gender. Data from the Czech Republic, based on national consumption statistics, are only available at a national scale and according to age. The regional variation in estimated 137 Cs intake after a fallout event is presented in GIS maps, pointing out the regions most at risk due to dietary habits in Poland and Hungary. For Poland, the groups most at risk according to socio-economic status are also presented. Whole body measurements of 137 Cs were performed by whole body counting and 24-hour urine samples. Intakes calculated from whole body measurements are compared to intakes estimated from consumption/contamination data. The two methods show some discrepancies. Reasons for this are discussed and include: dietary data collection, consumption development, wild foodstuffs consumption and gaps in post-Chernobyl food contamination data. (author)

Severity of explicit memory impairment due to Alzheimer's disease improves effectiveness of implicit learning.

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Klimkowicz-Mrowiec, Aleksandra; Slowik, Agnieszka; Krzywoszanski, Lukasz; Herzog-Krzywoszanska, Radosława; Szczudlik, Andrzej

2008-04-01

Consistent evidence from human and experimental animals studies indicates that memory is organized into two relatively independent systems with different functions and brain mechanisms. The explicit memory system, dependent on the hippocampus and adjacent medial temporal lobe structures, refers to conscious knowledge acquisition and intentional recollection of previous experiences. The implicit memory system, dependent on the striatum, refers to learning of complex information without awareness or intention. The functioning of implicit memory can be observed in progressive, gradual improvement across many trials in performance on implicit learning tasks. The influence of explicit memory on implicit memory has not been precisely identified yet. According to data from some studies, explicit memory seems to exhibit no influence on implicit memory,whereas the other studies indicate that explicit memory may inhibit or facilitate implicit memory. The analysis of performance on implicit learning tasks in patients with different severity of explicit memory impairment due to Alzheimer's disease allows one to identify the potential influence of the explicit memory system on the implicit memory system. 51 patients with explicit memory impairment due to Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 36 healthy controls were tested. Explicit memory was examined by means of a battery of neuropsychological tests. Implicit habit learning was examined on probabilistic classification task (weather prediction task). Patients with moderate explicit memory impairment performed the implicit task significantly better than those with mild AD and controls. Results of our study support the hypothesis of competition between the implicit and explicit memory systems in humans.

Developing spatial biophysical accounting for multiple ecosystem services

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Remme, R.P.; Schroter, M.; Hein, L.G.

2014-01-01

Ecosystem accounting is receiving increasing interest as a way to systematically monitor the conditions of ecosystems and the ecosystem services they provide. A critical element of ecosystem accounting is understanding spatially explicit flows of ecosystem services. We developed spatial biophysical

Spatially Explicit Modelling of the Belgian Major Endurance Event 'The 100 km Dodentocht'.

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Steffie Van Nieuland

Full Text Available 'The 100 km Dodentocht', which takes place annually and has its start in Bornem, Belgium, is a long distance march where participants have to cover a 100 km trail in at most 24 hours. The approximately 11 000 marchers per edition are tracked by making use of passive radio-frequency-identification (RFID. These tracking data were analyzed to build a spatially explicit marching model that gives insights into the dynamics of the event and allows to evaluate the effect of changes in the starting procedure of the event. For building the model, the empirical distribution functions (edf of the marching speeds at every section of the trail in between two consecutive checkpoints and of the checkpoints where marchers retire, are determined, taking into account age, gender, and marching speeds at previous sections. These distribution functions are then used to sample the consecutive speeds and retirement, and as such to simulate the times when individual marchers pass by the consecutive checkpoints. We concluded that the data-driven model simulates the event reliably. Furthermore, we tested three scenarios to reduce the crowdiness along the first part of the trail and in this way were able to conclude that either the start should be moved to a location outside the town center where the streets are at least 25% wider, or that the marchers should start in two groups at two different locations, and that these groups should ideally merge at about 20 km after the start. The crowdiness at the start might also be reduced by installing a bottleneck at the start in order to limit the number of marchers that can pass per unit of time. Consequently, the operating hours of the consecutive checkpoints would be longer. The developed framework can likewise be used to analyze and improve the operation of other endurance events if sufficient tracking data are available.

A spatially explicit model for the future progression of the current Haiti cholera epidemic

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Bertuzzo, E.; Mari, L.; Righetto, L.; Gatto, M.; Casagrandi, R.; Rodriguez-Iturbe, I.; Rinaldo, A.

2011-12-01

As a major cholera epidemic progresses in Haiti, and the figures of the infection, up to July 2011, climb to 385,000 cases and 5,800 deaths, the development of general models to track and predict the evolution of the outbreak, so as to guide the allocation of medical supplies and staff, is gaining notable urgency. We propose here a spatially explicit epidemic model that accounts for the dynamics of susceptible and infected individuals as well as the redistribution of textit{Vibrio cholera}, the causative agent of the disease, among different human communities. In particular, we model two spreading pathways: the advection of pathogens through hydrologic connections and the dissemination due to human mobility described by means of a gravity-like model. To this end the country has been divided into hydrologic units based on drainage directions derived from a digital terrain model. Moreover the population of each unit has been estimated from census data downscaled to 1 km x 1 km resolution via remotely sensed geomorphological information (LandScan texttrademark project). The model directly account for the role of rainfall patterns in driving the seasonality of cholera outbreaks. The two main outbreaks in fact occurred during the rainy seasons (October and May) when extensive floodings severely worsened the sanitation conditions and, in turn, raised the risk of infection. The model capability to reproduce the spatiotemporal features of the epidemic up to date grants robustness to the foreseen future development. In this context, the duration of acquired immunity, a hotly debated topic in the scientific community, emerges as a controlling factor for progression of the epidemic in the near future. The framework presented here can straightforwardly be used to evaluate the effectiveness of alternative intervention strategies like mass vaccinations, clean water supply and educational campaigns, thus emerging as an essential component of the control of future cholera

Deciphering the adjustment between environment and life history in annuals: lessons from a geographically-explicit approach in Arabidopsis thaliana.

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Manzano-Piedras, Esperanza; Marcer, Arnald; Alonso-Blanco, Carlos; Picó, F Xavier

2014-01-01

The role that different life-history traits may have in the process of adaptation caused by divergent selection can be assessed by using extensive collections of geographically-explicit populations. This is because adaptive phenotypic variation shifts gradually across space as a result of the geographic patterns of variation in environmental selective pressures. Hence, large-scale experiments are needed to identify relevant adaptive life-history traits as well as their relationships with putative selective agents. We conducted a field experiment with 279 geo-referenced accessions of the annual plant Arabidopsis thaliana collected across a native region of its distribution range, the Iberian Peninsula. We quantified variation in life-history traits throughout the entire life cycle. We built a geographic information system to generate an environmental data set encompassing climate, vegetation and soil data. We analysed the spatial autocorrelation patterns of environmental variables and life-history traits, as well as the relationship between environmental and phenotypic data. Almost all environmental variables were significantly spatially autocorrelated. By contrast, only two life-history traits, seed weight and flowering time, exhibited significant spatial autocorrelation. Flowering time, and to a lower extent seed weight, were the life-history traits with the highest significant correlation coefficients with environmental factors, in particular with annual mean temperature. In general, individual fitness was higher for accessions with more vigorous seed germination, higher recruitment and later flowering times. Variation in flowering time mediated by temperature appears to be the main life-history trait by which A. thaliana adjusts its life history to the varying Iberian environmental conditions. The use of extensive geographically-explicit data sets obtained from field experiments represents a powerful approach to unravel adaptive patterns of variation. In a

CYBERNETIC BASIS AND SYSTEM PRACTICE OF REMOTE SENSING AND SPATIAL INFORMATION SCIENCE

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X. Tan

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Cybernetics provides a new set of ideas and methods for the study of modern science, and it has been fully applied in many areas. However, few people have introduced cybernetics into the field of remote sensing. The paper is based on the imaging process of remote sensing system, introducing cybernetics into the field of remote sensing, establishing a space-time closed-loop control theory for the actual operation of remote sensing. The paper made the process of spatial information coherently, and improved the comprehensive efficiency of the space information from acquisition, procession, transformation to application. We not only describes the application of cybernetics in remote sensing platform control, sensor control, data processing control, but also in whole system of remote sensing imaging process control. We achieve the information of output back to the input to control the efficient operation of the entire system. This breakthrough combination of cybernetics science and remote sensing science will improve remote sensing science to a higher level.

Cybernetic Basis and System Practice of Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Science

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, X.; Jing, X.; Chen, R.; Ming, Z.; He, L.; Sun, Y.; Sun, X.; Yan, L.

2017-09-01

Cybernetics provides a new set of ideas and methods for the study of modern science, and it has been fully applied in many areas. However, few people have introduced cybernetics into the field of remote sensing. The paper is based on the imaging process of remote sensing system, introducing cybernetics into the field of remote sensing, establishing a space-time closed-loop control theory for the actual operation of remote sensing. The paper made the process of spatial information coherently, and improved the comprehensive efficiency of the space information from acquisition, procession, transformation to application. We not only describes the application of cybernetics in remote sensing platform control, sensor control, data processing control, but also in whole system of remote sensing imaging process control. We achieve the information of output back to the input to control the efficient operation of the entire system. This breakthrough combination of cybernetics science and remote sensing science will improve remote sensing science to a higher level.

Comparing spatially explicit ecological and social values for natural areas to identify effective conservation strategies.

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Bryan, Brett Anthony; Raymond, Christopher Mark; Crossman, Neville David; King, Darran

2011-02-01

Consideration of the social values people assign to relatively undisturbed native ecosystems is critical for the success of science-based conservation plans. We used an interview process to identify and map social values assigned to 31 ecosystem services provided by natural areas in an agricultural landscape in southern Australia. We then modeled the spatial distribution of 12 components of ecological value commonly used in setting spatial conservation priorities. We used the analytical hierarchy process to weight these components and used multiattribute utility theory to combine them into a single spatial layer of ecological value. Social values assigned to natural areas were negatively correlated with ecological values overall, but were positively correlated with some components of ecological value. In terms of the spatial distribution of values, people valued protected areas, whereas those natural areas underrepresented in the reserve system were of higher ecological value. The habitats of threatened animal species were assigned both high ecological value and high social value. Only small areas were assigned both high ecological value and high social value in the study area, whereas large areas of high ecological value were of low social value, and vice versa. We used the assigned ecological and social values to identify different conservation strategies (e.g., information sharing, community engagement, incentive payments) that may be effective for specific areas. We suggest that consideration of both ecological and social values in selection of conservation strategies can enhance the success of science-based conservation planning. ©2010 Society for Conservation Biology.

An Efficient Explicit-time Description Method for Timed Model Checking

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Hao Wang

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Timed model checking, the method to formally verify real-time systems, is attracting increasing attention from both the model checking community and the real-time community. Explicit-time description methods verify real-time systems using general model constructs found in standard un-timed model checkers. Lamport proposed an explicit-time description method using a clock-ticking process (Tick to simulate the passage of time together with a group of global variables to model time requirements. Two methods, the Sync-based Explicit-time Description Method using rendezvous synchronization steps and the Semaphore-based Explicit-time Description Method using only one global variable were proposed; they both achieve better modularity than Lamport's method in modeling the real-time systems. In contrast to timed automata based model checkers like UPPAAL, explicit-time description methods can access and store the current time instant for future calculations necessary for many real-time systems, especially those with pre-emptive scheduling. However, the Tick process in the above three methods increments the time by one unit in each tick; the state spaces therefore grow relatively fast as the time parameters increase, a problem when the system's time period is relatively long. In this paper, we propose a more efficient method which enables the Tick process to leap multiple time units in one tick. Preliminary experimental results in a high performance computing environment show that this new method significantly reduces the state space and improves both the time and memory efficiency.

Spatial equity analysis on expressway network development in Japan: Empirical approach using the spatial computable general equilibrium model RAEM-light

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koike, A.; Tavasszy, L.; Sato, K.

2009-01-01

The authors apply the RAEM-Light model to analyze the distribution of social benefits from expressway network projects from the viewpoint of spatial equity. The RAEM-Light model has some innovative features. The spatial behavior of producers and consumers is explicitly described and is endogenously

Optimized Explicit Runge--Kutta Schemes for the Spectral Difference Method Applied to Wave Propagation Problems

KAUST Repository

Parsani, Matteo

2013-04-10

Explicit Runge--Kutta schemes with large stable step sizes are developed for integration of high-order spectral difference spatial discretizations on quadrilateral grids. The new schemes permit an effective time step that is substantially larger than the maximum admissible time step of standard explicit Runge--Kutta schemes available in the literature. Furthermore, they have a small principal error norm and admit a low-storage implementation. The advantages of the new schemes are demonstrated through application to the Euler equations and the linearized Euler equations.

Optimized Explicit Runge--Kutta Schemes for the Spectral Difference Method Applied to Wave Propagation Problems

KAUST Repository

Parsani, Matteo; Ketcheson, David I.; Deconinck, W.

2013-01-01

Explicit Runge--Kutta schemes with large stable step sizes are developed for integration of high-order spectral difference spatial discretizations on quadrilateral grids. The new schemes permit an effective time step that is substantially larger than the maximum admissible time step of standard explicit Runge--Kutta schemes available in the literature. Furthermore, they have a small principal error norm and admit a low-storage implementation. The advantages of the new schemes are demonstrated through application to the Euler equations and the linearized Euler equations.

DESIGNING AN INTEGRATED OPEN INNOVATION SYSTEM: TOWARDS ORGANIZATIONAL WHOLENESS

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Baka, Vasiliki

2014-01-01

sociotechnical arrangement within the paradigm of open innovation. We explore how effectively technological platforms address emergent collaboration and innovation practices within and across organizations and to which extent existing technologies act as strategic catalysts of open innovation. We argue...... that in embracing wholeness and in treating technologies as inseparable constitutive parts of organizational architecture, we foster organizational and institutional collaboration and encourage innovative practices. The focus of the paper is on how the design of sociotechnical systems as wholes, that is systems...... that are concurrently acting as corporate websites, internal collaboration spaces, extranets and social media aggregators, actively promotes open innovation in practice. We close with a presentation of six cases that are illustrative of how such a system could be applicable within the open innovation paradigm, namely...

Predicting the Overall Spatial Quality of Automotive Audio Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Koya, Daisuke

The spatial quality of automotive audio systems is often compromised due to their unideal listening environments. Automotive audio systems need to be developed quickly due to industry demands. A suitable perceptual model could evaluate the spatial quality of automotive audio systems with similar reliability to formal listening tests but take less time. Such a model is developed in this research project by adapting an existing model of spatial quality for automotive audio use. The requirements for the adaptation were investigated in a literature review. A perceptual model called QESTRAL was reviewed, which predicts the overall spatial quality of domestic multichannel audio systems. It was determined that automotive audio systems are likely to be impaired in terms of the spatial attributes that were not considered in developing the QESTRAL model, but metrics are available that might predict these attributes. To establish whether the QESTRAL model in its current form can accurately predict the overall spatial quality of automotive audio systems, MUSHRA listening tests using headphone auralisation with head tracking were conducted to collect results to be compared against predictions by the model. Based on guideline criteria, the model in its current form could not accurately predict the overall spatial quality of automotive audio systems. To improve prediction performance, the QESTRAL model was recalibrated and modified using existing metrics of the model, those that were proposed from the literature review, and newly developed metrics. The most important metrics for predicting the overall spatial quality of automotive audio systems included those that were interaural cross-correlation (IACC) based, relate to localisation of the frontal audio scene, and account for the perceived scene width in front of the listener. Modifying the model for automotive audio systems did not invalidate its use for domestic audio systems. The resulting model predicts the overall spatial

The explicit and implicit dance in psychoanalytic change.

Science.gov (United States)

Fosshage, James L

2004-02-01

How the implicit/non-declarative and explicit/declarative cognitive domains interact is centrally important in the consideration of effecting change within the psychoanalytic arena. Stern et al. (1998) declare that long-lasting change occurs in the domain of implicit relational knowledge. In the view of this author, the implicit and explicit domains are intricately intertwined in an interactive dance within a psychoanalytic process. The author views that a spirit of inquiry (Lichtenberg, Lachmann & Fosshage 2002) serves as the foundation of the psychoanalytic process. Analyst and patient strive to explore, understand and communicate and, thereby, create a 'spirit' of interaction that contributes, through gradual incremental learning, to new implicit relational knowledge. This spirit, as part of the implicit relational interaction, is a cornerstone of the analytic relationship. The 'inquiry' more directly brings explicit/declarative processing to the foreground in the joint attempt to explore and understand. The spirit of inquiry in the psychoanalytic arena highlights both the autobiographical scenarios of the explicit memory system and the mental models of the implicit memory system as each contributes to a sense of self, other, and self with other. This process facilitates the extrication and suspension of the old models, so that new models based on current relational experience can be gradually integrated into both memory systems for lasting change.

Improved measurement system for the whole body monitor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotler, L.H.

1983-01-01

A static four-detector system has been established as a whole body radioactivity measurement system. A technique is being developed to position the detectors in such a manner as to minimise longitudinal distribution effects within a subject. This technique, which represents the human body as a simple geometric model, requires the determination of efficiency at any point within this model

Spatial network surrogates for disentangling complex system structure from spatial embedding of nodes

Science.gov (United States)

Wiedermann, Marc; Donges, Jonathan F.; Kurths, Jürgen; Donner, Reik V.

2016-04-01

Networks with nodes embedded in a metric space have gained increasing interest in recent years. The effects of spatial embedding on the networks' structural characteristics, however, are rarely taken into account when studying their macroscopic properties. Here, we propose a hierarchy of null models to generate random surrogates from a given spatially embedded network that can preserve certain global and local statistics associated with the nodes' embedding in a metric space. Comparing the original network's and the resulting surrogates' global characteristics allows one to quantify to what extent these characteristics are already predetermined by the spatial embedding of the nodes and links. We apply our framework to various real-world spatial networks and show that the proposed models capture macroscopic properties of the networks under study much better than standard random network models that do not account for the nodes' spatial embedding. Depending on the actual performance of the proposed null models, the networks are categorized into different classes. Since many real-world complex networks are in fact spatial networks, the proposed approach is relevant for disentangling the underlying complex system structure from spatial embedding of nodes in many fields, ranging from social systems over infrastructure and neurophysiology to climatology.

Measuring whole-plant transpiration gravimetrically: a scalable automated system built from components

Science.gov (United States)

Damian Cirelli; Victor J. Lieffers; Melvin T. Tyree

2012-01-01

Measuring whole-plant transpiration is highly relevant considering the increasing interest in understanding and improving plant water use at the whole-plant level. We present an original software package (Amalthea) and a design to create a system for measuring transpiration using laboratory balances based on the readily available commodity hardware. The system is...

Optimized low-order explicit Runge-Kutta schemes for high- order spectral difference method

KAUST Repository

Parsani, Matteo

2012-01-01

Optimal explicit Runge-Kutta (ERK) schemes with large stable step sizes are developed for method-of-lines discretizations based on the spectral difference (SD) spatial discretization on quadrilateral grids. These methods involve many stages and provide the optimal linearly stable time step for a prescribed SD spectrum and the minimum leading truncation error coefficient, while admitting a low-storage implementation. Using a large number of stages, the new ERK schemes lead to efficiency improvements larger than 60% over standard ERK schemes for 4th- and 5th-order spatial discretization.

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer measured by spatial photon migration in CdSe-ZnS quantum dots colloidal systems as a function of concentration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Azevedo, G.; Monte, A. F. G.; Reis, A. F.; Messias, D. N. [Laboratório de Espectroscopia Óptica, Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG 38400-902 (Brazil)

2014-11-17

The study of the spatial photon migration as a function of the concentration brings into attention the problem of the energy transfer in quantum dot embedded systems. By measuring the photon propagation and its spatial dependence, it is possible to understand the whole dynamics in a quantum dot system, and also improve their concentration dependence to maximize energy propagation due to radiative and non-radiative processes. In this work, a confocal microscope was adapted to scan the spatial distribution of photoluminescence from CdSe-ZnS core-shell quantum dots in colloidal solutions. The energy migration between the quantum dots was monitored by the direct measurement of the photon diffusion length, according to the diffusion theory. We observed that the photon migration length decreases by increasing the quantum dot concentration, this kind of behavior has been regarded as a signature of Förster resonance energy transfer in the system.

EPS Mid-Career Award 2011. Are there multiple memory systems? Tests of models of implicit and explicit memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Shanks, David R; Berry, Christopher J

2012-01-01

This article reviews recent work aimed at developing a new framework, based on signal detection theory, for understanding the relationship between explicit (e.g., recognition) and implicit (e.g., priming) memory. Within this framework, different assumptions about sources of memorial evidence can be framed. Application to experimental results provides robust evidence for a single-system model in preference to multiple-systems models. This evidence comes from several sources including studies of the effects of amnesia and ageing on explicit and implicit memory. The framework allows a range of concepts in current memory research, such as familiarity, recollection, fluency, and source memory, to be linked to implicit memory. More generally, this work emphasizes the value of modern computational modelling techniques in the study of learning and memory.

Experiment for integrating dutch 3D spatial planning and BIM for checking building permits

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berlo, L.A.H.M. van; Dijkmans, T.J.A.; Stoter, J.

2013-01-01

This paper presents a research project in The Netherlands in which several SMEs collaborated to create a 3D model of the National spatial planning information. This 2D information system described in the IMRO data standard holds implicit 3D information that can be used to generate an explicit 3D

Experiment for inegrating Dutch 3D spatial planning and BIM for checking building permits

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Berlo, L.; Dijkmans, T.; Stoter, J.E.

2013-01-01

This paper presents a research project in The Netherlands in which several SMEs collaborated to create a 3D model of the National spatial planning information. This 2D information system described in the IMRO data standard holds implicit 3D information that can be used to generate an explicit 3D

The position of place in governing global problems: A mechanistic account of place-as-context, and analysis of transitions towards spatially explicit approaches to climate science and policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MacGillivray, Brian H.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Place is a central yet undertheorised concept within sustainability science. • Introduces an account of place as the context in which social and environmental mechanisms operate. • Uses this account to critique historical aspatial approaches to climate science and policy. • Traces out shifts towards spatially explicit approaches to climate governance. • A focus on place, heterogeneity, and context maximizes the credibility and policy-relevance of climate science. - Abstract: Place is a central concept within the sustainability sciences, yet it remains somewhat undertheorised, and its relationship to generalisation and scale is unclear. Here, we develop a mechanistic account of place as the fundamental context in which social and environmental mechanisms operate. It is premised on the view that the social and environmental sciences are typically concerned with causal processes and their interaction with context, rather than with a search for laws. We deploy our mechanistic account to critique the neglect of place that characterised the early stages of climate governance, ranging from the highly idealised general circulation and integrated assessment models used to analyze climate change, to the global institutions and technologies designed to manage it. We implicate this neglect of place in the limited progress in tackling climate change in both public and policy spheres, before tracing out recent shifts towards more spatially explicit approaches to climate change science and policy-making. These shifts reflect a move towards an ontology which acknowledges that even where causal drivers are in a sense global in nature (e.g. atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases), their impacts are often mediated through variables that are spatially clustered at multiple scales, moderated by contextual features of the local environment, and interact with the presence of other (localised) stressors in synergistic rather than additive ways. We conclude that a

Whole-body imaging of the musculoskeletal system: the value of MR imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schmidt, Gerwin P.; Reiser, Maximilian F.; Baur-Melnyk, Andrea [University Hospitals Munich/Grosshadern, LMU, Institute of Clinical Radiology, Munich (Germany)

2007-12-15

In clinical practice various modalities are used for whole-body imaging of the musculoskeletal system, including radiography, bone scintigraphy, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT). Multislice CT is far more sensitive than radiographs in the assessment of trabecular and cortical bone destruction and allows for evaluation of fracture risk. The introduction of combined PET-CT scanners has markedly increased diagnostic accuracy for the detection of skeletal metastases compared with PET alone. The unique soft-tissue contrast of MRI enables for precise assessment of bone marrow infiltration and adjacent soft tissue structures so that alterations within the bone marrow may be detected before osseous destruction becomes apparent in CT or metabolic changes occur on bone scintigraphy or PET scan. Improvements in hard- and software, including parallel image acquisition acceleration, have made high resolution whole-body MRI clinically feasible. Whole-body MRI has successfully been applied for bone marrow screening of metastasis and systemic primary bone malignancies, like multiple myeloma. Furthermore, it has recently been proposed for the assessment of systemic bone diseases predisposing for malignancy (e.g., multiple cartilaginous exostoses) and muscle disease (e.g., muscle dystrophy). The following article gives an overview on state-of-the-art whole-body imaging of the musculoskeletal system and highlights present and potential future applications, especially in the field of whole-body MRI. (orig.)

Whole-body profile scanner for in vivo quantitative activity measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bergmann, H.

1978-01-01

A whole-body profile scanner has been developed by fitting parallel slit collimators to a shadow shield whole-body counter. Sensitivity, uniformity and resolution measurements were performed using a number of different counting conditions. It is shown that improved accuracy of activity measurements is obtained by using a wide window counting technique for low and medium energy gamma emitters (99m Tc, 131 I), whereas a photopeak window should be used for high energy gamma emitters (47 Ca). Due to the finite spatial resolution of the system a systematic error in evaluating regional activities from the counting rate profile occurs which is characterized by a spatial spillover factor. The spatial spillover factor is measured and is subsequently used to calculate the error on basis of a simple model. It is shown that only small errors are caused by spatial spillover when the length of a region is at least three times the full width half maximum of the point spread function. Applying the above mentioned simple rules it is concluded that profile scanning is a sensitive and accurate technique for activity measurements in vivo. Two examples of clinical applications (measurement of bone accretion rates of calcium and Tc-pyrophosphate, regional radioiodine retention in patients with thyroid carcinoma) and a review of the papers on profile scanning demonstrate the types of investigations in which profile scanning is superior to alternative techniques. (author)

Open space preservation, property value, and optimal spatial configuration

Science.gov (United States)

Yong Jiang; Stephen K. Swallow

2007-01-01

The public has increasingly demonstrated a strong support for open space preservation. How to finance the socially efficient level of open space with the optimal spatial structure is of high policy relevance to local governments. In this study, we developed a spatially explicit open space model to help identify the socially optimal amount and optimal spatial...

Explicit Context Matching in Content-Based Publish/Subscribe Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miguel Jiménez

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Although context could be exploited to improve performance, elasticity and adaptation in most distributed systems that adopt the publish/subscribe (P/S communication model, only a few researchers have focused on the area of context-aware matching in P/S systems and have explored its implications in domains with highly dynamic context like wireless sensor networks (WSNs and IoT-enabled applications. Most adopted P/S models are context agnostic or do not differentiate context from the other application data. In this article, we present a novel context-aware P/S model. SilboPS manages context explicitly, focusing on the minimization of network overhead in domains with recurrent context changes related, for example, to mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs. Our approach represents a solution that helps to effciently share and use sensor data coming from ubiquitous WSNs across a plethora of applications intent on using these data to build context awareness. Specifically, we empirically demonstrate that decoupling a subscription from the changing context in which it is produced and leveraging contextual scoping in the filtering process notably reduces (unsubscription cost per node, while improving the global performance/throughput of the network of brokers without altering the cost of SIENA-like topology changes.

Primary motor and premotor cortex in implicit sequence learning--evidence for competition between implicit and explicit human motor memory systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Kantak, Shailesh S; Mummidisetty, Chaithanya K; Stinear, James W

2012-09-01

Implicit and explicit memory systems for motor skills compete with each other during and after motor practice. Primary motor cortex (M1) is known to be engaged during implicit motor learning, while dorsal premotor cortex (PMd) is critical for explicit learning. To elucidate the neural substrates underlying the interaction between implicit and explicit memory systems, adults underwent a randomized crossover experiment of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (AtDCS) applied over M1, PMd or sham stimulation during implicit motor sequence (serial reaction time task, SRTT) practice. We hypothesized that M1-AtDCS during practice will enhance online performance and offline learning of the implicit motor sequence. In contrast, we also hypothesized that PMd-AtDCS will attenuate performance and retention of the implicit motor sequence. Implicit sequence performance was assessed at baseline, at the end of acquisition (EoA), and 24 h after practice (retention test, RET). M1-AtDCS during practice significantly improved practice performance and supported offline stabilization compared with Sham tDCS. Performance change from EoA to RET revealed that PMd-AtDCS during practice attenuated offline stabilization compared with M1-AtDCS and sham stimulation. The results support the role of M1 in implementing online performance gains and offline stabilization for implicit motor sequence learning. In contrast, enhancing the activity within explicit motor memory network nodes such as the PMd during practice may be detrimental to offline stabilization of the learned implicit motor sequence. These results support the notion of competition between implicit and explicit motor memory systems and identify underlying neural substrates that are engaged in this competition. © 2012 The Authors. European Journal of Neuroscience © 2012 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Nuclear-electronic orbital reduced explicitly correlated Hartree-Fock approach: Restricted basis sets and open-shell systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brorsen, Kurt R.; Sirjoosingh, Andrew; Pak, Michael V.; Hammes-Schiffer, Sharon

2015-01-01

The nuclear electronic orbital (NEO) reduced explicitly correlated Hartree-Fock (RXCHF) approach couples select electronic orbitals to the nuclear orbital via Gaussian-type geminal functions. This approach is extended to enable the use of a restricted basis set for the explicitly correlated electronic orbitals and an open-shell treatment for the other electronic orbitals. The working equations are derived and the implementation is discussed for both extensions. The RXCHF method with a restricted basis set is applied to HCN and FHF − and is shown to agree quantitatively with results from RXCHF calculations with a full basis set. The number of many-particle integrals that must be calculated for these two molecules is reduced by over an order of magnitude with essentially no loss in accuracy, and the reduction factor will increase substantially for larger systems. Typically, the computational cost of RXCHF calculations with restricted basis sets will scale in terms of the number of basis functions centered on the quantum nucleus and the covalently bonded neighbor(s). In addition, the RXCHF method with an odd number of electrons that are not explicitly correlated to the nuclear orbital is implemented using a restricted open-shell formalism for these electrons. This method is applied to HCN + , and the nuclear densities are in qualitative agreement with grid-based calculations. Future work will focus on the significance of nonadiabatic effects in molecular systems and the further enhancement of the NEO-RXCHF approach to accurately describe such effects

Nuclear-electronic orbital reduced explicitly correlated Hartree-Fock approach: Restricted basis sets and open-shell systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brorsen, Kurt R.; Sirjoosingh, Andrew; Pak, Michael V.; Hammes-Schiffer, Sharon, E-mail: shs3@illinois.edu [Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 600 South Mathews Ave., Urbana, Illinois 61801 (United States)

2015-06-07

The nuclear electronic orbital (NEO) reduced explicitly correlated Hartree-Fock (RXCHF) approach couples select electronic orbitals to the nuclear orbital via Gaussian-type geminal functions. This approach is extended to enable the use of a restricted basis set for the explicitly correlated electronic orbitals and an open-shell treatment for the other electronic orbitals. The working equations are derived and the implementation is discussed for both extensions. The RXCHF method with a restricted basis set is applied to HCN and FHF{sup −} and is shown to agree quantitatively with results from RXCHF calculations with a full basis set. The number of many-particle integrals that must be calculated for these two molecules is reduced by over an order of magnitude with essentially no loss in accuracy, and the reduction factor will increase substantially for larger systems. Typically, the computational cost of RXCHF calculations with restricted basis sets will scale in terms of the number of basis functions centered on the quantum nucleus and the covalently bonded neighbor(s). In addition, the RXCHF method with an odd number of electrons that are not explicitly correlated to the nuclear orbital is implemented using a restricted open-shell formalism for these electrons. This method is applied to HCN{sup +}, and the nuclear densities are in qualitative agreement with grid-based calculations. Future work will focus on the significance of nonadiabatic effects in molecular systems and the further enhancement of the NEO-RXCHF approach to accurately describe such effects.

Europlexus: a domain decomposition method in explicit dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Faucher, V.; Hariddh, Bung; Combescure, A.

2003-01-01

Explicit time integration methods are used in structural dynamics to simulate fast transient phenomena, such as impacts or explosions. A very fine analysis is required in the vicinity of the loading areas but extending the same method, and especially the same small time-step, to the whole structure frequently yields excessive calculation times. We thus perform a dual Schur domain decomposition, to divide the global problem into several independent ones, to which is added a reduced size interface problem, to ensure connections between sub-domains. Each sub-domain is given its own time-step and its own mesh fineness. Non-matching meshes at the interfaces are handled. An industrial example demonstrates the interest of our approach. (authors)

Study of a Steel’s Energy Absorption System for Heavy Quadricycles and Nonlinear Explicit Dynamic Analysis of its Behavior under Impact by FEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Ángel López Campos

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Current knowledge of the behavior of heavy quadricycles under impact is still very poor. One of the most significant causes is the lack of energy absorption in the vehicle frame or its steel chassis structure. For this reason, special steels (with yield stresses equal to or greater than 350 MPa are commonly used in the automotive industry due to their great strain hardening properties along the plastic zone, which allows good energy absorption under impact. This paper presents a proposal for a steel quadricycle energy absorption system which meets the percentages of energy absorption for conventional vehicles systems. This proposal is validated by explicit dynamics simulation, which will define the whole problem mathematically and verify behavior under impact at speeds of 40 km/h and 56 km/h using the finite element method (FEM. One of the main consequences of this study is that this FEM–based methodology can tackle high nonlinear problems like this one with success, avoiding the need to carry out experimental tests, with consequent economical savings since experimental tests are very expensive. Finally, the conclusions from this innovative research work are given.

Study of a Steel’s Energy Absorption System for Heavy Quadricycles and Nonlinear Explicit Dynamic Analysis of its Behavior under Impact by FEM

Science.gov (United States)

López Campos, José Ángel; Segade Robleda, Abraham; Vilán Vilán, José Antonio; García Nieto, Paulino José; Blanco Cordero, Javier

2015-01-01

Current knowledge of the behavior of heavy quadricycles under impact is still very poor. One of the most significant causes is the lack of energy absorption in the vehicle frame or its steel chassis structure. For this reason, special steels (with yield stresses equal to or greater than 350 MPa) are commonly used in the automotive industry due to their great strain hardening properties along the plastic zone, which allows good energy absorption under impact. This paper presents a proposal for a steel quadricycle energy absorption system which meets the percentages of energy absorption for conventional vehicles systems. This proposal is validated by explicit dynamics simulation, which will define the whole problem mathematically and verify behavior under impact at speeds of 40 km/h and 56 km/h using the finite element method (FEM). One of the main consequences of this study is that this FEM–based methodology can tackle high nonlinear problems like this one with success, avoiding the need to carry out experimental tests, with consequent economical savings since experimental tests are very expensive. Finally, the conclusions from this innovative research work are given. PMID:28793607

Replica exchange with solute tempering: A method for sampling biological systems in explicit water

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Pu; Kim, Byungchan; Friesner, Richard A.; Berne, B. J.

2005-09-01

An innovative replica exchange (parallel tempering) method called replica exchange with solute tempering (REST) for the efficient sampling of aqueous protein solutions is presented here. The method bypasses the poor scaling with system size of standard replica exchange and thus reduces the number of replicas (parallel processes) that must be used. This reduction is accomplished by deforming the Hamiltonian function for each replica in such a way that the acceptance probability for the exchange of replica configurations does not depend on the number of explicit water molecules in the system. For proof of concept, REST is compared with standard replica exchange for an alanine dipeptide molecule in water. The comparisons confirm that REST greatly reduces the number of CPUs required by regular replica exchange and increases the sampling efficiency. This method reduces the CPU time required for calculating thermodynamic averages and for the ab initio folding of proteins in explicit water. Author contributions: B.J.B. designed research; P.L. and B.K. performed research; P.L. and B.K. analyzed data; and P.L., B.K., R.A.F., and B.J.B. wrote the paper.Abbreviations: REST, replica exchange with solute tempering; REM, replica exchange method; MD, molecular dynamics.*P.L. and B.K. contributed equally to this work.

Whole-arm obstacle avoidance system conceptual design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wintenberg, A.L.; Butler, P.L.; Babcock, S.M.; Ericson, M.N.; Britton, C.L. Jr.

1993-04-01

Whole-arm obstacle avoidance is needed for a variety of robotic applications in the Environmental Restoration and Waste Management (ER ampersand WM) Program. Typical industrial applications of robotics involve well-defined workspaces, allowing a predetermined knowledge of collision-free paths for manipulator motion. In the unstructured or poorly defined hazardous environments of the ER ampersand WM Program, the potential for significant problems resulting from collisions between manipulators and the environment in which they are utilized is great. The conceptual design for a sensing system that will provide protection against such collisions is described herein. The whole-arm obstacle avoidance system consists of a set of sensor ''bracelets,'' which cover the surface area of the manipulator links to the maximum extent practical, and a host processor. The host processor accepts commands from the robot control system, controls the operation of the sensors, manipulates data received from the bracelets, and makes the data available to the manipulator control system. The bracelets consist of a subset of the sensors, associated sensor interface electronics, and a bracelet interface. Redundant communications links between the host processor and the bracelets are provided, allowing single-point failure protection. The system allows reporting of 8-bit data from up to 1000 sensors at a minimum of 50 Hz. While the initial prototype implementation of the system utilizes capacitance proximity sensor, the system concept allows multiple types of sensors. These sensors are uniquely addressable, allowing remote calibration, thresholding at the bracelet, and correlation of a sensor measurement with the associated sensor and its location on the manipulator. Variable resolution allows high-speed, single-bit sensing as well as lower-speed higher-resolution sensing, which is necessary for sensor calibration and potentially useful in control

Spatially explicit modeling of particulate nutrient flux in Large global rivers

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, S.; Kettner, A.; Mayorga, E.; Harrison, J. A.

2017-12-01

Water, sediment, nutrient and carbon fluxes along river networks have undergone considerable alterations in response to anthropogenic and climatic changes, with significant consequences to infrastructure, agriculture, water security, ecology and geomorphology worldwide. However, in a global setting, these changes in fluvial fluxes and their spatial and temporal characteristics are poorly constrained, due to the limited availability of continuous and long-term observations. We present results from a new global-scale particulate modeling framework (WBMsedNEWS) that combines the Global NEWS watershed nutrient export model with the spatially distributed WBMsed water and sediment model. We compare the model predictions against multiple observational datasets. The results indicate that the model is able to accurately predict particulate nutrient (Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Organic Carbon) fluxes on an annual time scale. Analysis of intra-basin nutrient dynamics and fluxes to global oceans is presented.

PHYLOGEOrec: A QGIS plugin for spatial phylogeographic reconstruction from phylogenetic tree and geographical information data

Science.gov (United States)

Nashrulloh, Maulana Malik; Kurniawan, Nia; Rahardi, Brian

2017-11-01

The increasing availability of genetic sequence data associated with explicit geographic and environment (including biotic and abiotic components) information offers new opportunities to study the processes that shape biodiversity and its patterns. Developing phylogeography reconstruction, by integrating phylogenetic and biogeographic knowledge, provides richer and deeper visualization and information on diversification events than ever before. Geographical information systems such as QGIS provide an environment for spatial modeling, analysis, and dissemination by which phylogenetic models can be explicitly linked with their associated spatial data, and subsequently, they will be integrated with other related georeferenced datasets describing the biotic and abiotic environment. We are introducing PHYLOGEOrec, a QGIS plugin for building spatial phylogeographic reconstructions constructed from phylogenetic tree and geographical information data based on QGIS2threejs. By using PHYLOGEOrec, researchers can integrate existing phylogeny and geographical information data, resulting in three-dimensional geographic visualizations of phylogenetic trees in the Keyhole Markup Language (KML) format. Such formats can be overlaid on a map using QGIS and finally, spatially viewed in QGIS by means of a QGIS2threejs engine for further analysis. KML can also be viewed in reputable geobrowsers with KML-support (i.e., Google Earth).

Spatial Contiguity and Incidental Learning in Multimedia Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Paek, Seungoh; Hoffman, Daniel L.; Saravanos, Antonios

2017-01-01

Drawing on dual-process theories of cognitive function, the degree to which spatial contiguity influences incidental learning outcomes was examined. It was hypothesized that spatial contiguity would mediate what was learned even in the absence of an explicit learning goal. To test this hypothesis, 149 adults completed a multimedia-related task…

Explicit/multi-parametric model predictive control (MPC) of linear discrete-time systems by dynamic and multi-parametric programming

KAUST Repository

Kouramas, K.I.; Faí sca, N.P.; Panos, C.; Pistikopoulos, E.N.

2011-01-01

This work presents a new algorithm for solving the explicit/multi- parametric model predictive control (or mp-MPC) problem for linear, time-invariant discrete-time systems, based on dynamic programming and multi-parametric programming techniques

A spatially explicit estimate of the prewhaling abundance of the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

Science.gov (United States)

Monsarrat, Sophie; Pennino, M Grazia; Smith, Tim D; Reeves, Randall R; Meynard, Christine N; Kaplan, David M; Rodrigues, Ana S L

2016-08-01

The North Atlantic right whale (NARW) (Eubalaena glacialis) is one of the world's most threatened whales. It came close to extinction after nearly a millennium of exploitation and currently persists as a population of only approximately 500 individuals. Setting appropriate conservation targets for this species requires an understanding of its historical population size, as a baseline for measuring levels of depletion and progress toward recovery. This is made difficult by the scarcity of records over this species' long whaling history. We sought to estimate the preexploitation population size of the North Atlantic right whale and understand how this species was distributed across its range. We used a spatially explicit data set on historical catches of North Pacific right whales (NPRWs) (Eubalaena japonica) to model the relationship between right whale relative density and the environment during the summer feeding season. Assuming the 2 right whale species select similar environments, we projected this model to the North Atlantic to predict how the relative abundance of NARWs varied across their range. We calibrated these relative abundances with estimates of the NPRW total prewhaling population size to obtain high and low estimates for the overall NARW population size prior to exploitation. The model predicted 9,075-21,328 right whales in the North Atlantic. The current NARW population is thus <6% of the historical North Atlantic carrying capacity and has enormous potential for recovery. According to the model, in June-September NARWs concentrated in 2 main feeding areas: east of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and in the Norwegian Sea. These 2 areas may become important in the future as feeding grounds and may already be used more regularly by this endangered species than is thought. © 2015 Society for Conservation Biology.

Spatially explicit assessment of ecosystem services in China's Loess Plateau: Patterns, interactions, drivers, and implications

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Chong; Zhang, Haiyan; Zhang, Zhidong

2018-02-01

Human demands for natural resources have significantly changed the natural landscape and induced ecological degradation and associated ecosystem services. An understanding of the patterns, interactions, and drivers of ecosystem services is essential for the ecosystem management and guiding targeted land use policy-making. The Losses Plateau (LP) provides ecosystem services including the carbon sequestration and soil retention, and exerts tremendous impacts on the midstream and downstream of the Yellow River. Three dominant ecosystem services between 2000 and 2012 within the LP were presented based on multiple source datasets and biophysical models. In addition, paired ecosystem services interactions were quantified using the correlation analysis and constraint line approach. The main conclusions are as follows. It was observed that the warming and wetting climate and ecological program jointly promoted the vegetation growth and carbon sequestration. The increasing precipitation throughout 2000-2012 was related to the soil retention and hydrological regulation fluctuations. The vegetation restoration played a positive role in the soil retention enhancement, thus substantially reduced water and sediment yields. The relationships between ecosystem services were not only correlations (tradeoffs or synergies), but rather constraint effects. The constraint effects between the three paired ecosystem services could be classified as the negative convex (carbon sequestration vs. hydrological regulation) and hump-shaped (soil retention vs. carbon sequestration and soil retention vs. hydrological regulation), and the coefficients of determination for the entire LP were 0.78, 0.84, and 0.65, respectively. In the LP, the rainfall (water availability) was the key constraint factor that affected the relationships between the paired ecosystem services. The spatially explicit mapping of ecosystem services and interaction analyses utilizing constraint line approach enriched the

An Explicit Formulation of Singularity-Free Dynamic Equations of Mechanical Systems in Lagrangian Form---Part Two: Multibody Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pål Johan From

2012-04-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the explicit dynamic equations of multibody mechanical systems. This is the second paper on this topic. In the first paper the dynamics of a single rigid body from the Boltzmann--Hamel equations were derived. In this paper these results are extended to also include multibody systems. We show that when quasi-velocities are used, the part of the dynamic equations that appear from the partial derivatives of the system kinematics are identical to the single rigid body case, but in addition we get terms that come from the partial derivatives of the inertia matrix, which are not present in the single rigid body case. We present for the first time the complete and correct derivation of multibody systems based on the Boltzmann--Hamel formulation of the dynamics in Lagrangian form where local position and velocity variables are used in the derivation to obtain the singularity-free dynamic equations. The final equations are written in global variables for both position and velocity. The main motivation of these papers is to allow practitioners not familiar with differential geometry to implement the dynamic equations of rigid bodies without the presence of singularities. Presenting the explicit dynamic equations also allows for more insight into the dynamic structure of the system. Another motivation is to correct some errors commonly found in the literature. Unfortunately, the formulation of the Boltzmann-Hamel equations used here are presented incorrectly. This has been corrected by the authors, but we present here, for the first time, the detailed mathematical details on how to arrive at the correct equations. We also show through examples that using the equations presented here, the dynamics of a single rigid body is reduced to the standard equations on a Lagrangian form, for example Euler's equations for rotational motion and Euler--Lagrange equations for free motion.

Are mixed explicit/implicit solvation models reliable for studying phosphate hydrolysis? A comparative study of continuum, explicit and mixed solvation models.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kamerlin, Shina C. L.; Haranczyk, Maciej; Warshel, Arieh

2009-05-01

Phosphate hydrolysis is ubiquitous in biology. However, despite intensive research on this class of reactions, the precise nature of the reaction mechanism remains controversial. In this work, we have examined the hydrolysis of three homologous phosphate diesters. The solvation free energy was simulated by means of either an implicit solvation model (COSMO), hybrid quantum mechanical / molecular mechanical free energy perturbation (QM/MM-FEP) or a mixed solvation model in which N water molecules were explicitly included in the ab initio description of the reacting system (where N=1-3), with the remainder of the solvent being implicitly modelled as a continuum. Here, both COSMO and QM/MM-FEP reproduce Delta Gobs within an error of about 2kcal/mol. However, we demonstrate that in order to obtain any form of reliable results from a mixed model, it is essential to carefully select the explicit water molecules from short QM/MM runs that act as a model for the true infinite system. Additionally, the mixed models tend to be increasingly inaccurate the more explicit water molecules are placed into the system. Thus, our analysis indicates that this approach provides an unreliable way for modelling phosphate hydrolysis in solution.

Spatial occupancy models for large data sets

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Devin S.; Conn, Paul B.; Hooten, Mevin B.; Ray, Justina C.; Pond, Bruce A.

2013-01-01

Since its development, occupancy modeling has become a popular and useful tool for ecologists wishing to learn about the dynamics of species occurrence over time and space. Such models require presence–absence data to be collected at spatially indexed survey units. However, only recently have researchers recognized the need to correct for spatially induced overdisperison by explicitly accounting for spatial autocorrelation in occupancy probability. Previous efforts to incorporate such autocorrelation have largely focused on logit-normal formulations for occupancy, with spatial autocorrelation induced by a random effect within a hierarchical modeling framework. Although useful, computational time generally limits such an approach to relatively small data sets, and there are often problems with algorithm instability, yielding unsatisfactory results. Further, recent research has revealed a hidden form of multicollinearity in such applications, which may lead to parameter bias if not explicitly addressed. Combining several techniques, we present a unifying hierarchical spatial occupancy model specification that is particularly effective over large spatial extents. This approach employs a probit mixture framework for occupancy and can easily accommodate a reduced-dimensional spatial process to resolve issues with multicollinearity and spatial confounding while improving algorithm convergence. Using open-source software, we demonstrate this new model specification using a case study involving occupancy of caribou (Rangifer tarandus) over a set of 1080 survey units spanning a large contiguous region (108 000 km2) in northern Ontario, Canada. Overall, the combination of a more efficient specification and open-source software allows for a facile and stable implementation of spatial occupancy models for large data sets.

Spatial Models and Networks of Living Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Juul, Jeppe Søgaard

When studying the dynamics of living systems, insight can often be gained by developing a mathematical model that can predict future behaviour of the system or help classify system characteristics. However, in living cells, organisms, and especially groups of interacting individuals, a large number...... variables of the system. However, this approach disregards any spatial structure of the system, which may potentially change the behaviour drastically. An alternative approach is to construct a cellular automaton with nearest neighbour interactions, or even to model the system as a complex network...... with interactions defined by network topology. In this thesis I first describe three different biological models of ageing and cancer, in which spatial structure is important for the system dynamics. I then turn to describe characteristics of ecosystems consisting of three cyclically interacting species...

Disease spread across multiple scales in a spatial hierarchy: effect of host spatial structure and of inoculum quantity and distribution.

Science.gov (United States)

Gosme, Marie; Lucas, Philippe

2009-07-01

Spatial patterns of both the host and the disease influence disease spread and crop losses. Therefore, the manipulation of these patterns might help improve control strategies. Considering disease spread across multiple scales in a spatial hierarchy allows one to capture important features of epidemics developing in space without using explicitly spatialized variables. Thus, if the system under study is composed of roots, plants, and planting hills, the effect of host spatial pattern can be studied by varying the number of plants per planting hill. A simulation model based on hierarchy theory was used to simulate the effects of large versus small planting hills, low versus high level of initial infections, and aggregated versus uniform distribution of initial infections. The results showed that aggregating the initially infected plants always resulted in slower epidemics than spreading out the initial infections uniformly. Simulation results also showed that, in most cases, disease epidemics were slower in the case of large host aggregates (100 plants/hill) than with smaller aggregates (25 plants/hill), except when the initially infected plants were both numerous and spread out uniformly. The optimal strategy for disease control depends on several factors, including initial conditions. More importantly, the model offers a framework to account for the interplay between the spatial characteristics of the system, rates of infection, and aggregation of the disease.

Solutions of the Taylor-Green Vortex Problem Using High-Resolution Explicit Finite Difference Methods

Science.gov (United States)

DeBonis, James R.

2013-01-01

A computational fluid dynamics code that solves the compressible Navier-Stokes equations was applied to the Taylor-Green vortex problem to examine the code s ability to accurately simulate the vortex decay and subsequent turbulence. The code, WRLES (Wave Resolving Large-Eddy Simulation), uses explicit central-differencing to compute the spatial derivatives and explicit Low Dispersion Runge-Kutta methods for the temporal discretization. The flow was first studied and characterized using Bogey & Bailley s 13-point dispersion relation preserving (DRP) scheme. The kinetic energy dissipation rate, computed both directly and from the enstrophy field, vorticity contours, and the energy spectra are examined. Results are in excellent agreement with a reference solution obtained using a spectral method and provide insight into computations of turbulent flows. In addition the following studies were performed: a comparison of 4th-, 8th-, 12th- and DRP spatial differencing schemes, the effect of the solution filtering on the results, the effect of large-eddy simulation sub-grid scale models, and the effect of high-order discretization of the viscous terms.

Spatially explicit multi-threat assessment of food tree species in Burkina Faso: A fine-scale approach.

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Hannes Gaisberger

Full Text Available Over the last decades agroforestry parklands in Burkina Faso have come under increasing demographic as well as climatic pressures, which are threatening indigenous tree species that contribute substantially to income generation and nutrition in rural households. Analyzing the threats as well as the species vulnerability to them is fundamental for priority setting in conservation planning. Guided by literature and local experts we selected 16 important food tree species (Acacia macrostachya, Acacia senegal, Adansonia digitata, Annona senegalensis, Balanites aegyptiaca, Bombax costatum, Boscia senegalensis, Detarium microcarpum, Lannea microcarpa, Parkia biglobosa, Sclerocarya birrea, Strychnos spinosa, Tamarindus indica, Vitellaria paradoxa, Ximenia americana, Ziziphus mauritiana and six key threats to them (overexploitation, overgrazing, fire, cotton production, mining and climate change. We developed a species-specific and spatially explicit approach combining freely accessible datasets, species distribution models (SDMs, climate models and expert survey results to predict, at fine scale, where these threats are likely to have the greatest impact. We find that all species face serious threats throughout much of their distribution in Burkina Faso and that climate change is predicted to be the most prevalent threat in the long term, whereas overexploitation and cotton production are the most important short-term threats. Tree populations growing in areas designated as 'highly threatened' due to climate change should be used as seed sources for ex situ conservation and planting in areas where future climate is predicting suitable habitats. Assisted regeneration is suggested for populations in areas where suitable habitat under future climate conditions coincides with high threat levels due to short-term threats. In the case of Vitellaria paradoxa, we suggest collecting seed along the northern margins of its distribution and considering assisted

Spatially explicit scenario analysis for hydrologic services in an urbanizing agricultural watershed

Science.gov (United States)

Qiu, J.; Booth, E.; Carpenter, S. R.; Turner, M.

2013-12-01

freshwater supply and surface water quality were sustained or enhanced overall, these hydrologic services declined in ~60% and 20% of the landscape, respectively. The greatest improvement for most hydrologic services corresponded to areas of restored wetland, forest and perennial crops, which were less vulnerable to future degradation. In the Investment in Innovation scenario, freshwater supply declined in almost the entire watershed; improvement of surface water quality and flood regulation occurred mainly in urban areas, where highly engineered systems made them less vulnerable. Overall, our results indicated that hydrologic services will respond differently to future climate and land-use change, and sustaining one may involve tradeoffs of another. Technological progress can conserve particular services but might not be the panacea for the future. How society reacts in the face of changes can have an important role in determining the pathways to the future and the provision and spatial patterns of ecosystem services.

The emergence of the rescue effect from explicit within and between-patch dynamics in a metapopulation

KAUST Repository

Eriksson, Anders

2014-02-12

Immigration can rescue local populations from extinction, helping to stabilize a metapopulation. Local population dynamics is important for determining the strength of this rescue effect, but the mechanistic link between local demographic parameters and the rescue effect at the metapopulation level has received very little attention by modellers. We develop an analytical framework that allows us to describe the emergence of the rescue effect from interacting local stochastic dynamics. We show this framework to be applicable to a wide range of spatial scales, providing a powerful and convenient alternative to individual-based models for making predictions concerning the fate of metapopulations. We show that the rescue effect plays an important role in minimizing the increase in local extinction probability associated with high demographic stochasticity, but its role is more limited in the case of high local environmental stochasticity of recruitment or survival. While most models postulate the rescue effect, our framework provides an explicit mechanistic link between local dynamics and the emergence of the rescue effect, and more generally the stability of the whole metapopulation. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

The emergence of the rescue effect from explicit within and between-patch dynamics in a metapopulation

KAUST Repository

Eriksson, Anders; Elí as-Wolff, Federico; Mehlig, Bernhard; Manica, Andrea

2014-01-01

Immigration can rescue local populations from extinction, helping to stabilize a metapopulation. Local population dynamics is important for determining the strength of this rescue effect, but the mechanistic link between local demographic parameters and the rescue effect at the metapopulation level has received very little attention by modellers. We develop an analytical framework that allows us to describe the emergence of the rescue effect from interacting local stochastic dynamics. We show this framework to be applicable to a wide range of spatial scales, providing a powerful and convenient alternative to individual-based models for making predictions concerning the fate of metapopulations. We show that the rescue effect plays an important role in minimizing the increase in local extinction probability associated with high demographic stochasticity, but its role is more limited in the case of high local environmental stochasticity of recruitment or survival. While most models postulate the rescue effect, our framework provides an explicit mechanistic link between local dynamics and the emergence of the rescue effect, and more generally the stability of the whole metapopulation. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Spatial part-set cuing facilitation.

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Kelley, Matthew R; Parasiuk, Yuri; Salgado-Benz, Jennifer; Crocco, Megan

2016-07-01

Cole, Reysen, and Kelley [2013. Part-set cuing facilitation for spatial information. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 39, 1615-1620] reported robust part-set cuing facilitation for spatial information using snap circuits (a colour-coded electronics kit designed for children to create rudimentary circuit boards). In contrast, Drinkwater, Dagnall, and Parker [2006. Effects of part-set cuing on experienced and novice chess players' reconstruction of a typical chess midgame position. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 102(3), 645-653] and Watkins, Schwartz, and Lane [1984. Does part-set cuing test for memory organization? Evidence from reconstructions of chess positions. Canadian Journal of Psychology/Revue Canadienne de Psychologie, 38(3), 498-503] showed no influence of part-set cuing for spatial information when using chess boards. One key difference between the two procedures was that the snap circuit stimuli were explicitly connected to one another, whereas chess pieces were not. Two experiments examined the effects of connection type (connected vs. unconnected) and cue type (cued vs. uncued) on memory for spatial information. Using chess boards (Experiment 1) and snap circuits (Experiment 2), part-set cuing facilitation only occurred when the stimuli were explicitly connected; there was no influence of cuing with unconnected stimuli. These results are potentially consistent with the retrieval strategy disruption hypothesis, as well as the two- and three-mechanism accounts of part-set cuing.

Parts of the Whole: Approaching Education as a System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dorothy Wallace

2009-07-01

Full Text Available An educational system is a highly coupled complex system of inputs, outputs, sensors and actuators. Using an engineering perspective, this column begins the process of naming and categorizing parts of the system. It then focuses on teachers as one part of a large system, and analyzes the forces that influence how teachers work, and that draw or repel individuals to a teaching career. The growing shortage of qualified teachers can be explained by properties of the system as a whole that determine the context in which teachers do their job.

Implicit and Explicit Gender Beliefs in Spatial Ability : Stronger Stereotyping in Boys than Girls

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vander Heyden, Karin M; van Atteveldt, Nienke M; Huizinga, Mariette; Jolles, Jelle

2016-01-01

Sex differences in spatial ability are a seriously debated topic, given the importance of spatial ability for success in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and girls' underrepresentation in these domains. In the current study we investigated the presence of

Biased figure-ground assignment affects conscious object recognition in spatial neglect.

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Eramudugolla, Ranmalee; Driver, Jon; Mattingley, Jason B

2010-09-01

Unilateral spatial neglect is a disorder of attention and spatial representation, in which early visual processes such as figure-ground segmentation have been assumed to be largely intact. There is evidence, however, that the spatial attention bias underlying neglect can bias the segmentation of a figural region from its background. Relatively few studies have explicitly examined the effect of spatial neglect on processing the figures that result from such scene segmentation. Here, we show that a neglect patient's bias in figure-ground segmentation directly influences his conscious recognition of these figures. By varying the relative salience of figural and background regions in static, two-dimensional displays, we show that competition between elements in such displays can modulate a neglect patient's ability to recognise parsed figures in a scene. The findings provide insight into the interaction between scene segmentation, explicit object recognition, and attention.

Groundwater-fed irrigation impacts spatially distributed temporal scaling behavior of the natural system: a spatio-temporal framework for understanding water management impacts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Condon, Laura E; Maxwell, Reed M

2014-01-01

Regional scale water management analysis increasingly relies on integrated modeling tools. Much recent work has focused on groundwater–surface water interactions and feedbacks. However, to our knowledge, no study has explicitly considered impacts of management operations on the temporal dynamics of the natural system. Here, we simulate twenty years of hourly moisture dependent, groundwater-fed irrigation using a three-dimensional, fully integrated, hydrologic model (ParFlow-CLM). Results highlight interconnections between irrigation demand, groundwater oscillation frequency and latent heat flux variability not previously demonstrated. Additionally, the three-dimensional model used allows for novel consideration of spatial patterns in temporal dynamics. Latent heat flux and water table depth both display spatial organization in temporal scaling, an important finding given the spatial homogeneity and weak scaling observed in atmospheric forcings. Pumping and irrigation amplify high frequency (sub-annual) variability while attenuating low frequency (inter-annual) variability. Irrigation also intensifies scaling within irrigated areas, essentially increasing temporal memory in both the surface and the subsurface. These findings demonstrate management impacts that extend beyond traditional water balance considerations to the fundamental behavior of the system itself. This is an important step to better understanding groundwater’s role as a buffer for natural variability and the impact that water management has on this capacity. (paper)

Spatially explicit data: stewardship and ethical challenges in science.

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Hartter, Joel; Ryan, Sadie J; Mackenzie, Catrina A; Parker, John N; Strasser, Carly A

2013-09-01

Scholarly communication is at an unprecedented turning point created in part by the increasing saliency of data stewardship and data sharing. Formal data management plans represent a new emphasis in research, enabling access to data at higher volumes and more quickly, and the potential for replication and augmentation of existing research. Data sharing has recently transformed the practice, scope, content, and applicability of research in several disciplines, in particular in relation to spatially specific data. This lends exciting potentiality, but the most effective ways in which to implement such changes, particularly for disciplines involving human subjects and other sensitive information, demand consideration. Data management plans, stewardship, and sharing, impart distinctive technical, sociological, and ethical challenges that remain to be adequately identified and remedied. Here, we consider these and propose potential solutions for their amelioration.

[Discussion on research thinking of traditional Chinese medicine standardization system based on whole process quality control].

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Ling; Sun, Yu; Pei, Wen-Xuan; Dai, Jun-Dong; Wang, Zi-Yu; Pan, Meng; Chen, Jiang-Peng; Wang, Yun

2017-12-01

The concept of "Quality by design" indicates that good design for the whole life cycle of pharmaceutical production enables the drug to meet the expected quality requirements. Aiming at the existing problems of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) industry, the TCM standardization system was put forward in this paper from the national strategic level, under the guidance by the idea of quality control in international manufacturing industry and with considerations of TCM industry's own characteristics and development status. The connotation of this strategy was to establish five interrelated systems: multi-indicators system based on tri-indicators system, quality standard and specification system of TCM herbal materials and decoction pieces, quality traceability system, data monitoring system based on whole-process quality control, and whole-process quality management system of TCM, and achieve the whole process systematic and scientific study in TCM industry through "top-level design-implement in steps-system integration" workflow. This article analyzed the correlation between the quality standards of all links, established standard operating procedures of each link and whole process, and constructed a high standard overall quality management system for TCM industry chains, in order to provide a demonstration for the establishment of TCM whole-process quality control system and provide systematic reference and basis for standardization strategy in TCM industry. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Start up of the whole body detection system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cortes P, A.; Angeles C, A.; Cuapio O, A.; Tejera R, A.

1991-12-01

The management of Radiological Safety of the Nuclear Center of Mexico has a whole body detection system Trade mark Canberra, manufactured by Bio-nuclear Measurements Inc. Ipswich Massachusetts. These systems are used to detect contamination of I-131 in thyroid and other nuclides (Cs-137, Cs-134, Co-60, etc.) in thorax. In this work the procedure that was continued for the setting in march of the thyroid detector is presented. A description of this system and an analysis of the uncertainties involved in the measures of activity of I-131 in thyroid of people occupationally exposed is made. (Author)

Climate change and the economics of biomass energy feedstocks in semi-arid agricultural landscapes: A spatially explicit real options analysis.

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Regan, Courtney M; Connor, Jeffery D; Raja Segaran, Ramesh; Meyer, Wayne S; Bryan, Brett A; Ostendorf, Bertram

2017-05-01

The economics of establishing perennial species as renewable energy feedstocks has been widely investigated as a climate change adapted diversification option for landholders, primarily using net present value (NPV) analysis. NPV does not account for key uncertainties likely to influence relevant landholder decision making. While real options analysis (ROA) is an alternative method that accounts for the uncertainty over future conditions and the large upfront irreversible investment involved in establishing perennials, there have been limited applications of ROA to evaluating land use change decision economics and even fewer applications considering climate change risks. Further, while the influence of spatially varying climate risk on biomass conversion economic has been widely evaluated using NPV methods, effects of spatial variability and climate on land use change have been scarcely assessed with ROA. In this study we applied a simulation-based ROA model to evaluate a landholder's decision to convert land from agriculture to biomass. This spatially explicit model considers price and yield risks under baseline climate and two climate change scenarios over a geographically diverse farming region. We found that underlying variability in primary productivity across the study area had a substantial effect on conversion thresholds required to trigger land use change when compared to results from NPV analysis. Areas traditionally thought of as being quite similar in average productive capacity can display large differences in response to the inclusion of production and price risks. The effects of climate change, broadly reduced returns required for land use change to biomass in low and medium rainfall zones and increased them in higher rainfall areas. Additionally, the risks posed by climate change can further exacerbate the tendency for NPV methods to underestimate true conversion thresholds. Our results show that even under severe drying and warming where crop yield

Using IBMs to Investigate Spatially-dependent Processes in Landscape Genetics Theory

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Much of landscape and conservation genetics theory has been derived using non-spatialmathematical models. Here, we use a mechanistic, spatially-explicit, eco-evolutionary IBM to examine the utility of this theoretical framework in landscapes with spatial structure. Our analysis...

A unitary signal-detection model of implicit and explicit memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Berry, Christopher J; Shanks, David R; Henson, Richard N A

2008-10-01

Do dissociations imply independent systems? In the memory field, the view that there are independent implicit and explicit memory systems has been predominantly supported by dissociation evidence. Here, we argue that many of these dissociations do not necessarily imply distinct memory systems. We review recent work with a single-system computational model that extends signal-detection theory (SDT) to implicit memory. SDT has had a major influence on research in a variety of domains. The current work shows that it can be broadened even further in its range of application. Indeed, the single-system model that we present does surprisingly well in accounting for some key dissociations that have been taken as evidence for independent implicit and explicit memory systems.

Explicit time marching methods for the time-dependent Euler computations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tai, C.H.; Chiang, D.C.; Su, Y.P.

1997-01-01

Four explicit type time marching methods, including one proposed by the authors, are examined. The TVD conditions of this method are analyzed with the linear conservation law as the model equation. Performance of these methods when applied to the Euler equations are numerically tested. Seven examples are tested, the main concern is the performance of the methods when discontinuities with different strengths are encountered. When the discontinuity is getting stronger, spurious oscillation shows up for three existing methods, while the method proposed by the authors always gives the results with satisfaction. The effect of the limiter is also investigated. To put these methods in the same basis for the comparison the same spatial discretization is used. Roe's solver is used to evaluate the fluxes at the cell interface; spatially second-order accuracy is achieved by the MUSCL reconstruction. 19 refs., 8 figs

Choice Architecture as a Way to Encourage a Whole Systems Design Perspective for More Sustainable Infrastructure

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Nora Harris

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Across fields, more sustainable and resilient outcomes are being realized through a whole systems design perspective, which guides decision-makers to consider the entire system affected including interdependent physical and social networks. Although infrastructure is extremely interdependent, consisting of diverse stakeholders and networks, the infrastructure design and construction process is often fragmented. This fragmentation can result in unnecessary tradeoffs, leading to poor outcomes for certain stakeholders and the surrounding environment. A whole systems design perspective would help connect this fragmented industry and lead to more sustainable outcomes. For example, a whole systems design approach to relieve traffic on a highway might see beyond the obvious, but often ineffective, response of adding a new vehicle lane to encourage a solution such as repurposing existing road lanes from automobiles to above-ground “subway” systems. This paper discusses influences to whole systems design and how intentional choice architecture, meaning the way decisions are posed, can nudge decision-makers to employ whole systems design and result in more sustainable infrastructure. By uncovering these influences and organizing them by the social, organizational, and individual levels of the infrastructure design process, this paper provides the needed foundation for interdisciplinary research to help harness these influences through choice architecture and whole systems design for the infrastructure industry.

Explicit solution of Calderon preconditioned time domain integral equations

KAUST Repository

Ulku, Huseyin Arda

2013-07-01

An explicit marching on-in-time (MOT) scheme for solving Calderon-preconditioned time domain integral equations is proposed. The scheme uses Rao-Wilton-Glisson and Buffa-Christiansen functions to discretize the domain and range of the integral operators and a PE(CE)m type linear multistep to march on in time. Unlike its implicit counterpart, the proposed explicit solver requires the solution of an MOT system with a Gram matrix that is sparse and well-conditioned independent of the time step size. Numerical results demonstrate that the explicit solver maintains its accuracy and stability even when the time step size is chosen as large as that typically used by an implicit solver. © 2013 IEEE.

Managing distributed dynamic systems with spatial grasp technology

CERN Document Server

Sapaty, Peter Simon

2017-01-01

The book describes a novel ideology and supporting information technology for integral management of both civil and defence-orientated large, distributed dynamic systems. The approach is based on a high-level Spatial Grasp Language, SGL, expressing solutions in physical, virtual, executive and combined environments in the form of active self-evolving and self-propagating patterns spatially matching the systems to be created, modified and controlled. The communicating interpreters of SGL can be installed in key system points, which may be in large numbers (up to millions and billions) and represent equipped humans, robots, laptops, smartphones, smart sensors, etc. Operating under gestalt-inspired scenarios in SGL initially injected from any points, these systems can be effectively converted into goal-driven spatial machines (rather than computers as dealing with physical matter too) capable of responding to numerous challenges caused by growing world dynamics in the 21st century. Including numerous practical e...

A Sociotechnical Systems Approach To Coastal Marine Spatial Planning

Science.gov (United States)

2016-12-01

SYSTEMS APPROACH TO COASTAL MARINE SPATIAL PLANNING by Tyler B. McDonald December 2016 Thesis Advisor: Karen Holness Co-Advisor: Tom...2016 3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED Master’s thesis 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE A SOCIOTECHNICAL SYSTEMS APPROACH TO COASTAL MARINE SPATIAL PLANNING...engineering perspective and specifically used a sociotechnical systems approach . The research investigated aquaculture permitting from the

Detecting spatial regimes in ecosystems | Science Inventory ...

Science.gov (United States)

Research on early warning indicators has generally focused on assessing temporal transitions with limited application of these methods to detecting spatial regimes. Traditional spatial boundary detection procedures that result in ecoregion maps are typically based on ecological potential (i.e. potential vegetation), and often fail to account for ongoing changes due to stressors such as land use change and climate change and their effects on plant and animal communities. We use Fisher information, an information theory based method, on both terrestrial and aquatic animal data (US Breeding Bird Survey and marine zooplankton) to identify ecological boundaries, and compare our results to traditional early warning indicators, conventional ecoregion maps, and multivariate analysis such as nMDS (non-metric Multidimensional Scaling) and cluster analysis. We successfully detect spatial regimes and transitions in both terrestrial and aquatic systems using Fisher information. Furthermore, Fisher information provided explicit spatial information about community change that is absent from other multivariate approaches. Our results suggest that defining spatial regimes based on animal communities may better reflect ecological reality than do traditional ecoregion maps, especially in our current era of rapid and unpredictable ecological change. Use an information theory based method to identify ecological boundaries and compare our results to traditional early warning

Randomized Symmetric Crypto Spatial Fusion Steganographic System

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Viswanathan Perumal

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The image fusion steganographic system embeds encrypted messages in decomposed multimedia carriers using a pseudorandom generator but it fails to evaluate the contents of the cover image. This results in the secret data being embedded in smooth regions, which leads to visible distortion that affects the imperceptibility and confidentiality. To solve this issue, as well as to improve the quality and robustness of the system, the Randomized Symmetric Crypto Spatial Fusion Steganography System is proposed in this study. It comprises three-subsystem bitwise encryption, spatial fusion, and bitwise embedding. First, bitwise encryption encrypts the message using bitwise operation to improve the confidentiality. Then, spatial fusion decomposes and evaluates the region of embedding on the basis of sharp intensity and capacity. This restricts the visibility of distortion and provides a high embedding capacity. Finally, the bitwise embedding system embeds the encrypted message through differencing the pixels in the region by 1, checking even or odd options and not equal to zero constraints. This reduces the modification rate to avoid distortion. The proposed heuristic algorithm is implemented in the blue channel, to which the human visual system is less sensitive. It was tested using standard IST natural images with steganalysis algorithms and resulted in better quality, imperceptibility, embedding capacity and invulnerability to various attacks compared to other steganographic systems.

Explicitly represented polygon wall boundary model for the explicit MPS method

Science.gov (United States)

Mitsume, Naoto; Yoshimura, Shinobu; Murotani, Kohei; Yamada, Tomonori

2015-05-01

This study presents an accurate and robust boundary model, the explicitly represented polygon (ERP) wall boundary model, to treat arbitrarily shaped wall boundaries in the explicit moving particle simulation (E-MPS) method, which is a mesh-free particle method for strong form partial differential equations. The ERP model expresses wall boundaries as polygons, which are explicitly represented without using the distance function. These are derived so that for viscous fluids, and with less computational cost, they satisfy the Neumann boundary condition for the pressure and the slip/no-slip condition on the wall surface. The proposed model is verified and validated by comparing computed results with the theoretical solution, results obtained by other models, and experimental results. Two simulations with complex boundary movements are conducted to demonstrate the applicability of the E-MPS method to the ERP model.

Multiple Systems of Spatial Memory: Evidence from Described Scenes

Science.gov (United States)

Avraamides, Marios N.; Kelly, Jonathan W.

2010-01-01

Recent models in spatial cognition posit that distinct memory systems are responsible for maintaining transient and enduring spatial relations. The authors used perspective-taking performance to assess the presence of these enduring and transient spatial memories for locations encoded through verbal descriptions. Across 3 experiments, spatial…

Accurate, stable and efficient Navier-Stokes solvers based on explicit treatment of the pressure term

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnston, Hans; Liu Jianguo

2004-01-01

We present numerical schemes for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations based on a primitive variable formulation in which the incompressibility constraint has been replaced by a pressure Poisson equation. The pressure is treated explicitly in time, completely decoupling the computation of the momentum and kinematic equations. The result is a class of extremely efficient Navier-Stokes solvers. Full time accuracy is achieved for all flow variables. The key to the schemes is a Neumann boundary condition for the pressure Poisson equation which enforces the incompressibility condition for the velocity field. Irrespective of explicit or implicit time discretization of the viscous term in the momentum equation the explicit time discretization of the pressure term does not affect the time step constraint. Indeed, we prove unconditional stability of the new formulation for the Stokes equation with explicit treatment of the pressure term and first or second order implicit treatment of the viscous term. Systematic numerical experiments for the full Navier-Stokes equations indicate that a second order implicit time discretization of the viscous term, with the pressure and convective terms treated explicitly, is stable under the standard CFL condition. Additionally, various numerical examples are presented, including both implicit and explicit time discretizations, using spectral and finite difference spatial discretizations, demonstrating the accuracy, flexibility and efficiency of this class of schemes. In particular, a Galerkin formulation is presented requiring only C 0 elements to implement

Marine spatial planning and Good Environmental Status: a perspective on spatial and temporal dimensions

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Alison J. Gilbert

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The European Union Marine Strategy Framework Directive requires the Good Environmental Status of marine environments in Europe's regional seas; yet, maritime activities, including sources of marine degradation, are diversifying and intensifying in an increasingly globalized world. Marine spatial planning is emerging as a tool for rationalizing competing uses of the marine environment while guarding its quality. A directive guiding the development of such plans by European Union member states is currently being formulated. There is an undeniable need for marine spatial planning. However, we argue that considerable care must be taken with marine spatial planning, as the spatial and temporal scales of maritime activities and of Good Environmental Status may be mismatched. We identify four principles for careful and explicit consideration to align the requirements of the two directives and enable marine spatial planning to support the achievement of Good Environmental Status in Europe's regional seas.

Latent spatial models and sampling design for landscape genetics

Science.gov (United States)

Hanks, Ephraim M.; Hooten, Mevin B.; Knick, Steven T.; Oyler-McCance, Sara J.; Fike, Jennifer A.; Cross, Todd B.; Schwartz, Michael K.

2016-01-01

We propose a spatially-explicit approach for modeling genetic variation across space and illustrate how this approach can be used to optimize spatial prediction and sampling design for landscape genetic data. We propose a multinomial data model for categorical microsatellite allele data commonly used in landscape genetic studies, and introduce a latent spatial random effect to allow for spatial correlation between genetic observations. We illustrate how modern dimension reduction approaches to spatial statistics can allow for efficient computation in landscape genetic statistical models covering large spatial domains. We apply our approach to propose a retrospective spatial sampling design for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) population genetics in the western United States.

Reaction-Transport Systems Mesoscopic Foundations, Fronts, and Spatial Instabilities

CERN Document Server

Horsthemke, Werner; Mendez, Vicenc

2010-01-01

This book is an introduction to the dynamics of reaction-diffusion systems, with a focus on fronts and stationary spatial patterns. Emphasis is on systems that are non-standard in the sense that either the transport is not simply classical diffusion (Brownian motion) or the system is not homogeneous. A important feature is the derivation of the basic phenomenological equations from the mesoscopic system properties. Topics addressed include transport with inertia, described by persistent random walks and hyperbolic reaction-transport equations and transport by anomalous diffusion, in particular subdiffusion, where the mean square displacement grows sublinearly with time. In particular reaction-diffusion systems are studied where the medium is in turn either spatially inhomogeneous, compositionally heterogeneous or spatially discrete. Applications span a vast range of interdisciplinary fields and the systems considered can be as different as human or animal groups migrating under external influences, population...

Towards a 3d Spatial Urban Energy Modelling Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Bahu, J.-M.; Koch, A.; Kremers, E.; Murshed, S. M.

2013-09-01

Today's needs to reduce the environmental impact of energy use impose dramatic changes for energy infrastructure and existing demand patterns (e.g. buildings) corresponding to their specific context. In addition, future energy systems are expected to integrate a considerable share of fluctuating power sources and equally a high share of distributed generation of electricity. Energy system models capable of describing such future systems and allowing the simulation of the impact of these developments thus require a spatial representation in order to reflect the local context and the boundary conditions. This paper describes two recent research approaches developed at EIFER in the fields of (a) geo-localised simulation of heat energy demand in cities based on 3D morphological data and (b) spatially explicit Agent-Based Models (ABM) for the simulation of smart grids. 3D city models were used to assess solar potential and heat energy demand of residential buildings which enable cities to target the building refurbishment potentials. Distributed energy systems require innovative modelling techniques where individual components are represented and can interact. With this approach, several smart grid demonstrators were simulated, where heterogeneous models are spatially represented. Coupling 3D geodata with energy system ABMs holds different advantages for both approaches. On one hand, energy system models can be enhanced with high resolution data from 3D city models and their semantic relations. Furthermore, they allow for spatial analysis and visualisation of the results, with emphasis on spatially and structurally correlations among the different layers (e.g. infrastructure, buildings, administrative zones) to provide an integrated approach. On the other hand, 3D models can benefit from more detailed system description of energy infrastructure, representing dynamic phenomena and high resolution models for energy use at component level. The proposed modelling strategies

Near-Optimal and Explicit Bell Inequality Violations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Buhrman, H.; Regev, O.; Scarpa, G.; de Wolf, R.

2011-01-01

Bell inequality violations correspond to behavior of entangled quantum systems that cannot be simulated classically. We give two new two-player games with Bell inequality violations that are stronger, fully explicit, and arguably simpler than earlier work.The first game is based on the Hidden

Modeling structural change in spatial system dynamics: A Daisyworld example.

Science.gov (United States)

Neuwirth, C; Peck, A; Simonović, S P

2015-03-01

System dynamics (SD) is an effective approach for helping reveal the temporal behavior of complex systems. Although there have been recent developments in expanding SD to include systems' spatial dependencies, most applications have been restricted to the simulation of diffusion processes; this is especially true for models on structural change (e.g. LULC modeling). To address this shortcoming, a Python program is proposed to tightly couple SD software to a Geographic Information System (GIS). The approach provides the required capacities for handling bidirectional and synchronized interactions of operations between SD and GIS. In order to illustrate the concept and the techniques proposed for simulating structural changes, a fictitious environment called Daisyworld has been recreated in a spatial system dynamics (SSD) environment. The comparison of spatial and non-spatial simulations emphasizes the importance of considering spatio-temporal feedbacks. Finally, practical applications of structural change models in agriculture and disaster management are proposed.

Nonlocal symmetry generators and explicit solutions of some partial differential equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qin Maochang

2007-01-01

The nonlocal symmetry of a partial differential equation is studied in this paper. The partial differential equation written as a conservation law can be transformed into an equivalent system by introducing a suitable potential. The nonlocal symmetry group generators of original partial differential equations can be obtained through their equivalent system. Further, new explicit solutions can be constructed from the newly obtained symmetry generators. The Burgers equation is chosen as an example; many new valuable explicit solutions and nonlocal symmetry generators are presented

Exploring Nonlinearities in Financial Systemic Risk

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wolski, M.

2013-01-01

We propose a new methodology of assessing the effects of individual institution's risk on the others and on the system as a whole. We build upon the Conditional Value-at-Risk approach, however, we introduce the explicit Granger causal linkages and we account for possible nonlinearities in the

Linkage between the temporal and spatial variability of dissolved organic matter and whole-stream metabolism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Halbedel

2013-08-01

that the amount of autochthonously produced DOM increased overall with increasing GPP. In accordance with the coupling between DOM and the metabolism, our data also indicate that the composition of DOM is subject to seasonal fluctuations. We concluded that temporal and spatial differences in DOM composition are driven by whole-stream metabolism, in addition to pronounced effects coming from allochthonous sources.

Labelled Lambda-calculi with Explicit Copy and Erase

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maribel Fernández

2010-03-01

Full Text Available We present two rewriting systems that define labelled explicit substitution lambda-calculi. Our work is motivated by the close correspondence between Levy's labelled lambda-calculus and paths in proof-nets, which played an important role in the understanding of the Geometry of Interaction. The structure of the labels in Levy's labelled lambda-calculus relates to the multiplicative information of paths; the novelty of our work is that we design labelled explicit substitution calculi that also keep track of exponential information present in call-by-value and call-by-name translations of the lambda-calculus into linear logic proof-nets.

Transient performance of integrated SOFC system including spatial temperature control

OpenAIRE

Mueller, F; Fardadi, M; Shaffer, B; Brouwer, J; Jabbari, F

2010-01-01

Spatial temperature feedback control has been developed for a simulated integrated non-pressurized simple cycle solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system. The fuel cell spatial temperature feedback controller is based on (1) feed-forward set-points that minimize temperature variation in the fuel cell electrode-electrolyte solid temperature profile for the system operating power range, and (2) decentralized proportional-integral based feedback to maintain the fuel cell spatial temperature profile du...

Spatial displacement of numbers on a vertical number line in spatial neglect

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Urszula eMihulowicz

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Previous studies that investigated the association of numbers and space in humans came to contradictory conclusions about the spatial character of the mental number magnitude representation and about how it may be influenced by unilateral spatial neglect. The present study aimed to disentangle the debated influence of perceptual versus representational aspects via explicit mapping of numbers onto space by applying the number line estimation paradigm with vertical orientation of stimulus lines. Thirty-five acute right-brain damaged stroke patients (6 with neglect were asked to place two-digit numbers on vertically oriented lines with 0 marked at the bottom and 100 at the top. In contrast to the expected, nearly linear mapping in the control patient group, patients with spatial neglect overestimated the position of numbers in the lower middle range. The results corroborate spatial characteristics of the number magnitude representation. In neglect patients, this representation seems to be biased towards the ipsilesional side, independent of the physical orientation of the task stimuli.

An Ultra-High Speed Whole Slide Image Viewing System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yukako Yagi

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Background: One of the goals for a Whole Slide Imaging (WSI system is implementation in the clinical practice of pathology. One of the unresolved problems in accomplishing this goal is the speed of the entire process, i.e., from viewing the slides through making the final diagnosis. Most users are not satisfied with the correct viewing speeds of available systems. We have evaluated a new WSI viewing station and tool that focuses on speed.

Biofuels carbon footprints: Whole-systems optimisation for GHG emissions reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Zamboni, Andrea; Murphy, Richard J; Woods, Jeremy; Bezzo, Fabrizio; Shah, Nilay

2011-08-01

A modelling approach for strategic design of ethanol production systems combining lifecycle analysis (LCA) and supply chain optimisation (SCO) can significantly contribute to assess their economic and environmental sustainability and to guide decision makers towards a more conscious implementation of ad hoc farming and processing practices. Most models applications so far have been descriptive in nature; the model proposed in this work is "normative" in that it aims to guide actions towards optimal outcomes (e.g. optimising the nitrogen balance through the whole supply chain). The modelling framework was conceived to steer strategic policies through a geographically specific design process considering economic and environmental criteria. Results shows how a crop management strategy devised from a whole systems perspective can significantly contribute to mitigate global warming even in first generation technologies. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A new spatial multiple discrete-continuous modeling approach to land use change analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-01

This report formulates a multiple discrete-continuous probit (MDCP) land-use model within a : spatially explicit economic structural framework for land-use change decisions. The spatial : MDCP model is capable of predicting both the type and intensit...

Individual differences in explicit and implicit visuomotor learning and working memory capacity.

Science.gov (United States)

Christou, Antonios I; Miall, R Chris; McNab, Fiona; Galea, Joseph M

2016-11-08

The theoretical basis for the association between high working memory capacity (WMC) and enhanced visuomotor adaptation is unknown. Visuomotor adaptation involves interplay between explicit and implicit systems. We examined whether the positive association between adaptation and WMC is specific to the explicit component of adaptation. Experiment 1 replicated the positive correlation between WMC and adaptation, but revealed this was specific to the explicit component of adaptation, and apparently driven by a sub-group of participants who did not show any explicit adaptation in the correct direction. A negative correlation was observed between WMC and implicit learning. Experiments 2 and 3 showed that when the task restricted the development of an explicit strategy, high WMC was no longer associated with enhanced adaptation. This work reveals that the benefit of high WMC is specifically linked to an individual's capacity to use an explicit strategy. It also reveals an important contribution of individual differences in determining how adaptation is performed.

Spatially-explicit modeling of multi-scale drivers of aboveground forest biomass and water yield in watersheds of the Southeastern United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Ajaz Ahmed, Mukhtar Ahmed; Abd-Elrahman, Amr; Escobedo, Francisco J; Cropper, Wendell P; Martin, Timothy A; Timilsina, Nilesh

2017-09-01

Understanding ecosystem processes and the influence of regional scale drivers can provide useful information for managing forest ecosystems. Examining more local scale drivers of forest biomass and water yield can also provide insights for identifying and better understanding the effects of climate change and management on forests. We used diverse multi-scale datasets, functional models and Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) to model ecosystem processes at the watershed scale and to interpret the influence of ecological drivers across the Southeastern United States (SE US). Aboveground forest biomass (AGB) was determined from available geospatial datasets and water yield was estimated using the Water Supply and Stress Index (WaSSI) model at the watershed level. Our geostatistical model examined the spatial variation in these relationships between ecosystem processes, climate, biophysical, and forest management variables at the watershed level across the SE US. Ecological and management drivers at the watershed level were analyzed locally to identify whether drivers contribute positively or negatively to aboveground forest biomass and water yield ecosystem processes and thus identifying potential synergies and tradeoffs across the SE US region. Although AGB and water yield drivers varied geographically across the study area, they were generally significantly influenced by climate (rainfall and temperature), land-cover factor1 (Water and barren), land-cover factor2 (wetland and forest), organic matter content high, rock depth, available water content, stand age, elevation, and LAI drivers. These drivers were positively or negatively associated with biomass or water yield which significantly contributes to ecosystem interactions or tradeoff/synergies. Our study introduced a spatially-explicit modelling framework to analyze the effect of ecosystem drivers on forest ecosystem structure, function and provision of services. This integrated model approach facilitates

Predictive Validity of Explicit and Implicit Threat Overestimation in Contamination Fear

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Jennifer S.; Teachman, Bethany A.

2012-01-01

We examined the predictive validity of explicit and implicit measures of threat overestimation in relation to contamination-fear outcomes using structural equation modeling. Undergraduate students high in contamination fear (N = 56) completed explicit measures of contamination threat likelihood and severity, as well as looming vulnerability cognitions, in addition to an implicit measure of danger associations with potential contaminants. Participants also completed measures of contamination-fear symptoms, as well as subjective distress and avoidance during a behavioral avoidance task, and state looming vulnerability cognitions during an exposure task. The latent explicit (but not implicit) threat overestimation variable was a significant and unique predictor of contamination fear symptoms and self-reported affective and cognitive facets of contamination fear. On the contrary, the implicit (but not explicit) latent measure predicted behavioral avoidance (at the level of a trend). Results are discussed in terms of differential predictive validity of implicit versus explicit markers of threat processing and multiple fear response systems. PMID:24073390

Demonstration of Hadoop-GIS: A Spatial Data Warehousing System Over MapReduce.

Science.gov (United States)

Aji, Ablimit; Sun, Xiling; Vo, Hoang; Liu, Qioaling; Lee, Rubao; Zhang, Xiaodong; Saltz, Joel; Wang, Fusheng

2013-11-01

The proliferation of GPS-enabled devices, and the rapid improvement of scientific instruments have resulted in massive amounts of spatial data in the last decade. Support of high performance spatial queries on large volumes data has become increasingly important in numerous fields, which requires a scalable and efficient spatial data warehousing solution as existing approaches exhibit scalability limitations and efficiency bottlenecks for large scale spatial applications. In this demonstration, we present Hadoop-GIS - a scalable and high performance spatial query system over MapReduce. Hadoop-GIS provides an efficient spatial query engine to process spatial queries, data and space based partitioning, and query pipelines that parallelize queries implicitly on MapReduce. Hadoop-GIS also provides an expressive, SQL-like spatial query language for workload specification. We will demonstrate how spatial queries are expressed in spatially extended SQL queries, and submitted through a command line/web interface for execution. Parallel to our system demonstration, we explain the system architecture and details on how queries are translated to MapReduce operators, optimized, and executed on Hadoop. In addition, we will showcase how the system can be used to support two representative real world use cases: large scale pathology analytical imaging, and geo-spatial data warehousing.

Measurement-Based Spatial Correlation and Capacity of Indoor Distributed MIMO System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan Zhang

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Distributed MIMO (D-MIMO system is one of the candidates for future wireless access networks. In this study, the spatial correlation and capacity in indoor D-MIMO system are presented. All results are from the actual channel measurements in typical indoor scenarios, including office and corridor. Based on measured data, spatial correlation coefficients between distributed transmitting antennas are analyzed. Although the literature about D-MIMO system assumes the small scale fading between distributed antennas is independent, we find that spatial correlation may still exist in specific propagation scenario. This correlation can also degrade the performance of D-MIMO system. To mitigate the impact of spatial correlation, one efficient method is to use transmitting antenna selection technique.

Water transport through tall trees: A vertically-explicit, analytical model of xylem hydraulic conductance in stems.

Science.gov (United States)

Couvreur, Valentin; Ledder, Glenn; Manzoni, Stefano; Way, Danielle A; Muller, Erik B; Russo, Sabrina E

2018-05-08

Trees grow by vertically extending their stems, so accurate stem hydraulic models are fundamental to understanding the hydraulic challenges faced by tall trees. Using a literature survey, we showed that many tree species exhibit continuous vertical variation in hydraulic traits. To examine the effects of this variation on hydraulic function, we developed a spatially-explicit, analytical water transport model for stems. Our model allows Huber ratio, stem-saturated conductivity, pressure at 50% loss of conductivity, leaf area, and transpiration rate to vary continuously along the hydraulic path. Predictions from our model differ from a matric flux potential model parameterized with uniform traits. Analyses show that cavitation is a whole-stem emergent property resulting from nonlinear pressure-conductivity feedbacks that, with gravity, cause impaired water transport to accumulate along the path. Because of the compounding effects of vertical trait variation on hydraulic function, growing proportionally more sapwood and building tapered xylem with height, as well as reducing xylem vulnerability only at branch tips while maintaining transport capacity at the stem base, can compensate for these effects. We therefore conclude that the adaptive significance of vertical variation in stem hydraulic traits is to allow trees to grow tall and tolerate operating near their hydraulic limits. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Sleep benefits in parallel implicit and explicit measures of episodic memory

Science.gov (United States)

Weber, Frederik D.; Wang, Jing-Yi; Born, Jan; Inostroza, Marion

2014-01-01

Research in rats using preferences during exploration as a measure of memory has indicated that sleep is important for the consolidation of episodic-like memory, i.e., memory for an event bound into specific spatio-temporal context. How these findings relate to human episodic memory is unclear. We used spontaneous preferences during visual exploration and verbal recall as, respectively, implicit and explicit measures of memory, to study effects of sleep on episodic memory consolidation in humans. During encoding before 10-h retention intervals that covered nighttime sleep or daytime wakefulness, two groups of young adults were presented with two episodes that were 1-h apart. Each episode entailed a spatial configuration of four different faces in a 3 × 3 grid of locations. After the retention interval, implicit spatio-temporal recall performance was assessed by eye-tracking visual exploration of another configuration of four faces of which two were from the first and second episode, respectively; of the two faces one was presented at the same location as during encoding and the other at another location. Afterward explicit verbal recall was assessed. Measures of implicit and explicit episodic memory retention were positively correlated (r = 0.57, P memory recall was associated with increased fast spindles during nonrapid eye movement (NonREM) sleep (r = 0.62, P memory benefits from sleep. PMID:24634354

Design and realization of tourism spatial decision support system based on GIS

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Zhangbao; Qi, Qingwen; Xu, Li

2008-10-01

In this paper, the existing problems of current tourism management information system are analyzed. GIS, tourism as well as spatial decision support system are introduced, and the application of geographic information system technology and spatial decision support system to tourism management and the establishment of tourism spatial decision support system based on GIS are proposed. System total structure, system hardware and software environment, database design and structure module design of this system are introduced. Finally, realization methods of this systemic core functions are elaborated.

Solving the Sea-Level Equation in an Explicit Time Differencing Scheme

Science.gov (United States)

Klemann, V.; Hagedoorn, J. M.; Thomas, M.

2016-12-01

In preparation of coupling the solid-earth to an ice-sheet compartment in an earth-system model, the dependency of initial topography on the ice-sheet history and viscosity structure has to be analysed. In this study, we discuss this dependency and how it influences the reconstruction of former sea level during a glacial cycle. The modelling is based on the VILMA code in which the field equations are solved in the time domain applying an explicit time-differencing scheme. The sea-level equation is solved simultaneously in the same explicit scheme as the viscoleastic field equations (Hagedoorn et al., 2007). With the assumption of only small changes, we neglect the iterative solution at each time step as suggested by e.g. Kendall et al. (2005). Nevertheless, the prediction of the initial paleo topography in case of moving coastlines remains to be iterated by repeated integration of the whole load history. The sensitivity study sketched at the beginning is accordingly motivated by the question if the iteration of the paleo topography can be replaced by a predefined one. This study is part of the German paleoclimate modelling initiative PalMod. Lit:Hagedoorn JM, Wolf D, Martinec Z, 2007. An estimate of global mean sea-level rise inferred from tide-gauge measurements using glacial-isostatic models consistent with the relative sea-level record. Pure appl. Geophys. 164: 791-818, doi:10.1007/s00024-007-0186-7Kendall RA, Mitrovica JX, Milne GA, 2005. On post-glacial sea level - II. Numerical formulation and comparative reesults on spherically symmetric models. Geophys. J. Int., 161: 679-706, doi:10.1111/j.365-246.X.2005.02553.x

Explicit symmetry breaking in electrodynamic systems and electromagnetic radiation

CERN Document Server

Sinha, Dhiraj

2016-01-01

This book is an introduction to the concept of symmetries in electromagnetism and explicit symmetry breaking. It begins with a brief background on the origin of the concept of symmetry and its meaning in fields such as architecture, mathematics and physics. Despite the extensive developments of symmetry in these fields, it has yet to be applied to the context of classical electromagnetism and related engineering applications. This book unravels the beauty and excitement of this area to scientists and engineers.

Spatializing 6,000 years of global urbanization from 3700 BC to AD 2000

Science.gov (United States)

Reba, Meredith; Reitsma, Femke; Seto, Karen C.

2016-06-01

How were cities distributed globally in the past? How many people lived in these cities? How did cities influence their local and regional environments? In order to understand the current era of urbanization, we must understand long-term historical urbanization trends and patterns. However, to date there is no comprehensive record of spatially explicit, historic, city-level population data at the global scale. Here, we developed the first spatially explicit dataset of urban settlements from 3700 BC to AD 2000, by digitizing, transcribing, and geocoding historical, archaeological, and census-based urban population data previously published in tabular form by Chandler and Modelski. The dataset creation process also required data cleaning and harmonization procedures to make the data internally consistent. Additionally, we created a reliability ranking for each geocoded location to assess the geographic uncertainty of each data point. The dataset provides the first spatially explicit archive of the location and size of urban populations over the last 6,000 years and can contribute to an improved understanding of contemporary and historical urbanization trends.

Protein buffering in model systems and in whole human saliva.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreas Lamanda

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to quantify the buffer attributes (value, power, range and optimum of two model systems for whole human resting saliva, the purified proteins from whole human resting saliva and single proteins. Two model systems, the first containing amyloglucosidase and lysozyme, and the second containing amyloglucosidase and alpha-amylase, were shown to provide, in combination with hydrogencarbonate and di-hydrogenphosphate, almost identical buffer attributes as whole human resting saliva. It was further demonstrated that changes in the protein concentration as small as 0.1% may change the buffer value of a buffer solution up to 15 times. Additionally, it was shown that there was a protein concentration change in the same range (0.16% between saliva samples collected at the time periods of 13:00 and others collected at 9:00 am and 17:00. The mode of the protein expression changed between these samples corresponded to the change in basic buffer power and the change of the buffer value at pH 6.7. Finally, SDS Page and Ruthenium II tris (bathophenantroline disulfonate staining unveiled a constant protein expression in all samples except for one 50 kDa protein band. As the change in the expression pattern of that 50 kDa protein band corresponded to the change in basic buffer power and the buffer value at pH 6.7, it was reasonable to conclude that this 50 kDa protein band may contain the protein(s belonging to the protein buffer system of human saliva.

Explicit Content Caching at Mobile Edge Networks with Cross-Layer Sensing

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Lingyu; Su, Youxing; Luo, Wenbin; Hong, Xuemin; Shi, Jianghong

2018-01-01

The deployment density and computational power of small base stations (BSs) are expected to increase significantly in the next generation mobile communication networks. These BSs form the mobile edge network, which is a pervasive and distributed infrastructure that can empower a variety of edge/fog computing applications. This paper proposes a novel edge-computing application called explicit caching, which stores selective contents at BSs and exposes such contents to local users for interactive browsing and download. We formulate the explicit caching problem as a joint content recommendation, caching, and delivery problem, which aims to maximize the expected user quality-of-experience (QoE) with varying degrees of cross-layer sensing capability. Optimal and effective heuristic algorithms are presented to solve the problem. The theoretical performance bounds of the explicit caching system are derived in simplified scenarios. The impacts of cache storage space, BS backhaul capacity, cross-layer information, and user mobility on the system performance are simulated and discussed in realistic scenarios. Results suggest that, compared with conventional implicit caching schemes, explicit caching can better exploit the mobile edge network infrastructure for personalized content dissemination. PMID:29565313

Explicit Content Caching at Mobile Edge Networks with Cross-Layer Sensing.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Lingyu; Su, Youxing; Luo, Wenbin; Hong, Xuemin; Shi, Jianghong

2018-03-22

The deployment density and computational power of small base stations (BSs) are expected to increase significantly in the next generation mobile communication networks. These BSs form the mobile edge network, which is a pervasive and distributed infrastructure that can empower a variety of edge/fog computing applications. This paper proposes a novel edge-computing application called explicit caching, which stores selective contents at BSs and exposes such contents to local users for interactive browsing and download. We formulate the explicit caching problem as a joint content recommendation, caching, and delivery problem, which aims to maximize the expected user quality-of-experience (QoE) with varying degrees of cross-layer sensing capability. Optimal and effective heuristic algorithms are presented to solve the problem. The theoretical performance bounds of the explicit caching system are derived in simplified scenarios. The impacts of cache storage space, BS backhaul capacity, cross-layer information, and user mobility on the system performance are simulated and discussed in realistic scenarios. Results suggest that, compared with conventional implicit caching schemes, explicit caching can better exploit the mobile edge network infrastructure for personalized content dissemination.

Control of boiler temperature with explicit MPC; Panntemperaturreglering med explicit MPC

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Slaetteke, Ola; Velut, Stefan; Raaberg, Martin

2012-02-15

MPC is the multivariable controller that has been most successful in the process industry and particularly the petrochemical industry. It has been described as one of the most significant developments in process control and the main reasons for this are: 1. It handles multivariable control problems in a natural manner. 2. It is relative easy to understand the structure of the controller, which is the same whether it is a simple loop or a multivariable system. 3. It handles limitations of both the process and other practical constraints in a systematic way. Examples of this is that a valve can only work between 0 and 100 %, but also that the CO-level in the flue gas must not exceed a certain level. 4. It allows for operating conditions near critical process boundaries, which in many cases is synonymous with increased production rates, reduced raw material consumption, better energy utilization, and faster process transitions. The aim of the project is to evaluate the potential of multivariable control in the form of explicit MPC in a boiler at Stora Enso Hylte Bruk. This research task can be divided into two sub-tasks: 1. General evaluation of explicit MPC. 2. Evaluation of multivariable control of boiler temperature The purpose of subtask one is to evaluate what is required of a facility owner to implement explicit MPC in a control system. This includes everything from available calculation tools, what is important to consider during the design phase of the controller, different pitfalls that exist, management of different operating modes, to how the controller should be implemented and commissioned. Subtask two is intended to evaluate the multivariable control of a boiler of CFB type (circulating fluidized bed). MPC controller will regulate the temperature in the boiler. In order to maintain the waste incineration directive, the temperature in the upper part of the boiler is controlled. This is done by means of changes in the flow of natural gas injection and

Explicit learning in Act-R

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Taatgen, N.A.; Schmid, U; Krems, J; Wysotzky, F

1999-01-01

A popular distinction in the learning literature is the distinction between implicit and explicit learning. Although many studies elaborate on the nature of implicit learning, little attention is left for explicit learning. The unintentional aspect of implicit learning corresponds well to the

Implicit, explicit and speculative knowledge

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Ditmarsch, H.; French, T.; Velázquez-Quesada, F.R.; Wáng, Y.N.

We compare different epistemic notions in the presence of awareness of propositional variables: the logic of implicit knowledge (in which explicit knowledge is definable), the logic of explicit knowledge, and the logic of speculative knowledge. Speculative knowledge is a novel epistemic notion that

Explicit Interaction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Löwgren, Jonas; Eriksen, Mette Agger; Linde, Per

2006-01-01

We report an ongoing study of palpable computing to support surgical rehabilitation, in the general field of interaction design for ubiquitous computing. Through explorative design, fieldwork and participatory design techniques, we explore the design principle of explicit interaction as an interp...

Disentangling neural processes of egocentric and allocentric mental spatial transformations using whole-body photos of self and other.

Science.gov (United States)

Ganesh, Shanti; van Schie, Hein T; Cross, Emily S; de Lange, Floris P; Wigboldus, Daniël H J

2015-08-01

Mental imagery of one's body moving through space is important for imagining changing visuospatial perspectives, as well as for determining how we might appear to other people. Previous neuroimaging research has implicated the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) in this process. It is unclear, however, how neural activity in the TPJ relates to the rotation perspectives from which mental spatial transformation (MST) of one's own body can take place, i.e. from an egocentric or an allocentric perspective. It is also unclear whether TPJ involvement in MST is self-specific or whether the TPJ may also be involved in MST of other human bodies. The aim of the current study was to disentangle neural processes involved in egocentric versus allocentric MSTs of human bodies representing self and other. We measured functional brain activity of healthy participants while they performed egocentric and allocentric MSTs in relation to whole-body photographs of themselves and a same-sex stranger. Findings indicated higher blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response in bilateral TPJ during egocentric versus allocentric MST. Moreover, BOLD response in the TPJ during egocentric MST correlated positively with self-report scores indicating how awkward participants felt while viewing whole-body photos of themselves. These findings considerably advance our understanding of TPJ involvement in MST and its interplay with self-awareness. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Spatial transcriptomics: paving the way for tissue-level systems biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Moor, Andreas E; Itzkovitz, Shalev

2017-08-01

The tissues in our bodies are complex systems composed of diverse cell types that often interact in highly structured repeating anatomical units. External gradients of morphogens, directional blood flow, as well as the secretion and absorption of materials by cells generate distinct microenvironments at different tissue coordinates. Such spatial heterogeneity enables optimized function through division of labor among cells. Unraveling the design principles that govern this spatial division of labor requires techniques to quantify the entire transcriptomes of cells while accounting for their spatial coordinates. In this review we describe how recent advances in spatial transcriptomics open the way for tissue-level systems biology. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Explicit integration of extremely stiff reaction networks: partial equilibrium methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guidry, M W; Hix, W R; Billings, J J

2013-01-01

In two preceding papers (Guidry et al 2013 Comput. Sci. Disc. 6 015001 and Guidry and Harris 2013 Comput. Sci. Disc. 6 015002), we have shown that when reaction networks are well removed from equilibrium, explicit asymptotic and quasi-steady-state approximations can give algebraically stabilized integration schemes that rival standard implicit methods in accuracy and speed for extremely stiff systems. However, we also showed that these explicit methods remain accurate but are no longer competitive in speed as the network approaches equilibrium. In this paper, we analyze this failure and show that it is associated with the presence of fast equilibration timescales that neither asymptotic nor quasi-steady-state approximations are able to remove efficiently from the numerical integration. Based on this understanding, we develop a partial equilibrium method to deal effectively with the approach to equilibrium and show that explicit asymptotic methods, combined with the new partial equilibrium methods, give an integration scheme that can plausibly deal with the stiffest networks, even in the approach to equilibrium, with accuracy and speed competitive with that of implicit methods. Thus we demonstrate that such explicit methods may offer alternatives to implicit integration of even extremely stiff systems and that these methods may permit integration of much larger networks than have been possible before in a number of fields. (paper)

Sleep Enhances Explicit Recollection in Recognition Memory

Science.gov (United States)

Drosopoulos, Spyridon; Wagner, Ullrich; Born, Jan

2005-01-01

Recognition memory is considered to be supported by two different memory processes, i.e., the explicit recollection of information about a previous event and an implicit process of recognition based on a contextual sense of familiarity. Both types of memory supposedly rely on distinct memory systems. Sleep is known to enhance the consolidation of…

Spatial variations in food web structures with alternative stable states: evidence from stable isotope analysis in a large eutrophic lake

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yunkai; Zhang, Yuying; Xu, Jun; Zhang, Shuo

2018-03-01

Food web structures are well known to vary widely among ecosystems. Moreover, many food web studies of lakes have generally attempted to characterize the overall food web structure and have largely ignored internal spatial and environmental variations. In this study, we hypothesize that there is a high degree of spatial heterogeneity within an ecosystem and such heterogeneity may lead to strong variations in environmental conditions and resource availability, in turn resulting in different trophic pathways. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes were employed for the whole food web to describe the structure of the food web in different sub-basins within Taihu Lake. This lake is a large eutrophic freshwater lake that has been intensively managed and highly influenced by human activities for more than 50 years. The results show significant isotopic differences between basins with different environmental characteristics. Such differences likely result from isotopic baseline differences combining with a shift in food web structure. Both are related to local spatial heterogeneity in nutrient loading in waters. Such variation should be explicitly considered in future food web studies and ecosystem-based management in this lake ecosystem.

Spatial variations in food web structures with alternative stable states: evidence from stable isotope analysis in a large eutrophic lake

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yunkai; Zhang, Yuying; Xu, Jun; Zhang, Shuo

2017-05-01

Food web structures are well known to vary widely among ecosystems. Moreover, many food web studies of lakes have generally attempted to characterize the overall food web structure and have largely ignored internal spatial and environmental variations. In this study, we hypothesize that there is a high degree of spatial heterogeneity within an ecosystem and such heterogeneity may lead to strong variations in environmental conditions and resource availability, in turn resulting in different trophic pathways. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes were employed for the whole food web to describe the structure of the food web in different sub-basins within Taihu Lake. This lake is a large eutrophic freshwater lake that has been intensively managed and highly influenced by human activities for more than 50 years. The results show significant isotopic differences between basins with different environmental characteristics. Such differences likely result from isotopic baseline differences combining with a shift in food web structure. Both are related to local spatial heterogeneity in nutrient loading in waters. Such variation should be explicitly considered in future food web studies and ecosystem-based management in this lake ecosystem.

Towards Linking 3D SAR and Lidar Models with a Spatially Explicit Individual Based Forest Model

Science.gov (United States)

Osmanoglu, B.; Ranson, J.; Sun, G.; Armstrong, A. H.; Fischer, R.; Huth, A.

2017-12-01

In this study, we present a parameterization of the FORMIND individual-based gap model (IBGM)for old growth Atlantic lowland rainforest in La Selva, Costa Rica for the purpose of informing multisensor remote sensing techniques for above ground biomass techniques. The model was successfully parameterized and calibrated for the study site; results show that the simulated forest reproduces the structural complexity of Costa Rican rainforest based on comparisons with CARBONO inventory plot data. Though the simulated stem numbers (378) slightly underestimated the plot data (418), particularly for canopy dominant intermediate shade tolerant trees and shade tolerant understory trees, overall there was a 9.7% difference. Aboveground biomass (kg/ha) showed a 0.1% difference between the simulated forest and inventory plot dataset. The Costa Rica FORMIND simulation was then used to parameterize a spatially explicit (3D) SAR and lidar backscatter models. The simulated forest stands were used to generate a Look Up Table as a tractable means to estimate aboveground forest biomass for these complex forests. Various combinations of lidar and radar variables were evaluated in the LUT inversion. To test the capability of future data for estimation of forest height and biomass, we considered data of 1) L- (or P-) band polarimetric data (backscattering coefficients of HH, HV and VV); 2) L-band dual-pol repeat-pass InSAR data (HH/HV backscattering coefficients and coherences, height of scattering phase center at HH and HV using DEM or surface height from lidar data as reference); 3) P-band polarimetric InSAR data (canopy height from inversion of PolInSAR data or use the coherences and height of scattering phase center at HH, HV and VV); 4) various height indices from waveform lidar data); and 5) surface and canopy top height from photon-counting lidar data. The methods for parameterizing the remote sensing models with the IBGM and developing Look Up Tables will be discussed. Results

Spatial effects, sampling errors, and task specialization in the honey bee.

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Johnson, B R

2010-05-01

Task allocation patterns should depend on the spatial distribution of work within the nest, variation in task demand, and the movement patterns of workers, however, relatively little research has focused on these topics. This study uses a spatially explicit agent based model to determine whether such factors alone can generate biases in task performance at the individual level in the honey bees, Apis mellifera. Specialization (bias in task performance) is shown to result from strong sampling error due to localized task demand, relatively slow moving workers relative to nest size, and strong spatial variation in task demand. To date, specialization has been primarily interpreted with the response threshold concept, which is focused on intrinsic (typically genotypic) differences between workers. Response threshold variation and sampling error due to spatial effects are not mutually exclusive, however, and this study suggests that both contribute to patterns of task bias at the individual level. While spatial effects are strong enough to explain some documented cases of specialization; they are relatively short term and not explanatory for long term cases of specialization. In general, this study suggests that the spatial layout of tasks and fluctuations in their demand must be explicitly controlled for in studies focused on identifying genotypic specialists.

On whole Abelian model dynamics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chauca, J.; Doria, R. [CBPF, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Aprendanet, Petropolis, 25600 (Brazil)

2012-09-24

Physics challenge is to determine the objects dynamics. However, there are two ways for deciphering the part. The first one is to search for the ultimate constituents; the second one is to understand its behaviour in whole terms. Therefore, the parts can be defined either from elementary constituents or as whole functions. Historically, science has been moving through the first aspect, however, quarks confinement and complexity are interrupting this usual approach. These relevant facts are supporting for a systemic vision be introduced. Our effort here is to study on the whole meaning through gauge theory. Consider a systemic dynamics oriented through the U(1) - systemic gauge parameter which function is to collect a fields set {l_brace}A{sub {mu}I}{r_brace}. Derive the corresponding whole gauge invariant Lagrangian, equations of motion, Bianchi identities, Noether relationships, charges and Ward-Takahashi equations. Whole Lorentz force and BRST symmetry are also studied. These expressions bring new interpretations further than the usual abelian model. They are generating a systemic system governed by 2N+ 10 classical equations plus Ward-Takahashi identities. A whole dynamics based on the notions of directive and circumstance is producing a set determinism where the parts dynamics are inserted in the whole evolution. A dynamics based on state, collective and individual equations with a systemic interdependence.

Spatially explicit assessment of heat health risk by using multi-sensor remote sensing images and socioeconomic data in Yangtze River Delta, China.

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Chen, Qian; Ding, Mingjun; Yang, Xuchao; Hu, Kejia; Qi, Jiaguo

2018-05-25

The increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events, which are potentially associated with climate change in the near future, highlights the importance of heat health risk assessment, a significant reference for heat-related death reduction and intervention. However, a spatiotemporal mismatch exists between gridded heat hazard and human exposure in risk assessment, which hinders the identification of high-risk areas at finer scales. A human settlement index integrated by nighttime light images, enhanced vegetation index, and digital elevation model data was utilized to assess the human exposure at high spatial resolution. Heat hazard and vulnerability index were generated by land surface temperature and demographic and socioeconomic census data, respectively. Spatially explicit assessment of heat health risk and its driving factors was conducted in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), east China at 250 m pixel level. High-risk areas were mainly distributed in the urbanized areas of YRD, which were mostly driven by high human exposure and heat hazard index. In some less-urbanized cities and suburban and rural areas of mega-cities, the heat health risks are in second priority. The risks in some less-developed areas were high despite the low human exposure index because of high heat hazard and vulnerability index. This study illustrated a methodology for identifying high-risk areas by combining freely available multi-source data. Highly urbanized areas were considered hotspots of high heat health risks, which were largely driven by the increasing urban heat island effects and population density in urban areas. Repercussions of overheating were weakened due to the low social vulnerability in some central areas benefitting from the low proportion of sensitive population or the high level of socioeconomic development. By contrast, high social vulnerability intensifies heat health risks in some less-urbanized cities and suburban areas of mega-cities.

Location Aggregation of Spatial Population CTMC Models

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Luca Bortolussi

2016-10-01

Full Text Available In this paper we focus on spatial Markov population models, describing the stochastic evolution of populations of agents, explicitly modelling their spatial distribution, representing space as a discrete, finite graph. More specifically, we present a heuristic approach to aggregating spatial locations, which is designed to preserve the dynamical behaviour of the model whilst reducing the computational cost of analysis. Our approach combines stochastic approximation ideas (moment closure, linear noise, with computational statistics (spectral clustering to obtain an efficient aggregation, which is experimentally shown to be reasonably accurate on two case studies: an instance of epidemic spreading and a London bike sharing scenario.

Daily urban systems in function of the spatial organisation in Serbia

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Tošić Dragutin

2009-01-01

Full Text Available In the form of theoretical discussion, this paper makes a brief analysis of relevant methodological steps for determination of Daily Urban Systems and the approach for their spatial-functional representation. The potential of using Daily Urban Systems as instruments for regional planning and regional development has been indicated. A model for determining Daily Urban Systems in Serbia has been proposed according to our socio-economic conditions. The experience thus far in reference to research of demographic, spatial and functional components of Daily Urban Systems demonstrates that for definition of their spatial and temporal manifestation and continuity models, the most relevant indicators are those which relate to distribution and functional specialization of work centers and places of living, and those which relate to quantitative-qualitative characteristics of daily migrants. Daily Urban Systems of Serbia have been developed under the conditions of continuous redistribution of population from rural to urban settlements and more or less synchronized processes of deagrarisation, deindustrialisation and urbanization with general socioeconomic flows. According to the dynamics of development in functions of work, living, education, service activities and public-social facilities in the urban regions, there have been formed Daily Urban Systems with appropriate hierarchy. The paper presents results of the latest research of Daily Urban Systems in Serbia, driven by scientific and appreciative reasons (preparation of the Regional spatial plans for municipalities of Južno pomoravlje and for Timočka krajina, and determination of the nodal systems in Zlatibor county. Daily Urban Systems, especially their regional role and implication, are proposed for instruments of rational spatial-functional organization of Serbia. According to the relevant theoretical-methodological approach and presented empirical evidence, the model of Daily Urban Systems

Improved quality of image got through whole-body CT scanner

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asahina, Kiyotaka

1980-01-01

The quality of brain images taken with a whole-body CT scanner has so far been generally inferior in quality to those got through a CT scanner exclusively used for brains. In order to improve the whole-body CT scanner so as to get better brain image, its detection system has been made multichannel; the capacity of its X-ray tube, increased; and its software, innovated. As a result, the spatial resolution has been improved from 5.51 p/cm to 9.01 p/cm, the contrast resolution has been improved from 3.2 mm% to 1.5 mm%, with the noise maintained at 0.5%. In clinical examination, the image quality has been improved equally well for brains, abdomens and lungs. Especially high appreciation is given to the diagnosis information got through this new scanner. (author)

Entrainment and Control of Bacterial Populations: An in Silico Study over a Spatially Extended Agent Based Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Mina, Petros; Tsaneva-Atanasova, Krasimira; Bernardo, Mario di

2016-07-15

We extend a spatially explicit agent based model (ABM) developed previously to investigate entrainment and control of the emergent behavior of a population of synchronized oscillating cells in a microfluidic chamber. Unlike most of the work in models of control of cellular systems which focus on temporal changes, we model individual cells with spatial dependencies which may contribute to certain behavioral responses. We use the model to investigate the response of both open loop and closed loop strategies, such as proportional control (P-control), proportional-integral control (PI-control) and proportional-integral-derivative control (PID-control), to heterogeinities and growth in the cell population, variations of the control parameters and spatial effects such as diffusion in the spatially explicit setting of a microfluidic chamber setup. We show that, as expected from the theory of phase locking in dynamical systems, open loop control can only entrain the cell population in a subset of forcing periods, with a wide variety of dynamical behaviors obtained outside these regions of entrainment. Closed-loop control is shown instead to guarantee entrainment in a much wider region of control parameter space although presenting limitations when the population size increases over a certain threshold. In silico tracking experiments are also performed to validate the ability of classical control approaches to achieve other reference behaviors such as a desired constant output or a linearly varying one. All simulations are carried out in BSim, an advanced agent-based simulator of microbial population which is here extended ad hoc to include the effects of control strategies acting onto the population.

Rule-based topology system for spatial databases to validate complex geographic datasets

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez-Llario, J.; Coll, E.; Núñez-Andrés, M.; Femenia-Ribera, C.

2017-06-01

A rule-based topology software system providing a highly flexible and fast procedure to enforce integrity in spatial relationships among datasets is presented. This improved topology rule system is built over the spatial extension Jaspa. Both projects are open source, freely available software developed by the corresponding author of this paper. Currently, there is no spatial DBMS that implements a rule-based topology engine (considering that the topology rules are designed and performed in the spatial backend). If the topology rules are applied in the frontend (as in many GIS desktop programs), ArcGIS is the most advanced solution. The system presented in this paper has several major advantages over the ArcGIS approach: it can be extended with new topology rules, it has a much wider set of rules, and it can mix feature attributes with topology rules as filters. In addition, the topology rule system can work with various DBMSs, including PostgreSQL, H2 or Oracle, and the logic is performed in the spatial backend. The proposed topology system allows users to check the complex spatial relationships among features (from one or several spatial layers) that require some complex cartographic datasets, such as the data specifications proposed by INSPIRE in Europe and the Land Administration Domain Model (LADM) for Cadastral data.

Implicit-explicit (IMEX) Runge-Kutta methods for non-hydrostatic atmospheric models

Science.gov (United States)

Gardner, David J.; Guerra, Jorge E.; Hamon, François P.; Reynolds, Daniel R.; Ullrich, Paul A.; Woodward, Carol S.

2018-04-01

The efficient simulation of non-hydrostatic atmospheric dynamics requires time integration methods capable of overcoming the explicit stability constraints on time step size arising from acoustic waves. In this work, we investigate various implicit-explicit (IMEX) additive Runge-Kutta (ARK) methods for evolving acoustic waves implicitly to enable larger time step sizes in a global non-hydrostatic atmospheric model. The IMEX formulations considered include horizontally explicit - vertically implicit (HEVI) approaches as well as splittings that treat some horizontal dynamics implicitly. In each case, the impact of solving nonlinear systems in each implicit ARK stage in a linearly implicit fashion is also explored. The accuracy and efficiency of the IMEX splittings, ARK methods, and solver options are evaluated on a gravity wave and baroclinic wave test case. HEVI splittings that treat some vertical dynamics explicitly do not show a benefit in solution quality or run time over the most implicit HEVI formulation. While splittings that implicitly evolve some horizontal dynamics increase the maximum stable step size of a method, the gains are insufficient to overcome the additional cost of solving a globally coupled system. Solving implicit stage systems in a linearly implicit manner limits the solver cost but this is offset by a reduction in step size to achieve the desired accuracy for some methods. Overall, the third-order ARS343 and ARK324 methods performed the best, followed by the second-order ARS232 and ARK232 methods.

Implicit–explicit (IMEX Runge–Kutta methods for non-hydrostatic atmospheric models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. J. Gardner

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The efficient simulation of non-hydrostatic atmospheric dynamics requires time integration methods capable of overcoming the explicit stability constraints on time step size arising from acoustic waves. In this work, we investigate various implicit–explicit (IMEX additive Runge–Kutta (ARK methods for evolving acoustic waves implicitly to enable larger time step sizes in a global non-hydrostatic atmospheric model. The IMEX formulations considered include horizontally explicit – vertically implicit (HEVI approaches as well as splittings that treat some horizontal dynamics implicitly. In each case, the impact of solving nonlinear systems in each implicit ARK stage in a linearly implicit fashion is also explored.The accuracy and efficiency of the IMEX splittings, ARK methods, and solver options are evaluated on a gravity wave and baroclinic wave test case. HEVI splittings that treat some vertical dynamics explicitly do not show a benefit in solution quality or run time over the most implicit HEVI formulation. While splittings that implicitly evolve some horizontal dynamics increase the maximum stable step size of a method, the gains are insufficient to overcome the additional cost of solving a globally coupled system. Solving implicit stage systems in a linearly implicit manner limits the solver cost but this is offset by a reduction in step size to achieve the desired accuracy for some methods. Overall, the third-order ARS343 and ARK324 methods performed the best, followed by the second-order ARS232 and ARK232 methods.

Whole System Carbon Exchange of Small Stands of Pinus Ponderosa Growing at Different CO(sub 2) concentrations in open top chambers; FINAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ball, J. Timothy; Ross, Peter D.; Picone, John B.; Eichelmann, Hillar Y.; Ross, Gregory N.

1996-01-01

Functional understanding of the carbon cycle from the molecular to the global level is a high scientific priority requiring explanation of the relationship between fluxes at different spatial and temporal scales. We describe methods used to convert an open top chamber into both closed and open flow gas exchange systems utilized to measure such fluxes. The systems described consist of temporary modifications to an open top chamber, and are put in place for several days on one or several open top chambers. In the closed system approach, a chamber is quickly sealed for a short, predetermined time interval, the change in gas concentrations is measured, then the chamber is unsealed and ventilated. In the open flow system approach, airflow into the open top chamber is measured by trace gas injection, and the air stream concentration of CO(sub 2) and water vapor is measured before and after injection into the chamber. The closed chamber approach can resolve smaller fluxes, but causes transient increases in chamber air temperature, and has a high labor requirement. The open flow approach reduces the deviation of measuring conditions from ambient, may be semi-automated (requiring less labor), allows a more frequent sampling interval, but cannot resolve low fluxes well. Data demonstrating the capabilities of these systems show that, in open canopies of ponderosa pine, scaling fluxes from leaves to whole canopies is well approximated from summation of leaf P(sub s) rates. Flux measurements obtained from these systems can be a valuable contribution to our understanding whole system material fluxes, and challenge our understanding of ecosystem carbon budgets

Spatial issues in user interface design from a graphic design perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Marcus, Aaron

1989-01-01

The user interface of a computer system is a visual display that provides information about the status of operations on data within the computer and control options to the user that enable adjustments to these operations. From the very beginning of computer technology the user interface was a spatial display, although its spatial features were not necessarily complex or explicitly recognized by the users. All text and nonverbal signs appeared in a virtual space generally thought of as a single flat plane of symbols. Current technology of high performance workstations permits any element of the display to appear as dynamic, multicolor, 3-D signs in a virtual 3-D space. The complexity of appearance and the user's interaction with the display provide significant challenges to the graphic designer of current and future user interfaces. In particular, spatial depiction provides many opportunities for effective communication of objects, structures, processes, navigation, selection, and manipulation. Issues are presented that are relevant to the graphic designer seeking to optimize the user interface's spatial attributes for effective visual communication.

Summary of the DREAM8 Parameter Estimation Challenge: Toward Parameter Identification for Whole-Cell Models.

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Jonathan R Karr

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Whole-cell models that explicitly represent all cellular components at the molecular level have the potential to predict phenotype from genotype. However, even for simple bacteria, whole-cell models will contain thousands of parameters, many of which are poorly characterized or unknown. New algorithms are needed to estimate these parameters and enable researchers to build increasingly comprehensive models. We organized the Dialogue for Reverse Engineering Assessments and Methods (DREAM 8 Whole-Cell Parameter Estimation Challenge to develop new parameter estimation algorithms for whole-cell models. We asked participants to identify a subset of parameters of a whole-cell model given the model's structure and in silico "experimental" data. Here we describe the challenge, the best performing methods, and new insights into the identifiability of whole-cell models. We also describe several valuable lessons we learned toward improving future challenges. Going forward, we believe that collaborative efforts supported by inexpensive cloud computing have the potential to solve whole-cell model parameter estimation.

Whole-body MR imaging of bone marrow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmidt, G.P.; Schoenberg, S.O.; Reiser, M.F.; Baur-Melnyk, A.

2005-01-01

In clinical routine, multimodality algorithms, including X-ray, computed tomography, scintigraphy and MRI, are used in case of suspected bone marrow malignancy. Skeletal scintigraphy is widely used to asses metastatic disease to the bone, CT is the technique of choice to assess criteria of osseous destruction and bone stability. MRI is the only imaging technique that allows direct visualization of bone marrow and its components with high spatial resolution. The combination of unenhanced T1-weighted-spin echo- and turbo-STIR-sequences have shown to be most useful for the detection of bone marrow abnormalities and are able to discriminate benign from malignant bone marrow changes. Originally, whole-body MRI bone marrow screening was performed in sequential scanning techniques of five body levels with time consuming coil rearrangement and repositioning of the patient. The introduction of a rolling platform mounted on top of a conventional MRI examination table facilitated whole-body MR imaging and, with the use of fast gradient echo, T1-weighted and STIR-imaging techniques, for the first time allowed whole-body imaging within less than one hour. With the development of parallel imaging techniques (PAT) in combination with global matrix coil concepts, acquisition time could be reduced substantially without compromises in spatial resolution, enabling the implementation of more complex and flexible examination protocols. Whole-body MRI represents a new alternative to the stepwise multimodality concept for the detection of metastatic disease, multiple myeloma and lymphoma of the bone with high diagnostic accuracy

GIS-based spatial decision support system for grain logistics management

Science.gov (United States)

Zhen, Tong; Ge, Hongyi; Jiang, Yuying; Che, Yi

2010-07-01

Grain logistics is the important component of the social logistics, which can be attributed to frequent circulation and the great quantity. At present time, there is no modern grain logistics distribution management system, and the logistics cost is the high. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been widely used for spatial data manipulation and model operations and provide effective decision support through its spatial database management capabilities and cartographic visualization. In the present paper, a spatial decision support system (SDSS) is proposed to support policy makers and to reduce the cost of grain logistics. The system is composed of two major components: grain logistics goods tracking model and vehicle routing problem optimization model and also allows incorporation of data coming from external sources. The proposed system is an effective tool to manage grain logistics in order to increase the speed of grain logistics and reduce the grain circulation cost.

Study of spatially extended dynamical systems using probabilistic cellular automata

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vanag, Vladimir K

1999-01-01

Spatially extended dynamical systems are ubiquitous and include such things as insect and animal populations; complex chemical, technological, and geochemical processes; humanity itself, and much more. It is clearly desirable to have a certain universal tool with which the highly complex behaviour of nonlinear dynamical systems can be analyzed and modelled. For this purpose, cellular automata seem to be good candidates. In the present review, emphasis is placed on the possibilities that various types of probabilistic cellular automata (PCA), such as DSMC (direct simulation Monte Carlo) and LGCA (lattice-gas cellular automata), offer. The methods are primarily designed for modelling spatially extended dynamical systems with inner fluctuations accounted for. For the Willamowskii-Roessler and Oregonator models, PCA applications to the following problems are illustrated: the effect of fluctuations on the dynamics of nonlinear systems; Turing structure formation; the effect of hydrodynamic modes on the behaviour of nonlinear chemical systems (stirring effects); bifurcation changes in the dynamical regimes of complex systems with restricted geometry or low spatial dimension; and the description of chemical systems in microemulsions. (reviews of topical problems)

Whole-body and Whole-Organ Clearing and Imaging Techniques with Single-Cell Resolution: Toward Organism-Level Systems Biology in Mammals.

Science.gov (United States)

Susaki, Etsuo A; Ueda, Hiroki R

2016-01-21

Organism-level systems biology aims to identify, analyze, control and design cellular circuits in organisms. Many experimental and computational approaches have been developed over the years to allow us to conduct these studies. Some of the most powerful methods are based on using optical imaging in combination with fluorescent labeling, and for those one of the long-standing stumbling blocks has been tissue opacity. Recently, the solutions to this problem have started to emerge based on whole-body and whole-organ clearing techniques that employ innovative tissue-clearing chemistry. Here, we review these advancements and discuss how combining new clearing techniques with high-performing fluorescent proteins or small molecule tags, rapid volume imaging and efficient image informatics is resulting in comprehensive and quantitative organ-wide, single-cell resolution experimental data. These technologies are starting to yield information on connectivity and dynamics in cellular circuits at unprecedented resolution, and bring us closer to system-level understanding of physiology and diseases of complex mammalian systems. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Technology Advancements in the Next Generation of Domain Agnostic Spatial Data Infrastructures

Science.gov (United States)

Golodoniuc, Pavel; Rankine, Terry; Box, Paul; Atkinson, Rob; Kostanski, Laura

2013-04-01

models and controlled vocabularies with enhanced linkage capabilities between datasets. These components are realised with reference implementations through the Spatial Information Services Stack (SISS). The proposed Linked Data approach to managing and using feature level identifiers to link information systems to SDI information resources, being developed through the Spatial Identifier Reference Framework (SIRF) for Social Protection in Indonesia Project. It uses Unique Resource Identifiers (URIs) to access feature information using traditional SDI data access interfaces. These identifiers are used to explicitly reference individual features. This is analogous to a citation database, enabling explicit reference to identified real world features within a particular dataset. Furthermore, these identifiers can be conceptualised as 'spatial bookmarks' and used to link multiple representations of the same feature in different layers of a traditional SDI, as well as linking spatial features to statistical information held in systems beyond SDI boundaries. The technology development effort has brought together over 20 participants including CSIRO, Geoscience Australia, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Australian universities, and Australian government agencies as well as international initiatives, which have made significant contributions to the development of the semantic information management components of the SISS. The authors propose that through the use of the methodologies described in this paper, SDI can realise its potential as a spatial enablement mechanism that supports linking of multiple information systems, rather than remaining as a platform to deliver collections of spatial representations.

A Framework for Spatial Risk Assessments: Potential Impacts of Nonindigenous Invasive Species on Native Species

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Craig R. Allen

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Many populations of wild animals and plants are declining and face increasing threats from habitat fragmentation and loss as well as exposure to stressors ranging from toxicants to diseases to invasive nonindigenous species. We describe and demonstrate a spatially explicit ecological risk assessment that allows for the incorporation of a broad array of information that may influence the distribution of an invasive species, toxicants, or other stressors, and the incorporation of landscape variables that may influence the spread of a species or substances. The first step in our analyses is to develop species models and quantify spatial overlap between stressor and target organisms. Risk is assessed as the product of spatial overlap and a hazard index based on target species vulnerabilities to the stressor of interest. We illustrate our methods with an example in which the stressor is the ecologically destructive nonindigenous ant, Solenopsis invicta, and the targets are two declining vertebrate species in the state of South Carolina, USA. A risk approach that focuses on landscapes and that is explicitly spatial is of particular relevance as remaining undeveloped lands become increasingly uncommon and isolated and more important in the management and recovery of species and ecological systems. Effective ecosystem management includes the control of multiple stressors, including invasive species with large impacts, understanding where those impacts may be the most severe, and implementing management strategies to reduce impacts.

Explicit/multi-parametric model predictive control (MPC) of linear discrete-time systems by dynamic and multi-parametric programming

KAUST Repository

Kouramas, K.I.

2011-08-01

This work presents a new algorithm for solving the explicit/multi- parametric model predictive control (or mp-MPC) problem for linear, time-invariant discrete-time systems, based on dynamic programming and multi-parametric programming techniques. The algorithm features two key steps: (i) a dynamic programming step, in which the mp-MPC problem is decomposed into a set of smaller subproblems in which only the current control, state variables, and constraints are considered, and (ii) a multi-parametric programming step, in which each subproblem is solved as a convex multi-parametric programming problem, to derive the control variables as an explicit function of the states. The key feature of the proposed method is that it overcomes potential limitations of previous methods for solving multi-parametric programming problems with dynamic programming, such as the need for global optimization for each subproblem of the dynamic programming step. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Slovenian spatial planning system: Key changes of past decade

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Lavrenčić Valentina

2002-01-01

Full Text Available Spatial planning has a long tradition in Slovenia. It was always a part of the integrated planning process, first institutionalized in 1968. The planning system was quite unique, combining economic, social, and spatial aspects in one, a so called long-term and medium-term social plan. At the national level its spatial part consisted of the national spatial plan, the defining concept for settlement management and growth, public service delivery, use of space and landscape transformation, protection of the environment, and guidelines for conflict management. Today, this form of planning is substituted by the national strategies and programs of each sector.

Advanced Spatial-Division Multiplexed Measurement Systems Propositions—From Telecommunication to Sensing Applications: A Review

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Yi Weng

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The concepts of spatial-division multiplexing (SDM technology were first proposed in the telecommunications industry as an indispensable solution to reduce the cost-per-bit of optical fiber transmission. Recently, such spatial channels and modes have been applied in optical sensing applications where the returned echo is analyzed for the collection of essential environmental information. The key advantages of implementing SDM techniques in optical measurement systems include the multi-parameter discriminative capability and accuracy improvement. In this paper, to help readers without a telecommunication background better understand how the SDM-based sensing systems can be incorporated, the crucial components of SDM techniques, such as laser beam shaping, mode generation and conversion, multimode or multicore elements using special fibers and multiplexers are introduced, along with the recent developments in SDM amplifiers, opto-electronic sources and detection units of sensing systems. The examples of SDM-based sensing systems not only include Brillouin optical time-domain reflectometry or Brillouin optical time-domain analysis (BOTDR/BOTDA using few-mode fibers (FMF and the multicore fiber (MCF based integrated fiber Bragg grating (FBG sensors, but also involve the widely used components with their whole information used in the full multimode constructions, such as the whispering gallery modes for fiber profiling and chemical species measurements, the screw/twisted modes for examining water quality, as well as the optical beam shaping to improve cantilever deflection measurements. Besides, the various applications of SDM sensors, the cost efficiency issue, as well as how these complex mode multiplexing techniques might improve the standard fiber-optic sensor approaches using single-mode fibers (SMF and photonic crystal fibers (PCF have also been summarized. Finally, we conclude with a prospective outlook for the opportunities and challenges of

Advanced Spatial-Division Multiplexed Measurement Systems Propositions—From Telecommunication to Sensing Applications: A Review

Science.gov (United States)

Weng, Yi; Ip, Ezra; Pan, Zhongqi; Wang, Ting

2016-01-01

The concepts of spatial-division multiplexing (SDM) technology were first proposed in the telecommunications industry as an indispensable solution to reduce the cost-per-bit of optical fiber transmission. Recently, such spatial channels and modes have been applied in optical sensing applications where the returned echo is analyzed for the collection of essential environmental information. The key advantages of implementing SDM techniques in optical measurement systems include the multi-parameter discriminative capability and accuracy improvement. In this paper, to help readers without a telecommunication background better understand how the SDM-based sensing systems can be incorporated, the crucial components of SDM techniques, such as laser beam shaping, mode generation and conversion, multimode or multicore elements using special fibers and multiplexers are introduced, along with the recent developments in SDM amplifiers, opto-electronic sources and detection units of sensing systems. The examples of SDM-based sensing systems not only include Brillouin optical time-domain reflectometry or Brillouin optical time-domain analysis (BOTDR/BOTDA) using few-mode fibers (FMF) and the multicore fiber (MCF) based integrated fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors, but also involve the widely used components with their whole information used in the full multimode constructions, such as the whispering gallery modes for fiber profiling and chemical species measurements, the screw/twisted modes for examining water quality, as well as the optical beam shaping to improve cantilever deflection measurements. Besides, the various applications of SDM sensors, the cost efficiency issue, as well as how these complex mode multiplexing techniques might improve the standard fiber-optic sensor approaches using single-mode fibers (SMF) and photonic crystal fibers (PCF) have also been summarized. Finally, we conclude with a prospective outlook for the opportunities and challenges of SDM

Assessing implicit odor localization in humans using a cross-modal spatial cueing paradigm.

Science.gov (United States)

Moessnang, Carolin; Finkelmeyer, Andreas; Vossen, Alexandra; Schneider, Frank; Habel, Ute

2011-01-01

Navigation based on chemosensory information is one of the most important skills in the animal kingdom. Studies on odor localization suggest that humans have lost this ability. However, the experimental approaches used so far were limited to explicit judgements, which might ignore a residual ability for directional smelling on an implicit level without conscious appraisal. A novel cueing paradigm was developed in order to determine whether an implicit ability for directional smelling exists. Participants performed a visual two-alternative forced choice task in which the target was preceded either by a side-congruent or a side-incongruent olfactory spatial cue. An explicit odor localization task was implemented in a second experiment. No effect of cue congruency on mean reaction times could be found. However, a time by condition interaction emerged, with significantly slower responses to congruently compared to incongruently cued targets at the beginning of the experiment. This cueing effect gradually disappeared throughout the course of the experiment. In addition, participants performed at chance level in the explicit odor localization task, thus confirming the results of previous research. The implicit cueing task suggests the existence of spatial information processing in the olfactory system. Response slowing after a side-congruent olfactory cue is interpreted as a cross-modal attentional interference effect. In addition, habituation might have led to a gradual disappearance of the cueing effect. It is concluded that under immobile conditions with passive monorhinal stimulation, humans are unable to explicitly determine the location of a pure odorant. Implicitly, however, odor localization seems to exert an influence on human behaviour. To our knowledge, these data are the first to show implicit effects of odor localization on overt human behaviour and thus support the hypothesis of residual directional smelling in humans. © 2011 Moessnang et al.

Assessing implicit odor localization in humans using a cross-modal spatial cueing paradigm.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carolin Moessnang

Full Text Available Navigation based on chemosensory information is one of the most important skills in the animal kingdom. Studies on odor localization suggest that humans have lost this ability. However, the experimental approaches used so far were limited to explicit judgements, which might ignore a residual ability for directional smelling on an implicit level without conscious appraisal.A novel cueing paradigm was developed in order to determine whether an implicit ability for directional smelling exists. Participants performed a visual two-alternative forced choice task in which the target was preceded either by a side-congruent or a side-incongruent olfactory spatial cue. An explicit odor localization task was implemented in a second experiment.No effect of cue congruency on mean reaction times could be found. However, a time by condition interaction emerged, with significantly slower responses to congruently compared to incongruently cued targets at the beginning of the experiment. This cueing effect gradually disappeared throughout the course of the experiment. In addition, participants performed at chance level in the explicit odor localization task, thus confirming the results of previous research.The implicit cueing task suggests the existence of spatial information processing in the olfactory system. Response slowing after a side-congruent olfactory cue is interpreted as a cross-modal attentional interference effect. In addition, habituation might have led to a gradual disappearance of the cueing effect. It is concluded that under immobile conditions with passive monorhinal stimulation, humans are unable to explicitly determine the location of a pure odorant. Implicitly, however, odor localization seems to exert an influence on human behaviour. To our knowledge, these data are the first to show implicit effects of odor localization on overt human behaviour and thus support the hypothesis of residual directional smelling in humans.

High-performance whole core Pin-by-Pin calculation based on EFEN-SP_3 method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Wen; Zheng Youqi; Wu Hongchun; Cao Liangzhi; Li Yunzhao

2014-01-01

The EFEN code for high-performance PWR whole core pin-by-pin calculation based on the EFEN-SP_3 method can be achieved by employing spatial parallelization based on MPI. To take advantage of the advanced computing and storage power, the entire problem spatial domain can be appropriately decomposed into sub-domains and the assigned to parallel CPUs to balance the computing load and minimize communication cost. Meanwhile, Red-Black Gauss-Seidel nodal sweeping scheme is employed to avoid the within-group iteration deterioration due to spatial parallelization. Numerical results based on whole core pin-by-pin problems designed according to commercial PWRs demonstrate the following conclusions: The EFEN code can provide results with acceptable accuracy; Communication period impacts neither the accuracy nor the parallel efficiency; Domain decomposition methods with smaller surface to volume ratio leads to greater parallel efficiency; A PWR whole core pin-by-pin calculation with a spatial mesh 289 × 289 × 218 and 4 energy groups could be completed about 900 s by using 125 CPUs, and its parallel efficiency is maintained at about 90%. (authors)

Climate Change and Agricultural Productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Spatial Sample Selection Model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ward, P.S.; Florax, R.J.G.M.; Flores-Lagunes, A.

2014-01-01

Using spatially explicit data, we estimate a cereal yield response function using a recently developed estimator for spatial error models when endogenous sample selection is of concern. Our results suggest that yields across Sub-Saharan Africa will decline with projected climatic changes, and that

Stochastic population dynamics in spatially extended predator-prey systems

Science.gov (United States)

Dobramysl, Ulrich; Mobilia, Mauro; Pleimling, Michel; Täuber, Uwe C.

2018-02-01

Spatially extended population dynamics models that incorporate demographic noise serve as case studies for the crucial role of fluctuations and correlations in biological systems. Numerical and analytic tools from non-equilibrium statistical physics capture the stochastic kinetics of these complex interacting many-particle systems beyond rate equation approximations. Including spatial structure and stochastic noise in models for predator-prey competition invalidates the neutral Lotka-Volterra population cycles. Stochastic models yield long-lived erratic oscillations stemming from a resonant amplification mechanism. Spatially extended predator-prey systems display noise-stabilized activity fronts that generate persistent correlations. Fluctuation-induced renormalizations of the oscillation parameters can be analyzed perturbatively via a Doi-Peliti field theory mapping of the master equation; related tools allow detailed characterization of extinction pathways. The critical steady-state and non-equilibrium relaxation dynamics at the predator extinction threshold are governed by the directed percolation universality class. Spatial predation rate variability results in more localized clusters, enhancing both competing species’ population densities. Affixing variable interaction rates to individual particles and allowing for trait inheritance subject to mutations induces fast evolutionary dynamics for the rate distributions. Stochastic spatial variants of three-species competition with ‘rock-paper-scissors’ interactions metaphorically describe cyclic dominance. These models illustrate intimate connections between population dynamics and evolutionary game theory, underscore the role of fluctuations to drive populations toward extinction, and demonstrate how space can support species diversity. Two-dimensional cyclic three-species May-Leonard models are characterized by the emergence of spiraling patterns whose properties are elucidated by a mapping onto a complex

Local energy developments based on spatial and systemic approaches

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Manickam, Anu

Local energy developments from a spatial and systemic approach are highlighted using examples from a Dutch case study. Developments in energy systems included interconnectedness of contextual factors and systems responses. The need to explore both the contextual factors and systemic aspects are

Lightning-produced NOx in an explicit electrical scheme: a STERAO case study

Science.gov (United States)

Barthe, C.; Pinty, J.; Mari, C.

2006-12-01

An explicit lightning-produced nitrogen oxide scheme has been implemented in the French mesoscale model Meso-NH. The electrical scheme simulates explicitly the whole electric charge life cycle: charge separation, transfer, transport and neutralization by lightning flashes. The frequency and the 3D morphology of the lightning flashes are reproduced realistically. Therefore, fresh nitrogen oxide molecules can be added along the complex flash path as a function of the pressure, as suggested by results from laboratory experiments. No integral constraint on the total LNOx production at the cloud scale is added. The scheme is tested on the 10 July 1996, STERAO (Stratosphere-Troposphere Experiment-Radiation, Aerosols, and Ozone) storm. The model reproduces many features of the observed increase of electrical activity and LNOx flux through the anvil between the multicell and supercell stages. A large amount of LNOx is selectively produced in the upper part of the cells close to the updraft cores. Instantaneous peak concentrations exceed a few ppbv, as observed. The computed flux of NOx across the anvil compares favorably with the observations. The NOx production is estimated to 36 moles per lightning flash.

Existence and Stability of Spatial Plane Waves for the Incompressible Navier-Stokes in R^3

Science.gov (United States)

Correia, Simão; Figueira, Mário

2018-03-01

We consider the three-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equation on the whole space. We observe that this system admits a L^∞ family of global spatial plane wave solutions, which are connected with the two-dimensional equation. We then proceed to prove local well-posedness over a space which includes L^3(R^3) and these solutions. Finally, we prove L^3-stability of spatial plane waves, with no condition on their size.

Micro-scale spatial expansion of microbial cells and mobile genetic elements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Smets, Barth F.; Kreft, Jan-Ulrich; Or, Dani

Microbes can actively explore their local spatial environment when sufficiently hydrated pathways are present - mobile gene elements can also travel in local environments when cellular density is sufficient. In this presentation, I will present our efforts at predicting the dynamics of these two...... processes, and how they are affected by physical and biological constraints, using spatially-explicit agent-based models....

Alexithymia Components Are Differentially Related to Explicit Negative Affect But Not Associated with Explicit Positive Affect or Implicit Affectivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Suslow, Thomas; Donges, Uta-Susan

2017-01-01

Alexithymia represents a multifaceted personality construct defined by difficulties in recognizing and verbalizing emotions and externally oriented thinking. According to clinical observations, experience of negative affects is exacerbated and experience of positive affects is decreased in alexithymia. Findings from research based on self-report indicate that all alexithymia facets are negatively associated with the experience of positive affects, whereas difficulties identifying and describing feelings are related to heightened negative affect. Implicit affectivity, which can be measured using indirect assessment methods, relates to processes of the impulsive system. The aim of the present study was to examine, for the first time, the relations between alexithymia components and implicit and explicit positive and negative affectivity in healthy adults. The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) were administered to two hundred and forty-one healthy individuals along with measures of depression and trait anxiety. Difficulties identifying feelings were correlated with explicit negative trait affect, depressive mood and trait anxiety. Difficulties describing feelings showed smaller but also significant correlations with depressive mood and trait anxiety but were not correlated with explicit state or trait affect as assessed by the PANAS. Externally oriented thinking was not significantly correlated with any of the implicit and explicit affect measures. According to our findings, an externally oriented, concrete way of thinking appears to be generally unrelated to dispositions to develop positive or negative affects. Difficulties identifying feelings seem to be associated with increased conscious negative affects but not with a heightened disposition to develop negative affects at an automatic response level.

Alexithymia Components Are Differentially Related to Explicit Negative Affect But Not Associated with Explicit Positive Affect or Implicit Affectivity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas Suslow

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Alexithymia represents a multifaceted personality construct defined by difficulties in recognizing and verbalizing emotions and externally oriented thinking. According to clinical observations, experience of negative affects is exacerbated and experience of positive affects is decreased in alexithymia. Findings from research based on self-report indicate that all alexithymia facets are negatively associated with the experience of positive affects, whereas difficulties identifying and describing feelings are related to heightened negative affect. Implicit affectivity, which can be measured using indirect assessment methods, relates to processes of the impulsive system. The aim of the present study was to examine, for the first time, the relations between alexithymia components and implicit and explicit positive and negative affectivity in healthy adults. The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS were administered to two hundred and forty-one healthy individuals along with measures of depression and trait anxiety. Difficulties identifying feelings were correlated with explicit negative trait affect, depressive mood and trait anxiety. Difficulties describing feelings showed smaller but also significant correlations with depressive mood and trait anxiety but were not correlated with explicit state or trait affect as assessed by the PANAS. Externally oriented thinking was not significantly correlated with any of the implicit and explicit affect measures. According to our findings, an externally oriented, concrete way of thinking appears to be generally unrelated to dispositions to develop positive or negative affects. Difficulties identifying feelings seem to be associated with increased conscious negative affects but not with a heightened disposition to develop negative affects at an automatic response level.

The porous boundaries between explicit and implicit memory: behavioral and neural evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Dew, Ilana T Z; Cabeza, Roberto

2011-04-01

Explicit memory refers to the conscious retrieval of past information or experiences, whereas implicit memory refers to an unintentional or nonconscious form of retrieval. Much of the literature in cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience has focused on differences between explicit and implicit memory, and the traditional view is that they rely on distinct brain systems. However, the potential interplay between implicit and explicit memory is not always clear. This review draws from behavioral and functional neuroimaging evidence to evaluate three areas in which implicit and explicit memory may be interrelated. First, we discuss views of familiarity-based recognition in terms of its relationship with implicit memory. Second, we review the challenges of distinguishing between implicit memory and involuntary aware memory, at both behavioral and neural levels. Finally, we examine evidence indicating that implicit and explicit retrieval of relational information may rely on a common neural mechanism. Taken together, these areas indicate that, under certain circumstances, there may be an important and influential relationship between conscious and nonconscious expressions of memory. © 2011 New York Academy of Sciences.

Inferring processes from spatial patterns: the role of directional and non-directional forces in shaping fish larvae distribution in a freshwater lake system.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Bertolo

Full Text Available Larval dispersal is a crucial factor for fish recruitment. For fishes with relatively small-bodied larvae, drift has the potential to play a more important role than active habitat selection in determining larval dispersal; therefore, we expect small-bodied fish larvae to be poorly associated with habitat characteristics. To test this hypothesis, we used as model yellow perch (Perca flavescens, whose larvae are among the smallest among freshwater temperate fishes. Thus, we analysed the habitat association of yellow perch larvae at multiple spatial scales in a large shallow fluvial lake by explicitly modelling directional (e.g. due to water currents and non-directional (e.g. due to aggregation spatial patterns. This allowed us to indirectly assess the relative roles of drift (directional process and potential habitat choice on larval dispersal. Our results give weak support to the drift hypothesis, whereas yellow perch show a strong habitat association at unexpectedly small sizes, when compared to other systems. We found consistent non-directional patterns in larvae distributions at both broad and medium spatial scales but only few significant directional components. The environmental variables alone (e.g. vegetation generally explained a significant and biologically relevant fraction of the variation in fish larvae distribution data. These results suggest that (i drift plays a minor role in this shallow system, (ii larvae display spatial patterns that only partially covary with environmental variables, and (iii larvae are associated to specific habitats. By suggesting that habitat association potentially includes an active choice component for yellow perch larvae, our results shed new light on the ecology of freshwater fish larvae and should help in building more realistic recruitment models.

PyGirl: Generating Whole-System VMs from High-Level Prototypes Using PyPy

Science.gov (United States)

Bruni, Camillo; Verwaest, Toon

Virtual machines (VMs) emulating hardware devices are generally implemented in low-level languages for performance reasons. This results in unmaintainable systems that are difficult to understand. In this paper we report on our experience using the PyPy toolchain to improve the portability and reduce the complexity of whole-system VM implementations. As a case study we implement a VM prototype for a Nintendo Game Boy, called PyGirl, in which the high-level model is separated from low-level VM implementation issues. We shed light on the process of refactoring from a low-level VM implementation in Java to a high-level model in RPython. We show that our whole-system VM written with PyPy is significantly less complex than standard implementations, without substantial loss in performance.

Sustainable Development and Spatial Planning: Some considerations arising from the Greek case

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pavlos Marinos Delladetsima

2012-03-01

Full Text Available The paper aims to elaborate on the notion of sustainable development in relation to spatial planning and to question its applicability based on the experience arising from the distinct socio-economic situation in Greece. Experience accumulated in the country with the adoption of sustainable development as a spatial policy concept proves to be in contradiction with perceptions that consider it as a basis for improving the plan making process and the planning system as whole. In this respect, it is argued that sustainable development is not a feasible proposition for planning in Greece and offers little to alleviate urban development and sprawl problems. Further, the paper highlights how a globalised approach to sustainable development and planning in Greece has made a negligible contribution to reinvigorating a weak and disjointed system, while also creating significant adverse effects in spatial policymaking.

Two cognitive and neural systems for endogenous and exogenous spatial attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Chica, Ana B; Bartolomeo, Paolo; Lupiáñez, Juan

2013-01-15

Orienting of spatial attention is a family of phylogenetically old mechanisms developed to select information for further processing. Information can be selected via top-down or endogenous mechanisms, depending on the goals of the observers or on the task at hand. Moreover, salient and potentially dangerous events also attract spatial attention via bottom-up or exogenous mechanisms, allowing a rapid and efficient reaction to unexpected but important events. Fronto-parietal brain networks have been demonstrated to play an important role in supporting spatial attentional orienting, although there is no consensus on whether there is a single attentional system supporting both endogenous and exogenous attention, or two anatomical and functionally different attentional systems. In the present paper we review behavioral evidence emphasizing the differential characteristics of both systems, as well as their possible interactions for the control of the final orienting response. Behavioral studies reporting qualitative differences between the effects of both systems as well as double dissociations of the effects of endogenous and exogenous attention on information processing, suggest that they constitute two independent attentional systems, rather than a single one. Recent models of attentional orienting in humans have put forward the hypothesis of a dorsal fronto-parietal network for orienting spatial attention, and a more ventral fronto-parietal network for detecting unexpected but behaviorally relevant events. Non-invasive neurostimulation techniques, as well as neuropsychological data, suggest that endogenous and exogenous attention are implemented in overlapping, although partially segregated, brain circuits. Although more research is needed in order to refine our anatomical and functional knowledge of the brain circuits underlying spatial attention, we conclude that endogenous and exogenous spatial orienting constitute two independent attentional systems, with

Explicit solution of Calderon preconditioned time domain integral equations

KAUST Repository

Ulku, Huseyin Arda; Bagci, Hakan; Michielssen, Eric

2013-01-01

operators and a PE(CE)m type linear multistep to march on in time. Unlike its implicit counterpart, the proposed explicit solver requires the solution of an MOT system with a Gram matrix that is sparse and well-conditioned independent of the time step size

A tutorial on Palm distributions for spatial point processes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Coeurjolly, Jean-Francois; Møller, Jesper; Waagepetersen, Rasmus Plenge

2017-01-01

This tutorial provides an introduction to Palm distributions for spatial point processes. Initially, in the context of finite point processes, we give an explicit definition of Palm distributions in terms of their density functions. Then we review Palm distributions in the general case. Finally, we...

Moderators of Implicit-Explicit Exercise Cognition Concordance.

Science.gov (United States)

Berry, Tanya R; Rodgers, Wendy M; Markland, David; Hall, Craig R

2016-12-01

Investigating implicit-explicit concordance can aid in understanding underlying mechanisms and possible intervention effects. This research examined the concordance between implicit associations of exercise with health or appearance and related explicit motives. Variables considered as possible moderators were behavioral regulations, explicit attitudes, and social desirability. Participants (N = 454) completed measures of implicit associations of exercise with health and appearance and questionnaire measures of health and appearance motives, attitudes, social desirability, and behavioral regulations. Attitudes significantly moderated the relationship between implicit associations of exercise with health and health motives. Identified regulations significantly moderated implicit-explicit concordance with respect to associations with appearance. These results suggest that implicit and explicit exercise-related cognitions are not necessarily independent and their relationship to each other may be moderated by attitudes or some forms of behavioral regulation. Future research that takes a dual-processing approach to exercise behavior should consider potential theoretical moderators of concordance.

Spatially modulated imaging system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barrett, H.H.

1975-01-01

Noncoherent radiation, such as x-rays, is spatially coded, directed through an object and spatially detected to form a spatially coded pattern, from which an image of the object may be reconstructed. The x-ray source may be formed by x-ray fluorescence and substration of the holographic images formed by two sources having energy levels predominantly above and below the maximum absorption range of an agent in the object may be used to enhance contrast in the reproduced image. (Patent Office Record)

Explicit Versus Implicit Income Insurance

OpenAIRE

Thomas J. Kniesner; James P. Z‎iliak

2001-01-01

October 2001 (Revised from July 2001). Abstract: By supplementing income explicitly through payments or implicitly through taxes collected, income-based taxes and transfers make disposable income less variable. Because disposable income determines consumption, policies that smooth disposable income also create welfare improving consumption insurance. With data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics we find that annual consumption variation is reduced by almost 20 percent due to explicit and ...

Sexual orientation and spatial memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Cánovas, Ma Rosa; Cimadevilla, José Manuel

2011-11-01

The present study aimed at determining the influence of sexual orientation in human spatial learning and memory. Participants performed the Boxes Room, a virtual reality version of the Holeboard. In Experiment I, a reference memory task, the position of the hidden rewards remained constant during the whole experiment. In Experiment II, a working memory task, the position of rewards changed between blocks. Each block consisted of two trials: One trial for acquisition and another for retrieval. The results of Experiment I showed that heterosexual men performed better than homosexual men and heterosexual women. They found the rewarded boxes faster. Moreover, homosexual participants committed more errors than heterosexuals. Experiment II showed that working memory abilities are the same in groups of different sexual orientation. These results suggest that sexual orientation is related to spatial navigation abilities, but mostly in men, and limited to reference memory, which depends more on the function of the hippocampal system.

Spatial pattern and ecological process in the coffee agroforestry system.

Science.gov (United States)

Perfecto, Ivette; Vandermeer, John

2008-04-01

The coffee agroforestry system provides an ideal platform for the study of spatial ecology. The uniform pattern of the coffee plants and shade trees allows for the study of pattern generation through intrinsic biological forces rather than extrinsic habitat patchiness. Detailed studies, focusing on a key mutualism between an ant (Azteca instabilis) and a scale insect (Coccus viridis), conducted in a 45-ha plot in a coffee agroforestry system have provided insights into (1) the quantitative evaluation of spatial pattern of the scale insect Coccus viridis on coffee bushes, (2) the mechanisms for the generation of patterns through the combination of local satellite ant nest formation and regional control from natural enemies, and (3) the consequences of the spatial pattern for the stability of predator-prey (host-parasitoid) systems, for a key coccinelid beetle preying on the scale insects and a phorid fly parasitoid parasitizing the ant.

Small-animal whole-body imaging using a photoacoustic full ring array system

Science.gov (United States)

Xia, Jun; Guo, Zijian; Aguirre, Andres; Zhu, Quing; Wang, Lihong V.

2011-03-01

In this report, we present a novel 3D photoacoustic computed tomography (PACT) system for small-animal whole-body imaging. The PACT system, based on a 512-element full-ring transducer array, received photoacoustic signals primarily from a 2-mm-thick slice. The light was generated by a pulse laser, and can either illuminate from the top or be reshaped to illuminate the sample from the side, using a conical lens and an optical condenser. The PACT system was capable of acquiring an in-plane image in 1.6 s; by scanning the sample in the elevational direction, a 3D tomographic image could be constructed. We tested the system by imaging a cylindrical phantom made of human hairs immersed in a scattering medium. The reconstructed image achieved an in-plane resolution of 0.1 mm and an elevational resolution of 1 mm. After deconvolution in the elevational direction, the 3D image was found to match well with the phantom. The system was also used to image a baby mouse in situ; the spinal cord and ribs can be seen easily in the reconstructed image. Our results demonstrate that the PACT system has the potential to be used for fast small-animal whole-body tomographic imaging.

Deriving spatial patterns from a novel database of volcanic rock geochemistry in the Virunga Volcanic Province, East African Rift

Science.gov (United States)

Poppe, Sam; Barette, Florian; Smets, Benoît; Benbakkar, Mhammed; Kervyn, Matthieu

2016-04-01

The Virunga Volcanic Province (VVP) is situated within the western branch of the East-African Rift. The geochemistry and petrology of its' volcanic products has been studied extensively in a fragmented manner. They represent a unique collection of silica-undersaturated, ultra-alkaline and ultra-potassic compositions, displaying marked geochemical variations over the area occupied by the VVP. We present a novel spatially-explicit database of existing whole-rock geochemical analyses of the VVP volcanics, compiled from international publications, (post-)colonial scientific reports and PhD theses. In the database, a total of 703 geochemical analyses of whole-rock samples collected from the 1950s until recently have been characterised with a geographical location, eruption source location, analytical results and uncertainty estimates for each of these categories. Comparative box plots and Kruskal-Wallis H tests on subsets of analyses with contrasting ages or analytical methods suggest that the overall database accuracy is consistent. We demonstrate how statistical techniques such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and subsequent cluster analysis allow the identification of clusters of samples with similar major-element compositions. The spatial patterns represented by the contrasting clusters show that both the historically active volcanoes represent compositional clusters which can be identified based on their contrasted silica and alkali contents. Furthermore, two sample clusters are interpreted to represent the most primitive, deep magma source within the VVP, different from the shallow magma reservoirs that feed the eight dominant large volcanoes. The samples from these two clusters systematically originate from locations which 1. are distal compared to the eight large volcanoes and 2. mostly coincide with the surface expressions of rift faults or NE-SW-oriented inherited Precambrian structures which were reactivated during rifting. The lava from the Mugogo

Multilayer networks reveal the spatial structure of seed-dispersal interactions across the Great Rift landscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Timóteo, Sérgio; Correia, Marta; Rodríguez-Echeverría, Susana; Freitas, Helena; Heleno, Ruben

2018-01-10

Species interaction networks are traditionally explored as discrete entities with well-defined spatial borders, an oversimplification likely impairing their applicability. Using a multilayer network approach, explicitly accounting for inter-habitat connectivity, we investigate the spatial structure of seed-dispersal networks across the Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique. We show that the overall seed-dispersal network is composed by spatially explicit communities of dispersers spanning across habitats, functionally linking the landscape mosaic. Inter-habitat connectivity determines spatial structure, which cannot be accurately described with standard monolayer approaches either splitting or merging habitats. Multilayer modularity cannot be predicted by null models randomizing either interactions within each habitat or those linking habitats; however, as habitat connectivity increases, random processes become more important for overall structure. The importance of dispersers for the overall network structure is captured by multilayer versatility but not by standard metrics. Highly versatile species disperse many plant species across multiple habitats, being critical to landscape functional cohesion.

Capacity analysis of spectrum sharing spatial multiplexing MIMO systems

KAUST Repository

Yang, Liang; Qaraqe, Khalid A.; Serpedin, Erchin; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2014-01-01

This paper considers a spectrum sharing (SS) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system operating in a Rayleigh fading environment. First the capacity of a single-user SS spatial multiplexing system is investigated in two scenarios that assume

Explicit behavioral detection of visual changes develops without their implicit neurophysiological detectability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pessi eLyyra

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Change blindness is a failure of explicitly detecting changes between consecutively presented images when separated, e.g., by a brief blank screen. There is a growing body of evidence of implicit detection of even explicitly undetectable changes, pointing to the possibility of the implicit change detection as a prerequisite for its explicit counterpart. We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs of the electroencephalography in adults during an oddball-variant of change blindness flicker paradigm. In this variant, rare pictures with a change were interspersed with frequent pictures with no change. In separate stimulus blocks, the blank screen between the change and no-change picture was either of 100 ms or 500 ms in duration. In both stimulus conditions the participants eventually explicitly detect the changed pictures, the blank screen of the longer duration only requiring in average 10 % longer exposure to the picture series until the ability emerged. However, during the change blindness, ERPs were displaced towards negative polarity at 200–260 ms after the stimulus onset (visual mismatch negativity only with the blank screens of the shorter ISI. Our finding of ‘implicit change blindness’ for pictorial material that, nevertheless, successfully prepares the visual system for explicit change detection suggests that implicit change detection may not be a necessary condition for explicit change detection and that they may recruit at least partially distinct memory mechanisms.

Spatially explicit modeling of blackbird abundance in the Prairie Pothole Region

Science.gov (United States)

Forcey, Greg M.; Thogmartin, Wayne E.; Linz, George M.; McKann, Patrick C.; Crimmins, Shawn M.

2015-01-01

Knowledge of factors influencing animal abundance is important to wildlife biologists developing management plans. This is especially true for economically important species such as blackbirds (Icteridae), which cause more than $100 million in crop damages annually in the United States. Using data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey, the National Land Cover Dataset, and the National Climatic Data Center, we modeled effects of regional environmental variables on relative abundance of 3 blackbird species (red-winged blackbird,Agelaius phoeniceus; yellow-headed blackbird, Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus; common grackle, Quiscalus quiscula) in the Prairie Pothole Region of the central United States. We evaluated landscape covariates at 3 logarithmically related spatial scales (1,000 ha, 10,000 ha, and 100,000 ha) and modeled weather variables at the 100,000-ha scale. We constructed models a priori using information from published habitat associations. We fit models with WinBUGS using Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques. Both landscape and weather variables contributed strongly to predicting blackbird relative abundance (95% credibility interval did not overlap 0). Variables with the strongest associations with blackbird relative abundance were the percentage of wetland area and precipitation amount from the year before bird surveys were conducted. The influence of spatial scale appeared small—models with the same variables expressed at different scales were often in the best model subset. This large-scale study elucidated regional effects of weather and landscape variables, suggesting that management strategies aimed at reducing damages caused by these species should consider the broader landscape, including weather effects, because such factors may outweigh the influence of localized conditions or site-specific management actions. The regional species distributional models we developed for blackbirds provide a tool for understanding these broader

Developmental Differences in Implicit and Explicit Memory Performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Perez, Lori A.; Peynircioglu, Zehra F.; Blaxton, Teresa A.

1998-01-01

Compared perceptual and conceptual implicit and explicit memory performance of preschool, elementary, and college students. Found that conceptual explicit memory improved with age. Perceptual explicit memory and implicit memory showed no developmental change. Perceptual processing during study led to better performance than conceptual processing…

Environmental context effects in conceptual explicit and implicit memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Andrew; Dagnall, Neil; Coyle, Anne-Marie

2007-05-01

Previous research has found environmental context effects for both conceptual explicit and conceptual implicit memory (Parker, Gellatly, & Waterman, 1999). The research presented here challenges these findings on methodological grounds. Experiment 1 assessed the effects of context change on category-exemplar generation (conceptual implicit memory test) and category-cued recall (conceptual explicit memory test). Experiment 2 assessed the effects of context change on word association (conceptual implicit memory test) and word associate cued recall (conceptual explicit memory test). In both experiments, study-test changes in environmental context were found to influence performance only on tests of explicit memory. It is concluded that when retrieval cues across explicit and implicit tests are matched, and the probability of explicit contamination is reduced, then only conceptual explicit test performance is reduced by study-test changes in environmental context.

Expertise dissimilarity and creativity: the contingent roles of tacit and explicit knowledge sharing.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Xu; Hsieh, J J Po-An; He, Wei

2014-09-01

In this study, we investigated whether team-level knowledge sharing moderates the effects of individual-level expertise dissimilarity on individual employees' creativity in research and development (R&D) project teams. Expertise dissimilarity--defined as the difference in expertise and knowledge between a focal team member and her or his fellow team members--was operationalized in terms of the research department to which each member belonged. In Study 1, multilevel analyses of data collected from 200 members of 40 R&D project teams in a telecommunications company revealed that a team member with expertise dissimilar to that of her or his teammates was more likely to exhibit creativity when the project team as a whole engaged in higher levels of tacit, rather than explicit, knowledge sharing. In contrast, a member whose expertise was similar to that of her or his teammates was more likely to exhibit creative behavior when the team engaged in higher levels of explicit, rather than tacit, knowledge sharing. These findings were largely replicated in Study 2 using data collected from 82 members of 25 project teams from another telecommunications company. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Optimal explicit strong stability preserving Runge–Kutta methods with high linear order and optimal nonlinear order

KAUST Repository

Gottlieb, Sigal

2015-04-10

High order spatial discretizations with monotonicity properties are often desirable for the solution of hyperbolic PDEs. These methods can advantageously be coupled with high order strong stability preserving time discretizations. The search for high order strong stability time-stepping methods with large allowable strong stability coefficient has been an active area of research over the last two decades. This research has shown that explicit SSP Runge-Kutta methods exist only up to fourth order. However, if we restrict ourselves to solving only linear autonomous problems, the order conditions simplify and this order barrier is lifted: explicit SSP Runge-Kutta methods of any linear order exist. These methods reduce to second order when applied to nonlinear problems. In the current work we aim to find explicit SSP Runge-Kutta methods with large allowable time-step, that feature high linear order and simultaneously have the optimal fourth order nonlinear order. These methods have strong stability coefficients that approach those of the linear methods as the number of stages and the linear order is increased. This work shows that when a high linear order method is desired, it may still be worthwhile to use methods with higher nonlinear order.

Beyond the current Dutch spatial planning system: Towards a beneficial spatial system that accommodates today’s complex societal needs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

L.M. Lodder (Marleen); J. Rotmans (Jan); M. Braungart (Michael)

2014-01-01

textabstractThis paper will analyse the developments in the spatial planning system in the Netherlands, as of the industrial revolution, as it has led to good practices of international recognition, but now seems to be under pressure because of the increasing complexity and multiple crises induced

Neural mechanism of lmplicit and explicit memory retrieval: functional MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Heoung Keun; Jeong, Gwang Woo; Park, Tae Jin; Seo, Jeong Jin; Kim, Hyung Joong; Eun, Sung Jong; Chung, Tae Woong

2003-01-01

To identify, using functional MR imaging, distinct cerebral centers and to evaluate the neural mechanism associated with implicit and explicit retrieval of words during conceptual processing. Seven healthy volunteers aged 21-25 (mean, 22) years underwent BOLD-based fMR imaging using a 1.5T signa horizon echospeed MR system. To activate the cerebral cortices, a series of tasks was performed as follows: the encoding of two-syllable words, and implicit and explicit retrieval of previously learned words during conceptual processing. The activation paradigm consisted of a cycle of alternating periods of 30 seconds of stimulation and 30 seconds of rest. Stimulation was accomplished by encoding eight two-syllable words and the retrieval of previously presented words, while the control condition was a white screen with a small fixed cross. During the tasks we acquired ten slices (6 mm slice thickness, 1 mm gap) parallel to the AC-PC line, and the resulting functional activation maps were reconstructed using a statistical parametric mapping program (SPM99). A comparison of activation ratios (percentages), based on the number of volunteers, showed that activation of Rhs-35, PoCiG-23 and ICiG-26·30 was associated with explicit retrieval only; other brain areas were activated during the performance of both implicit and explicit retrieval tasks. Activation ratios were higher for explicit tasks than for implicit; in the cingulate gyrus and temporal lobe they were 30% and 10% greater, respectively. During explicit retrieval, a distinct brain activation index (percentage) was seen in the temporal, parietal, and occipital lobe and cingulate gyrus, and PrCeG-4, Pr/ PoCeG-43 in the frontal lobe. During implicit retrieval, on the other hand, activity was greater in the frontal lobe, including the areas of SCA-25, SFG/MFG-10, IFG-44·45, OrbG-11·47, SFG-6·8 and MFG-9·46. Overall, activation was lateralized mainly in the left hemisphere during both implicit and explicit retrieval

Neural mechanism of lmplicit and explicit memory retrieval: functional MR imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kang, Heoung Keun; Jeong, Gwang Woo; Park, Tae Jin; Seo, Jeong Jin; Kim, Hyung Joong; Eun, Sung Jong; Chung, Tae Woong [Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju (Korea, Republic of)

2003-03-01

To identify, using functional MR imaging, distinct cerebral centers and to evaluate the neural mechanism associated with implicit and explicit retrieval of words during conceptual processing. Seven healthy volunteers aged 21-25 (mean, 22) years underwent BOLD-based fMR imaging using a 1.5T signa horizon echospeed MR system. To activate the cerebral cortices, a series of tasks was performed as follows: the encoding of two-syllable words, and implicit and explicit retrieval of previously learned words during conceptual processing. The activation paradigm consisted of a cycle of alternating periods of 30 seconds of stimulation and 30 seconds of rest. Stimulation was accomplished by encoding eight two-syllable words and the retrieval of previously presented words, while the control condition was a white screen with a small fixed cross. During the tasks we acquired ten slices (6 mm slice thickness, 1 mm gap) parallel to the AC-PC line, and the resulting functional activation maps were reconstructed using a statistical parametric mapping program (SPM99). A comparison of activation ratios (percentages), based on the number of volunteers, showed that activation of Rhs-35, PoCiG-23 and ICiG-26{center_dot}30 was associated with explicit retrieval only; other brain areas were activated during the performance of both implicit and explicit retrieval tasks. Activation ratios were higher for explicit tasks than for implicit; in the cingulate gyrus and temporal lobe they were 30% and 10% greater, respectively. During explicit retrieval, a distinct brain activation index (percentage) was seen in the temporal, parietal, and occipital lobe and cingulate gyrus, and PrCeG-4, Pr/ PoCeG-43 in the frontal lobe. During implicit retrieval, on the other hand, activity was greater in the frontal lobe, including the areas of SCA-25, SFG/MFG-10, IFG-44{center_dot}45, OrbG-11{center_dot}47, SFG-6{center_dot}8 and MFG-9{center_dot}46. Overall, activation was lateralized mainly in the left

Spatial representations are specific to different domains of knowledge.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rowena Beecham

Full Text Available There is evidence that many abstract concepts are represented cognitively in a spatial format. However, it is unknown whether similar spatial processes are employed in different knowledge domains, or whether individuals exhibit similar spatial profiles within and across domains. This research investigated similarities in spatial representation in two knowledge domains--mathematics and music. Sixty-one adults completed analogous number magnitude and pitch discrimination tasks: the Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes and Spatial-Musical Association of Response Codes tasks. Subgroups of individuals with different response patterns were identified through cluster analyses. For both the mathematical and musical tasks, approximately half of the participants showed the expected spatial judgment effect when explicitly cued to focus on the spatial properties of the stimuli. Despite this, performances on the two tasks were largely independent. Consistent with previous research, the study provides evidence for the spatial representation of number and pitch in the majority of individuals. However, there was little evidence to support the claim that the same spatial representation processes underpin mathematical and musical judgments.

Spatial and spectral effects in subcritical system pulsed experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dulla, S.; Nervo, M.; Ravetto, P.; Carta, M.

2013-01-01

Accurate neutronic models are needed for the interpretation of pulsed experiments in subcritical systems. In this work, the extent of spatial and spectral effects in the pulse propagation phenomena is investigated and the analysis is applied to the GUINEVERE experiment. The multigroup cross section data is generated by the Monte Carlo SERPENT code and the neutronic evolution following the source pulse is simulated by a kinetic diffusion code. The results presented show that important spatial and spectral aspects need to be properly accounted for and that a detailed energy approach may be needed to adequately capture the physical features of the system to the pulse injection. (authors)

State determination for composite systems of two spatial qubits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lima, G; Torres-Ruiz, F A; Neves, L; Delgado, A; Saavedra, C; Padua, S

2007-01-01

In a recent letter [Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 100501 (2005)], we presented a scheme for generating pure entangled states of spatial qudits using transverse correlations of parametric down-converted photons. Here we show how the modication of this scheme can be used to generate mixed states and we investigate the state determination for composite systems of two spatial qubits, motivated by the fact that quantum information protocols may be easier to be implemented for this case. By means of local operations on the twin photons we were able to perform the quantum tomography process to reconstruct the density matrix of a mixed state of two spatial qubits

Spatially Controlled Relay Beamforming

Science.gov (United States)

Kalogerias, Dionysios

This thesis is about fusion of optimal stochastic motion control and physical layer communications. Distributed, networked communication systems, such as relay beamforming networks (e.g., Amplify & Forward (AF)), are typically designed without explicitly considering how the positions of the respective nodes might affect the quality of the communication. Optimum placement of network nodes, which could potentially improve the quality of the communication, is not typically considered. However, in most practical settings in physical layer communications, such as relay beamforming, the Channel State Information (CSI) observed by each node, per channel use, although it might be (modeled as) random, it is both spatially and temporally correlated. It is, therefore, reasonable to ask if and how the performance of the system could be improved by (predictively) controlling the positions of the network nodes (e.g., the relays), based on causal side (CSI) information, and exploitting the spatiotemporal dependencies of the wireless medium. In this work, we address this problem in the context of AF relay beamforming networks. This novel, cyber-physical system approach to relay beamforming is termed as "Spatially Controlled Relay Beamforming". First, we discuss wireless channel modeling, however, in a rigorous, Bayesian framework. Experimentally accurate and, at the same time, technically precise channel modeling is absolutely essential for designing and analyzing spatially controlled communication systems. In this work, we are interested in two distinct spatiotemporal statistical models, for describing the behavior of the log-scale magnitude of the wireless channel: 1. Stationary Gaussian Fields: In this case, the channel is assumed to evolve as a stationary, Gaussian stochastic field in continuous space and discrete time (say, for instance, time slots). Under such assumptions, spatial and temporal statistical interactions are determined by a set of time and space invariant

Human locognosic acuity on the arm varies with explicit and implicit manipulations of attention: implications for interpreting elevated tactile acuity on an amputation stump.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Boyle, D J; Moore, C E; Poliakoff, E; Butterworth, R; Sutton, A; Cody, F W

2001-06-01

In Experiment 1, normal subjects' ability to localize tactile stimuli (locognosia) delivered to the upper arm was significantly higher when they were instructed explicitly to direct their attention selectively to that segment than when they were instructed explicitly to distribute their attention across the whole arm. This elevation of acuity was eliminated when subjects' attentional resources were divided by superimposition of an effortful, secondary task during stimulation. In Experiment 2, in the absence of explicit attentional instruction, subjects' locognosic acuity on one of three arm segments was significantly higher when stimulation of that segment was 2.5 times more probable than that of stimulation of the other two segments. We surmise that the attentional mechanisms responsible for such modulations of locognosic acuity in normal subjects may contribute to the elevated sensory acuity observed on the stumps of amputees.

The rat whole embryo culture assay using the Dysmorphology Score system.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Cindy; Panzica-Kelly, Julie; Augustine-Rauch, Karen

2013-01-01

The rat whole embryo culture (WEC) system has been used extensively for characterizing teratogenic properties of test chemicals. In this chapter, we describe the methodology for culturing rat embryos as well as a new morphological score system, the Dysmorphology Score (DMS) system for assessing morphology of mid gestation (gestational day 11) rat embryos. In contrast to the developmental stage focused scoring associated with the Brown and Fabro score system, this new score system assesses the respective degree of severity of dysmorphology, which delineates normal from abnormal morphology of specific embryonic structures and organ systems. This score system generates an approach that allows rapid identification and quantification of adverse developmental findings, making it conducive for characterization of compounds for teratogenic properties and screening activities.

Exploring complex dynamics in multi agent-based intelligent systems: Theoretical and experimental approaches using the Multi Agent-based Behavioral Economic Landscape (MABEL) model

Science.gov (United States)

Alexandridis, Konstantinos T.

This dissertation adopts a holistic and detailed approach to modeling spatially explicit agent-based artificial intelligent systems, using the Multi Agent-based Behavioral Economic Landscape (MABEL) model. The research questions that addresses stem from the need to understand and analyze the real-world patterns and dynamics of land use change from a coupled human-environmental systems perspective. Describes the systemic, mathematical, statistical, socio-economic and spatial dynamics of the MABEL modeling framework, and provides a wide array of cross-disciplinary modeling applications within the research, decision-making and policy domains. Establishes the symbolic properties of the MABEL model as a Markov decision process, analyzes the decision-theoretic utility and optimization attributes of agents towards comprising statistically and spatially optimal policies and actions, and explores the probabilogic character of the agents' decision-making and inference mechanisms via the use of Bayesian belief and decision networks. Develops and describes a Monte Carlo methodology for experimental replications of agent's decisions regarding complex spatial parcel acquisition and learning. Recognizes the gap on spatially-explicit accuracy assessment techniques for complex spatial models, and proposes an ensemble of statistical tools designed to address this problem. Advanced information assessment techniques such as the Receiver-Operator Characteristic curve, the impurity entropy and Gini functions, and the Bayesian classification functions are proposed. The theoretical foundation for modular Bayesian inference in spatially-explicit multi-agent artificial intelligent systems, and the ensembles of cognitive and scenario assessment modular tools build for the MABEL model are provided. Emphasizes the modularity and robustness as valuable qualitative modeling attributes, and examines the role of robust intelligent modeling as a tool for improving policy-decisions related to land

Do you know where your fingers have been? Explicit knowledge of the spatial layout of the keyboard in skilled typists.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xianyun; Crump, Matthew J C; Logan, Gordon D

2010-06-01

Two experiments evaluated skilled typists' ability to report knowledge about the layout of keys on a standard keyboard. In Experiment 1, subjects judged the relative direction of letters on the computer keyboard. One group of subjects was asked to imagine the keyboard, one group was allowed to look at the keyboard, and one group was asked to type the letter pair before judging relative direction. The imagine group had larger angular error and longer response time than both the look and touch groups. In Experiment 2, subjects placed one key relative to another. Again, the imagine group had larger angular error, larger distance error, and longer response time than the other groups. The two experiments suggest that skilled typists have poor explicit knowledge of key locations. The results are interpreted in terms of a model with two hierarchical parts in the system controlling typewriting.

Implementing Explicit and Finding Implicit Sharing in Embedded DSLs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oleg Kiselyov

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Aliasing, or sharing, is prominent in many domains, denoting that two differently-named objects are in fact identical: a change in one object (memory cell, circuit terminal, disk block is instantly reflected in the other. Languages for modelling such domains should let the programmer explicitly define the sharing among objects or expressions. A DSL compiler may find other identical expressions and share them, implicitly. Such common subexpression elimination is crucial to the efficient implementation of DSLs. Sharing is tricky in embedded DSL, since host aliasing may correspond to copying of the underlying objects rather than their sharing. This tutorial summarizes discussions of implementing sharing in Haskell DSLs for automotive embedded systems and hardware description languages. The technique has since been used in a Haskell SAT solver and the DSL for music synthesis. We demonstrate the embedding in pure Haskell of a simple DSL with a language form for explicit sharing. The DSL also has implicit sharing, implemented via hash-consing. Explicit sharing greatly speeds up hash-consing. The seemingly imperative nature of hash-consing is hidden beneath a simple combinator language. The overall implementation remains pure functional and easy to reason about.

Vestibular-somatosensory interactions: effects of passive whole-body rotation on somatosensory detection.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elisa Raffaella Ferrè

Full Text Available Vestibular signals are strongly integrated with information from several other sensory modalities. For example, vestibular stimulation was reported to improve tactile detection. However, this improvement could reflect either a multimodal interaction or an indirect interaction driven by vestibular effects on spatial attention and orienting. Here we investigate whether natural vestibular activation induced by passive whole-body rotation influences tactile detection. In particular, we assessed the ability to detect faint tactile stimuli to the fingertips of the left and right hand during spatially congruent or incongruent rotations. We found that passive whole-body rotations significantly enhanced sensitivity to faint shocks, without affecting response bias. Critically, this enhancement of somatosensory sensitivity did not depend on the spatial congruency between the direction of rotation and the hand stimulated. Thus, our results support a multimodal interaction, likely in brain areas receiving both vestibular and somatosensory signals.

Individual based model of slug population and spatial dynamics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Choi, Y.H.; Bohan, D.A.; Potting, R.P.J.; Semenov, M.A.; Glen, D.M.

2006-01-01

The slug, Deroceras reticulatum, is one of the most important pests of agricultural and horticultural crops in UK and Europe. In this paper, a spatially explicit individual based model (IbM) is developed to study the dynamics of a population of D. reticulatum. The IbM establishes a virtual field

EPR spectroscopy of complex biological iron-sulfur systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Hagen, Wilfred R

2018-02-21

From the very first discovery of biological iron-sulfur clusters with EPR, the spectroscopy has been used to study not only purified proteins but also complex systems such as respiratory complexes, membrane particles and, later, whole cells. In recent times, the emphasis of iron-sulfur biochemistry has moved from characterization of individual proteins to the systems biology of iron-sulfur biosynthesis, regulation, degradation, and implications for human health. Although this move would suggest a blossoming of System-EPR as a specific, non-invasive monitor of Fe/S (dys)homeostasis in whole cells, a review of the literature reveals limited success possibly due to technical difficulties in adherence to EPR spectroscopic and biochemical standards. In an attempt to boost application of System-EPR the required boundary conditions and their practical applications are explicitly and comprehensively formulated.

Comparative evaluation of nose-only vs. whole-body inhalation exposures for rats

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yeh, H.C.; Snipes, M.B.; Eidson, A.F.; Hobbs, C.H.

1988-01-01

Two types of rat exposure chambers, nose-only and whole-body chambers, were evaluated simultaneously for the temporal and spatial distribution of the same test aerosols within the chambers, both with and without animals present. Results indicated that both types of exposure chambers performed well, with coefficients of variation less than 10% for both temporal and spatial variations. (author)

Piecewise quadratic Lyapunov functions for stability verification of approximate explicit MPC

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Morten Hovd

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Explicit MPC of constrained linear systems is known to result in a piecewise affine controller and therefore also piecewise affine closed loop dynamics. The complexity of such analytic formulations of the control law can grow exponentially with the prediction horizon. The suboptimal solutions offer a trade-off in terms of complexity and several approaches can be found in the literature for the construction of approximate MPC laws. In the present paper a piecewise quadratic (PWQ Lyapunov function is used for the stability verification of an of approximate explicit Model Predictive Control (MPC. A novel relaxation method is proposed for the LMI criteria on the Lyapunov function design. This relaxation is applicable to the design of PWQ Lyapunov functions for discrete-time piecewise affine systems in general.

Explicit Precedence Constraints in Safety-Critical Java

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Puffitsch, Wolfgang; Noulard, Eric; Pagetti, Claire

2013-01-01

Safety-critical Java (SCJ) aims at making the amenities of Java available for the development of safety-critical applications. The multi-rate synchronous language Prelude facilitates the specification of the communication and timing requirements of complex real-time systems. This paper combines...... to provide explicit support for precedence constraints. We present the considerations behind the design of this extension and discuss our experiences with a first prototype implementation based on the SCJ implementation of the Java Optimized Processor....

Spatial Dynamics of Indoor Radio Wideband Channels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hayar Aawatif

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The multipath components of superwideband (2–17.2 GHz nonline-of-sight channel responses measured inside several buildings are stable along sections that are 27 cm long on average with a standard deviation of 16 cm. The stability regions of multipath components have an approximately log-normal histogram. An analysis of measured channels that explicitly includes finite spatial areas of visibility of the multipath components is superior to the classic analysis that attributes spatial dynamics to interference of the multipath. The spatial stability of measured responses, that is, the size of the typical area of visibility of each multipath component, decreases as the carrier frequency increases but does not depend on bandwidth. The results offer insight into the nature of the diffuse part of the radio channel.

Spatially explicit groundwater vulnerability assessment to support the implementation of the Water Framework Directive – a practical approach with stakeholders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Berkhoff

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The main objective of the study presented in this paper was to develop an evaluation scheme which is suitable for spatially explicit groundwater vulnerability assessment according to the Water Framework Directive (WFD. Study area was the Hase river catchment, an area of about 3 000 km2 in north-west Germany which is dominated by livestock farming, in particular pig and poultry production. For the Hase river catchment, the first inventory of the WFD led to the conclusion that 98% of the catchment area is "unclear/unlikely" to reach a good groundwater status due to diffuse nitrogen emissions from agriculture. The groundwater vulnerability assessment was embedded in the PartizipA project ("Participative modelling, Actor and Ecosystem Analysis in Regions with Intensive Agriculture", www.partizipa.net, within which a so-called actors' platform was established in the study area. The objective of the participatory process was to investigate the effects of the WFD on agriculture as well as to discuss groundwater protection measures which are suitable for an integration in the programme of measures. The study was conducted according to the vulnerability assessment concept of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, considering sensitivity, exposure and adaptive capacity. Sensitivity was computed using the DRASTIC index of natural groundwater pollution potential. Exposure (for a reference scenario was computed using the STOFFBILANZ nutrient model. Several regional studies were analysed to evaluate the adaptive capacity. From these studies it was concluded that the adaptive capacity in the Hase river catchment is very low due to the economic importance of the agricultural sector which will be significantly affected by groundwater protection measures. As a consequence, the adaptive capacity was not considered any more in the vulnerability assessment. A groundwater vulnerability evaluation scheme is presented which enjoys the advantage that both

Evaluation of Whole Tree Growth Increment Derived from Tree-Ring Series for Use in Assessments of Changes in Forest Productivity across Various Spatial Scales

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juha M. Metsaranta

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The inherent predictability of inter-annual variation in forest productivity remains unknown. Available field-based data sources for understanding this variability differ in their spatial resolution, temporal resolution, and typical units of measure. Nearly all other tree and forest characteristics are in practice derived from measurements of diameter at breast height (DBH. Therefore, diameter increment reconstructed annually from tree-ring data can be used to estimate annual growth increments of wood volume, but the accuracy and precision of these estimates requires assessment. Annual growth estimates for n = 170 trees sampled for whole stem analysis from five tree species (jack pine, lodgepole pine, black spruce, white spruce, and trembling aspen in Western Canada were compared against increments derived from breast height measurements only. Inter-annual variability of breast height and whole tree growth increments was highly correlated for most trees. Relative errors varied by species, diameter class, and the equation used to estimate volume (regional vs. national. A simple example of the possible effect of this error when propagated to the stand level is provided.

Embracing the Open-Source Movement for the Management of Spatial Data: A Case Study of African Trypanosomiasis in Kenya.

Science.gov (United States)

Langley, Shaun A; Messina, Joseph P

2011-01-01

The past decade has seen an explosion in the availability of spatial data not only for researchers, but the public alike. As the quantity of data increases, the ability to effectively navigate and understand the data becomes more challenging. Here we detail a conceptual model for a spatially explicit database management system that addresses the issues raised with the growing data management problem. We demonstrate utility with a case study in disease ecology: to develop a multi-scale predictive model of African Trypanosomiasis in Kenya. International collaborations and varying technical expertise necessitate a modular open-source software solution. Finally, we address three recurring problems with data management: scalability, reliability, and security.

Spatial extent in demographic research - approach and problems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Knežević Aleksandar

2015-01-01

Full Text Available One of the starting methodological problems in demographic research is the definition of spatial extent, which mostly doesn’t correspond to spatial extent already defined by different levels of administrative-territorial unitsthat are used for distribution of usable statistical data. That’s why determining the spatial extent of a demographic research is closely tied with administrative-territorial division of the territory that is being researched, wherein the fact that differentiation of demographic phenomena and processes cannot be the only basis of setting the principles of regionalization must be strictly acknowledged. This problem is particularly common in historical demographic analyses of geographically determined wholes, which are in administratively-territorial sense represented by one or more smaller territorial units, with their borders changing through the history, which directly affects comparability of the statistical data, and makes it considerably more difficult to track demographic change through longer time intervals. The result of these efforts is usually a solution based on a compromise which enables us to examine the dynamics of population change with little deviation from already defined borders of regional geographic wholes. For that reason in this paper the problem of defining spatial extent in demographic research is examined trough several different approaches in case of Eastern Serbia, as a geographically determined region, a historic area, a spatially functioning whole and as a statistical unit for demographic research, with no judgment calls in regard to any of the regionalization principles. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. III 47006

Characterizing Spatial Dynamics of Bifurcation to Alternans in Isolated Whole Rabbit Hearts Based on Alternate Pacing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kanchan Kulkarni

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Sudden cardiac death instigated by ventricular fibrillation (VF is the largest cause of natural death in the USA. Alternans, a beat-to-beat alternation in the action potential duration, has been implicated as being proarrhythmic. The onset of alternans is mediated via a bifurcation, which may occur through either a smooth or a border-collision mechanism. The objective of this study was to characterize the mechanism of bifurcation to alternans based on experiments in isolated whole rabbit hearts. High resolution optical mapping was performed and the electrical activity was recorded from the left ventricle (LV epicardial surface of the heart. Each heart was paced using an “alternate pacing protocol,” where the basic cycle length (BCL was alternatively perturbed by ±δ. Local onset of alternans in the heart, BCLstart, was measured in the absence of perturbations (δ=0 and was defined as the BCL at which 10% of LV exhibited alternans. The influences of perturbation size were investigated at two BCLs: one prior to BCLstart (BCLprior=BCLstart+20 ms and one preceding BCLprior (BCLfar=BCLstart+40 ms. Our results demonstrate significant spatial correlation of the region exhibiting alternans with smooth bifurcation characteristics, indicating that transition to alternans in isolated rabbit hearts occurs predominantly through smooth bifurcation.

Evaluation Of Spatial Filters For Background Suppression In Infrared Mosaic Sensor Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Bergen, T. L.; Mazaika, P. K.

1982-12-01

Spaceborne infrared mosaic sensors have been proposed for future surveillance systems. Because these systems will generate a large volume of data, background suppression will require algorithms which use innovative architectures and minimal storage. This paper analyzes the implementation and performance of candidate temporal and spatial filters. Spatial filters are attractive because they require far less memory, can effectively exploit a parallel, pipelined architecture, and are relatively insensitive to target speed. However, the performance of spatial filtering is substantially worse than that of temporal filtering when the sensor has good line-of-sight stability.

Thinking Like a Whole Building: A Whole Foods Market New Construction Case Study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Deru, M.; Bonnema, E.; Doebber, I.; Hirsch, A.; McIntyre, M.; Scheib, J.

2011-04-01

Whole Foods Market participates in the U.S. Department of Energy's Commercial Building Partnerships (CBP) to identify and develop cost-effective, readily deployed, replicable energy efficiency measures (EEMs) for commercial buildings. Whole Foods Market is working with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) on a retrofit and a new construction CBP project. Whole Foods Market's CBP new construction project is a standalone store in Raleigh, North Carolina. Whole Foods Market examined the energy systems and the interactions between those systems in the design for the new Raleigh store. Based on this collaboration and preliminary energy modeling, Whole Foods Market and NREL identified a number of cost-effective EEMs that can be readily deployed in other Whole Foods Market stores and in other U.S. supermarkets. If the actual savings in the Raleigh store - which NREL will monitor and verify - match the modeling results, each year this store will save nearly $100,000 in operating costs (Raleigh's rates are about $0.06/kWh for electricity and $0.83/therm for natural gas). The store will also use 41% less energy than a Standard 90.1-compliant store and avoid about 3.7 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions.

Reliability Analysis of 6-Component Star Markov Repairable System with Spatial Dependence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liying Wang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Star repairable systems with spatial dependence consist of a center component and several peripheral components. The peripheral components are arranged around the center component, and the performance of each component depends on its spatial “neighbors.” Vector-Markov process is adapted to describe the performance of the system. The state space and transition rate matrix corresponding to the 6-component star Markov repairable system with spatial dependence are presented via probability analysis method. Several reliability indices, such as the availability, the probabilities of visiting the safety, the degradation, the alert, and the failed state sets, are obtained by Laplace transform method and a numerical example is provided to illustrate the results.

Non-spatial pre-training in the water maze as a clinically relevant model for evaluating learning and memory in experimental TBI.

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, Amy K; Brayer, Samuel W; Hurwitz, Max; Niyonkuru, Christian; Zou, Huichao; Failla, Michelle; Arenth, Patricia; Manole, Mioara D; Skidmore, Elizabeth; Thiels, Edda

2013-11-01

Explicit and implicit learning and memory networks exist where each network can facilitate or inhibit cognition. Clinical evidence suggests that implicit networks are relatively preserved after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Non-spatial pre-training (NSPT) in the Morris Water Maze (MWM) provides the necessary behavioral components to complete the task, while limiting the formation of spatial maps. Our study utilized NSPT in the MWM to assess implicit and explicit learning and memory system deficits in the controlled cortical impact (CCI) model of TBI. 76 adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided: CCI vs. sham surgery, NSPT vs. No-NSPT, and cued vs. non-cued groups. NSPT occurred for 4d prior to surgery (dynamic hidden platform location, extra-maze cues covered, static pool entry point). Acquisition (d14-18), Probe/Visible Platform (d19), and Reversal (d20-21) trials were conducted with or without extra-maze cues. Novel time allocation and search strategy selection metrics were utilized. Results indicated implicit and explicit learning/memory networks are distinguishable in the MWM. In the cued condition, NSPT reduced thigmotaxis, improved place learning, and largely eliminated the apparent injury-induced deficits typically observed between untrained CCI and sham rats. However, among NSPT groups, incorporation of cues into search strategy selection for CCI rats was relatively impaired compared to shams. Non-cued condition performance showed sham/NSPT and CCI/NSPT rats perform similarly, suggesting implicit memory networks are largely intact 2weeks after CCI. Place learning differences between CCI/NSPT and sham/NSPT rats more accurately reflect spatial deficits in our CCI model compared to untrained controls. These data suggest NSPT as a clinically relevant construct for evaluating potential neurorestorative and neuroprotective therapies. These findings also support development of non-spatial cognitive training paradigms for evaluating rehabilitation relevant

An Explicit MOT-TD-VIE Solver for Time Varying Media

KAUST Repository

Sayed, Sadeed Bin

2016-03-15

An explicit marching on-in-time (MOT) scheme for solving the time domain electric field integral equation enforced on volumes with time varying dielectric permittivity is proposed. Unknowns of the integral equation and the constitutive relation, i.e., flux density and field intensity, are discretized using full and half Schaubert-Wilton-Glisson functions in space. Temporal interpolation is carried out using band limited approximate prolate spherical wave functions. The discretized coupled system of integral equation and constitutive relation is integrated in time using a PE(CE)m type linear multistep scheme. Unlike the existing MOT methods, the resulting explicit MOT scheme allows for straightforward incorporation of the time variation in the dielectric permittivity.

Hierarchical spatial models for predicting pygmy rabbit distribution and relative abundance

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, T.L.; Odei, J.B.; Hooten, M.B.; Edwards, T.C.

2010-01-01

Conservationists routinely use species distribution models to plan conservation, restoration and development actions, while ecologists use them to infer process from pattern. These models tend to work well for common or easily observable species, but are of limited utility for rare and cryptic species. This may be because honest accounting of known observation bias and spatial autocorrelation are rarely included, thereby limiting statistical inference of resulting distribution maps. We specified and implemented a spatially explicit Bayesian hierarchical model for a cryptic mammal species (pygmy rabbit Brachylagus idahoensis). Our approach used two levels of indirect sign that are naturally hierarchical (burrows and faecal pellets) to build a model that allows for inference on regression coefficients as well as spatially explicit model parameters. We also produced maps of rabbit distribution (occupied burrows) and relative abundance (number of burrows expected to be occupied by pygmy rabbits). The model demonstrated statistically rigorous spatial prediction by including spatial autocorrelation and measurement uncertainty. We demonstrated flexibility of our modelling framework by depicting probabilistic distribution predictions using different assumptions of pygmy rabbit habitat requirements. Spatial representations of the variance of posterior predictive distributions were obtained to evaluate heterogeneity in model fit across the spatial domain. Leave-one-out cross-validation was conducted to evaluate the overall model fit. Synthesis and applications. Our method draws on the strengths of previous work, thereby bridging and extending two active areas of ecological research: species distribution models and multi-state occupancy modelling. Our framework can be extended to encompass both larger extents and other species for which direct estimation of abundance is difficult. ?? 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation ?? 2010 British Ecological Society.

Simulation of coupled flow and mechanical deformation using IMplicit Pressure-Displacement Explicit Saturation (IMPDES) scheme

KAUST Repository

El-Amin, Mohamed

2012-01-01

The problem of coupled structural deformation with two-phase flow in porous media is solved numerically using cellcentered finite difference (CCFD) method. In order to solve the system of governed partial differential equations, the implicit pressure explicit saturation (IMPES) scheme that governs flow equations is combined with the the implicit displacement scheme. The combined scheme may be called IMplicit Pressure-Displacement Explicit Saturation (IMPDES). The pressure distribution for each cell along the entire domain is given by the implicit difference equation. Also, the deformation equations are discretized implicitly. Using the obtained pressure, velocity is evaluated explicitly, while, using the upwind scheme, the saturation is obtained explicitly. Moreover, the stability analysis of the present scheme has been introduced and the stability condition is determined.

Genome U-Plot: a whole genome visualization.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaitatzes, Athanasios; Johnson, Sarah H; Smadbeck, James B; Vasmatzis, George

2018-05-15

The ability to produce and analyze whole genome sequencing (WGS) data from samples with structural variations (SV) generated the need to visualize such abnormalities in simplified plots. Conventional two-dimensional representations of WGS data frequently use either circular or linear layouts. There are several diverse advantages regarding both these representations, but their major disadvantage is that they do not use the two-dimensional space very efficiently. We propose a layout, termed the Genome U-Plot, which spreads the chromosomes on a two-dimensional surface and essentially quadruples the spatial resolution. We present the Genome U-Plot for producing clear and intuitive graphs that allows researchers to generate novel insights and hypotheses by visualizing SVs such as deletions, amplifications, and chromoanagenesis events. The main features of the Genome U-Plot are its layered layout, its high spatial resolution and its improved aesthetic qualities. We compare conventional visualization schemas with the Genome U-Plot using visualization metrics such as number of line crossings and crossing angle resolution measures. Based on our metrics, we improve the readability of the resulting graph by at least 2-fold, making apparent important features and making it easy to identify important genomic changes. A whole genome visualization tool with high spatial resolution and improved aesthetic qualities. An implementation and documentation of the Genome U-Plot is publicly available at https://github.com/gaitat/GenomeUPlot. vasmatzis.george@mayo.edu. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Intimate partner violence and preschoolers' explicit memory functioning.

Science.gov (United States)

Jouriles, Ernest N; Brown, Alan S; McDonald, Renee; Rosenfield, David; Leahy, Matthew M; Silver, Cheryl

2008-06-01

This research examines whether parents' intimate partner physical violence (IPV) relates to their preschoolers' explicit memory functioning, whether children's symptoms of hyperarousal mediate this relation, and whether mothers' positive parenting moderates this relation. Participants were 69 mothers and their 4- or 5-year-old child (34 girls). Mothers completed measures of IPV, children's hyperarousal symptoms, parent-child aggression, and positive parenting. Measures of explicit memory functioning were administered to preschoolers. As expected, IPV correlated negatively with preschoolers' performance on explicit memory tasks, even after controlling for parent-child aggression and demographic variables related to preschoolers' memory functioning. Preschoolers' hyperarousal symptoms did not mediate the relation between IPV and explicit memory functioning, but mothers' positive parenting moderated this relation. Specifically, the negative relation between IPV and preschoolers' performance on 2 of the 3 explicit memory tasks was weaker when mothers engaged in higher levels of positive parenting. These findings extend research on IPV and children's adjustment difficulties to explicit memory functioning in preschoolers and suggest that mothers can ameliorate the influence of IPV on preschoolers' memory functioning via their parenting. (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved

New approach to 'top-and-bottom' whole blood separation using the multiunit TACSI WB system: quality of blood components.

Science.gov (United States)

Lotens, A; Najdovski, T; Cellier, N; Ernotte, B; Lambermont, M; Rapaille, A

2014-10-01

TACSI whole blood system is designed to combine primary and secondary processing of six whole blood bags into plasma units, buffy coat and red blood cell concentrates. The aim of this study was to investigate the specifications and in vitro storage parameters of blood components compared with standard centrifugation and separation processing. Whole blood bags, collected in CRC kits, were treated on a TACSI whole blood system. They were compared with whole blood bags collected in Composelect kits. In addition to routine quality control analyses, conservation studies were performed on red blood cell concentrates for 42 days and on plasma for 6 months. Platelets pools with five buffy coats were also created, and cellular contamination was evaluated. Red blood cell concentrates produced from TACSI whole blood met European quality requirements. For white blood cell count, one individual result exceeded 1 × 10(6) cells/unit. All plasma units fell within specifications for residual cellular contamination and storage parameters. The performances of the TACSI whole blood system allow for the preparation of low volume buffy coats with a recovery of 90% of whole blood platelets. Haemoglobin losses in TACSI BC are smaller, but this did not result in higher haemoglobin content of red cells. These BC are suitable for the production of platelet concentrates. From these in vitro data, red blood cell concentrates produced using TACSI whole blood are suitable for clinical use with a quality at least equivalent to the control group. © 2014 International Society of Blood Transfusion.

Stable panoramic views facilitate snap-shot like memories for spatial reorientation in homing pigeons.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tommaso Pecchia

Full Text Available Following spatial disorientation, animals can reorient themselves by relying on geometric cues (metric and sense specified both by the macroscopic surface layout of an enclosed space and prominent visual landmarks in arrays. Whether spatial reorientation in arrays of landmarks is based on explicit representation of the geometric cues is a matter of debate. Here we trained homing pigeons (Columba livia to locate a food-reward in a rectangular array of four identical or differently coloured pipes provided with four openings, only one of which allowed the birds to have access to the reward. Pigeons were trained either with a stable or a variable position of the opening on pipes, so that they could view the array either from the same or a variable perspective. Explicit mapping of configural geometry would predict successful reorientation irrespective of access condition. In contrast, we found that a stable view of the array facilitated spatial learning in homing pigeons, likely through the formation of snapshot-like memories.

Minimizing Erosion and Agro-Pollutants Transport from Furrow Irrigated Fields to the Nearby Water Body Using Spatially-Explicit Agent Based Model and Decision Optimization Platform

Science.gov (United States)

Ghoveisi, H.; Al Dughaishi, U.; Kiker, G.

2017-12-01

Maintaining water quality in agricultural watersheds is a worldwide challenge, especially where furrow irrigation is being practiced. The Yakima River Basin watershed in south central Washington State, (USA) is an example of these impacted areas with elevated load of sediments and other agricultural products due to runoff from furrow-irrigated fields. Within the Yakima basin, the Granger Drain watershed (area of 75 km2) is particularly challenged in this regard with more than 400 flood-irrigated individual parcels (area of 21 km2) growing a variety of crops from maize to grapes. Alternatives for improving water quality from furrow-irrigated parcels include vegetated filter strip (VFS) implementation, furrow water application efficiency, polyacrylamide (PAM) application and irrigation scheduling. These alternatives were simulated separately and in combinations to explore potential Best Management Practices (BMPs) for runoff-related-pollution reduction in a spatially explicit, agent based modeling system (QnD:GrangerDrain). Two regulatory scenarios were tested to BMP adoption within individual parcels. A blanket-style regulatory scenario simulated a total of 60 BMP combinations implemented in all 409 furrow-irrigated parcels. A second regulatory scenario simulated the BMPs in 119 furrow-irrigated parcels designated as "hotspots" based on a standard 12 Mg ha-1 seasonal sediment load. The simulated cumulative runoff and sediment loading from all BMP alternatives were ranked using Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), specifically the Stochastic Multi-Attribute Acceptability Analysis (SMAA) method. Several BMP combinations proved successful in reducing loads below a 25 NTU (91 mg L-1) regulatory sediment concentration. The QnD:GrangerDrain simulations and subsequent MCDA ranking revealed that the BMP combinations of 5 m-VFS and high furrow water efficiency were highly ranked alternatives for both the blanket and hotspot scenarios.

A portable system for processing donated whole blood into high quality components without centrifugation.

Science.gov (United States)

Gifford, Sean C; Strachan, Briony C; Xia, Hui; Vörös, Eszter; Torabian, Kian; Tomasino, Taylor A; Griffin, Gary D; Lichtiger, Benjamin; Aung, Fleur M; Shevkoplyas, Sergey S

2018-01-01

The use of centrifugation-based approaches for processing donated blood into components is routine in the industrialized world, as disparate storage conditions require the rapid separation of 'whole blood' into distinct red blood cell (RBC), platelet, and plasma products. However, the logistical complications and potential cellular damage associated with centrifugation/apheresis manufacturing of blood products are well documented. The objective of this study was to evaluate a proof-of-concept system for whole blood processing, which does not employ electromechanical parts, is easily portable, and can be operated immediately after donation with minimal human labor. In a split-unit study (n = 6), full (~500mL) units of freshly-donated whole blood were divided, with one half processed by conventional centrifugation techniques and the other with the new blood separation system. Each of these processes took 2-3 hours to complete and were performed in parallel. Blood products generated by the two approaches were compared using an extensive panel of cellular and plasma quality metrics. Comparison of nearly all RBC parameters showed no significant differences between the two approaches, although the portable system generated RBC units with a slight but statistically significant improvement in 2,3-diphosphoglyceric acid concentration (p applications in remote or resource-limited settings, or for patients requiring highly functional platelet product.

Using Satellite Remote Sensing Data in a Spatially Explicit Price Model

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Molly E.; Pinzon, Jorge E.; Prince, Stephen D.

2007-01-01

Famine early warning organizations use data from multiple disciplines to assess food insecurity of communities and regions in less-developed parts of the World. In this paper we integrate several indicators that are available to enhance the information for preparation for and responses to food security emergencies. The assessment uses a price model based on the relationship between the suitability of the growing season and market prices for coarse grain. The model is then used to create spatially continuous maps of millet prices. The model is applied to the dry central and northern areas of West Africa, using satellite-derived vegetation indices for the entire region. By coupling the model with vegetation data estimated for one to four months into the future, maps are created of a leading indicator of potential price movements. It is anticipated that these maps can be used to enable early warning of famine and for planning appropriate responses.

Associations between labial and whole salivary flow rates, systemic diseases and medications in a sample of older people

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Smidt, Dorte; Torpet, Lis Andersen; Nauntofte, Birgitte

2010-01-01

Smidt D, Torpet LA, Nauntofte B, Heegaard KM, Pedersen AML. Associations between labial and whole salivary flow rates, systemic diseases and medications in a sample of older people. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 2010; 38: 422-435. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S Abstract - Objective: To investigate...... the associations between age, gender, systemic diseases, medications and labial and whole salivary flow rates in older people. Methods: Unstimulated labial (LS) and unstimulated (UWS) and chewing-stimulated (SWS) whole salivary flow rates were measured in 389 randomly selected community-dwelling Danish women...... and 279 men aged 65-97 years. Systemic diseases, medications (coded according to the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) Classification System), tobacco and alcohol consumption were registered. Results: The number of diseases and medications was higher and UWS lower in the older age groups. On average...

Comparative evaluation of nose-only vs. whole-body inhalation exposures for rats

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yeh, H C; Snipes, M B; Eidson, A F; Hobbs, C H

1988-12-01

Two types of rat exposure chambers, nose-only and whole-body chambers, were evaluated simultaneously for the temporal and spatial distribution of the same test aerosols within the chambers, both with and without animals present. Results indicated that both types of exposure chambers performed well, with coefficients of variation less than 10% for both temporal and spatial variations. (author)0.