Potential Issues of Skin Fairness Creams TV advertisements in Pakistan

OpenAIRE

Kamran, Sohail

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the potential product performance and social issues caused by Fairness creams Television advertisements in Pakistan. Qualitative data was gathered from the female university students and gilrs from low socio economic backgrounds in Rawalpindi (19-28 years, n=96) through twelve focus group interviews. Firstly; study results suggest that fairness creams television ads overstate the product benefits. Some respondents revealed face skin problems after the ...

Vehicle underbody fairing

Science.gov (United States)

Ortega, Jason M.; Salari, Kambiz; McCallen, Rose

2010-11-09

A vehicle underbody fairing apparatus for reducing aerodynamic drag caused by a vehicle wheel assembly, by reducing the size of a recirculation zone formed under the vehicle body immediately downstream of the vehicle wheel assembly. The fairing body has a tapered aerodynamic surface that extends from a front end to a rear end of the fairing body with a substantially U-shaped cross-section that tapers in both height and width. Fasteners or other mounting devices secure the fairing body to an underside surface of the vehicle body, so that the front end is immediately downstream of the vehicle wheel assembly and a bottom section of the tapered aerodynamic surface rises towards the underside surface as it extends in a downstream direction.

Mercury's Weather-Beaten Surface: Understanding Mercury in the Context of Lunar and Asteroid Space Weathering Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Dominque, Deborah L.; Chapman, Clark R.; Killen, Rosemary M.; Zurbuchen, Thomas H.; Gilbert, Jason A.; Sarantos, Menelaos; Benna, Mehdi; Slavin, James A.; Orlando, Thomas M.; Schriver, David;

Fire weather and large fire potential in the northern Sierra Nevada

Science.gov (United States)

Brandon M. Collins

2014-01-01

Fuels, weather, and topography all contribute to observed fire behavior. Of these, weather is not only the most dynamic factor, it is the most likely to be directly influenced by climate change. In this study 40 years of daily fire weather observations from five weather stations across the northern Sierra Nevada were analyzed to investigate potential changes or trends...

Mercury's Weather-Beaten Surface: Understanding Mercury in the Context of Lunar and Asteroidal Space Weathering Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Domingue, Deborah L.; Chapman, Clark. R.; Killen, Rosemary M.; Zurbuchen, Thomas H.; Gilbert, Jason A.; Sarantos, Menelaos; Benna, Mehdi; Slavin, James A.; Schriver, David; Travnicek, Pavel M.;

Structural analysis of heat-treated birch (Betule papyrifera) surface during artificial weathering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Xianai; Kocaefe, Duygu; Kocaefe, Yasar; Boluk, Yaman; Krause, Cornélia

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Investigate detailed structural changes of heat-treated wood due to weathering. ► Identify connection between physical structural changes and chemical degradation. ► Study effect of heat treatment conditions on weathering degradation process. - Abstract: Effect of artificial weathering on the surface structural changes of birch (Betule papyrifera) wood, heat-treated to different temperatures, was studied using the fluorescence microscopy and the scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Changes in the chemical structure of wood components were analyzed by FTIR in order to understand the mechanism of degradation taking place due to heat treatment and artificial weathering. The results are compared with those of the untreated (kiln-dried) birch. The SEM analysis results show that the effect of weathering on the cell wall of the untreated birch surface is more than that of heat-treated samples. The FTIR spectroscopy results indicate that lignin is the most sensitive component of heat-treated birch to the weathering degradation process. Elimination of the amorphous and highly crystallised cellulose is observed for both heat-treated and untreated wood during weathering. It is also observed that heat treatment increases the lignin and crystallised cellulose contents, which to some extent protects heat-treated birch against degradation due to weathering.

On the dual nature of lichen-induced rock surface weathering in contrasting micro-environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Marques, Joana; Gonçalves, João; Oliveira, Cláudia; Favero-Longo, Sergio E; Paz-Bermúdez, Graciela; Almeida, Rubim; Prieto, Beatriz

2016-10-01

Contradictory evidence from biogeomorphological studies has increased the debate on the extent of lichen contribution to differential rock surface weathering in both natural and cultural settings. This study, undertaken in Côa Valley Archaeological Park, aimed at evaluating the effect of rock surface orientation on the weathering ability of dominant lichens. Hyphal penetration and oxalate formation at the lichen-rock interface were evaluated as proxies of physical and chemical weathering, respectively. A new protocol of pixel-based supervised image classification for the analysis of periodic acid-Schiff stained cross-sections of colonized schist revealed that hyphal spread of individual species was not influenced by surface orientation. However, hyphal spread was significantly higher in species dominant on northwest facing surfaces. An apparently opposite effect was noticed in terms of calcium oxalate accumulation at the lichen-rock interface; it was detected by Raman spectroscopy and complementary X-ray microdiffraction on southeast facing surfaces only. These results suggest that lichen-induced physical weathering may be most severe on northwest facing surfaces by means of an indirect effect of surface orientation on species abundance, and thus dependent on the species, whereas lichen-induced chemical weathering is apparently higher on southeast facing surfaces and dependent on micro-environmental conditions, giving only weak support to the hypothesis that lichens are responsible for the currently observed pattern of rock-art distribution in Côa Valley. Assumptions about the drivers of open-air rock-art distribution patterns elsewhere should also consider the micro-environmental controls of lichen-induced weathering, to avoid biased measures of lichen contribution to rock-art deterioration. © 2016 by the Ecological Society of America.

Weathering behavior of mine tailings and waste rock: A surface investigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Domvile, S.J.; Li, M.G.; Sollner, D.D.; Nesbitt, W.

1994-01-01

A study focusing on the ion movement in the near surface of sulfide minerals was conducted to better understand the weathering mechanisms of mine waste materials. Tailings and waste rock samples from Canadian mines were subjected to controlled weathering studies using various chemical leachants. Leachates were analyzed for various parameters, and petrographic analyses were conducted on the solid residues. Laboratory oxidation studies of pure pyrrhotite and arsenopyrite were carried out using the surface techniques X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and auger electron spectroscopy (AES). The data derived from the weathering study and the surface techniques were correlated to determine mechanisms of oxidation. Several results were observed during the project: ferric iron constitutes one third of the iron present in pyrrhotite, sulfide oxidation is initiated when rock is blasted, sulfide sulfur is oxidized to di- and poly-sulfides prior to forming sulfates, and significantly more sulfate is produced upon exposure to aqueous environments than to air alone

How deep is the antinucleon optical potential at FAIR energies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaitanos, T.; Kaskulov, M.; Lenske, H.

2011-01-01

The key question in the interaction of antinucleons in the nuclear medium concerns the deepness of the antinucleon-nucleus optical potential. In this work we study this task in the framework of the non-linear derivative (NLD) model which describes consistently bulk properties of nuclear matter and Dirac phenomenology of nucleon-nucleus interactions. We apply the NLD model to antinucleon interactions in nuclear matter and find a strong decrease of the vector and scalar self-energies in energy and density and thus a strong suppression of the optical potential at zero momentum and, in particular, at FAIR energies. This is in agreement with available empirical information and, therefore, resolves the issue concerning the incompatibility of G-parity arguments in relativistic mean-field (RMF) models. We conclude the relevance of our results for the future activities at FAIR.

Surface Weather Observations Hourly

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Standard hourly observations taken at Weather Bureau/National Weather Service offices and airports throughout the United States. Hourly observations began during the...

Surface Wind Gust Statistics at the Savannah River Site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weber, A.H.

2001-01-01

The Atmospheric Technologies Group (ATG) of the Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC) collects meteorological data for many purposes at the Savannah River Site (SRS) including weather forecasting. This study focuses on wind gusts and also, to a lesser degree, turbulence intensities that occur in fair weather conditions near the surface over time periods from 1 hour to one week (168 hours)

INDICATION OF INSENSITIVITY OF PLANETARY WEATHERING BEHAVIOR AND HABITABLE ZONE TO SURFACE LAND FRACTION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abbot, Dorian S.; Ciesla, Fred J.; Cowan, Nicolas B.

2012-01-01

It is likely that unambiguous habitable zone terrestrial planets of unknown water content will soon be discovered. Water content helps determine surface land fraction, which influences planetary weathering behavior. This is important because the silicate-weathering feedback determines the width of the habitable zone in space and time. Here a low-order model of weathering and climate, useful for gaining qualitative understanding, is developed to examine climate evolution for planets of various land-ocean fractions. It is pointed out that, if seafloor weathering does not depend directly on surface temperature, there can be no weathering-climate feedback on a waterworld. This would dramatically narrow the habitable zone of a waterworld. Results from our model indicate that weathering behavior does not depend strongly on land fraction for partially ocean-covered planets. This is powerful because it suggests that previous habitable zone theory is robust to changes in land fraction, as long as there is some land. Finally, a mechanism is proposed for a waterworld to prevent complete water loss during a moist greenhouse through rapid weathering of exposed continents. This process is named a 'waterworld self-arrest', and it implies that waterworlds can go through a moist greenhouse stage and end up as planets like Earth with partial ocean coverage. This work stresses the importance of surface and geologic effects, in addition to the usual incident stellar flux, for habitability.

INDICATION OF INSENSITIVITY OF PLANETARY WEATHERING BEHAVIOR AND HABITABLE ZONE TO SURFACE LAND FRACTION

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abbot, Dorian S.; Ciesla, Fred J. [Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, 5734 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States); Cowan, Nicolas B., E-mail: abbot@uchicago.edu [Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, 2131 Tech Drive, Evanston, IL 60208 (United States)

2012-09-10

It is likely that unambiguous habitable zone terrestrial planets of unknown water content will soon be discovered. Water content helps determine surface land fraction, which influences planetary weathering behavior. This is important because the silicate-weathering feedback determines the width of the habitable zone in space and time. Here a low-order model of weathering and climate, useful for gaining qualitative understanding, is developed to examine climate evolution for planets of various land-ocean fractions. It is pointed out that, if seafloor weathering does not depend directly on surface temperature, there can be no weathering-climate feedback on a waterworld. This would dramatically narrow the habitable zone of a waterworld. Results from our model indicate that weathering behavior does not depend strongly on land fraction for partially ocean-covered planets. This is powerful because it suggests that previous habitable zone theory is robust to changes in land fraction, as long as there is some land. Finally, a mechanism is proposed for a waterworld to prevent complete water loss during a moist greenhouse through rapid weathering of exposed continents. This process is named a 'waterworld self-arrest', and it implies that waterworlds can go through a moist greenhouse stage and end up as planets like Earth with partial ocean coverage. This work stresses the importance of surface and geologic effects, in addition to the usual incident stellar flux, for habitability.

Surface characterization of weathered wood-plastic composites produced from modified wood flour

Science.gov (United States)

James S. Fabiyi; Armando G. McDonald; Nicole M. Stark

2007-01-01

The effects of weathering on the surface properties of wood-plastic composites (WPC) were examined. High-density polyethylene (HDPE) based WPCs made from modified wood flour (untreated, extractives free, and holocellulose (delignified) fibers) were subjected to accelerated (xenon-arc) weathering. Colorimetry and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy were employed to...

Validity and Fairness

Science.gov (United States)

Kane, Michael

2010-01-01

This paper presents the author's critique on Xiaoming Xi's article, "How do we go about investigating test fairness?," which lays out a broad framework for studying fairness as comparable validity across groups within the population of interest. Xi proposes to develop a fairness argument that would identify and evaluate potential fairness-based…

The natural weathering of staurolite: crystal-surface textures, relative stability, and the rate-determining step

Science.gov (United States)

Michael A. Velbel; Charles L. Basso; Michael J. Zieg

1996-01-01

Mineral surface-textures on naturally weathered crystals of staurolite [monoclinic, pseudo-orthorhombic; Fe4Al18Si8O46(OH)2] indicate that staurolite weathering is generally interface-limited. Etch pits on naturally weathered staurolites are disk-shaped,...

NASA Space Weather Center Services: Potential for Space Weather Research

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Yihua; Kuznetsova, Masha; Pulkkinen, Antti; Taktakishvili, A.; Mays, M. L.; Chulaki, A.; Lee, H.; Hesse, M.

2012-01-01

The NASA Space Weather Center's primary objective is to provide the latest space weather information and forecasting for NASA's robotic missions and its partners and to bring space weather knowledge to the public. At the same time, the tools and services it possesses can be invaluable for research purposes. Here we show how our archive and real-time modeling of space weather events can aid research in a variety of ways, with different classification criteria. We will list and discuss major CME events, major geomagnetic storms, and major SEP events that occurred during the years 2010 - 2012. Highlights of major tools/resources will be provided.

Modeling Apple Surface Temperature Dynamics Based on Weather Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lei Li

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The exposure of fruit surfaces to direct sunlight during the summer months can result in sunburn damage. Losses due to sunburn damage are a major economic problem when marketing fresh apples. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a model for simulating fruit surface temperature (FST dynamics based on energy balance and measured weather data. A series of weather data (air temperature, humidity, solar radiation, and wind speed was recorded for seven hours between 11:00–18:00 for two months at fifteen minute intervals. To validate the model, the FSTs of “Fuji” apples were monitored using an infrared camera in a natural orchard environment. The FST dynamics were measured using a series of thermal images. For the apples that were completely exposed to the sun, the RMSE of the model for estimating FST was less than 2.0 °C. A sensitivity analysis of the emissivity of the apple surface and the conductance of the fruit surface to water vapour showed that accurate estimations of the apple surface emissivity were important for the model. The validation results showed that the model was capable of accurately describing the thermal performances of apples under different solar radiation intensities. Thus, this model could be used to more accurately estimate the FST relative to estimates that only consider the air temperature. In addition, this model provides useful information for sunburn protection management.

Modeling apple surface temperature dynamics based on weather data.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Lei; Peters, Troy; Zhang, Qin; Zhang, Jingjin; Huang, Danfeng

2014-10-27

The exposure of fruit surfaces to direct sunlight during the summer months can result in sunburn damage. Losses due to sunburn damage are a major economic problem when marketing fresh apples. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a model for simulating fruit surface temperature (FST) dynamics based on energy balance and measured weather data. A series of weather data (air temperature, humidity, solar radiation, and wind speed) was recorded for seven hours between 11:00-18:00 for two months at fifteen minute intervals. To validate the model, the FSTs of "Fuji" apples were monitored using an infrared camera in a natural orchard environment. The FST dynamics were measured using a series of thermal images. For the apples that were completely exposed to the sun, the RMSE of the model for estimating FST was less than 2.0 °C. A sensitivity analysis of the emissivity of the apple surface and the conductance of the fruit surface to water vapour showed that accurate estimations of the apple surface emissivity were important for the model. The validation results showed that the model was capable of accurately describing the thermal performances of apples under different solar radiation intensities. Thus, this model could be used to more accurately estimate the FST relative to estimates that only consider the air temperature. In addition, this model provides useful information for sunburn protection management.

Modeling Solar-Wind Heavy-Ions' Potential Sputtering of Lunar KREEP Surface

Science.gov (United States)

Barghouty, A. F.; Meyer, F. W.; Harris, R. P.; Adams, J. H., Jr.

2012-01-01

Recent laboratory data suggest that potential sputtering may be an important weathering mechanism that can affect the composition of both the lunar surface and its tenuous exosphere; its role and implications, however, remain unclear. Using a relatively simple kinetic model, we will demonstrate that solar-wind heavy ions induced sputtering of KREEP surfaces is critical in establishing the timescale of the overall solar-wind sputtering process of the lunar surface. We will also also show that potential sputtering leads to a more pronounced and significant differentiation between depleted and enriched surface elements. We briefly discuss the impacts of enhanced sputtering on the composition of the regolith and the exosphere, as well as of solar-wind sputtering as a source of hydrogen and water on the moon.

High potential for weathering and climate effects of non-vascular vegetation in the Late Ordovician

Science.gov (United States)

Porada, Philipp; Lenton, Tim; Pohl, Alexandre; Weber, Bettina; Mander, Luke; Donnadieu, Yannick; Beer, Christian; Pöschl, Ulrich; Kleidon, Axel

2017-04-01

Early non-vascular vegetation in the Late Ordovician may have strongly increased chemical weathering rates of surface rocks at the global scale. This could have led to a drawdown of atmospheric CO2 and, consequently, a decrease in global temperature and an interval of glaciations. Under current climatic conditions, usually field or laboratory experiments are used to quantify enhancement of chemical weathering rates by non-vascular vegetation. However, these experiments are constrained to a small spatial scale and a limited number of species. This complicates the extrapolation to the global scale, even more so for the geological past, where physiological properties of non-vascular vegetation may have differed from current species. Here we present a spatially explicit modelling approach to simulate large-scale chemical weathering by non-vascular vegetation in the Late Ordovician. For this purpose, we use a process-based model of lichens and bryophytes, since these organisms are probably the closest living analogue to Late Ordovician vegetation. The model explicitly represents multiple physiological strategies, which enables the simulated vegetation to adapt to Ordovician climatic conditions. We estimate productivity of Ordovician vegetation with the model, and relate it to chemical weathering by assuming that the organisms dissolve rocks to extract phosphorus for the production of new biomass. Thereby we account for limits on weathering due to reduced supply of unweathered rock material in shallow regions, as well as decreased transport capacity of runoff for dissolved weathered material in dry areas. We simulate a potential global weathering flux of 2.8 km3 (rock) per year, which we define as volume of primary minerals affected by chemical transformation. Our estimate is around 3 times larger than today's global chemical weathering flux. Furthermore, chemical weathering rates simulated by our model are highly sensitive to atmospheric CO2 concentration, which implies

Potential and costs of carbon dioxide removal by enhanced weathering of rocks

Science.gov (United States)

Strefler, Jessica; Amann, Thorben; Bauer, Nico; Kriegler, Elmar; Hartmann, Jens

2018-03-01

The chemical weathering of rocks currently absorbs about 1.1 Gt CO2 a-1 being mainly stored as bicarbonate in the ocean. An enhancement of this slow natural process could remove substantial amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere, aiming to offset some unavoidable anthropogenic emissions in order to comply with the Paris Agreement, while at the same time it may decrease ocean acidification. We provide the first comprehensive assessment of economic costs, energy requirements, technical parameterization, and global and regional carbon removal potential. The crucial parameters defining this potential are the grain size and weathering rates. The main uncertainties about the potential relate to weathering rates and rock mass that can be integrated into the soil. The discussed results do not specifically address the enhancement of weathering through microbial processes, feedback of geogenic nutrient release, and bioturbation. We do not only assess dunite rock, predominantly bearing olivine (in the form of forsterite) as the mineral that has been previously proposed to be best suited for carbon removal, but focus also on basaltic rock to minimize potential negative side effects. Our results show that enhanced weathering is an option for carbon dioxide removal that could be competitive already at 60 US  t-1 CO2 removed for dunite, but only at 200 US  t-1 CO2 removed for basalt. The potential carbon removal on cropland areas could be as large as 95 Gt CO2 a-1 for dunite and 4.9 Gt CO2 a-1 for basalt. The best suited locations are warm and humid areas, particularly in India, Brazil, South-East Asia and China, where almost 75% of the global potential can be realized. This work presents a techno-economic assessment framework, which also allows for the incorporation of further processes.

Analysis of winter weather conditions and their potential impact on wind farm operations

Science.gov (United States)

Novakovskaia, E.; Treinish, L. A.; Praino, A.

2009-12-01

Severe weather conditions have two primary impacts on wind farm operations. The first relates to understanding potential damage to the turbines themselves and what actions are required to mitigate the effects. The second is recognizing what conditions may lead to a full or partial shutdown of the wind farm with sufficient lead time to determine the likely inability to meet energy generation committments. Ideally, wind forecasting suitable for wind farm operations should be of sufficient fidelity to resolve features within the boundary layer that lead to either damaging conditions or useful power generation. Given the complexity of the site-specific factors that effect the boundary layer at the scale of typical land-based wind farm locations such as topography, vegetation, land use, soil conditions, etc., which may vary with turbine design and layout within the farm, enabling reliable forecasts of too little or too much wind is challenging. A potential solution should involve continuous updates of alert triggering criteria through analysis of local wind patterns and probabilistic risk assessment for each location. To evaluate this idea, we utilize our operational mesoscale prediction system, dubbed “Deep Thunder”, developed at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center. In particular, we analyze winter-time near-surface winds in upstate New York, where four similar winds farms are located. Each of these farms were built at roughly the same time and utilize similar turbines. Given the relative uncertainty associated with numerical weather prediction at this scale, and the difference in risk assessment due to the two primary impacts of severe weather, probabilistic forecasts are a prerequisite. Hence, we have employed ensembles of weather scenarios, which are based on the NCAR WRF-ARW modelling system. The set of ensemble members was composed with variations in the choices of physics and parameterization schemes, and source of background fields for initial

Laboratory investigation on streaming potential for sandy soil and weathered rock; Shitsunai jikken ni yoru sashitsu jiban oyobi fuka ganban no ryudo den`i no kento

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sato, H; Shima, H [OYO Corp., Tokyo (Japan)

1996-10-01

Laboratory experiment on sandy soil and weathered rock was conducted to clarify the generation mechanism of streaming potential due to underground fluid. Streaming potential is caused by underground fluid flow, namely by fluid flow in porous substances as electrokinetic phenomenon. In experiment, Inagi sand, Toyoura sand and strongly decomposed weathered granite were used. In Inagi and Toyoura sands, positive streaming potential was observed downstream in fluid flow. Streaming potential could be nearly determined as primary function of fluid velocity, and generated streaming potential increased with fluid resistivity. Streaming potential was higher in Inagi sand than Toyoura sand, probably depending on hydraulic radius, size of bleeding channel, and conductivity of sand surface. In weathered granite, negative streaming potential was measured. In the case of positive {zeta} potential, negative streaming potential is theoretically generated downstream in fluid flow. This experiment suggested possible generation of negative streaming potential in some kinds of ground. 2 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab.

Influence factor analysis of atmospheric electric field monitoring near ground under different weather conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wan, Haojiang; Wei, Guanghui; Cui, Yaozhong; Chen, Yazhou

2013-01-01

Monitoring of atmospheric electric field near ground plays a critical role in atmospheric environment detecting and lightning warning. Different environmental conditions (e.g. buildings, plants, weather, etc.) have different influences on the data's coherence in an atmospheric electric field detection network. In order to study the main influence factors of atmospheric electric field monitoring under different weather conditions, with the combination of theoretical analysis and experiments, the electric field monitoring data on the ground and on the top of a building are compared in fair weather and thunderstorm weather respectively in this paper. The results show that: In fair weather, the field distortion due to the buildings is the main influence factor on the electric field monitoring. In thunderstorm weather, the corona ions produced from the ground, besides the field distortion due to the buildings, can also influence the electric field monitoring results.

Effect of processing method on surface and weathering characteristics of wood-flour/HDPE composites

Science.gov (United States)

Nicole M. Stark; Laurent M. Matuana; Craig M. Clemons

2004-01-01

Wood-plastic lumber is promoted as a low maintenance high-durability product. When exposed to accelerated weathering, however, wood-plastic composites may experience a color change and/or loss in mechanical properties. Different methods of manufacturing wood-plastic composites lead to different surface characteristics, which can influence weathering, In this study, 50...

Powernext weather, benchmark indices for effective weather risk management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-01-01

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, an estimated 25% of the GNP is affected by weather-related events. The variations in temperature - even small ones - can also have long-lasting effects on the operational results of a company. Among other, the Energy supply sector is sensitive to weather risks: a milder or harsher than usual winter leads to a decrease or increase of energy consumption. The price of electricity on power trading facilities like Powernext is especially sensitive to odd changes in temperatures. Powernext and Meteo-France (the French meteorological agency) have joined expertise in order to promote the use of weather indices in term of decision making or underlying of hedging tools to energy actors, end users from any other sector of activity and specialists of the weather risk hedging. The Powernext Weather indices are made from information collected by Meteo-France's main observation network according to the norms of international meteorology, in areas carefully selected. The gross data are submitted to a thorough review allowing the correction of abnormalities and the reconstitution of missing data. Each index is fashioned to take into account the economic activity in the various regions of the country as represented by each region's population. This demographic information represents a fair approximation of the weight of the regional economic activity. This document presents the Powernext/Meteo France partnership for the elaboration of efficient weather-related risk management indices. (J.S.)

Constraining storm-scale forecasts of deep convective initiation with surface weather observations

Science.gov (United States)

Madaus, Luke

Successfully forecasting when and where individual convective storms will form remains an elusive goal for short-term numerical weather prediction. In this dissertation, the convective initiation (CI) challenge is considered as a problem of insufficiently resolved initial conditions and dense surface weather observations are explored as a possible solution. To better quantify convective-scale surface variability in numerical simulations of discrete convective initiation, idealized ensemble simulations of a variety of environments where CI occurs in response to boundary-layer processes are examined. Coherent features 1-2 hours prior to CI are found in all surface fields examined. While some features were broadly expected, such as positive temperature anomalies and convergent winds, negative temperature anomalies due to cloud shadowing are the largest surface anomaly seen prior to CI. Based on these simulations, several hypotheses about the required characteristics of a surface observing network to constrain CI forecasts are developed. Principally, these suggest that observation spacings of less than 4---5 km would be required, based on correlation length scales. Furthermore, it is anticipated that 2-m temperature and 10-m wind observations would likely be more relevant for effectively constraining variability than surface pressure or 2-m moisture observations based on the magnitudes of observed anomalies relative to observation error. These hypotheses are tested with a series of observing system simulation experiments (OSSEs) using a single CI-capable environment. The OSSE results largely confirm the hypotheses, and with 4-km and particularly 1-km surface observation spacing, skillful forecasts of CI are possible, but only within two hours of CI time. Several facets of convective-scale assimilation, including the need for properly-calibrated localization and problems from non-Gaussian ensemble estimates of the cloud field are discussed. Finally, the characteristics

Improving weather predictability by including land-surface model parameter uncertainty

Science.gov (United States)

Orth, Rene; Dutra, Emanuel; Pappenberger, Florian

2016-04-01

The land surface forms an important component of Earth system models and interacts nonlinearly with other parts such as ocean and atmosphere. To capture the complex and heterogenous hydrology of the land surface, land surface models include a large number of parameters impacting the coupling to other components of the Earth system model. Focusing on ECMWF's land-surface model HTESSEL we present in this study a comprehensive parameter sensitivity evaluation using multiple observational datasets in Europe. We select 6 poorly constrained effective parameters (surface runoff effective depth, skin conductivity, minimum stomatal resistance, maximum interception, soil moisture stress function shape, total soil depth) and explore their sensitivity to model outputs such as soil moisture, evapotranspiration and runoff using uncoupled simulations and coupled seasonal forecasts. Additionally we investigate the possibility to construct ensembles from the multiple land surface parameters. In the uncoupled runs we find that minimum stomatal resistance and total soil depth have the most influence on model performance. Forecast skill scores are moreover sensitive to the same parameters as HTESSEL performance in the uncoupled analysis. We demonstrate the robustness of our findings by comparing multiple best performing parameter sets and multiple randomly chosen parameter sets. We find better temperature and precipitation forecast skill with the best-performing parameter perturbations demonstrating representativeness of model performance across uncoupled (and hence less computationally demanding) and coupled settings. Finally, we construct ensemble forecasts from ensemble members derived with different best-performing parameterizations of HTESSEL. This incorporation of parameter uncertainty in the ensemble generation yields an increase in forecast skill, even beyond the skill of the default system. Orth, R., E. Dutra, and F. Pappenberger, 2016: Improving weather predictability by

Depth distribution of 137Cs adsorption property of clay minerals influenced by mineral weathering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakao, Atsushi; Funakawa, Shinya; Kosaki, Takashi

2007-01-01

Radiocesium adsorption potential of mica clay mineral can increase as it is weathered, because K depletion in mica interlayer sites generates new Cs selective sites. However, in soils weathered under field conditions, the increase in 137 Cs adsorption potential associated with mineral weathering has not been observed extensively. We investigated four soil profiles from Japan and Thailand with different soil pH ranges (3.3-4.0, 4.2-4.3, 5.0-5.7, and 5.5-7.3). The solid/liquid distribution coefficients of Cs ( Cs Kd) in clay ( 137 Cs adsorption potential of mica clay minerals. In three soil profiles, Cs Kd value in clay was the largest at a surface horizon and was decreased with depth, whereas in the most acidic of Podzolic soil profile, it was the largest at B horizon. The large Cs Kd value in surface clays relative to deeper horizons were well associated with that of 2.0-1.0 μm clay fraction. We assumed that the 137 Cs adsorption potential increased at surface horizons mainly because coarser clay micas were weathered and generated Cs selective sites. The exceptional result obtained in Podzolic soil profile suggests that too intensive weathering destruct mica structure and may decrease in Cs adsorption potential of mica clay minerals. (author)

Does Silicate Weathering of Loess Affect Atmospheric CO2?

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, S. P.

2002-12-01

Weathering of glacial loess may be a significant, yet unrecognized, component of the carbon cycle. Glaciers produce fine-grained sediment, exposing vast amounts of mineral surface area to weathering processes, yet silicate mineral weathering rates at glacier beds and of glacial till are not high. Thus, despite the tremendous potential for glaciers to influence global weathering rates and atmospheric CO2 levels, this effect has not been demonstrated. Loess, comprised of silt-clay sizes, may be the key glacial deposit in which silicate weathering rates are high. Loess is transported by wind off braid plains of rivers, and deposited broadly (order 100 km from the source) in vegetated areas. Both the fine grain size, and hence large mineral surface area, and presence of vegetation should render loess deposits highly susceptible to silicate weathering. These deposits effectively extend the geochemical impact of glaciation in time and space, and bring rock flour into conditions conducive to chemical weathering. A simple 1-d model of silicate weathering fluxes from a soil profile demonstrates the potential of loess deposition to enhance CO2 consumption. At each time step, computed mineral dissolution (using anorthite and field-based rate constants) modifies the size of mineral grains within the soil. In the case of a stable soil surface, this results in a gradual decline in weathering fluxes and CO2 consumption through time, as finer grain sizes dissolve away. Computed weathering fluxes for a typical loess, with an initial mean grain size of 25 μm, are an order of magnitude greater than fluxes from a non-loess soil that differs only in having a mean grain size of 320 μm. High weathering fluxes are maintained through time if loess is continually deposited. Deposition rates as low as 0.01 mm/yr (one loess grain thickness per year) can lead to a doubling of CO2 consumption rates within 5 ka. These results suggest that even modest loess deposition rates can significantly

Formation of halloysite from feldspar: Low temperature, artificial weathering versus natural weathering

Science.gov (United States)

Parham, Walter E.

1969-01-01

Weathering products formed on surfaces of both potassium and plagioclase feldspar (An70), which were continuously leached in a Soxhlet extraction apparatus for 140 days with 7.21 of distilled water per day at a temperature of approximately 78°C, are morphologically identical to natural products developed on potassium feldspars weathered under conditions of good drainage in the humid tropics. The new products, which first appear as tiny bumps on the feldspar surface, start to develop mainly at exposed edges but also at apparently random sites on flat cleavage surfaces. As weathering continues, the bumps grow outward from the feldspar surface to form tapered projections, which then develop into wide-based thin films or sheets. The thin sheets of many projections merge laterally to form one continuous flame-shaped sheet. The sheets formed on potassium feldspars may then roll to form tubes that are inclined at a high angle to the feldspar surface. Etch pits of triangular outline on the artificially weathered potassium feldspars serve as sites for development of continuous, non-rolled, hollow tubes. It is inferred from its morphology that this weathering product is halloysite or its primitive form. The product of naturally weathered potassium feldspars is halloysite . 4H2O.The flame-shaped films or sheets formed on artificially weathered plagioclase feldspar do not develop into hollow tubes, but instead give rise to a platy mineral that is most probably boehmite. These plates form within the flame-shaped films, and with continued weathering are released as the film deteriorates. There is no indication from this experiment that platy pseudohexagonal kaolinite forms from any of these minerals under the initial stage of weathering.

Cave breakdown by vadose weathering.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Osborne R. Armstrong L.

2002-01-01

Full Text Available Vadose weathering is a significant mechanism for initiating breakdown in caves. Vadose weathering of ore bodies, mineral veins, palaeokarst deposits, non-carbonate keystones and impure, altered or fractured bedrock, which is intersected by caves, will frequently result in breakdown. Breakdown is an active, ongoing process. Breakdown occurs throughout the vadose zone, and is not restricted to large diameter passages, or to cave ceilings. The surfaces of disarticulated blocks are commonly coated, rather than having fresh broken faces, and blocks continue to disintegrate after separating from the bedrock. Not only gypsum, but also hydromagnesite and aragonite are responsible for crystal wedging. It is impossible to study or identify potential breakdown foci by surface surveys alone, in-cave observation and mapping are essential.

Fair Trade in Sustainable Development. The Potential for Fair Trade Market Growth in Poland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grażyna Śmigielska

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the concept of Fair Trade, which is considered an alternative to conventional trade, and becomes increasingly popular in the Western countries. In addition, some results of empirical research, conveyed in Poland and aimed at diagnosis and assessment of Fairtrade products market, are provided. Fair trade is analysed not only in the broad theoretical context which shows its contribution to sustainable development and relation to corporate social responsibility, but also in the framework of supply chains management. The benefits from the Fairtrade label, including transaction costs reduction are indicated. The assumption is that to achieve them, consumer acceptance of the idea and willingness to buy Fairtrade products are necessary. The empirical research was focused on answering the question whether a market niche for Fairtrade goods exists in Poland and how to develop it by the means of communication tools. The market niche, although very small, has been identified and described. It is apparent that, in order to develop it, a public policy, aimed at raising the awareness of Fair Trade idea, is necessary as well as marketing activities like social marketing Internet campaigns and better and more prominently products display.

Near-Real Time Satellite-Retrieved Cloud and Surface Properties for Weather and Aviation Safety Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Minnis, P.; Smith, W., Jr.; Bedka, K. M.; Nguyen, L.; Palikonda, R.; Hong, G.; Trepte, Q.; Chee, T.; Scarino, B. R.; Spangenberg, D.; Sun-Mack, S.; Fleeger, C.; Ayers, J. K.; Chang, F. L.; Heck, P. W.

2014-12-01

Cloud properties determined from satellite imager radiances provide a valuable source of information for nowcasting and weather forecasting. In recent years, it has been shown that assimilation of cloud top temperature, optical depth, and total water path can increase the accuracies of weather analyses and forecasts. Aircraft icing conditions can be accurately diagnosed in near-real time (NRT) retrievals of cloud effective particle size, phase, and water path, providing valuable data for pilots. NRT retrievals of surface skin temperature can also be assimilated in numerical weather prediction models to provide more accurate representations of solar heating and longwave cooling at the surface, where convective initiation. These and other applications are being exploited more frequently as the value of NRT cloud data become recognized. At NASA Langley, cloud properties and surface skin temperature are being retrieved in near-real time globally from both geostationary (GEO) and low-earth orbiting (LEO) satellite imagers for weather model assimilation and nowcasting for hazards such as aircraft icing. Cloud data from GEO satellites over North America are disseminated through NCEP, while those data and global LEO and GEO retrievals are disseminated from a Langley website. This paper presents an overview of the various available datasets, provides examples of their application, and discusses the use of the various datasets downstream. Future challenges and areas of improvement are also presented.

Near-Real Time Satellite-Retrieved Cloud and Surface Properties for Weather and Aviation Safety Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Minnis, Patrick; Smith, William L., Jr.; Bedka, Kristopher M.; Nguyen, Louis; Palikonda, Rabindra; Hong, Gang; Trepte, Qing Z.; Chee, Thad; Scarino, Benjamin; Spangenberg, Douglas A.;

Impacts of Launch Vehicle Fairing Size on Human Exploration Architectures

Science.gov (United States)

Jefferies, Sharon; Collins, Tim; Dwyer Cianciolo, Alicia; Polsgrove, Tara

2017-01-01

Human missions to Mars, particularly to the Martian surface, are grand endeavors that place extensive demands on ground infrastructure, launch capabilities, and mission systems. The interplay of capabilities and limitations among these areas can have significant impacts on the costs and ability to conduct Mars missions and campaigns. From a mission and campaign perspective, decisions that affect element designs, including those based on launch vehicle and ground considerations, can create effects that ripple through all phases of the mission and have significant impact on the overall campaign. These effects result in impacts to element designs and performance, launch and surface manifesting, and mission operations. In current Evolvable Mars Campaign concepts, the NASA Space Launch System (SLS) is the primary launch vehicle for delivering crew and payloads to cis-lunar space. SLS is currently developing an 8.4m diameter cargo fairing, with a planned upgrade to a 10m diameter fairing in the future. Fairing diameter is a driving factor that impacts many aspects of system design, vehicle performance, and operational concepts. It creates a ripple effect that influences all aspects of a Mars mission, including: element designs, grounds operations, launch vehicle design, payload packaging on the lander, launch vehicle adapter design to meet structural launch requirements, control and thermal protection during entry and descent at Mars, landing stability, and surface operations. Analyses have been performed in each of these areas to assess and, where possible, quantify the impacts of fairing diameter selection on all aspects of a Mars mission. Several potential impacts of launch fairing diameter selection are identified in each of these areas, along with changes to system designs that result. Solutions for addressing these impacts generally result in increased systems mass and propellant needs, which can further exacerbate packaging and flight challenges. This paper

Constructing Invariant Fairness Measures for Surfaces

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gravesen, Jens; Ungstrup, Michael

1998-01-01

of the size of this vector field is used as the fairness measure on the family.Six basic 3rd order invariants satisfying two quadratic equations are defined. They form a complete set in the sense that any invariant 3rd order function can be written as a function of the six basic invariants together...

Counterfactual comparison modulates fairness consideration in the mini-ultimatum game: an event-related potentials study.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Jiafeng; Lin, Huiyan; Xiang, Jing; Wu, Hao; Li, Xu; Liang, Hongyu; Zheng, Xue

2015-04-01

Existing literature on the mini-ultimatum game indicates that counterfactual comparison between chosen and unchosen alternatives is of great importance for individual's fairness consideration. However, it is still unclear how counterfactual comparison influences the electrophysiological responses to unfair chosen offers. In conjunction with event-related potentials' (ERPs) technique, the current study aimed to explore the issue by employing a modified version of the mini-ultimatum game where a fixed set of two alternatives (unfair offer vs. fair alternative, unfair vs. hyperfair alternative, unfair offer vs. hyperunfair alternative) was presented before the chosen offer. The behavioral results showed that participants were more likely to accept unfair chosen offers when the unchosen alternative was hyperunfair than when the unchosen alternative was fair or hyperfair. The ERPs results showed that the feedback-related negativity (FRN) elicited by unfair chosen offers was insensitive to the type of unchosen alternative when correcting for possible overlap with other components. In contrast, unfair chosen offers elicited larger P300 amplitudes when the unchosen alternative was hyperunfair than when the unchosen alternative was fair or hyperfair. These findings suggest that counterfactual comparison may take effect at later stages of fairness consideration as reflected by the P300. © 2015 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Powernext weather, benchmark indices for effective weather risk management; Powernext Weather, des indices de reference pour gerer le risque meteo

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2006-07-01

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, an estimated 25% of the GNP is affected by weather-related events. The variations in temperature - even small ones - can also have long-lasting effects on the operational results of a company. Among other, the Energy supply sector is sensitive to weather risks: a milder or harsher than usual winter leads to a decrease or increase of energy consumption. The price of electricity on power trading facilities like Powernext is especially sensitive to odd changes in temperatures. Powernext and Meteo-France (the French meteorological agency) have joined expertise in order to promote the use of weather indices in term of decision making or underlying of hedging tools to energy actors, end users from any other sector of activity and specialists of the weather risk hedging. The Powernext Weather indices are made from information collected by Meteo-France's main observation network according to the norms of international meteorology, in areas carefully selected. The gross data are submitted to a thorough review allowing the correction of abnormalities and the reconstitution of missing data. Each index is fashioned to take into account the economic activity in the various regions of the country as represented by each region's population. This demographic information represents a fair approximation of the weight of the regional economic activity. This document presents the Powernext/Meteo France partnership for the elaboration of efficient weather-related risk management indices. (J.S.)

Weather derivatives: Business hedge instrument from weather risks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Đorđević Bojan S.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In the late 1990s, a new financial market was developed - a market for weather derivatives, so that the risk managers could hedge their exposure to weather risk. After a rather slow start, the weather derivatives market had started to grow rapidly. Risk managers could no longer blame poor financial results on the weather. Weather risk could now be removed by hedging procedure. This paper will explain briefly what the weather derivatives are and will point out at some of the motives for use of derivatives. Thereafter we will look at the history of the weather risk market, how the weather derivatives market has developed in recent years and also who are the current and potential players in the weather derivatives market.

Autogenous Tumbling Media Assessment to Clean Weathered Surfaces of Waste-Rock Particles from a Basalt Quarry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Baran Tufan

2015-06-01

Full Text Available In this study, the optimum feed composition in autogenous tumbling of basalt waste-rock particles to clean their weathered surface was determined. The weathered surfaces of basalt are generally cut out consequent to extraction of basalt columns in quarry operations. The inefficiently cut out portions of basalt cause formation of huge quarry waste dumps causing visual pollution on roadsides. Mixtures of different particle size fractions of basalt waste-rock particles were experimented to achieve the optimum feed material composition. The minimum loss of commercially available basalt particles and maximum clear surface was intended. The results were compared with respect to weight loss (% and reflectance values of used and generated samples.

Weathering and decontamination of radioactivity deposited on asphalt surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Warming, L.

1982-12-01

Longlived fission products might be deposited in the environment after a serious reactor accident. At Risoe we have studied how danish weather conditions and fire hosing influence the decontamination of Rubidium 86 (representing Cesium 134 and 137) Barium-Lanthanum 140 and Ruthenium 103 deposited on asphalt surfaces. Measurements have been done at different types of roads and during all seasons including winter with snow and ice cover of the roads. The results from the first five experiments were used for calculating doses to the population in the land contamination (RISO-R-462). (author)

Measuring and Controlling Fairness of Triangulations

KAUST Repository

Jiang, Caigui

2016-09-30

The fairness of meshes that represent geometric shapes is a topic that has been studied extensively and thoroughly. However, the focus in such considerations often is not on the mesh itself, but rather on the smooth surface approximated by it, and fairness essentially expresses a mesh’s suitability for purposes such as visualization or simulation. This paper focusses on meshes in the architectural context, where vertices, edges, and faces of meshes are often highly visible, and any notion of fairness must take new aspects into account. We use concepts from discrete differential geometry (star-shaped Gauss images) to express fairness, and we also demonstrate how fairness can be incorporated into interactive geometric design of triangulated freeform skins.

Ground and surface water developmental toxicity at a municipal landfill--Description and weather-related variation

Science.gov (United States)

Bruner, M.A.; Rao, M.; Dumont, J.N.; Hull, M.; Jones, T.; Bantle, J.A.

1998-01-01

Contaminated groundwater poses a significant health hazard and may also impact wildlife such as amphibians when it surfaces. Using FETAX (Frog Embryo Teratogenesis Assay-Xenopus), the developmental toxicity of ground and surface water samples near a closed municipal landfill at Norman, OK, were evaluated. The groundwater samples were taken from a network of wells in a shallow, unconfined aquifer downgradient from the landfill. Surface water samples were obtained from a pond and small stream adjacent to the landfill. Surface water samples from a reference site in similar habitat were also analyzed. Groundwater samples were highly toxic in the area near the landfill, indicating a plume of toxicants. Surface water samples from the landfill site demonstrated elevated developmental toxicity. This toxicity was temporally variable and was significantly correlated with weather conditions during the 3 days prior to sampling. Mortality was negatively correlated with cumulative rain and relative humidity. Mortality was positively correlated with solar radiation and net radiation. No significant correlations were observed between mortality and weather parameters for days 4–7 preceding sampling.

On the sensitivity of numerical weather prediction to remotely sensed marine surface wind data - A simulation study

Science.gov (United States)

Cane, M. A.; Cardone, V. J.; Halem, M.; Halberstam, I.

1981-01-01

The reported investigation has the objective to assess the potential impact on numerical weather prediction (NWP) of remotely sensed surface wind data. Other investigations conducted with similar objectives have not been satisfactory in connection with a use of procedures providing an unrealistic distribution of initial errors. In the current study, care has been taken to duplicate the actual distribution of information in the conventional observing system, thus shifting the emphasis from accuracy of the data to the data coverage. It is pointed out that this is an important consideration in assessing satellite observing systems since experience with sounder data has shown that improvements in forecasts due to satellite-derived information is due less to a general error reduction than to the ability to fill data-sparse regions. The reported study concentrates on the evaluation of the observing system simulation experimental design and on the assessment of the potential of remotely sensed marine surface wind data.

Weathering Profiles in Phosphorus-Rich Rocks at Gusev Crater, Mars, Suggest Dissolution of Phosphate Minerals into Potentially Habitable Near-Neutral Waters.

Science.gov (United States)

Adcock, Christopher T; Hausrath, Elisabeth M

2015-12-01

Abundant evidence indicates that significant surface and near-surface liquid water has existed on Mars in the past. Evaluating the potential for habitable environments on Mars requires an understanding of the chemical and physical conditions that prevailed in such aqueous environments. Among the geological features that may hold evidence of past environmental conditions on Mars are weathering profiles, such as those in the phosphorus-rich Wishstone-class rocks in Gusev Crater. The weathering profiles in these rocks indicate that a Ca-phosphate mineral has been lost during past aqueous interactions. The high phosphorus content of these rocks and potential release of phosphorus during aqueous interactions also make them of astrobiological interest, as phosphorus is among the elements required for all known life. In this work, we used Mars mission data, laboratory-derived kinetic and thermodynamic data, and data from terrestrial analogues, including phosphorus-rich basalts from Idaho, to model a conceptualized Wishstone-class rock using the reactive transport code CrunchFlow. Modeling results most consistent with the weathering profiles in Wishstone-class rocks suggest a combination of chemical and physical erosion and past aqueous interactions with near-neutral waters. The modeling results also indicate that multiple Ca-phosphate minerals are likely in Wishstone-class rocks, consistent with observations of martian meteorites. These findings suggest that Gusev Crater experienced a near-neutral phosphate-bearing aqueous environment that may have been conducive to life on Mars in the past. Mars-Gusev Crater-Wishstone-Reactive transport modeling-CrunchFlow-Aqueous interactions-Neutral pH-Habitability.

Cockpit weather information needs

Science.gov (United States)

Scanlon, Charles H.

1992-01-01

The primary objective is to develop an advanced pilot weather interface for the flight deck and to measure its utilization and effectiveness in pilot reroute decision processes, weather situation awareness, and weather monitoring. Identical graphical weather displays for the dispatcher, air traffic control (ATC), and pilot crew should also enhance the dialogue capabilities for reroute decisions. By utilizing a broadcast data link for surface observations, forecasts, radar summaries, lightning strikes, and weather alerts, onboard weather computing facilities construct graphical displays, historical weather displays, color textual displays, and other tools to assist the pilot crew. Since the weather data is continually being received and stored by the airborne system, the pilot crew has instantaneous access to the latest information. This information is color coded to distinguish degrees of category for surface observations, ceiling and visibilities, and ground radar summaries. Automatic weather monitoring and pilot crew alerting is accomplished by the airborne computing facilities. When a new weather information is received, the displays are instantaneously changed to reflect the new information. Also, when a new surface or special observation for the intended destination is received, the pilot crew is informed so that information can be studied at the pilot's discretion. The pilot crew is also immediately alerted when a severe weather notice, AIRMET or SIGMET, is received. The cockpit weather display shares a multicolor eight inch cathode ray tube and overlaid touch panel with a pilot crew data link interface. Touch sensitive buttons and areas are used for pilot selection of graphical and data link displays. Time critical ATC messages are presented in a small window that overlays other displays so that immediate pilot alerting and action can be taken. Predeparture and reroute clearances are displayed on the graphical weather system so pilot review of weather along

Weathering behaviour of overburden-coal ash blending in relation to overburden management for acid mine drainage prevention in coal surface mine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gautama, R.S.; Kusuma, G.J.; Lestari, I.; Anggana, R.P.

2010-01-01

Potentially acid forming (PAF) materials are encapsulated with non-acid forming materials (NAF) in order to prevent acid mine drainage (AMD) in surface coal mines. NAF compaction techniques with fly and bottom ashes from coal-fired power plants are used in mines with limited amounts of NAF materials. This study investigated the weathering behaviour of blended overburden and coal combustion ash in laboratory conditions. Free draining column leach tests were conducted on different blending schemes. The weathering process was simulated by spraying the samples with de-ionized water once per day. The leachates were then analyzed using X-ray diffraction and fluorescence analyses in order to identify the mineral composition of the samples over a 14 week period. Results of the study indicated that the weathering process plays a significant role in controlling infiltration rates, and may increase the capability of capping materials to prevent infiltration into PAF materials. Fly- and bottom-ash additions improved the performance of the encapsulation materials. 3 refs., 4 tabs., 2 figs.

Towards a Fair Global Economic Regime?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Staricco, Juan Ignacio

. The further exploration of Fair Trade’s political and ideological dimensions sheds light on the reasons behind the system’s current limitations. The analysis shows that Fair Trade offers very limited improvements compared to the conventional economy. Additionally, for the Argentinean wine industry, Fair Trade......This dissertation offers an assessment of Fair Trade’s transformative potential through an empirical examination of the case of Fair Trade wine produced in Argentina and consumed in the United Kingdom. Guided by a dialectical understanding of the research process, the analysis is done at various...

Daymet: Daily Surface Weather Data on a 1-km Grid for North America, Version 2

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — ABSTRACT: This data set provides Daymet output data as mosaicked gridded estimates of daily weather parameters for North America, including daily continuous surfaces...

A Coupled Surface Nudging Scheme for use in Retrospective Weather and Climate Simulations for Environmental Applications

Science.gov (United States)

A surface analysis nudging scheme coupling atmospheric and land surface thermodynamic parameters has been implemented into WRF v3.8 (latest version) for use with retrospective weather and climate simulations, as well as for applications in air quality, hydrology, and ecosystem mo...

Daymet: Daily Surface Weather Data on a 1-km Grid for North America, Version 2

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This data set provides Daymet output data as mosaicked gridded estimates of daily weather parameters for North America, including continuous surfaces of day length,...

Burkholderia susongensis sp. nov., a mineral-weathering bacterium isolated from weathered rock surface.

Science.gov (United States)

Gu, Jia-Yu; Zang, Sheng-Gang; Sheng, Xia-Fang; He, Lin-Yan; Huang, Zhi; Wang, Qi

2015-03-01

A novel type of mineral-weathering bacterium was isolated from the weathered surface of rock (mica schist) collected from Susong (Anhui, China). Cells of strain L226(T) were Gram-stain-negative. The strain grew optimally at 30 °C, with 1 % (w/v) NaCl and at pH 7.0 in trypticase soy broth. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene phylogeny, strain L226(T) was shown to belong to the genus Burkholderia and the closest phylogenetic relatives were Burkholderia sprentiae WSM5005(T) (98.3 %), Burkholderia acidipaludis NBRC 101816(T) (98.2 %), Burkholderia tuberum STM678(T) (97.2 %) and Burkholderia diazotrophica JPY461(T) (97.1 %). The DNA G+C content was 63.5 mol% and the respiratory quinone was Q-8. The major fatty acids were C16 : 0, C17 : 0 cyclo and C19 : 0 cyclo ω8c. The polar lipid profile of strain L226(T) consisted of a mixture of phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, unknown lipids and unidentified aminophospholipids. Based on the low level of DNA-DNA relatedness (ranging from 25.8 % to 34.4 %) to the tested type strains of species of the genus Burkholderia and unique phenotypic characteristics, it is suggested that strain L226(T) represents a novel species of the genus Burkholderia, for which the name Burkholderia susongensis sp. nov., is proposed. The type strain is L226(T) ( = CCTCC AB2014142(T) = JCM 30231(T)). © 2015 IUMS.

A Reactive Transport Model for Marcellus Shale Weathering

Science.gov (United States)

Li, L.; Heidari, P.; Jin, L.; Williams, J.; Brantley, S.

2017-12-01

Shale formations account for 25% of the land surface globally. One of the most productive shale-gas formations is the Marcellus, a black shale that is rich in organic matter and pyrite. As a first step toward understanding how Marcellus shale interacts with water, we developed a reactive transport model to simulate shale weathering under ambient temperature and pressure conditions, constrained by soil chemistry and water data. The simulation was carried out for 10,000 years, assuming bedrock weathering and soil genesis began right after the last glacial maximum. Results indicate weathering was initiated by pyrite dissolution for the first 1,000 years, leading to low pH and enhanced dissolution of chlorite and precipitation of iron hydroxides. After pyrite depletion, chlorite dissolved slowly, primarily facilitated by the presence of CO2 and organic acids, forming vermiculite as a secondary mineral. A sensitivity analysis indicated that the most important controls on weathering include the presence of reactive gases (CO2 and O2), specific surface area, and flow velocity of infiltrating meteoric water. The soil chemistry and mineralogy data could not be reproduced without including the reactive gases. For example, pyrite remained in the soil even after 10,000 years if O2 was not continuously present in the soil column; likewise, chlorite remained abundant and porosity remained small with the presence of soil CO2. The field observations were only simulated successfully when the specific surface areas of the reactive minerals were 1-3 orders of magnitude smaller than surface area values measured for powdered minerals, reflecting the lack of accessibility of fluids to mineral surfaces and potential surface coating. An increase in the water infiltration rate enhanced weathering by removing dissolution products and maintaining far-from-equilibrium conditions. We conclude that availability of reactive surface area and transport of H2O and gases are the most important

The role of chemical weathering in the neutralization of acid rain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asolekar, S.R.

1991-01-01

Chemical weathering of soils/minerals is an important process which controls the long-term neutralization of acid rain as well as the quality of surface water, ground water, and oceans. Few laboratory studies have been conducted to evaluate the response of real whole soils or soil fractions to acidification. In this research experiments were performed in a laboratory semi-continuous pH-stat reactor over the pH range 2.7 to 4.7 using Band C-horizon soil fractions from the Bear Brook Watershed, Maine, and in presence/absence of 1 to 20 mmol/L oxalate ligand in the bulk solution. Acid consumption rate and the corresponding release rates of sodium, calcium, magnesium, aluminum, iron, and silica were monitored in the laboratory reactor. Both H + -ion and oxalate promoted weathering rates were fractional order based on the concentration in bulk solution. The mixed kinetic model for the soils is: WR T = WR H + WR ox = K H (H + ) m + K ox [OX TD ] p , where m and p are fractional orders. The hydrogen ion consumption rates were approximately equal to cation release rates on an equivalent basis for hydrogen ion promoted weathering situations where secondary precipitation was unlikely (pH < 4.7) as well as for weathering of C-horizon light fraction at pH 4.0 and oxalate concentration 1 and 5 mmol/L. The relative proportions of released species were in the neighborhood of stoichiometric ratios of bulk soil chemistry for weatherable minerals in Band C-horizon soil fractions. The experimental ratios of H/Si, Al/Si, Fe/Si, Ca/Si, Na/Si, and Mg/Si for linear weathering rates of Band C-horizon soil fractions were fairly constant in the presence and absence of oxalate ligand and strongly suggested that silica may be used as a tracer for primary mineral weathering assuming quartz is inert

Estimating national crop yield potential and the relevance of weather data sources

Science.gov (United States)

Van Wart, Justin

2011-12-01

To determine where, when, and how to increase yields, researchers often analyze the yield gap (Yg), the difference between actual current farm yields and crop yield potential. Crop yield potential (Yp) is the yield of a crop cultivar grown under specific management limited only by temperature and solar radiation and also by precipitation for water limited yield potential (Yw). Yp and Yw are critical components of Yg estimations, but are very difficult to quantify, especially at larger scales because management data and especially daily weather data are scarce. A protocol was developed to estimate Yp and Yw at national scales using site-specific weather, soils and management data. Protocol procedures and inputs were evaluated to determine how to improve accuracy of Yp, Yw and Yg estimates. The protocol was also used to evaluate raw, site-specific and gridded weather database sources for use in simulations of Yp or Yw. The protocol was applied to estimate crop Yp in US irrigated maize and Chinese irrigated rice and Yw in US rainfed maize and German rainfed wheat. These crops and countries account for >20% of global cereal production. The results have significant implications for past and future studies of Yp, Yw and Yg. Accuracy of national long-term average Yp and Yw estimates was significantly improved if (i) > 7 years of simulations were performed for irrigated and > 15 years for rainfed sites, (ii) > 40% of nationally harvested area was within 100 km of all simulation sites, (iii) observed weather data coupled with satellite derived solar radiation data were used in simulations, and (iv) planting and harvesting dates were specified within +/- 7 days of farmers actual practices. These are much higher standards than have been applied in national estimates of Yp and Yw and this protocol is a substantial step in making such estimates more transparent, robust, and straightforward. Finally, this protocol may be a useful tool for understanding yield trends and directing

Waterspout Forecasting Method Over the Eastern Adriatic Using a High-Resolution Numerical Weather Model

Science.gov (United States)

Renko, Tanja; Ivušić, Sarah; Telišman Prtenjak, Maja; Šoljan, Vinko; Horvat, Igor

2018-03-01

In this study, a synoptic and mesoscale analysis was performed and Szilagyi's waterspout forecasting method was tested on ten waterspout events in the period of 2013-2016. Data regarding waterspout occurrences were collected from weather stations, an online survey at the official website of the National Meteorological and Hydrological Service of Croatia and eyewitness reports from newspapers and the internet. Synoptic weather conditions were analyzed using surface pressure fields, 500 hPa level synoptic charts, SYNOP reports and atmospheric soundings. For all observed waterspout events, a synoptic type was determined using the 500 hPa geopotential height chart. The occurrence of lightning activity was determined from the LINET lightning database, and waterspouts were divided into thunderstorm-related and "fair weather" ones. Mesoscale characteristics (with a focus on thermodynamic instability indices) were determined using the high-resolution (500 m grid length) mesoscale numerical weather model and model results were compared with the available observations. Because thermodynamic instability indices are usually insufficient for forecasting waterspout activity, the performance of the Szilagyi Waterspout Index (SWI) was tested using vertical atmospheric profiles provided by the mesoscale numerical model. The SWI successfully forecasted all waterspout events, even the winter events. This indicates that the Szilagyi's waterspout prognostic method could be used as a valid prognostic tool for the eastern Adriatic.

How fair is fair trade?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Maseland, Robbert; Vaal, Albert de

2001-01-01

This paper investigates to what extent fair trade programmes, are indeed ‘fair’. This is accomplished by comparing fair trade with free trade and protectionist trade regimes on their compliance of the criteria set by the fair trade movement itself. This comparison is made using comparative cost

FAIR VALUE: UTILITY AND LIMITS

OpenAIRE

Valentin Gabriel Cristea

2015-01-01

This paper presents the utility and the limits of the fair value. We believe that any new product must be tried and tested before being imposed on the market and must be accepted by all potential users and those who will be affected, directly or indirectly and its advantages, disadvantages, risks, its cost must be predetermined and analyzed in a comprehensive and objective.We ask: Do financial statements at fair value meet users' expectations? The requirement to use fair value pricing mode...

Dynamic Weather Routes: A Weather Avoidance Concept for Trajectory-Based Operations

Science.gov (United States)

McNally, B. David; Love, John

2011-01-01

The integration of convective weather modeling with trajectory automation for conflict detection, trial planning, direct routing, and auto resolution has uncovered a concept that could help controllers, dispatchers, and pilots identify improved weather routes that result in significant savings in flying time and fuel burn. Trajectory automation continuously and automatically monitors aircraft in flight to find those that could potentially benefit from improved weather reroutes. Controllers, dispatchers, and pilots then evaluate reroute options to assess their suitability given current weather and traffic. In today's operations aircraft fly convective weather avoidance routes that were implemented often hours before aircraft approach the weather and automation does not exist to automatically monitor traffic to find improved weather routes that open up due to changing weather conditions. The automation concept runs in real-time and employs two keysteps. First, a direct routing algorithm automatically identifies flights with large dog legs in their routes and therefore potentially large savings in flying time. These are common - and usually necessary - during convective weather operations and analysis of Fort Worth Center traffic shows many aircraft with short cuts that indicate savings on the order of 10 flying minutes. The second and most critical step is to apply trajectory automation with weather modeling to determine what savings could be achieved by modifying the direct route such that it avoids weather and traffic and is acceptable to controllers and flight crews. Initial analysis of Fort Worth Center traffic suggests a savings of roughly 50% of the direct route savings could be achievable.The core concept is to apply trajectory automation with convective weather modeling in real time to identify a reroute that is free of weather and traffic conflicts and indicates enough time and fuel savings to be considered. The concept is interoperable with today

Evaluating the Impacts of NASA/SPoRT Daily Greenness Vegetation Fraction on Land Surface Model and Numerical Weather Forecasts

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, Jordan R.; Case, Jonathan L.; LaFontaine, Frank J.; Kumar, Sujay V.

2012-01-01

The NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center has developed a Greenness Vegetation Fraction (GVF) dataset, which is updated daily using swaths of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data aboard the NASA EOS Aqua and Terra satellites. NASA SPoRT began generating daily real-time GVF composites at 1-km resolution over the Continental United States (CONUS) on 1 June 2010. The purpose of this study is to compare the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) climatology GVF product (currently used in operational weather models) to the SPoRT-MODIS GVF during June to October 2010. The NASA Land Information System (LIS) was employed to study the impacts of the SPoRT-MODIS GVF dataset on a land surface model (LSM) apart from a full numerical weather prediction (NWP) model. For the 2010 warm season, the SPoRT GVF in the western portion of the CONUS was generally higher than the NCEP climatology. The eastern CONUS GVF had variations both above and below the climatology during the period of study. These variations in GVF led to direct impacts on the rates of heating and evaporation from the land surface. In the West, higher latent heat fluxes prevailed, which enhanced the rates of evapotranspiration and soil moisture depletion in the LSM. By late Summer and Autumn, both the average sensible and latent heat fluxes increased in the West as a result of the more rapid soil drying and higher coverage of GVF. The impacts of the SPoRT GVF dataset on NWP was also examined for a single severe weather case study using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Two separate coupled LIS/WRF model simulations were made for the 17 July 2010 severe weather event in the Upper Midwest using the NCEP and SPoRT GVFs, with all other model parameters remaining the same. Based on the sensitivity results, regions with higher GVF in the SPoRT model runs had higher evapotranspiration and

Efficacy of Hydrophobic Coatings in Protecting Oak Wood Surfaces during Accelerated Weathering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miloš Pánek

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The durability of transparent coatings applied to an oak wood exterior is relatively low due to its anatomic structure and chemical composition. Enhancement of the protection of oak wood against weathering using transparent hydrophobic coatings is presented in this study. Oak wood surfaces were modified using UV-stabilizers, hindered amine light stabilizer (HALS, and ZnO and TiO2 nanoparticles before the application of a commercial hydrophobic topcoat. A transparent oil-based coating was used as a control coating system. The artificial weathering test lasted 6 weeks and colour, gloss, and contact angle changes were regularly evaluated during this period. The changes in the microscopic structure were studied with confocal laser scanning microscopy. The results proved limited durability against weathering of both tested hydrophobic coatings. The formation of micro-cracks causing the leaching of degraded wood compounds and discolouration of oak wood were observed after 1 or 3 weeks of the weathering test. Until then, an oil-based coating film had protected the wood sufficiently, but after 6 weeks the wood was fully defoliated to its non-homogenous thickness, which was caused by the presence of large oak vessels, and by the effects of specific oak tannins. Using transparent hydrophobic coatings can prolong the service life of the exteriors of wood products by decreasing their moisture content. Without proper construction protection against rainwater, the hydrophobic coating itself cannot guarantee the preservation of the natural appearance of wood exteriors.

Fair trade international surrogacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Humbyrd, Casey

2009-12-01

Since the development of assisted reproductive technologies, infertile individuals have crossed borders to obtain treatments unavailable or unaffordable in their own country. Recent media coverage has focused on the outsourcing of surrogacy to developing countries, where the cost for surrogacy is significantly less than the equivalent cost in a more developed country. This paper discusses the ethical arguments against international surrogacy. The major opposition viewpoints can be broadly divided into arguments about welfare, commodification and exploitation. It is argued that the only valid objection to international surrogacy is that surrogate mothers may be exploited by being given too little compensation. However, the possibility of exploitation is a weak argument for prohibition, as employment alternatives for potential surrogate mothers may be more exploitative or more harmful than surrogacy. It is concluded that international surrogacy must be regulated, and the proposed regulatory mechanism is termed Fair Trade Surrogacy. The guidelines of Fair Trade Surrogacy focus on minimizing potential harms to all parties and ensuring fair compensation for surrogate mothers.

Quantifying widespread aqueous surface weathering on Mars: The plateaus south of Coprates Chasma

Science.gov (United States)

Loizeau, D.; Quantin-Nataf, C.; Carter, J.; Flahaut, J.; Thollot, P.; Lozac'h, L.; Millot, C.

2018-03-01

Pedogenesis has been previously proposed on the plateaus around Coprates Chasma, Valles Marineris to explain the presence of widespread clay sequences with Al-clays and possible hydrated silica over Fe/Mg-clays on the surface of the plateaus (Le Deit et al., 2012; Carter et al., 2015). We use previous observations together with new MRO targeted observations and DEMs to constrain the extent and thickness of the plateau clay unit: the Al-clay unit is less than 3 m thick, likely ∼1 m, while the Fe/Mg-clays underneath are few tens of meters thick. We also refine the age of alteration by retrieving crater retention ages of the altered plateau and of later deposits: the observed clay sequence was created by surface pedogenesis between model ages of 4.1 Ga and 3.75 Ga. Using a leaching model from Zolotov and Mironenko (2016), we estimate the quantity of atmospheric precipitations needed to create such a clay sequence, that strongly depends on the chemistry of the precipitating fluid. A few hundreds of meters of cumulated precipitations of highly acidic fluids could explain the observed clay sequence, consistent with estimates based on late Noachian valley erosion for example (Rosenberg and Head, 2015). We show finally that the maximum quantity of sulfates potentially formed during this surface weathering event can only contribute minimally to the volume of sulfates deposited in Valles Marineris.

WRF-Fire: coupled weather-wildland fire modeling with the weather research and forecasting model

Science.gov (United States)

Janice L. Coen; Marques Cameron; John Michalakes; Edward G. Patton; Philip J. Riggan; Kara M. Yedinak

2012-01-01

A wildland fire behavior module (WRF-Fire) was integrated into the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) public domain numerical weather prediction model. The fire module is a surface fire behavior model that is two-way coupled with the atmospheric model. Near-surface winds from the atmospheric model are interpolated to a finer fire grid and used, with fuel properties...

Using ISCCP Weather States to Decompose Cloud Radiative Effects

Science.gov (United States)

Oreopoulos, L.; Rossow, W. B.

2012-01-01

The presentation will examine the shortwave (SW) and longwave (LW) cloud radiative effect CRE (aka "cloud radiative forcing") at the top-of-the-atmosphere and surface of ISCCP weather states (aka "cloud regimes") in three distinct geographical zones, one tropical and two mid-latitude. Our goal is to understand and quantify the contribution of the different cloud regimes to the planetary radiation budget. In the tropics we find that the three most convectively active states are the ones with largest SW, LW and net TOA CRE contributions to the overall daytime tropical CRE budget. They account for 59%, 71% and 55% of the total CRE, respectively. The boundary layer-dominated weather states account for only 34% of the total SW CRE and 41% of the total net CRE, so to focus only on them in cloud feedback studies may be imprudent. We also find that in both the northern and southern midlatitude zones only two weather states, the first and third most convectively active with large amounts of nimbostratus-type clouds, contribute ",40% to both the SW and net TOA CRE budgets, highlighting the fact that cloud regimes associated with frontal systems are not only important for weather (precipitation) but also for climate (radiation budget). While all cloud regimes in all geographical zones have a slightly larger SFC than TOA SW CRE, implying cooling of the surface and slight warming of the atmosphere, their LW radiative effects are more subtle: in the tropics the weather states with plentiful high clouds warm the atmosphere while those with copious amounts of low clouds cool the atmosphere. In both midlatitude zones only the weather states with peak cloud fractions at levels above 440 mbar warm the atmosphere while all the rest cool it. These results make the connection of the contrasting CRE effects to the atmospheric dynamics more explicit - "storms" tend to warm the atmosphere whereas fair weather clouds cool it, suggesting a positive feedback of clouds on weather systems. The

Location-Related Differences in Weathering Behaviors and Populations of Culturable Rock-Weathering Bacteria Along a Hillside of a Rock Mountain.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Qi; Wang, Rongrong; He, Linyan; Sheng, Xiafang

2017-05-01

Bacteria play important roles in rock weathering, elemental cycling, and soil formation. However, little is known about the weathering potential and population of bacteria inhabiting surfaces of rocks. In this study, we isolated bacteria from the top, middle, and bottom rock samples along a hillside of a rock (trachyte) mountain as well as adjacent soils and characterized rock-weathering behaviors and populations of the bacteria. Per gram of rock or surface soil, 10 6 -10 7 colony forming units were obtained and total 192 bacteria were isolated. Laboratory rock dissolution experiments indicated that the proportions of the highly effective Fe (ranging from 67 to 92 %), Al (ranging from 40 to 48 %), and Cu (ranging from 54 to 81 %) solubilizers were significantly higher in the top rock and soil samples, while the proportion of the highly effective Si (56 %) solubilizers was significantly higher in the middle rock samples. Furthermore, 78, 96, and 6 % of bacteria from the top rocks, soils, and middle rocks, respectively, significantly acidified the culture medium (pH bacteria (79 %) from the rocks were different to those from the soils and most of them (species level) have not been previously reported. Furthermore, location-specific rock-weathering bacterial populations were found and Bacillus species were the most (66 %) frequently isolated rock-weathering bacteria in the rocks based on cultivation methods. Notably, the top rocks and soils had the highest and lowest diversity of rock-weathering bacterial populations, respectively. The results suggested location-related differences in element (Si, Al, Fe, and Cu) releasing effectiveness and communities of rock-weathering bacteria along the hillside of the rock mountain.

Frost Monitoring and Forecasting Using MODIS Land Surface Temperature Data and a Numerical Weather Prediction Model Forecasts for Eastern Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Kabuchanga, Eric; Flores, Africa; Malaso, Susan; Mungai, John; Sakwa, Vincent; Shaka, Ayub; Limaye, Ashutosh

2014-01-01

Frost is a major challenge across Eastern Africa, severely impacting agricultural farms. Frost damages have wide ranging economic implications on tea and coffee farms, which represent a major economic sector. Early monitoring and forecasting will enable farmers to take preventive actions to minimize the losses. Although clearly important, timely information on when to protect crops from freezing is relatively limited. MODIS Land Surface Temperature (LST) data, derived from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites, and 72-hr weather forecasts from the Kenya Meteorological Service's operational Weather Research Forecast model are enabling the Regional Center for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) and the Tea Research Foundation of Kenya to provide timely information to farmers in the region. This presentation will highlight an ongoing collaboration among the Kenya Meteorological Service, RCMRD, and the Tea Research Foundation of Kenya to identify frost events and provide farmers with potential frost forecasts in Eastern Africa.

Are the FAIR Data Principles Fair?

OpenAIRE

Dunning, Alastair; de Smaele, Madeleine; Boehmer, Jasmin

2017-01-01

Presentation given at IDCC17 about FAIR data research done by Research Data Services of TU Delft, on 22nd February 2018. Relates to practice paper: Dunning, Alastair, de Smaele, Madeleine, & Böhmer, Jasmin. (2017, January 31). Are the FAIR Data Principles fair?. Zenodo. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.321423  Relates to data-set: Dunning, A.C. (Alastair); de Smaele, M.M.E. (Madeleine); Böhmer, J.K. (Jasmin) (2017) Evaluation of data repositories based on the FAIR Principles for ...

Long term effects on potential repository sites: the alteration of the Lower Oxford Clay during weathering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Milowdowski, A.E.; Bloodworth, A.J.; Wilmot, R.D.

1985-09-01

The report is one of a short series describing work carried out to investigate the long-term effects of various geological processes on the performance of both shallow and deep repositories for low and intermediate-level radioactive wastes. This paper deals with the alteration as a result of weathering of the Lower Oxford Clay, a potential host rock for shallow disposal of wastes. A description of the Lower Oxford Clay is given, along with the weathering of argillaceous rocks. Investigations of the weathering at the Elstow Storage Depot are described, as well as the implications for radioactive waste disposal. (U.K.)

FAIR VALUE: UTILITY AND LIMITS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valentin Gabriel Cristea

2015-05-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the utility and the limits of the fair value. We believe that any new product must be tried and tested before being imposed on the market and must be accepted by all potential users and those who will be affected, directly or indirectly and its advantages, disadvantages, risks, its cost must be predetermined and analyzed in a comprehensive and objective.We ask: Do financial statements at fair value meet users' expectations? The requirement to use fair value pricing model that was carrying was not accompanied by a parallel examination of its impact on the presentation of accounts.

North America Synoptic Weather Maps

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Series of Synoptic Weather Maps. Maps contains a surface analysis comprised of plotted weather station observations, isobars indicating low and high-pressure...

Price fairness

OpenAIRE

Diller, Hermann

2013-01-01

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to integrate the various strands of fair price research into a concise conceptual model. Design/methodology/approach – The proposed price fairness model is based on a review of the fair pricing literature, incorporating research reported in not only English but also German. Findings – The proposed fair price model depicts seven components of a fair price: distributive fairness, consistent behaviour, personal respect and regard for the partner, fair dea...

X-ray diffraction analysis of rust layer on a weathering steel bridge with surface treatment using synchrotron radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamashita, Masato; Hara, Shuichi; Kamimura, Takayuki; Miyuki, Hideaki; Sato, Masugu

2007-01-01

We have examined the structure of rust layer formed on a weathering steel bridge, to which the surface treatment, employing the effect of Cr 2 (SO 4 ) 3 sophisticatedly designed to form the protective goethite (α-FeOOH) rust layer which contains a certain amount of Cr, Cr-goethite, was applied in 1996, using X-ray diffraction at SPring-8 synchrotron radiation facility. It was shown that the formation of α-FeOOH was promoted and/or crystal growth of γ-FeOOH was suppressed by the surface treatment. The increase in the protective ability index (PAI) of the rust layer indicates that the protective goethite was predominantly formed under the effect of the surface treatment. In conclusion, it can be said that the surface treatment worked well to promote the formation of the protective goethite rust layer on the weathering steel bridge during the 10-year exposure. (author)

Changing Weather Extremes Call for Early Warning of Potential for Catastrophic Fire

Science.gov (United States)

Boer, Matthias M.; Nolan, Rachael H.; Resco De Dios, Víctor; Clarke, Hamish; Price, Owen F.; Bradstock, Ross A.

2017-12-01

Changing frequencies of extreme weather events and shifting fire seasons call for enhanced capability to forecast where and when forested landscapes switch from a nonflammable (i.e., wet fuel) state to the highly flammable (i.e., dry fuel) state required for catastrophic forest fires. Current forest fire danger indices used in Europe, North America, and Australia rate potential fire behavior by combining numerical indices of fuel moisture content, potential rate of fire spread, and fire intensity. These numerical rating systems lack the physical basis required to reliably quantify forest flammability outside the environments of their development or under novel climate conditions. Here, we argue that exceedance of critical forest flammability thresholds is a prerequisite for major forest fires and therefore early warning systems should be based on a reliable prediction of fuel moisture content plus a regionally calibrated model of how forest fire activity responds to variation in fuel moisture content. We demonstrate the potential of this approach through a case study in Portugal. We use a physically based fuel moisture model with historical weather and fire records to identify critical fuel moisture thresholds for forest fire activity and then show that the catastrophic June 2017 forest fires in central Portugal erupted shortly after fuels in the region dried out to historically unprecedented levels.

Problems at the Leading Edge of Space Weathering as Revealed by TEM Combined with Surface Science Techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Christoffersen, R.; Dukes, C. A.; Keller, L. P.; Rahman, Z.; Baragiola, R. A.

2015-01-01

Both transmission electron micros-copy (TEM) and surface analysis techniques such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were instrumen-tal in making the first characterizations of material generated by space weathering in lunar samples [1,2]. Without them, the nature of nanophase metallic Fe (npFe0) correlated with the surface of lunar regolith grains would have taken much longer to become rec-ognized and understood. Our groups at JSC and UVa have been using both techniques in a cross-correlated way to investigate how the solar wind contributes to space weathering [e.g., 3]. These efforts have identified a number of ongoing problems and knowledge gaps. Key insights made by UVa group leader Raul Barag-iola during this work are gratefully remembered.

What is a fair CO2 tax increase? On fair emission reductions in the transport sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hammar, Henrik; Jagers, Sverker C.

2007-01-01

We examine how individual preferences for fair reductions of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions affect the support for increases in the CO 2 tax on gasoline and diesel. We assume that people not only care about their own material welfare, but also have preferences for fairness in policy design, and we explore the implications using original data from a mail questionnaire sent to a representative sample of the Swedish population. The main result is that fairness in policy design does matter. Those respondents who adhere to a fairness principle tend to be relatively more positive to increases in the CO 2 tax. One possible explanation for this result is that there is a relatively high degree of reciprocity regarding the origin of emissions and the fairness regarding who should bear the burden of CO 2 reductions. Via a split sample analysis, we also find that the relative importance of fairness principles is dependent upon whether one uses a car often or not. This sheds light on the potential goal conflict between the importance of fairness principles and self-interest in the form of a need for private car transportation. (author)

Surface Temperature Variation Prediction Model Using Real-Time Weather Forecasts

Science.gov (United States)

Karimi, M.; Vant-Hull, B.; Nazari, R.; Khanbilvardi, R.

2015-12-01

Combination of climate change and urbanization are heating up cities and putting the lives of millions of people in danger. More than half of the world's total population resides in cities and urban centers. Cities are experiencing urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. Hotter days are associated with serious health impacts, heart attaches and respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Densely populated cities like Manhattan, New York can be affected by UHI impact much more than less populated cities. Even though many studies have been focused on the impact of UHI and temperature changes between urban and rural air temperature, not many look at the temperature variations within a city. These studies mostly use remote sensing data or typical measurements collected by local meteorological station networks. Local meteorological measurements only have local coverage and cannot be used to study the impact of UHI in a city and remote sensing data such as MODIS, LANDSAT and ASTER have with very low resolution which cannot be used for the purpose of this study. Therefore, predicting surface temperature in urban cities using weather data can be useful.Three months of Field campaign in Manhattan were used to measure spatial and temporal temperature variations within an urban setting by placing 10 fixed sensors deployed to measure temperature, relative humidity and sunlight. Fixed instrument shelters containing relative humidity, temperature and illumination sensors were mounted on lampposts in ten different locations in Manhattan (Vant-Hull et al, 2014). The shelters were fixed 3-4 meters above the ground for the period of three months from June 23 to September 20th of 2013 making measurements with the interval of 3 minutes. These high resolution temperature measurements and three months of weather data were used to predict temperature variability from weather forecasts. This study shows that the amplitude of spatial and temporal variation in temperature for each day can be predicted

Using Music to Communicate Weather and Climate

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, P.; Aplin, K. L.; Brown, S.

2017-12-01

Depictions of weather and other atmospheric phenomena are common throughout the arts. Unlike in the visual arts, however, there has been little study of meteorological inspiration in music. This presentation will discuss the frequencies with which different weather types have been depicted in music over time, covering the period from the seventeenth century to the present day. Beginning with classical orchestral music, we find that composers were generally influenced by their own country's climate in the type of weather they chose to represent. Depictions of weather vary from explicit mimicry using traditional and specialized orchestral instruments, through to subtle suggestions. Pieces depicting stormy weather tend to be in minor keys, whereas pieces depicting fair weather tend to be in major keys. As befits the national stereotype, British composers seem disproportionately keen to depict the UK's variable weather patterns and stormy coastline. Moving onto modern popular music, we have identified and analyzed over 750 songs referring to different weather types. We find that lyrical references to bad weather peaked in songs written during the stormy 1950s and 60s, when there were many hurricanes, before declining in the relatively calm 1970s and 80s. This finding again suggests a causal link between song-writers' meteorological environments and compositional outputs. Composers and song-writers have a unique ability to emotionally connect their listeners to the environment. This ability could be exploited to communicate environmental science to a broader audience. Our work provides a catalogue of cultural responses to weather before (and during the early stages of) climate change. The effects of global warming may influence musical expression in future, in which case our work will provide a baseline for comparison.

Size distributions of boundary-layer clouds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stull, R.; Berg, L.; Modzelewski, H. [Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)

1996-04-01

Scattered fair-weather clouds are triggered by thermals rising from the surface layer. Not all surface layer air is buoyant enough to rise. Also, each thermal has different humidities and temperatures, resulting in interthermal variability of their lifting condensation levels (LCL). For each air parcel in the surface layer, it`s virtual potential temperature and it`s LCL height can be computed.

Climate change mitigation: potential benefits and pitfalls of enhanced rock weathering in tropical agriculture.

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, David P; Lim, Felix; James, Rachael H; Pearce, Christopher R; Scholes, Julie; Freckleton, Robert P; Beerling, David J

2017-04-01

Restricting future global temperature increase to 2°C or less requires the adoption of negative emissions technologies for carbon capture and storage. We review the potential for deployment of enhanced weathering (EW), via the application of crushed reactive silicate rocks (such as basalt), on over 680 million hectares of tropical agricultural and tree plantations to offset fossil fuel CO 2 emissions. Warm tropical climates and productive crops will substantially enhance weathering rates, with potential co-benefits including decreased soil acidification and increased phosphorus supply promoting higher crop yields sparing forest for conservation, and reduced cultural eutrophication. Potential pitfalls include the impacts of mining operations on deforestation, producing the energy to crush and transport silicates and the erosion of silicates into rivers and coral reefs that increases inorganic turbidity, sedimentation and pH, with unknown impacts for biodiversity. We identify nine priority research areas for untapping the potential of EW in the tropics, including effectiveness of tropical agriculture at EW for major crops in relation to particle sizes and soil types, impacts on human health, and effects on farmland, adjacent forest and stream-water biodiversity. © 2017 The Author(s).

Weathering and weathering rates of natural stone

Science.gov (United States)

Winkler, Erhard M.

1987-06-01

Physical and chemical weathering were studied as separate processes in the past. Recent research, however, shows that most processes are physicochemical in nature. The rates at which calcite and silica weather by dissolution are dependent on the regional and local climatic environment. The weathering of silicate rocks leaves discolored margins and rinds, a function of the rocks' permeability and of the climatic parameters. Salt action, the greatest disruptive factor, is complex and not yet fully understood in all its phases, but some of the causes of disruption are crystallization pressure, hydration pressure, and hygroscopic attraction of excess moisture. The decay of marble is complex, an interaction between disolution, crack-corrosion, and expansion-contraction cycies triggered by the release of residual stresses. Thin spalls of granites commonly found near the street level of buildings are generally caused by a combination of stress relief and salt action. To study and determine weathering rates of a variety of commercial stones, the National Bureau of Standards erected a Stone Exposure Test Wall in 1948. Of the many types of stone represented, only a few fossiliferous limestones permit a valid measurement of surface reduction in a polluted urban environment.

... AND HERE COMES THE WEATHER - Austrian TV and radio weather news in the eye of the public

Science.gov (United States)

Keul, A.; Holzer, A. M.; Wostal, T.

2010-09-01

Media weather reports as the main avenue of meteorological and climatological information to the general public have always been in the focus of critical investigation. Former research found that although weather reports are high-interest topics, the amount of information recalled by non-experts is rather low, and criticized this. A pilot study (Keul et al., 2009) by the Salzburg University in cooperation with ORF, the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, used historic radio files on a fair-weather and a storm situation. It identified the importance of intelligible wording of the weather forecast messages for lay people. Without quality control, weather information can stimulate rumours, false comfort or false alarms. More qualitative and experimental research, also on TV weather, seems justified. This need for further research was addressed by a second and larger field experiment in the spring of 2010. The survey took place in Salzburg City, Austria, with a quota sample of about 90 lay persons. This time TV and radio weather reports were used and a more realistic listening and viewing situation was created by presenting the latest weather forecasts of the given day to the test persons in the very next hours after originally broadcasting them. It asked lay people what they find important in the weather reports and what they remember for their actual next-day use. Reports of a fairweather prognosis were compared with a warning condition. The weather media mix of the users was explored. A second part of the study was a questionnaire which tested the understanding of typical figures of speech used in weather forecasts or even meteorological terms, which might also be important for fully understanding the severe weather warnings. This leads to quantitative and qualitative analysis from which the most important and unexpected results are presented. Short presentation times (1.5 to 2 minutes) make Austrian radio and TV weather reports a narrow compromise between general

Technology is Changing What's "Fair Use" in Teaching

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Linda Howe-Steiger

2002-01-01

Full Text Available The Doctrine of Fair Use was established by the courts to exempt certain activities such as teaching and research from the legal requirements of the copyright law. Before the 1976 Revision of the Copyright Act, only two cases were brought against teachers for copyright infringements. In both cases the teachers lost because their extensive copying was found to impact the copyright owner's market for legally published copies. Although the 1976 Act explicitly recognizes the existence of potentially Fair Uses, the act makes application of the principle highly situational. Classroom Guidelines attached to the Act make application even more murky and constrained. After 1976 photocopy technology and the advent of the coursepack began a trend towards circumscribing situations in which Fair Use may be applied. Potential impact on a new, lucrative market for sale of rights to copy portions of books and journals appears to dominate contemporary case law. Desktop publishing and Internet and web-based teaching, the authors believe, will further erode traditional applications of Fair Use for educational purposes. They argue that instructors and researchers should assume that there is no Fair Use on the Internet. Guidelines are provided for faculty and others considering dissemination of potentially copyrighted materials to students via digital technologies.

Integrating weather and geotechnical monitoring data for assessing the stability of large scale surface mining operations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steiakakis Chrysanthos

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The geotechnical challenges for safe slope design in large scale surface mining operations are enormous. Sometimes one degree of slope inclination can significantly reduce the overburden to ore ratio and therefore dramatically improve the economics of the operation, while large scale slope failures may have a significant impact on human lives. Furthermore, adverse weather conditions, such as high precipitation rates, may unfavorably affect the already delicate balance between operations and safety. Geotechnical, weather and production parameters should be systematically monitored and evaluated in order to safely operate such pits. Appropriate data management, processing and storage are critical to ensure timely and informed decisions.

Potential Impact of Rainfall on the Air-Surface Exchange of Total Gaseous Mercury from Two Common Urban Ground Surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

The impact of rainfall on total gaseous mercury (TGM) flux from pavement and street dirt surfaces was investigated in an effort to determine the influence of wet weather events on mercury transport in urban watersheds. Street dirt and pavement are common urban ground surfaces tha...

Weather and Climate Manipulation as an Optimal Control for Adaptive Dynamical Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergei A. Soldatenko

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The weather and climate manipulation is examined as an optimal control problem for the earth climate system, which is considered as a complex adaptive dynamical system. Weather and climate manipulations are actually amorphous operations. Since their objectives are usually formulated vaguely, the expected results are fairly unpredictable and uncertain. However, weather and climate modification is a purposeful process and, therefore, we can formulate operations to manipulate weather and climate as the optimization problem within the framework of the optimal control theory. The complexity of the earth’s climate system is discussed and illustrated using the simplified low-order coupled chaotic dynamical system. The necessary conditions of optimality are derived for the large-scale atmospheric dynamics. This confirms that even a relatively simplified control problem for the atmospheric dynamics requires significant efforts to obtain the solution.

Operational Numerical Weather Prediction at the Met Office and potential ways forward for operational space weather prediction systems

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, David

NICT (National Institute of Information and Communications Technology) has been in charge of space weather forecast service in Japan for more than 20 years. The main target region of the space weather is the geo-space in the vicinity of the Earth where human activities are dominant. In the geo-space, serious damages of satellites, international space stations and astronauts take place caused by energetic particles or electromagnetic disturbances: the origin of the causes is dynamically changing of solar activities. Positioning systems via GPS satellites are also im-portant recently. Since the most significant effect of positioning error comes from disturbances of the ionosphere, it is crucial to estimate time-dependent modulation of the electron density profiles in the ionosphere. NICT is one of the 13 members of the ISES (International Space Environment Service), which is an international assembly of space weather forecast centers under the UNESCO. With help of geo-space environment data exchanging among the member nations, NICT operates daily space weather forecast service every day to provide informa-tion on forecasts of solar flare, geomagnetic disturbances, solar proton event, and radio-wave propagation conditions in the ionosphere. The space weather forecast at NICT is conducted based on the three methodologies: observations, simulations and informatics (OSI model). For real-time or quasi real-time reporting of space weather, we conduct our original observations: Hiraiso solar observatory to monitor the solar activity (solar flare, coronal mass ejection, and so on), domestic ionosonde network, magnetometer HF radar observations in far-east Siberia, and south-east Asia low-latitude ionosonde network (SEALION). Real-time observation data to monitor solar and solar-wind activities are obtained through antennae at NICT from ACE and STEREO satellites. We have a middle-class super-computer (NEC SX-8R) to maintain real-time computer simulations for solar and solar

Directable weathering of concave rock using curvature estimation.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Michael D; Farley, McKay; Butler, Joseph; Beardall, Matthew

2010-01-01

We address the problem of directable weathering of exposed concave rock for use in computer-generated animation or games. Previous weathering models that admit concave surfaces are computationally inefficient and difficult to control. In nature, the spheroidal and cavernous weathering rates depend on the surface curvature. Spheroidal weathering is fastest in areas with large positive mean curvature and cavernous weathering is fastest in areas with large negative mean curvature. We simulate both processes using an approximation of mean curvature on a voxel grid. Both weathering rates are also influenced by rock durability. The user controls rock durability by editing a durability graph before and during weathering simulation. Simulations of rockfall and colluvium deposition further improve realism. The profile of the final weathered rock matches the shape of the durability graph up to the effects of weathering and colluvium deposition. We demonstrate the top-down directability and visual plausibility of the resulting model through a series of screenshots and rendered images. The results include the weathering of a cube into a sphere and of a sheltered inside corner into a cavern as predicted by the underlying geomorphological models.

The potential benefit of improving the dissemination of agricultural weather information to the Mississippi cotton farmer

Science.gov (United States)

Priddy, K. T.; Marlatt, W. E. (Principal Investigator)

1978-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. The potential benefit of improved dissemination of weather information to the Mississippi cotton farmer was estimated at $36,000 per 1000 acres. This is 16% of production cost of cotton in 1976. On a statewide basis, the total potential savings exceeds 100 million dollars.

Scanning Surface Potential Microscopy of Spore Adhesion on Surfaces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Ida [University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK); Chung, Eunhyea [Georgia Institute of Technology; Kweon, Hyojin [Georgia Institute of Technology; Yiacoumi, Sotira [Georgia Institute of Technology; Tsouris, Costas [ORNL

2012-01-01

The adhesion of spores of Bacillus anthracis - the cause of anthrax and a likely biological threat - to solid surfaces is an important consideration in cleanup after an accidental or deliberate release. However, because of safety concerns, directly studying B. anthracis spores with advanced instrumentation is problematic. As a first step, we are examining the electrostatic potential of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which is a closely related species that is often used as a simulant to study B. anthracis. Scanning surface potential microscopy (SSPM), also known as Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM), was used to investigate the influence of relative humidity (RH) on the surface electrostatic potential of Bt that had adhered to silica, mica, or gold substrates. AFM/SSPM side-by-side images were obtained separately in air, at various values of RH, after an aqueous droplet with spores was applied on each surface and allowed to dry before measurements. In the SSPM images, a negative potential on the surface of the spores was observed compared with that of the substrates. The surface potential decreased as the humidity increased. Spores were unable to adhere to a surface with an extremely negative potential, such as mica.

Carbon dioxide efficiency of terrestrial enhanced weathering.

Science.gov (United States)

Moosdorf, Nils; Renforth, Phil; Hartmann, Jens

2014-05-06

Terrestrial enhanced weathering, the spreading of ultramafic silicate rock flour to enhance natural weathering rates, has been suggested as part of a strategy to reduce global atmospheric CO2 levels. We budget potential CO2 sequestration against associated CO2 emissions to assess the net CO2 removal of terrestrial enhanced weathering. We combine global spatial data sets of potential source rocks, transport networks, and application areas with associated CO2 emissions in optimistic and pessimistic scenarios. The results show that the choice of source rocks and material comminution technique dominate the CO2 efficiency of enhanced weathering. CO2 emissions from transport amount to on average 0.5-3% of potentially sequestered CO2. The emissions of material mining and application are negligible. After accounting for all emissions, 0.5-1.0 t CO2 can be sequestered on average per tonne of rock, translating into a unit cost from 1.6 to 9.9 GJ per tonne CO2 sequestered by enhanced weathering. However, to control or reduce atmospheric CO2 concentrations substantially with enhanced weathering would require very large amounts of rock. Before enhanced weathering could be applied on large scales, more research is needed to assess weathering rates, potential side effects, social acceptability, and mechanisms of governance.

Evaluating Weather Research and Forecasting Model Sensitivity to Land and Soil Conditions Representative of Karst Landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Christopher M.; Fan, Xingang; Mahmood, Rezaul; Groves, Chris; Polk, Jason S.; Yan, Jun

2018-03-01

Due to their particular physiographic, geomorphic, soil cover, and complex surface-subsurface hydrologic conditions, karst regions produce distinct land-atmosphere interactions. It has been found that floods and droughts over karst regions can be more pronounced than those in non-karst regions following a given rainfall event. Five convective weather events are simulated using the Weather Research and Forecasting model to explore the potential impacts of land-surface conditions on weather simulations over karst regions. Since no existing weather or climate model has the ability to represent karst landscapes, simulation experiments in this exploratory study consist of a control (default land-cover/soil types) and three land-surface conditions, including barren ground, forest, and sandy soils over the karst areas, which mimic certain karst characteristics. Results from sensitivity experiments are compared with the control simulation, as well as with the National Centers for Environmental Prediction multi-sensor precipitation analysis Stage-IV data, and near-surface atmospheric observations. Mesoscale features of surface energy partition, surface water and energy exchange, the resulting surface-air temperature and humidity, and low-level instability and convective energy are analyzed to investigate the potential land-surface impact on weather over karst regions. We conclude that: (1) barren ground used over karst regions has a pronounced effect on the overall simulation of precipitation. Barren ground provides the overall lowest root-mean-square errors and bias scores in precipitation over the peak-rain periods. Contingency table-based equitable threat and frequency bias scores suggest that the barren and forest experiments are more successful in simulating light to moderate rainfall. Variables dependent on local surface conditions show stronger contrasts between karst and non-karst regions than variables dominated by large-scale synoptic systems; (2) significant

New model simulations of the global atmospheric electric circuit driven by thunderstorms and electrified shower clouds: The roles of lightning and sprites

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rycroft, Michael J.; Odzimek, Anna; Arnold, Neil F.

2007-01-01

discharge from the base of a thunderstorm increases the ionospheric potential above the thundercloud by 0.0013%. Assuming the ionosphere to be an equipotential surface, this discharge increases the current flowing in the global circuit and the fair-weather electric field also by 0.0013%. A moderate positive...

Weather Information Processing

Science.gov (United States)

1991-01-01

Science Communications International (SCI), formerly General Science Corporation, has developed several commercial products based upon experience acquired as a NASA Contractor. Among them are METPRO, a meteorological data acquisition and processing system, which has been widely used, RISKPRO, an environmental assessment system, and MAPPRO, a geographic information system. METPRO software is used to collect weather data from satellites, ground-based observation systems and radio weather broadcasts to generate weather maps, enabling potential disaster areas to receive advance warning. GSC's initial work for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center resulted in METPAK, a weather satellite data analysis system. METPAK led to the commercial METPRO system. The company also provides data to other government agencies, U.S. embassies and foreign countries.

The USGS Geomagnetism Program and its role in Space-Weather Monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Love, Jeffrey J.; Finn, Carol A.

2011-01-01

Magnetic storms result from the dynamic interaction of the solar wind with the coupled magnetospheric-ionospheric system. Large storms represent a potential hazard for the activities and infrastructure of a modern, technologically based society [Baker et al., 2008]; they can cause the loss of radio communications, reduce the accuracy of global positioning systems, damage satellite electronics and affect satellite operations, increase pipeline corrosion, and induce voltage surges in electric power grids, causing blackouts. So while space weather starts with the Sun and is driven by the solar wind, it is on, or just above, the surface of the Earth that the practical effects of space weather are realized. Therefore, ground-based sensor networks, including magnetic observatories [Love, 2008], play an important role in space weather monitoring.

Atmospheric weathering and silica-coated feldspar: analogy with zeolite molecular sieves, granite weathering, soil formation, ornamental slabs, and ceramics.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, J V

1998-03-31

Feldspar surfaces respond to chemical, biological, and mechanical weathering. The simplest termination is hydroxyl (OH), which interacts with any adsorption layer. Acid leaching of alkalis and aluminum generated a silica-rich, nanometers-thick skin on certain feldspars. Natural K, Na-feldspars develop fragile surfaces as etch pits expand into micrometer honeycombs, possibly colonized by lichens. Most crystals have various irregular coats. Based on surface-catalytic processes in molecular sieve zeolites, I proposed that some natural feldspars lose weakly bonded Al-OH (aluminol) to yield surfaces terminated by strongly bonded Si-OH (silanol). This might explain why some old feldspar-bearing rocks weather slower than predicted from brief laboratory dissolution. Lack of an Al-OH infrared frequency from a feldspar surface is consistent with such a silanol-dominated surface. Raman spectra of altered patches on acid-leached albite correspond with amorphous silica rather than hydroxylated silica-feldspar, but natural feldspar may respond differently. The crystal structure of H-exchanged feldspar provides atomic positions for computer modeling of complex ideas for silica-terminated feldspar surfaces. Natural weathering also depends on swings of temperature and hydration, plus transport of particles, molecules, and ionic complexes by rain and wind. Soil formation might be enhanced by crushing granitic outcrops to generate new Al-rich surfaces favorable for chemical and biological weathering. Ornamental slabs used by architects and monumental masons might last longer by minimizing mechanical abrasion during sawing and polishing and by silicifying the surface. Silica-terminated feldspar might be a promising ceramic surface.

Coastal recirculation potential affecting air pollutants in Portugal: The role of circulation weather types

Science.gov (United States)

Russo, Ana; Gouveia, Célia; Levy, Ilan; Dayan, Uri; Jerez, Sonia; Mendes, Manuel; Trigo, Ricardo

2016-06-01

Coastal zones are under increasing development and experience air pollution episodes regularly. These episodes are often related to peaks in local emissions from industry or transportation, but can also be associated with regional transport from neighbour urban areas influenced by land-sea breeze recirculation. This study intends to analyze the relation between circulation weather patterns, air mass recirculation and pollution levels in three coastal airsheds of Portugal (Lisbon, Porto and Sines) based on the application of an objective quantitative measure of potential recirculation. Although ventilation events have a dominant presence throughout the studied 9-yrs period on all the three airsheds, recirculation and stagnation conditions occur frequently. The association between NO2, SO2 and O3 levels and recirculation potential is evident during summer months. Under high average recirculation potential and high variability, NO2 and SO2 levels are higher for the three airsheds, whilst for O3 each airshed responds differently. This indicates a high heterogeneity among the three airsheds in (1) the type of emission - traffic or industry - prevailing for each contaminant, and (2) the response to the various circulation weather patterns and recirculation situations. Irrespectively of that, the proposed methodology, based on iterative K-means clustering, allows to identify which prevailing patterns are associated with high recirculation potential, having the advantage of being applicable to any geographical location.

To what extent Fair Value is Fair, an Analysis of Reliability and Relevance of the Fair Value Accounting Paradigm.

OpenAIRE

Dugarte, Rafael

2006-01-01

To what extent Fair Value is Fair, an Analysis of Reliability and Relevance of the Fair Value Accounting Paradigm. Rafael Dugarte Escalante September, 2006 Fair value accounting is fair and important for financial reporting in providing relevant, reliable, comparable and understandable information to the users depending on what kind of information is expected from it, and the way in which fair value is actually found. This study complemen...

Navy Tactical Applications Guide. Volume 7. Southern Hemisphere Weather Analysis and Forecast Applications

Science.gov (United States)

1989-10-01

stationary states in the Southern limited use of persistence forecasting on a day-to-day Hemisphere. Mon, Wea. Rev., 114, 808-823. I I 729 I- 768 0I L! I I II...southwesterly Republic of South Africa Weather Bureau ( RSA ) surface flowing Agulhas Current. A ship observation at chart (not shown) had disclosed...20 ft. The potential for abnormally steep and high waves is significant in casesThe RSA daily weather bulletin (Fig. 3C- 18a) on the like this one

Statistical relationship between surface PM10 concentration and aerosol optical depth over the Sahel as a function of weather type, using neural network methodology

Science.gov (United States)

Yahi, H.; Marticorena, B.; Thiria, S.; Chatenet, B.; Schmechtig, C.; Rajot, J. L.; Crepon, M.

2013-12-01

work aims at assessing the capability of passive remote-sensed measurements such as aerosol optical depth (AOD) to monitor the surface dust concentration during the dry season in the Sahel region (West Africa). We processed continuous measurements of AODs and surface concentrations for the period (2006-2010) in Banizoumbou (Niger) and Cinzana (Mali). In order to account for the influence of meteorological condition on the relationship between PM10 surface concentration and AOD, we decomposed the mesoscale meteorological fields surrounding the stations into five weather types having similar 3-dimensional atmospheric characteristics. This classification was obtained by a clustering method based on nonlinear artificial neural networks, the so-called self-organizing map. The weather types were identified by processing tridimensional fields of meridional and zonal winds and air temperature obtained from European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) model output centered on each measurement station. Five similar weather types have been identified at the two stations. Three of them are associated with the Harmattan flux; the other two correspond to northward inflow of the monsoon flow at the beginning or the end of the dry season. An improved relationship has been found between the surface PM10 concentrations and the AOD by using a dedicated statistical relationship for each weather type. The performances of the statistical inversion computed on the test data sets show satisfactory skills for most of the classes, much better than a linear regression. This should permit the inversion of the mineral dust concentration from AODs derived from satellite observations over the Sahel.

A reactive transport model for Marcellus shale weathering

Science.gov (United States)

Heidari, Peyman; Li, Li; Jin, Lixin; Williams, Jennifer Z.; Brantley, Susan L.

2017-11-01

Shale formations account for 25% of the land surface globally and contribute a large proportion of the natural gas used in the United States. One of the most productive shale-gas formations is the Marcellus, a black shale that is rich in organic matter and pyrite. As a first step toward understanding how Marcellus shale interacts with water in the surface or deep subsurface, we developed a reactive transport model to simulate shale weathering under ambient temperature and pressure conditions, constrained by soil and water chemistry data. The simulation was carried out for 10,000 years since deglaciation, assuming bedrock weathering and soil genesis began after the last glacial maximum. Results indicate weathering was initiated by pyrite dissolution for the first 1000 years, leading to low pH and enhanced dissolution of chlorite and precipitation of iron hydroxides. After pyrite depletion, chlorite dissolved slowly, primarily facilitated by the presence of CO2 and organic acids, forming vermiculite as a secondary mineral. A sensitivity analysis indicated that the most important controls on weathering include the presence of reactive gases (CO2 and O2), specific surface area, and flow velocity of infiltrating meteoric water. The soil chemistry and mineralogy data could not be reproduced without including the reactive gases. For example, pyrite remained in the soil even after 10,000 years if O2 was not continuously present in the soil column; likewise, chlorite remained abundant and porosity remained small if CO2 was not present in the soil gas. The field observations were only simulated successfully when the modeled specific surface areas of the reactive minerals were 1-3 orders of magnitude smaller than surface area values measured for powdered minerals. Small surface areas could be consistent with the lack of accessibility of some fluids to mineral surfaces due to surface coatings. In addition, some mineral surface is likely interacting only with equilibrated pore

Potential energy surfaces for ion-molecule reactions. Intersection of the 3A2 and 2B1 surfaces of NH+2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bender, C.F.; Meadows, J.H.; Schaefer, H.F. III.

1976-04-01

A theoretical study of two of the low-lying NH 2 + potential energy surfaces was performed. The intersection and avoided intersection (for C/sub s/ geometries) of the lowest 3 A 2 and 3 B 1 surfaces allows a pathway by which the ground state of HH 2 + may be accessed without a potential barrier. The electronic structure calculations employed a double zeta plus polarization basis set, and correlation effects were taken into account using the newly developed Vector Method (VM). To test the validity of this basis, additional self-consistent-field studies were performed using a very large contracted gaussian basis N(13s 8p 3d/9s 6p 3d), H(6s 2p/4s 2p). The 3 A 2 surface, on which N + and H 2 may approach, has a surprising deep potential minimum, approximately 60 kcal/mole, occurring at r/sub e/(NH) approximately 1.26 A and theta/sub e/(HNH) approximately 43 0 . Electron correlation is responsible for about 15 kcal of this well depth, which appears fairly insensitive to extension of the basis set beyond the double zeta plus polarization level. The line of intersection (or seam) of the 3 A 2 and 3 B 1 surfaces is presented both numerically and pictorially. The minimum energy along this seam occurs at approximately 51 kcal below separated N + + H 2 . Thus for sufficiently low energies one expects N + - H 2 collisions to provide considerable ''complex formation.'' 3 figs, 1 table, 28 refs

Fair play in energy policy decisions: Procedural fairness, outcome fairness and acceptance of the decision to rebuild nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Visschers, Vivianne H.M.; Siegrist, Michael

2012-01-01

To raise public acceptance of new energy policies, promoting the fairness of the outcomes and of the decision-making procedure has been suggested. Very few studies have examined the role of fairness in public acceptance of rebuilding nuclear power plants. Therefore, using a large mail survey, we investigated the public’s acceptance of the decision to rebuild nuclear power plants in Switzerland by 2020. The study examined the influence of procedural fairness and outcome fairness on the acceptance of this decision, as well as other factors such as risk perception and benefit perception. Additionally, we investigated the moderating influence of general attitudes towards nuclear power on the relation between fairness and decision acceptance. Results indicated that outcome fairness strongly increased decision acceptance, along with general attitudes towards nuclear power and perceived economic benefits. Procedural fairness had only a small impact on decision acceptance. The influence of fairness on decision acceptance did not seem to depend on general nuclear attitudes. Our findings imply that, in the case of rebuilding nuclear power plants, perceived benefits and outcome fairness are important determinants of acceptance of the decision, while procedural fairness only has a limited impact. - Highlights: ► We investigated the role of fairness in the acceptance of a nuclear policy decision. ► Outcome fairness strongly influenced decision acceptance regarding nuclear power plants. ► The role of procedural fairness was relatively small in this respect. ► Also, nuclear attitudes and perceived economic benefits affected decision acceptance. ► Outcome fairness seems more relevant for decision acceptance than procedural fairness.

Phototoxic potential of undispersed and dispersed fresh and weathered Macondo crude oils to Gulf of Mexico Marine Organisms.

Science.gov (United States)

Finch, Bryson E; Marzooghi, Solmaz; Di Toro, Dominic M; Stubblefield, William A

2017-10-01

Crude oils contain a mixture of hydrocarbons, including phototoxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that have the ability to absorb ultraviolet (UV) light. Absorption of UV light by PAHs can substantially increase their toxicity to marine organisms. The objective of the present study was to examine the potential for phototoxicity of fresh and naturally weathered Macondo crude oils alone and in combination with the dispersant Corexit 9500 to mysid shrimp (Americamysis bahia), inland silverside (Menidia beryllina), sheepshead minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus), and Gulf killifish (Fundulus grandis). Acute toxicity tests were conducted using combinations of natural or artificial sunlight and low-energy water-accommodated fractions (WAFs) of fresh and weathered Macondo crude oils collected from the Gulf of Mexico. Studies were also conducted to compare the phototoxicity resulting from natural and artificial sunlight. Fresh Macondo crude oil was more phototoxic than weathered crude oils, both in the presence and in the absence of UV light. Differences in toxicity between fresh and weathered crude oils were likely attributed to lighter-ringed PAHs in fresh crude oils. Phototoxic PAHs were relatively resistant to weathering compared with lighter-ringed PAHs. The addition of Corexit 9500 to crude oil increased toxicity compared with tests with crude oil alone, by increasing phototoxic PAH concentrations in WAFs. Macondo crude oils had the potential to be phototoxic to Gulf of Mexico marine organisms if specific light conditions and PAH concentrations were present during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:2640-2650. © 2017 SETAC. © 2017 SETAC.

All-weather Land Surface Temperature Estimation from Satellite Data

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, J.; Zhang, X.

2017-12-01

Satellite remote sensing, including the thermal infrared (TIR) and passive microwave (MW), provides the possibility to observe LST at large scales. For better modeling the land surface processes with high temporal resolutions, all-weather LST from satellite data is desirable. However, estimation of all-weather LST faces great challenges. On the one hand, TIR remote sensing is limited to clear-sky situations; this drawback reduces its usefulness under cloudy conditions considerably, especially in regions with frequent and/or permanent clouds. On the other hand, MW remote sensing suffers from much greater thermal sampling depth (TSD) and coarser spatial resolution than TIR; thus, MW LST is generally lower than TIR LST, especially at daytime. Two case studies addressing the challenges mentioned previously are presented here. The first study is for the development of a novel thermal sampling depth correction method (TSDC) to estimate the MW LST over barren land; this second study is for the development of a feasible method to merge the TIR and MW LSTs by addressing the coarse resolution of the latter one. In the first study, the core of the TSDC method is a new formulation of the passive microwave radiation balance equation, which allows linking bulk MW radiation to the soil temperature at a specific depth, i.e. the representative temperature: this temperature is then converted to LST through an adapted soil heat conduction equation. The TSDC method is applied to the 6.9 GHz channel in vertical polarization of AMSR-E. Evaluation shows that LST estimated by the TSDC method agrees well with the MODIS LST. Validation is based on in-situ LSTs measured at the Gobabeb site in western Namibia. The results demonstrate the high accuracy of the TSDC method: it yields a root-mean squared error (RMSE) of 2 K and ignorable systematic error over barren land. In the second study, the method consists of two core processes: (1) estimation of MW LST from MW brightness temperature and (2

The Influence of Runoff and Surface Hydrology on Titan's Weather and Climate

Science.gov (United States)

Faulk, S.; Lora, J. M.; Mitchell, J.; Moon, S.

2017-12-01

Titan's surface liquid distribution has been shown by general circulation models (GCMs) to greatly influence the hydrological cycle, producing characteristic weather and seasonal climate patterns. Simulations from the Titan Atmospheric Model (TAM) with imposed polar methane "wetlands" reservoirs realistically produce observed cloud features and temperature profiles of Titan's atmosphere, whereas "aquaplanet" simulations with a global methane ocean are not as successful. In addition, wetlands simulations, unlike aquaplanet simulations, demonstrate strong correlations between extreme rainfall behavior and observed geomorphic features, indicating the influential role of precipitation in shaping Titan's surface. The wetlands configuration is, in part, motivated by Titan's large-scale topography featuring low-latitude highlands and high-latitude lowlands, with the implication being that methane may concentrate in the high-latitude lowlands by way of runoff and subsurface flow of a global or regional methane table. However, the extent to which topography controls the surface liquid distribution and thus impacts the global hydrological cycle by driving surface and subsurface flow is unclear. Here we present TAM simulations wherein the imposed wetlands reservoirs are replaced by a surface runoff scheme that allows surface liquid to self-consistently redistribute under the influence of topography. We discuss the impact of surface runoff on the surface liquid distribution over seasonal timescales and compare the resulting hydrological cycle to observed cloud and surface features, as well as to the hydrological cycles of the TAM wetlands and aquaplanet simulations. While still idealized, this more realistic representation of Titan's hydrology provides new insight into the complex interaction between Titan's atmosphere and surface, demonstrates the influence of surface runoff on Titan's global climate, and lays the groundwork for further surface hydrology developments in Titan

Topographic imprint on chemical weathering in deeply weathered soil-mantled landscapes (southern Brazil)

Science.gov (United States)

Vanacker, Veerle; Schoonejans, Jerome; Ameijeiras-Marino, Yolanda; Opfergelt, Sophie; Minella, Jean

2017-04-01

The regolith mantle is defined as the thin layer of unconsolidated material overlaying bedrock that contributes to shape the Earth's surface. The development of the regolith mantle in a landscape is the result of in-situ weathering, atmospheric input and downhill transport of weathering products. Bedrock weathering - the physical and chemical transformations of rock to soil - contributes to the vertical development of the regolith layer through downward propagation of the weathering front. Lateral transport of soil particles, aggregates and solutes by diffusive and concentrated particle and solute fluxes result in lateral redistribution of weathering products over the hillslope. In this study, we aim to expand the empirical basis on long-term soil evolution at the landscape scale through a detailed study of soil weathering in subtropical soils. Spatial variability in chemical mass fluxes and weathering intensity were studied along two toposequences with similar climate, lithology and vegetation but different slope morphology. This allowed us to isolate the topographic imprint on chemical weathering and soil development. The toposequences have convexo-concave slope morphology, and eight regolith profiles were analysed involving the flat upslope, steep midslope and flat toeslope part. Our data show a clear topographic imprint on soil development. Along hillslope, the chemical weathering intensity of the regolith profiles increases with distance from the crest. In contrast to the upslope positions, the soils in the basal concavities develop on in-situ and transported regolith. While the chemical weathering extent on the slope convexities (the upslope profiles) is similar for the steep and gentle toposequence, there is a clear difference in the rate of increase of the chemical weathering extent with distance from the crest. The increase of chemical weathering extent along hillslope is highest for the steep toposequence, suggesting that topography enhances soil particle

Evaluating the Impacts of NASA/SPoRT Daily Greenness Vegetation Fraction on Land Surface Model and Numerical Weather Forecasts

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, Jordan R.; Case, Jonathan L.; Molthan, Andrew L.

2011-01-01

The NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center develops new products and techniques that can be used in operational meteorology. The majority of these products are derived from NASA polar-orbiting satellite imagery from the Earth Observing System (EOS) platforms. One such product is a Greenness Vegetation Fraction (GVF) dataset, which is produced from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data aboard the NASA EOS Aqua and Terra satellites. NASA SPoRT began generating daily real-time GVF composites at 1-km resolution over the Continental United States (CONUS) on 1 June 2010. The purpose of this study is to compare the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) climatology GVF product (currently used in operational weather models) to the SPoRT-MODIS GVF during June to October 2010. The NASA Land Information System (LIS) was employed to study the impacts of the new SPoRT-MODIS GVF dataset on land surface models apart from a full numerical weather prediction (NWP) model. For the 2010 warm season, the SPoRT GVF in the western portion of the CONUS was generally higher than the NCEP climatology. The eastern CONUS GVF had variations both above and below the climatology during the period of study. These variations in GVF led to direct impacts on the rates of heating and evaporation from the land surface. The second phase of the project is to examine the impacts of the SPoRT GVF dataset on NWP using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Two separate WRF model simulations were made for individual severe weather case days using the NCEP GVF (control) and SPoRT GVF (experimental), with all other model parameters remaining the same. Based on the sensitivity results in these case studies, regions with higher GVF in the SPoRT model runs had higher evapotranspiration and lower direct surface heating, which typically resulted in lower (higher) predicted 2-m temperatures (2-m dewpoint temperatures). The opposite was true

Detecting Weather Radar Clutter by Information Fusion With Satellite Images and Numerical Weather Prediction Model Output

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bøvith, Thomas; Nielsen, Allan Aasbjerg; Hansen, Lars Kai

2006-01-01

A method for detecting clutter in weather radar images by information fusion is presented. Radar data, satellite images, and output from a numerical weather prediction model are combined and the radar echoes are classified using supervised classification. The presented method uses indirect...... information on precipitation in the atmosphere from Meteosat-8 multispectral images and near-surface temperature estimates from the DMI-HIRLAM-S05 numerical weather prediction model. Alternatively, an operational nowcasting product called 'Precipitating Clouds' based on Meteosat-8 input is used. A scale...

Site characterization summary report for dry weather surface water sampling upper East Fork Poplar Creek characterization area Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-08-01

This report describes activities associated with conducting dry weather surface water sampling of Upper East Fork Poplar Creek (UEFPC) at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. This activity is a portion of the work to be performed at UEFPC Operable Unit (OU) 1 [now known as the UEFPC Characterization Area (CA)], as described in the RCRA Facility Investigation Plan for Group 4 at the Oak- Ridge Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee and in the Response to Comments and Recommendations on RCRA Facility Investigation Plan for Group 4 at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Volume 1, Operable Unit 1. Because these documents contained sensitive information, they were labeled as unclassified controlled nuclear information and as such are not readily available for public review. To address this issue the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) published an unclassified, nonsensitive version of the initial plan, text and appendixes, of this Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Facility Investigation (RFI) Plan in early 1994. These documents describe a program for collecting four rounds of wet weather and dry weather surface water samples and one round of sediment samples from UEFPC. They provide the strategy for the overall sample collection program including dry weather sampling, wet weather sampling, and sediment sampling. Figure 1.1 is a schematic flowchart of the overall sampling strategy and other associated activities. A Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPJP) was prepared to specifically address four rounds of dry weather surface water sampling and one round of sediment sampling. For a variety of reasons, sediment sampling has not been conducted and has been deferred to the UEFPC CA Remedial Investigation (RI), as has wet weather sampling.

Weather types and the regime of wildfires in Portugal

Science.gov (United States)

Pereira, M. G.; Trigo, R. M.; Dacamara, C. C.

2009-04-01

An objective classification scheme, as developed by Trigo and DaCamara (2000), was applied to classify the daily atmospheric circulation affecting Portugal between 1980 and 2007 into a set of 10 basic weather types (WTs). The classification scheme relies on a set of atmospheric circulation indices, namely southerly flow (SF), westerly flow (WF), total flow (F), southerly shear vorticity (ZS), westerly shear vorticity (ZW) and total vorticity (Z). The weather-typing approach, together with surfacemeteorological variables (e.g. intensity and direction of geostrophic wind, maximum and minimum temperature and precipitation) were then associated to wildfire events as recorded in the official Portuguese fire database consisting of information on each fire occurred in the 18 districts of Continental Portugal within the same period (>450.000 events). The objective of this study is to explore the dependence of wildfire activity on weather and climate and then evaluate the potential of WTs to discriminate among recorded wildfires on what respects to their occurrence and development. Results show that days characterised by surface flow with an eastern component (i.e. NE, E and SE) account for a high percentage of daily burnt area, as opposed to surface westerly flow (NW, W and SW), which represents about a quarter of the total number of days but only accounts for a very low percentage of active fires and of burnt area. Meteorological variables such as minimum and maximum temperatures, that are closely associated to surface wind intensity and direction, also present a good ability to discriminate between the different types of fire events.. Trigo R.M., DaCamara C. (2000) "Circulation Weather Types and their impact on the precipitation regime in Portugal". Int J of Climatology, 20, 1559-1581.

Post-Palaeozoic evolution of weathered landsurfaces in Uganda by tectonically controlled deep weathering and stripping

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, R. G.; Howard, K. W. F.

1998-11-01

A model for the evolution of weathered landsurfaces in Uganda is developed using available geotectonic, climatic, sedimentological and chronological data. The model demonstrates the pivotal role of tectonic uplift in inducing cycles of stripping, and tectonic quiescence for cycles of deep weathering. It is able to account for the development of key landforms, such as inselbergs and duricrust-capped plateaux, which previous hypotheses of landscape evolution that are based on climatic or eustatic controls are unable to explain. Development of the Ugandan landscape is traced back to the Permian. Following late Palaeozoic glaciation, a trend towards warmer and more humid climates through the Mesozoic enabled deep weathering of the Jurassic/mid-Cretaceous surface in Uganda during a period of prolonged tectonic quiescence. Uplift associated with the opening South Atlantic Ocean terminated this cycle and instigated a cycle of stripping between the mid-Cretaceous and early Miocene. Deep weathering on the succeeding Miocene to recent (African) surface has occurred from Miocene to present but has been interrupted in the areas adjacent to the western rift where development of a new drainage base level has prompted cycles of stripping in the Miocene and Pleistocene.

How Cities Make Their Own Weather

Science.gov (United States)

Shepherd, J. Marshall

2004-01-01

Urbanization is one of the extreme cases of land use change. Most of world's population has moved to urban areas. Although currently only 1.2% of the land is considered urban, the spatial coverage and density of cities are expected to rapidly increase in d e near future. It is estimated that by the year 2025, 60% of the world's population will live in cities. Human activity in urban environments also alters weather and climate processes. However, our understanding of urbanization on the total Earth-weather-climate system is incomplete. Recent literature continues to provide evidence that anomalies in precipitation exist over and downwind of major cities. Current and future research efforts are actively seeking to verify these literature findings and understand potential cause-effect relationships. The novelty of this study is that it utilizes rainfall data from multiple satellite data sources (e.g. TRMM precipitation radar, TRMM-geosynchronous-rain gauge merged product, and SSM/I) and ground-based measurements to identify spatial anomalies and temporal trends in precipitation for cities around the world. We will also present results from experiments using a regional atmospheric-land surface modeling system. Early results will be presented and placed within the context of weather prediction, climate assessment, and societal applications.

Remote Sensing of Urban Land Cover/Land Use Change, Surface Thermal Responses, and Potential Meteorological and Climate Change Impacts

Science.gov (United States)

Quattrochi, Dale A.; Jedlovec, Gary; Meyer, Paul

2011-01-01

City growth influences the development of the urban heat island (UHI), but the effect that local meteorology has on the UHI is less well known. This paper presents some preliminary findings from a study that uses multitemporal Landsat TM and ASTER data to evaluate land cover/land use change (LULCC) over the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MFSC) and its Huntsville, AL metropolitan area. Landsat NLCD data for 1992 and 2001 have been used to evaluate LULCC for MSFC and the surrounding urban area. Land surface temperature (LST) and emissivity derived from NLCD data have also been analyzed to assess changes in these parameters in relation to LULCC. Additionally, LULCC, LST, and emissivity have been identified from ASTER data from 2001 and 2011 to provide a comparison with the 2001 NLCD and as a measure of current conditions within the study area. As anticipated, the multi-temporal NLCD and ASTER data show that significant changes have occurred in land covers, LST, and emissivity within and around MSFC. The patterns and arrangement of these changes, however, is significant because the juxtaposition of urban land covers within and outside of MSFC provides insight on what impacts at a local to regional scale, the inter-linkage of these changes potentially have on meteorology. To further analyze these interactions between LULCC, LST, and emissivity with the lower atmosphere, a network of eleven weather stations has been established across the MSFC property. These weather stations provide data at a 10 minute interval, and these data are uplinked for use by MSFC facilities operations and the National Weather Service. The weather data are also integrated within a larger network of meteorological stations across north Alabama. Given that the MSFC weather stations will operate for an extended period of time, they can be used to evaluate how the building of new structures, and changes in roadways, and green spaces as identified in the MSFC master plan for the future, will

Iron isotopic fractionation during continental weathering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fantle, Matthew S.; DePaolo, Donald J.

2003-10-01

The biological activity on continents and the oxygen content of the atmosphere determine the chemical pathways through which Fe is processed at the Earth's surface. Experiments have shown that the relevant chemical pathways fractionate Fe isotopes. Measurements of soils, streams, and deep-sea clay indicate that the {sup 56}Fe/{sup 54}Fe ratio ({delta}{sup 56}Fe relative to igneous rocks) varies from +1{per_thousand} for weathering residues like soils and clays, to -3{per_thousand} for dissolved Fe in streams. These measurements confirm that weathering processes produce substantial fractionation of Fe isotopes in the modern oxidizing Earth surface environment. The results imply that biologically-mediated processes, which preferentially mobilize light Fe isotopes, are critical to Fe chemistry in weathering environments, and that the {delta}{sup 56}Fe of marine dissolved Fe should be variable and negative. Diagenetic reduction of Fe in marine sediments may also be a significant component of the global Fe isotope cycle. Iron isotopes provide a tracer for the influence of biological activity and oxygen in weathering processes through Earth history. Iron isotopic fractionation during weathering may have been smaller or absent in an oxygen-poor environment such as that of the early Precambrian Earth.

Carbon dioxide efficiency of terrestrial enhanced weathering

OpenAIRE

Moosdorf, Nils; Renforth, Philip; Hartmann, Jens

2014-01-01

Terrestrial enhanced weathering, the spreading of ultramafic silicate rock flour to enhance natural weathering rates, has been suggested as part of a strategy to reduce global atmospheric CO2 levels. We budget potential CO2 sequestration against associated CO2 emissions to assess the net CO2 removal of terrestrial enhanced weathering. We combine global spatial data sets of potential source rocks, transport networks, and application areas with associated CO2 emissions in optimistic and pessimi...

Space-weathering processes and products on volatile-rich asteroids

Science.gov (United States)

Britt, D.; Schelling, P.; Consolmagno, G.; Bradley, T.

2014-07-01

Space weathering is a generic term for the effects on atmosphereless solid bodies in the solar system from a range of processes associated with direct exposure to the space environment. These include impact processes (shock, vaporization, fragmentation, heating, melting, and ejecta formation), radiation damage (from galactic and solar cosmic rays), solar-wind effects (irradiation, ion implantation, and sputtering), and the chemical reactions driven by these processes. The classic example of space weathering is the formation of the lunar spectral red slope associated with the production of nanophase Fe (npFe0) in the dusty lunar regolith (C.R. Chapman, 2004, Annual Review of Earth & Planet. Sci. 32, C.M. Pieters, 2000, MAPS 35). Similar npFe0 has been recovered from asteroid (25143) Itokawa and some asteroid classes do exhibit modest spectral red slopes (T. Noguchi, 2011, Science 333). Space weathering can be thought of as driven by a combination of the chemical environment of space (hard vacuum, low oxygen fugacity, solar-wind implantation of hydrogen) along with thermal energy supplied by micrometeorite impacts. The forward modeling of space weathering as thermodynamically-driven decomposition of common rock-forming minerals suggests the production of a range of daughter products: (1) The silicate products typically lose oxygen, other volatile elements (i.e., sulfur and sodium), and metallic cations, producing minerals that are typically more disordered and less optically active than the original parent materials. (2) The decomposed metallic cations form in nano-sized blebs including npFe0, on the surfaces or in condensing rims of mineral grains. This creates a powerful optical component as seen in the lunar red slope. Surfaces with exposed npFe0 are an ideal environment for catalyzing further reactions. (3) The liberated volatile elements and gases (O, S, Na) may form an observable exosphere (e.g., Moon and Mercury) and can either escape from the body or

Reconstruction of Historical Weather by Assimilating Old Weather Diary Data

Science.gov (United States)

Neluwala, P.; Yoshimura, K.; Toride, K.; Hirano, J.; Ichino, M.; Okazaki, A.

2017-12-01

assimilation. Non-assimilated fields are improved as well (e.g., RMSE from 40% to 29% and R 0.1 to 0.5 improved in TCC). Similarly, the assimilation of other variables shows improvements in atmospheric fields. These findings indicate the potential to reconstruct historical weather for the last five centuries by assimilating available weather descriptions.

Fair Value in the light of IFRS 13 «Fair Value Measurement»

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V.V. Svitselska

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The main provisions of IFRS 13 «Fair Value Measurement» have been researched as well as its critical analysis has been conducted. Comparison of the previous and the new definition of the concept «fair value» has been done on the basis of what the shortcomings of the previous definition have been highlighted, the characteristic features and advantages of new definition from IFRS 13 «Fair Value Measurement» have been outlined. It has been proved that new interpretation of the concept of «fair value» is narrower and more accurate than the previous, it clarifies the subject matter, subjects of transactions, as well as the date of its execution. The scheme of estimation at fair value as well as model of fair value determination according to IFRS 13 «Fair Value Measurement» has been presented. Methods of measurement at fair value and the fair value hierarchy have been researched. Some disadvantages of provisions of IFRS 13 «Fair Value Measurement» on the basis of its analysis have been highlighted, uncertainty is essential among them in which fair value should be applied.

ALFA: The new ALICE-FAIR software framework

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Turany, M.; Buncic, P.; Hristov, P.; Kollegger, T.; Kouzinopoulos, C.; Lebedev, A.; Lindenstruth, V.; Manafov, A.; Richter, M.; Rybalchenko, A.; Vande Vyvre, P.; Winckler, N.

2015-12-01

The commonalities between the ALICE and FAIR experiments and their computing requirements led to the development of large parts of a common software framework in an experiment independent way. The FairRoot project has already shown the feasibility of such an approach for the FAIR experiments and extending it beyond FAIR to experiments at other facilities[1, 2]. The ALFA framework is a joint development between ALICE Online- Offline (O2) and FairRoot teams. ALFA is designed as a flexible, elastic system, which balances reliability and ease of development with performance using multi-processing and multithreading. A message- based approach has been adopted; such an approach will support the use of the software on different hardware platforms, including heterogeneous systems. Each process in ALFA assumes limited communication and reliance on other processes. Such a design will add horizontal scaling (multiple processes) to vertical scaling provided by multiple threads to meet computing and throughput demands. ALFA does not dictate any application protocols. Potentially, any content-based processor or any source can change the application protocol. The framework supports different serialization standards for data exchange between different hardware and software languages.

Long term hydrogen production potential of concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) system in tropical weather of Singapore

KAUST Repository

Burhan, Muhammad

2016-08-23

Concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) system provides highest solar energy conversion efficiency among all the photovoltaic technologies and provides the most suitable option to convert solar energy into hydrogen, as future sustainable energy carrier. So far, only conventional flat plate PV systems are being used for almost all of the commercial applications. However, most of the studies have only shown the maximum efficiency of hydrogen production using CPV. In actual field conditions, the performance of CPV-Hydrogen system is affected by many parameter and it changes continuously during whole day operation. In this paper, the daily average and long term performances are proposed to analyze the real field potential of the CPV-Hydrogen system, which is of main interest for designers and consumers. An experimental setup is developed and a performance model is proposed to investigate the average and long term production potential of CPV-Hydrogen system. The study is carried out in tropical weather of Singapore. The maximum CPV efficiency of 27-28% and solar to hydrogen (STH) efficiency of 18%, were recorded. In addition, the CPV-Hydrogen system showed the long term average efficiency of 15.5%, for period of one year (12-months), with electrolyser rating of 47 kWh/kg and STH production potential of 218 kWh/kg. Based upon the DNI availability, the system showed hydrogen production potential of 0.153-0.553 kg/m/month, with average production of 0.43 kg/m/month. However, CPV-Hydrogen system has shown annual hydrogen production potential of 5.162 kg/m/year in tropical weather of Singapore.

Future development of IR thermovision weather satellite equipment

Science.gov (United States)

Listratov, A. V.

1974-01-01

The self radiation of the surface being viewed is used for image synthesis in IR thermovision equipment. The installation of such equipment aboard weather satellites makes it possible to obtain cloud cover pictures of the earth's surface in a complete orbit, regardless of the illumination conditions, and also provides quantitative information on the underlying surface temperature and cloud top height. Such equipment is used successfully aboard the Soviet satellites of the Meteor system, and experimentally on the American satellites of the Nimbus series. With regard to surface resolution, the present-day IR weather satellite equipment is inferior to the television equipment. This is due primarily to the comparatively low detectivity of the IR detectors used. While IR equipment has several fundamental advantages in comparison with the conventional television equipment, the problem arises of determining the possibility for future development of weather satellite IR thermovision equipment. Criteria are examined for evaluating the quality of IR.

Fleet size estimation for spreading operation considering road geometry, weather and traffic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steven I-Jy Chien

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Extreme weather conditions(i.e. snow storm in winter time have caused significant travel disruptions and increased delay and traffic accidents. Snow plowing and salt spreading are the most common counter-measures for making our roads safer for motorists. To assist highway maintenance authorities with better planning and allocation of winter maintenance resources, this study introduces an analytical model to estimate the required number of trucks for spreading operation subjective to pre-specified service time constraints considering road geometry, weather and traffic. The complexity of the research problem lies in dealing with heterogeneous road geometry of road sections, truck capacities, spreading patterns, and traffic speeds under different weather conditions and time periods of an event. The proposed model is applied to two maintenance yards with seven road sections in New Jersey (USA, which demonstrates itself fairly practical to be implemented, considering diverse operational conditions.

Weather Radar Adjustment Using Runoff from Urban Surfaces

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ahm, Malte; Rasmussen, Michael Robdrup

2017-01-01

Weather radar data used for urban drainage applications are traditionally adjusted to point ground references, e.g., rain gauges. However, the available rain gauge density for the adjustment is often low, which may lead to significant representativeness errors. Yet, in many urban catchments, rain...

Artificial Weathering of Biotite and Uranium Sorption Characteristics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Seung Yeop; Baik, Min Hoon; Lee, Jae Kwang

2009-01-01

An experiment for uranium sorption onto fresh and weathered biotites was performed. After centrifugation, concentrations of uranium in the supernatants were analyzed using ICP-MS, and biotite samples were investigated using XRD and SEM. With powdered biotites (<3 mm in size), we have conducted uranium sorption experiments about fresh and weathered biotites to obtain uranium sorption amounts in various pH conditions. The uranium sorption was not high at a low pH (e.g., pH 3), but increased with increasing pH. There were lower uranium sorption by the weathered biotites than by the fresh ones, and the difference was much larger at higher pH (e.g., pH 11). The lower sorption values of uranium by the weathered biotites may be caused by a change of mineral surfaces and a chemical behavior of surrounding dissolved elements. It seems that the uranium-mineral interaction has been diminished, especially, in the weathered biotite by a destruction and dissolution of preferential sorption sites on the mineral surfaces and by the colloidal formation from dissolved elements.

WIRE: Weather Intelligence for Renewable Energies

Science.gov (United States)

Heimo, A.; Cattin, R.; Calpini, B.

2010-09-01

Renewable energies such as wind and solar energy will play an important, even decisive role in order to mitigate and adapt to the projected dramatic consequences to our society and environment due to climate change. Due to shrinking fossil resources, the transition to more and more renewable energy shares is unavoidable. But, as wind and solar energy are strongly dependent on highly variable weather processes, increased penetration rates will also lead to strong fluctuations in the electricity grid which need to be balanced. Proper and specific forecasting of ‘energy weather' is a key component for this. Therefore, it is today appropriate to scientifically address the requirements to provide the best possible specific weather information for forecasting the energy production of wind and solar power plants within the next minutes up to several days. Towards such aims, Weather Intelligence will first include developing dedicated post-processing algorithms coupled with weather prediction models and with past and/or online measurement data especially remote sensing observations. Second, it will contribute to investigate the difficult relationship between the highly intermittent weather dependent power production and concurrent capacities such as transport and distribution of this energy to the end users. Selecting, resp. developing surface-based and satellite remote sensing techniques well adapted to supply relevant information to the specific post-processing algorithms for solar and wind energy production short-term forecasts is a major task with big potential. It will lead to improved energy forecasts and help to increase the efficiency of the renewable energy productions while contributing to improve the management and presumably the design of the energy grids. The second goal will raise new challenges as this will require first from the energy producers and distributors definitions of the requested input data and new technologies dedicated to the management of

Atom-surface potentials and atom interferometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Babb, J.F.

1998-01-01

Long-range atom-surface potentials characterize the physics of many actual systems and are now measurable spectroscopically in deflection of atomic beams in cavities or in reflection of atoms in atomic fountains. For a ground state, spherically symmetric atom the potential varies as -1/R 3 near the wall, where R is the atom-surface distance. For asymptotically large distances the potential is weaker and goes as -1/R 4 due to retardation arising from the finite speed of light. This diminished interaction can also be interpreted as a Casimir effect. The possibility of measuring atom-surface potentials using atomic interferometry is explored. The particular cases studied are the interactions of a ground-state alkali-metal atom and a dielectric or a conducting wall. Accurate descriptions of atom-surface potentials in theories of evanescent-wave atomic mirrors and evanescent wave-guided atoms are also discussed. (author)

Book Review: Is Fair Value Fair? Financial Reporting from an International Perspective

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thinggaard, Frank

2005-01-01

This is a review of Henk Langendijk, Dirk Swagerman and Willem Verhoog (Eds) "Is Fair Value Fair? Financial Reporting from an International Perspective," Chichester: John Wiley, 2003, ISBN 0 470 85028 0.......This is a review of Henk Langendijk, Dirk Swagerman and Willem Verhoog (Eds) "Is Fair Value Fair? Financial Reporting from an International Perspective," Chichester: John Wiley, 2003, ISBN 0 470 85028 0....

Fairness and nanotechnology concern.

Science.gov (United States)

McComas, Katherine A; Besley, John C

2011-11-01

Research suggests that fairness perceptions matter to people who are asked to evaluate the acceptability of risks or risk management. Two separate national random surveys (n = 305 and n = 529) addressed Americans' concerns about and acceptance of nanotechnology risk management in the context of the degree to which they view scientists and risk managers as fair. The first survey investigated general views about scientists across four proposed dimensions of fairness (distributional, procedural, interpersonal, and informational). The results show that respondents who believe that the outcomes of scientific research tend to result in unequal benefits (distributional fairness) and that the procedures meant to protect the public from scientific research are biased (procedural fairness) were more concerned about nanotechnology. Believing scientists would treat them with respect (interpersonal fairness) and ensure access to information (informational fairness) were not significant predictors of concern. The second study also looked at these four dimensions of fairness but focused on perceptions of risk managers working for government, universities, and major companies. In addition to concern, it also examined acceptance of nanotechnology risk management. Study 2 results were similar to those of study 1 for concern; however, only perceived informational fairness consistently predicted acceptance of nanotechnology risk management. Overall, the study points to the value of considering fairness perceptions in the study of public perceptions of nanotechnology. © 2011 Society for Risk Analysis.

The relevance and legibility of radio/TV weather reports to the Austrian public

Science.gov (United States)

Keul, A. G.; Holzer, A. M.

2013-03-01

The communicative quality of media weather reports, especially warnings, can be evaluated by user research. It is an interdisciplinary field, still uncoordinated after 35 years. The authors suggest to shift from a cognitive learning model to news processing, qualitative discourse and usability models as the media audience is in an edutainment situation where it acts highly selective. A series of field surveys 2008-2011 tested the relevance and legibility of Austrian radio and television weather reports on fair weather and in warning situations. 247 laypeople heard/saw original, mostly up-to-date radio/TV weather reports and recalled personally relevant data. Also, a questionnaire on weather knowledge was answered by 237 Austrians. Several research hypotheses were tested. The main results were (a) a relatively high level of meteorological knowledge of the general population, with interest and participation of German-speaking migrants, (b) a pluralistic media usage with TV, radio and internet as the leading media, (c) higher interest and attention (also for local weather) after warnings, but a risk of more false recalls after long warnings, (d) more recall problems with radio messages and a wish that the weather elements should always appear in the same order to faciliate processing for the audience. In their narrow time windows, radio/TV weather reports should concentrate on main features (synoptic situation, tomorrow's temperature and precipitation, possible warnings), keep a verbal “speed limit” and restrict show elements to serve the active, selective, multioptional, multicultural audience.

Corrosion processes on weathering steel railway bridge in Prague

OpenAIRE

Urban, Viktor; Křivý, Vít; Buchta, Vojtěch

2016-01-01

This contribution deals with experimental corrosion tests carried out on the weathering steel railway bridge in Prague. The basic specific property of the weathering steel is an ability to create in favourable environment a protective patina layer on its surface. Since 1968 weathering steel is used under the name “Atmofix” in the Czech Republic and can be used as a standard structural material without any corrosion protection. The weathering steel Atmofix is mostly used for bridge structures ...

Estimation of Surface Soil Moisture in Irrigated Lands by Assimilation of Landsat Vegetation Indices, Surface Energy Balance Products, and Relevance Vector Machines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alfonso F. Torres-Rua

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Spatial surface soil moisture can be an important indicator of crop conditions on farmland, but its continuous estimation remains challenging due to coarse spatial and temporal resolution of existing remotely-sensed products. Furthermore, while preceding research on soil moisture using remote sensing (surface energy balance, weather parameters, and vegetation indices has demonstrated a relationship between these factors and soil moisture, practical continuous spatial quantification of the latter is still unavailable for use in water and agricultural management. In this study, a methodology is presented to estimate volumetric surface soil moisture by statistical selection from potential predictors that include vegetation indices and energy balance products derived from satellite (Landsat imagery and weather data as identified in scientific literature. This methodology employs a statistical learning machine called a Relevance Vector Machine (RVM to identify and relate the potential predictors to soil moisture by means of stratified cross-validation and forward variable selection. Surface soil moisture measurements from irrigated agricultural fields in Central Utah in the 2012 irrigation season were used, along with weather data, Landsat vegetation indices, and energy balance products. The methodology, data collection, processing, and estimation accuracy are presented and discussed.

A new technique for observationally derived boundary conditions for space weather

Science.gov (United States)

Pagano, Paolo; Mackay, Duncan Hendry; Yeates, Anthony Robinson

2018-04-01

Context. In recent years, space weather research has focused on developing modelling techniques to predict the arrival time and properties of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) at the Earth. The aim of this paper is to propose a new modelling technique suitable for the next generation of Space Weather predictive tools that is both efficient and accurate. The aim of the new approach is to provide interplanetary space weather forecasting models with accurate time dependent boundary conditions of erupting magnetic flux ropes in the upper solar corona. Methods: To produce boundary conditions, we couple two different modelling techniques, MHD simulations and a quasi-static non-potential evolution model. Both are applied on a spatial domain that covers the entire solar surface, although they extend over a different radial distance. The non-potential model uses a time series of observed synoptic magnetograms to drive the non-potential quasi-static evolution of the coronal magnetic field. This allows us to follow the formation and loss of equilibrium of magnetic flux ropes. Following this a MHD simulation captures the dynamic evolution of the erupting flux rope, when it is ejected into interplanetary space. Results.The present paper focuses on the MHD simulations that follow the ejection of magnetic flux ropes to 4 R⊙. We first propose a technique for specifying the pre-eruptive plasma properties in the corona. Next, time dependent MHD simulations describe the ejection of two magnetic flux ropes, that produce time dependent boundary conditions for the magnetic field and plasma at 4 R⊙ that in future may be applied to interplanetary space weather prediction models. Conclusions: In the present paper, we show that the dual use of quasi-static non-potential magnetic field simulations and full time dependent MHD simulations can produce realistic inhomogeneous boundary conditions for space weather forecasting tools. Before a fully operational model can be produced there are a

PREFACE: FAIRNESS 2014: FAIR Next Generation ScientistS 2014

Science.gov (United States)

2015-04-01

FAIRNESS 2014 was the third edition in a series of workshops designed to bring together excellent international young scientists with research interests focused on physics at FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research) and was held on September 22-27 2014 in Vietri sul Mare, Italy. The topics of the workshops cover a wide range of aspects in both theoretical developments and current experimental status, concentrated around the four scientific pillars of FAIR. FAIR is a new accelerator complex with brand new experimental facilities, that is currently being built next to the existing GSI Helmholtzzentrum for Schwerionenforschung close to Darmstadt, Germany. The spirit of the conference is to bring together young scientists, e.g. advanced PhD students and postdocs and young researchers without permanent position to present their work, to foster active informal discussions and build up of networks. Every participant in the meeting with the exception of the organizers gives an oral presentation, and all sessions are followed by an hour long discussion period. During the talks, questions are anonymously collected in a box to stimulate discussions. The broad physics program at FAIR is reflected in the wide range of topics covered by the workshop: • Physics of hot and dense nuclear matter, QCD phase transitions and critical point • Nuclear structure, astrophysics and reactions • Hadron Spectroscopy, Hadrons in matter and Hypernuclei • New developments in atomic and plasma physics • Special emphasis is put on the experiments CBM, HADES, PANDA, NUSTAR, APPA and related experiments For each of these different areas one invited speaker was selected to give a longer introductory presentation. The write-ups of the talks presented at FAIRNESS 2014 are the content of this issue of Journal of Physics: Conference Series and have been refereed according to the IOP standard for peer review. This issue constitutes therefore a collection of the forefront of research that

FAIR imaging of the liver. A preliminary study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kiryu, Shigeru; Machida, Toru; Noda, Masanobu

1998-01-01

Flow-sensitive alternating inversion recovery (FAIR) technique has recently been introduced for perfusion or functional MR studies of the brain. In the imaging of liver neoplasms, the evaluation of tumor vascularity is important for diagnosis, and therefore the FAIR technique may potentially complement liver MR imaging. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of a FAIR sequence in MR imaging of the liver and to compare it with arterial-phase images of dynamic MR imaging. One volunteer and six patients with focal hepatic lesions (one with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), three with metastasis, and two with cavernous hemangioma) underwent FAIR. Short TI (600 ms) and long TI (1200 ms) images were obtained during breath-hold. In normal volunteers, the vessels generated remarkably bright signal in both short and long TI. Signal intensity of liver parenchyma was low in short TI, and became stronger in long TI. Two HCC (in one patient) (100%), one hemangioma (50%), and three metastases (100%) were well delineated as bright lesions. One HCC produced peripheral high intensity in short-TI FAIR image, and this finding was consistent with the result of dynamic MR study. Another HCC, which showed no clear enhancement in the arterial-phase dynamic MRI, was visualized only in long-TI FAIR. One hemangioma, which was clearly seen in FAIR image, showed rapid and strong enhancement on dynamic MRI. It is concluded that FAIR is a promising technique for evaluation of vascularity of hepatic tumors without using contrast materials. (author)

Laboratory weathering of combusted oil shale

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Essington, M.E.

1991-01-01

The objective of this study was to examine the mineralogy and leachate chemistry of three combusted oil shales (two Green River Formation and one New Albany) in a laboratory weathering environment using the humidity cell technique. The mineralogy of the combusted western oil shales (Green River Formation) is process dependent. In general, processing resulted in the formation of anhydrite, lime, periclase, and hematite. During the initial stages of weathering, lime, periclase, and hematite. During the initial stages of weathering, lime, periclase, and anhydrite dissolve and ettringite precipitates. The initial leachates are highly alkaline, saline, and dominated by Na, hydroxide, and SO 4 . As weathering continues, ettringite precipitates. The initial leachates are highly alkaline, saline, and dominated by Na, hydroxide, and SO 4 . As weathering continues, ettringite dissolves, gypsum and calcite precipitate, and the leachates are dominated by Mg, SO 4 , and CO 3 . Leachate pH is rapidly reduced to between 8.5 and 9 with leaching. The combusted eastern oil shale (New Albany) is composed of quartz, illite, hematite, and orthoclase. Weathering results in the precipitation of gypsum. The combusted eastern oil shale did not display a potential to produce acid drainage. Leachate chemistry was dominated by Ca and SO 4 . Element concentrations continually decreased with weathering. IN a western disposal environment receiving minimal atmospheric precipitation, spent oil shale will remain in the initial stages of weathering, and highly alkaline and saline conditions will dominate leachate chemistry. In an eastern disposal environment, soluble salts will be rapidly removed from the spent oil shale to potentially affect the surrounding environment

Now, Here's the Weather Forecast...

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, Mathew

2013-01-01

The Met Office has a long history of weather forecasting, creating tailored weather forecasts for customers across the world. Based in Exeter, the Met Office is also home to the Met Office Hadley Centre, a world-leading centre for the study of climate change and its potential impacts. Climate information from the Met Office Hadley Centre is used…

A Stabilizing Feedback Between Cloud Radiative Effects and Greenland Surface Melt: Verification From Multi-year Automatic Weather Station Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Zender, C. S.; Wang, W.; van As, D.

2017-12-01

Clouds have strong impacts on Greenland's surface melt through the interaction with the dry atmosphere and reflective surfaces. However, their effects are uncertain due to the lack of in situ observations. To better quantify cloud radiative effects (CRE) in Greenland, we analyze and interpret multi-year radiation measurements from 30 automatic weather stations encompassing a broad range of climatological and topographical conditions. During melt season, clouds warm surface over most of Greenland, meaning the longwave greenhouse effect outweighs the shortwave shading effect; on the other hand, the spatial variability of net (longwave and shortwave) CRE is dominated by shortwave CRE and in turn by surface albedo, which controls the potential absorption of solar radiation when clouds are absent. The net warming effect decreases with shortwave CRE from high to low altitudes and from north to south (Fig. 1). The spatial correlation between albedo and net CRE is strong (r=0.93, palbedo determines the net CRE seasonal trend, which decreases from May to July and increases afterwards. On an hourly timescale, we find two distinct radiative states in Greenland (Fig. 2). The clear state is characterized by clear-sky conditions or thin clouds, when albedo and solar zenith angle (SZA) weakly correlates with CRE. The cloudy state is characterized by opaque clouds, when the combination of albedo and SZA strongly correlates with CRE (r=0.85, palbedo and solar zenith angle, explains the majority of the CRE variation in spatial distribution, seasonal trend in the ablation zone, and in hourly variability in the cloudy radiative state. Clouds warm the brighter and colder surfaces of Greenland, enhance snow melt, and tend to lower the albedo. Clouds cool the darker and warmer surfaces, inhibiting snow melt, which increases albedo, and thus stabilizes surface melt. This stabilizing mechanism may also occur over sea ice, helping to forestall surface melt as the Arctic becomes dimmer.

Fair processes and fair outcomes: involving local stakeholders in RWM decisions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vari, A.

2004-01-01

There is a general agreement on the requirements to be met by radioactive waste management strategies. One of the requirements is that both the outcomes of any decisions and the decision-making processes must be seen to be fair. However, there exist multiple legitimate views on fairness and there is no meta-theory that could help decide which of the competing views should be considered valid in a concrete case. Referring to the plurality of views on fairness, Linnerooth-Bayer (forthcoming) argues that the impasse in facility siting processes can be attributed to the failure to take adequate account of the diverse views held by the various stakeholders on fair processes and outcomes. Three fundamental ethical principles have been derived from three basic ethical theories: well-being which is the central concept of utilitarian ethics, justice which is a key notion in egalitarian ethics, and dignity which is central to deontology (Bay and Oughton, 2003). According to utilitarian ethics fairness means that public welfare is maximized even at the cost of stakeholders' individual rights. Costs and benefits can be legitimately distributed in any way; only their overall balance has to be enhanced. In contrary, egalitarian ethics aims for a fair distribution of benefits and costs among stakeholders, while deontology acknowledges universal values of actions, e.g. the respect for individual rights, apart from their consequences. According to the latter ethics, fairness means that stakeholders themselves have the opportunity to learn about the benefits and costs of various options, and having considered them, decide on their position to accept them. How do diverse views on fair decisions materialize in RWM debates? (author)

Weathering of radionuclides deposited in inhabited areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roed, J.; Andersson, K.G.; Togawa, O.

1996-01-01

When determining the long-term consequences of an accidental deposition of radionuclides from a nuclear power plant in an inhabited area it is essential to be able to predict the migration with time of the deposited radiocaesium. Through the years that have passed since the Chernobyl accident occurred in 1986, the weathering effects on deposited radiocaesium on different types of surface in urban, suburban and industrial areas have been followed through six measurement campaigns to the Gaevle area of Sweden. The weathering effects after the Chernobyl accident were also investigated in towns in the Ukraine and in Russia. The radiocaesium level on asphalt and concrete pavements was found to decrease rather rapidly. It was found that the weathering effects over the first decade could be described by a double exponential function. Similar analytical functions were derived for the other urban surfaces. However, the weathering half-lives of radiocaesium on walls and roofs of buildings were found to be much longer. Even in urban centres, the largest contribution to the dose-rate immediately after deposition often comes from the open grassed areas and areas of soil. As the dose-rate from such surfaces usually decreases slowly, depending on the soil type, the relative importance of these surfaces will often increase with time. After a decade, the dose-rate from horizontal pavements will decrease by a factor of 10 or more, but the dose-rate from an area of soil or a roof may only be halved. Correspondingly, the dose-rate from a wall decreases by only 10-20 %. (author)

Fair Package Assignment

Science.gov (United States)

Lahaie, Sébastien; Parkes, David C.

We consider the problem of fair allocation in the package assignment model, where a set of indivisible items, held by single seller, must be efficiently allocated to agents with quasi-linear utilities. A fair assignment is one that is efficient and envy-free. We consider a model where bidders have superadditive valuations, meaning that items are pure complements. Our central result is that core outcomes are fair and even coalition-fair over this domain, while fair distributions may not even exist for general valuations. Of relevance to auction design, we also establish that the core is equivalent to the set of anonymous-price competitive equilibria, and that superadditive valuations are a maximal domain that guarantees the existence of anonymous-price competitive equilibrium. Our results are analogs of core equivalence results for linear prices in the standard assignment model, and for nonlinear, non-anonymous prices in the package assignment model with general valuations.

Assessing the Potential of Social Networks as a Means for Information Diffusion the Weatherization Experiences (WE) Project.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rose, Erin M. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Hawkins, Beth A. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

2015-04-01

In April 2009, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) formally tasked Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) with conducting two impact and process evaluations of DOE’s Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), known as the retrospective and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) period evaluations, respectively. The former focused on WAP Program Year (PY) 2008, which covers the period from April 2008 to June 2009. The latter focused on PY 2010. This report presents in-depth analyses from ORNL’s social network study, the Weatherization Experiences (WE) Project, an exploratory study conducted as part of the ARRA period WAP evaluation. The WE Project explored the potential for WAP recipients and staff to influence energy savings beyond their homes and day jobs. Several studies conducted through ORNL’s evaluation of WAP found that the program has the ability to profoundly impact the lives of the people it serves (Tonn et al. 2014b). Recipients of WAP provided statements ranging from the newfound ability to pay utility bills and prescription medication to reduced emergency department visits for asthma and medical conditions associated with thermal stress. Through this exploratory research project, the stories of hundreds of weatherization recipients and providers were documented. The WE Project was designed to further investigate whether or not shared experiences with weatherization have the power to stimulate home energy saving action within an individual’s social network.

Is Equality Fair?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arthur Tarasov

2015-11-01

Full Text Available This paper attempts to answer the question whether people consider decisions that lead to equal outcomes fair. I find that this is not always the case. In an experiment where subjects are given equal opportunities to choose how to divide money between each other in a two-player game, any strategy is perceived to be fair more than half the time, including the profit-maximizing strategy. The equal divisions that lead to equal outcomes are sometimes considered unfair by both players. Moreover, players frequently punished the others, whose decisions led to equal outcomes. I hypothesize that such punishments occur because people have different conceptions of what a fair outcome and fair punishment are

Simulation and Data Analytics for Mobile Road Weather Sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Chettri, S. R.; Evans, J. D.; Tislin, D.

2016-12-01

Numerous algorithmic and theoretical considerations arise in simulating a vehicle-based weather observation network known as the Mobile Platform Environmental Data (MoPED). MoPED integrates sensor data from a fleet of commercial vehicles (about 600 at last count, with thousands more to come) as they travel interstate, state and local routes and metropolitan areas throughout the conterminous United States. The MoPED simulator models a fleet of anywhere between 1000-10,000 vehicles that travel a highway network encoded in a geospatial database, starting and finishing at random times and moving at randomly-varying speeds. Virtual instruments aboard these vehicles interpolate surface weather parameters (such as temperature and pressure) from the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) data series, an hourly, coast-to-coast 3km grid of weather parameters modeled by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction. Whereas real MoPED sensors have noise characteristics that lead to drop-outs, drift, or physically unrealizable values, our simulation introduces a variety of noise distributions into the parameter values inferred from HRRR (Fig. 1). Finally, the simulator collects weather readings from the National Weather Service's Automated Surface Observation System (ASOS, comprised of over 800 airports around the country) for comparison, validation, and analytical experiments. The simulator's MoPED-like weather data stream enables studies like the following: Experimenting with data analysis and calibration methods - e.g., by comparing noisy vehicle data with ASOS "ground truth" in close spatial and temporal proximity (e.g., 10km, 10 min) (Fig. 2). Inter-calibrating different vehicles' sensors when they pass near each other. Detecting spatial structure in the surface weather - such as dry lines, sudden changes in humidity that accompany severe weather - and estimating how many vehicles are needed to reliably map these structures and their motion. Detecting bottlenecks in the

A statistical-dynamical scheme for reconstructing ocean forcing in the Atlantic. Part I: weather regimes as predictors for ocean surface variables

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cassou, Christophe; Minvielle, Marie; Terray, Laurent [CERFACS/CNRS, Climate Modelling and Global Change Team, Toulouse (France); Perigaud, Claire [JPL-NASA, Ocean Science Element, Pasadena, CA (United States)

2011-01-15

The links between the observed variability of the surface ocean variables estimated from reanalysis and the overlying atmosphere decomposed in classes of large-scale atmospheric circulation via clustering are investigated over the Atlantic from 1958 to 2002. Daily 500 hPa geopotential height and 1,000 hPa wind anomaly maps are classified following a weather-typing approach to describe the North Atlantic and tropical Atlantic atmospheric dynamics, respectively. The algorithm yields patterns that correspond in the extratropics to the well-known North Atlantic-Europe weather regimes (NAE-WR) accounting for the barotropic dynamics, and in the tropics to wind classes (T-WC) representing the alteration of the trades. 10-m wind and 2-m temperature (T2) anomaly composites derived from regime/wind class occurrence are indicative of strong relationships between daily large-scale atmospheric circulation and ocean surface over the entire Atlantic basin. High temporal correlation values are obtained basin-wide at low frequency between the observed fields and their reconstruction by multiple linear regressions with the frequencies of occurrence of both NAE-WR and T-WC used as sole predictors. Additional multiple linear regressions also emphasize the importance of accounting for the strength of the daily anomalous atmospheric circulation estimated by the combined distances to all regimes centroids in order to reproduce the daily to interannual variability of the Atlantic ocean. We show that for most of the North Atlantic basin the occurrence of NAE-WR generally sets the sign of the ocean surface anomaly for a given day, and that the inter-regime distances are valuable predictors for the magnitude of that anomaly. Finally, we provide evidence that a large fraction of the low-frequency trends in the Atlantic observed at the surface over the last 50 years can be traced back, except for T2, to changes in occurrence of tropical and extratropical weather classes. All together, our

How fair are fair values? A comparison for cross-listed financial companies

OpenAIRE

Marian Berden; Franka Liedorp

2006-01-01

Fair value accounting and IAS 39 are at the core of a debate between regulators, institutions and supervisors. We add to this debate at a conceptual and empirical level. First we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of fair values for banks and insurance companies. Then we explore the differences between fair values and book values and the implications thereof based on a group of institutions with a listing on a stock exchange in both the home country (on book value) and the US (on fair v...

Madisonian Fair Use

OpenAIRE

Madison, Michael

2017-01-01

This short essay reflects on developments in the law, scholarship, and practice of fair use since the publication in 2004 of an earlier article on patterns in fair use practice and adjudication. It synthesizes many of those developments in the idea of “Madisonian” fair use, borrowing the separation of powers metaphor from James Madison’s work on the US Constitution and applying it, lightly and in a preliminary way, to copyright.

Salt-enhanced chemical weathering of building materials and bacterial mineralization of calcium carbonate as a treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Schiro, M.; Ruiz-Agudo, E.; Jroundi, F.; Gonzalez-Muñoz, M. T.; Rodriguez-Navarro, C.

2012-04-01

Salt weathering is an important mechanism contributing to the degradation and loss of stone building materials. In addition to the physical weathering resulting from crystallization pressure, the presence of salts in solution greatly enhances the chemical weathering potential of pore waters. Flow through experiments quantify the dissolution rates of calcite and quartz grains (63-125 micrometer diameter) when subjected to 1.0 ionic strength solutions of MgSO4, MgCl, Na2SO4 or NaCl. Results indicate that the identity of the cation is the primary control over the dissolution rate of both calcite and quartz substrates, with salt-enhanced dissolution occurring most rapidly in Mg2+ bearing solutions. It has been observed that weathering rates of rocks in nature, as well as building stones, are slowed down by naturally occurring or artificially produced patinas. These tend to be bacterially produced, durable mineralized coatings that lend some degree of protection to the underlying stone surface [1]. Our research shows that bacterially produced carbonate coatings can be quite effective at reducing chemical weathering of stone by soluble salts. The calcite-producing-bacteria used in this study were isolated from stone monuments in Granada, Spain [2] and cultivated in an organic-rich culture medium on a variety of artificial and natural substrates (including limestone, marble, sandstone, quartz, calcite single crystals, glass cover-slips, and sintered porous glass). Scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) was used to image bacterial calcite growth and biofilm formation. In-situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) enabled calculation of dissolution rates of untreated and bacterially treated surfaces. 2D-XRD showed the mineralogy and crystallographic orientation of bacterial calcium carbonate. Results indicate that bacterially produced calcite crystals form a coherent, mechanically resistant surface layer in perfect crystallographic continuity with the calcite substrate (self

Fair market value

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, J.

1991-01-01

This paper presents an examination of fair market value concepts as they pertain to producing petroleum properties. conventional petroleum economic theories of fair market value are examined in light of recent work on the market value of long-life reserves. Their work is expanded to show that sellers rely on comparable sales data for estimating FMV. Both results are used to suggest that current practices over-emphasize the discounted cash flow approach to estimating fair market value

A subsurface Fe-silicate weathering microbiome

Science.gov (United States)

Napieralski, S. A.; Buss, H. L.; Roden, E. E.

2017-12-01

Traditional models of microbially mediated weathering of primary Fe-bearing minerals often invoke organic ligands (e.g. siderophores) used for nutrient acquisition. However, it is well known that the oxidation of Fe(II) governs the overall rate of Fe-silicate mineral dissolution. Recent work has demonstrated the ability of lithtrophic iron oxidizing bacteria (FeOB) to grow via the oxidation of structural Fe(II) in biotite as a source of metabolic energy with evidence suggesting a direct enzymatic attack on the mineral surface. This process necessitates the involvement of dedicated outer membrane proteins that interact with insoluble mineral phases in a process known as extracellular electron transfer (EET). To investigate the potential role FeOB in a terrestrial subsurface weathering system, samples were obtained from the bedrock-saprolite interface (785 cm depth) within the Rio Icacos Watershed of the Luquillo Mountains in Puerto Rico. Prior geochemical evidence suggests the flux of Fe(II) from the weathering bedrock supports a robust lithotrophic microbial community at depth. Current work confirms the activity of microorganism in situ, with a marked increase in ATP near the bedrock-saprolite interface. Regolith recovered from the interface was used as inoculum to establish enrichment cultures with powderized Fe(II)-bearing minerals serving as the sole energy source. Monitoring of the Fe(II)/Fe(total) ratio and ATP generation suggests growth of microorganisms coupled to the oxidation of mineral bound Fe(II). Analysis of 16S rRNA gene and shotgun metagenomic libraries from in situ and enrichment culture samples lends further support to FeOB involvement in the weathering process. Multiple metagenomic bins related to known FeOB, including Betaproteobacteria genera, contain homologs to model EET systems, including Cyc2 and MtoAB. Our approach combining geochemistry and metagenomics with ongoing microbiological and genomic characterization of novel isolates obtained

PREFACE: FAIRNESS 2013: FAIR NExt generation of ScientistS 2013

Science.gov (United States)

Petersen, Hannah; Destefanis, Marco; Galatyuk, Tetyana; Montes, Fernando; Nicmorus, Diana; Ratti, Claudia; Tolos, Laura; Vogel, Sascha

2014-04-01

FAIRNESS 2013 was the second edition in a series of workshops designed to bring together excellent international young scientists with research interests focused on physics at FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research) and was held on 16-21 September 2013 in Berlin, Germany. The topics of the workshop cover a wide range of aspects in both theoretical developments and current experimental status, concentrated around the four scientific pillars of FAIR. FAIR is a new accelerator complex with brand new experimental facilities, that is currently being built next to the existing GSI Helmholtzzentrum for Schwerionenforschung close to Darmstadt, Germany. The spirit of the conference is to bring together young scientists, e.g. advanced PhD students and postdocs and young researchers without permanent position to present their work, to foster active informal discussions and build up of networks. Every participant in the meeting with the exception of the organizers gives an oral presentation, and all sessions are followed by an hour long discussion period. During the talks, questions are anonymously collected in box to stimulate discussions. Since the physics program of FAIR is very broad, this is reflected in the wide range of topics covered at the Conference: Physics of hot and dense nuclear matter, QCD phase transitions and critical point Nuclear structure, astrophysics and reactions Hadron spectroscopy, Hadrons in matter and Hypernuclei Special emphasis is put on the experiments CBM, HADES, PANDA, NuSTAR, as well as NICA and the RHIC low beam energy scan New developments in atomic and plasma physics For all of these different areas one invited speaker was selected to give a longer introductory presentation. The write-ups of the talks presented at FAIRNESS 2013 are the content of this issue of Journal of Physics: Conference Series and have been refereed according to the IOP standard for peer review. This issue constitutes therefore a collection of the forefront of

Space weathering of small Koronis family members

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Cristina A.; Rivkin, Andrew S.; Trilling, David E.; Enga, Marie-therese; Grier, Jennifer A.

2011-03-01

The space weathering process and its implications for the relationships between S- and Q-type asteroids and ordinary chondrite meteorites is an often debated topic in asteroid science. Q-type asteroids have been shown to display the best spectral match to ordinary chondrites (McFadden, L.A., Gaffey, M.J., McCord, T.B. [1985]. Science 229, 160-163). While the Q-types and ordinary chondrites share some spectral features with S-type asteroids, the S-types have significantly redder spectral slopes than the Q-types in visible and near-infrared wavelengths. This reddening of spectral slope is attributed to the effects of space weathering on the observed surface composition. The analysis by Binzel et al. (Binzel, R.P., Rivkin, A.S., Stuart, J.S., Harris, A.W., Bus, S.J., Burbine, T.H. [2004]. Icarus 170, 259-294) provided a missing link between the Q- and S-type bodies in near-Earth space by showing a reddening of spectral slope in objects from 0.1 to 5 km that corresponded to a transition from Q-type to S-type asteroid spectra, implying that size, and therefore surface age, is related to the relationship between S- and Q-types. The existence of Q-type asteroids in the main-belt was not confirmed until Mothé-Diniz and Nesvorny (Mothé-Diniz, T., Nesvorny, D. [2008]. Astron. Astrophys. 486, L9-L12) found them in young S-type clusters. The young age of these families suggest that the unweathered surface could date to the formation of the family. This leads to the question of whether older S-type main-belt families can contain Q-type objects and display evidence of a transition from Q- to S-type. To answer this question we have carried out a photometric survey of the Koronis family using the Kitt Peak 2.1 m telescope. This provides a unique opportunity to compare the effects of the space weathering process on potentially ordinary chondrite-like bodies within a population of identical initial conditions. We find a trend in spectral slope for objects 1-5 km that shows the

Modeling Silicate Weathering for Elevated CO2 and Temperature

Science.gov (United States)

Bolton, E. W.

2016-12-01

A reactive transport model (RTM) is used to assess CO2 drawdown by silicate weathering over a wide range of temperature, pCO2, and infiltration rates for basalts and granites. Although RTM's have been used extensively to model weathering of basalts and granites for present-day conditions, we extend such modeling to higher CO2 that could have existed during the Archean and Proterozoic. We also consider a wide range of surface temperatures and infiltration rates. We consider several model basalt and granite compositions. We normally impose CO2 in equilibrium with the various atmospheric ranges modeled and CO2 is delivered to the weathering zone by aqueous transport. We also consider models with fixed CO2 (aq) throughout the weathering zone as could occur in soils with partial water saturation or with plant respiration, which can strongly influence pH and mineral dissolution rates. For the modeling, we use Kinflow: a model developed at Yale that includes mineral dissolution and precipitation under kinetic control, aqueous speciation, surface erosion, dynamic porosity, permeability, and mineral surface areas via sub-grid-scale grain models, and exchange of volatiles at the surface. Most of the modeling is done in 1D, but some comparisons to 2D domains with heterogeneous permeability are made. We find that when CO2 is fixed only at the surface, the pH tends toward higher values for basalts than granites, in large part due to the presence of more divalent than monovalent cations in the primary minerals, tending to decrease rates of mineral dissolution. Weathering rates increase (as expected) with increasing CO2 and temperature. This modeling is done with the support of the Virtual Planetary Laboratory.

Phytoremediation potential and ecological and phenological changes of native pioneer plants from weathered oil spill-impacted sites at tropical wetlands.

Science.gov (United States)

Palma-Cruz, Felipe de J; Pérez-Vargas, Josefina; Rivera Casado, Noemí Araceli; Gómez Guzmán, Octavio; Calva-Calva, Graciano

2016-08-01

Pioneer native plant species from weathered oil spill-affected sites were selected to study their potential for phytoremediation on the basis of their ecological and phenological changes during the phytoremediation process. Experiments were conducted in field and in greenhouse. In field, native plants from aged oil spill-impacted sites with up 400 g of weathered petroleum hydrocarbons per kilogram soil were selected. In the impacted sites, the principal dominant plant species with potential for hydrocarbons removal were Cyperus laxus, Cyperus esculentus, and Ludwigia peploides. In greenhouse, the phenology of the selected plant species was drastically affected by the hydrocarbons level above 325 g total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) per kilogram soil after 2 years of phytoremediation of soils from the aged oil spill-impacted sites. From the phytoremediation treatments, a mix-culture of C. laxus, C. esculentus, and L. peploides in soil containing 325 g TPH/kg soil, from which 20.3 % were polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and 34.2 % were asphaltenes (ASF), was able to remove up 93 % of the TPH, while in unvegetated soil the TPH removal was 12.6 %. Furthermore, evaluation of the biodiversity and life forms of plant species in the impacted sites showed that phytoremediation with C. esculentus, alone or in a mix-culture with C. laxus and L. peploides, reduces the TPH to such extent that the native plant community was progressively reestablished by replacing the cultivated species resulting in the ecological recovery of the affected soil. These results demonstrate that native Cyperus species from weathered oil spill-affected sites, specifically C. esculentus and C. laxus, alone or in a mix-culture, have particular potential for phytoremediation of soils from tropical wetlands contaminated with weathered oil hydrocarbons.

Response Analysis Of Payload Fairing Due To Acoustic Excitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Annu Cherian

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract During flight missions launch vehicles are subjected to a severe dynamic pressure loading aero-acoustic and structure-borne excitations of various circumstances which can endanger the survivability of the payload and the vehicles electronic equipment and consequently the success of the mission. The purpose of the fairing is to protect the satellite from damage during launch until deployment in space. Both the structural and acoustic loads are significant during the first few minutes of a launch and have the potential to damage the payload. This paper describes the analysis of mechanical structure and the inner acoustic cavity of the payload fairing subjected to acoustic field. The vibro-acoustic behaviour of the fairing is analyzed using Statistical Energy Analysis SEA Model. The software VA One is used for the statistical energy analysis of launch vehicle payload fairing due to acoustic excitation.

Surface Potential of Polycrystalline Hematite in Aqueous Medium

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tajana Preočanin

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The surface potential of polycrystalline hematite in aqueous sodium perchlorate environment as a function of pH was examined. Surface potential of hematite was obtained from measured electrode potential of a nonporous polycrystalline hematite electrode. Acidic solution was titrated with base, and the backward titration with acid was performed. Substantial hysteresis was obtained which enabled location of the point of zero potential and equilibrium values of surface potentials. The theoretical interpretation of the equilibrium data was performed by applying the surface complexation model and the thermodynamic equilibrium constants for the first and the second step of surface protonation was obtained as logK1∘=11.3;logK2∘=2.8.

Sliding surface searching method for slopes containing a potential weak structural surface

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aijun Yao

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Weak structural surface is one of the key factors controlling the stability of slopes. The stability of rock slopes is in general concerned with set of discontinuities. However, in soft rocks, failure can occur along surfaces approaching to a circular failure surface. To better understand the position of potential sliding surface, a new method called simplex-finite stochastic tracking method is proposed. This method basically divides sliding surface into two parts: one is described by smooth curve obtained by random searching, the other one is polyline formed by the weak structural surface. Single or multiple sliding surfaces can be considered, and consequently several types of combined sliding surfaces can be simulated. The paper will adopt the arc-polyline to simulate potential sliding surface and analyze the searching process of sliding surface. Accordingly, software for slope stability analysis using this method was developed and applied in real cases. The results show that, using simplex-finite stochastic tracking method, it is possible to locate the position of a potential sliding surface in the slope.

What was fair in acturial fairness?

OpenAIRE

Heras Martínez , Antonio José; Teira , David; Pradier , Pierre-Charles

2016-01-01

URL des Documents de travail : http://centredeconomiesorbonne.univ-paris1.fr/documents-de-travail-du-ces/; Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 2016.73 - ISSN : 1955-611X; The concept of acturial fairness stems from an Aristotelian tradition in which fairness requires equality between the goods exchanged. When dealing with aleatory contracts, this principle evolved, among medieval scholars, into equality in risk: benefits and losses should be proportional to the risks unde...

Free riders play fair

OpenAIRE

Takikawa, Hirohide

2012-01-01

After the demise of the social contract theory, the argument from fair play, which employs the principle of fair play, has been widely acknowledged as one of the most promising ways of justifying political obligation. First, I articulate the most promising version of the principle of fair play. Then, I show that free riders play fair, that is, that their moral fault lies not in unfairness but in the violation of a rule by appealing to the example of three-in-a-boat. Finally, I conclude that e...

An Examination of the Space Weathering Patina of Lunar Rock 76015

Science.gov (United States)

Noble, S.; Chrisoffersen, R.; Rahman, Z.

2011-01-01

Space weathering discussions have generally centered around soils but exposed rocks will also incur the effects of weathering. Rocks have much longer surface lifetimes than an individual soil grain and thus record a longer history of exposure. By studying the weathering products which have built up on a rock surface, we can gain a deeper perspective on the weathering process and better assess the relative importance of various weathering components. The weathered coating, or patina, of the lunar rock 76015 has been previously studied under SEM and also by TEM using ultramicrotome sample preparation methods. However, to really understand the products involved in creating these coatings, it is helpful to examine the patina in cross section, something which is now possible though the use of Focused Ion Beam (FIB) sample prep techniques, which allows us to preserve intact the delicate stratigraphy of the patina coating and provides a unique cross-sectional view of the space weathering process. Several samples have been prepared from the rock and the coatings are found to be quite variable in thickness and composition from one sample to the next.

THE (UN? FAIRNESS OF FAIR VALUE: SFAS 157, IRVING FISHER AND GECON

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paulo Roberto Barbosa Lustosa

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Objective: The objective of this study is to assess the level of adherence of explicit and implicit measurement concepts present in SFAS 157 – Fair Value Measurements to traditional economic-accounting concepts. Background: The expansion of situations in which fair value measurement is required makes more difficult to ensure that the computed measure of value is actually fair. Out of the objectivity of current sales prices in an active market, all other measures of value are expectations about the future, inherently uncertain and inaccurate. Thus, the desired justice of the computed figures lies not in its accuracy, but in the using of the correct concepts for measuring accounting transactions and events. Method: To reach the objective, the characteristics of this standard are confronted with the secular concept of capital and income set by the laureate American neoclassical economist Irving Fisher, which were incorporated into Information System for Economic Management (Gecon. Results: The results indicate that SFAS 157 fair value concept and measurement structure are incorrect or incomplete, suggesting that the maintenance of the fair value expression in accounting seems inadequate. Contributions: This paper contributes to the literature on accounting measurement showing that as a measurement concept in accounting fair value seems inadequate. In abnormal situations or absence of a market, the measure found is always inexact and subjective, and therefore is not correct to call fair the quantity resulting from this arbitrary calculation.

Using 311 Data as a Proxy For Weather Impacts

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, X.

2017-12-01

According to the World Bank, two-thirds of the global population will lives in urban areas by 2050. The impacts of major weather events have sometimes led to huge economic losses in urban areas and impacts are projected to increase as cities grow. Using remote sensing to study weather in urban areas is challenge because urban areas are small relative to the resolutions of many satellite products. In addition, most human activity is indoors and underground, which neither satellites nor other remote sensing instruments can measure. As a substitute for these instruments, there are datasets that can potentially provide information about the local impacts of the weather. Many cities use the U.S. Federal Communications Commision code for non-emergencies (311) as a hotline for residents to report municipal issues. For example, New York City's 311 dataset contains over a 100 million reports, many of which are potentially related to the impacts of weather events. To isolate the impacts, we aggregate over space and time to reduce the noise in the data and normalize the data to account for uneven distributions of people and complaints. We then compare the potentially weather related 311 reports with global monthly summaries of weather observations from the Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN) to analyze the impact of weather events as reported by the residents of NYC.

Fair Value in the light of IFRS 13 «Fair Value Measurement»

OpenAIRE

V.V. Svitselska

2015-01-01

The main provisions of IFRS 13 «Fair Value Measurement» have been researched as well as its critical analysis has been conducted. Comparison of the previous and the new definition of the concept «fair value» has been done on the basis of what the shortcomings of the previous definition have been highlighted, the characteristic features and advantages of new definition from IFRS 13 «Fair Value Measurement» have been outlined. It has been proved that new interpretation of the concept of «fair v...

Fairness through Transparency: The Influence of Price Transparency on Consumer Perceptions of Price Fairness

OpenAIRE

Sandra Rothenberger

2015-01-01

This study proposes that price transparency is a significant factor affecting customer judgments of the fairness of sellers’ prices. Cognitive judgments of fairness require a certain amount of information processing; therefore, the level of transparency and the amount of price information affect fairness judgments. The more clear information consumers possess concerning seller prices, the more positive the judgment will be. Customer price fairness judgment is an effective measurement for the ...

The Level of Calculation Errors in the Case of Using the Weibull Distribution for Estimating the Eolian Potential According to the Real Potential Based on Effective Measurements of the Weather Characteristics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ioan Ion

2011-09-01

Full Text Available The management of an investment program in wind power generators must consider the proper evaluation of the possibilities offered by the location where the park will be disposed and will operate: the available existing electric networks, access roads, the shape of relief, climate, extreme weather phenomena, the average wind speed, etc. Among the items listed above, the most important is wind potential of the area, quantified, measured mainly by multi-annual average wind speed. Evaluation, without special measurements, can be done based on general information such as measurements obtained from meteorological stations, using Weibull distribution for wind speed. When using the weather characteristics measurement results, the evaluation is closer to real multi- annual potential.

Computational Fair Division

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Branzei, Simina

Fair division is a fundamental problem in economic theory and one of the oldest questions faced through the history of human society. The high level scenario is that of several participants having to divide a collection of resources such that everyone is satisfied with their allocation -- e.g. two...... heirs dividing a car, house, and piece of land inherited. The literature on fair division was developed in the 20th century in mathematics and economics, but computational work on fair division is still sparse. This thesis can be seen as an excursion in computational fair division divided in two parts....... The first part tackles the cake cutting problem, where the cake is a metaphor for a heterogeneous divisible resource such as land, time, mineral deposits, and computer memory. We study the equilibria of classical protocols and design an algorithmic framework for reasoning about their game theoretic...

Impact of bacterial ice nucleating particles on weather predicted by a numerical weather prediction model

Science.gov (United States)

Sahyoun, Maher; Korsholm, Ulrik S.; Sørensen, Jens H.; Šantl-Temkiv, Tina; Finster, Kai; Gosewinkel, Ulrich; Nielsen, Niels W.

2017-12-01

Bacterial ice-nucleating particles (INP) have the ability to facilitate ice nucleation from super-cooled cloud droplets at temperatures just below the melting point. Bacterial INP have been detected in cloud water, precipitation, and dry air, hence they may have an impact on weather and climate. In modeling studies, the potential impact of bacteria on ice nucleation and precipitation formation on global scale is still uncertain due to their small concentration compared to other types of INP, i.e. dust. Those earlier studies did not account for the yet undetected high concentration of nanoscale fragments of bacterial INP, which may be found free or attached to soil dust in the atmosphere. In this study, we investigate the sensitivity of modeled cloud ice, precipitation and global solar radiation in different weather scenarios to changes in the fraction of cloud droplets containing bacterial INP, regardless of their size. For this purpose, a module that calculates the probability of ice nucleation as a function of ice nucleation rate and bacterial INP fraction was developed and implemented in a numerical weather prediction model. The threshold value for the fraction of cloud droplets containing bacterial INP needed to produce a 1% increase in cloud ice was determined at 10-5 to 10-4. We also found that increasing this fraction causes a perturbation in the forecast, leading to significant differences in cloud ice and smaller differences in convective and total precipitation and in net solar radiation reaching the surface. These effects were most pronounced in local convective events. Our results show that bacterial INP can be considered as a trigger factor for precipitation, but not an enhancement factor.

75 FR 4100 - Affirmative Fair Housing, Marketing (AFHM) Plan-Multifamily Housing, Affirmative Fair Housing...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-26

... DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT [Docket No. FR-5376-N-01] Affirmative Fair Housing, Marketing (AFHM) Plan-Multifamily Housing, Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing (AFHM) Plan-Single Family Housing and Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing (AFHM) Plan- Cooperatives/Condominiums AGENCY: Office of...

Global comparison reveals biogenic weathering as driven by nutrient limitation at ecosystem scale

Science.gov (United States)

Boy, Jens; Godoy, Roberto; Dechene, Annika; Shibistova, Olga; Amir, Hamid; Iskandar, Issi; Fogliano, Bruno; Boy, Diana; McCulloch, Robert; Andrino, Alberto; Gschwendtner, Silvia; Marin, Cesar; Sauheitl, Leopold; Dultz, Stefan; Mikutta, Robert; Guggenberger, Georg

2017-04-01

A substantial contribution of biogenic weathering in ecosystem nutrition, especially by symbiotic microorganisms, has often been proposed, but large-scale in vivo studies are still missing. Here we compare a set of ecosystems spanning from the Antarctic to tropical forests for their potential biogenic weathering and its drivers. To address biogenic weathering rates, we installed mineral mesocosms only accessible for bacteria and fungi for up to 4 years, which contained freshly broken and defined nutrient-baring minerals in soil A horizons of ecosystems along a gradient of soil development differing in climate and plant species communities. Alterations of the buried minerals were analyzed by grid-intersection, confocal lascer scanning microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy on the surface and on thin sections. On selected sites, carbon fluxes were tracked by 13C labeling, and microbial community was identified by DNA sequencing. In young ecosystems (protosoils) biogenic weathering is almost absent and starts after first carbon accumulation by aeolian (later litter) inputs and is mainly performed by bacteria. With ongoing soil development and appearance of symbiotic (mycorrhized) plants, nutrient availability in soil increasingly drove biogenic weathering, and fungi became the far more important players than bacteria. We found a close relation between fungal biogenic weathering and available potassium across all 16 forested sites in the study, regardless of the dominant mycorrhiza type (AM or EM), climate, and plant-species composition. We conclude that nutrient limitations at ecosystem scale are generally counteracted by adapted fungal biogenic weathering. The close relation between fungal weathering and plant-available nutrients over a large range of severely contrasting ecosystems points towards a direct energetic support of these weathering processes by the photoautotrophic community, making biogenic weathering a

The Relationship between Weather and Lunar Changes on Student Achievement and Measures School Districts Utilize to Combat Potential Impact

Science.gov (United States)

Stuart, Kendra

2013-01-01

Classroom disruptions present an obstacle to raising student achievement for teachers and school administrators. This study was designed to investigate potential relationships between weather, specifically barometric pressure, or the lunar cycle, and whether either had a direct correlation with student discipline referrals. The intent was to…

1, 2, 3 ... FAIR !

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sturm, C.; Sharkov, B.; Stoecker, H.

2010-01-01

The Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research FAIR at Darmstadt/Germany will provide worldwide unique accelerator and experimental facilities allowing for a large variety of unprecedented forefront research in hadron, nuclear, atomic and plasma physics and applied sciences. The start version of FAIR, the so called Modularized Start Version includes a basic accelerator as well as three experimental modules - 1, 2, 3 FAIR!

Physics at FAIR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chattopadhyay, Subhasis

2014-01-01

The Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) is under construction at Darmstadt, Germany. It will deliver high intensity beams of ions and antiprotons for experiments in the fields of atomic physics, plasma physics, nuclear physics, hadron physics, nuclear matter physics, material physics and biophysics. One of the scientific pillars of FAIR is the Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment which is designed for the study of high density nuclear matter as it exists in the core of neutron stars. In this article the scientific program of FAIR will be reviewed with emphasis on the CBM experiment

Potential for intensive volunteering to promote the health of older adults in fair health.

Science.gov (United States)

Barron, Jeremy S; Tan, Erwin J; Yu, Qilu; Song, Meilin; McGill, Sylvia; Fried, Linda P

2009-07-01

Volunteer service opportunities for older adults may soon be expanded. Although volunteering is thought to provide health benefits for healthier older adults, it is not known whether older adults in less than very good health are suitable candidates for high-intensity volunteering and can derive health benefits. This manuscript presents a prospective analysis of 174 older adult volunteers serving in Experience Corps Baltimore, a high-intensity senior volunteer program in Baltimore, Maryland. Volunteers served > or =15 h per week, for a full school year, in elementary schools helping children with reading and other skills between 1999 and 2002. Volunteers were assessed with standardized questionnaires and performance-based testing including grip strength, walking speed, chair stand speed, and stair-climbing speed prior to school volunteering and at the end of the school year. Results were stratified by health status. Among 174 volunteers, 55% initially reported "good" and 12% "fair" or "poor" health status. At baseline, those in fair health reported higher frequencies of disease and disability than volunteers in excellent or very good health. After volunteering, a majority of volunteers in every baseline health status category described increased strength and energy. Those in fair health were significantly more likely to display improved stair-climbing speed than those in good or excellent/very good health (100.0% vs. 53.4% vs. 37.5%, p = 0.05), and many showed clinically significant increases in walking speed of >0.5 m/s. Satisfaction and retention rates were high for all health status groups. Clinicians should consider whether their patients in fair or good health, as well as those in better health, might benefit from high-intensity volunteer programs. Productive activity such as volunteering may be an effective community-based approach to health promotion for older adults.

Changes in fire weather distributions: effects on predicted fire behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Lucy A. Salazar; Larry S. Bradshaw

1984-01-01

Data that represent average worst fire weather for a particular area are used to index daily fire danger; however, they do not account for different locations or diurnal weather changes that significantly affect fire behavior potential. To study the effects that selected changes in weather databases have on computed fire behavior parameters, weather data for the...

Typhoon impacts on chemical weathering source provenance of a High Standing Island watershed, Taiwan

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Kevin J.; Carey, Anne E.; You, Chen-Feng

2017-10-01

Chemical weathering source provenance changes associated with Typhoon Mindulle (2004) were identified for the Choshui River Watershed in west-central Taiwan using radiogenic Sr isotope (87Sr/86Sr) and major ion chemistry analysis of water samples collected before, during, and following the storm event. Storm water sampling over 72 h was conducted in 3 h intervals, allowing for novel insight into weathering regime changes in response to intense rainfall events. Chemical weathering sources were determined to be bulk silicate and disseminated carbonate minerals at the surface and silicate contributions from deep thermal waters. Loss on ignition analysis of collected rock samples indicate disseminated carbonate can compose over 25% by weight of surface mineralogy, but typically makes up ∼2-3% of watershed rock. 87Sr/86Sr and major element molar ratios indicate that Typhoon Mindulle caused a weathering regime switch from normal flow incorporating a deep thermal signature to that of a system dominated by surface weathering. The data suggest release of silicate solute rich soil pore waters during storm events, creating a greater relative contribution of silicate weathering to the solute load during periods of increased precipitation and runoff. Partial depletion of this soil solute reservoir and possible erosion enhanced carbonate weathering lead to increased importance of carbonates to the weathering regime as the storm continues. Major ion data indicate that complex mica weathering (muscovite, biotite, illite, chlorite) may represent an important silicate weathering pathway in the watershed. Deep thermal waters represent an important contribution to river solutes during normal non-storm flow conditions. Sulfuric acid sourced from pyrite weathering is likely a major weathering agent in the Choshui River watershed.

WEATHER DERIVATIVES: THE MOST COMMON PRICING AND VALUATION METHODS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Botos Horia Mircea

2013-07-01

Full Text Available In recent years , weather derivatives have become a common tool in risk management for many sectors. This has its roots in that there is no unique way to determine de value and price solutions that would be generally approved by market-participants, like in the case of the Black-Scholes formula for options on non-dividend-paying stocks is the source for a constant debate between academics and practitioners. One look for fair and truly correct prices, while the others search every-day applicable solutions. To be honest... this is somehow like alchemy. This paper has as purpose the examination of statistical characteristics of weather data, data clearing and filling techniques. The study will be referring to temperatures because that is the best analyzed phenomenon, being the most common. This was also heavily influenced by energy companies and energetic interests, because the degree days were of interest ever before weather derivatives were put for sale. Main ideas are explaining what ways of pricing and valuation are, put into perspective for this financial instrument, taking into consideration that the Black-Scholes Model is not suitable. Also here, we will present the pros and cons that we found for each method. The methods are: the Burn analysis, the index value simulation method (IVSM, the daily simulation method (DSM.On the hole, this paper wants to shed light the weather derivatives pricing methods a mix of insurance pricing and standard financial models. At the end we will prospect the discounting problem, by means of the Consumption based Capital Asset Pricing Model (CCAPM.

SEARCHING FOR THE FAIR STORY BEHIND FAIR VALUE FOR FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bonaci Carmen Giorgiana

2009-05-01

Full Text Available Our paper aims at telling the whole story where fair value accounting is concerned. Harsh criticism has been brought to this concept under current circumstances that motivated out research. Without arguing for fair value as something it is not, we briefly

Fairness, fast and slow: A review of dual process models of fairness.

Science.gov (United States)

Hallsson, Bjørn G; Siebner, Hartwig R; Hulme, Oliver J

2018-06-01

Fairness, the notion that people deserve or have rights to certain resources or kinds of treatment, is a fundamental dimension of moral cognition. Drawing on recent evidence from economics, psychology, and neuroscience, we ask whether self-interest is always intuitive, requiring self-control to override with reasoning-based fairness concerns, or whether fairness itself can be intuitive. While we find strong support for rejecting the notion that self-interest is always intuitive, the literature has reached conflicting conclusions about the neurocognitive systems underpinning fairness. We propose that this disagreement can largely be resolved in light of an extended Social Heuristics Hypothesis. Divergent findings may be attributed to the interpretation of behavioral effects of ego depletion or neurostimulation, reverse inference from brain activity to the underlying psychological process, and insensitivity to social context and inter-individual differences. To better dissect the neurobiological basis of fairness, we outline how future research should embrace cross-disciplinary methods that combine psychological manipulations with neuroimaging, and that can probe inter-individual, and cultural heterogeneities. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Solar Atmosphere to Earth's Surface: Long Lead Time dB/dt Predictions with the Space Weather Modeling Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Welling, D. T.; Manchester, W.; Savani, N.; Sokolov, I.; van der Holst, B.; Jin, M.; Toth, G.; Liemohn, M. W.; Gombosi, T. I.

2017-12-01

The future of space weather prediction depends on the community's ability to predict L1 values from observations of the solar atmosphere, which can yield hours of lead time. While both empirical and physics-based L1 forecast methods exist, it is not yet known if this nascent capability can translate to skilled dB/dt forecasts at the Earth's surface. This paper shows results for the first forecast-quality, solar-atmosphere-to-Earth's-surface dB/dt predictions. Two methods are used to predict solar wind and IMF conditions at L1 for several real-world coronal mass ejection events. The first method is an empirical and observationally based system to estimate the plasma characteristics. The magnetic field predictions are based on the Bz4Cast system which assumes that the CME has a cylindrical flux rope geometry locally around Earth's trajectory. The remaining plasma parameters of density, temperature and velocity are estimated from white-light coronagraphs via a variety of triangulation methods and forward based modelling. The second is a first-principles-based approach that combines the Eruptive Event Generator using Gibson-Low configuration (EEGGL) model with the Alfven Wave Solar Model (AWSoM). EEGGL specifies parameters for the Gibson-Low flux rope such that it erupts, driving a CME in the coronal model that reproduces coronagraph observations and propagates to 1AU. The resulting solar wind predictions are used to drive the operational Space Weather Modeling Framework (SWMF) for geospace. Following the configuration used by NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, this setup couples the BATS-R-US global magnetohydromagnetic model to the Rice Convection Model (RCM) ring current model and a height-integrated ionosphere electrodynamics model. The long lead time predictions of dB/dt are compared to model results that are driven by L1 solar wind observations. Both are compared to real-world observations from surface magnetometers at a variety of geomagnetic latitudes

Frequency response in surface-potential driven electrohydrodynamics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ejsing, Louise Wellendorph; Smistrup, Kristian; Pedersen, Christian Møller

2006-01-01

Using a Fourier approach we offer a general solution to calculations of slip velocity within the circuit description of the electrohydrodynamics in a binary electrolyte confined by a plane surface with a modulated surface potential. We consider the case with a spatially constant intrinsic surface...... capacitance where the net flow rate is, in general, zero while harmonic rolls as well as time-averaged vortexlike components may exist depending on the spatial symmetry and extension of the surface potential. In general, the system displays a resonance behavior at a frequency corresponding to the inverse RC...

Fairness is intuitive

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cappelen, Alexander W.; Panton, Ulrik Haagen; Tungodden, Bertil

2016-01-01

In this paper we provide new evidence showing that fair behavior is intuitive to most people. We find a strong association between a short response time and fair behavior in the dictator game. This association is robust to controls that take account of the fact that response time might be affected...

Impact of Weather and Occupancy on Energy Flexibility Potential of a Low-energy Building

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zilio, Emanuele; Foteinaki, Kyriaki; Gianniou, Panagiota

The introduction of renewable energy sources in the energy market leads to instability of the energy system itself; therefore, new solutions to increase its flexibility will become more common in the coming years. In this context the implementation of energy flexibility in buildings is evaluated...... solar radiation and the outdoor temperature appeared to have the larger impact on the thermal flexibility of the building. Specifically, the energy flexibility potential of the examined apartment can ensure its thermal autonomy up to 200 h in a typical sunny winter day......., using heat storage in the building mass. This study focuses on the influence of weather conditions and internal gains on the energy flexibility potential of a nearly-zero-energy building in Denmark. A specific six hours heating program is used to reach the scope. The main findings showed that the direct...

Potentials of surfaces in space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Whipple, E.C.

1981-01-01

The potential of a body in space is determined by a balance between various charging currents such as the transfer of charge from plasma particles, photoemission, and secondary electron emission. These processes are evaluated for bodies in the solar system and in interstellar space under the headings; an overview of charging, survey of early work on charging, charging processes, effects of non-isotropic plasmas and magnetic and electric fields, calculation of surface potentials, differential charging, potential barriers and discharge processes, measurements of potential, potential modification and control on spacecraft, and astrophysical applications. (U.K.)

Children develop a veil of fairness.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaw, Alex; Montinari, Natalia; Piovesan, Marco; Olson, Kristina R; Gino, Francesca; Norton, Michael I

2014-02-01

Previous research suggests that children develop an increasing concern with fairness over the course of development. Research with adults suggests that the concern with fairness has at least 2 distinct components: a desire to be fair and a desire to signal to others that they are fair. We explore whether children's developing concern with behaving fairly toward others may in part reflect a developing concern with appearing fair to others. In Experiments 1 and 2, most 6- to 8-year-old children behaved fairly toward others when an experimenter was aware of their choices; fewer children opted to behave fairly, however, when they could be unfair to others yet appear fair to the experimenter. In Experiment 3, we explored the development of this concern with appearing fair by using a wider age range (6- to 11-year-olds) and a different method. In this experiment, children chose how to assign a good or bad prize to themselves and another participant by either unilaterally deciding who would get each prize or using a fair procedure--flipping a coin in private. Older children were much more likely to flip the coin than younger children, yet were just as likely as younger children to assign themselves the good prize by reporting winning the coin flip more than chance would dictate. Overall, the results of these experiments suggest that as children grow older they become increasingly concerned with appearing fair to others, which may explain some of their increased tendency to behave fairly.

Meteorite Fall Detection and Analysis via Weather Radar: Worldwide Potential for Citizen Science

Science.gov (United States)

Fries, M.; Bresky, C.; Laird, C.; Reddy, V.; Hankey, M.

2017-12-01

Meteorite falls can be detected using weather radars, facilitating rapid recovery of meteorites to minimize terrestrial alteration. Imagery from the US NEXRAD radar network reveals over two dozen meteorite falls where meteorites have been recovered, and about another dozen that remain unrecovered. Discovery of new meteorite falls is well suited to "citizen science" and similar outreach activities, as well as automation of computational components into internet-based search tools. Also, there are many more weather radars employed worldwide than those in the US NEXRAD system. Utilization of weather radars worldwide for meteorite recovery can not only expand citizen science opportunities but can also lead to significant improvement in the number of freshly-fallen meteorites available for research. We will discuss the methodologies behind locating and analyzing meteorite falls using weather radar, and how to make them available for citizen science efforts. An important example is the Aquarius Project, a Chicago-area consortium recently formed with the goal of recovering meteorites from Lake Michigan. This project has extensive student involvement geared toward development of actual hardware for recovering meteorites from the lake floor. Those meteorites were identified in weather radar imagery as they fell into the lake from a large meteor on 06 Feb 2017. Another example of public interaction is the meteor detection systems operated by the American Meteor Society (AMS). The AMS website has been developed to allow public reporting of meteors, effectively enabling citizen science to locate and describe significant meteor events worldwide.

Detecting weather radar clutter using satellite-based nowcasting products

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Thomas B.S.; Gill, Rashpal S.; Overgaard, Søren

2006-01-01

This contribution presents the initial results from experiments with detection of weather radar clutter by information fusion with satellite based nowcasting products. Previous studies using information fusion of weather radar data and first generation Meteosat imagery have shown promising results...... for the detecting and removal of clutter. Naturally, the improved spatio-temporal resolution of the Meteosat Second Generation sensors, coupled with its increased number of spectral bands, is expected to yield even better detection accuracies. Weather radar data from three C-band Doppler weather radars...... Application Facility' of EUMETSAT and is based on multispectral images from the SEVIRI sensor of the Meteosat-8 platform. Of special interest is the 'Precipitating Clouds' product, which uses the spectral information coupled with surface temperatures from Numerical Weather Predictions to assign probabilities...

FAIR-share

CERN Multimedia

2009-01-01

Twenty-seven engineers involved in the FAIR project in Germany recently spent three days at CERN. The purpose of their visit: tour ALICE and meet with CERN engineers. This marks the start of a close cooperation. The FAIR project engineers and their CERN counterparts.If you want to build a new particle accelerator and wish to benefit from existing expertise, who do you go to see? Well… why not go straight to CERN? That’s what this group of 27 engineers did. They are working on a new accelerator project, the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR), to be built at the heavy-ion research centre GSI located near Darmstadt, Germany. Representing a variety of disciplines, from manufacturing to architecture, they will be responsible for making the project a reality. The visit was organised from 14-16 October, making it possible to include a tour of the ALICE experiment prior to the re-start of the LHC. However, the main goal was ...

Utilization of Live Localized Weather Information for Sustainable Agriculture

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, J.; Usher, J.

2010-09-01

Authors: Jim Anderson VP, Global Network and Business Development WeatherBug® Professional Jeremy Usher Managing Director, Europe WeatherBug® Professional Localized, real-time weather information is vital for day-to-day agronomic management of all crops. The challenge for agriculture is twofold in that local and timely weather data is not often available for producers and farmers, and it is not integrated into decision-support tools they require. Many of the traditional sources of weather information are not sufficient for agricultural applications because of the long distances between weather stations, meaning the data is not always applicable for on-farm decision making processes. The second constraint with traditional weather information is the timeliness of the data. Most delivery systems are designed on a one-hour time step, whereas many decisions in agriculture are based on minute-by-minute weather conditions. This is especially true for decisions surrounding chemical and fertilizer application and frost events. This presentation will outline how the creation of an agricultural mesonet (weather network) can enable producers and farmers with live, local weather information from weather stations installed in farm/field locations. The live weather information collected from each weather station is integrated into a web-enabled decision support tool, supporting numerous on-farm agronomic activities such as pest management, or dealing with heavy rainfall and frost events. Agronomic models can be used to assess the potential of disease pressure, enhance the farmer's abilities to time pesticide applications, or assess conditions contributing to yield and quality fluctuations. Farmers and industry stakeholders may also view quality-assured historical weather variables at any location. This serves as a record-management tool for viewing previously uncharted agronomic weather events in graph or table form. This set of weather tools is unique and provides a

Fairness, fast and slow: A review of dual process models of fairness

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hallsson, Bjørn Gunnar; Hulme, Oliver; Siebner, Hartwig Roman

2018-01-01

-control to override with reasoning-based fairness concerns, or whether fairness itself can be intuitive. While we find strong support for rejecting the notion that self-interest is always intuitive, the literature has reached conflicting conclusions about the neurocognitive systems underpinning fairness. We propose...... that this disagreement can largely be resolved in light of an extended Social Heuristics Hypothesis. Divergent findings may be attributed to the interpretation of behavioral effects of ego depletion or neurostimulation, reverse inference from brain activity to the underlying psychological process, and insensitivity...

Electrical signature in polar night cloud base variations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harrison, R Giles; Ambaum, Maarten H P

2013-01-01

Layer clouds are globally extensive. Their lower edges are charged negatively by the fair weather atmospheric electricity current flowing vertically through them. Using polar winter surface meteorological data from Sodankylä (Finland) and Halley (Antarctica), we find that when meteorological diurnal variations are weak, an appreciable diurnal cycle, on average, persists in the cloud base heights, detected using a laser ceilometer. The diurnal cloud base heights from both sites correlate more closely with the Carnegie curve of global atmospheric electricity than with local meteorological measurements. The cloud base sensitivities are indistinguishable between the northern and southern hemispheres, averaging a (4.0 ± 0.5) m rise for a 1% change in the fair weather electric current density. This suggests that the global fair weather current, which is affected by space weather, cosmic rays and the El Niño Southern Oscillation, is linked with layer cloud properties. (letter)

Relationships between CO2, thermodynamic limits on silicate weathering, and the strength of the silicate weathering feedback

Science.gov (United States)

Winnick, Matthew J.; Maher, Kate

2018-03-01

Recent studies have suggested that thermodynamic limitations on chemical weathering rates exert a first-order control on riverine solute fluxes and by extension, global chemical weathering rates. As such, these limitations may play a prominent role in the regulation of carbon dioxide levels (pCO2) over geologic timescales by constraining the maximum global weathering flux. In this study, we develop a theoretical scaling relationship between equilibrium solute concentrations and pCO2 based on equilibrium constants and reaction stoichiometry relating primary mineral dissolution and secondary mineral precipitation. We test this theoretical scaling relationship against reactive transport simulations of chemical weathering profiles under open- and closed-system conditions, representing partially and fully water-saturated regolith, respectively. Under open-system conditions, equilibrium bicarbonate concentrations vary as a power-law function of pCO2 (y = kxn) where n is dependent on reaction stoichiometry and k is dependent on both reaction stoichiometry and the equilibrium constant. Under closed-system conditions, bicarbonate concentrations vary linearly with pCO2 at low values and approach open-system scaling at high pCO2. To describe the potential role of thermodynamic limitations in the global silicate weathering feedback, we develop a new mathematical framework to assess weathering feedback strength in terms of both (1) steady-state atmospheric pCO2 concentrations, and (2) susceptibility to secular changes in degassing rates and transient carbon cycle perturbations, which we term 1st and 2nd order feedback strength, respectively. Finally, we discuss the implications of these results for the effects of vascular land plant evolution on feedback strength, the potential role of vegetation in controlling modern solute fluxes, and the application of these frameworks to a more complete functional description of the silicate weathering feedback. Most notably, the dependence

Potential photosynthesis of crop surfaces.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wit, de C.T.

1959-01-01

A formula for calculating the potential photosynthesis of a closed crop surface is proposed, assuming that the leaves of the crop are not arranged in any definite direction. In the Netherlands, values for potential photosynthesis vary from 290 kg. CH2O/ha./day in June to 50 kg./ha./day in December.

Impact of weathering on slope stability in soft rock mass

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Predrag Miščević

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Weathering of soft rocks is usually considered as an important factor in various fields such as geology, engineering geology, mineralogy, soil and rock mechanics, and geomorphology. The problem of stability over time should be considered for slopes excavated in soft rocks, in case they are not protected against weathering processes. In addition to disintegration of material on slope surface, the weathering also results in shear strength reduction in the interior of the slope. Principal processes in association with weathering are discussed with the examples of marl hosted on flysch formations near Split, Croatia.

Experimental Simulation of Long Term Weathering in Alkaline Bauxite Residue Tailings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Talitha C. Santini

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Bauxite residue is an alkaline, saline tailings material generated as a byproduct of the Bayer process used for alumina refining. Developing effective plans for the long term management of potential environmental impacts associated with storage of these tailings is dependent on understanding how the chemical and mineralogical properties of the tailings will change during weathering and transformation into a soil-like material. Hydrothermal treatment of bauxite residue was used to compress geological weathering timescales and examine potential mineral transformations during weathering. Gibbsite was rapidly converted to boehmite; this transformation was examined with in situ synchrotron XRD. Goethite, hematite, and calcite all precipitated over longer weathering timeframes, while tricalcium aluminate dissolved. pH, total alkalinity, and salinity (electrical conductivity all decreased during weathering despite these experiments being performed under “closed” conditions (i.e., no leaching. This indicates the potential for auto-attenuation of the high alkalinity and salinity that presents challenges for long term environmental management, and suggests that management requirements will decrease during weathering as a result of these mineral transformations.

Biotite weathering in a natural forest setting near Derome, Sweden

Science.gov (United States)

Balogh-Brunstad, Z.; Negrich, K.; Hassenkam, T.; Wallander, H.; Stipp, S. L.

2011-12-01

Chemical weathering is a key process in non-nitrogen nutrient acquisition by microbes, fungi and plants. Biotite is commonly the major source of potassium, magnesium and iron. A unique opportunity arose to study natural weathering of biotite by mixed conifer and hardwood forest vegetation and associated microbes and fungi at an abandoned mine site. After the mining stopped over 30 years ago biotite was left behind in piles and the forest vegetation progressively colonized the site. Samples were collected from the top 40 cm of the biotite piles in a vicinity of pine, spruce and birch trees and included some young seedlings. Macroscopic observations documented abundant hyphal growth between the sheets of biotite. We hypothesized that fungal hyphae grow between the sheets to explore the nutrient source and weather the biotite leaving hyphal-sized etched channels on the basal surfaces. Biotite surfaces were examined with atomic force microscopy (AFM) and environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) in their natural state and after removing the biological material from the mineral surfaces. The ESEM images show extensive hyphal colonization and patchy biofilm cover of the entire biotite surface on and within the sheets and at the edges of the particles. Fungal hyphae did not attach strongly to the basal surfaces of the biotite flakes as a result of small particles on the surfaces and the uneven micro-topography. The AFM images illustrate a complex microbial community around the fungal hyphae and detailed fungal morphology. High resolution AFM images show unique globular features of diameter 10-100 nm on all biofilm surfaces. However, removal of the biological material resulted in smooth and un-etched surfaces indicating that either our removal techniques are too invasive and destroy the surface layers of interest, or the etching of the basal surface is not the main mechanism for chemical weathering and base-cation nutrient immobilization in this natural setting

Quantifying nutrient uptake as driver of rock weathering in forest ecosystems by magnesium stable isotopes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Uhlig

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Plants and soil microbiota play an active role in rock weathering and potentially couple weathering at depth with erosion at the soil surface. The nature of this coupling is still unresolved because we lacked means to quantify the passage of chemical elements from rock through higher plants. In a temperate forested landscape characterised by relatively fast (∼ 220 t km−2 yr−1 denudation and a kinetically limited weathering regime of the Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory (SSCZO, California, we measured magnesium (Mg stable isotopes that are sensitive indicators of Mg utilisation by biota. We find that Mg is highly bio-utilised: 50–100 % of the Mg released by chemical weathering is taken up by forest trees. To estimate the tree uptake of other bio-utilised elements (K, Ca, P and Si we compared the dissolved fluxes of these elements and Mg in rivers with their solubilisation fluxes from rock (rock dissolution flux minus secondary mineral formation flux. We find a deficit in the dissolved fluxes throughout, which we attribute to the nutrient uptake by forest trees. Therefore both the Mg isotopes and the flux comparison suggest that a substantial part of the major element weathering flux is consumed by the tree biomass. The enrichment of 26Mg over 24Mg in tree trunks relative to leaves suggests that tree trunks account for a substantial fraction of the net uptake of Mg. This isotopic and elemental compartment separation is prevented from obliteration (which would occur by Mg redissolution by two potential effects. Either the mineral nutrients accumulate today in regrowing forest biomass after clear cutting, or they are exported in litter and coarse woody debris (CWD such that they remain in solid biomass. Over pre-forest-management weathering timescales, this removal flux might have been in operation in the form of natural erosion of CWD. Regardless of the removal mechanism, our approach provides entirely novel means towards

Quantifying nutrient uptake as driver of rock weathering in forest ecosystems by magnesium stable isotopes

Science.gov (United States)

Uhlig, David; Schuessler, Jan A.; Bouchez, Julien; Dixon, Jean L.; von Blanckenburg, Friedhelm

2017-06-01

Plants and soil microbiota play an active role in rock weathering and potentially couple weathering at depth with erosion at the soil surface. The nature of this coupling is still unresolved because we lacked means to quantify the passage of chemical elements from rock through higher plants. In a temperate forested landscape characterised by relatively fast (˜ 220 t km-2 yr-1) denudation and a kinetically limited weathering regime of the Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory (SSCZO), California, we measured magnesium (Mg) stable isotopes that are sensitive indicators of Mg utilisation by biota. We find that Mg is highly bio-utilised: 50-100 % of the Mg released by chemical weathering is taken up by forest trees. To estimate the tree uptake of other bio-utilised elements (K, Ca, P and Si) we compared the dissolved fluxes of these elements and Mg in rivers with their solubilisation fluxes from rock (rock dissolution flux minus secondary mineral formation flux). We find a deficit in the dissolved fluxes throughout, which we attribute to the nutrient uptake by forest trees. Therefore both the Mg isotopes and the flux comparison suggest that a substantial part of the major element weathering flux is consumed by the tree biomass. The enrichment of 26Mg over 24Mg in tree trunks relative to leaves suggests that tree trunks account for a substantial fraction of the net uptake of Mg. This isotopic and elemental compartment separation is prevented from obliteration (which would occur by Mg redissolution) by two potential effects. Either the mineral nutrients accumulate today in regrowing forest biomass after clear cutting, or they are exported in litter and coarse woody debris (CWD) such that they remain in solid biomass. Over pre-forest-management weathering timescales, this removal flux might have been in operation in the form of natural erosion of CWD. Regardless of the removal mechanism, our approach provides entirely novel means towards the direct quantification of

Communicating space weather to policymakers and the wider public

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira, Bárbara

2014-05-01

As a natural hazard, space weather has the potential to affect space- and ground-based technological systems and cause harm to human health. As such, it is important to properly communicate this topic to policymakers and the general public alike, informing them (without being unnecessarily alarmist) about the potential impact of space-weather phenomena and how these can be monitored and mitigated. On the other hand, space weather is related to interesting phenomena on the Sun such as coronal-mass ejections, and incorporates one of the most beautiful displays in the Earth and its nearby space environment: aurora. These exciting and fascinating aspects of space weather should be cultivated when communicating this topic to the wider public, particularly to younger audiences. Researchers have a key role to play in communicating space weather to both policymakers and the wider public. Space scientists should have an active role in informing policy decisions on space-weather monitoring and forecasting, for example. And they can exercise their communication skills by talking about space weather to school children and the public in general. This presentation will focus on ways to communicate space weather to wider audiences, particularly policymakers. It will also address the role researchers can play in this activity to help bridge the gap between the space science community and the public.

WEATHER INDEX- THE BASIS OF WEATHER DERIVATIVES

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Botos Horia Mircea

2011-07-01

Full Text Available This paper approaches the subject of Weather Derivatives, more exactly their basic element the weather index. The weather index has two forms, the Heating Degree Day (HDD and the Cooling Degree Day (CDD. We will try to explain their origin, use and the relationship between the two forms of the index. In our research we started from the analysis of the weather derivatives and what they are based on. After finding out about weather index, we were interested in understanding exactly how they work and how they influence the value of the contract. On the national level the research in the field is scares, but foreign materials available. The study for this paper was based firstly on reading about Weather Derivative, and then going in the meteorogical field and determining the way by which the indices were determined. After this, we went to the field with interest in the indices, such as the energy and gas industries, and figured out how they determined the weather index. For the examples we obtained data from the weather index database, and calculated the value for the period. The study is made on a period of five years, in 8 cities of the European Union. The result of this research is that we can now understand better the importance of the way the indices work and how they influence the value of the Weather Derivatives. This research has an implication on the field of insurance, because of the fact that weather derivative are at the convergence point of the stock markets and the insurance market. The originality of the paper comes from the personal touch given to the theoretical aspect and through the analysis of the HDD and CDD index in order to show their general behaviour and relationship.

Negative incidental emotions augment fairness sensitivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Cuizhen; Chai, Jing Wen; Yu, Rongjun

2016-04-22

Previous studies have shown that task-unrelated emotions induced incidentally exert carryover effects on individuals' subsequent decisions in financial negotiations. However, the specificity of these emotion effects are not clear. In three experiments, we systematically investigated the role of seven transiently induced basic emotions (disgust, sadness, anger, fear, happiness, surprise and neutral) on rejection of unfair offers using the ultimatum game. We found that all negative emotions (disgust, sadness, anger and fear), but not happiness or surprise, significantly increased rejection rates, suggesting that the effect of incidental negative emotions on fairness is not specific to the type of negative emotion. Our findings highlight the role of fleeting emotions in biasing decision-making processes and suggest that all incidental negative emotions exert similar effects on fairness sensitivity, possibly by potentiating attention towards negative aspects of the situation.

Kinetically limited weathering at low denudation rates in semi-arid climates

Science.gov (United States)

Vanacker, V.; Schoonejans, J.; Opfergelt, S.; Ameijeiras-Marino, Y.; Christl, M.

2016-12-01

On Earth, the Critical Zone supports terrestrial life, being the near-surface environment where interactions between the atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere take place Quantitative understanding of the interaction between mechanical rock breakdown, chemical weathering, and physical erosion is essential for unraveling Earth's biogeochemical cycles. In this study, we explore the role of soil water balance on regulating soil chemical weathering under water deficit regimes. Weathering rates and intensities were evaluated for nine soil profiles located on convex ridge crests of three mountain ranges in the Spanish Betic Cordillera. We present and compare quantitative information on soil weathering, chemical depletion and total denudation that were derived based on geochemical mass balance, 10Be cosmogenic nuclides and U-series disequilibria. Soil production rates determined based on U-series isotopes (238U, 234U, 230Th and 226Ra) are of the same order of magnitude as 10Be-derived denudation rates, suggesting steady state soil thickness, in two out of three sampling sites. The chemical weathering intensities are relatively low (˜5 to 30% of the total denudation of the soil) and negatively correlated with the magnitude of the water deficit in soils. Soil weathering extents increase (nonlinearly) with soil thickness and decrease with increasing surface denudation rates, consistent with kinetically limited or controlled weathering. Our study suggests that soil residence time and water availability limit weathering processes in semi-arid climates, which has not been validated previously with field data. An important implication of this finding is that climatic regimes may strongly regulate soil weathering by modulating soil solute fluxes.

THE WEATHERING OF A SULFIDE OREBODY: SPECIATION AND FATE OF SOME POTENTIAL CONTAMINANTS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Courtin-Nomade, Alexandra; Grosbois, Cecile; Marcus, Matthew A.; Fakra, Sirine C.; Beny, Jean Michel; Foster, Andrea L.

2010-07-16

Various potentially toxic trace elements such as As, Cu, Pb and Zn have been remobilized by the weathering of a sulfide orebody that was only partially mined at Leona Heights, California. As a result, this body has both natural and anthropogenically modified weathering profiles only 500 m apart. The orebody is located in a heavily urbanized area in suburban Oakland, and directly affects water quality in at least one stream by producing acidic conditions and relatively high concentrations of dissolved elements (e.g., {approx}500 mg/L Cu, {approx}3700 mg/L Zn). Micrometric-scale mineralogical investigations were performed on the authigenic metal-bearing phases (less than 10 {mu}m in size) using electron-probe micro-analysis (EPMA), micro-Raman, micro X-ray absorption spectroscopy (mXAS), scanning X-ray diffraction (mSXRD) and scanning X-ray fluorescence (mSXRF) mapping techniques. Those measurements were coupled with classical mineralogical laboratory techniques, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Authigenic metal-bearing phases identified are mainly sulfates (jarosite, epsomite, schwertmannite), Fe (oxy-)hydroxides (goethite, hematite and poorly crystalline Fe products) and poorly crystalline Mn (hydr-)oxides. Sulfates and Fe (oxy-)hydroxides are the two main secondary products at both sites, whereas Mn (hydr-) oxides were only observed in the samples from the non-mining site. In these samples, the various trace elements show different affinities for Fe or Mn compounds. Lead is preferentially associated with Mn (hydr-)oxides and As with Fe (oxy-)hydroxides or sulfates. Copper association with Mn and Fe phases is questionable, and the results obtained rather indicate that Cu is present as individual Cu-rich grains (Cu hydroxides). Some ochreous precipitates were found at both sites and correspond to a mixture of schwertmannite, goethite and jarosite containing some potentially toxic trace elements such as Cu, Pb and Zn. According to the

Adaptation of Mesoscale Weather Models to Local Forecasting

Science.gov (United States)

Manobianco, John T.; Taylor, Gregory E.; Case, Jonathan L.; Dianic, Allan V.; Wheeler, Mark W.; Zack, John W.; Nutter, Paul A.

2003-01-01

Methodologies have been developed for (1) configuring mesoscale numerical weather-prediction models for execution on high-performance computer workstations to make short-range weather forecasts for the vicinity of the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) and (2) evaluating the performances of the models as configured. These methodologies have been implemented as part of a continuing effort to improve weather forecasting in support of operations of the U.S. space program. The models, methodologies, and results of the evaluations also have potential value for commercial users who could benefit from tailoring their operations and/or marketing strategies based on accurate predictions of local weather. More specifically, the purpose of developing the methodologies for configuring the models to run on computers at KSC and CCAFS is to provide accurate forecasts of winds, temperature, and such specific thunderstorm-related phenomena as lightning and precipitation. The purpose of developing the evaluation methodologies is to maximize the utility of the models by providing users with assessments of the capabilities and limitations of the models. The models used in this effort thus far include the Mesoscale Atmospheric Simulation System (MASS), the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS), and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction Eta Model ( Eta for short). The configuration of the MASS and RAMS is designed to run the models at very high spatial resolution and incorporate local data to resolve fine-scale weather features. Model preprocessors were modified to incorporate surface, ship, buoy, and rawinsonde data as well as data from local wind towers, wind profilers, and conventional or Doppler radars. The overall evaluation of the MASS, Eta, and RAMS was designed to assess the utility of these mesoscale models for satisfying the weather-forecasting needs of the U.S. space program. The evaluation methodology includes

Justice- and fairness-related behaviors in nonhuman primates.

Science.gov (United States)

Brosnan, Sarah F

2013-06-18

A distinctive feature across human societies is our interest in justice and fairness. People will sometimes invest in extremely costly behavior to achieve fair outcomes for themselves and others. Why do people care so much about justice? One way to address this is comparatively, exploring behaviors related to justice and fairness in other species. In this paper, I review work exploring responses to inequity, prosocial behavior, and other relevant behaviors in nonhuman primates in an effort to understand both the potential evolutionary function of these behaviors and the social and ecological reasons for the individual differences in behavior. I also consider how these behaviors relate to human behavior, particularly in the case of experimental studies using games derived from experimental economics to compare nonhuman primates' responses to those of humans in similar experimental conditions. These results emphasize the importance of a comparative approach to better understand the function and diversity of human behavior.

The FAIR proton linac

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kester, O.

2015-01-01

FAIR - the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research in Europe - constructed at GSI in Darmstadt comprises an international centre of heavy ion accelerators that will drive heavy ion and antimatter research. FAIR will provide worldwide unique accelerator and experimental facilities, allowing a large variety of fore-front research in physics and applied science. FAIR will deliver antiproton and ion beams of unprecedented intensities and qualities. The main part of the FAIR facility is a sophisticated accelerator system, which delivers beams to different experiments of the FAIR experimental collaborations - APPA, NuSTAR, CBM and PANDA - in parallel. Modern H-type cavities offer highest shunt impedances of resonant structures of heavy ion linacs at low beam energies < 20 MeV/u and enable the acceleration of intense proton and ion beams. One example is the interdigital H-type structure. The crossed-bar H-cavities extend these properties to high energies even beyond 100 MeV/u. Compared to conventional Alvarez cavities, these crossed-bar (CH) cavities feature much higher shunt impedance at low energies. The design of the proton linac is based on those cavities

Successfully Transitioning Science Research to Space Weather Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Spann, James

2012-01-01

The awareness of potentially significant impacts of space weather on spaceand ground ]based technological systems has generated a strong desire in many sectors of government and industry to effectively transform knowledge and understanding of the variable space environment into useful tools and applications for use by those entities responsible for systems that may be vulnerable to space weather impacts. Essentially, effectively transitioning science knowledge to useful applications relevant to space weather has become important. This talk will present proven methodologies that have been demonstrated to be effective, and how in the current environment those can be applied to space weather transition efforts.

The sensitivity of snowfall to weather states over Sweden

Science.gov (United States)

Norin, Lars; Devasthale, Abhay; L'Ecuyer, Tristan S.

2017-09-01

For a high-latitude country like Sweden snowfall is an important contributor to the regional water cycle. Furthermore, snowfall impacts surface properties, affects atmospheric thermodynamics, has implications for traffic and logistics management, disaster preparedness, and also impacts climate through changes in surface albedo and turbulent heat fluxes. For Sweden it has been shown that large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns, or weather states, are important for precipitation variability. Although the link between atmospheric circulation patterns and precipitation has been investigated for rainfall there are no studies focused on the sensitivity of snowfall to weather states over Sweden.In this work we investigate the response of snowfall to eight selected weather states. These weather states consist of four dominant wind directions together with cyclonic and anticyclonic circulation patterns and enhanced positive and negative phases of the North Atlantic Oscillation. The presented analysis is based on multiple data sources, such as ground-based radar measurements, satellite observations, spatially interpolated in situ observations, and reanalysis data. The data from these sources converge to underline the sensitivity of falling snow over Sweden to the different weather states.In this paper we examine both average snowfall intensities and snowfall accumulations associated with the different weather states. It is shown that, even though the heaviest snowfall intensities occur during conditions with winds from the south-west, the largest contribution to snowfall accumulation arrives with winds from the south-east. Large differences in snowfall due to variations in the North Atlantic Oscillation are shown as well as a strong effect of cyclonic and anticyclonic circulation patterns. Satellite observations are used to reveal the vertical structures of snowfall during the different weather states.

FAIR VALUE ACCOUNTING AND EARNINGS MANAGEMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pei-Hui Hsu

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Many have argued that measuring financial instruments at fair value might not reflect firms’ financial condition. Prior study finds that managers manipulate the “disclosure” of fair value measurement (Song et al. 2010. In this study, we attempt to provide evidence regarding manager’s incentive to manipulate the disclosure of fair value measurements by examining whether the disclosure of less relevant fair value measurement is related to the odds of earnings management. We find that firms with more Level 3 assets and liabilities (i.e., less value relevant fair value measurement are more likely to recognize positive unrealized gains to meet or beat analyst forecast target. In addition, we find that only firms with weak corporate governance disclose more Level 3 fair value liabilities and recognize unrealized gains into reported earnings to meet or beat analyst forecast target. This evidence suggests that managers manipulate the disclosure of fair value measurement in order to manage reported earnings via the adoption of fair value option.

Mexico - Surface Weather Observations

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Mexican Surface Daily Observations taken at 94 observatories located throughout Mexico, beginning in 1872 and going up through 1981. The data resided on paper...

Latent Fairness in Adults' Relationship-Based Moral Judgments.

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, Jian; Liu, Yanchun; Li, Jiafeng

2015-01-01

Can adults make fair moral judgments when individuals with whom they have different relationships are involved? The present study explored the fairness of adults' relationship-based moral judgments in two respects by performing three experiments involving 999 participants. In Experiment 1, 65 adults were asked to decide whether to harm a specific person to save five strangers in the footbridge and trolley dilemmas in a within-subject design. The lone potential victim was a relative, a best friend, a person they disliked, a criminal or a stranger. Adults' genetic relatedness to, familiarity with and affective relatedness to the lone potential victims varied. The results indicated that adults made different moral judgments involving the lone potential victims with whom they had different relationships. In Experiment 2, 306 adults responded to the footbridge and trolley dilemmas involving five types of lone potential victims in a within-subject design, and the extent to which they were familiar with and affectively related to the lone potential victim was measured. The results generally replicated those of Experiment 1. In addition, for close individuals, adults' moral judgments were less deontological relative to their familiarity with or positive affect toward these individuals. For individuals they were not close to, adults made deontological choices to a larger extent relative to their unfamiliarity with or negative affect toward these individuals. Moreover, for familiar individuals, the extent to which adults made deontological moral judgments more closely approximated the extent to which they were familiar with the individual. The adults' deontological moral judgments involving unfamiliar individuals more closely approximated their affective relatedness to the individuals. In Experiment 3, 628 adults were asked to make moral judgments with the type of lone potential victim as the between-subject variable. The results generally replicated those of the previous

Latent Fairness in Adults’ Relationship-Based Moral Judgments

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, Jian; Liu, Yanchun; Li, Jiafeng

2015-01-01

Can adults make fair moral judgments when individuals with whom they have different relationships are involved? The present study explored the fairness of adults’ relationship-based moral judgments in two respects by performing three experiments involving 999 participants. In Experiment 1, 65 adults were asked to decide whether to harm a specific person to save five strangers in the footbridge and trolley dilemmas in a within-subject design. The lone potential victim was a relative, a best friend, a person they disliked, a criminal or a stranger. Adults’ genetic relatedness to, familiarity with and affective relatedness to the lone potential victims varied. The results indicated that adults made different moral judgments involving the lone potential victims with whom they had different relationships. In Experiment 2, 306 adults responded to the footbridge and trolley dilemmas involving five types of lone potential victims in a within-subject design, and the extent to which they were familiar with and affectively related to the lone potential victim was measured. The results generally replicated those of Experiment 1. In addition, for close individuals, adults’ moral judgments were less deontological relative to their familiarity with or positive affect toward these individuals. For individuals they were not close to, adults made deontological choices to a larger extent relative to their unfamiliarity with or negative affect toward these individuals. Moreover, for familiar individuals, the extent to which adults made deontological moral judgments more closely approximated the extent to which they were familiar with the individual. The adults’ deontological moral judgments involving unfamiliar individuals more closely approximated their affective relatedness to the individuals. In Experiment 3, 628 adults were asked to make moral judgments with the type of lone potential victim as the between-subject variable. The results generally replicated those of the

Social distance and anonymity modulate fairness consideration: An ERP study

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Rongjun; Hu, Pan; Zhang, Ping

2015-01-01

Previous research indicated that fairness consideration can be influenced by social distance. However, it is not clear whether social distance and anonymity have an interactive impact on fairness evaluation during asset distribution and whether these processes can be documented in brain activity. Using a modified ultimatum game combined with measures of event related potential (ERP), we examined how social distance and anonymity modulate brain response to inequality. At the behavior level, we found that acceptance rate and reaction time can be substantially modified by social distance and anonymity. Feedback-related negativity, an ERP component associated with conflict between cognitive and emotion motives, was more negative in response to unfairness than fairness from strangers; however, it showed an opposite trend for unfair offers provided by friends, suggesting that the influence of social distance on fairness perception is relatively fast. The P300 in response to fair offers was more positive when the proposers made offers when uncertain about partner identity than when certain about partner identity. These results suggest that unfairness is evaluated in a fast conflict detection stage and a slower stage that integrates more complex social contextual factors such as anonymity. PMID:26293456

On fairness and randomness

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jaeger, Manfred

2009-01-01

We investigate the relation between the behavior of non-deterministic systems under fairness constraints, and the behavior of probabilistic systems. To this end, first a framework based on computable stopping strategies is developed that provides a common foundation for describing both fair...... this perspective the question is investigated what probabilistic properties are needed in such an implementation to guarantee (with probability one) certain required fairness properties in the behavior of the probabilistic system. Generalizing earlier concepts of ε -bounded transition probabilities, we introduce...

Mars weathering analogs - Secondary mineralization in Antarctic basalts

Science.gov (United States)

Berkley, J. L.

1982-01-01

Alkalic basalt samples from Ross Island, Antarctica, are evaluated as terrestrial analogs to weathered surface materials on Mars. Secondary alteration in the rocks is limited to pneumatolytic oxidation of igneous minerals and glass, rare groundmass clay and zeolite mineralization, and hydrothermal minerals coating fractures and vesicle surfaces. Hydrothermal mineral assemblages consist mainly of K-feldspar, zeolites (phillipsite and chabazite), calcite, and anhydrite. Low alteration rates are attributed to cold and dry environmental factors common to both Antarctica and Mars. It is noted that mechanical weathering (aeolian abrasion) of Martian equivalents to present Antarctic basalts would yield minor hydrothermal minerals and local surface fines composed of primary igneous minerals and glass but would produce few hydrous products, such as palagonite, clay or micas. It is thought that leaching of hydrothermal vein minerals by migrating fluids and redeposition in duricrust deposits may represent an alternate process for incorporating secondary minerals of volcanic origin into Martian surface fines.

Noodles: a tool for visualization of numerical weather model ensemble uncertainty.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanyal, Jibonananda; Zhang, Song; Dyer, Jamie; Mercer, Andrew; Amburn, Philip; Moorhead, Robert J

2010-01-01

Numerical weather prediction ensembles are routinely used for operational weather forecasting. The members of these ensembles are individual simulations with either slightly perturbed initial conditions or different model parameterizations, or occasionally both. Multi-member ensemble output is usually large, multivariate, and challenging to interpret interactively. Forecast meteorologists are interested in understanding the uncertainties associated with numerical weather prediction; specifically variability between the ensemble members. Currently, visualization of ensemble members is mostly accomplished through spaghetti plots of a single mid-troposphere pressure surface height contour. In order to explore new uncertainty visualization methods, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model was used to create a 48-hour, 18 member parameterization ensemble of the 13 March 1993 "Superstorm". A tool was designed to interactively explore the ensemble uncertainty of three important weather variables: water-vapor mixing ratio, perturbation potential temperature, and perturbation pressure. Uncertainty was quantified using individual ensemble member standard deviation, inter-quartile range, and the width of the 95% confidence interval. Bootstrapping was employed to overcome the dependence on normality in the uncertainty metrics. A coordinated view of ribbon and glyph-based uncertainty visualization, spaghetti plots, iso-pressure colormaps, and data transect plots was provided to two meteorologists for expert evaluation. They found it useful in assessing uncertainty in the data, especially in finding outliers in the ensemble run and therefore avoiding the WRF parameterizations that lead to these outliers. Additionally, the meteorologists could identify spatial regions where the uncertainty was significantly high, allowing for identification of poorly simulated storm environments and physical interpretation of these model issues.

Fair Trade - is it really fair?

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Konečný, Tomáš; Mysliveček, Jan

-, č. 367 (2008), s. 1-53 ISSN 1211-3298 R&D Projects: GA MŠk LC542 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z70850503 Keywords : Fair Trade * coffee * price setting Subject RIV: AH - Economics http://www.cerge-ei.cz/pdf/wp/Wp367.pdf

Cultural Values and Overall Fairness;

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohsen Golparvar

2010-04-01

Full Text Available This research conducted with the aim of investigating the relationships between overall fairness and cultural values with organizational justice, job satisfaction and turnover among the personnel of training and education administrations in Esfahan city. Statistical population were the personnel of education and training administrations regions, which 309 persons from them selected with using simple random sampling. Research instruments were overall fairness with 3 items, cultural values (in two fields including materialism and power distance with 8 items, distributive, procedural and interactional justice with 3,3,3 items respectively, job satisfaction with 3 items and turnover with 3 items. Data were analyzed with using Pearson’s correlation coefficient, structural equation modeling, moderated hierarchical regression and mediating regression analysis. Results showed that there are significant relations between overall fairness with distributive, procedural, interactional justice and turnover, job satisfaction and materialism (P0.05. The results of structural equation modeling and mediating regression analysis showed that overall fairness relatively mediate the relations between procedural justices with turnover. But there was not mediated role for overall fairness in relations between distributive and interactional fairness with turnover and job satisfaction. Moderated regression analysis showed that power distance likely have moderated role in relations between overall fairness with turnover likely.

Mechanisms for chemostatic behavior in catchments: implications for CO2 consumption by mineral weathering

Science.gov (United States)

Clow, David W.; Mast, M. Alisa

2010-01-01

Concentrations of weathering products in streams often show relatively little variation compared to changes in discharge, both at event and annual scales. In this study, several hypothesized mechanisms for this “chemostatic behavior” were evaluated, and the potential for those mechanisms to influence relations between climate, weathering fluxes, and CO2 consumption via mineral weathering was assessed. Data from Loch Vale, an alpine catchment in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, indicates that cation exchange and seasonal precipitation and dissolution of amorphous or poorly crystalline aluminosilicates are important processes that help regulate solute concentrations in the stream; however, those processes have no direct effect on CO2 consumption in catchments. Hydrograph separation analyses indicate that old water stored in the subsurface over the winter accounts for about one-quarter of annual streamflow, and almost one-half of annual fluxes of Na and SiO2 in the stream; thus, flushing of old water by new water (snowmelt) is an important component of chemostatic behavior. Hydrologic flushing of subsurface materials further induces chemostatic behavior by reducing mineral saturation indices and increasing reactive mineral surface area, which stimulate mineral weathering rates. CO2 consumption by carbonic acid mediated mineral weathering was quantified using mass-balance calculations; results indicated that silicate mineral weathering was responsible for approximately two-thirds of annual CO2 consumption, and carbonate weathering was responsible for the remaining one-third. CO2 consumption was strongly dependent on annual precipitation and temperature; these relations were captured in a simple statistical model that accounted for 71% of the annual variation in CO2 consumption via mineral weathering in Loch Vale.

Fair Optimization and Networks: A Survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wlodzimierz Ogryczak

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Optimization models related to designing and operating complex systems are mainly focused on some efficiency metrics such as response time, queue length, throughput, and cost. However, in systems which serve many entities there is also a need for respecting fairness: each system entity ought to be provided with an adequate share of the system’s services. Still, due to system operations-dependant constraints, fair treatment of the entities does not directly imply that each of them is assigned equal amount of the services. That leads to concepts of fair optimization expressed by the equitable models that represent inequality averse optimization rather than strict inequality minimization; a particular widely applied example of that concept is the so-called lexicographic maximin optimization (max-min fairness. The fair optimization methodology delivers a variety of techniques to generate fair and efficient solutions. This paper reviews fair optimization models and methods applied to systems that are based on some kind of network of connections and dependencies, especially, fair optimization methods for the location problems and for the resource allocation problems in communication networks.

Updated global soil map for the Weather Research and Forecasting model and soil moisture initialization for the Noah land surface model

Science.gov (United States)

DY, C. Y.; Fung, J. C. H.

2016-08-01

A meteorological model requires accurate initial conditions and boundary conditions to obtain realistic numerical weather predictions. The land surface controls the surface heat and moisture exchanges, which can be determined by the physical properties of the soil and soil state variables, subsequently exerting an effect on the boundary layer meteorology. The initial and boundary conditions of soil moisture are currently obtained via National Centers for Environmental Prediction FNL (Final) Operational Global Analysis data, which are collected operationally in 1° by 1° resolutions every 6 h. Another input to the model is the soil map generated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (FAO-UNESCO) soil database, which combines several soil surveys from around the world. Both soil moisture from the FNL analysis data and the default soil map lack accuracy and feature coarse resolutions, particularly for certain areas of China. In this study, we update the global soil map with data from Beijing Normal University in 1 km by 1 km grids and propose an alternative method of soil moisture initialization. Simulations of the Weather Research and Forecasting model show that spinning-up the soil moisture improves near-surface temperature and relative humidity prediction using different types of soil moisture initialization. Explanations of that improvement and improvement of the planetary boundary layer height in performing process analysis are provided.

Liquidity and Impact in Fair Markets

OpenAIRE

Jaisson, Thibault

2015-01-01

We develop a theory which applies to any market dynamics that satisfy a fair market assumption on the nullity of the average profit of simple market making strategies. We show that for any such fair market, there exists a martingale fair price which corresponds to the average liquidation value (at the ask or the bid) of an infinitesimal quantity of stock. We show that this fair price is a natural reference price to compute the ex post gain of limit orders. Using only the fair market assumptio...

Weathering kinetics of thin wood veneers assessed with near infrared spectroscopy

OpenAIRE

Sandak, Anna; Sandak, Jakub; Burud, Ingunn; Gobakken, Lone Ross

2016-01-01

Wooden elements may be subjected to mechanical, environmental or biological alterations during their service life. The most susceptible parts of wood structural members are the exposed surfaces since they are subjected to ageing, weathering and/or decay. Knowledge of the influence of weathering factors and polymer degradation mechanisms is essential for understanding the weathering process of wood. The goal of this study was to investigate the degradation of thin wooden samples exposed to sho...

Weather Regulates Location, Timing, and Intensity of Dengue Virus Transmission between Humans and Mosquitoes.

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, Karen M; Haldeman, Kristin; Lehnig, Chris; Munayco, Cesar V; Halsey, Eric S; Laguna-Torres, V Alberto; Yagui, Martín; Morrison, Amy C; Lin, Chii-Dean; Scott, Thomas W

2015-01-01

Dengue is one of the most aggressively expanding mosquito-transmitted viruses. The human burden approaches 400 million infections annually. Complex transmission dynamics pose challenges for predicting location, timing, and magnitude of risk; thus, models are needed to guide prevention strategies and policy development locally and globally. Weather regulates transmission-potential via its effects on vector dynamics. An important gap in understanding risk and roadblock in model development is an empirical perspective clarifying how weather impacts transmission in diverse ecological settings. We sought to determine if location, timing, and potential-intensity of transmission are systematically defined by weather. We developed a high-resolution empirical profile of the local weather-disease connection across Peru, a country with considerable ecological diversity. Applying 2-dimensional weather-space that pairs temperature versus humidity, we mapped local transmission-potential in weather-space by week during 1994-2012. A binary classification-tree was developed to test whether weather data could classify 1828 Peruvian districts as positive/negative for transmission and into ranks of transmission-potential with respect to observed disease. We show that transmission-potential is regulated by temperature-humidity coupling, enabling epidemics in a limited area of weather-space. Duration within a specific temperature range defines transmission-potential that is amplified exponentially in higher humidity. Dengue-positive districts were identified by mean temperature >22°C for 7+ weeks and minimum temperature >14°C for 33+ weeks annually with 95% sensitivity and specificity. In elevated-risk locations, seasonal peak-incidence occurred when mean temperature was 26-29°C, coincident with humidity at its local maximum; highest incidence when humidity >80%. We profile transmission-potential in weather-space for temperature-humidity ranging 0-38°C and 5-100% at 1°C x 2

Weather Regulates Location, Timing, and Intensity of Dengue Virus Transmission between Humans and Mosquitoes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karen M Campbell

Full Text Available Dengue is one of the most aggressively expanding mosquito-transmitted viruses. The human burden approaches 400 million infections annually. Complex transmission dynamics pose challenges for predicting location, timing, and magnitude of risk; thus, models are needed to guide prevention strategies and policy development locally and globally. Weather regulates transmission-potential via its effects on vector dynamics. An important gap in understanding risk and roadblock in model development is an empirical perspective clarifying how weather impacts transmission in diverse ecological settings. We sought to determine if location, timing, and potential-intensity of transmission are systematically defined by weather.We developed a high-resolution empirical profile of the local weather-disease connection across Peru, a country with considerable ecological diversity. Applying 2-dimensional weather-space that pairs temperature versus humidity, we mapped local transmission-potential in weather-space by week during 1994-2012. A binary classification-tree was developed to test whether weather data could classify 1828 Peruvian districts as positive/negative for transmission and into ranks of transmission-potential with respect to observed disease. We show that transmission-potential is regulated by temperature-humidity coupling, enabling epidemics in a limited area of weather-space. Duration within a specific temperature range defines transmission-potential that is amplified exponentially in higher humidity. Dengue-positive districts were identified by mean temperature >22°C for 7+ weeks and minimum temperature >14°C for 33+ weeks annually with 95% sensitivity and specificity. In elevated-risk locations, seasonal peak-incidence occurred when mean temperature was 26-29°C, coincident with humidity at its local maximum; highest incidence when humidity >80%. We profile transmission-potential in weather-space for temperature-humidity ranging 0-38°C and 5

Customizing Fair Use Transplants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter K. Yu

2018-02-01

Full Text Available In the past decade, policymakers and commentators across the world have called for the introduction of copyright reform based on the fair use model in the United States. Thus far, Israel, Liberia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Taiwan have adopted the fair use regime or its close variants. Other jurisdictions such as Australia, Hong Kong and Ireland have also advanced proposals to facilitate such adoption. This article examines the increasing efforts to transplant fair use into the copyright system based on the U.S. model. It begins by briefly recapturing the strengths and weaknesses of legal transplants. The article then scrutinizes the ongoing effort to transplant fair use from the United States. Specifically, it identifies eight modalities of transplantation. This article concludes with five lessons that can be drawn from studying the ongoing transplant efforts.

Children develop a veil of fairness

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shaw, Alex; Montinari, Natalia; Piovesan, Marco

2014-01-01

Previous research suggests that children develop an increasing concern with fairness over the course of development. Research with adults suggests that the concern with fairness has at least 2 distinct components: a desire to be fair and a desire to signal to others that they are fair. We explore......INFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)....

Biaxial potential of surface-stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystals

Science.gov (United States)

Kaznacheev, Anatoly; Pozhidaev, Evgeny; Rudyak, Vladimir; Emelyanenko, Alexander V.; Khokhlov, Alexei

2018-04-01

A biaxial surface potential Φs of smectic-C* surface-stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystals (SSFLCs) is introduced in this paper to explain the experimentally observed electric-field dependence of polarization P˜cell(E ) , in particular the shape of the static hysteresis loops. Our potential consists of three independent parts. The first nonpolar part Φn describes the deviation of the prime director n (which is the most probable orientation of the long molecular axes) from the easy alignment axis R , which is located in the boundary surface plane. It is introduced in the same manner as the uniaxial Rapini potential. The second part Φp of the potential is a polar term associated with the presence of the polar axis in a FLC. The third part Φm relates to the inherent FLC biaxiality, which has not been taken into consideration previously. The Φm part takes into account the deviations of the secondary director m (which is the most probable orientation of the short molecular axes) from the normal to the boundary surface. The overall surface potential Φs, which is a sum of Φn,Φp , and Φm, allows one to model the conditions when either one, two, or three minima of the SSFLC cell free energy are realized depending on the biaxiality extent. A monodomain or polydomain structure, as well as the bistability or monostability of SSFLC cells, depends on the number of free-energy minima, as confirmed experimentally. In this paper, we analyze the biaxiality impact on the FLC alignment. We also answer the question of whether the bistable or monostable structure can be formed in an SSFLC cell. Our approach is essentially based on a consideration of the biaxial surface potential, while the uniaxial surface potential cannot adequately describe the experimental observations in the FLC.

Thermal aging and accelerated weathering of HMSPP: structural and morphological studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oliani, Washington L.; Komatsu, Luiz G.H.; Parra, Duclerc F.

2015-01-01

This work focuses of the influence of weathering factors - UV radiation, humidity, and temperature on the structure and morphology polypropylene with high melt strength (HMSPP), also called polypropylene modified by irradiation. The HMSPP was prepared from iPP (isotactic polypropylene) in presence of acetylene at 110 kPa pressure and irradiated with γ of "6"0Co at doses of 5, 12.5 and 20 kGy. It has been observed that HMSPP deteriorates the weathering resistance, the thermal behavior and the long-term stability of HMSPP, beyond substantial color changes. The samples aged were characterized by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), optical microscopy (OM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The optical microscopy images on the surface show that thermal aging and artificial weathering proceed by different mechanisms. The effects of elevated temperature aging were evaluated in HMSPPs exposed surface according to the order: HMSPP 20 >12.5 > kGy >iPP, showing intense crack formation in surface exposed due to thermo oxidative degradation. (author)

NEXRAD and the Broadcast Weather Industry: Preparing to Share the Technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Robertson, Michele M.; Droegemeier, Kelvin K.

1990-01-01

This paper describes results from a survey designed to establish the current level of radar and computer technology of the television weather industry, and to assess the awareness and attitudes of television weather forecasters toward the Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) program and its potential impact on the field of broadcast meteorology. The survey was distributed to one affiliate station in each of the 213 national television markets, and a 46% response rate was achieved over a 4-week period. The survey results indicate substantial awareness of and interest in NEXRAD, along with a willingness to learn more about its capabilities and potential for use in the private sector. Survey participants suggested that potential private NEXRAD users work directly with the National Weather Service (NWS) and its affiliates so as to fully utilize the capabilities of the new radar system.

The National Weather Service Ceilometer Planetary Boundary Layer Project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hicks M.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The National Weather Service (NWS is investigating the potential of utilizing the Automatic Surface Observing System’s (ASOS cloud base height indicator, the Vaisala CL31 ceilometer, to profile aerosols in the atmosphere. Field test sites of stand-alone CL31 ceilometers have been established, primarily, around the Washington DC metropolitan area, with additional systems in southwest USA and Puerto Rico. The CL31 PBL project examines the CL31 data collected for data quality, mixing height retrieval applicability, and its compliment to satellite data. This paper reviews the topics of the CL31 data quality and mixing height retrieval applicability.

Repulsive Casimir-Polder potential by a negative reflecting surface

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Qi-Zhang

2015-07-01

We present a scheme to generate an all-range long repulsive Casimir-Polder potential between a perfect negative reflecting surface and a ground-state atom. The repulsive potential is stable and does not decay with time. The Casimir-Polder potential is proportional to z-2 at short atom-surface distances and to z-4 at long atom-surface distances. Because of these advantages, this potential can help in building quantum reflectors, quantum levitating devices, and waveguides for matter waves.

Portable Weather Applications for General Aviation Pilots.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahlstrom, Ulf; Ohneiser, Oliver; Caddigan, Eamon

2016-09-01

The objective of this study was to examine the potential benefits and impact on pilot behavior from the use of portable weather applications. Seventy general aviation (GA) pilots participated in the study. Each pilot was randomly assigned to an experimental or a control group and flew a simulated single-engine GA aircraft, initially under visual meteorological conditions (VMC). The experimental group was equipped with a portable weather application during flight. We recorded measures for weather situation awareness (WSA), decision making, cognitive engagement, and distance from the aircraft to hazardous weather. We found positive effects from the use of the portable weather application, with an increased WSA for the experimental group, which resulted in credibly larger route deviations and credibly greater distances to hazardous weather (≥30 dBZ cells) compared with the control group. Nevertheless, both groups flew less than 20 statute miles from hazardous weather cells, thus failing to follow current weather-avoidance guidelines. We also found a credibly higher cognitive engagement (prefrontal oxygenation levels) for the experimental group, possibly reflecting increased flight planning and decision making on the part of the pilots. Overall, the study outcome supports our hypothesis that portable weather displays can be used without degrading pilot performance on safety-related flight tasks, actions, and decisions as measured within the constraints of the present study. However, it also shows that an increased WSA does not automatically translate to enhanced flight behavior. The study outcome contributes to our knowledge of the effect of portable weather applications on pilot behavior and decision making. © 2016, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

Space weathering and the color indexes of minor bodies in the outer Solar System

Science.gov (United States)

Kaňuchová, Zuzana; Brunetto, Rosario; Melita, Mario; Strazzulla, Giovanni

2012-09-01

The surfaces of small bodies in the outer Solar System are rich in organic compounds and carbonaceous refractories mixed with ices and silicates. As made clear by dedicated laboratory experiments space weathering (e.g. energetic ion bombardment) can produce red colored materials starting from bright and spectrally flat ices. In a classical scenario, the space weathering processes “nurture” alter the small bodies surface spectra but are in competition with resurfacing agents that restore the original colors, and the result of these competing processes continuously modifying the surfaces is supposed to be responsible for the observed spectral variety of those small bodies. However an alternative point of view is that the different colors are due to “nature” i.e. to the different primordial composition of different objects. In this paper we present a model, based on laboratory results, that gives an original contribution to the “nature” vs. “nurture” debate by addressing the case of surfaces showing different fractions of rejuvenated vs. space weathered surface, and calculating the corresponding color variations. We will show how a combination of increasing dose coupled to different resurfacing can reproduce the whole range of observations of small outer Solar System bodies. Here we demonstrate, for the first time that objects having a fully weathered material turn back in the color-color diagrams. At the same time, object with the different ratio of pristine and weathered surface areas lay on specific lines in color-color diagrams, if exposed to the same amount of irradiation.

Special weather situations in Copenhagen-Oeresund area

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-01-01

The Danish Environmental Agency has appointed a committee for studies of weather situations of Copenhgen and Oeresund strait regions in order to evaluate consequences of a potential nuclear accident at Barebaeck Power Plant in Sweden. The committee has investigated weather situations with fumigation, local wind systems at large urban areas and on the land-water boundary and precipitation role in plume transport over Oereseund. (EG)

Micro-mapping Meteorite Surfaces on Mars using Microscopic Imager Mosaics — A Tool for Unraveling Weathering History at Meridiani Planum

Science.gov (United States)

Ashley, J. W.; Herkenhoff, K. E.; Golombek, M. P.; Johnson, J. R.

2012-12-01

Meteorites found on Mars provide valuable insights into martian surface processes. During the course of Mars Exploration Rover (MER) extended missions, Spirit and Opportunity have identified 17 confirmed and candidate meteorites on Mars, most of which are irons. The iron meteorites exhibit morphologies and coatings that communicate complex post-fall exposure histories relevant to an understanding of climate near the martian equator [1-4]. Both chemical and mechanical weathering effects are represented. Among the more significant of these are: 1) cm-scale hollowing, 2) surficial rounding, 3) mass excavation/dissolution and removal, 4) differential etching of kamacite plates and taenite lamellae, revealing Widmanstätten patterns, 5) discontinuous iron oxide coatings, and 6) the effects of cavernous weathering, which often penetrate to rock interiors. Determining the nature, magnitude, and timing of each process and its associated features is a complex problem that will be aided by laboratory experiments, image processing, and careful surface evaluation. Because some features appear to superpose others in ways analogous to stratigraphic relationships, Microscopic Imager (MI) mosaics are useful for sketching "geologic maps" of meteorite surfaces. Employing the techniques of conventional planetary mapping [5], each map was drafted manually using full-resolution MI mosaics and Adobe Photoshop software. Units were selected to represent the oxide coating, dust-coated surfaces, sand-coated surfaces, taenite lamellae, and uncoated metal. Also included are areas in shadow, and regions of blooming caused by specular reflection of metal. Regmaglypt rim crests are presented as lineations. As with stratigraphic relationships, noting embayments and other cross-cutting relationships assists with establishing the relative timing for observed weathering effects. In addition to suggesting alternating sequences of wind and water exposure [1], patterns in oxide coating occurrence show

Mechanical weathering and rock erosion by climate-dependent subcritical cracking

Science.gov (United States)

Eppes, Martha-Cary; Keanini, Russell

2017-06-01

This work constructs a fracture mechanics framework for conceptualizing mechanical rock breakdown and consequent regolith production and erosion on the surface of Earth and other terrestrial bodies. Here our analysis of fracture mechanics literature explicitly establishes for the first time that all mechanical weathering in most rock types likely progresses by climate-dependent subcritical cracking under virtually all Earth surface and near-surface environmental conditions. We substantiate and quantify this finding through development of physically based subcritical cracking and rock erosion models founded in well-vetted fracture mechanics and mechanical weathering, theory, and observation. The models show that subcritical cracking can culminate in significant rock fracture and erosion under commonly experienced environmental stress magnitudes that are significantly lower than rock critical strength. Our calculations also indicate that climate strongly influences subcritical cracking—and thus rock weathering rates—irrespective of the source of the stress (e.g., freezing, thermal cycling, and unloading). The climate dependence of subcritical cracking rates is due to the chemophysical processes acting to break bonds at crack tips experiencing these low stresses. We find that for any stress or combination of stresses lower than a rock's critical strength, linear increases in humidity lead to exponential acceleration of subcritical cracking and associated rock erosion. Our modeling also shows that these rates are sensitive to numerous other environment, rock, and mineral properties that are currently not well characterized. We propose that confining pressure from overlying soil or rock may serve to suppress subcritical cracking in near-surface environments. These results are applicable to all weathering processes.

Nonlinear estimation of weathering rate parameters for uranium in surface soil near a nuclear facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Killough, G.G.; Rope, S.K.; Shleien, B.; Voilleque, P.G.

1999-01-01

A dynamic mass-balance model has been calibrated by a nonlinear parameter estimation method, using time-series measurements of uranium in surface soil near the former Feed Materials Production Center (FMPC) near Fernald, Ohio, USA. The time-series data, taken at six locations near the site boundary since 1971, show a statistically significant downtrend of above-background uranium concentration in surface soil for all six locations. The dynamic model is based on first-order kinetics in a surface-soil compartment 10 cm in depth. Median estimates of weathering rate coefficients for insoluble uranium in this soil compartment range from about 0.065-0.14 year -1 , corresponding to mean transit times of about 7-15 years, depending on the location sampled. The model, calibrated by methods similar to those discussed in this paper, has been used to simulate surface soil kinetics of uranium for a dose reconstruction study. It was also applied, along with other data, to make confirmatory estimates of airborne releases of uranium from the FMPC between 1951 and 1988. Two soil-column models (one diffusive and one advective, the latter similar to a catenary first-order kinetic box model) were calibrated to profile data taken at one of the six locations in 1976. The temporal predictions of the advective model approximate the trend of the time series data for that location. (Copyright (c) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam. All rights reserved.)

Measuring and Controlling Fairness of Triangulations

KAUST Repository

Jiang, Caigui; Gü nther, Felix; Wallner, Johannes; Pottmann, Helmut

2016-01-01

of fairness must take new aspects into account. We use concepts from discrete differential geometry (star-shaped Gauss images) to express fairness, and we also demonstrate how fairness can be incorporated into interactive geometric design of triangulated

Optimized surface-slab excited-state muffin-tin potential and surface core level shifts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rundgren, J.

2003-01-01

An optimized muffin-tin (MT) potential for surface slabs with preassigned surface core-level shifts (SCLS's) is presented. By using the MT radii as adjustable parameters the model is able to conserve the definition of the SCLS with respect to the bulk and concurrently to generate a potential that is continuous at the MT radii. The model is conceived for elastic electron scattering in a surface slab with exchange-correlation interaction described by the local density approximation. The model employs two data bases for the self-energy of the signal electron (after Hedin and Lundqvist or Sernelius). The potential model is discussed in detail with two surface structures Be(101-bar0), for which SCLS's are available, and Cu(111)p(2x2)Cs, in which the close-packed radii of the atoms are extremely different. It is considered plausible that tensor LEED based on an optimized MT potential can be used for determining SCLS's

Updating representation of land surface-atmosphere feedbacks in airborne campaign modeling analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, M.; Carmichael, G. R.; Crawford, J. H.; Chan, S.; Xu, X.; Fisher, J. A.

2017-12-01

An updated modeling system to support airborne field campaigns is being built at NASA Ames Pleiades, with focus on adjusting the representation of land surface-atmosphere feedbacks. The main updates, referring to previous experiences with ARCTAS-CARB and CalNex in the western US to study air pollution inflows, include: 1) migrating the WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) coupled land surface model from Noah to improved/more complex models especially Noah-MP and Rapid Update Cycle; 2) enabling the WRF land initialization with suitably spun-up land model output; 3) incorporating satellite land cover, vegetation dynamics, and soil moisture data (i.e., assimilating Soil Moisture Active Passive data using the ensemble Kalman filter approach) into WRF. Examples are given of comparing the model fields with available aircraft observations during spring-summer 2016 field campaigns taken place at the eastern side of continents (KORUS-AQ in South Korea and ACT-America in the eastern US), the air pollution export regions. Under fair weather and stormy conditions, air pollution vertical distributions and column amounts, as well as the impact from land surface, are compared. These help identify challenges and opportunities for LEO/GEO satellite remote sensing and modeling of air quality in the northern hemisphere. Finally, we briefly show applications of this system on simulating Australian conditions, which would explore the needs for further development of the observing system in the southern hemisphere and inform the Clean Air and Urban Landscapes (https://www.nespurban.edu.au) modelers.

Geomorphology's role in the study of weathering of cultural stone

Science.gov (United States)

Pope, Gregory A.; Meierding, Thomas C.; Paradise, Thomas R.

2002-10-01

Great monumental places—Petra, Giza, Angkor, Stonehenge, Tikal, Macchu Picchu, Rapa Nui, to name a few—are links to our cultural past. They evoke a sense of wonderment for their aesthetic fascination if not for their seeming permanence over both cultural and physical landscapes. However, as with natural landforms, human constructs are subject to weathering and erosion. Indeed, many of our cultural resources suffer from serious deterioration, some natural, some enhanced by human impact. Groups from the United Nations to local civic and tourism assemblies are deeply interested in maintaining and preserving such cultural resources, from simple rock art to great temples. Geomorphologists trained in interacting systems, process and response to thresholds, rates of change over time, and spatial variation of weathering processes and effects are able to offer insight into how deterioration occurs and what can be done to ameliorate the impact. Review of recent literature and case studies presented here demonstrate methodological and theoretical advances that have resulted from the study of cultural stone weathering. Because the stone was carved at a known date to a "baseline" or zero-datum level, some of the simplest methods (e.g., assessing surface weathering features or measuring surface recession in the field) provide useful data on weathering rates and processes. Such data are difficult or impossible to obtain in "natural" settings. Cultural stone weathering studies demonstrate the importance of biotic and saline weathering agents and the significance of weathering factors such as exposure (microclimate) and human impact. More sophisticated methods confirm these observations, but also reveal discrepancies between field and laboratory studies. This brings up two important caveats for conservators and geomorphologists. For the conservator, are laboratory and natural setting studies really analogous and useful for assessing stone damage? For the geomorphologist, does

The collapse of turbulence in the evening

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wiel, van de B.J.H.; Moene, A.F.; Jonker, H.J.J.; Baas, P.; Basu, S.; Sun, J.; Holtslag, A.A.M.

2012-01-01

A common experience in everyday weather is the fact that near-surface wind speeds tend to weaken in the evening, particularly in fair weather conditions. This cessation of wind usually coincides with the collapse of turbulence which leads to a quiet flow near the ground. As the absence of turbulent

Fair Value Bewertung von zedierten Reserven

OpenAIRE

Heep-Altiner, Maria; Hoos, Sebastian; Krahforst, Christoph

2014-01-01

Für Schadenreserven existieren keine hinreichend fungiblen Märkte und somit auch keine Marktpreise im klassischen Sinn. Für eine Fair Value Bewertung bedarf es also eines geeigneten Modellansatzes. In der Schadenversicherung wird üblicher- weise der Transaktionswert modelliert, wobei hier die korrekte Modellierung der Kapitalkosten einer der zentralen Punkte ist. Der Fair Value der zedierten Reserven kann als Differenz zwischen dem Fair Value der Bruttoreserven und dem Fair Value der Nettores...

Third Space Weather Summit Held for Industry and Government Agencies

Science.gov (United States)

Intriligator, Devrie S.

2009-12-01

The potential for space weather effects has been increasing significantly in recent years. For instance, in 2008 airlines flew about 8000 transpolar flights, which experience greater exposure to space weather than nontranspolar flights. This is up from 368 transpolar flights in 2000, and the number of such flights is expected to continue to grow. Transpolar flights are just one example of the diverse technologies susceptible to space weather effects identified by the National Research Council's Severe Space Weather Events—Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts: A Workshop Report (2008). To discuss issues related to the increasing need for reliable space weather information, experts from industry and government agencies met at the third summit of the Commercial Space Weather Interest Group (CSWIG) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), held 30 April 2009 during Space Weather Week (SWW), in Boulder, Colo.

Municipalities' Preparedness for Weather Hazards and Response to Weather Warnings.

Science.gov (United States)

Mehiriz, Kaddour; Gosselin, Pierre

2016-01-01

The study of the management of weather-related disaster risks by municipalities has attracted little attention even though these organizations play a key role in protecting the population from extreme meteorological conditions. This article contributes to filling this gap with new evidence on the level and determinants of Quebec municipalities' preparedness for weather hazards and response to related weather warnings. Using survey data from municipal emergency management coordinators and secondary data on the financial and demographic characteristics of municipalities, the study shows that most Quebec municipalities are sufficiently prepared for weather hazards and undertake measures to protect the population when informed of imminent extreme weather events. Significant differences between municipalities were noted though. Specifically, the level of preparedness was positively correlated with the municipalities' capacity and population support for weather-related disaster management policies. In addition, the risk of weather-related disasters increases the preparedness level through its effect on population support. We also found that the response to weather warnings depended on the risk of weather-related disasters, the preparedness level and the quality of weather warnings. These results highlight areas for improvement in the context of increasing frequency and/or severity of such events with current climate change.

Assortiment-kanaalmatch voor biologische fair tradeproducten

NARCIS (Netherlands)

LEI,

2008-01-01

Stichting FairBites ontwikkelt middels een innovatief organisatiemodel biologische en fair trade voedingsproducten voor de out-of-home (OOH) markt. Deze producten zijn zeer beperkt beschikbaar in dit marktsegment dat ± 35% van de voedingsmarkt vertegenwoordigd. FairBites richt zich op jong

FAIR VALUE ACCOUNTING AND EARNINGS MANAGEMENT

OpenAIRE

Pei-Hui Hsu; Youan (Robert) Lin

2016-01-01

Many have argued that measuring financial instruments at fair value might not reflect firms’ financial condition. Prior study finds that managers manipulate the “disclosure” of fair value measurement (Song et al. 2010). In this study, we attempt to provide evidence regarding manager’s incentive to manipulate the disclosure of fair value measurements by examining whether the disclosure of less relevant fair value measurement is related to the odds of earnings management. We find that firms ...

National Weather Service

Science.gov (United States)

... GIS International Weather Cooperative Observers Storm Spotters Tsunami Facts and Figures National Water Center WEATHER SAFETY NOAA Weather Radio StormReady Heat Lightning Hurricanes Thunderstorms Tornadoes Rip Currents Floods Winter Weather ...

Indian participation in FAIR accelerator facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sur, Amitava

2015-01-01

India is a founder member of the FAIR-GmbH, the upcoming International Accelerator Facility at Darmstadt, Germany. Indian participation at FAIR is being funded jointly by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). Indo- FAIR Coordination Centre at Bose Institute (BI-IFCC) is coordinating the Indian efforts of both in-kind contribution as well as experimental programmes at FAIR. FAIR aims for beams of stable and unstable nuclei as well as antiprotons in a wide range of intensities and energies. A superconducting double-synchrotron SIS100/300 with a circumference of 1,100 meters and with magnetic rigidities of 100 and 300 Tm, respectively, is at the heart of the FAIR accelerator facility. The existing GSI accelerators UNILAC and SIS18 will serve as an injector. Adjacent to the large double- synchrotron is a complex system of storage- cooler rings and experiment stations, including a superconducting nuclear fragment separator (Super-FRS) and an antiproton production target. FAIR will supply rare isotope beams (RIBs) and antiproton beams. In FAIR accelerator facility up to four research programs can be run in a parallel mode. The multidisciplinary research program covers the fields of QCD studies with cooled beams of antiprotons, nucleus nucleus collisions at highest baryon density, nuclear structure and nuclear astrophysics investigations with nuclei far off stability, high density plasma physics, atomic and material science studies, radio-biological and other application-oriented studies will contribute in providing in-kind items both for the accelerator and the experiments. As per current plans Indian in kind contributions include: Power Converters, Superconducting Magnets, Beam Stopper, Vacuum Chamber. A short sample from an Indian Industry has been tested successfully at FAIR. Indian participation in building the accelerator components for FAIR is presented

Objective local weather types with applications on urban air pollution and on mortality with chronicle illnesses

Science.gov (United States)

Mika, Janos; Ivady, Anett; Fulop, Andrea; Makra, László

2010-05-01

Synoptic climatology i.e. classification of the endless variability of the everyday weather states according to the pressure configuration and frontal systems relative to the point, or region of interest has long history in meteorology. Its logical alternative, i.e. classification of weather according to the observed local weather elements was less popular until the recent times when the numerical weather forecasts became able to outline not only the synoptic situation, but the near-surface meteorological variables, as well. Nowadays the computer-based statistical facilities are able to operate with matrices of multivariate diurnal samples, as well. The paper presents an attempt to define a set of local weather types using point-wise series at five rural stations, Szombathely, Pécs, Budapest, Szeged és Debrecen in the 1961-1990 reference period. Ten local variables are used, i.e. the diurnal mean temperature, the diurnal temperature range; the cloudiness, the sunshine duration, the water vapour pressure, the precipitation in a logarithmic scale, also differing trace (below 0.1 mm) and no precipitation, the relative humidity and wind speed, including the more extremity indicators of the two latter parameters, i.e. number of hours with over 80 % relative humidity and over 15 m/s wind gusts. Factor analysis of these ten variables was performed leading to 5 fairly independent variables retained for cluster analysis to obtain the local weather types. Hierarchical cluster analysis was performed to classify the 840-930 days within each month of the 30 years period. Furthers neighbour approach was preferred based on Euclidean metrics to establish optimum number of types. The 12 months and the 5 stations exhibited slightly different results but the optimum number of the types was always between 4 and 12 which is a quite reasonable number from practical considerations. According to a further reasonable compromise, the common number of the types not too bad in either

The Social and Economic Impacts of Space Weather (US Project)

Science.gov (United States)

Pulkkinen, A. A.; Bisi, M. M.; Webb, D. F.; Oughton, E. J.; Worman, S. L.; Taylor, S. M.; Onsager, T. G.; Adkins, J. E.; Baker, D. N.; Forbes, K. F.; Basoli, D.; Griot, O.

2017-12-01

The National Space Weather Action Plan calls for new research into the social and economic impacts of space weather and for the development of quantitative estimates of potential costs. In response to this call, NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) and Abt Associates are working together to identify, describe, and quantify the impact of space weather to U.S. interests. This study covers impacts resulting from both moderate and severe space weather events across four technological sectors: Electric power, commercial aviation, satellites, and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) users. It captures the full range of potential impacts, identified from an extensive literature review and from additional conversations with more than 50 sector stakeholders of diverse expertise from engineering to operations to end users. We organize and discuss our findings in terms of five broad but interrelated impact categories including Defensive Investments, Mitigating Actions, Asset Damages, Service Interruptions, and Health Effects. We also present simple, tractable estimates of the potential costs where we focused on quantifying a subset of all identified impacts that are apt to be largest and are also most plausible during moderate and more severe space weather scenarios. We hope that our systematic exploration of the social and economic impacts provides a foundation for the future work that is critical for designing technologies, developing procedures, and implementing policies that can effectively reduce our known and evolving vulnerabilities to this natural hazard.

Fair innings.

Science.gov (United States)

Bognar, Greg

2015-05-01

In many societies, the aging of the population is becoming a major problem. This raises difficult issues for ethics and public policy. On what is known as the fair innings view, it is not impermissible to give lower priority to policies that primarily benefit the elderly. Philosophers have tried to justify this view on various grounds. In this article, I look at a consequentialist, a fairness-based, and a contractarian justification. I argue that all of them have implausible implications and fail to correspond to our moral intuitions. I end by outlining a different kind of consequentialist justification that avoids those implications and corresponds better to our considered moral judgments. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Space Weather, Environment and Societies

CERN Document Server

Lilensten, Jean

2006-01-01

Our planet exists within a space environment affected by constantly changing solar atmosphere producing cosmic particles and electromagnetic waves. This "space weather" profoundly influences the performance of our technology because we primarily use two means for transmitting information and energy; namely, electromagnetic waves and electricity. On an everyday basis, we have developed methods to cope with the normal conditions. However, the sun remains a fiery star whose 'angry' outbursts can potentially destroy spacecrafts, kill astronauts, melt electricity transformers, stop trains, and generally wreak havoc with human activities. Space Weather is the developing field within astronomy that aims at predicting the sun’s violent activity and minimizing the impacts on our daily lives. Space Weather, Environment, and Societies explains why our technological societies are so dependent on solar activity and how the Sun disturbs the transmission of information and energy. Footnotes expand specific points and the ...

Study of the characteristics of gas electron multipliers for the FAIR experiment CBM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Biswas, S.; Abuhoza, A.; Frankenfeld, U.; Hehner, J.; Schmidt, C.J.; Traeger, M.; Schmidt, H.R.; Colafranceschi, S.; Marinov, A.; Sharma, A.

2011-01-01

The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment at the future Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) in Darmstadt, Germany will use proton and heavy ion beams to study matter at extreme conditions. The CBM experiment at FAIR is designed to explore the QCD phase diagram in the region of high baryon densities. With CBM we will enter a new era of nuclear matter research by measuring rare diagnostic probes never observed before at FAIR energies, and thus CBM has a unique discovery potential. This will only be possible with the application of advanced instrumentation, including highly segmented and fast gaseous detectors

Asteroid age distributions determined by space weathering and collisional evolution models

Science.gov (United States)

Willman, Mark; Jedicke, Robert

2011-01-01

We provide evidence of consistency between the dynamical evolution of main belt asteroids and their color evolution due to space weathering. The dynamical age of an asteroid's surface (Bottke, W.F., Durda, D.D., Nesvorný, D., Jedicke, R., Morbidelli, A., Vokrouhlický, D., Levison, H. [2005]. Icarus 175 (1), 111-140; Nesvorný, D., Jedicke, R., Whiteley, R.J., Ivezić, Ž. [2005]. Icarus 173, 132-152) is the time since its last catastrophic disruption event which is a function of the object's diameter. The age of an S-complex asteroid's surface may also be determined from its color using a space weathering model (e.g. Willman, M., Jedicke, R., Moskovitz, N., Nesvorný, D., Vokrouhlický, D., Mothé-Diniz, T. [2010]. Icarus 208, 758-772; Jedicke, R., Nesvorný, D., Whiteley, R.J., Ivezić, Ž., Jurić, M. [2004]. Nature 429, 275-277; Willman, M., Jedicke, R., Nesvorny, D., Moskovitz, N., Ivezić, Ž., Fevig, R. [2008]. Icarus 195, 663-673. We used a sample of 95 S-complex asteroids from SMASS and obtained their absolute magnitudes and u, g, r, i, z filter magnitudes from SDSS. The absolute magnitudes yield a size-derived age distribution. The u, g, r, i, z filter magnitudes lead to the principal component color which yields a color-derived age distribution by inverting our color-age relationship, an enhanced version of the 'dual τ' space weathering model of Willman et al. (2010). We fit the size-age distribution to the enhanced dual τ model and found characteristic weathering and gardening times of τw = 2050 ± 80 Myr and τg=4400-500+700Myr respectively. The fit also suggests an initial principal component color of -0.05 ± 0.01 for fresh asteroid surface with a maximum possible change of the probable color due to weathering of Δ PC = 1.34 ± 0.04. Our predicted color of fresh asteroid surface matches the color of fresh ordinary chondritic surface of PC1 = 0.17 ± 0.39.

Channel Coordination in Logistics Service Supply Chain considering Fairness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ningning Wang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Logistics service supply chain (LSSC is a new type of service supply chain. This paper investigates the channel coordination issue in a two-echelon LSSC composed of one logistics service integrator (LSI and one functional logistics service provider (FLSP under fairness concerns. The models for a reservation price-only contract under disadvantageous inequality and advantageous inequality are established, respectively, in which the procurement cost, the potential shortage cost, and the operation cost are considered under stochastic market demand. Based on this model, the LSI’s optimal reservation quantity can be determined. Furthermore, we analyze the impact of fairness concerns and the related costs on channel performance and channel coordination. The results are presented in four aspects: (1 channel coordination of the LSSC can be achieved under certain conditions when the LSI experiences advantageous inequality; (2 the spiteful behavior of the LSI leads to the reduction of the channel profit, and channel coordination cannot be achieved when the LSI suffers from disadvantageous inequality; (3 the LSI’s reservation quantity and the channel profit are affected by the LSI’s fairness concerns; (4 motivated by the concerns of fairness, the LSI’s reservation quantity is related not only to his procurement cost and shortage cost but also to the FLSP’s operation cost.

Strategy intervention for the evolution of fairness.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanling Zhang

Full Text Available The 'irrational' preference for fairness has attracted increasing attention. Although previous studies have focused on the effects of spitefulness on the evolution of fairness, they did not consider non-monotonic rejections shown in behavioral experiments. In this paper, we introduce a non-monotonic rejection in an evolutionary model of the Ultimatum Game. We propose strategy intervention to study the evolution of fairness in general structured populations. By sequentially adding five strategies into the competition between a fair strategy and a selfish strategy, we arrive at the following conclusions. First, the evolution of fairness is inhibited by altruism, but it is promoted by spitefulness. Second, the non-monotonic rejection helps fairness overcome selfishness. Particularly for group-structured populations, we analytically investigate how fairness, selfishness, altruism, and spitefulness are affected by population size, mutation, and migration in the competition among seven strategies. Our results may provide important insights into understanding the evolutionary origin of fairness.

Physisorption of an electron in deep surface potentials off a dielectric surface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heinisch, R. L.; Bronold, F. X.; Fehske, H.

2011-01-01

We study phonon-mediated adsorption and desorption of an electron at dielectric surfaces with deep polarization-induced surface potentials where multiphonon transitions are responsible for electron energy relaxation. Focusing on multiphonon processes due to the nonlinearity of the coupling between the external electron and the acoustic bulk phonon triggering the transitions between surface states, we calculate electron desorption times for graphite, MgO, CaO, Al 2 O 3 , and SiO 2 and electron sticking coefficients for Al 2 O 3 , CaO, and SiO 2 . To reveal the kinetic stages of electron physisorption, we moreover study the time evolution of the image-state occupancy and the energy-resolved desorption flux. Depending on the potential depth and the surface temperature, we identify two generic scenarios: (i) adsorption via trapping in shallow image states followed by relaxation to the lowest image state and desorption from that state via a cascade through the second strongly bound image state in not too deep potentials, and (ii) adsorption via trapping in shallow image states but followed by a relaxation bottleneck retarding the transition to the lowest image state and desorption from that state via a one-step process to the continuum in deep potentials.

7 CFR 51.1831 - Fairly firm.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Fairly firm. 51.1831 Section 51.1831 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Standards for Grades of Florida Tangerines Definitions § 51.1831 Fairly firm. Fairly firm means that the...

7 CFR 51.774 - Fairly firm.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Fairly firm. 51.774 Section 51.774 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Standards for Grades of Florida Grapefruit Definitions § 51.774 Fairly firm. Fairly firm means that the...

7 CFR 51.2843 - Fairly firm.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Fairly firm. 51.2843 Section 51.2843 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Fairly firm. Fairly firm means that the onion may yield slightly to moderate pressure but is not...

7 CFR 51.3204 - Fairly firm.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Fairly firm. 51.3204 Section 51.3204 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Standards for Grades of Bermuda-Granex-Grano Type Onions Definitions § 51.3204 Fairly firm. Fairly firm...

7 CFR 51.1167 - Fairly firm.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Fairly firm. 51.1167 Section 51.1167 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Standards for Grades of Florida Oranges and Tangelos Definitions § 51.1167 Fairly firm. Fairly firm as...

Marketingová komunikace fair trade

OpenAIRE

Nídlová, Michaela

2013-01-01

This thesis focuses on how fair trade and its brand are communicated on the market. The theoretical part describes the basic concepts of marketing, marketing communication and marketing research. The practical part describes the general meaning of fair trade and its main principles and goals. The following section is devoted to the analysis of recent marketing activities. The main research investigates the level of knowledge of fair trade among Czech consumers. The conclusion summarizes the r...

Integrating weather and geotechnical monitoring data for assessing the stability of large scale surface mining operations

Science.gov (United States)

Steiakakis, Chrysanthos; Agioutantis, Zacharias; Apostolou, Evangelia; Papavgeri, Georgia; Tripolitsiotis, Achilles

2016-01-01

The geotechnical challenges for safe slope design in large scale surface mining operations are enormous. Sometimes one degree of slope inclination can significantly reduce the overburden to ore ratio and therefore dramatically improve the economics of the operation, while large scale slope failures may have a significant impact on human lives. Furthermore, adverse weather conditions, such as high precipitation rates, may unfavorably affect the already delicate balance between operations and safety. Geotechnical, weather and production parameters should be systematically monitored and evaluated in order to safely operate such pits. Appropriate data management, processing and storage are critical to ensure timely and informed decisions. This paper presents an integrated data management system which was developed over a number of years as well as the advantages through a specific application. The presented case study illustrates how the high production slopes of a mine that exceed depths of 100-120 m were successfully mined with an average displacement rate of 10- 20 mm/day, approaching an almost slow to moderate landslide velocity. Monitoring data of the past four years are included in the database and can be analyzed to produce valuable results. Time-series data correlations of movements, precipitation records, etc. are evaluated and presented in this case study. The results can be used to successfully manage mine operations and ensure the safety of the mine and the workforce.

7 CFR 51.705 - Fairly firm.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Fairly firm. 51.705 Section 51.705 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... § 51.705 Fairly firm. Fairly firm as applied to common oranges, means that the fruit may be slightly...

7 CFR 51.1012 - Fairly firm.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Fairly firm. 51.1012 Section 51.1012 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Standards for Persian (Tahiti) Limes Definitions § 51.1012 Fairly firm. Fairly firm means that the fruit is...

Fair

CERN Multimedia

2005-01-01

The 'Presses Polytechniques Universitaires Romandes' is organising a book exhibition. The major topics covered will be science and technology. The fair will take place in the foyer of the main building (building 60), and will be open from 10am - 4pm on 5th July 2005.

Social exclusion modulates fairness consideration in the ultimatum game: an ERP study.

Science.gov (United States)

Qu, Chen; Wang, Yuru; Huang, Yunyun

2013-01-01

Previous neuroimaging research has identified brain regions activated when people's fairness consideration changes under conditions of social exclusion. The current study used EEG data to examine the temporal process of changes in fairness consideration under social exclusion. In this study, a Cyberball game was administered to manipulate participants' social exclusion or inclusion. Then, in the following Ultimatum game (UG), participants' brain potentials were recorded while they received fair/unfair offers from someone who previously excluded them, someone who previously included them, or a stranger. Results showed that feedback-related negativity (FRN) after onset of distribution outcome was more pronounced for unfair offers compared to fair offers. Moreover, the FRN was more negative-going in response to unfair offers from people who previously excluded them than from the includer and the stranger. Fair offers elicited a larger P300 than unfair offers. In addition, P300 was more positive-going for unfair offers from the stranger than from the excluder and the includer. This study reveals a temporal process in which the effects of social exclusion on fair consideration are reflected in FRN in the early stage of outcome evaluation. These data also suggest that the FRN is modulated by the subjective evaluation of outcome events in a social context.

Social exclusion modulates fairness consideration in the ultimatum game: an ERP study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen eQu

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Previous neuroimaging research has identified brain regions activated when people’s fairness consideration changes under conditions of social exclusion. The current study used EEG data to examine the temporal process of changes in fairness consideration under social exclusion. In this study, a Cyberball game was administered to manipulate participants’ social exclusion or inclusion. Then, in the following Ultimatum game, participants’ brain potentials were recorded while they received fair/unfair offers from someone who previously excluded them, someone who previously included them, or a stranger. Results showed that feedback related negativity (FRN after onset of distribution outcome was more pronounced for unfair offers compared to fair offers. Moreover, the FRN was more negative-going in response to unfair offers from people who previously excluded them than from the includer and the stranger. Fair offers ¬¬¬elicited a larger P300 than unfair offers. In addition, P300 was more positive-going for unfair offers from the stranger than from the excluder and the includer. This study reveals a temporal process in which the effects of social exclusion on fair consideration are reflected in FRN in the early stage of outcome evaluation. These data also suggest that the FRN is modulated by the subjective evaluation of outcome events in a social context.

Using Weather Types to Understand and Communicate Weather and Climate Impacts

Science.gov (United States)

Prein, A. F.; Hale, B.; Holland, G. J.; Bruyere, C. L.; Done, J.; Mearns, L.

2017-12-01

A common challenge in atmospheric research is the translation of scientific advancements and breakthroughs to decision relevant and actionable information. This challenge is central to the mission of NCAR's Capacity Center for Climate and Weather Extremes (C3WE, www.c3we.ucar.edu). C3WE advances our understanding of weather and climate impacts and integrates these advances with distributed information technology to create tools that promote a global culture of resilience to weather and climate extremes. Here we will present an interactive web-based tool that connects historic U.S. losses and fatalities from extreme weather and climate events to 12 large-scale weather types. Weather types are dominant weather situations such as winter high-pressure systems over the U.S. leading to very cold temperatures or summertime moist humid air masses over the central U.S. leading to severe thunderstorms. Each weather type has a specific fingerprint of economic losses and fatalities in a region that is quantified. Therefore, weather types enable a direct connection of observed or forecasted weather situation to loss of life and property. The presented tool allows the user to explore these connections, raise awareness of existing vulnerabilities, and build resilience to weather and climate extremes.

A Fair Cooperative MAC Protocol in IEEE 802.11 WLAN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seyed Davoud Mousavi

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Cooperative communication techniques have recently enabled wireless technologies to overcome their challenges. The main objective of these techniques is to improve resource allocation. In this paper, we propose a new protocol in medium access control (MAC of the IEEE 802.11 standard. In our new protocol, which is called Fair Cooperative MAC (FC-MAC, every relay node participates in cooperation proportionally to its provided cooperation gain. This technique improves network resource allocation by exploiting the potential capacity of all relay candidates. Simulation results demonstrate that the FC-MAC protocol presents better performance in terms of throughput, fairness, and network lifetime.

7 CFR 51.643 - Fairly firm.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Fairly firm. 51.643 Section 51.643 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing...) Definitions § 51.643 Fairly firm. Fairly firm means that the fruit may be slightly soft, but not bruised, and...

Adverse Weather Evokes Nostalgia.

Science.gov (United States)

van Tilburg, Wijnand A P; Sedikides, Constantine; Wildschut, Tim

2018-03-01

Four studies examined the link between adverse weather and the palliative role of nostalgia. We proposed and tested that (a) adverse weather evokes nostalgia (Hypothesis 1); (b) adverse weather causes distress, which predicts elevated nostalgia (Hypothesis 2); (c) preventing nostalgia exacerbates weather-induced distress (Hypothesis 3); and (d) weather-evoked nostalgia confers psychological benefits (Hypothesis 4). In Study 1, participants listened to recordings of wind, thunder, rain, and neutral sounds. Adverse weather evoked nostalgia. In Study 2, participants kept a 10-day diary recording weather conditions, distress, and nostalgia. We also obtained meteorological data. Adverse weather perceptions were positively correlated with distress, which predicted higher nostalgia. Also, adverse natural weather was associated with corresponding weather perceptions, which predicted elevated nostalgia. (Results were mixed for rain.) In Study 3, preventing nostalgia (via cognitive load) increased weather-evoked distress. In Study 4, weather-evoked nostalgia was positively associated with psychological benefits. The findings pioneer the relevance of nostalgia as source of comfort in adverse weather.

Mobility of nutrients and trace metals during weathering in the late Archean

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, Jihua; Sverjensky, Dimitri A.; Hazen, Robert M.

2017-08-01

The evolution of the geosphere and biosphere depends on the availability of bio-essential nutrients and trace metals. Consequently, the chemical and isotopic variability of trace elements in the sedimentary record have been widely used to infer the existence of early life and fluctuations in the near-surface environment on the early Earth, particularly fluctuations in the redox state of the atmosphere. In this study, we applied late Archean weathering models (Hao et al., 2017), developed to estimate the behavior of major elements and the composition of late Archean world average river water, to explore the behavior of nutrient and trace metals and their potential for riverine transport. We focused on P, Mn, Cr, and Cu during the weathering of olivine basalt. In our standard late Archean weathering model (pCO2,g = 10-1.5 bars, pH2,g = 10-5.0 bars), crustal apatite was totally dissolved by the acidic rainwater during weathering. Our model quantitatively links the pCO2,g of the atmosphere to phosphate levels transported by rivers. The development of late Archean river water (pH = 6.4) resulted in riverine phosphate of at least 1.7 μmolar, much higher than at the present-day. At the end of the early Proterozoic snowball Earth event when pCO2,g could be 0.01-0.10 bars, river water may have transported up to 70 μmolar phosphate, depending on the availability of apatite, thereby stimulating high levels of oxygenic photosynthesis in the marine environment. Crustal levels of Mn in olivine dissolved completely during weathering, except at large extents of weathering where Mn was stored as a component of a secondary carbonate mineral. The corresponding Mn content of river water, about 1.2 μmolar, is higher than in modern river water. Whiffs of 10-5 mole O2 gas or HNO3 kg-1 H2O resulted in the formation of pyrolusite (MnO2) and abundant hematite and simultaneous dramatic decreases in the concentration of Mn(II) in the river water. Chromite dissolution resulted in negligible

Correlation between sub-micron surface roughness of iron oxide encrustations and trace element concentrations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fischer, Cornelius; Karius, Volker; Luettge, Andreas

2009-01-01

Iron oxide encrustations are formed on black slate surfaces during oxidative weathering of iron sulfide and phosphate bearing, organic matter-rich slates. Synchronously, trace elements are released during ongoing weathering. Laser ablation ICP-MS analyses of a weathered and encrusted slate showed that major portions of the V, Cu, As, Mo, Pb, Th, and U reside in the encrustation. Recently a potential relationship between several micrometer to 500 nm surface topography roughness of such encrustations and its uranium concentration was shown. Based on laser scanning microscopy measurements, the present study shows that this interrelation must be expanded to small submicron-sized half-pores with diameters between 100 nm and 500 nm. We demonstrate that the relationship is not limited to topography variations of a single encrustation in the hand-specimen scale. Surface topography and geochemical analyses of iron oxide encrustations from several locations but from the same geochemical environment and with similar weathering history showed that the concentrations of U, P, Cu, and Zn correlate inversely with the surface roughness parameter F. This parameter represents the total surface area and is - in this case - a proxy for the root-mean square surface roughness Rq. This study substantiates the environmental importance that micrometer- to submicrometer topography variations of fluid-rock interfaces govern the trapping of trace elements.

Correlation between sub-micron surface roughness of iron oxide encrustations and trace element concentrations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fischer, Cornelius, E-mail: cornelius@rice.edu [Department of Earth Science, MS-126, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005 (United States); Geowissenschaftliches Zentrum der Universitaet Goettingen, Abt. Sedimentologie and Umweltgeologie, Goldschmidtstr. 3, D-37077 Goettingen (Germany); Karius, Volker [Geowissenschaftliches Zentrum der Universitaet Goettingen, Abt. Sedimentologie and Umweltgeologie, Goldschmidtstr. 3, D-37077 Goettingen (Germany); Luettge, Andreas [Department of Earth Science, MS-126, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005 (United States); Department of Chemistry, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005 (United States)

2009-08-01

Iron oxide encrustations are formed on black slate surfaces during oxidative weathering of iron sulfide and phosphate bearing, organic matter-rich slates. Synchronously, trace elements are released during ongoing weathering. Laser ablation ICP-MS analyses of a weathered and encrusted slate showed that major portions of the V, Cu, As, Mo, Pb, Th, and U reside in the encrustation. Recently a potential relationship between several micrometer to 500 nm surface topography roughness of such encrustations and its uranium concentration was shown. Based on laser scanning microscopy measurements, the present study shows that this interrelation must be expanded to small submicron-sized half-pores with diameters between 100 nm and 500 nm. We demonstrate that the relationship is not limited to topography variations of a single encrustation in the hand-specimen scale. Surface topography and geochemical analyses of iron oxide encrustations from several locations but from the same geochemical environment and with similar weathering history showed that the concentrations of U, P, Cu, and Zn correlate inversely with the surface roughness parameter F. This parameter represents the total surface area and is - in this case - a proxy for the root-mean square surface roughness Rq. This study substantiates the environmental importance that micrometer- to submicrometer topography variations of fluid-rock interfaces govern the trapping of trace elements.

Social Accounting and Unethical Behavior: Does Looking Fair Undermine Actually Being Fair?

OpenAIRE

Hong, Michelle Chiawei

2016-01-01

In organizations, it is inevitable that some business activities might seem unfair to subordinates. Social accounts—the explanations managers give their subordinates for those decisions—are known to be a useful tool for managing subordinates’ fairness concerns. Over three decades of research, we learn that social accounts are effectiveness in improving subordinates’ fairness perceptions and reducing their negative reactions. Yet, we have only limited understanding about how social accounts...

Development of tailored indigenous marine consortia for the degradation of naturally weathered polyethylene films.

Science.gov (United States)

Syranidou, Evdokia; Karkanorachaki, Katerina; Amorotti, Filippo; Repouskou, Eftychia; Kroll, Kevin; Kolvenbach, Boris; Corvini, Philippe F-X; Fava, Fabio; Kalogerakis, Nicolas

2017-01-01

This study investigated the potential of bacterial-mediated polyethylene (PE) degradation in a two-phase microcosm experiment. During phase I, naturally weathered PE films were incubated for 6 months with the indigenous marine community alone as well as bioaugmented with strains able to grow in minimal medium with linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) as the sole carbon source. At the end of phase I the developed biofilm was harvested and re-inoculated with naturally weathered PE films. Bacteria from both treatments were able to establish an active population on the PE surfaces as the biofilm community developed in a time dependent way. Moreover, a convergence in the composition of these communities was observed towards an efficient PE degrading microbial network, comprising of indigenous species. In acclimated communities, genera affiliated with synthetic (PE) and natural (cellulose) polymer degraders as well as hydrocarbon degrading bacteria were enriched. The acclimated consortia (indigenous and bioaugmented) reduced more efficiently the weight of PE films in comparison to non-acclimated bacteria. The SEM images revealed a dense and compact biofilm layer and signs of bio-erosion on the surface of the films. Rheological results suggest that the polymers after microbial treatment had wider molecular mass distribution and a marginally smaller average molar mass suggesting biodegradation as opposed to abiotic degradation. Modifications on the surface chemistry were observed throughout phase II while the FTIR profiles of microbially treated films at month 6 were similar to the profiles of virgin PE. Taking into account the results, we can suggest that the tailored indigenous marine community represents an efficient consortium for degrading weathered PE plastics.

Development of tailored indigenous marine consortia for the degradation of naturally weathered polyethylene films.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Evdokia Syranidou

Full Text Available This study investigated the potential of bacterial-mediated polyethylene (PE degradation in a two-phase microcosm experiment. During phase I, naturally weathered PE films were incubated for 6 months with the indigenous marine community alone as well as bioaugmented with strains able to grow in minimal medium with linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE as the sole carbon source. At the end of phase I the developed biofilm was harvested and re-inoculated with naturally weathered PE films. Bacteria from both treatments were able to establish an active population on the PE surfaces as the biofilm community developed in a time dependent way. Moreover, a convergence in the composition of these communities was observed towards an efficient PE degrading microbial network, comprising of indigenous species. In acclimated communities, genera affiliated with synthetic (PE and natural (cellulose polymer degraders as well as hydrocarbon degrading bacteria were enriched. The acclimated consortia (indigenous and bioaugmented reduced more efficiently the weight of PE films in comparison to non-acclimated bacteria. The SEM images revealed a dense and compact biofilm layer and signs of bio-erosion on the surface of the films. Rheological results suggest that the polymers after microbial treatment had wider molecular mass distribution and a marginally smaller average molar mass suggesting biodegradation as opposed to abiotic degradation. Modifications on the surface chemistry were observed throughout phase II while the FTIR profiles of microbially treated films at month 6 were similar to the profiles of virgin PE. Taking into account the results, we can suggest that the tailored indigenous marine community represents an efficient consortium for degrading weathered PE plastics.

The FAIR start

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoecker, H.; Sturm, C.

2011-01-01

At the 4th of October 2010 nine countries signed the international agreement on the construction of the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research, FAIR. Adjacent to the existing accelerator complex of the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research at Darmstadt/Germany, FAIR substantially expands research goals and technical possibilities. It will provide worldwide unique accelerator and experimental facilities allowing for a large variety of unprecedented fore-front research in hadron, nuclear, atomic and plasma physics as well as applied sciences which will be described in this article briefly.

The ELISe experiment at FAIR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simon, H.

2007-01-01

In this paper the novel ELectron Ion scattering in a Storage ring (eA-collider) experiment that is part of the baseline of FAIR[http://www.gsi.de/fair/reports/btr.html] will be discussed in terms of future prospects in a viable physics programme[http://www.gsi.de/documents/DOC-2006-Mar-118-1.pdf, http://www.gsi.de/fair/experiments/ELISe/] that will be feasible for the first time, making use of a clean purely electromagnetic probe in conjunction with unstable secondary beams, the electron

Influence of surface conductivity on the apparent zeta potential of calcite.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Shuai; Leroy, Philippe; Heberling, Frank; Devau, Nicolas; Jougnot, Damien; Chiaberge, Christophe

2016-04-15

Zeta potential is a physicochemical parameter of particular importance in describing the surface electrical properties of charged porous media. However, the zeta potential of calcite is still poorly known because of the difficulty to interpret streaming potential experiments. The Helmholtz-Smoluchowski (HS) equation is widely used to estimate the apparent zeta potential from these experiments. However, this equation neglects the influence of surface conductivity on streaming potential. We present streaming potential and electrical conductivity measurements on a calcite powder in contact with an aqueous NaCl electrolyte. Our streaming potential model corrects the apparent zeta potential of calcite by accounting for the influence of surface conductivity and flow regime. We show that the HS equation seriously underestimates the zeta potential of calcite, particularly when the electrolyte is diluted (ionic strength ⩽ 0.01 M) because of calcite surface conductivity. The basic Stern model successfully predicted the corrected zeta potential by assuming that the zeta potential is located at the outer Helmholtz plane, i.e. without considering a stagnant diffuse layer at the calcite-water interface. The surface conductivity of calcite crystals was inferred from electrical conductivity measurements and computed using our basic Stern model. Surface conductivity was also successfully predicted by our surface complexation model. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Volatility as a downside of fairness

OpenAIRE

Leibfried, Peter; Zimmermann, Marc-Daniel

2008-01-01

Accounting Standards increasingly require financial instruments such as stocks, derivatives and structured products to be measured at fair value. As fair values represent a financial instrument's market value, price fluctuations find their way into financial statements. Even though fair value measurement provides useful information about the current value of a corporation's assets, it also increases the volatility of earnings.

Effect of processing method on accelerated weathering of wood-flour/HDPE composites

Science.gov (United States)

Nicole M. Stark; Laurent M. Matuana; Craig M. Clemons

2003-01-01

Wood-plastic lumber is promoted as a low maintenance high-durability product. When exposed to accelerated weathering, however, wood-plastic composites may experience a color change and/or loss in mechanical properties. Different methods of manufacturing wood-plastic composites lead to different surface characteristics, which can influence weathering, In this study, 50...

Time-dependent image potential at a metal surface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alducin, M.; Diez Muino, R.; Juaristi, J.I.

2003-01-01

Transient effects in the image potential induced by a point charge suddenly created in front of a metal surface are studied. The time evolution of the image potential is calculated using linear response theory. Two different time scales are defined: (i) the time required for the creation of the image potential and (ii) the time it takes to converge to its stationary value. Their dependence on the distance of the charge to the surface is discussed. The effect of the electron gas damping is also analyzed. For a typical metallic density, the order of magnitude of the creation time is 0.1 fs, whereas for a charge created close to the surface the convergence time is around 1-2 fs

Predicting Potential Fire Severity Using Vegetation, Topography and Surface Moisture Availability in a Eurasian Boreal Forest Landscape

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lei Fang

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Severity of wildfires is a critical component of the fire regime and plays an important role in determining forest ecosystem response to fire disturbance. Predicting spatial distribution of potential fire severity can be valuable in guiding fire and fuel management planning. Spatial controls on fire severity patterns have attracted growing interest, but few studies have attempted to predict potential fire severity in fire-prone Eurasian boreal forests. Furthermore, the influences of fire weather variation on spatial heterogeneity of fire severity remain poorly understood at fine scales. We assessed the relative importance and influence of pre-fire vegetation, topography, and surface moisture availability (SMA on fire severity in 21 lightning-ignited fires occurring in two different fire years (3 fires in 2000, 18 fires in 2010 of the Great Xing’an Mountains with an ensemble modeling approach of boosted regression tree (BRT. SMA was derived from 8-day moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS evapotranspiration products. We predicted the potential distribution of fire severity in two fire years and evaluated the prediction accuracies. BRT modeling revealed that vegetation, topography, and SMA explained more than 70% of variations in fire severity (mean 83.0% for 2000, mean 73.8% for 2010. Our analysis showed that evergreen coniferous forests were more likely to experience higher severity fires than the dominant deciduous larch forests of this region, and deciduous broadleaf forests and shrublands usually burned at a significantly lower fire severity. High-severity fires tended to occur in gentle and well-drained slopes at high altitudes, especially those with north-facing aspects. SMA exhibited notable and consistent negative association with severity. Predicted fire severity from our model exhibited strong agreement with the observed fire severity (mean r2 = 0.795 for 2000, 0.618 for 2010. Our results verified that spatial variation

Synoptic-scale fire weather conditions in Alaska

Science.gov (United States)

Hayasaka, Hiroshi; Tanaka, Hiroshi L.; Bieniek, Peter A.

2016-09-01

Recent concurrent widespread fires in Alaska are evaluated to assess their associated synoptic-scale weather conditions. Several periods of high fire activity from 2003 to 2015 were identified using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) hotspot data by considering the number of daily hotspots and their continuity. Fire weather conditions during the top six periods of high fire activity in the fire years of 2004, 2005, 2009, and 2015 were analyzed using upper level (500 hPa) and near surface level (1000 hPa) atmospheric reanalysis data. The top four fire-periods occurred under similar unique high-pressure fire weather conditions related to Rossby wave breaking (RWB). Following the ignition of wildfires, fire weather conditions related to RWB events typically result in two hotspot peaks occurring before and after high-pressure systems move from south to north across Alaska. A ridge in the Gulf of Alaska resulted in southwesterly wind during the first hotspot peak. After the high-pressure system moved north under RWB conditions, the Beaufort Sea High developed and resulted in relatively strong easterly wind in Interior Alaska and a second (largest) hotspot peak during each fire period. Low-pressure-related fire weather conditions occurring under cyclogenesis in the Arctic also resulted in high fire activity under southwesterly wind with a single large hot-spot peak.

Climatic and weather factors affecting fire occurrence and behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Randall P. Benson; John O. Roads; David R. Weise

2009-01-01

Weather and climate have a profound influence on wildland fire ignition potential, fire behavior, and fire severity. Local weather and climate are affected by large-scale patterns of winds over the hemispheres that predispose wildland fuels to fire. The characteristics of wildland fuels, especially the moisture content, ultimately determine fire behavior and the impact...

Weathering of the New Albany Shale, Kentucky, USA: I. Weathering zones defined by mineralogy and major-element composition

Science.gov (United States)

Tuttle, M.L.W.; Breit, G.N.

2009-01-01

Comprehensive understanding of chemical and mineralogical changes induced by weathering is valuable information when considering the supply of nutrients and toxic elements from rocks. Here minerals that release and fix major elements during progressive weathering of a bed of Devonian New Albany Shale in eastern Kentucky are documented. Samples were collected from unweathered core (parent shale) and across an outcrop excavated into a hillside 40 year prior to sampling. Quantitative X-ray diffraction mineralogical data record progressive shale alteration across the outcrop. Mineral compositional changes reflect subtle alteration processes such as incongruent dissolution and cation exchange. Altered primary minerals include K-feldspars, plagioclase, calcite, pyrite, and chlorite. Secondary minerals include jarosite, gypsum, goethite, amorphous Fe(III) oxides and Fe(II)-Al sulfate salt (efflorescence). The mineralogy in weathered shale defines four weathered intervals on the outcrop-Zones A-C and soil. Alteration of the weakly weathered shale (Zone A) is attributed to the 40-a exposure of the shale. In this zone, pyrite oxidization produces acid that dissolves calcite and attacks chlorite, forming gypsum, jarosite, and minor efflorescent salt. The pre-excavation, active weathering front (Zone B) is where complete pyrite oxidation and alteration of feldspar and organic matter result in increased permeability. Acidic weathering solutions seep through the permeable shale and evaporate on the surface forming abundant efflorescent salt, jarosite and minor goethite. Intensely weathered shale (Zone C) is depleted in feldspars, chlorite, gypsum, jarosite and efflorescent salts, but has retained much of its primary quartz, illite and illite-smectite. Goethite and amorphous FE(III) oxides increase due to hydrolysis of jarosite. Enhanced permeability in this zone is due to a 14% loss of the original mass in parent shale. Denudation rates suggest that characteristics of Zone C

The perception of fairness in infant care and mothers' postpartum depression.

Science.gov (United States)

DeMaris, Alfred; Mahoney, Annette

2017-10-01

This study investigates a potential causal effect of mothers' perceptions of the fairness of infant care on their postpartum depression. Based on the tenets of equity theory, it is hypothesized that, net of controls, mothers who see infant care as fairly apportioned between themselves and their husbands will be less depressed than others. We utilize data from a longitudinal study of a nonrandom sample of 178 heterosexual couples experiencing the birth of their first child together. The primary focus variable is the mothers' perception in the first couple of months postpartum that infant care is fair to them. Statistical analysis involved the careful chronological sequencing of response variable and controls, along with regression modeling using propensity scores. We find that a perception of fairness is associated with about a quarter of a standard deviation lower depressive symptomatology, controlling for key covariates. Depressive symptomatology is additionally elevated for mothers experiencing more pre-partum depression, and for those who more generally felt, before the birth, that they were overbenefiting in the marriage. This paper contributes to both equity theory and research on postpartum depression. In a scenario in which it is not practical or ethical to randomly assign people to fairness-in-infant-care conditions, we are able to utilize longitudinal data and a natural "experiment," along with propensity-score modeling to attempt to assess the causal impact of fairness in infant care on postpartum depression. The finding that fairness in this arena appears to reduce postpartum depression emphasizes the importance of encouraging father participation in this critical stage of parenting. Limitations of the study with respect to causal inference are also discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Trade Fairs, Markets and Fields

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Moeran, Brian

2011-01-01

This article describes how trade fairs act as a framing mechanism that enables participants to come together for the exchange of goods and services and to perceive themselves as acting in a social field. This way, trade fairs make markets possible. Based on ongoing participant observation at book....../material, social, situational, content/appreciative, and the use value of goods, values which are then equated with a commodity exchange value in the form of price. Trade fairs frame order, but they are also events where the respective field might be reconfigurated. The contingency of personal interaction...

Space weather and power grids: findings and outlook

Science.gov (United States)

Krausmann, Elisabeth; Andersson, Emmelie; Murtagh, William; Mitchison, Neil

2014-05-01

The impact of space weather on the power grid is a tangible and recurring threat with potentially serious consequences on society. Of particular concern is the long-distance high-voltage power grid, which is vulnerable to the effects of geomagnetic storms that can damage or destroy equipment or lead to grid collapse. In order to launch a dialogue on the topic and encourage authorities, regulators and operators in European countries and North America to learn from each other, the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, and NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Centre, with the contribution of the UK Civil Contingencies Secretariat, jointly organised a workshop on the impact of extreme space weather on the power grid on 29-30 October 2013. Being structured into 6 sessions, the topics addressed were space-weather phenomena and the dynamics of their impact on the grid, experiences with prediction and now-casting in the USA and in Europe, risk assessment and preparedness, as well as policy implications arising from increased awareness of the space-weather hazard. The main workshop conclusions are: • There is increasing awareness of the risk of space-weather impact among power-grid operators and regulators and some countries consider it a priority risk to be addressed. • The predictability of space-weather phenomena is still limited and relies, in part, on data from ageing satellites. NOAA is working with NASA to launch the DSCOVR solar wind spacecraft, the replacement for the ACE satellite, in early 2015. • In some countries, models and tools for GIC prediction and grid impact assessment have been developed in collaboration with national power grids but equipment vulnerability models are scarce. • Some countries have successfully hardened their transmission grids to space-weather impact and sustained relatively little or no damage due to currents induced by past moderate space-weather events. • While there is preparedness

Weather swap as an instrument for weather risk management in wheat production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marković Todor

2012-01-01

Full Text Available A special type of weather derivatives are weather forwards and they exists mostly in the form of weather swaps. Hedging effectiveness in wheat production with and without weather swap was analyzed in this paper using stochastic dominance. The results show that the effect of risk reduction is significant using weather swap, but geographical- basis risk and production-related basis risk are important factor that reduce the utility of weather derivatives.

Affect and fairness in economics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Winden, F.A.A.M.

2007-01-01

A strained relationship exists between mainstream economics and ethics. Over the last decade, behavioral economists have strongly argued for the importance of fairness in motivating behavior, based on substantial experimental evidence. Two main approaches to the modeling of fairness have been

The microbial habitability of weathered volcanic glass inferred from continuous sensing techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Bagshaw, Elizabeth A; Cockell, Charles S; Magan, Naresh; Wadham, Jemma L; Venugopalan, T; Sun, Tong; Mowlem, Matt; Croxford, Anthony J

2011-09-01

Basaltic glasses (hyaloclastite) are a widespread habitat for life in volcanic environments, yet their interior physical conditions are poorly characterized. We investigated the characteristics of exposed weathered basaltic glass from a surface outcrop in Iceland, using microprobes capable of continuous sensing, to determine whether the physical conditions in the rock interior are hospitable to microbial life. The material provided thermal protection from freeze-thaw and rapid temperature fluctuations, similar to data reported for other rock types. Water activity experiments showed that at moisture contents less than 13% wet weight, the glass and its weathering product, palagonite, had a water activity below levels suitable for bacterial growth. In pore spaces, however, these higher moisture conditions might be maintained for many days after a precipitation event. Gas exchange between the rock interior and exterior was rapid (< 10 min) when the rocks were dry, but when saturated with water, equilibration took many hours. During this period, we demonstrated the potential for low oxygen conditions within the rock caused by respiratory stimulation of the heterotrophic community within. These conditions might exist within subglacial environments during the formation of the rocks or in micro-environments in the interior of exposed rocks. The experiments showed that microbial communities at the site studied here could potentially be active for 39% of the year, if the depth of the community within the outcrop maintains a balance between access to liquid water and adequate protection from freezing. In the absence of precipitation, the interior of weathered basaltic glass is an extreme and life-limiting environment for microorganisms on Earth and other planets.

Testing the potential of geochemical techniques in identifying hydrological systems within landslides in partly weathered marls

Science.gov (United States)

Bogaard, T. A.

2003-04-01

weathered layers that may develop or have already developed into slip surfaces. The CEC analyses of the cores revealed ‘differences in chemical composition’ that can have an influence on slope stability. It is known that the chemical composition of a soil may have a large effect on the strength parameters of the material. The technique described here can also be used before core sampling for laboratory strength tests. The major problem of the CEC analyses turned out to be the explanation of the origin of the differences found in the core samples. From the above it is concluded that geochemistry is a potentially valuable technique for e.g. landslide research, but it is recognised that still a lot of work has to be done before the technique can be applied in engineering practice.

Surface effects on mean inner potentials studied using density functional theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pennington, Robert S., E-mail: robert.pennington@uni-ulm.de [Institute for Experimental Physics, Ulm University, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89081 Ulm (Germany); Boothroyd, Chris B.; Dunin-Borkowski, Rafal E. [Ernst Ruska-Centre and Peter Grüneberg Institute, Forschungzentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich (Germany)

2015-12-15

Quantitative materials characterization using electron holography frequently requires knowledge of the mean inner potential, but reported experimental mean inner potential measurements can vary widely. Using density functional theory, we have simulated the mean inner potential for materials with a range of different surface conditions and geometries. We use both “thin-film” and “nanowire” specimen geometries. We consider clean bulk-terminated surfaces with different facets and surface reconstructions using atom positions from both structural optimization and experimental data and we also consider surfaces both with and without adsorbates. We find that the mean inner potential is surface-dependent, with the strongest dependency on surface adsorbates. We discuss the outlook and perspective for future mean inner potential measurements. - Highlights: • Density functional theory (DFT) is used to simulate mean inner potentials (MIP). • Applications for MIP electron holography measurements are considered. • MIPs are found to be surface-dependent, for thin-film and nanowire geometries. • The DFT simulation precision is extensively tested for multiple materials. • Surface adsorbates can create a strong positive or negative effect.

Weathering and landscape evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Turkington, Alice V.; Phillips, Jonathan D.; Campbell, Sean W.

2005-04-01

In recognition of the fundamental control exerted by weathering on landscape evolution and topographic development, the 35th Binghamton Geomorphology Symposium was convened under the theme of Weathering and Landscape Evolution. The papers and posters presented at the conference imparted the state-of-the-art in weathering geomorphology, tackled the issue of scale linkage in geomorphic studies and offered a vehicle for interdisciplinary communication on research into weathering and landscape evolution. The papers included in this special issue are encapsulated here under the general themes of weathering mantles, weathering and relative dating, weathering and denudation, weathering processes and controls and the 'big picture'.

New quantitative, in-situ characterization of weathering in geomaterials.

Science.gov (United States)

Scrivano, Simona; Gaggero, Laura; Gisbert Aguilar, Josep; Yus Gonzalez, Adrian

2016-04-01

The mineralogical and microtextural analyses of weathered rocks and mortars are the main diagnostic tools to address the materials exposed under different environmental conditions in order to enucleate and mitigate the decay factors. The characterization of weathering intensity is mostly descriptive and non-quantitative (ICOMOS Glossary, 2008); the Fitzner indexes in arenites (Fitzner et al., 2002) and more recently applied to marbles (Scrivano et al., 2013) provide an operator dependent method. The current diagnostic of decay (Drdàcky & Slìzkovà, 2014) based on a scotch tape tearing off the surface was improved by a specifically adapted pocket penetrometer, and a joint gravimetric + minero-chemical analysis under SEM of ablational decay products. The steps are the following: i) Preparation of stubs for SEM with adherent conductive carbon tape (surface area 1.3 cm2) ii) Weighing of stub + tape + its plastic envelope at 0.001 g precision iii) Connecting the stub to a pocket penetrometer iv) Non invasive sampling of the incoherent dust applying a constant pressure of 2 kgf for 1 minute, and then packing away the stub without loosing grains v) Weighing of stub + tape + weathering products + their plastic envelope at 0.001 g precision vi) Recast the weight of removed material vii) Addressing the weathering products to SEM - EDS. Our quantitative peeling test was applied on a 96m long cladded wall in the Staglieno Monumental Cemetery in Genoa. The wall shows weathering gradients due to a neighbouring interred stream and to different insulation. Slabs of ophicalcite marble were tested from three different areas (5 samples were collected to the E, 5 samples at the centre, 5 samples to the W). The results highlighted capillary rise up to 2 meters height and a more weathered central area. On the whole, our protocol allows a delicate, virtually not impacting and reproducible factual sampling. Moreover, if carried out on a statistically significant population, the decay

Climate Central World Weather Attribution (WWA) project: Real-time extreme weather event attribution analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Haustein, Karsten; Otto, Friederike; Uhe, Peter; Allen, Myles; Cullen, Heidi

2015-04-01

Extreme weather detection and attribution analysis has emerged as a core theme in climate science over the last decade or so. By using a combination of observational data and climate models it is possible to identify the role of climate change in certain types of extreme weather events such as sea level rise and its contribution to storm surges, extreme heat events and droughts or heavy rainfall and flood events. These analyses are usually carried out after an extreme event has occurred when reanalysis and observational data become available. The Climate Central WWA project will exploit the increasing forecast skill of seasonal forecast prediction systems such as the UK MetOffice GloSea5 (Global seasonal forecasting system) ensemble forecasting method. This way, the current weather can be fed into climate models to simulate large ensembles of possible weather scenarios before an event has fully emerged yet. This effort runs along parallel and intersecting tracks of science and communications that involve research, message development and testing, staged socialization of attribution science with key audiences, and dissemination. The method we employ uses a very large ensemble of simulations of regional climate models to run two different analyses: one to represent the current climate as it was observed, and one to represent the same events in the world that might have been without human-induced climate change. For the weather "as observed" experiment, the atmospheric model uses observed sea surface temperature (SST) data from GloSea5 (currently) and present-day atmospheric gas concentrations to simulate weather events that are possible given the observed climate conditions. The weather in the "world that might have been" experiments is obtained by removing the anthropogenic forcing from the observed SSTs, thereby simulating a counterfactual world without human activity. The anthropogenic forcing is obtained by comparing the CMIP5 historical and natural simulations

Corrected body surface potential mapping.

Science.gov (United States)

Krenzke, Gerhard; Kindt, Carsten; Hetzer, Roland

2007-02-01

In the method for body surface potential mapping described here, the influence of thorax shape on measured ECG values is corrected. The distances of the ECG electrodes from the electrical heart midpoint are determined using a special device for ECG recording. These distances are used to correct the ECG values as if they had been measured on the surface of a sphere with a radius of 10 cm with its midpoint localized at the electrical heart midpoint. The equipotential lines of the electrical heart field are represented on the virtual surface of such a sphere. It is demonstrated that the character of a dipole field is better represented if the influence of the thorax shape is reduced. The site of the virtual reference electrode is also important for the dipole character of the representation of the electrical heart field.

Lunar Surface Potential Increases during Terrestrial Bow Shock Traversals

Science.gov (United States)

Collier, Michael R.; Stubbs, Timothy J.; Hills, H. Kent; Halekas, Jasper; Farrell, William M.; Delory, Greg T.; Espley, Jared; Freeman, John W.; Vondrak, Richard R.; Kasper, Justin

2009-01-01

Since the Apollo era the electric potential of the Moon has been a subject of interest and debate. Deployed by three Apollo missions, Apollo 12, Apollo 14 and Apollo 15, the Suprathermal Ion Detector Experiment (SIDE) determined the sunlit lunar surface potential to be about +10 Volts using the energy spectra of lunar ionospheric thermal ions accelerated toward the Moon. We present an analysis of Apollo 14 SIDE "resonance" events that indicate the lunar surface potential increases when the Moon traverses the dawn bow shock. By analyzing Wind spacecraft crossings of the terrestrial bow shock at approximately this location and employing current balancing models of the lunar surface, we suggest causes for the increasing potential. Determining the origin of this phenomenon will improve our ability to predict the lunar surface potential in support of human exploration as well as provide models for the behavior of other airless bodies when they traverse similar features such as interplanetary shocks, both of which are goals of the NASA Lunar Science Institute's Dynamic Response of the Environment At the Moon (DREAM) team.

Evaluating lineup fairness: Variations across methods and measures

OpenAIRE

Mansour, Jamal K; Beaudry, Jennifer L; Kalmet, Natalie; Bertrand, Michelle I; Lindsay, R C L

2017-01-01

Triers of fact sometimes consider lineup fairness when determining the suggestiveness of an identification procedure. Likewise, researchers often consider lineup fairness when comparing results across studies. Despite their importance, lineup fairness measures have received scant empirical attention and researchers inconsistently conduct and report mock-witness tasks and lineup fairness measures. We conducted a large-scale, online experiment (N = 1010) to examine how lineup fairness measures ...

Modeling the influence of organic acids on soil weathering

Science.gov (United States)

Lawrence, Corey R.; Harden, Jennifer W.; Maher, Kate

2014-01-01

Biological inputs and organic matter cycling have long been regarded as important factors in the physical and chemical development of soils. In particular, the extent to which low molecular weight organic acids, such as oxalate, influence geochemical reactions has been widely studied. Although the effects of organic acids are diverse, there is strong evidence that organic acids accelerate the dissolution of some minerals. However, the influence of organic acids at the field-scale and over the timescales of soil development has not been evaluated in detail. In this study, a reactive-transport model of soil chemical weathering and pedogenic development was used to quantify the extent to which organic acid cycling controls mineral dissolution rates and long-term patterns of chemical weathering. Specifically, oxalic acid was added to simulations of soil development to investigate a well-studied chronosequence of soils near Santa Cruz, CA. The model formulation includes organic acid input, transport, decomposition, organic-metal aqueous complexation and mineral surface complexation in various combinations. Results suggest that although organic acid reactions accelerate mineral dissolution rates near the soil surface, the net response is an overall decrease in chemical weathering. Model results demonstrate the importance of organic acid input concentrations, fluid flow, decomposition and secondary mineral precipitation rates on the evolution of mineral weathering fronts. In particular, model soil profile evolution is sensitive to kaolinite precipitation and oxalate decomposition rates. The soil profile-scale modeling presented here provides insights into the influence of organic carbon cycling on soil weathering and pedogenesis and supports the need for further field-scale measurements of the flux and speciation of reactive organic compounds.

Climate and weather impact timing of emergence of bats.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Winifred F Frick

Full Text Available Interest in forecasting impacts of climate change have heightened attention in recent decades to how animals respond to variation in climate and weather patterns. One difficulty in determining animal response to climate variation is lack of long-term datasets that record animal behaviors over decadal scales. We used radar observations from the national NEXRAD network of Doppler weather radars to measure how group behavior in a colonially-roosting bat species responded to annual variation in climate and daily variation in weather over the past 11 years. Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis form dense aggregations in cave roosts in Texas. These bats emerge from caves daily to forage at high altitudes, which makes them detectable with Doppler weather radars. Timing of emergence in bats is often viewed as an adaptive trade-off between emerging early and risking predation or increased competition and emerging late which restricts foraging opportunities. We used timing of emergence from five maternity colonies of Brazilian free-tailed bats in south-central Texas during the peak lactation period (15 June-15 July to determine whether emergence behavior was associated with summer drought conditions and daily temperatures. Bats emerged significantly earlier during years with extreme drought conditions than during moist years. Bats emerged later on days with high surface temperatures in both dry and moist years, but there was no relationship between surface temperatures and timing of emergence in summers with normal moisture levels. We conclude that emergence behavior is a flexible animal response to climate and weather conditions and may be a useful indicator for monitoring animal response to long-term shifts in climate.

FAIR PLAY I N TURKISH SOCIAL LIFE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mikail TEL

2014-07-01

Full Text Available We can say that we start hearing term of fair play since last 30 years in our country. While it is a sportive term it also represents respectfulness toward all mutual rights, symbol of being just and honest also we can determine it as basic moral values wh ich needs to be practise. Expression and teaching of Fair play fact starts with family and it needs to be thought as a life discipline which should appear in society. Term of Fair play isn‟t only an organizing term for sportive interrelations it also ne eds to be taken as a cultural fact. It is a way of life. Term of Fair play is a way of thinking and acting so it is is above all of sport branches. It is behaviors and emotions which are accepted as conditions of being a perfect human being by Turkish society. Purpose of this study is to investigate perspective of Turkish society toward Fair play and find lived / real fair play events to set as sample. Term of Fair play, cultural values among Turkish society and real Fair play events had been studied carefully within the theorical scope. This research is a theorical study. Screening the resources used as method for this study. Tried to investigate works, articles and researches had been done about this field and interpret the facts which can be acc epted as sample for Fair play.

Issues in Fair Value Accounting under IFRS

OpenAIRE

Bischof, Jannis

2008-01-01

The dissertation presents theoretical evidence for inconsistencies in fair value accounting under IFRS, experimental evidence for biases in risk perception of fair values and empirical evidence for discretion in banks' disclosure policies with respect to fair value measurement.

The mARM spatially distributed soil evolution model: A computationally efficient modeling framework and analysis of hillslope soil surface organization

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, Sagy; Willgoose, Garry; Hancock, Greg

2009-09-01

equilibrium grading of the slope may be finer or coarser than the initial conditions. The results demonstrate the complexity of the evolution of surface grading and the balance between the armouring and weathering processes. They also point toward inherent organization of surface grading on the hillslope driven by erosion even for extremely high weathering rates. The implications for natural landforms are discussed. We also plot and quantify, for the first time, a log-log relationship between surface grading, contributing area and slope for a range of weathering rates. The results show that this log-log relationship is robust, the log-log scaling is constant in space, and true even for extreme weathering rates. This has potentially important implications for soil geomorphology. It suggests that an analytical solution can be found for soil grading catena. This might allow us to more easily map soil distribution as a function of topographic characteristics.

Space weathering trends on carbonaceous asteroids: A possible explanation for Bennu's blue slope?

Science.gov (United States)

Lantz, C.; Binzel, R. P.; DeMeo, F. E.

2018-03-01

We compare primitive near-Earth asteroid spectral properties to the irradiated carbonaceous chondrite samples of Lantz et al. (2017) in order to assess how space weathering processes might influence taxonomic classification. Using the same eigenvectors from the asteroid taxonomy by DeMeo et al. (2009), we calculate the principal components for fresh and irradiated meteorites and find that change in spectral slope (blueing or reddening) causes a corresponding shift in the two first principal components along the same line that the C- and X-complexes track. Using a sample of B-, C-, X-, and D-type NEOs with visible and near-infrared spectral data, we further investigated the correlation between prinicipal components and the spectral curvature for the primitive asteroids. We find that space weathering effects are not just slope and albedo, but also include spectral curvature. We show how, through space weathering, surfaces having an original "C-type" reflectance can thus turn into a redder P-type or a bluer B-type, and that space weathering can also decrease (and disguise) the D-type population. Finally we take a look at the case of OSIRIS-REx target (101955) Bennu and propose an explanation for the blue and possibly red spectra that were previously observed on different locations of its surface: parts of Bennu's surface could have become blue due to space weathering, while fresher areas are redder. No clear prediction can be made on Hayabusa-2 target (162173) Ryugu.

FAIR VALUE IMPLICATIONS ON ROMANIAN CAPITAL MARKET

OpenAIRE

Ciprian-Dan COSTEA

2014-01-01

Fair value generated intense debate during the last years, as the financial turmoil influenced many economies and capital markets, including the Romanian ones, too. Some researchers and professionals consider fair value in charge with the financial crisis and they ask for historical cost accounting basis for financial reporting. Fair value has its supporters, too. They consider that fair value reflects the effects of changes in market conditions when they take place, and accounting informatio...

Monthly Weather Review

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Supplements to the Monthly Weather Review publication. The Weather Bureau published the Monthly weather review Supplement irregularly from 1914 to 1949. The...

Space Weather in the Machine Learning Era: A Multidisciplinary Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Camporeale, E.; Wing, S.; Johnson, J.; Jackman, C. M.; McGranaghan, R.

2018-01-01

The workshop entitled Space Weather: A Multidisciplinary Approach took place at the Lorentz Center, University of Leiden, Netherlands, on 25-29 September 2017. The aim of this workshop was to bring together members of the Space Weather, Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science communities to address the use of advanced techniques such as Machine Learning, Information Theory, and Deep Learning, to better understand the Sun-Earth system and to improve space weather forecasting. Although individual efforts have been made toward this goal, the community consensus is that establishing interdisciplinary collaborations is the most promising strategy for fully utilizing the potential of these advanced techniques in solving Space Weather-related problems.

The interdecadal worsening of weather conditions affecting aerosol pollution in the Beijing area in relation to climate warming

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiaoye; Zhong, Junting; Wang, Jizhi; Wang, Yaqiang; Liu, Yanju

2018-04-01

The weather conditions affecting aerosol pollution in Beijing and its vicinity (BIV) in wintertime have worsened in recent years, particularly after 2010. The relation between interdecadal changes in weather conditions and climate warming is uncertain. Here, we analyze long-term variations of an integrated pollution-linked meteorological index (which is approximately and linearly related to aerosol pollution), the extent of changes in vertical temperature differences in the boundary layer (BL) in BIV, and northerly surface winds from Lake Baikal during wintertime to evaluate the potential contribution of climate warming to changes in meteorological conditions directly related to aerosol pollution in this area; this is accomplished using NCEP reanalysis data, surface observations, and long-term vertical balloon sounding observations since 1960. The weather conditions affecting BIV aerosol pollution are found to have worsened since the 1960s as a whole. This worsening is more significant after 2010, with PM2.5 reaching unprecedented high levels in many cities in China, particularly in BIV. The decadal worsening of meteorological conditions in BIV can partly be attributed to climate warming, which is defined by more warming in the higher layers of the boundary layer (BL) than the lower layers. This worsening can also be influenced by the accumulation of aerosol pollution, to a certain extent (particularly after 2010), because the increase in aerosol pollution from the ground leads to surface cooling by aerosol-radiation interactions, which facilitates temperature inversions, increases moisture accumulations, and results in the extra deterioration of meteorological conditions. If analyzed as a linear trend, weather conditions have worsened by ˜ 4 % each year from 2010 to 2017. Given such a deterioration rate, the worsening of weather conditions may lead to a corresponding amplitude increase in PM2.5 in BIV during wintertime in the next 5 years (i.e., 2018 to 2022

Exploring the correlation between annual precipitation and potential evaporation

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, X.; Buchberger, S. G.

2017-12-01

The interdependence between precipitation and potential evaporation is closely related to the classic Budyko framework. In this study, a systematic investigation of the correlation between precipitation and potential evaporation at the annual time step is conducted at both point scale and watershed scale. The point scale precipitation and potential evaporation data over the period of 1984-2015 are collected from 259 weather stations across the United States. The watershed scale precipitation data of 203 watersheds across the United States are obtained from the Model Parameter Estimation Experiment (MOPEX) dataset from 1983 to 2002; and potential evaporation data of these 203 watersheds in the same period are obtained from a remote-sensing algorithm. The results show that majority of the weather stations (77%) and watersheds (79%) exhibit a statistically significant negative correlation between annual precipitation and annual potential evaporation. The aggregated data cloud of precipitation versus potential evaporation follows a curve based on the combination of the Budyko-type equation and Bouchet's complementary relationship. Our result suggests that annual precipitation and potential evaporation are not independent when both Budyko's hypothesis and Bouchet's hypothesis are valid. Furthermore, we find that the wet surface evaporation, which is controlled primarily by short wave radiation as defined in Bouchet's hypothesis, exhibits less dependence on precipitation than the potential evaporation. As a result, we suggest that wet surface evaporation is a better representation of energy supply than potential evaporation in the Budyko framework.

Enhanced weathering strategies for stabilizing climate and averting ocean acidification

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Lyla L.; Quirk, Joe; Thorley, Rachel M. S.; Kharecha, Pushker A.; Hansen, James; Ridgwell, Andy; Lomas, Mark R.; Banwart, Steve A.; Beerling, David J.

2016-04-01

Chemical breakdown of rocks, weathering, is an important but very slow part of the carbon cycle that ultimately leads to CO2 being locked up in carbonates on the ocean floor. Artificial acceleration of this carbon sink via distribution of pulverized silicate rocks across terrestrial landscapes may help offset anthropogenic CO2 emissions. We show that idealized enhanced weathering scenarios over less than a third of tropical land could cause significant drawdown of atmospheric CO2 and ameliorate ocean acidification by 2100. Global carbon cycle modelling driven by ensemble Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) projections of twenty-first-century climate change (RCP8.5, business-as-usual; RCP4.5, medium-level mitigation) indicates that enhanced weathering could lower atmospheric CO2 by 30-300 ppm by 2100, depending mainly on silicate rock application rate (1 kg or 5 kg m-2 yr-1) and composition. At the higher application rate, end-of-century ocean acidification is reversed under RCP4.5 and reduced by about two-thirds under RCP8.5. Additionally, surface ocean aragonite saturation state, a key control on coral calcification rates, is maintained above 3.5 throughout the low latitudes, thereby helping maintain the viability of tropical coral reef ecosystems. However, we highlight major issues of cost, social acceptability, and potential unanticipated consequences that will limit utilization and emphasize the need for urgent efforts to phase down fossil fuel emissions.

Enhanced Weathering Strategies for Stabilizing Climate and Averting Ocean Acidification

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Lyla L.; Quirk, Joe; Thorley, Rachel M. S.; Kharecha, Pushker A.; Hansen, James; Ridgwell, Andy; Lomas, Mark R.; Banwart, Steve A.; Beerling, David J.

2015-01-01

Chemical breakdown of rocks, weathering, is an important but very slow part of the carbon cycle that ultimately leads to CO2 being locked up in carbonates on the ocean floor. Artificial acceleration of this carbon sink via distribution of pulverized silicate rocks across terrestrial landscapes may help offset anthropogenic CO2 emissions. We show that idealized enhanced weathering scenarios over less than a third of tropical land could cause significant drawdown of atmospheric CO2 and ameliorate ocean acidification by 2100. Global carbon cycle modelling driven by ensemble Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) projections of twenty-first-century climate change (RCP8.5, business-as-usual; RCP4.5, medium-level mitigation) indicates that enhanced weathering could lower atmospheric CO2 by 30-300 ppm by 2100, depending mainly on silicate rock application rate (1 kg or 5 kg m(exp -2) yr (exp -1)) and composition. At the higher application rate, end-of-century ocean acidification is reversed under RCP4.5 and reduced by about two-thirds under RCP8.5. Additionally, surface ocean aragonite saturation state, a key control on coral calcification rates, is maintained above 3.5 throughout the low latitudes, thereby helping maintain the viability of tropical coral reef ecosystems. However, we highlight major issues of cost, social acceptability, and potential unanticipated consequences that will limit utilization and emphasize the need for urgent efforts to phase down fossil fuel emissions.

Toddlers Selectively Help Fair Agents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luca Surian

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Previous research showed that infants and toddlers are inclined to help prosocial agents and assign a positive valence to fair distributions. Also, they expect that positive and negative actions directed toward distributors will conform to reciprocity principles. This study investigates whether toddlers are selective in helping others, as a function of others’ previous distributive actions. Toddlers were presented with real-life events in which two actresses distributed resources either equally or unequally between two puppets. Then, they played together with a ball that accidentally fell to the ground and asked participants to help them to retrieve it. Participants preferred to help the actress who performed equal distributions. This finding suggests that by the second year children’s prosocial actions are modulated by their emerging sense of fairness.HighlightsToddlers (mean age = 25 months are selective in helping distributors.Toddlers prefer helping a fair rather than an unfair distributor.Toddlers’ selective helping provides evidence for an early sense of fairness.

Fair value assessment – valences and limitations

OpenAIRE

Cozma Ighian Diana; Nistor Cristina Silvia

2010-01-01

In recent years, FASB and IASB have intensified research on fair value measurements and planned to further expand the scope of applicability of fair value measurements. However, organizations responsible for formulating the principles, enterprises, social bodies and academia are locked in a dispute over the advantages and disadvantages of fair value measurements, and no consensus has been reached yet. This paper explores the arguments for and against fair value and tries to find out whether a...

An evaluation of the impact of aerosol particles on weather forecasts from a biomass burning aerosol event over the Midwestern United States: observational-based analysis of surface temperature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Zhang

2016-05-01

Full Text Available A major continental-scale biomass burning smoke event from 28–30 June 2015, spanning central Canada through the eastern seaboard of the United States, resulted in unforecasted drops in daytime high surface temperatures on the order of 2–5  °C in the upper Midwest. This event, with strong smoke gradients and largely cloud-free conditions, provides a natural laboratory to study how aerosol radiative effects may influence numerical weather prediction (NWP forecast outcomes. Here, we describe the nature of this smoke event and evaluate the differences in observed near-surface air temperatures between Bismarck (clear and Grand Forks (overcast smoke, to evaluate to what degree solar radiation forcing from a smoke plume introduces daytime surface cooling, and how this affects model bias in forecasts and analyses. For this event, mid-visible (550 nm smoke aerosol optical thickness (AOT, τ reached values above 5. A direct surface cooling efficiency of −1.5 °C per unit AOT (at 550 nm, τ550 was found. A further analysis of European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF, National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP, United Kingdom Meteorological Office (UKMO near-surface air temperature forecasts for up to 54 h as a function of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS Dark Target AOT data across more than 400 surface stations, also indicated the presence of the daytime aerosol direct cooling effect, but suggested a smaller aerosol direct surface cooling efficiency with magnitude on the order of −0.25 to −1.0 °C per unit τ550. In addition, using observations from the surface stations, uncertainties in near-surface air temperatures from ECMWF, NCEP, and UKMO model runs are estimated. This study further suggests that significant daily changes in τ550 above 1, at which the smoke-aerosol-induced direct surface cooling effect could be comparable in magnitude with model uncertainties, are rare events

24 CFR 125.501 - Fair Housing Organizations Initiative.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... Initiative. 125.501 Section 125.501 Housing and Urban Development Regulations Relating to Housing and Urban... FAIR HOUSING FAIR HOUSING INITIATIVES PROGRAM § 125.501 Fair Housing Organizations Initiative. (a) The Fair Housing Organizations Initiative of the FHIP provides funding to develop or expand the ability of...

NSF's Perspective on Space Weather Research for Building Forecasting Capabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Bisi, M. M.; Pulkkinen, A. A.; Bisi, M. M.; Pulkkinen, A. A.; Webb, D. F.; Oughton, E. J.; Azeem, S. I.

2017-12-01

Space weather research at the National Science Foundation (NSF) is focused on scientific discovery and on deepening knowledge of the Sun-Geospace system. The process of maturation of knowledge base is a requirement for the development of improved space weather forecast models and for the accurate assessment of potential mitigation strategies. Progress in space weather forecasting requires advancing in-depth understanding of the underlying physical processes, developing better instrumentation and measurement techniques, and capturing the advancements in understanding in large-scale physics based models that span the entire chain of events from the Sun to the Earth. This presentation will provide an overview of current and planned programs pertaining to space weather research at NSF and discuss the recommendations of the Geospace Section portfolio review panel within the context of space weather forecasting capabilities.

Process evaluation of health fairs promoting cancer screenings.

Science.gov (United States)

Escoffery, Cam; Liang, Shuting; Rodgers, Kirsten; Haardoerfer, Regine; Hennessy, Grace; Gilbertson, Kendra; Heredia, Natalia I; Gatus, Leticia A; Fernandez, Maria E

2017-12-18

Low income and uninsured individuals often have lower adherence to cancer screening for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer. Health fairs are a common community outreach strategy used to provide cancer-related health education and services. This study was a process evaluation of seven health fairs focused on cancer screening across the U.S. We conducted key-informant interviews with the fair coordinator and conducted baseline and follow-up surveys with fair participants to describe characteristics of participants as well as their experiences. We collected baseline data with participants at the health fairs and telephone follow-up surveys 6 months following the fair. Attendance across the seven health fairs ranged from 41 to 212 participants. Most fairs provided group or individual education, print materials and cancer screening during the event. Overall, participants rated health fairs as very good and participants reported that the staff was knowledgeable and that they liked the materials distributed. After the fairs, about 60% of participants, who were reached at follow-up, had read the materials provided and had conversations with others about cancer screening, and 41% talked to their doctors about screening. Based on findings from evaluation including participant data and coordinator interviews, we describe 6 areas in planning for health fairs that may increase their effectiveness. These include: 1) use of a theoretical framework for health promotion to guide educational content and activities provided, 2) considering the community characteristics, 3) choosing a relevant setting, 4) promotion of the event, 5) considerations of the types of services to deliver, and 6) evaluation of the health fair. The events reported varied in reach and the participants represented diverse races and lower income populations overall. Most health fairs offered education, print materials and onsite cancer screening. Participants reported general satisfaction with these events

Do fair value adjustments influence dividend policy?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Goncharov, I.; van Triest, S.

2011-01-01

We examine the impact of positive fair value adjustments on dividend policy. If fair value adjustments are transitory in nature and managers are able to assess their implications for future earnings, fair value adjustments in net income is expected to have no distribution consequences. However,

High school science fair and research integrity

Science.gov (United States)

Dalley, Simon; Shepherd, Karen; Reisch, Joan

2017-01-01

Research misconduct has become an important matter of concern in the scientific community. The extent to which such behavior occurs early in science education has received little attention. In the current study, using the web-based data collection program REDCap, we obtained responses to an anonymous and voluntary survey about science fair from 65 high school students who recently competed in the Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair and from 237 STEM-track, post-high school students (undergraduates, 1st year medical students, and 1st year biomedical graduate students) doing research at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Of the post-high school students, 24% had competed in science fair during their high school education. Science fair experience was similar overall for the local cohort of Dallas regional students and the more diverse state/national cohort of post-high school students. Only one student out of 122 reported research misconduct, in his case making up the data. Unexpectedly, post-high school students who did not participate in science fair anticipated that carrying out science fair would be much more difficult than actually was the case, and 22% of the post-high school students anticipated that science fair participants would resort to research misconduct to overcome obstacles. No gender-based differences between students’ science fair experiences or expectations were evident. PMID:28328976

Toward seamless weather-climate and environmental prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Brunet, Gilbert

2016-04-01

Over the last decade or so, predicting the weather, climate and atmospheric composition has emerged as one of the most important areas of scientific endeavor. This is partly because the remarkable increase in skill of current weather forecasts has made society more and more dependent on them day to day for a whole range of decision making. And it is partly because climate change is now widely accepted and the realization is growing rapidly that it will affect every person in the world profoundly, either directly or indirectly. One of the important endeavors of our societies is to remain at the cutting-edge of modelling and predicting the evolution of the fully coupled environmental system: atmosphere (weather and composition), oceans, land surface (physical and biological), and cryosphere. This effort will provide an increasingly accurate and reliable service across all the socio-economic sectors that are vulnerable to the effects of adverse weather and climatic conditions, whether now or in the future. This emerging challenge was at the center of the World Weather Open Science Conference (Montreal, 2014).The outcomes of the conference are described in the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) book: Seamless Prediction of the Earth System: from Minutes to Months, (G. Brunet, S. Jones, P. Ruti Eds., WMO-No. 1156, 2015). It is freely available on line at the WMO website. We will discuss some of the outcomes of the conference for the WMO World Weather Research Programme (WWRP) and Global Atmospheric Watch (GAW) long term goals and provide examples of seamless modelling and prediction across a range of timescales at convective and sub-kilometer scales for regional coupled forecasting applications at Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).

Hydrologic applications of weather radar

Science.gov (United States)

Seo, Dong-Jun; Habib, Emad; Andrieu, Hervé; Morin, Efrat

2015-12-01

By providing high-resolution quantitative precipitation information (QPI), weather radars have revolutionized hydrology in the last two decades. With the aid of GIS technology, radar-based quantitative precipitation estimates (QPE) have enabled routine high-resolution hydrologic modeling in many parts of the world. Given the ever-increasing need for higher-resolution hydrologic and water resources information for a wide range of applications, one may expect that the use of weather radar will only grow. Despite the tremendous progress, a number of significant scientific, technological and engineering challenges remain to realize its potential. New challenges are also emerging as new areas of applications are discovered, explored and pursued. The purpose of this special issue is to provide the readership with some of the latest advances, lessons learned, experiences gained, and science issues and challenges related to hydrologic applications of weather radar. The special issue features 20 contributions on various topics which reflect the increasing diversity as well as the areas of focus in radar hydrology today. The contributions may be grouped as follows:

Differential rates of feldspar weathering in granitic regoliths

Science.gov (United States)

White, A.F.; Bullen, T.D.; Schulz, M.S.; Blum, A.E.; Huntington, T.G.; Peters, N.E.

2001-01-01

Differential rates of plagioclase and K-feldspar weathering commonly observed in bedrock and soil environments are examined in terms of chemical kinetic and solubility controls and hydrologic permeability. For the Panola regolith, in the Georgia Piedmont Province of southeastern United States, petrographic observations, coupled with elemental balances and 87Sr/86Sr ratios, indicate that plagioclase is being converted to kaolinite at depths > 6 m in the granitic bedrock. K-feldspar remains pristine in the bedrock but subsequently weathers to kaolinite at the overlying saprolite. In contrast, both plagioclase and K-feldspar remain stable in granitic bedrocks elsewhere in Piedmont Province, such as Davis Run, Virginia, where feldspars weather concurrently in an overlying thick saprolite sequence. Kinetic rate constants, mineral surface areas, and secondary hydraulic conductivities are fitted to feldspar losses with depth in the Panola and Davis Run regoliths using a time-depth computer spreadsheet model. The primary hydraulic conductivities, describing the rates of meteoric water penetration into the pristine granites, are assumed to be equal to the propagation rates of weathering fronts, which, based on cosmogenic isotope dating, are 7 m/106 yr for the Panola regolith and 4 m/106 yr for the Davis Run regolith. Best fits in the calculations indicate that the kinetic rate constants for plagioclase in both regoliths are factors of two to three times faster than K-feldspar, which is in agreement with experimental findings. However, the range for plagioclase and K-feldspar rates (kr = 1.5 x 10-17 to 2.8 x 10-16 mol m-2 s-1) is three to four orders of magnitude lower than for that for experimental feldspar dissolution rates and are among the slowest yet recorded for natural feldspar weathering. Such slow rates are attributed to the relatively old geomorphic ages of the Panola and Davis Run regoliths, implying that mineral surface reactivity decreases significantly with

Fair Value or Market Value?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bogdan Cosmin Gomoi

2014-12-01

Full Text Available When taking into consideration the issue of defining the “fair value” concept, those less experimented in the area often fall in the “price trap”, which is considered as an equivalent of the fair value of financial structures. This valuation basis appears as a consequence of the trial to provide an “accurate image” by the financial statements and, also, as an opportunity for the premises offered by the activity continuing principle. The specialized literature generates ample controversies regarding the “fair value” concept and the “market value” concept. The paper aims to debate this issue, taking into account various opinions.

Weathering of the New Albany Shale, Kentucky: II. Redistribution of minor and trace elements

Science.gov (United States)

Tuttle, M.L.W.; Breit, G.N.; Goldhaber, M.B.

2009-01-01

During weathering, elements enriched in black shale are dispersed in the environment by aqueous and mechanical transport. Here a unique evaluation of the differential release, transport, and fate of Fe and 15 trace elements during progressive weathering of the Devonian New Albany Shale in Kentucky is presented. Results of chemical analyses along a weathering profile (unweathered through progressively weathered shale to soil) describe the chemically distinct pathways of the trace elements and the rate that elements are transferred into the broader, local environment. Trace elements enriched in the unweathered shale are in massive or framboidal pyrite, minor sphalerite, CuS and NiS phases, organic matter and clay minerals. These phases are subject to varying degrees and rates of alteration along the profile. Cadmium, Co, Mn, Ni, and Zn are removed from weathered shale during sulfide-mineral oxidation and transported primarily in aqueous solution. The aqueous fluxes for these trace elements range from 0.1 g/ha/a (Cd) to 44 g/ha/a (Mn). When hydrologic and climatic conditions are favorable, solutions seep to surface exposures, evaporate, and form Fe-sulfate efflorescent salts rich in these elements. Elements that remain dissolved in the low pH (pH. Neutralization of the weathering solution in local streams results in elements being adsorbed and precipitated onto sediment surfaces, resulting in trace element anomalies. Other elements are strongly adsorbed or structurally bound to solid phases during weathering. Copper and U initially are concentrated in weathering solutions, but become fixed to modern plant litter in soil formed on New Albany Shale. Molybdenum, Pb, Sb, and Se are released from sulfide minerals and organic matter by oxidation and accumulate in Fe-oxyhydroxide clay coatings that concentrate in surface soil during illuviation. Chromium, Ti, and V are strongly correlated with clay abundance and considered to be in the structure of illitic clay. Illite

Microbial weathering processes after release of heavy metals and arsenic from fluvial tailing deposits; Mikrobielle Verwitterungsprozesse bei der Freisetzung von Schwermetallen und Arsen aus fluvialen Tailingablagerungen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Willscher, S. [Technische Univ. Dresden (Germany). Fak. fuer Forst, Geo und Hydrowissenschaften, Inst. fuer Abfallwirtschaft und Altlasten

2006-07-01

Microbial processes play an important role in global metal cycles. The microbial weathering of mineral surfaces, including deposited anthropogenic mineral remainders, is a natural occurring process, taking place on uncovered dump surfaces as well as in deeper zones of dumps. Such weathering processes also occur in metal contaminated soils and sediments. In this work, a sulfidic fluvial tailing sediment was investigated for its acidity and salinity generating potential and the subsequent mobilisation of heavy metals, generated by biogeochemical processes. The long-term risks of such a deposit were evaluated. Unstabilised deposits of such materials can generate a considerable contamination of the surrounding ground and surface water. It could be shown in the experiments that in acid generating dumps and tailing materials besides the well known acidophilic autotrophs also acidotolerant heterotrophic microorganisms play a role in the mobilisation of metals. (orig.)

23 CFR 710.707 - Fair market value.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 23 Highways 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Fair market value. 710.707 Section 710.707 Highways... REAL ESTATE Concession Agreements § 710.707 Fair market value. A highway agency shall receive fair market value for any concession agreement involving a federally funded highway. ...

36 CFR 223.60 - Determining fair market value.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Determining fair market value... Determining fair market value. The objective of Forest Service timber appraisals is to determine fair market value. Fair market value is estimated by such methods as are authorized by the Chief, Forest Service...

Does market competition explain fairness?

Science.gov (United States)

Descioli, Peter

2013-02-01

The target article by Baumard et al. uses their previous model of bargaining with outside options to explain fairness and other features of human sociality. This theory implies that fairness judgments are determined by supply and demand but humans often perceive prices (divisions of surplus) in competitive markets to be unfair.

A coronagraph for operational space weather predication

Science.gov (United States)

Middleton, Kevin F.

2017-09-01

Accurate prediction of the arrival of solar wind phenomena, in particular coronal mass ejections (CMEs), at Earth, and possibly elsewhere in the heliosphere, is becoming increasingly important given our ever-increasing reliance on technology. The potentially severe impact on human technological systems of such phenomena is termed space weather. A coronagraph is arguably the instrument that provides the earliest definitive evidence of CME eruption; from a vantage point on or near the Sun-Earth line, a coronagraph can provide near-definitive identification of an Earth-bound CME. Currently, prediction of CME arrival is critically dependent on ageing science coronagraphs whose design and operation were not optimized for space weather services. We describe the early stages of the conceptual design of SCOPE (the Solar Coronagraph for OPErations), optimized to support operational space weather services.

A practical approach for deriving all-weather soil moisture content using combined satellite and meteorological data

Science.gov (United States)

Leng, Pei; Li, Zhao-Liang; Duan, Si-Bo; Gao, Mao-Fang; Huo, Hong-Yuan

2017-09-01

Soil moisture has long been recognized as one of the essential variables in the water cycle and energy budget between Earth's surface and atmosphere. The present study develops a practical approach for deriving all-weather soil moisture using combined satellite images and gridded meteorological products. In this approach, soil moisture over the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) clear-sky pixels are estimated from the Vegetation Index/Temperature (VIT) trapezoid scheme in which theoretical dry and wet edges were determined pixel to pixel by China Meteorological Administration Land Data Assimilation System (CLDAS) meteorological products, including air temperature, solar radiation, wind speed and specific humidity. For cloudy pixels, soil moisture values are derived by the calculation of surface and aerodynamic resistances from wind speed. The approach is capable of filling the soil moisture gaps over remaining cloudy pixels by traditional optical/thermal infrared methods, allowing for a spatially complete soil moisture map over large areas. Evaluation over agricultural fields indicates that the proposed approach can produce an overall generally reasonable distribution of all-weather soil moisture. An acceptable accuracy between the estimated all-weather soil moisture and in-situ measurements at different depths could be found with an Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) varying from 0.067 m3/m3 to 0.079 m3/m3 and a slight bias ranging from 0.004 m3/m3 to -0.011 m3/m3. The proposed approach reveals significant potential to derive all-weather soil moisture using currently available satellite images and meteorological products at a regional or global scale in future developments.

Effect of Bacillus subtilis on Granite Weathering: A Laboratory Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Song, W.; Ogawa, N.; Oguchi, C. T.; Hatta, T.; Matsukura, Y.

2006-12-01

We performed a comparative experiment to investigate how the ubiquitous soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis weathers granite and which granite-forming minerals weather more rapidly via biological processes. Batch type experiments (granite specimen in a 500 ml solution including NaCl, glucose, yeast extract and bacteria Bacillus subtilis at 27°E C) were carried out for 30 days. Granite surfaces were observed by SEM before and after the experiment. Bacillus subtilis had a strong influence on granite weathering by forming pits. There were 2.4 times as many pits and micropores were 2.3 times wider in granite exposed to Bacillus subtilis when compared with bacteria-free samples. Bacillus subtilis appear to preferentially select an optimum place to adhere to the mineral and dissolve essential elements from the mineral to live. Plagioclase was more vulnerable to bacterial weathering than biotite among the granite composing minerals.

Use of allele-specific FAIRE to determine functional regulatory polymorphism using large-scale genotyping arrays.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew J P Smith

Full Text Available Following the widespread use of genome-wide association studies (GWAS, focus is turning towards identification of causal variants rather than simply genetic markers of diseases and traits. As a step towards a high-throughput method to identify genome-wide, non-coding, functional regulatory variants, we describe the technique of allele-specific FAIRE, utilising large-scale genotyping technology (FAIRE-gen to determine allelic effects on chromatin accessibility and regulatory potential. FAIRE-gen was explored using lymphoblastoid cells and the 50,000 SNP Illumina CVD BeadChip. The technique identified an allele-specific regulatory polymorphism within NR1H3 (coding for LXR-α, rs7120118, coinciding with a previously GWAS-identified SNP for HDL-C levels. This finding was confirmed using FAIRE-gen with the 200,000 SNP Illumina Metabochip and verified with the established method of TaqMan allelic discrimination. Examination of this SNP in two prospective Caucasian cohorts comprising 15,000 individuals confirmed the association with HDL-C levels (combined beta = 0.016; p = 0.0006, and analysis of gene expression identified an allelic association with LXR-α expression in heart tissue. Using increasingly comprehensive genotyping chips and distinct tissues for examination, FAIRE-gen has the potential to aid the identification of many causal SNPs associated with disease from GWAS.

VALUATION TECHNIQUES USED IN FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristina-Aurora, BUNEA-BONTAS

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Valuation of assets and liabilities involves significant judgements and estimates, especially when fair value measurement is required. Currently, IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement offers a single and more comprehensive source of guidance that is applied to almost all fair value estimates. When measuring fair value of fixed assets, intangible assets, specified financial assets or liabilities, different valuation techniques may be used: the market approach, the cost approach and the income approach. This article reviews these techniques and points out that different valuation practices may provide different results depending on the item being fair valued and on the inputs used. Also it emphasizes that, in particular circumstances, there is the possibility that a certain technique may be more appropriate than other.

Replacement Value - Representation of Fair Value in Accounting. Techniques and Modeling Suitable for the Income Based Approach

OpenAIRE

Manea Marinela – Daniela

2011-01-01

The term fair value is spread within the sphere of international standards without reference to any detailed guidance on how to apply. However, specialized tangible assets, which are rarely sold, the rule IAS 16 "Intangible assets " makes it possible to estimate fair value using an income approach or a replacement cost or depreciation. The following material is intended to identify potential modeling of fair value as an income-based approach, appealing to techniques used by professional evalu...

Effect of potential attraction term on surface tension of ionic liquids

Science.gov (United States)

Vaziri, N.; Khordad, R.; Rezaei, G.

2018-03-01

In this work, we have studied the effect of attraction term of molecular potential on surface tension of ionic liquids (ILs). For this purpose, we have introduced two different potential models to obtain analytical expressions for the surface tension of ILs. The introduced potential models have different attraction terms. The obtained surface tensions in this work have been compared with other theoretical methods and also experimental data. Using the calculated surface tension, the sound velocity is also estimated. We have studied the structural effects on the surface tensions of imidazolium-based ionic liquids. It is found that the cation alkyl chain length and the anion size play important roles to the surface tension of the selected ionic liquids. The calculated surface tensions show a good harmony with experimental data. It is clear that the attraction term of molecular potential has an important role on surface tension and sound velocity of our system.

Adaptive Filtering Queueing for Improving Fairness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jui-Pin Yang

2015-06-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we propose a scalable and efficient Active Queue Management (AQM scheme to provide fair bandwidth sharing when traffic is congested dubbed Adaptive Filtering Queueing (AFQ. First, AFQ identifies the filtering level of an arriving packet by comparing it with a flow label selected at random from the first level to an estimated level in the filtering level table. Based on the accepted traffic estimation and the previous fair filtering level, AFQ updates the fair filtering level. Next, AFQ uses a simple packet-dropping algorithm to determine whether arriving packets are accepted or discarded. To enhance AFQ’s feasibility in high-speed networks, we propose a two-layer mapping mechanism to effectively simplify the packet comparison operations. Simulation results demonstrate that AFQ achieves optimal fairness when compared with Rotating Preference Queues (RPQ, Core-Stateless Fair Queueing (CSFQ, CHOose and Keep for responsive flows, CHOose and Kill for unresponsive flows (CHOKe and First-In First-Out (FIFO schemes under a variety of traffic conditions.

FAIR - Baseline technical report. Executive summary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gutbrod, H.H.; Augustin, I.; Eickhoff, H.; Gross, K.D.; Henning, W.F.; Kraemer, D.; Walter, G.

2006-09-01

This document presents the Executive Summary, the first of six volumes comprising the 2006 Baseline Technical Report (BTR) for the international FAIR project (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research). The BTR provides the technical description, cost, schedule, and assessments of risk for the proposed new facility. The purpose of the BTR is to provide a reliable basis for the construction, commissioning and operation of FAIR. The BTR is one of the central documents requested by the FAIR International Steering Committee (ISC) and its working groups, in order to prepare the legal process and the decisions on the construction and operation of FAIR in an international framework. It provides the technical basis for legal contracts on contributions to be made by, so far, 13 countries within the international FAIR Consortium. The BTR begins with this extended Executive Summary as Volume 1, which is also intended for use as a stand-alone document. The Executive Summary provides brief summaries of the accelerator facilities, the scientific programs and experimental stations, civil construction and safety, and of the workproject structure, costs and schedule. (orig.)

Partner choice creates fairness in humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Debove, Stéphane; André, Jean-Baptiste; Baumard, Nicolas

2015-06-07

Many studies demonstrate that partner choice has played an important role in the evolution of human cooperation, but little work has tested its impact on the evolution of human fairness. In experiments involving divisions of money, people become either over-generous or over-selfish when they are in competition to be chosen as cooperative partners. Hence, it is difficult to see how partner choice could result in the evolution of fair, equal divisions. Here, we show that this puzzle can be solved if we consider the outside options on which partner choice operates. We conduct a behavioural experiment, run agent-based simulations and analyse a game-theoretic model to understand how outside options affect partner choice and fairness. All support the conclusion that partner choice leads to fairness only when individuals have equal outside options. We discuss how this condition has been met in our evolutionary history, and the implications of these findings for our understanding of other aspects of fairness less specific than preferences for equal divisions of resources. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

25 CFR 700.61 - Fair market value.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 25 Indians 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Fair market value. 700.61 Section 700.61 Indians THE OFFICE OF NAVAJO AND HOPI INDIAN RELOCATION COMMISSION OPERATIONS AND RELOCATION PROCEDURES General Policies and Instructions Definitions § 700.61 Fair market value. Fair market value shall mean the value...

Cold-Weather Sports

Science.gov (United States)

... Videos for Educators Search English Español Cold-Weather Sports KidsHealth / For Teens / Cold-Weather Sports What's in this article? What to Do? Classes ... weather. What better time to be outdoors? Winter sports can help you burn calories, increase your cardiovascular ...

Mechanism and kinetics of mineral weathering under acid conditions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Anbeek, C.

1994-01-01

This study deals with the relationships between crystal structure, grain diameter, surface morphology and dissolution kinetics for feldspar and quartz under acid conditions.

Intensively ground samples from large, naturally weathered mineral fragments are frequently used in

Potential Influence of Climate Change on the Acid-Sensitivity of High-Elevation Lakes in the Georgia Basin, British Columbia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Donna Strang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Global climate models predict increased temperature and precipitation in the Georgia Basin, British Colmbia; however, little is known about the impacts on high-elevation regions. In the current study, fifty-four high-elevation lakes (754–2005 m a.s.l. were studied to investigate the potential influence of climate change on surface water acid-sensitivity. Redundancy analysis indicated that the concentration of nitrate, dissolved organic carbon, and associated metals was significantly influenced by climate parameters. Furthermore, these components differed significantly between biogeoclimatic zones. Modelled soil base cation weathering for a subset of the study lakes (n=11 was predicted to increase by 9% per 1°C increase in temperature. Changes in temperature and precipitation may potentially decrease the pH of surface waters owing to changes in anthropogenic deposition and organic acid production. In contrast, increased soil base cation weathering may increase the critical load (of acidity of high-elevation lakes. Ultimately, the determining factor will be whether enhanced base cation weathering is sufficient to buffer changes in natural and anthropogenic acidity. Mountain and high-elevation regions are considered early warning systems to climate change; as such, future monitoring is imperative to assess the potential ramifications of climate change on the hydrochemistry and acid-sensitivity of these surface waters.

Book fair

CERN Multimedia

2006-01-01

The Swiss academic publishing house 'Presses Polytechniques Universitaires Romandes'will be presenting its most recent scientific and technical publications at a book fair in the lobby of the Main Building (60) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday 28 September 2006.

Effect of surface roughness and surface modification of indium tin oxide electrode on its potential response to tryptophan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khan, Md. Zaved Hossain; Nakanishi, Takuya; Kuroiwa, Shigeki; Hoshi, Yoichi; Osaka, Tetsuya

2011-01-01

Highlights: → We examine factors affecting potential response of ITO electrode to tryptophan. → Surface roughness of ITO electrode affects the stability of its rest potential. → Surface modification is effective for ITO electrode with a certain roughness. → Optimum values of work function exist for potential response of ITO to tryptophan. - Abstract: The effect of surface modification of indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode on its potential response to tryptophan was investigated for ITO substrates with different surface roughness. It was found that a small difference in surface roughness, between ∼1 and ∼2 nm of R a evaluated by atomic force microscopy, affects the rest potential of ITO electrode in the electrolyte. A slight difference in In:Sn ratio at the near surface of the ITO substrates, measured by angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectrometry and Auger electron spectroscopy is remarkable, and considered to relate with surface roughness. Interestingly, successive modification of the ITO surface with aminopropylsilane and disuccinimidyl suberate, of which essentiality to the potential response to indole compounds we previously reported, improved the stability of the rest potential and enabled the electrodes to respond to tryptophan in case of specimens with R a values ranging between ∼2 and ∼3 nm but not for those with R a of ∼1 nm. It was suggested that there are optimum values of effective work function of ITO for specific potential response to tryptophan, which can be obtained by the successive modification of ITO surface.

Biodegradation of weathered polystyrene films in seawater microcosms.

Science.gov (United States)

Syranidou, Evdokia; Karkanorachaki, Katerina; Amorotti, Filippo; Franchini, Martina; Repouskou, Eftychia; Kaliva, Maria; Vamvakaki, Maria; Kolvenbach, Boris; Fava, Fabio; Corvini, Philippe F-X; Kalogerakis, Nicolas

2017-12-21

A microcosm experiment was conducted at two phases in order to investigate the ability of indigenous consortia alone or bioaugmented to degrade weathered polystyrene (PS) films under simulated marine conditions. Viable populations were developed on PS surfaces in a time dependent way towards convergent biofilm communities, enriched with hydrocarbon and xenobiotics degradation genes. Members of Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria were highly enriched in the acclimated plastic associated assemblages while the abundance of plastic associated genera was significantly increased in the acclimated indigenous communities. Both tailored consortia efficiently reduced the weight of PS films. Concerning the molecular weight distribution, a decrease in the number-average molecular weight of films subjected to microbial treatment was observed. Moreover, alteration in the intensity of functional groups was noticed with Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry (FTIR) along with signs of bio-erosion on the PS surface. The results suggest that acclimated marine populations are capable of degrading weathered PS pieces.

Weather radar performance monitoring using a metallic-grid ground-scatterer

Science.gov (United States)

Falconi, Marta Tecla; Montopoli, Mario; Marzano, Frank Silvio; Baldini, Luca

2017-10-01

The use of ground return signals is investigated for checks on the calibration of power measurements of a polarimetric C-band radar. To this aim, a peculiar permanent single scatterer (PSS) consisting of a big metallic roof with a periodic mesh grid structure and having a hemisphere-like shape is considered. The latter is positioned in the near-field region of the weather radar and its use, as a reference calibrator, shows fairly good results in terms of reflectivity and differential reflectivity monitoring. In addition, the use of PSS indirectly allows to check for the radar antenna de-pointing which is another issue usually underestimated when dealing with weather radars. Because of the periodic structure of the considered PSS, simulations of its electromagnetic behavior were relatively easy to perform. To this goal, we used an electromagnetic Computer-Aided-Design (CAD) with an ad-hoc numerical implementation of a full-wave solution to model our PSS in terms of reflectivity and differential reflectivity factor. Comparison of model results and experimental measurements are then shown in this work. Our preliminary investigation can pave the way for future studies aiming at characterizing ground-clutter returns in a more accurate way for radar calibration purposes.

A fresh look at weather impact on peak electricity demand and energy use of buildings using 30-year actual weather data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hong, Tianzhen; Chang, Wen-Kuei; Lin, Hung-Wen

2013-01-01

on energy use in buildings; (2) the simulated energy use using the TMY3 weather data is not necessarily representative of the average energy use over a long period, and the TMY3 results can be significantly higher or lower than those from the AMY data; (3) the weather impact is greater for buildings in colder climates than warmer climates; (4) the weather impact on the medium-sized office building was the greatest, followed by the large office and then the small office; and (5) simulated energy savings and peak demand reduction by energy conservation measures using the TMY3 weather data can be significantly underestimated or overestimated. It is crucial to run multi-decade simulations with AMY weather data to fully assess the impact of weather on the long-term performance of buildings, and to evaluate the energy savings potential of energy conservation measures for new and existing buildings from a life cycle perspective

WEATHERING PROCESS IN EOCENE FLYSCH IN REGION OF SPLIT (CROATIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Predrag Miščević

2001-12-01

Full Text Available The Eocene flysh in the region of Split (Dalmatia, Croatia is char¬acterized by the presence of layers with different characteristics. It mainly includes thin-layered marls, clayey marls, calcareous marls, clastic lay¬ered limestones, calcarenites and breccias. Those parts that can be de¬scribed as the soft rocks or hard clays by the mechanical means, exposed to weathering reduce the durability within "an engineering time scale". The paper deals with the factors that influence the weathering process. The analyzed weathering is a combination of processes acting simulta¬neously. Most of these processes depend on the change of the water con¬tent, thus the weathering process mainly develops when a material is subjected to the wetting-drying process, On the base of these results form of degradation process is modeled. The weathering process can be main¬ly described as physical weathering combined with chemical weathering on the free surfaces and on the cracks walls. Erosion as a result of weath¬ering, is the dominant geomorphic process on analyzed flysch terrain. According to the analysis, as the most appropriate due to the characteris¬tics the tests are chosen as index properties. Some of these tests are modified in order to adapt them to the determined characteristics of ma¬terials from flysch layers. The correlations between the measured values are used as the basis for the classification proposal of the analyzed mate¬rial, according to its resistance to weathering processes. Roughly, three main groups of samples are recognizable: the first one with carbonate content more then 90% is not weathered at the engineers time scale; the second group with carbonate content from 75% to 90% include samples susceptible to weathering in engineers time scale; the third group with carbonate content less then 75% include samples in which the weather¬ing occurs immediately after the exposition to the weathering factors.

Initializing numerical weather prediction models with satellite-derived surface soil moisture: Data assimilation experiments with ECMWF's Integrated Forecast System and the TMI soil moisture data set

Science.gov (United States)

Drusch, M.

2007-02-01

Satellite-derived surface soil moisture data sets are readily available and have been used successfully in hydrological applications. In many operational numerical weather prediction systems the initial soil moisture conditions are analyzed from the modeled background and 2 m temperature and relative humidity. This approach has proven its efficiency to improve surface latent and sensible heat fluxes and consequently the forecast on large geographical domains. However, since soil moisture is not always related to screen level variables, model errors and uncertainties in the forcing data can accumulate in root zone soil moisture. Remotely sensed surface soil moisture is directly linked to the model's uppermost soil layer and therefore is a stronger constraint for the soil moisture analysis. For this study, three data assimilation experiments with the Integrated Forecast System (IFS) of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) have been performed for the 2-month period of June and July 2002: a control run based on the operational soil moisture analysis, an open loop run with freely evolving soil moisture, and an experimental run incorporating TMI (TRMM Microwave Imager) derived soil moisture over the southern United States. In this experimental run the satellite-derived soil moisture product is introduced through a nudging scheme using 6-hourly increments. Apart from the soil moisture analysis, the system setup reflects the operational forecast configuration including the atmospheric 4D-Var analysis. Soil moisture analyzed in the nudging experiment is the most accurate estimate when compared against in situ observations from the Oklahoma Mesonet. The corresponding forecast for 2 m temperature and relative humidity is almost as accurate as in the control experiment. Furthermore, it is shown that the soil moisture analysis influences local weather parameters including the planetary boundary layer height and cloud coverage.

Travel in adverse winter weather conditions by blind pedestrians.

Science.gov (United States)

2015-08-31

Winter weather creates many orientation and mobility (O&M) challenges for people who are visually impaired. Getting the cane tip stuck is one of the noticeable challenges when traveling in snow, particularly when the walking surface is covered in dee...

Synthetic weather generator SYNTOR: Implementing improvements in precipitation generation

Science.gov (United States)

Infrequent high precipitation events produce a disproportionally large amount of the annual surface runoff, soil erosion, nutrient movement, and watershed sediment yield. Numerical simulation of these watershed processes often lack sufficiently long weather data records to adequately capture the sto...

Developing fair compensation structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trousdale, W.J.

1998-01-01

The issue of finding an effective way to incorporate Aboriginal values into the process of developing fair compensation structures was discussed. This paper discusses pricing intangible values using dollars, but it was emphasized that 'values' are whatever are important to us. Therefore, in order to achieve fair compensation, creative alternatives that are value-focused should be pursued. In addition to the more straight-forward monetary compensation, compensation could also be about avoiding losses, mitigating adverse impacts, achieving better communication, and promoting cultural understanding. 25 refs., 2 tabs

Space weathering on near-Earth objects investigated by neutral-particle detection

Science.gov (United States)

Plainaki, C.; Milillo, A.; Orsini, S.; Mura, A.; de Angelis, E.; di Lellis, A. M.; Dotto, E.; Livi, S.; Mangano, V.; Palumbo, M. E.

2009-04-01

The ion-sputtering (IS) process is active in many planetary environments in the solar system where plasma precipitates directly on the surface (for instance, Mercury, Moon and Europa). In particular, solar wind sputtering is one of the most important agents for the surface erosion of a near-Earth object (NEO), acting together with other surface release processes, such as photon stimulated desorption (PSD), thermal desorption (TD) and micrometeoroid impact vaporization (MIV). The energy distribution of the IS-released neutrals peaks at a few eVs and extends up to hundreds of eVs. Since all other release processes produce particles of lower energies, the presence of neutral atoms in the energy range above 10 eV and below a few keVs (sputtered high-energy atoms (SHEA)) identifies the IS process. SHEA easily escape from the NEO, due to NEO's extremely weak gravity. Detection and analysis of SHEA will give important information on surface-loss processes as well as on surface elemental composition. The investigation of the active release processes, as a function of the external conditions and the NEO surface properties, is crucial for obtaining a clear view of the body's present loss rate as well as for getting clues on its evolution, which depends significantly on space weather. In this work, an attempt to analyze processes that take place on the surface of these small airless bodies, as a result of their exposure to the space environment, has been realized. For this reason, a new space weathering model (space weathering on NEO-SPAWN) is presented. Moreover, an instrument concept of a neutral-particle analyzer specifically designed for the measurement of neutral density and the detection of SHEA from a NEO is proposed.

Different Multifractal Scaling of the 0 cm Average Ground Surface Temperature of Four Representative Weather Stations over China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lei Jiang

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The temporal scaling properties of the daily 0 cm average ground surface temperature (AGST records obtained from four selected sites over China are investigated using multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MF-DFA method. Results show that the AGST records at all four locations exhibit strong persistence features and different scaling behaviors. The differences of the generalized Hurst exponents are very different for the AGST series of each site reflecting the different scaling behaviors of the fluctuation. Furthermore, the strengths of multifractal spectrum are different for different weather stations and indicate that the multifractal behaviors vary from station to station over China.

FAIR VALUE IMPLICATIONS ON ROMANIAN CAPITAL MARKET

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ciprian-Dan COSTEA

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Fair value generated intense debate during the last years, as the financial turmoil influenced many economies and capital markets, including the Romanian ones, too. Some researchers and professionals consider fair value in charge with the financial crisis and they ask for historical cost accounting basis for financial reporting. Fair value has its supporters, too. They consider that fair value reflects the effects of changes in market conditions when they take place, and accounting information is more reliable in this framework. Following recent regulations, Romanian entities activating on capital market as investors in capital market instruments, or whose shares are traded on a regulated market, must prepare their individual financial statements in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards. The study provides some conclusions that could enlarge the utility of fair value related to entities that activate on Romanian capital market.

Empowerment of Marginalized Producer Groups through Fair Trade ...

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

Empowerment of Marginalized Producer Groups through Fair Trade Practices ... Fair Trade Forum India (FTF I) is the national network of fair trade ... An IDRC delegation will join international delegates and city representatives at the ICLEI ...

A Fresh Look at Weather Impact on Peak Electricity Demand and Energy Use of Buildings Using 30-Year Actual Weather Data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hong, Tianzhen; Chang, Wen-Kuei; Lin, Hung-Wen

2013-05-01

office; and 5) simulated energy savings and peak demand reduction by energy conservation measures using the TMY3 weather data can be significantly underestimated or overestimated. It is crucial to run multi-decade simulations with AMY weather data to fully assess the impact of weather on the long-term performance of buildings, and to evaluate the energy savings potential of energy conservation measures for new and existing buildings from a life cycle perspective.

Surface contact potential patches and Casimir force measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, W. J.; Sushkov, A. O.; Lamoreaux, S. K.; Dalvit, D. A. R.

2010-01-01

We present calculations of contact potential surface patch effects that simplify previous treatments. It is shown that, because of the linearity of Laplace's equation, the presence of patch potentials does not affect an electrostatic calibration of a two-plate Casimir measurement apparatus. Using models that include long-range variations in the contact potential across the plate surfaces, a number of experimental observations can be reproduced and explained. For these models, numerical calculations show that if a voltage is applied between the plates which minimizes the force, a residual electrostatic force persists, and that the minimizing potential varies with distance. The residual force can be described by a fit to a simple two-parameter function involving the minimizing potential and its variation with distance. We show the origin of this residual force by use of a simple parallel capacitor model. Finally, the implications of a residual force that varies in a manner different from 1/d on the accuracy of previous Casimir measurements is discussed.

Value Relevance of the Fair Value Hierarchy of IFRS 7 in Europe - How reliable are mark-to-model Fair Values ?

OpenAIRE

Bosch, Patrick

2012-01-01

According to IFRS 7, banks have to disclose the inputs used in measuring the fair value of financial instruments. For this purpose the standard defines a three-level measurement hierarchy. The reliability of fair values is expected to decrease with decreasing hierarchy level due to the lower quality of the input factors. Using a value relevance research setting, I find that investors perceive the reliability of level 3 fair values as significantly lower than the reliability of level 1 fair va...

Weatherization Works: Weatherization Assistance Program Close-Up Fact Sheet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-01-01

The United States demonstrates its commitment to technology and efficiency through the Weatherization Program. Weatherization uses advanced technologies and techniques to reduce energy costs for low-income families by increasing the energy efficiency of their homes

Challenges to fair decision-making processes in the context of health care services

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shayo, Elizabeth H.; Norheim, Ole F.; Mboera, Leonard E. G.

2012-01-01

challenges to fair decision-making processes in health care services with a special focus on the potential influence of gender, wealth, ethnicity and education. We draw on the principle of fairness as outlined in the deliberative democratic theory. METHODS: The study was carried out in the Mbarali District......ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Fair processes in decision making need the involvement of stakeholders who can discuss issues and reach an agreement based on reasons that are justifiable and appropriate in meeting people's needs. In Tanzania, the policy of decentralization and the health sector reform place......: The study findings indicate a substantial influence of gender, wealth, ethnicity and education on health care decision-making processes. Men, wealthy individuals, members of strong ethnic groups and highly educated individuals had greater influence. Opinions varied among the study informants as to whether...

Releasability of asbestos fibers from weathered roof cement.

Science.gov (United States)

Oberta, Andrew F; Poye, Lee; Compton, Steven P

2018-03-26

Chrysotile asbestos fibers were added to roofing products, including roof cement, for several decades. The fibers were described as "encapsulated" and therefore incapable of being released, an assertion that is disproved by the study reported herein. Three test panels of roof cement from the original container were exposed to ambient weathering in 2015 and 2016. Two panels were then sampled using the ASTM D5755 microvacuum method. Sampling revealed a light brown sub-layer under the dark brown surface layer, both of which crumbled and became friable during sampling. Analysis of the microvacuum samples with transmission electron microscopy showed that the material on the two panels contained 4,432,000 and 3,320,000 asbestos structures per cm² with nearly all of the structures consisting of fibers less than 5 µm long. Energy dispersive spectrometry determined that none of the fibers reported were coated with asphalt. The presence of free fibers were confirmed by direct examination of the surfaces of the panels and of dust released from handling the panels via scanning electron microscopy. This study confirmed the releasability of uncoated asbestos fibers from dried roof cement that was indicated in two previous studies published in 2007 and 2010. These results suggest that the finding of the 5th Circuit Court in 1997 that uncoated airborne asbestos fibers cannot be released from roof cement, and therefore do not present a potential exposure by inhalation, was erroneous in retrospect. Theexemption of roof cement from regulation under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Construction Industry Standard for asbestos by the Court should not be relied on by employers of workers who remove weathered asbestos-containing roof cement, and precautions should be taken against exposure to airborne asbestos fibers during this work.

Geochemical mass-balance to study the relative weathering rates of various formations in a complex watershed of lower Himalayas

Science.gov (United States)

Chattopadhyay, Pallavi; Kar, Swagat; Chouhan, Ramesh

2017-04-01

Weathering of rocks is a major process and believed to have the potential to alter Earth's surface. Aglar, a watershed in Garhwal Lesser Himalayas is identified and various formations of this complex geology are studied to understand the weathering process. A stream passes through the fault that divides the watershed into two slopes which have different lithotectonic units. Paligar and Belgar are the two main tributaries of Aglar stream flowing along the slopes respectively and joining at the valley near Thatyur village, India. Rocks like quartzite and limestone are generally hard, massive and resistant to weathering. However, sedimentary rocks are vulnerable to weathering and erosion. On the other hand, phyllites and schists are characterized by flaky minerals which weather quickly and promote instability . Aglar has all of them. The weathering processes are studied first using the hydrochemistry of Aglar river through major cations (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+) and major anions (SO42-, HCO-3, Cl-, NO3-). The discharges at various sampling points are calculated using area - velocity method. The basic idea in describing the discharge of material in a river is to estimate the mass of the substances transported through a cross section of the river per second. Dominance of Ca2+, Mg2+ and HCO-3 indicates that carbonate weathering is the major chemical weathering process near Belgar river. Paligar river has lower conductivity values compared to Belgar river which illustrates lower ionic concentrations. Mass-balance calculations are found often skewed and suggest the role of subsurface groundwater flow to explain the uncharacterized load. Southern side of the watershed with higher percentage of forest cover is found to have higher chemical weathering rates compared to the other slope having relatively lesser vegetation. These higher rates demonstrate the higher stream discharge load in that slope.

Surface Prognostic Charts

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Surface Prognostic Charts are historical surface prognostic (forecast) charts created by the United States Weather Bureau. They include fronts, isobars, cloud, and...

FAIR TRADE: ITS REAL IMPACT ON THE WORKING POOR

OpenAIRE

Leonid A. Krasnozhon; David Simpson; Walter E. Block

2015-01-01

Fair trade gains popularity, while free trade is undergoing more and more criticism. Since international free trade supposedly pollutes the environment, promotes the utilization of sweatshops, exploits child labor, and impoverishes developing countries, fair trade is a preferable alternative (World Fair Trade Organization, 2011). By reviewing empirical studies and examining regulations concerning fair trade practices, this paper provides a comparative analysis of both free and fair trade in l...

Weathering of post-impact hydrothermal deposits from the Haughton impact structure: implications for microbial colonization and biosignature preservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Izawa, M R M; Banerjee, Neil R; Osinski, G R; Flemming, R L; Parnell, J; Cockell, C S

2011-01-01

active hydrothermal circulation produced primary mineral assemblages, including Fe sulfides, and was succeeded by a period dominated by oxidation and low-temperature hydration of primary minerals by surface waters. Active hydrothermal circulation can enable the rapid delivery of nutrients to microbes. Nutrient availability following the cessation of hydrothermal circulation is likely more restricted; therefore, the biological importance of chemical energy from hydrothermal mineral deposits increases with time. Weathering of primary hydrothermal deposits and dissolution and reprecipitation of mobile weathering products also create many potential habitats for endolithic microbes. They also provide a mechanism that may preserve biological materials, potentially over geological timescales. © Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

Surface potential-governed cellular osteogenic differentiation on ferroelectric polyvinylidene fluoride trifluoroethylene films.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Bolin; Zhang, Bo; Zhuang, Junjun; Wang, Qi; Dong, Lingqing; Cheng, Kui; Weng, Wenjian

2018-05-02

Surface potential of biomaterials can dramatically influence cellular osteogenic differentiation. In this work, a wide range of surface potential on ferroelectric polyvinylidene fluoride trifluoroethylene (P(VDF-TrFE)) films was designed to get insight into the interfacial interaction of cell-charged surface. The P(VDF-TrFE) films poled by contact electric poling at various electric fields obtained well stabilized surface potential, with wide range from -3 to 915 mV. The osteogenic differentiation level of cells cultured on the films was strongly dependent on surface potential and reached the optimum at 391 mV in this system. Binding specificity assay indicated that surface potential could effectively govern the binding state of the adsorbed fibronectin (FN) with integrin. Molecular dynamic (MD) simulation further revealed that surface potential brought a significant difference in the relative distance between RGD and synergy PHSRN sites of adsorbed FN, resulting in a distinct integrin-FN binding state. These results suggest that the full binding of integrin α5β1 with both RGD and PHSRN sites of FN possesses a strong ability to activate osteogenic signaling pathway. This work sheds light on the underlying mechanism of osteogenic differentiation behavior on charged material surfaces, and also provides a guidance for designing a reasonable charged surface to enhance osteogenic differentiation. The ferroelectric P(VDF-TrFE) films with steady and a wide range of surface potential were designed to understand underlying mechanism of cell-charged surface interaction. The results showed that the charged surface well favored upregulation of osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells, and more importantly, a highest level occurred on the film with a moderate surface potential. Experiments and molecular dynamics simulation demonstrated that the surface potential could govern fibronectin conformation and then the integrin-fibronectin binding. We propose that a full binding

Socio-Economic Impacts of Space Weather and User Needs for Space Weather Information

Science.gov (United States)

Worman, S. L.; Taylor, S. M.; Onsager, T. G.; Adkins, J. E.; Baker, D. N.; Forbes, K. F.

2017-12-01

The 2015 National Space Weather Strategy and Space Weather Action Plan (SWAP) details the activities, outcomes, and timelines to build a "Space Weather Ready Nation." NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center and Abt Associates are working together on two SWAP initiatives: (1) identifying, describing, and quantifying the socio-economic impacts of moderate and severe space weather; and (2) outreach to engineers and operators to better understand user requirements for space weather products and services. Both studies cover four technological sectors (electric power, commercial aviation, satellites, and GNSS users) and rely heavily on industry input. Findings from both studies are essential for decreasing vulnerabilities and enhancing preparedness.

Fairness concerns and cooperation in context

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rezaei Khavas, T.

2016-01-01

Interaction settings offering identical choices result in different behaviour when they are presented in different frames or when they are conducted in different contexts. This thesis investigates the influence of various contexts on people’s fairness and fairness-driven cooperative behaviour. We

Space Weather Monitoring for ISS Space Environments Engineering and Crew Auroral Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Minow, Joseph I.; Pettit, Donald R.; Hartman, William A.

2012-01-01

The awareness of potentially significant impacts of space weather on spaceand ground ]based technological systems has generated a strong desire in many sectors of government and industry to effectively transform knowledge and understanding of the variable space environment into useful tools and applications for use by those entities responsible for systems that may be vulnerable to space weather impacts. Essentially, effectively transitioning science knowledge to useful applications relevant to space weather has become important. This talk will present proven methodologies that have been demonstrated to be effective, and how in the current environment those can be applied to space weather transition efforts.

Community perspectives of wind energy in Australia: The application of a justice and community fairness framework to increase social acceptance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gross, Catherine

2007-01-01

Decisions concerning the siting of infrastructure developments or the use of natural resources have the potential to damage a community's social well-being if the outcomes are perceived to be unfair. Justice is accepted as central to the well functioning of society with fairness being an expectation in day-to-day interactions. Outcomes that are perceived to be unfair can result in protests, damaged relationships and divided communities particularly when decisions are made which benefit some sections of the community at the perceived expense of others. Through empirical research using a wind farm pilot study, community perceptions of a community consultation process are explored using procedural justice principles to evaluate fairness. Findings from the pilot study indicate that perceptions of fairness do influence how people perceive the legitimacy of the outcome, and that a fairer process will increase acceptance of the outcome. A key research finding was that different sections of a community are likely to be influenced by different aspects of justice, namely by outcome fairness, outcome favourability and process fairness. Based on this finding, a community fairness framework was developed which has potential application in community consultation to increase social acceptance of the outcome

Molecular characterization and geological microenvironment of a microbial community inhabiting weathered receding shale cliffs.

Science.gov (United States)

Cockell, Charles S; Pybus, David; Olsson-Francis, Karen; Kelly, Laura; Petley, David; Rosser, Nick; Howard, Kieren; Mosselmans, Fred

2011-01-01

Shales play an important role in many earth system processes including coastal erosion, and they form the foundations of many engineering structures. The geobiology of the interior of pyrite-containing receding shale cliffs on the coast of northeast England was examined. The surface of the weathered shales was characterised by a thin layer of disordered authigenic iron oxyhydroxides and localised acicular, platy and aggregated gypsum, which was characterised by Raman spectroscopy, XAS and SEM. These chemical changes are likely to play an important role in causing rock weakening along fractures at the micron scale, which ultimately lead to coastal retreat at the larger scale. The surface of the shale hosts a novel, low-diversity microbial community. The bacterial community was dominated by Proteobacteria, with phylotypes closely associating with Methylocella and other members of the γ-subdivision. The second largest phylogenetic group corresponded to Nitrospira. The archaeal 16S rRNA phylotypes were dominated by a single group of sequences that matched phylotypes reported from South African gold mines and possessed ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) genes. Both the phylogenetic and the mineral data show that acidic microenvironments play an important role in shale weathering, but the shale has a higher microbial diversity than previously described pyritic acid mine drainage sites. The presence of a potentially biogeochemically active microbial population on the rock surface suggests that microorganisms may contribute to early events of shale degradation and coastal erosion.

Recent Weather Extremes and Impacts on Agricultural Production and Vector-Borne Disease Outbreak Patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Anyamba, Assaf; Small, Jennifer L.; Britch, Seth C.; Tucker, Compton J.; Pak, Edwin W.; Reynolds, Curt A.; Crutchfield, James; Linthicum, Kenneth J.

2014-01-01

We document significant worldwide weather anomalies that affected agriculture and vector-borne disease outbreaks during the 2010-2012 period. We utilized 2000-2012 vegetation index and land surface temperature data from NASA's satellite-based Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to map the magnitude and extent of these anomalies for diverse regions including the continental United States, Russia, East Africa, Southern Africa, and Australia. We demonstrate that shifts in temperature and/or precipitation have significant impacts on vegetation patterns with attendant consequences for agriculture and public health. Weather extremes resulted in excessive rainfall and flooding as well as severe drought, which caused,10 to 80% variation in major agricultural commodity production (including wheat, corn, cotton, sorghum) and created exceptional conditions for extensive mosquito-borne disease outbreaks of dengue, Rift Valley fever, Murray Valley encephalitis, and West Nile virus disease. Analysis of MODIS data provided a standardized method for quantifying the extreme weather anomalies observed during this period. Assessments of land surface conditions from satellite-based systems such as MODIS can be a valuable tool in national, regional, and global weather impact determinations.

Future Facility: FAIR at GSI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosner, Guenther

2007-01-01

The Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research, FAIR, is a new particle accelerator facility to be built at the GSI site in Germany. The research at FAIR will cover a wide range of topics in nuclear and hadron physics, high density plasma and atomic physics, and applications in condensed matter physics and biology. A 1.1 km circumference double ring of rapidly cycling 100 and 300 Tm synchrotrons, will be FAIR's central accelerator system. It will be used to produce, inter alia, high intensity secondary beams of antiprotons and short-lived radioactive nuclei. A subsequent suite of cooler and storage rings will deliver heavy ion and antiproton beams of unprecedented quality. Large experiments are presently being designed by the NUSTAR, PANDA, PAX, CBM, SPARC, FLAIR, HEDgeHOB and BIOMAT collaborations

PROTON MICROSCOPY AT FAIR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Merrill, F. E.; Mariam, F. G.; Golubev, A. A.; Turtikov, V. I.; Varentsov, D.

2009-01-01

Proton radiography was invented in the 1990's at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) as a diagnostic to study dynamic material properties under extreme pressures, strain and strain rate. Since this time hundreds of dynamic proton radiography experiments have been performed at LANL and a facility has been commissioned at the Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP) in Russia for similar applications in dynamic material studies. Recently an international effort has investigated a new proton radiography capability for the study of dynamic material properties at the Facility for Anti-proton and Ion Research (FAIR) located in Darmstadt, Germany. This new Proton microscope for FAIR(PRIOR) will provide radiographic imaging of dynamic systems with unprecedented spatial, temporal and density resolution, resulting in a window for understanding dynamic material properties at new length scales. It is also proposed to install the PRIOR system at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum fuer Schwerionenforschung before installation at FAIR for dynamic experiments with different drivers including high explosives, pulsed power and lasers. The design of the proton microscope and expected radiographic performance is presented.

Starbucks’s Fair Trade in The Edge of Globalization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saomi Rizqiyanto

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Starbucks as a global company that reflect American values plays an important role in the trade of coffee industry. In February 2000, Starbucks partially adopted the Fair Trade and in early 2001 Starbucks fully adopt Fair Trade. This research seeks to examine the relationship between Starbucks as a symbol of globalization with Starbucks as a global corporation who adopt Fair Trade. This study also seeks to explain how any practical Starbucks Fair Trade as a whole and uncover the reasons behind Starbucks adopt Fair Trade. The research uses a case study method and using a primary and secondary reference sources in the form of books and journals. As a results, this study indicate that Starbucks has strong reasons that ultimately makes the company adopted the Fair Trade. The adoption of Fair Trade also known as CAFE Practices is apparently not spared from criticism of the observer of Fair Trade.DOI: 10.15408/etk.v16i2.5546

Predicting soil formation on the basis of transport-limited chemical weathering

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Fang; Hunt, Allen Gerhard

2018-01-01

Soil production is closely related to chemical weathering. It has been shown that, under the assumption that chemical weathering is limited by solute transport, the process of soil production is predictable. However, solute transport in soil cannot be described by Gaussian transport. In this paper, we propose an approach based on percolation theory describing non-Gaussian transport of solute to predict soil formation (the net production of soil) by considering both soil production from chemical weathering and removal of soil from erosion. Our prediction shows agreement with observed soil depths in the field. Theoretical soil formation rates are also compared with published rates predicted using soil age-profile thickness (SAST) method. Our formulation can be incorporated directly into landscape evolution models on a point-to-point basis as long as such models account for surface water routing associated with overland flow. Further, our treatment can be scaled-up to address complications associated with continental-scale applications, including those from climate change, such as changes in vegetation, or surface flow organization. The ability to predict soil formation rates has implications for understanding Earth's climate system on account of the relationship to chemical weathering of silicate minerals with the associated drawdown of atmospheric carbon, but it is also important in geomorphology for understanding landscape evolution, including for example, the shapes of hillslopes, and the net transport of sediments to sedimentary basins.

40Ar/39Ar dating of exceptional concentration of metals by weathering of Precambrian rocks at the Precambrian–Cambrian boundary

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Parnell, John; Mark, Darren F.; Frei, Robert

2014-01-01

The sub-Cambrian surface, including diverse metalliferous deposits, shows evidence of intense weathering of Precambrian rocks to form supergene-enriched ores and metalliferous placers, followed by widespread peneplanation. Much of the metal would have been flushed to the Cambrian ocean during...... with mobilization on land of redox sensitive metals by oxidative terrestrial weathering. This unprecedented flushing of metals from the weathered Precambrian surface would have contributed to the chemistry of the earliest Cambrian ocean at a time of marked faunal evolution....

High resolution solar observations in the context of space weather prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Guo

Space weather has a great impact on the Earth and human life. It is important to study and monitor active regions on the solar surface and ultimately to predict space weather based on the Sun's activity. In this study, a system that uses the full power of speckle masking imaging by parallel processing to obtain high-spatial resolution images of the solar surface in near real-time has been developed and built. The application of this system greatly improves the ability to monitor the evolution of solar active regions and to predict the adverse effects of space weather. The data obtained by this system have also been used to study fine structures on the solar surface and their effects on the upper solar atmosphere. A solar active region has been studied using high resolution data obtained by speckle masking imaging. Evolution of a pore in an active region presented. Formation of a rudimentary penumbra is studied. The effects of the change of the magnetic fields on the upper level atmosphere is discussed. Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) have a great impact on space weather. To study the relationship between CMEs and filament disappearance, a list of 431 filament and prominence disappearance events has been compiled. Comparison of this list with CME data obtained by satellite has shown that most filament disappearances seem to have no corresponding CME events. Even for the limb events, only thirty percent of filament disappearances are associated with CMEs. A CME event that was observed on March 20, 2000 has been studied in detail. This event did not show the three-parts structure of typical CMEs. The kinematical and morphological properties of this event were examined.

When Are Transport Pricing Policies Fair and Acceptable?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schuitema, Geertje; Steg, Linda; van Kruining, Monique

This study examines the relative importance of six policy outcomes related to different fairness principles for the perceived fairness and acceptability of pricing policies aimed at changing transport behaviour. The fairness and acceptability of six different types of transport pricing policies were

Promoting Fair Food-to-Consumer Communication

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barratt, Daniel; Hviid Madsen, Mai; Smith, Viktor

2012-01-01

with authoritative definitions (adding experts’ final judgments). The research is part of the cross-disciplinary research project “Spin or fair speak – when foods talk” which aims at providing new knowledge, tools, and experimental evidence for promoting fairness in food naming and labelling practices....

Leadership and Fairness: The state of the art.

OpenAIRE

van Knippenberg, D.; de Cremer, D.; van Knippenberg, B.M.

2007-01-01

textabstractResearch in leadership effectiveness has paid less to the role of leader fairness than probably it should have. More recently, this has started to change. To capture this development, we review the empirical literature in leadership and fairness to define the field of leadership and fairness, to assess the state of the art, and to identify a research agenda for future efforts in the field. The review shows that leader distributive, procedural, and especially interactional fairness...

The effect of natural weathering on the mechanical, morphological and thermal properties of high impact polystyrene (HIPS)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sahin, Tuelin; Sinmazcelik, Tamer; Sahin, Senol

2007-01-01

The effect of natural weathering on the mechanical, morphological and thermal properties on the high impact polystyrene (HIPS) and cold drawn HIPS are investigated. After natural weathering period of 8760 h, under known meteorological parameters, the changes in mechanical properties are investigated by using tensile, instrumented impact and hardness tests. Thermo-mechanical properties are characterized by using thermomechanical analysis (TMA) and melt flow index (MFI). Fractured surfaces of the materials are investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Natural weathering effects on fracture mechanisms are discussed by means of fractographical analysis. Remarkable morphological changes were observed especially at the surface of the material. This results in dramatic loss in mechanical properties

Complete Fairness in Secure Two-Party Computation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gordon, S. Dov; Hazay, Carmit; Katz, Jonathan

2011-01-01

In the setting of secure two-party computation, two mutually distrusting parties wish to compute some function of their inputs while preserving, to the extent possible, various security properties such as privacy, correctness, and more. One desirable property is fairness which guarantees, informa...... for such functions must have round complexity super-logarithmic in the security parameter. Our results demonstrate that the question of completely fair secure computation without an honest majority is far from closed.......In the setting of secure two-party computation, two mutually distrusting parties wish to compute some function of their inputs while preserving, to the extent possible, various security properties such as privacy, correctness, and more. One desirable property is fairness which guarantees......-party setting. We demonstrate that this folklore belief is false by showing completely fair protocols for various nontrivial functions in the two-party setting based on standard cryptographic assumptions. We first show feasibility of obtaining complete fairness when computing any function over polynomial...

Space weather in the EU’s FP7 Space Theme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chiarini Paola

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Technological infrastructures in space and on ground provide services on which modern society and economies rely. Space weather related research is funded under the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (FP7 of the European Union in response to the need of protecting such critical infrastructures from the damage which could be caused by extreme space weather events. The calls for proposals published under the topic “Security of space assets from space weather events” of the FP7 Space Theme aimed to improve forecasts and predictions of disruptive space weather events as well as identify best practices to limit the impacts on space- and ground-based infrastructures and their data provision. Space weather related work was also funded under the topic “Exploitation of space science and exploration data”, which aims to add value to space missions and Earth-based observations by contributing to the effective scientific exploitation of collected data. Since 2007 a total of 20 collaborative projects have been funded, covering a variety of physical phenomena associated with space weather, from ionospheric disturbances and scintillation, to geomagnetically induced currents at Earth’s surface, to coronal mass ejections and solar energetic particles. This article provides an overview of the funded projects, touching upon some results and referring to specific websites for a more exhaustive description of the projects’ outcomes.

Space Weather Impacts on Spacecraft Operations: Identifying and Establishing High-Priority Operational Services

Science.gov (United States)

Lawrence, G.; Reid, S.; Tranquille, C.; Evans, H.

2013-12-01

Space Weather is a multi-disciplinary and cross-domain system defined as, 'The physical and phenomenological state of natural space environments. The associated discipline aims, through observation, monitoring, analysis and modelling, at understanding and predicting the state of the Sun, the interplanetary and planetary environments, and the solar and non-solar driven perturbations that affect them, and also at forecasting and nowcasting the potential impacts on biological and technological systems'. National and Agency-level efforts to provide services addressing the myriad problems, such as ESA's SSA programme are therefore typically complex and ambitious undertakings to introduce a comprehensive suite of services aimed at a large number and broad range of end users. We focus on some of the particular threats and risks that Space Weather events pose to the Spacecraft Operations community, and the resulting implications in terms of User Requirements. We describe some of the highest-priority service elements identified as being needed by the Operations community, and outline some service components that are presently available, or under development. The particular threats and risks often vary according to orbit, so the particular User Needs for Operators at LEO, MEO and GEO are elaborated. The inter-relationship between these needed service elements and existing service components within the broader Space Weather domain is explored. Some high-priority service elements and potential correlation with Space Weather drivers include: solar array degradation and energetic proton storms; single event upsets at GEO and solar proton events and galactic cosmic rays; surface charging and deep dielectric charging at MEO and radiation belt dynamics; SEUs at LEO and the South Atlantic Anomaly and its variability. We examine the current capability to provide operational services addressing such threats and identify some advances that the Operations community can expect to benefit

GasFair/PowerFair/EnergyUser '98 : Presentations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-01-01

Papers presented at three conferences, reviewing recent activities in the natural gas and electric power industries and matters of concern to energy consumers in North America are contained on this single CD-ROM. Seven presentations relate to the natural gas industry, nine to electric power generation and transmission, and ten to a wide range of topics dealing with various concerns relating to the environment, financial and cost management aspects of energy utilization. Speakers at the GasFair sessions discussed recent developments in natural gas supply, marketing, purchasing, risk management and the impact of energy convergence on natural gas. Presentations at the PowerFair segment dealt with issues in electricity deregulation, supply and financing, purchasing and marketing. Issues discussed at the EnergyUser sessions included presentations dealing with ways to save costs with energy technology and integrated services, environmental performance contracting and engineering and energy cost control. The CD-ROM also contains the summary of a round table discussion and five individual presentations made at the Natural Gas Pipeline Forum. This pre-conference institute dealt with the likely effects of new pipelines and pipeline extensions on North American natural gas consumers. . tabs., figs

Fair value accounting and managerial discretion

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Byrne, A.; Clacher, I.; Hillier, D.; Hodgson, A.

2008-01-01

We analyse the extent to which managers exercise discretion under fair value accounting and the value relevance of these disclosures. Utilising a sample of firms that apply the UK fair value pension accounting standard, (FRS-17), we examine the main determinants of the assumptions managers use to

Study on the behavior of naturally occurring radioactivity originated from heavy minerals in weathering process of granite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakano, M.; Nakashima, Y.

1993-01-01

Mass fraction of biotite and of heavy minerals originally in granite rocks at Naegi granite area are 3% and 1 x 10 -4 %, respectively. Though their values are very small, specific activities of 238 U is 1.3 Bq/g and 80 Bq/g, respectively. Their values are much higher than that of gross granite (0.1 Bq/g). Therefore, they play important roles in the weathering process. Authors separated biotite and heavy minerals from less-weathered and weathered (outcrop, plastic materials) granite samples by using heavy liquid, and determined each specific activities and activity ratios. Furthermore, the surface of heavy minerals were washed in 6 N HCl for 20 minutes. And lost fraction of activity in the heavy minerals was determined. The result suggested that activity around heavy mineral's surface was removed into surroundings or external environment through weathering process. (5 figs.)

Starbucks's Fair Trade in the Edge of Globalization

OpenAIRE

Rizqiyanto, Saomi

2017-01-01

Starbucks as a global company that reflect American values plays an important role in the trade of coffee industry. In February 2000, Starbucks partially adopted the Fair Trade and in early 2001 Starbucks fully adopt Fair Trade. This research seeks to examine the relationship between Starbucks as a symbol of globalization with Starbucks as a global corporation who adopt Fair Trade. This study also seeks to explain how any practical Starbucks Fair Trade as a whole and uncover the reasons behin...

Meteorological Automatic Weather Station (MAWS) Instrument Handbook

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holdridge, Donna J [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Kyrouac, Jenni A [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

2017-08-01

The Meteorological Automatic Weather Station (MAWS) is a surface meteorological station, manufactured by Vaisala, Inc., dedicated to the balloon-borne sounding system (BBSS), providing surface measurements of the thermodynamic state of the atmosphere and the wind speed and direction for each radiosonde profile. These data are automatically provided to the BBSS during the launch procedure and included in the radiosonde profile as the surface measurements of record for the sounding. The MAWS core set of measurements is: Barometric Pressure (hPa), Temperature (°C), Relative Humidity (%), Arithmetic-Averaged Wind Speed (m/s), and Vector-Averaged Wind Direction (deg). The sensors that collect the core variables are mounted at the standard heights defined for each variable.

Potential energy surfaces for nucleon exchanging in dinuclear systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Jianfeng; Xu Hushan; Li Wenfei; Zuo Wei; Li Junqing; Wang Nan; Zhao Enguang

2003-01-01

The experimental measurements have provided the evidence that the suppression of fusion cross-section caused by quasi-fission is very important for the synthesis of super-heavy nuclei by heavy ion collisions. The potential energy surface due to the nucleon transfer in the collision process is the driven potential, which governs the nucleon transfer, so that governs the competition between the fusion and quasi-fission. The dinuclear system potential energy surface also gives the information about the optimum projectile-target combination, as well as the optimum excitation energy for the synthesis of super-heavy nuclei by heavy ion collisions

A normalised seawater strontium isotope curve. Possible implications for Neoproterozoic-Cambrian weathering rates and the further oxygenation of the Earth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shields, G.A.

2007-01-01

The strontium isotope composition of seawater is strongly influenced on geological time scales by changes in the rates of continental weathering relative to ocean crust alteration. However, the potential of the seawater 87 Sr/ 86 Sr curve to trace globally integrated chemical weathering rates has not been fully realised because ocean 87 Sr/ 86 Sr is also influenced by the isotopic evolution of Sr sources to the ocean. A preliminary attempt is made here to normalise the seawater 87 Sr/ 86 Sr curve to plausible trends in the 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios of the three major Sr sources: carbonate dissolution, silicate weathering and submarine hydrothermal exchange. The normalised curve highlights the Neoproterozoic-Phanerozoic transition as a period of exceptionally high continental influence, indicating that this interval was characterised by a transient increase in global weathering rates and/or by the weathering of unusually radiogenic crustal rocks. Close correlation between the normalised 87 Sr/ 86 Sr curve, a published seawater δ 34 S curve and atmospheric pCO 2 models is used here to argue that elevated chemical weathering rates were a major contributing factor to the steep rise in seawater 87 Sr/ 86 Sr from 650 Ma to 500 Ma. Elevated weathering rates during the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian interval led to increased nutrient availability, organic burial and to the further oxygenation of Earth's surface environment. Use of normalised seawater 87 Sr/ 86 Sr curves will, it is hoped, help to improve future geochemical models of Earth System dynamics. (orig.)

Weather and emotional state

Science.gov (United States)

Spasova, Z.

2010-09-01

Introduction Given the proven effects of weather on the human organism, an attempt to examine its effects on a psychic and emotional level has been made. Emotions affect the bio-tonus, working ability and concentration, hence their significance in various domains of economic life, such as health care, education, transportation, tourism, etc. Data and methods The research has been made in Sofia City within a period of 8 months, using 5 psychological methods (Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Test for Self-assessment of the emotional state (developed by Wessman and Ricks), Test for evaluation of moods and Test "Self-confidence - Activity - Mood" (developed by the specialists from the Military Academy in Saint Petersburg). The Fiodorov-Chubukov's complex-climatic method was used to characterize meteorological conditions because of the purpose to include in the analysis a maximal number of meteorological elements. 16 weather types are defined in dependence of the meteorological elements values according to this method. Abrupt weather changes from one day to another, defined by the same method, were considered as well. Results and discussions The results obtained by t-test show that the different categories of weather lead to changes in the emotional status, which indicates a character either positive or negative for the organism. The abrupt weather changes, according to expectations, have negative effect on human emotions but only when a transition to the cloudy weather or weather type, classified as "unfavourable" has been realized. The relationship between weather and human emotions is rather complicated since it depends on individual characteristics of people. One of these individual psychological characteristics, marked by the dimension "neuroticism", has a strong effect on emotional reactions in different weather conditions. Emotionally stable individuals are more "protected" to the weather influence on their emotions

Casebook on application for weather

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-11-01

This book introduces the excellent cases on application using weather at the industry, research center and public office. It lists the names and application cases in 2008 and 2009, which includes research on decease in risk by weather in the industry by Sam sung institute of safety and environment, service on weather information for people by KT, application with weather information in the flight by Korean air, use on weather information for prevention of disasters by Masan city hall, upgrade for business with weather marketing, center for river forecast in NOAA and the case using weather management for high profit margins.

Fair Exchange in Strand Spaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joshua D. Guttman

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Many cryptographic protocols are intended to coordinate state changes among principals. Exchange protocols coordinate delivery of new values to the participants, e.g. additions to the set of values they possess. An exchange protocol is fair if it ensures that delivery of new values is balanced: If one participant obtains a new possession via the protocol, then all other participants will, too. Fair exchange requires progress assumptions, unlike some other protocol properties. The strand space model is a framework for design and verification of cryptographic protocols. A strand is a local behavior of a single principal in a single session of a protocol. A bundle is a partially ordered global execution built from protocol strands and adversary activities. The strand space model needs two additions for fair exchange protocols. First, we regard the state as a multiset of facts, and we allow strands to cause changes in this state via multiset rewriting. Second, progress assumptions stipulate that some channels are resilient-and guaranteed to deliver messages-and some principals are assumed not to stop at certain critical steps. This method leads to proofs of correctness that cleanly separate protocol properties, such as authentication and confidentiality, from invariants governing state evolution. G. Wang's recent fair exchange protocol illustrates the approach.

Projections of future extreme weather losses under changes in climate and exposure

NARCIS (Netherlands)