WorldWideScience

Sample records for universal spatial component

  1. Components of Spatial Thinking: Evidence from a Spatial Thinking Ability Test

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jongwon; Bednarz, Robert

    2012-01-01

    This article introduces the development and validation of the spatial thinking ability test (STAT). The STAT consists of sixteen multiple-choice questions of eight types. The STAT was validated by administering it to a sample of 532 junior high, high school, and university students. Factor analysis using principal components extraction was applied…

  2. The SPAtial EFficiency metric (SPAEF): multiple-component evaluation of spatial patterns for optimization of hydrological models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koch, Julian; Cüneyd Demirel, Mehmet; Stisen, Simon

    2018-05-01

    The process of model evaluation is not only an integral part of model development and calibration but also of paramount importance when communicating modelling results to the scientific community and stakeholders. The modelling community has a large and well-tested toolbox of metrics to evaluate temporal model performance. In contrast, spatial performance evaluation does not correspond to the grand availability of spatial observations readily available and to the sophisticate model codes simulating the spatial variability of complex hydrological processes. This study makes a contribution towards advancing spatial-pattern-oriented model calibration by rigorously testing a multiple-component performance metric. The promoted SPAtial EFficiency (SPAEF) metric reflects three equally weighted components: correlation, coefficient of variation and histogram overlap. This multiple-component approach is found to be advantageous in order to achieve the complex task of comparing spatial patterns. SPAEF, its three components individually and two alternative spatial performance metrics, i.e. connectivity analysis and fractions skill score, are applied in a spatial-pattern-oriented model calibration of a catchment model in Denmark. Results suggest the importance of multiple-component metrics because stand-alone metrics tend to fail to provide holistic pattern information. The three SPAEF components are found to be independent, which allows them to complement each other in a meaningful way. In order to optimally exploit spatial observations made available by remote sensing platforms, this study suggests applying bias insensitive metrics which further allow for a comparison of variables which are related but may differ in unit. This study applies SPAEF in the hydrological context using the mesoscale Hydrologic Model (mHM; version 5.8), but we see great potential across disciplines related to spatially distributed earth system modelling.

  3. Prevalence of metabolic components in university students

    OpenAIRE

    Silva, Ana Roberta Vilarouca da; Sousa, Luana Savana Nascimento de; Rocha, Telma de Sousa; Cortez, Ramiro Marx Alves; Macêdo, Layla Gonçalves do Nascimento; Almeida, Paulo César de

    2014-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: to identify the frequency of components of Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) among university students.METHOD: descriptive study with 550 students, from various courses run by a public university. The socioeconomic data, lifestyle, and components of MetS were filled out using a questionnaire. Blood sample collection was undertaken in the university itself by a contracted clinical analysis laboratory.RESULTS: 66.2% were female, with a mean age of 22.6±4.41; 71.7% were sedentary; 1.8% stated...

  4. Reliability Analysis of 6-Component Star Markov Repairable System with Spatial Dependence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liying Wang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Star repairable systems with spatial dependence consist of a center component and several peripheral components. The peripheral components are arranged around the center component, and the performance of each component depends on its spatial “neighbors.” Vector-Markov process is adapted to describe the performance of the system. The state space and transition rate matrix corresponding to the 6-component star Markov repairable system with spatial dependence are presented via probability analysis method. Several reliability indices, such as the availability, the probabilities of visiting the safety, the degradation, the alert, and the failed state sets, are obtained by Laplace transform method and a numerical example is provided to illustrate the results.

  5. Spatial Variation of Magnetotelluric Field Components in simple 2D ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The E-polarization mode electromagnetic field components were computed for different aspect ratios of the inhomogeneity and for different frequencies of the incident waves. The results show that as aspect ratio of the inhomogeneity is reduced the spatial variation of the electric field component Ex is reduced and that of the ...

  6. The Influence of Alertness on Spatial and Nonspatial Components of Visual Attention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matthias, Ellen; Bublak, Peter; Muller, Hermann J.; Schneider, Werner X.; Krummenacher, Joseph; Finke, Kathrin

    2010-01-01

    Three experiments investigated whether spatial and nonspatial components of visual attention would be influenced by changes in (healthy, young) subjects' level of alertness and whether such effects on separable components would occur independently of each other. The experiments used a no-cue/alerting-cue design with varying cue-target stimulus…

  7. A novel principal component analysis for spatially misaligned multivariate air pollution data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jandarov, Roman A; Sheppard, Lianne A; Sampson, Paul D; Szpiro, Adam A

    2017-01-01

    We propose novel methods for predictive (sparse) PCA with spatially misaligned data. These methods identify principal component loading vectors that explain as much variability in the observed data as possible, while also ensuring the corresponding principal component scores can be predicted accurately by means of spatial statistics at locations where air pollution measurements are not available. This will make it possible to identify important mixtures of air pollutants and to quantify their health effects in cohort studies, where currently available methods cannot be used. We demonstrate the utility of predictive (sparse) PCA in simulated data and apply the approach to annual averages of particulate matter speciation data from national Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulatory monitors.

  8. Stability of Einstein static state universe in the spatially flat branemodels

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Kaituo [Department of Physics, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, Anhui 241000 (China); Wu, Puxun [Center for Nonlinear Science and Department of Physics, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315211 (China); Synergetic Innovation Center for Quantum Effects and Applications, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081 (China); Center for High Energy Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100080 (China); Yu, Hongwei, E-mail: hwyu@hunnu.edu.cn [Synergetic Innovation Center for Quantum Effects and Applications, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081 (China); Center for Nonlinear Science and Department of Physics, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315211 (China); Luo, Ling-Wei [Institute of Physics, Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan (China)

    2016-07-10

    With the assumption that a perfect fluid with a constant equation of state is the only energy component on the brane, we study the stability of Einstein static state solution under homogeneous and inhomogeneous scalar perturbations in both spatially flat Randall–Sundrum (RS) and Shtanov–Sahni (SS) braneworlds. We find that if the perfect fluid has a phantom-like property and the “Weyl fluid” originating from the projection of the bulk Weyl tensor onto the brane behaves like a radiation with positive energy density, the Einstein static state solution is stable in the SS braneworld, but unstable in the RS one. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the static state solution is also stable in the bulk with a timelike extra dimension. Thus, in the model where the extra dimension is timelike, our universe can stay at the Einstein static state past-eternally, which means that the big bang singularity might be resolved successfully by an emergent scenario.

  9. P1-14: Relationship between Colorfulness Adaptation and Spatial Frequency Components in Natural Image

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shun Sakaibara

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available We previously found the effect of colorfulness-adaptation in natural images. It was observed to be stronger in natural images than unnatural images, suggesting the influence of naturalness on the adaptation. However, what characteristics of images and what levels of visual system were involved were not examined enough. This research investigates whether the effect of colorfulness-adaptation is associated with spatial frequency components in natural images. If adaptation was a mechanism in early cortical level, the effect would be strong for adaptation and test images sharing similar spatial frequency components. In the experiment, we examined how the colorfulness impression of a test image changed following adaptation images with different levels of saturation. We selected several types of natural image from a standard image database for test and adaptation images. We also processed them to make shuffled images with spatial frequency component differed from the originals and phase-scrambled images with the component similar to the originals, for both adaptation and test images. Observers evaluated whether a test image was colorful or faded. Results show that the colorfulness perception of the test images was influenced by the saturation of the adaptation images. The effect was the strongest for the combination of natural (original adaptation and natural test images regardless of image types. The effect for the combination of phase-scrambled images was weaker than those of original images and stronger than those of shuffled images. They suggest that not only the spatial frequency components of an image but also the recognition of images would contribute to colorfulness-adaptation.

  10. Mutual information spectrum for selection of event-related spatial components. Application to eloquent motor cortex mapping.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexei eOssadtchi

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Spatial component analysis is often used to explore multidimensional time series data whose sources cannot be measured directly. Several methods may be used to decompose the data into a set of spatial components with temporal loadings. Component selection is of crucial importance, and should be supported by objective criteria. In some applications, the use of a well defined component selection criterion may provide for automation of the analysis.In this paper we describe a novel approach for ranking of spatial components calculated from the EEG or MEG data recorded within evoked response paradigm. Our method is called Mutual Information Spectrum and is based on gauging the amount of mutual information of spatial component temporal loadings with a synthetically created reference signal. We also describe the appropriate randomization based statistical assessment scheme that can be used for selection of components with statistically significant amount of mutual information. Using simulated data with realistic trial to trial variations and SNR corresponding to the real recordings we demonstrate the superior performance characteristics of the described mutual information based measure as compared to a more conventionally used power driven gauge. We also demonstrate the application of the Mutual Information Spectrum for the selection of task-related independent components from real MEG data. We show that the Mutual Information spectrum allows to identify task-related components reliably in a consistent fashion, yielding stable results even from a small number of trials. We conclude that the proposed method fits naturally the information driven nature of ICA and can be used for routine and automatic ranking of independent components calculated from the functional neuroimaging data collected within event-related paradigms.

  11. Evidence for a spatially homogeneous component of the Universe: single galaxies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Turner, E.L.; Gott, J.R. III

    1975-01-01

    A study of the distribution in the sky of galaxies brighter than 14th magnitude reveals two populations. One strongly clustered population has a covariance function w (theta) approx.theta -1 and contains roughly 60 percent of all galaxies. The remaining galaxies are distributed almost uniformly with w (theta) approx. =0. The two populations are defined by the presence or absence (respectively) of nearby (approximately-less-than45') companions. The implications for the definition of clusters and the field, the growth of structure in the universe, and cosmology are discussed briefly

  12. The two-component non-perturbative pomeron and the G-Universality

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nicolescu, Basarab E-mail: nicolesc@in2p3.fr

    2001-04-01

    In this communication we present a generalization of the Donnachie-Landshoff model inspired by the recent discovery of a 2-component Pomeron in LLA-QCD by Bartels, Lipatov and Vacca. In particular, we explore a new property, not present in the usual Regge theory - the G-Universality - which signifies the independence of one of the Pomeron components on the nature of the initial and final hadrons. The best description of the p-barp, pp, {pi}{sup {+-}}p, K{sup {+-}}p, {gamma}{gamma} and {gamma}p forward data is obtained when G-universality is imposed. Moreover, the ln{sup 2}s behaviour of the hadron amplitude, first established by Heisenberg, is clearly favoured by the data.

  13. Metabolic syndrome and its components among university students in Kenya.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mbugua, Samuel Mungai; Kimani, Samuel Thuo; Munyoki, Gilbert

    2017-11-28

    Metabolic syndrome refers to a cluster of interrelated disorders which occur together causing an increase in the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The university population is an understudied group despite the increase in the frequency of related disorders and metabolic risk factors e.g. obesity and diabetes, majorly due to the assumption that they are in their most active phase of life therefore healthy. This study looked at metabolic syndrome, the sedentary lifestyles and dietary habits present among university students attending Mount Kenya University, main campus. Stratified sampling was used to select participants. Self-administered questionnaires were issued to participants after a signed consent had been obtained following which clinical assessments and biochemical measures were performed. They included blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol, anthropometric measurements; height, weight, BMI and waist circumference. Pearson's chi-square tests and non-parametric independent t-test were used to analyze the prevalence of metabolic syndrome criteria per gender, the number of metabolic syndrome criteria per BMI and prevalence of metabolic syndrome criteria per BMI category. The study established that 1.9% of the participants met the criteria for diagnosis of metabolic syndrome according to HJSS criteria. Among the elements, there was statistical difference in gender BMI and waist circumference. 11.8% of subjects had two metabolic syndrome components while 3.1% had three components while none of the subjects had all six components. Elevated triglycerides was the most prevalent defining component for metabolic syndrome. There is a statistically significant relationship between sedentary lifestyle and dietary habits as risk factors to metabolic syndrome. Young adults in university have begun developing metabolic syndrome and the risk of developing the syndrome continues to increase with the

  14. Asymmetric segregation of damaged cellular components in spatially structured multicellular organisms.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Charlotte Strandkvist

    Full Text Available The asymmetric distribution of damaged cellular components has been observed in species ranging from fission yeast to humans. To study the potential advantages of damage segregation, we have developed a mathematical model describing ageing mammalian tissue, that is, a multicellular system of somatic cells that do not rejuvenate at cell division. To illustrate the applicability of the model, we specifically consider damage incurred by mutations to mitochondrial DNA, which are thought to be implicated in the mammalian ageing process. We show analytically that the asymmetric distribution of damaged cellular components reduces the overall damage level and increases the longevity of the cell population. Motivated by the experimental reports of damage segregation in human embryonic stem cells, dividing symmetrically with respect to cell-fate, we extend the model to consider spatially structured systems of cells. Imposing spatial structure reduces, but does not eliminate, the advantage of asymmetric division over symmetric division. The results suggest that damage partitioning could be a common strategy for reducing the accumulation of damage in a wider range of cell types than previously thought.

  15. Multiview Bayesian Correlated Component Analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kamronn, Simon Due; Poulsen, Andreas Trier; Hansen, Lars Kai

    2015-01-01

    are identical. Here we propose a hierarchical probabilistic model that can infer the level of universality in such multiview data, from completely unrelated representations, corresponding to canonical correlation analysis, to identical representations as in correlated component analysis. This new model, which...... we denote Bayesian correlated component analysis, evaluates favorably against three relevant algorithms in simulated data. A well-established benchmark EEG data set is used to further validate the new model and infer the variability of spatial representations across multiple subjects....

  16. Spatial abilities, Earth science conceptual understanding, and psychological gender of university non-science majors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Black, Alice A. (Jill)

    Research has shown the presence of many Earth science misconceptions and conceptual difficulties that may impede concept understanding, and has also identified a number of categories of spatial ability. Although spatial ability has been linked to high performance in science, some researchers believe it has been overlooked in traditional education. Evidence exists that spatial ability can be improved. This correlational study investigated the relationship among Earth science conceptual understanding, three types of spatial ability, and psychological gender, a self-classification that reflects socially-accepted personality and gender traits. A test of Earth science concept understanding, the Earth Science Concepts (ESC) test, was developed and field tested from 2001 to 2003 in 15 sections of university classes. Criterion validity was .60, significant at the .01 level. Spearman/Brown reliability was .74 and Kuder/Richardson reliability was .63. The Purdue Visualization of Rotations (PVOR) (mental rotation), the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) (spatial perception), the Differential Aptitude Test: Space Relations (DAT) (spatial visualization), and the Bem Inventory (BI) (psychological gender) were administered to 97 non-major university students enrolled in undergraduate science classes. Spearman correlations revealed moderately significant correlations at the .01 level between ESC scores and each of the three spatial ability test scores. Stepwise regression analysis indicated that PVOR scores were the best predictor of ESC scores, and showed that spatial ability scores accounted for 27% of the total variation in ESC scores. Spatial test scores were moderately or weakly correlated with each other. No significant correlations were found among BI scores and other test scores. Scantron difficulty analysis of ESC items produced difficulty ratings ranging from 33.04 to 96.43, indicating the percentage of students who answered incorrectly. Mean score on the ESC was 34

  17. Psychophysical and physiological responses to gratings with luminance and chromatic components of different spatial frequencies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooper, Bonnie; Sun, Hao; Lee, Barry B

    2012-02-01

    Gratings that contain luminance and chromatic components of different spatial frequencies were used to study the segregation of signals in luminance and chromatic pathways. Psychophysical detection and discrimination thresholds to these compound gratings, with luminance and chromatic components of the one either half or double the spatial frequency of the other, were measured in human observers. Spatial frequency tuning curves for detection of compound gratings followed the envelope of those for luminance and chromatic gratings. Different grating types were discriminable at detection threshold. Fourier analysis of physiological responses of macaque retinal ganglion cells to compound waveforms showed chromatic information to be restricted to the parvocellular pathway and luminance information to the magnocellular pathway. Taken together, the human psychophysical and macaque physiological data support the strict segregation of luminance and chromatic information in independent channels, with the magnocellular and parvocellular pathways, respectively, serving as likely the physiological substrates. © 2012 Optical Society of America

  18. Few-mode fiber, splice and SDM component characterization by spatially-diverse optical vector network analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rommel, Simon; Mendinueta, José Manuel Delgado; Klaus, Werner

    2017-01-01

    This paper discusses spatially diverse optical vector network analysis for space division multiplexing (SDM) component and system characterization, which is becoming essential as SDM is widely considered to increase the capacity of optical communication systems. Characterization of a 108-channel ...... in the few-mode multi-core fiber and their impact on system IL and MDL are analyzed, finding splices to cause significant mode-mixing and to be non-negligible in system capacity analysis.......This paper discusses spatially diverse optical vector network analysis for space division multiplexing (SDM) component and system characterization, which is becoming essential as SDM is widely considered to increase the capacity of optical communication systems. Characterization of a 108-channel...... photonic lantern spatial multiplexer, coupled to a 36-core 3-mode fiber, is experimentally demonstrated, extracting the full impulse response and complex transfer function matrices as well as insertion loss (IL) and mode-dependent loss (MDL) data. Moreover, the mode-mixing behavior of fiber splices...

  19. The Components of Communication Systems in Universities: Their Influence on Academic Work Life

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uslu, Baris

    2018-01-01

    This research aimed to identify the components of communication systems in universities and to explore their influence on academic life. To collect data, interviews were carried out with academics from Australian universities. Thematic descriptive and content analyses were performed on the data-set. Analyses showed that the human relations unit,…

  20. Structural white-matter connections mediating distinct behavioral components of spatial neglect in right brain-damaged patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaessen, Maarten J; Saj, Arnaud; Lovblad, Karl-Olof; Gschwind, Markus; Vuilleumier, Patrik

    2016-04-01

    Spatial neglect is a neuropsychological syndrome in which patients fail to perceive and orient to stimuli located in the space contralateral to the lesioned hemisphere. It is characterized by a wide heterogeneity in clinical symptoms which can be grouped into distinct behavioral components correlating with different lesion sites. Moreover, damage to white-matter (WM) fiber tracts has been suggested to disconnect brain networks that mediate different functions associated with spatial cognition and attention. However, it remains unclear what WM pathways are associated with functionally dissociable neglect components. In this study we examined nine patients with a focal right hemisphere stroke using a series of neuropsychological tests and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in order to disentangle the role of specific WM pathways in neglect symptoms. First, following previous work, the behavioral test scores of patients were factorized into three independent components reflecting perceptual, exploratory, and object-centered deficits in spatial awareness. We then examined the structural neural substrates of these components by correlating indices of WM integrity (fractional anisotropy) with the severity of deficits along each profile. Several locations in the right parietal and frontal WM correlated with neuropsychological scores. Fiber tracts projecting from these locations indicated that posterior parts of the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), as well as nearby callosal fibers connecting ipsilateral and contralateral parietal areas, were associated with perceptual spatial deficits, whereas more anterior parts of SLF and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF) were predominantly associated with object-centered deficits. In addition, connections between frontal areas and superior colliculus were found to be associated with the exploratory deficits. Our results provide novel support to the view that neglect may result from disconnection lesions in distributed

  1. Helmholtz Natural Modes: the universal and discrete spatial fabric of electromagnetic wavefields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    El Gawhary, Omar

    2017-01-01

    The interaction of electromagnetic waves with matter is at the foundation of the way we perceive and explore the world around us. In fact, when a field interacts with an object, signatures on the object’s geometry and physical properties are recorded in the resulting scattered field and are transported away from the object, where they can eventually be detected and processed. An optical field can transport information through its spectral content, its polarization state, and its spatial distribution. Generally speaking, the field’s spatial structure is typically subjected to changes under free-space propagation and any information therein encoded gets reshuffled by the propagation process. We must ascribe to this fundamental reason the fact that spectroscopy was known to the ancient civilizations already, and founded as modern science in the middle of seventeenth century, while to date we do not have an established scientific of field of ‘spatial spectroscopy’ yet. In this work we tackle this issue and we show how any field, whose evolution is dictated by Helmholtz equation, contains a universal and invariant spatial structure. When expressed in the framework of this spatial fabric, the spatial information content carried by any field reveals its invariant nature. This opens the way to novel paradigms in optical digital communications, inverse scattering, materials inspection, nanometrology and quantum optics. (paper)

  2. OpenCL Implementation of a Parallel Universal Kriging Algorithm for Massive Spatial Data Interpolation on Heterogeneous Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fang Huang

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available In some digital Earth engineering applications, spatial interpolation algorithms are required to process and analyze large amounts of data. Due to its powerful computing capacity, heterogeneous computing has been used in many applications for data processing in various fields. In this study, we explore the design and implementation of a parallel universal kriging spatial interpolation algorithm using the OpenCL programming model on heterogeneous computing platforms for massive Geo-spatial data processing. This study focuses primarily on transforming the hotspots in serial algorithms, i.e., the universal kriging interpolation function, into the corresponding kernel function in OpenCL. We also employ parallelization and optimization techniques in our implementation to improve the code performance. Finally, based on the results of experiments performed on two different high performance heterogeneous platforms, i.e., an NVIDIA graphics processing unit system and an Intel Xeon Phi system (MIC, we show that the parallel universal kriging algorithm can achieve the highest speedup of up to 40× with a single computing device and the highest speedup of up to 80× with multiple devices.

  3. Jackson State University's Center for Spatial Data Research and Applications: New facilities and new paradigms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Bruce E.; Elliot, Gregory

    1989-01-01

    Jackson State University recently established the Center for Spatial Data Research and Applications, a Geographical Information System (GIS) and remote sensing laboratory. Taking advantage of new technologies and new directions in the spatial (geographic) sciences, JSU is building a Center of Excellence in Spatial Data Management. New opportunities for research, applications, and employment are emerging. GIS requires fundamental shifts and new demands in traditional computer science and geographic training. The Center is not merely another computer lab but is one setting the pace in a new applied frontier. GIS and its associated technologies are discussed. The Center's facilities are described. An ARC/INFO GIS runs on a Vax mainframe, with numerous workstations. Image processing packages include ELAS, LIPS, VICAR, and ERDAS. A host of hardware and software peripheral are used in support. Numerous projects are underway, such as the construction of a Gulf of Mexico environmental data base, development of AI in image processing, a land use dynamics study of metropolitan Jackson, and others. A new academic interdisciplinary program in Spatial Data Management is under development, combining courses in Geography and Computer Science. The broad range of JSU's GIS and remote sensing activities is addressed. The impacts on changing paradigms in the university and in the professional world conclude the discussion.

  4. Exponential Cardassian universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Daojun; Sun Changbo; Li Xinzhou

    2006-01-01

    The expectation of explaining cosmological observations without requiring new energy sources is forsooth worthy of investigation. In this Letter, a new kind of Cardassian models, called exponential Cardassian models, for the late-time universe are investigated in the context of the spatially flat FRW universe scenario. We fit the exponential Cardassian models to current type Ia supernovae data and find they are consistent with the observations. Furthermore, we point out that the equation-of-state parameter for the effective dark fluid component in exponential Cardassian models can naturally cross the cosmological constant divide w=-1 that observations favor mildly without introducing exotic material that destroy the weak energy condition

  5. Principal component and spatial correlation analysis of spectroscopic-imaging data in scanning probe microscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jesse, Stephen; Kalinin, Sergei V

    2009-01-01

    An approach for the analysis of multi-dimensional, spectroscopic-imaging data based on principal component analysis (PCA) is explored. PCA selects and ranks relevant response components based on variance within the data. It is shown that for examples with small relative variations between spectra, the first few PCA components closely coincide with results obtained using model fitting, and this is achieved at rates approximately four orders of magnitude faster. For cases with strong response variations, PCA allows an effective approach to rapidly process, de-noise, and compress data. The prospects for PCA combined with correlation function analysis of component maps as a universal tool for data analysis and representation in microscopy are discussed.

  6. Was there an early reionization component in our universe?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Villanueva-Domingo, Pablo; Gariazzo, Stefano; Gnedin, Nickolay Y.; Mena, Olga

    2018-04-01

    A deep understanding of the epoch of reionization is still missing in our knowledge of the universe. While future probes will allow us to test the precise evolution of the free electron fraction from redshifts between zsimeq 6 and 0zsimeq 2, at present one could ask what kind of reionization processes are allowed by present cosmic microwave background temperature and polarization measurements. An early contribution to reionization could imply a departure from the standard picture where star formation determines the reionization onset. By considering a broad class of possible reionization parameterizations, we find that current data do not require an early reionization component in our universe and that only one marginal class of models, based on a particular realization of reionization, may point to that. In addition, the frequentist Akaike information criterion (AIC) provides strong evidence against alternative reionization histories, favoring the most simple reionization scenario, which describes reionization by means of only one (constant) reionization optical depth τ.

  7. Was there an early reionization component in our universe?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Villanueva-Domingo, Pablo; Gariazzo, Stefano; Gnedin, Nickolay Y.; Mena, Olga

    2018-04-01

    A deep understanding of the Epoch of Reionization is still missing in our knowledge of the universe. While future probes will allow us to test the precise evolution of the free electron fraction from redshifts between $z\\simeq 6$ and $z\\simeq 20$, at present one could ask what kind of reionization processes are allowed by present Cosmic Microwave Background temperature and polarization measurements. An early contribution to reionization could imply a departure from the standard picture where star formation determines the reionization onset. BBy considering a broad class of possible reionization parameterizations, we find that current data do not require an early reionization component in our universe and that only one marginal class of models, based on a particular realization of reionization, may point to that. In addition, the frequentist Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) provides strong evidence against alternative reionization histories, favoring the most simple reionization scenario, which describes reionization by means of only one (constant) reionization optical depth $\\tau$.

  8. Universal Properties of a Trapped Two-Component Fermi Gas at Unitarity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blume, D.; Stecher, J. von; Greene, Chris H.

    2007-01-01

    We treat the trapped two-component Fermi system, in which unlike fermions interact through a two-body short-range potential having no bound state but an infinite scattering length. By accurately solving the Schroedinger equation for up to N=6 fermions, we show that no many-body bound states exist other than those bound by the trapping potential, and we demonstrate unique universal properties of the system: Certain excitation frequencies are separated by 2(ℎ/2π)ω, the wave functions agree with analytical predictions and a virial theorem is fulfilled. Further calculations up to N=30 determine the excitation gap, an experimentally accessible universal quantity, and it agrees with recent predictions based on a density functional approach

  9. The dark components of the Universe are slowly clarified

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Burdyuzha, V. V., E-mail: burdyuzh@asc.rssi.ru [Russian Academy of Sciences, Astro-Space Center, Lebedev Physical Institute (Russian Federation)

    2017-02-15

    The dark sector of the Universe is beginning to be clarified step by step. If the dark energy is vacuum energy, then 123 orders of this energy are reduced by ordinary physical processes. For many years, these unexplained orders were called a crisis of physics. There was indeed a “crisis” before the introduction of the holographic principle and entropic force in physics. The vacuum energy was spent on the generation of new quantum states during the entire life of the Universe, but in the initial period of its evolution the vacuum energy (78 orders) were reduced more effectively by the vacuum condensates produced by phase transitions, because the Universe lost the high symmetry during its expansion. Important problems of physical cosmology can be solved if the quarks, leptons, and gauge bosons are composite particles. The dark matter, partially or all consisting of familon-type pseudo-Goldstone bosons with a mass of 10{sup —5}–10{sup –3} eV, can be explained in the composite model. Three generations of elementary particles are absolutely necessary in this model. In addition, this model realizes three relativistic phase transitions in a medium of familons at different redshifts, forming a large-scale structure of dark matter that was “repeated” by baryons. We predict the detection of dark energy dynamics, the detection of familons as dark matter particles, and the development of spectroscopy for the dark medium due to the probable presence of dark atoms in it. Other viewpoints on the dark components of the Universe are also discussed briefly.

  10. The dark components of the Universe are slowly clarified

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burdyuzha, V. V.

    2017-01-01

    The dark sector of the Universe is beginning to be clarified step by step. If the dark energy is vacuum energy, then 123 orders of this energy are reduced by ordinary physical processes. For many years, these unexplained orders were called a crisis of physics. There was indeed a “crisis” before the introduction of the holographic principle and entropic force in physics. The vacuum energy was spent on the generation of new quantum states during the entire life of the Universe, but in the initial period of its evolution the vacuum energy (78 orders) were reduced more effectively by the vacuum condensates produced by phase transitions, because the Universe lost the high symmetry during its expansion. Important problems of physical cosmology can be solved if the quarks, leptons, and gauge bosons are composite particles. The dark matter, partially or all consisting of familon-type pseudo-Goldstone bosons with a mass of 10"—"5–10"–"3 eV, can be explained in the composite model. Three generations of elementary particles are absolutely necessary in this model. In addition, this model realizes three relativistic phase transitions in a medium of familons at different redshifts, forming a large-scale structure of dark matter that was “repeated” by baryons. We predict the detection of dark energy dynamics, the detection of familons as dark matter particles, and the development of spectroscopy for the dark medium due to the probable presence of dark atoms in it. Other viewpoints on the dark components of the Universe are also discussed briefly.

  11. The dark components of the Universe are slowly clarified

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burdyuzha, V. V.

    2017-02-01

    The dark sector of the Universe is beginning to be clarified step by step. If the dark energy is vacuum energy, then 123 orders of this energy are reduced by ordinary physical processes. For many years, these unexplained orders were called a crisis of physics. There was indeed a "crisis" before the introduction of the holographic principle and entropic force in physics. The vacuum energy was spent on the generation of new quantum states during the entire life of the Universe, but in the initial period of its evolution the vacuum energy (78 orders) were reduced more effectively by the vacuum condensates produced by phase transitions, because the Universe lost the high symmetry during its expansion. Important problems of physical cosmology can be solved if the quarks, leptons, and gauge bosons are composite particles. The dark matter, partially or all consisting of familon-type pseudo-Goldstone bosons with a mass of 10—5-10-3 eV, can be explained in the composite model. Three generations of elementary particles are absolutely necessary in this model. In addition, this model realizes three relativistic phase transitions in a medium of familons at different redshifts, forming a large-scale structure of dark matter that was "repeated" by baryons. We predict the detection of dark energy dynamics, the detection of familons as dark matter particles, and the development of spectroscopy for the dark medium due to the probable presence of dark atoms in it. Other viewpoints on the dark components of the Universe are also discussed briefly.

  12. Component deficits of visual neglect: "Magnetic" attraction of attention vs. impaired spatial working memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toba, Monica N; Rabuffetti, Marco; Duret, Christophe; Pradat-Diehl, Pascale; Gainotti, Guido; Bartolomeo, Paolo

    2018-01-31

    Visual neglect is a disabling consequence of right hemisphere damage, whereby patients fail to detect left-sided objects. Its precise mechanisms are debated, but there is some consensus that distinct component deficits may variously associate and interact in different patients. Here we used a touch-screen based procedure to study two putative component deficits of neglect, rightward "magnetic" attraction of attention and impaired spatial working memory, in a group of 47 right brain-damaged patients, of whom 33 had signs of left neglect. Patients performed a visual search task on three distinct conditions, whereby touched targets could (1) be tagged, (2) disappear or (3) show no change. Magnetic attraction of attention was defined as more left neglect on the tag condition than on the disappear condition, where right-sided disappeared targets could not capture patients' attention. Impaired spatial working memory should instead produce more neglect on the no change condition, where no external cue indicated that a target had already been explored, than on the tag condition. Using a specifically developed analysis algorithm, we identified significant differences of performance between the critical conditions. Neglect patients as a group performed better on the disappear condition than on the no change condition and also better in the tag condition comparing with the no change condition. No difference was found between the tag condition and the disappear condition. Some of our neglect patients had dissociated patterns of performance, with predominant magnetic attraction or impaired spatial working memory. Anatomical results issued from both grey matter analysis and fiber tracking were consistent with the typical patterns of fronto-parietal and occipito-frontal disconnection in neglect, but did not identify lesional patterns specifically associated with one or another deficit, thus suggesting the possible co-localization of attentional and working memory processes in

  13. MRI Study on the Functional and Spatial Consistency of Resting State-Related Independent Components of the Brain Network

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jeong, Bum Seok [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Choi, Jee Wook [Daejeon St. Mary' s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Ji Woong [College of Medical Science, Konyang University, Daejeon(Korea, Republic of)

    2012-06-15

    Resting-state networks (RSNs), including the default mode network (DMN), have been considered as markers of brain status such as consciousness, developmental change, and treatment effects. The consistency of functional connectivity among RSNs has not been fully explored, especially among resting-state-related independent components (RSICs). This resting-state fMRI study addressed the consistency of functional connectivity among RSICs as well as their spatial consistency between 'at day 1' and 'after 4 weeks' in 13 healthy volunteers. We found that most RSICs, especially the DMN, are reproducible across time, whereas some RSICs were variable in either their spatial characteristics or their functional connectivity. Relatively low spatial consistency was found in the basal ganglia, a parietal region of left frontoparietal network, and the supplementary motor area. The functional connectivity between two independent components, the bilateral angular/supramarginal gyri/intraparietal lobule and bilateral middle temporal/occipital gyri, was decreased across time regardless of the correlation analysis method employed, (Pearson's or partial correlation). RSICs showing variable consistency are different between spatial characteristics and functional connectivity. To understand the brain as a dynamic network, we recommend further investigation of both changes in the activation of specific regions and the modulation of functional connectivity in the brain network.

  14. MRI Study on the Functional and Spatial Consistency of Resting State-Related Independent Components of the Brain Network

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jeong, Bum Seok; Choi, Jee Wook; Kim, Ji Woong

    2012-01-01

    Resting-state networks (RSNs), including the default mode network (DMN), have been considered as markers of brain status such as consciousness, developmental change, and treatment effects. The consistency of functional connectivity among RSNs has not been fully explored, especially among resting-state-related independent components (RSICs). This resting-state fMRI study addressed the consistency of functional connectivity among RSICs as well as their spatial consistency between 'at day 1' and 'after 4 weeks' in 13 healthy volunteers. We found that most RSICs, especially the DMN, are reproducible across time, whereas some RSICs were variable in either their spatial characteristics or their functional connectivity. Relatively low spatial consistency was found in the basal ganglia, a parietal region of left frontoparietal network, and the supplementary motor area. The functional connectivity between two independent components, the bilateral angular/supramarginal gyri/intraparietal lobule and bilateral middle temporal/occipital gyri, was decreased across time regardless of the correlation analysis method employed, (Pearson's or partial correlation). RSICs showing variable consistency are different between spatial characteristics and functional connectivity. To understand the brain as a dynamic network, we recommend further investigation of both changes in the activation of specific regions and the modulation of functional connectivity in the brain network.

  15. Few-mode fiber, splice and SDM component characterization by spatially-diverse optical vector network analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rommel, Simon; Mendinueta, José Manuel Delgado; Klaus, Werner; Sakaguchi, Jun; Olmos, Juan José Vegas; Awaji, Yoshinari; Monroy, Idelfonso Tafur; Wada, Naoya

    2017-09-18

    This paper discusses spatially diverse optical vector network analysis for space division multiplexing (SDM) component and system characterization, which is becoming essential as SDM is widely considered to increase the capacity of optical communication systems. Characterization of a 108-channel photonic lantern spatial multiplexer, coupled to a 36-core 3-mode fiber, is experimentally demonstrated, extracting the full impulse response and complex transfer function matrices as well as insertion loss (IL) and mode-dependent loss (MDL) data. Moreover, the mode-mixing behavior of fiber splices in the few-mode multi-core fiber and their impact on system IL and MDL are analyzed, finding splices to cause significant mode-mixing and to be non-negligible in system capacity analysis.

  16. Universal and local time components in Schumann resonance intensity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. P. Nickolaenko

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available We extend the technique suggested by Sentman and Fraser (1991 and discussed by Pechony and Price (2006, the technique for separating the local and universal time variations in the Schumann resonance intensity. Initially, we simulate the resonance oscillations in a uniform Earth-ionosphere cavity with the distribution of lightning strokes based on the OTD satellite data. Different field components were used in the Dayside source model for the Moshiri (Japan, geographic coordinates: 44.365° N, 142.24° E and Lehta (Karelia, Russia, 64.427° N, 33.974° E observatories. We use the extended Fourier series for obtaining the modulating functions. Simulations show that the algorithm evaluates the impact of the source proximity in the resonance intensity. Our major goal was in estimating the universal alteration factors, which reflect changes in the global thunderstorm activity. It was achieved by compensating the local factors present in the initial data. The technique is introduced with the model Schumann resonance data and afterwards we use the long-term experimental records at the above sites for obtaining the diurnal/monthly variations of the global thunderstorms.

  17. Spatial Theography

    OpenAIRE

    van Noppen, Jean Pierre

    1995-01-01

    Descriptive theology («theography») frequently resorts to metaphorical modes of meaning. Among these metaphors, the spatial language of localization and orientation plays an important role to delineate tentative insights into the relationship between the human and the divine. These spatial metaphors are presumably based on the universal human experience of interaction between the body and its environment. It is dangerous, however, to postulate universal agreement on meanings associated with s...

  18. Sparse modeling of spatial environmental variables associated with asthma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Timothy S; Gangnon, Ronald E; David Page, C; Buckingham, William R; Tandias, Aman; Cowan, Kelly J; Tomasallo, Carrie D; Arndt, Brian G; Hanrahan, Lawrence P; Guilbert, Theresa W

    2015-02-01

    Geographically distributed environmental factors influence the burden of diseases such as asthma. Our objective was to identify sparse environmental variables associated with asthma diagnosis gathered from a large electronic health record (EHR) dataset while controlling for spatial variation. An EHR dataset from the University of Wisconsin's Family Medicine, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics Departments was obtained for 199,220 patients aged 5-50years over a three-year period. Each patient's home address was geocoded to one of 3456 geographic census block groups. Over one thousand block group variables were obtained from a commercial database. We developed a Sparse Spatial Environmental Analysis (SASEA). Using this method, the environmental variables were first dimensionally reduced with sparse principal component analysis. Logistic thin plate regression spline modeling was then used to identify block group variables associated with asthma from sparse principal components. The addresses of patients from the EHR dataset were distributed throughout the majority of Wisconsin's geography. Logistic thin plate regression spline modeling captured spatial variation of asthma. Four sparse principal components identified via model selection consisted of food at home, dog ownership, household size, and disposable income variables. In rural areas, dog ownership and renter occupied housing units from significant sparse principal components were associated with asthma. Our main contribution is the incorporation of sparsity in spatial modeling. SASEA sequentially added sparse principal components to Logistic thin plate regression spline modeling. This method allowed association of geographically distributed environmental factors with asthma using EHR and environmental datasets. SASEA can be applied to other diseases with environmental risk factors. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Two-Component Signal Transduction Systems That Regulate the Temporal and Spatial Expression of Myxococcus xanthus Sporulation Genes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarwar, Zaara; Garza, Anthony G

    2016-02-01

    When starved for nutrients, Myxococcus xanthus produces a biofilm that contains a mat of rod-shaped cells, known as peripheral rods, and aerial structures called fruiting bodies, which house thousands of dormant and stress-resistant spherical spores. Because rod-shaped cells differentiate into spherical, stress-resistant spores and spore differentiation occurs only in nascent fruiting bodies, many genes and multiple levels of regulation are required. Over the past 2 decades, many regulators of the temporal and spatial expression of M. xanthus sporulation genes have been uncovered. Of these sporulation gene regulators, two-component signal transduction circuits, which typically contain a histidine kinase sensor protein and a transcriptional regulator known as response regulator, are among the best characterized. In this review, we discuss prototypical two-component systems (Nla6S/Nla6 and Nla28S/Nla28) that regulate an early, preaggregation phase of sporulation gene expression during fruiting body development. We also discuss orphan response regulators (ActB and FruA) that regulate a later phase of sporulation gene expression, which begins during the aggregation stage of fruiting body development. In addition, we summarize the research on a complex two-component system (Esp) that is important for the spatial regulation of sporulation. Copyright © 2016, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

  20. Two-component vector solitons in defocusing Kerr-type media with spatially modulated nonlinearity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhong, Wei-Ping, E-mail: zhongwp6@126.com [Department of Electronic and Information Engineering, Shunde Polytechnic, Guangdong Province, Shunde 528300 (China); Texas A and M University at Qatar, P.O. Box 23874 Doha (Qatar); Belić, Milivoj [Texas A and M University at Qatar, P.O. Box 23874 Doha (Qatar); Institute of Physics, University of Belgrade, P.O. Box 57, 11001 Belgrade (Serbia)

    2014-12-15

    We present a class of exact solutions to the coupled (2+1)-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger equation with spatially modulated nonlinearity and a special external potential, which describe the evolution of two-component vector solitons in defocusing Kerr-type media. We find a robust soliton solution, constructed with the help of Whittaker functions. For specific choices of the topological charge, the radial mode number and the modulation depth, the solitons may exist in various forms, such as the half-moon, necklace-ring, and sawtooth vortex-ring patterns. Our results show that the profile of such solitons can be effectively controlled by the topological charge, the radial mode number, and the modulation depth. - Highlights: • Two-component vector soliton clusters in defocusing Kerr-type media are reported. • These soliton clusters are constructed with the help of Whittaker functions. • The half-moon, necklace-ring and vortex-ring patterns are found. • The profile of these solitons can be effectively controlled by three soliton parameters.

  1. Gauge-invariant perturbations in a spatially flat anisotropic universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Den, Mitsue.

    1986-12-01

    The gauge-invariant perturbations in a spatially flat anisotropic universe with an arbitrary dimension (= N) are studied. In a previous paper the equations for the perturbations with a wave vector k a in one of the axial directions were derived and their solutions were shown. In this paper the perturbations with k a in arbitrary directions are treated. The remarkable properties are that all three types (scalar, vector, and tensor) of perturbations are generally coupled, so that a density perturbation can be produced also by vector or tensor perturbations. The formulation is quite general, but the behavior of the perturbations is discussed in a simple case such that N = 4 and k a is orthogonal to one of the axial directions. In this case, the perturbations are divided into two groups which are dynamically decoupled from each other. The asymptotic behavior of the perturbations in the group containing the density perturbation is discussed. (author)

  2. Objectivation of actualization of humanistic component in the syllabus of agricultural universities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Myshak Olena Oleksiyivna

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available The article reviews the problem of combining the humanitarian training and the professional skills of future specialists. The author carries out the content analysis of educational programs of the disciplines of the humanitarian and professional cycles of agro-industrial specialists’ training. Humanistic component in the content of students’ training in the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine has been analysed and the need for its actualization has been argued.

  3. An Efficient Data Compression Model Based on Spatial Clustering and Principal Component Analysis in Wireless Sensor Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yihang Yin

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Wireless sensor networks (WSNs have been widely used to monitor the environment, and sensors in WSNs are usually power constrained. Because inner-node communication consumes most of the power, efficient data compression schemes are needed to reduce the data transmission to prolong the lifetime of WSNs. In this paper, we propose an efficient data compression model to aggregate data, which is based on spatial clustering and principal component analysis (PCA. First, sensors with a strong temporal-spatial correlation are grouped into one cluster for further processing with a novel similarity measure metric. Next, sensor data in one cluster are aggregated in the cluster head sensor node, and an efficient adaptive strategy is proposed for the selection of the cluster head to conserve energy. Finally, the proposed model applies principal component analysis with an error bound guarantee to compress the data and retain the definite variance at the same time. Computer simulations show that the proposed model can greatly reduce communication and obtain a lower mean square error than other PCA-based algorithms.

  4. An Efficient Data Compression Model Based on Spatial Clustering and Principal Component Analysis in Wireless Sensor Networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yin, Yihang; Liu, Fengzheng; Zhou, Xiang; Li, Quanzhong

    2015-08-07

    Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have been widely used to monitor the environment, and sensors in WSNs are usually power constrained. Because inner-node communication consumes most of the power, efficient data compression schemes are needed to reduce the data transmission to prolong the lifetime of WSNs. In this paper, we propose an efficient data compression model to aggregate data, which is based on spatial clustering and principal component analysis (PCA). First, sensors with a strong temporal-spatial correlation are grouped into one cluster for further processing with a novel similarity measure metric. Next, sensor data in one cluster are aggregated in the cluster head sensor node, and an efficient adaptive strategy is proposed for the selection of the cluster head to conserve energy. Finally, the proposed model applies principal component analysis with an error bound guarantee to compress the data and retain the definite variance at the same time. Computer simulations show that the proposed model can greatly reduce communication and obtain a lower mean square error than other PCA-based algorithms.

  5. Formation of universal and diffusion regions of non-linear spectra of relativistic electrons in spatially limited sources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kontorovich, V.M.; Kochanov, A.E.

    1980-01-01

    It is demonstrated that in the case of hard injection of relativistic electrons accompanied by the joint action of synchrotron (Compton) losses and energy-dependent spatial diffusion, a spectrum with 'breaks' is formed containing universal (with index γ = 2) and diffusion regions, both independent of the injection spectrum. The effect from non-linearity of the electron spectrum is considered in averaged electromagnetic spectra for various geometries of sources (sphere, disk, arm). It is shown that an universal region (with index α = 0.5) can occur in the radiation spectrum. (orig.)

  6. A Principal Components Analysis of Dynamic Spatial Memory Biases

    Science.gov (United States)

    Motes, Michael A.; Hubbard, Timothy L.; Courtney, Jon R.; Rypma, Bart

    2008-01-01

    Research has shown that spatial memory for moving targets is often biased in the direction of implied momentum and implied gravity, suggesting that representations of the subjective experiences of these physical principles contribute to such biases. The present study examined the association between these spatial memory biases. Observers viewed…

  7. An Extended Spectral-Spatial Classification Approach for Hyperspectral Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akbari, D.

    2017-11-01

    In this paper an extended classification approach for hyperspectral imagery based on both spectral and spatial information is proposed. The spatial information is obtained by an enhanced marker-based minimum spanning forest (MSF) algorithm. Three different methods of dimension reduction are first used to obtain the subspace of hyperspectral data: (1) unsupervised feature extraction methods including principal component analysis (PCA), independent component analysis (ICA), and minimum noise fraction (MNF); (2) supervised feature extraction including decision boundary feature extraction (DBFE), discriminate analysis feature extraction (DAFE), and nonparametric weighted feature extraction (NWFE); (3) genetic algorithm (GA). The spectral features obtained are then fed into the enhanced marker-based MSF classification algorithm. In the enhanced MSF algorithm, the markers are extracted from the classification maps obtained by both SVM and watershed segmentation algorithm. To evaluate the proposed approach, the Pavia University hyperspectral data is tested. Experimental results show that the proposed approach using GA achieves an approximately 8 % overall accuracy higher than the original MSF-based algorithm.

  8. Density responses and spatial distribution of cotton yield and yield components in jujube (Zizyphus jujube)/cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) agroforestry

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wang, Qi; Han, Shuo; Zhang, Lizhen; Zhang, Dongsheng; Werf, van der Wopke; Evers, Jochem B.; Sun, Hongquan; Su, Zhicheng; Zhang, Siping

    2016-01-01

    Trees are the dominant species in agroforestry systems, profoundly affecting the performance of understory crops. Proximity to trees is a key factor in crop performance, but rather little information is available on the spatial distribution of yield and yield components of crop species under the

  9. Temporal and Spatial Independent Component Analysis for fMRI Data Sets Embedded in the AnalyzeFMRI R Package

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pierre Lafaye de Micheaux

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available For statistical analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI data sets, we propose a data-driven approach based on independent component analysis (ICA implemented in a new version of the AnalyzeFMRI R package. For fMRI data sets, spatial dimension being much greater than temporal dimension, spatial ICA is the computationally tractable approach generally proposed. However, for some neuroscientific applications, temporal independence of source signals can be assumed and temporal ICA becomes then an attractive exploratory technique. In this work, we use a classical linear algebra result ensuring the tractability of temporal ICA. We report several experiments on synthetic data and real MRI data sets that demonstrate the potential interest of our R package.

  10. Estimating spatial and temporal components of variation in count data using negative binomial mixed models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Irwin, Brian J.; Wagner, Tyler; Bence, James R.; Kepler, Megan V.; Liu, Weihai; Hayes, Daniel B.

    2013-01-01

    Partitioning total variability into its component temporal and spatial sources is a powerful way to better understand time series and elucidate trends. The data available for such analyses of fish and other populations are usually nonnegative integer counts of the number of organisms, often dominated by many low values with few observations of relatively high abundance. These characteristics are not well approximated by the Gaussian distribution. We present a detailed description of a negative binomial mixed-model framework that can be used to model count data and quantify temporal and spatial variability. We applied these models to data from four fishery-independent surveys of Walleyes Sander vitreus across the Great Lakes basin. Specifically, we fitted models to gill-net catches from Wisconsin waters of Lake Superior; Oneida Lake, New York; Saginaw Bay in Lake Huron, Michigan; and Ohio waters of Lake Erie. These long-term monitoring surveys varied in overall sampling intensity, the total catch of Walleyes, and the proportion of zero catches. Parameter estimation included the negative binomial scaling parameter, and we quantified the random effects as the variations among gill-net sampling sites, the variations among sampled years, and site × year interactions. This framework (i.e., the application of a mixed model appropriate for count data in a variance-partitioning context) represents a flexible approach that has implications for monitoring programs (e.g., trend detection) and for examining the potential of individual variance components to serve as response metrics to large-scale anthropogenic perturbations or ecological changes.

  11. Global monopoles can change Universe's topology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marunović, Anja; Prokopec, Tomislav

    2016-01-01

    If the Universe undergoes a phase transition, at which global monopoles are created or destroyed, topology of its spatial sections can change. More specifically, by making use of Myers' theorem, we show that, after a transition in which global monopoles form, spatial sections of a spatially flat, infinite Universe becomes finite and closed. This implies that global monopoles can change the topology of Universe's spatial sections (from infinite and open to finite and closed). Global monopoles cannot alter the topology of the space-time manifold.

  12. AN EXTENDED SPECTRAL–SPATIAL CLASSIFICATION APPROACH FOR HYPERSPECTRAL DATA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. Akbari

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available In this paper an extended classification approach for hyperspectral imagery based on both spectral and spatial information is proposed. The spatial information is obtained by an enhanced marker-based minimum spanning forest (MSF algorithm. Three different methods of dimension reduction are first used to obtain the subspace of hyperspectral data: (1 unsupervised feature extraction methods including principal component analysis (PCA, independent component analysis (ICA, and minimum noise fraction (MNF; (2 supervised feature extraction including decision boundary feature extraction (DBFE, discriminate analysis feature extraction (DAFE, and nonparametric weighted feature extraction (NWFE; (3 genetic algorithm (GA. The spectral features obtained are then fed into the enhanced marker-based MSF classification algorithm. In the enhanced MSF algorithm, the markers are extracted from the classification maps obtained by both SVM and watershed segmentation algorithm. To evaluate the proposed approach, the Pavia University hyperspectral data is tested. Experimental results show that the proposed approach using GA achieves an approximately 8 % overall accuracy higher than the original MSF-based algorithm.

  13. Tensor perturbations during inflation in a spatially closed Universe

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bonga, Béatrice; Gupt, Brajesh; Yokomizo, Nelson, E-mail: bpb165@psu.edu, E-mail: bgupt@gravity.psu.edu, E-mail: yokomizo@gravity.psu.edu [Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos and Physics Department, The Pennsylvania State University, 104 Lavey Lab, University Park, PA 16802 (United States)

    2017-05-01

    In a recent paper [1], we studied the evolution of the background geometry and scalar perturbations in an inflationary, spatially closed Friedmann-Lemaȋtre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) model having constant positive spatial curvature and spatial topology S{sup 3}. Due to the spatial curvature, the early phase of slow-roll inflation is modified, leading to suppression of power in the scalar power spectrum at large angular scales. In this paper, we extend the analysis to include tensor perturbations. We find that, similarly to the scalar perturbations, the tensor power spectrum also shows suppression for long wavelength modes. The correction to the tensor spectrum is limited to the very long wavelength modes, therefore the resulting observable CMB B-mode polarization spectrum remains practically the same as in the standard scenario with flat spatial sections. However, since both the tensor and scalar power spectra are modified, there are scale dependent corrections to the tensor-to-scalar ratio that leads to violation of the standard slow-roll consistency relation.

  14. IMPLEMENTATION OF CLOUD COMPUTING AS A COMPONENT OF THE UNIVERSITY IT INFRASTRUCTURE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vasyl P. Oleksyuk

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The article investigated the concept of IT infrastructure of higher educational institution. The article described models of deploying of cloud technologies in IT infrastructure. The hybrid model is most recent for higher educational institution. The unified authentication is an important component of IT infrastructure. The author suggests the public (Google Apps, Office 365 and private (Cloudstack, Eucalyptus, OpenStack cloud platforms to deploying in IT infrastructure of higher educational institution. Open source platform for organizing enterprise clouds were analyzed by the author. The article describes the experience of the deployment enterprise cloud in IT infrastructure of Department of Physics and Mathematics of Ternopil V. Hnatyuk National Pedagogical University.

  15. Universal Spatial Correlation Functions for Describing and Reconstructing Soil Microstructure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skvortsova, Elena B.; Mallants, Dirk

    2015-01-01

    Structural features of porous materials such as soil define the majority of its physical properties, including water infiltration and redistribution, multi-phase flow (e.g. simultaneous water/air flow, or gas exchange between biologically active soil root zone and atmosphere) and solute transport. To characterize soil microstructure, conventional soil science uses such metrics as pore size and pore-size distributions and thin section-derived morphological indicators. However, these descriptors provide only limited amount of information about the complex arrangement of soil structure and have limited capability to reconstruct structural features or predict physical properties. We introduce three different spatial correlation functions as a comprehensive tool to characterize soil microstructure: 1) two-point probability functions, 2) linear functions, and 3) two-point cluster functions. This novel approach was tested on thin-sections (2.21×2.21 cm2) representing eight soils with different pore space configurations. The two-point probability and linear correlation functions were subsequently used as a part of simulated annealing optimization procedures to reconstruct soil structure. Comparison of original and reconstructed images was based on morphological characteristics, cluster correlation functions, total number of pores and pore-size distribution. Results showed excellent agreement for soils with isolated pores, but relatively poor correspondence for soils exhibiting dual-porosity features (i.e. superposition of pores and micro-cracks). Insufficient information content in the correlation function sets used for reconstruction may have contributed to the observed discrepancies. Improved reconstructions may be obtained by adding cluster and other correlation functions into reconstruction sets. Correlation functions and the associated stochastic reconstruction algorithms introduced here are universally applicable in soil science, such as for soil classification

  16. Spatial-Simultaneous and Spatial-Sequential Working Memory in Individuals with Down Syndrome: The Effect of Configuration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carretti, Barbara; Lanfranchi, Silvia; Mammarella, Irene C.

    2013-01-01

    Earlier research showed that visuospatial working memory (VSWM) is better preserved in Down syndrome (DS) than verbal WM. Some differences emerged, however, when VSWM performance was broken down into its various components, and more recent studies revealed that the spatial-simultaneous component of VSWM is more impaired than the spatial-sequential…

  17. Spatial-frequency spectrum of patterns changes the visibility of spatial-phase differences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawton, T. B.

    1985-01-01

    It is shown that spatial-frequency components over a 4-octave range affected the visibility of spatial-phase differences. Contrast thresholds were measured for discrimination between two (+45- and -45-deg) spatial phases of a sinusoidal test grating added to a background grating. The background could contain one or several sinusoidal components, all in 0-deg phase. Phase differences between the test and the background were visible at lower contrasts when test and background frequencies were harmonically related than when they were not, when test and background frequencies were within 1 octave than when they were farther apart, when the fundamental frequency of the background was low than when it was high, and for some discriminations more than for others, after practice. The visibility of phase differences was not affected by additional components in the background if the fundamental and difference frequencies of the background remained unchanged. Observers' reports of their strategies gave information about the types of attentive processing that were used to discriminate phase differences. Attentive processing facilitated phase discrimination for multifrequency gratings spanning a much wider range of spatial frequencies than would be possible by using only local preattentive processing. These results were consistent with the visibility of phase differences being processed by some combination of even- and odd-symmetric simple cells tuned to a wide range of different spatial frequencies.

  18. Investigation of spatial and historical variations of air pollution around an industrial region using trace and macro elements in tree components

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Odabasi, Mustafa, E-mail: mustafa.odabasi@deu.edu.tr [Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Dokuz Eylul University, Tinaztepe Campus, 35160 Buca, Izmir (Turkey); Tolunay, Doganay [Department of Forestry Engineering, Faculty of Forestry, Istanbul University, 34470 Sariyer, Istanbul (Turkey); Kara, Melik; Ozgunerge Falay, Ezgi; Tuna, Gizem; Altiok, Hasan; Dumanoglu, Yetkin; Bayram, Abdurrahman; Elbir, Tolga [Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Dokuz Eylul University, Tinaztepe Campus, 35160 Buca, Izmir (Turkey)

    2016-04-15

    Several trace and macro elements (n = 48) were measured in pine needle, branch, bark, tree ring, litter, and soil samples collected at 27 sites (21 industrial, 6 background) to investigate their spatial and historical variation in Aliaga industrial region in Turkey. Concentrations generally decreased with distance from the sources and the lowest ones were measured at background sites far from major sources. Spatial distribution of anthropogenic trace elements indicated that their major sources in the region are the iron-steel plants, ship-breaking activities and the petroleum refinery. Patterns of 40 elements that were detected in most of the samples were also evaluated to assess their suitability for investigation of historical variations. Observed increasing trends of several trace and macro elements (As, Cr, Fe, Mo, Ni, V, Cu, Pb, Sb, Sn, and Hg) in the tree-ring samples were representative for the variations in anthropogenic emissions and resulting atmospheric concentrations in Aliaga region. It was shown that lanthanides (La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Dy, Er, Yb) could also be used for the investigation of historical variations due to specific industrial emissions (i.e., petroleum refining). Results of the present study showed that tree components, litter, and soil could be used to determine the spatial variations of atmospheric pollution in a region while tree rings could be used to assess the historical variations. - Highlights: • Iron-steel plants and refinery are the major trace element emitters in Aliaga region. • Tree components, litter and soil reflected the spatial variations of trace elements. • Elements in tree rings represented the historical variations in air pollution.

  19. Some properties of spatially homogeneous spacetimes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coomer, G.C.

    1979-01-01

    This paper discusses two features of the universe which are influenced in a fundamental way by the spacetime geometry of the universe. The first is the growth of density fluctuations in the early stages of the evolution of the universe. The second is the propagation of electromagnetic radiation in the universe. A spatially homogeneous universe is assumed in both discussions. The gravitational instability theory of galaxy formation is investigated for a viscous fluid and for a charged, conducting fluid with a magnetic field added as a perturbation. It is found that the growth rate of density perturbations in both cases is lower than in the perfect fluid case. Spatially homogeneous but nonisotropic spacetimes are investigated next. Two perfect fluid solutions of Einstein's field equations are found which have spacelike hypersurfaces with Bianchi type II geometry. An expression for the spectrum of the cosmic microwave background radiation in a spatially homogeneous but nonisotropic universe is found. The expression is then used to determine the angular distribution of the intensity of the radiation in the simpler of the two solutions. When accepted values of the matter density and decoupling temperature are inserted into this solution, values for the age of the universe and the time of decoupling are obtained which agree reasonably well with the values of the standard model of the universe

  20. Spatial Data Mining for Estimating Cover Management Factor of Universal Soil Loss Equation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsai, F.; Lin, T. C.; Chiang, S. H.; Chen, W. W.

    2016-12-01

    Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) is a widely used mathematical model that describes long-term soil erosion processes. Among the six different soil erosion risk factors of USLE, the cover-management factor (C-factor) is related to land-cover/land-use. The value of C-factor ranges from 0.001 to 1, so it alone might cause a thousandfold difference in a soil erosion analysis using USLE. The traditional methods for the estimation of USLE C-factor include in situ experiments, soil physical parameter models, USLE look-up tables with land use maps, and regression models between vegetation indices and C-factors. However, these methods are either difficult or too expensive to implement in large areas. In addition, the values of C-factor obtained using these methods can not be updated frequently, either. To address this issue, this research developed a spatial data mining approach to estimate the values of C-factor with assorted spatial datasets for a multi-temporal (2004 to 2008) annual soil loss analysis of a reservoir watershed in northern Taiwan. The idea is to establish the relationship between the USLE C-factor and spatial data consisting of vegetation indices and texture features extracted from satellite images, soil and geology attributes, digital elevation model, road and river distribution etc. A decision tree classifier was used to rank influential conditional attributes in the preliminary data mining. Then, factor simplification and separation were considered to optimize the model and the random forest classifier was used to analyze 9 simplified factor groups. Experimental results indicate that the overall accuracy of the data mining model is about 79% with a kappa value of 0.76. The estimated soil erosion amounts in 2004-2008 according to the data mining results are about 50.39 - 74.57 ton/ha-year after applying the sediment delivery ratio and correction coefficient. Comparing with estimations calculated with C-factors from look-up tables, the soil erosion

  1. Spatial differentiation of China's summer tourist destinations based on climatic suitability using the Universal Thermal Climate Index

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Jun; Zhang, Zhenchao; Li, Xueming; Xi, Jianchao; Feng, Zhangxian

    2017-11-01

    As a result of global warming and the gradual exacerbation of the urban heat island effect, vacationing in the summer to escape the heat has become a compelling tourism demand. This study examines the spatial differentiation of China's summer tourist destinations based on meteorological observations and tourism resources data from 1960 to 2014. The Universal Thermal Climate Index and analytic hierarchy process model were used to analyze climatic suitability. The findings are as follows. First, the spatial distribution of China's summer tourism resources exhibits a double-peak characteristic, with concentrations in the mid- and high-latitude and high-altitude regions. Second, the most influential destinations in China based on the composite index were Guiyang, Qingdao, Harbin, and Dalian. These findings can helpful for people who are planning their summer vacations, as well as tourism managers who benefit from such increases in the number of tourists.

  2. Recent developments in spatial analysis spatial statistics, behavioural modelling, and computational intelligence

    CERN Document Server

    Getis, Arthur

    1997-01-01

    In recent years, spatial analysis has become an increasingly active field, as evidenced by the establishment of educational and research programs at many universities. Its popularity is due mainly to new technologies and the development of spatial data infrastructures. This book illustrates some recent developments in spatial analysis, behavioural modelling, and computational intelligence. World renown spatial analysts explain and demonstrate their new and insightful models and methods. The applications are in areas of societal interest such as the spread of infectious diseases, migration behaviour, and retail and agricultural location strategies. In addition, there is emphasis on the uses of new technologoies for the analysis of spatial data through the application of neural network concepts.

  3. Students’ Spatial Performance: Cognitive Style and Sex Differences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanifah, U.; Juniati, D.; Siswono, T. Y. E.

    2018-01-01

    This study aims at describing the students’ spatial abilities based on cognitive styles and sex differences. Spatial abilities in this study include 5 components, namely spatial perception, spatial visualization, mental rotation, spatial relations, and spatial orientation. This research is descriptive research with qualitative approach. The subjects in this research were 4 students of junior high school, there were 1 male FI, 1 male FD, 1 female FI, and 1 female FI. The results showed that there are differences in spatial abilities of the four subjects that are on the components of spatial visualization, mental rotation, and spatial relations. The differences in spatial abilities were found in methods / strategies used by each subject to solve each component problem. The differences in cognitive styles and sex suggested different choice of strategies used to solve problems. The male students imagined the figures but female students needed the media to solve the problem. Besides sex, the cognitive style differences also have an effect on solving a problem. In addition, FI students were not affected by distracting information but FD students could be affected by distracting information. This research was expected to contribute knowledge and insight to the readers, especially for math teachers in terms of the spatial ability of the students so that they can optimize their students’ spatial ability.

  4. Spatial Dynamics of Indoor Radio Wideband Channels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hayar Aawatif

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The multipath components of superwideband (2–17.2 GHz nonline-of-sight channel responses measured inside several buildings are stable along sections that are 27 cm long on average with a standard deviation of 16 cm. The stability regions of multipath components have an approximately log-normal histogram. An analysis of measured channels that explicitly includes finite spatial areas of visibility of the multipath components is superior to the classic analysis that attributes spatial dynamics to interference of the multipath. The spatial stability of measured responses, that is, the size of the typical area of visibility of each multipath component, decreases as the carrier frequency increases but does not depend on bandwidth. The results offer insight into the nature of the diffuse part of the radio channel.

  5. Spatially Extended and High-Velocity Dispersion Molecular Component in Spiral Galaxies: Single-Dish Versus Interferometric Observations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caldú-Primo, Anahi; Schruba, Andreas; Walter, Fabian; Leroy, Adam; Bolatto, Alberto D.; Vogel, Stuart

    2015-02-01

    Recent studies of the molecular medium in nearby galaxies have provided mounting evidence that the molecular gas can exist in two phases: one that is clumpy and organized as molecular clouds and another one that is more diffuse. This last component has a higher velocity dispersion than the clumpy one. In order to investigate these two molecular components further, we compare the fluxes and line widths of CO in NGC 4736 and NGC 5055, two nearby spiral galaxies for which high-quality interferometric as well as single-dish data sets are available. Our analysis leads to two main results: (1) employing three different methods, we determine the flux recovery of the interferometer as compared to the single-dish to be within a range of 35%-74% for NGC 4736 and 81%-92% for NGC 5055, and (2) when focusing on high (S/N ≥ 5) lines of sight (LOSs), the single-dish line widths are larger by ˜(40 ± 20)% than the ones derived from interferometric data, which is in agreement with stacking all LOSs. These results point to a molecular gas component that is distributed over spatial scales larger than 30″(˜1 kpc), and is therefore filtered out by the interferometer. The available observations do not allow us to distinguish between a truly diffuse gas morphology and a uniform distribution of small clouds that are separated by less than the synthesized beam size (˜3″ or ˜100 pc), as they would both be invisible for the interferometer. This high velocity dispersion component has a dispersion similar to what is found in the atomic medium, as traced through observations of the H i line.

  6. Assessing cross-national invariance of the three-component model of organizational commitment : a six-country study of European university employees

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Eisinga, R.; Teelken, Ch.; Doorewaard, H.

    2010-01-01

    This study examined cross-national invariance of Meyer and Allen’s three-component model of organizational commitment using samples of university faculty from six European countries. The analysis revealed strict factorial measurement invariance of affective, continuance, and normative organizational

  7. Planar-channeling spatial density under statistical equilibrium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ellison, J.A.; Picraux, S.T.

    1978-01-01

    The phase-space density for planar channeled particles has been derived for the continuum model under statistical equilibrium. This is used to obtain the particle spatial probability density as a function of incident angle. The spatial density is shown to depend on only two parameters, a normalized incident angle and a normalized planar spacing. This normalization is used to obtain, by numerical calculation, a set of universal curves for the spatial density and also for the channeled-particle wavelength as a function of amplitude. Using these universal curves, the statistical-equilibrium spatial density and the channeled-particle wavelength can be easily obtained for any case for which the continuum model can be applied. Also, a new one-parameter analytic approximation to the spatial density is developed. This parabolic approximation is shown to give excellent agreement with the exact calculations

  8. Spatial vision is superior in musicians when memory plays a role.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weiss, Atalia H; Biron, Tali; Lieder, Itay; Granot, Roni Y; Ahissar, Merav

    2014-08-21

    Musicians' perceptual advantage in the acoustic domain is well established. Recent studies show that musicians' verbal working memory is also superior. Additionally, some studies report that musicians' visuospatial skills are enhanced although others failed to find this enhancement. We now examined whether musicians' spatial vision is superior, and if so, whether this superiority reflects refined visual skills or a general superiority of working memory. We examined spatial frequency discrimination among musicians and nonmusician university students using two presentation conditions: simultaneous (spatial forced choice) and sequential (temporal forced choice). Musicians' performance was similar to that of nonmusicians in the simultaneous condition. However, their performance in the sequential condition was superior, suggesting an advantage only when stimuli need to be retained, i.e., working memory. Moreover, the two groups showed a different pattern of correlations: Musicians' visual thresholds were correlated, and neither was correlated with their verbal memory. By contrast, among nonmusicians, the visual thresholds were not correlated, but sequential thresholds were correlated with verbal memory scores, suggesting that a general working memory component limits their performance in this condition. We propose that musicians' superiority in spatial frequency discrimination reflects an advantage in a domain-general aspect of working memory rather than a general enhancement in spatial-visual skills. © 2014 ARVO.

  9. Spatial, temporal, and density-dependent components of habitat quality for a desert owl.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aaron D Flesch

    Full Text Available Spatial variation in resources is a fundamental driver of habitat quality but the realized value of resources at any point in space may depend on the effects of conspecifics and stochastic factors, such as weather, which vary through time. We evaluated the relative and combined effects of habitat resources, weather, and conspecifics on habitat quality for ferruginous pygmy-owls (Glaucidium brasilianum in the Sonoran Desert of northwest Mexico by monitoring reproductive output and conspecific abundance over 10 years in and around 107 territory patches. Variation in reproductive output was much greater across space than time, and although habitat resources explained a much greater proportion of that variation (0.70 than weather (0.17 or conspecifics (0.13, evidence for interactions among each of these components of the environment was strong. Relative to habitat that was persistently low in quality, high-quality habitat buffered the negative effects of conspecifics and amplified the benefits of favorable weather, but did not buffer the disadvantages of harsh weather. Moreover, the positive effects of favorable weather at low conspecific densities were offset by intraspecific competition at high densities. Although realized habitat quality declined with increasing conspecific density suggesting interference mechanisms associated with an Ideal Free Distribution, broad spatial heterogeneity in habitat quality persisted. Factors linked to food resources had positive effects on reproductive output but only where nest cavities were sufficiently abundant to mitigate the negative effects of heterospecific enemies. Annual precipitation and brooding-season temperature had strong multiplicative effects on reproductive output, which declined at increasing rates as drought and temperature increased, reflecting conditions predicted to become more frequent with climate change. Because the collective environment influences habitat quality in complex ways

  10. Spatial and Climate Literacy: Connecting Urban and Rural Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boger, R. A.; Low, R.; Mandryk, C.; Gorokhovich, Y.

    2013-12-01

    Through a collaboration between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), Brooklyn College, and Lehman College, four independent but linked modules were developed and piloted in courses offered at Brooklyn College and UNL simultaneously. Module content includes climate change science and literacy principles, using geospatial technologies (GIS, GPS and remote sensing) as a vehicle to explore issues associated with global, regional, and local climate change in a concrete, quantitative and visual way using Internet resources available through NASA, NOAA, USGS, and a variety of universities and organizations. The materials take an Earth system approach and incorporate sustainability, resilience, water and watersheds, weather and climate, and food security topics throughout the semester. The research component of the project focuses on understanding the role of spatial literacy and authentic inquiry based experiences in climate change understanding and improving confidence in teaching science. In particular, engaging learners in both climate change science and GIS simultaneously provides opportunities to examine questions about the role that data manipulation, mental representation, and spatial literacy plays in students' abilities to understand the consequences and impacts of climate change. Pre and post surveys were designed to discern relationships between spatial cognitive processes and effective acquisition of climate change science concepts in virtual learning environments as well as alignment of teacher's mental models of nature of science and climate system dynamics to scientific models. The courses will again be offered simultaneously in Spring 2014 at Brooklyn College and UNL. Evaluation research will continue to examine the connections between spatial and climate literacy and teacher's mental models (via qualitative textual analysis using MAXQDA text analysis, and UCINET social network analysis programs) as well as how urban-rural learning interactions may

  11. Detection and removal of spatial bias in multiwell assays.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lachmann, Alexander; Giorgi, Federico M; Alvarez, Mariano J; Califano, Andrea

    2016-07-01

    Multiplex readout assays are now increasingly being performed using microfluidic automation in multiwell format. For instance, the Library of Integrated Network-based Cellular Signatures (LINCS) has produced gene expression measurements for tens of thousands of distinct cell perturbations using a 384-well plate format. This dataset is by far the largest 384-well gene expression measurement assay ever performed. We investigated the gene expression profiles of a million samples from the LINCS dataset and found that the vast majority (96%) of the tested plates were affected by a significant 2D spatial bias. Using a novel algorithm combining spatial autocorrelation detection and principal component analysis, we could remove most of the spatial bias from the LINCS dataset and show in parallel a dramatic improvement of similarity between biological replicates assayed in different plates. The proposed methodology is fully general and can be applied to any highly multiplexed assay performed in multiwell format. ac2248@columbia.edu Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  12. Spatially extended and high-velocity dispersion molecular component in spiral galaxies: Single-dish versus interferometric observations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Caldú-Primo, Anahi; Walter, Fabian; Schruba, Andreas; Leroy, Adam; Bolatto, Alberto D.; Vogel, Stuart

    2015-01-01

    Recent studies of the molecular medium in nearby galaxies have provided mounting evidence that the molecular gas can exist in two phases: one that is clumpy and organized as molecular clouds and another one that is more diffuse. This last component has a higher velocity dispersion than the clumpy one. In order to investigate these two molecular components further, we compare the fluxes and line widths of CO in NGC 4736 and NGC 5055, two nearby spiral galaxies for which high-quality interferometric as well as single-dish data sets are available. Our analysis leads to two main results: (1) employing three different methods, we determine the flux recovery of the interferometer as compared to the single-dish to be within a range of 35%–74% for NGC 4736 and 81%–92% for NGC 5055, and (2) when focusing on high (S/N ≥ 5) lines of sight (LOSs), the single-dish line widths are larger by ∼(40 ± 20)% than the ones derived from interferometric data, which is in agreement with stacking all LOSs. These results point to a molecular gas component that is distributed over spatial scales larger than 30″(∼1 kpc), and is therefore filtered out by the interferometer. The available observations do not allow us to distinguish between a truly diffuse gas morphology and a uniform distribution of small clouds that are separated by less than the synthesized beam size (∼3″ or ∼100 pc), as they would both be invisible for the interferometer. This high velocity dispersion component has a dispersion similar to what is found in the atomic medium, as traced through observations of the H i line.

  13. Extracting functional components of neural dynamics with Independent Component Analysis and inverse Current Source Density.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lęski, Szymon; Kublik, Ewa; Swiejkowski, Daniel A; Wróbel, Andrzej; Wójcik, Daniel K

    2010-12-01

    Local field potentials have good temporal resolution but are blurred due to the slow spatial decay of the electric field. For simultaneous recordings on regular grids one can reconstruct efficiently the current sources (CSD) using the inverse Current Source Density method (iCSD). It is possible to decompose the resultant spatiotemporal information about the current dynamics into functional components using Independent Component Analysis (ICA). We show on test data modeling recordings of evoked potentials on a grid of 4 × 5 × 7 points that meaningful results are obtained with spatial ICA decomposition of reconstructed CSD. The components obtained through decomposition of CSD are better defined and allow easier physiological interpretation than the results of similar analysis of corresponding evoked potentials in the thalamus. We show that spatiotemporal ICA decompositions can perform better for certain types of sources but it does not seem to be the case for the experimental data studied. Having found the appropriate approach to decomposing neural dynamics into functional components we use the technique to study the somatosensory evoked potentials recorded on a grid spanning a large part of the forebrain. We discuss two example components associated with the first waves of activation of the somatosensory thalamus. We show that the proposed method brings up new, more detailed information on the time and spatial location of specific activity conveyed through various parts of the somatosensory thalamus in the rat.

  14. Spatial Planning: What's in a Name?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Faludi, A.K.F.

    2003-01-01

    Spatial Planning: What's in a Name? Andreas Faludi, University of Nijmegen Spatial planning is Euro-English and means different things to different people. In the UK it now carries the connotation of 'Modernising Planning', taking it beyond land-use management. In the EU context ,too, regulatory and

  15. Spatial analyses of groundwater levels using universal kriging

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    models can be classified as circular, spherical, tetraspherical, pentaspherical, exponential, gaussian, rational quadratic, hole effect, K-bessel, J-bessel and stable. This study aims to determine ... due to economic consideration. Spatial interpo- lation of population characteristic values from data that are limited in number and ...

  16. Spatial dispersion of index components required for building invisibility cloak medium from photonic crystals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jamilan, Saeid; Semouchkin, George; Gandji, Navid P.; Semouchkina, Elena

    2018-04-01

    The opportunities to use dielectric photonic crystals (PhCs) as the media of cylindrical invisibility cloaks, designed using transformation optics (TO) concepts, are investigated. It is shown that TO-based prescriptions for radial index dispersion, responsible for turning waves around hidden objects, can be dropped if the PhC media support self-collimation of waves in bent crystals. Otherwise, to provide prescribed anisotropy of index dispersion, it is possible to employ PhCs with rectangular lattices. It is found, however, that at acceptable cloak thicknesses, modifications of crystal parameters do not allow for achieving the prescribed level of index anisotropy. This problem is solved by finding the reduced spatial dispersion law for the radial index component, which is characterized by decreased against TO-prescriptions values near the target and increased values in outer layers of the cloak. The cloak utilizing reduced prescriptions for indices is shown to perform almost as efficiently as a TO-based cloak, in terms of both wave front restoration behind the target and reducing the total scattering cross-width of the target.

  17. Enhancing discovery in spatial data infrastructures using a search engine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paolo Corti

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available A spatial data infrastructure (SDI is a framework of geospatial data, metadata, users and tools intended to provide an efficient and flexible way to use spatial information. One of the key software components of an SDI is the catalogue service which is needed to discover, query and manage the metadata. Catalogue services in an SDI are typically based on the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC Catalogue Service for the Web (CSW standard which defines common interfaces for accessing the metadata information. A search engine is a software system capable of supporting fast and reliable search, which may use ‘any means necessary’ to get users to the resources they need quickly and efficiently. These techniques may include full text search, natural language processing, weighted results, fuzzy tolerance results, faceting, hit highlighting, recommendations and many others. In this paper we present an example of a search engine being added to an SDI to improve search against large collections of geospatial datasets. The Centre for Geographic Analysis (CGA at Harvard University re-engineered the search component of its public domain SDI (Harvard WorldMap which is based on the GeoNode platform. A search engine was added to the SDI stack to enhance the CSW catalogue discovery abilities. It is now possible to discover spatial datasets from metadata by using the standard search operations of the catalogue and to take advantage of the new abilities of the search engine, to return relevant and reliable content to SDI users.

  18. Cosmological backreaction within the Szekeres model and emergence of spatial curvature

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bolejko, Krzysztof, E-mail: krzysztof.bolejko@sydney.edu.au [Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics A28, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006 (Australia)

    2017-06-01

    This paper discusses the phenomenon of backreaction within the Szekeres model. Cosmological backreaction describes how the mean global evolution of the Universe deviates from the Friedmannian evolution. The analysis is based on models of a single cosmological environment and the global ensemble of the Szekeres models (of the Swiss-Cheese-type and Styrofoam-type). The obtained results show that non-linear growth of cosmic structures is associated with the growth of the spatial curvature Ω{sub R} (in the FLRW limit Ω{sub R} → Ω {sub k} ). If averaged over global scales the result depends on the assumed global model of the Universe. Within the Swiss-Cheese model, which does have a fixed background, the volume average follows the evolution of the background, and the global spatial curvature averages out to zero (the background model is the ΛCDM model, which is spatially flat). In the Styrofoam-type model, which does not have a fixed background, the mean evolution deviates from the spatially flat ΛCDM model, and the mean spatial curvature evolves from Ω{sub R} =0 at the CMB to Ω{sub R} ∼ 0.1 at 0 z =. If the Styrofoam-type model correctly captures evolutionary features of the real Universe then one should expect that in our Universe, the spatial curvature should build up (local growth of cosmic structures) and its mean global average should deviate from zero (backreaction). As a result, this paper predicts that the low-redshift Universe should not be spatially flat (i.e. Ω {sub k} ≠ 0, even if in the early Universe Ω {sub k} = 0) and therefore when analysing low- z cosmological data one should keep Ω {sub k} as a free parameter and independent from the CMB constraints.

  19. The performance of select universities of medical sciences based on the components affecting medical education [version 1; referees: 2 approved

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehdi Tayebi Arasteh

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Background: Every educational institution requires an evaluation system in order to find out about the quality and desirability of its activities, especially if it is a complex and dynamic environment. The present study was conducted to evaluate the educational performance of schools affiliated to Alborz University of Medical Sciences to help improve their performance. Methods: This descriptive analytical study was conducted in six schools affiliated to Alborz University of Medical Sciences in April 2016-October 2016 and October 2016-April 2017. The evaluation was carried out in two stages: self-assessment by service executives across schools, and external assessment in person by the university’s expert staff. The study tools included the components, criteria and desirable standards of educational performance in ten categories. Data were analyzed in SPSS. Results: The results obtained showed that, in April-October 2016, the highest performance evaluation scores pertained to the "secure testing" and "rules and regulations" components and the lowest to the "packages for reform and innovation in education" and "the school action plan" components. In October 2016-April 2017, the highest scores pertained to "workforce empowerment" and "secure testing" and the lowest to "faculty affairs" and "electronic education management system". Conclusions: Offering a balanced portrayal of the actual performance of schools using the right performance indicators in two consecutive periods can help further motivate the superior schools and encourage the weaker schools to strive harder. Competition among schools to get a higher score in the components affecting medical education helps mobilize them to move toward reform and improvement.

  20. Independent component analysis of dynamic contrast-enhanced computed tomography images

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Koh, T S [School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Ave, Singapore 639798 (Singapore); Yang, X [School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Ave, Singapore 639798 (Singapore); Bisdas, S [Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Hospital, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, D-60590 Frankfurt (Germany); Lim, C C T [Department of Neuroradiology, National Neuroscience Institute, 11 Jalan Tan Tock Seng, Singapore 308433 (Singapore)

    2006-10-07

    Independent component analysis (ICA) was applied on dynamic contrast-enhanced computed tomography images of cerebral tumours to extract spatial component maps of the underlying vascular structures, which correspond to different haemodynamic phases as depicted by the passage of the contrast medium. The locations of arteries, veins and tumours can be separately identified on these spatial component maps. As the contrast enhancement behaviour of the cerebral tumour differs from the normal tissues, ICA yields a tumour component map that reveals the location and extent of the tumour. Tumour outlines can be generated using the tumour component maps, with relatively simple segmentation methods. (note)

  1. Spatially variant periodic structures in electromagnetics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rumpf, Raymond C.; Pazos, Javier J.; Digaum, Jennefir L.; Kuebler, Stephen M.

    2015-01-01

    Spatial transforms are a popular technique for designing periodic structures that are macroscopically inhomogeneous. The structures are often required to be anisotropic, provide a magnetic response, and to have extreme values for the constitutive parameters in Maxwell's equations. Metamaterials and photonic crystals are capable of providing these, although sometimes only approximately. The problem still remains about how to generate the geometry of the final lattice when it is functionally graded, or spatially varied. This paper describes a simple numerical technique to spatially vary any periodic structure while minimizing deformations to the unit cells that would weaken or destroy the electromagnetic properties. New developments in this algorithm are disclosed that increase efficiency, improve the quality of the lattices and provide the ability to design aplanatic metasurfaces. The ability to spatially vary a lattice in this manner enables new design paradigms that are not possible using spatial transforms, three of which are discussed here. First, spatially variant self-collimating photonic crystals are shown to flow unguided waves around very tight bends using ordinary materials with low refractive index. Second, multi-mode waveguides in spatially variant band gap materials are shown to guide waves around bends without mixing power between the modes. Third, spatially variant anisotropic materials are shown to sculpt the near-field around electric components. This can be used to improve electromagnetic compatibility between components in close proximity. PMID:26217058

  2. Cosmological signatures of anisotropic spatial curvature

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pereira, Thiago S.; Marugán, Guillermo A. Mena; Carneiro, Saulo

    2015-01-01

    If one is willing to give up the cherished hypothesis of spatial isotropy, many interesting cosmological models can be developed beyond the simple anisotropically expanding scenarios. One interesting possibility is presented by shear-free models in which the anisotropy emerges at the level of the curvature of the homogeneous spatial sections, whereas the expansion is dictated by a single scale factor. We show that such models represent viable alternatives to describe the large-scale structure of the inflationary universe, leading to a kinematically equivalent Sachs-Wolfe effect. Through the definition of a complete set of spatial eigenfunctions we compute the two-point correlation function of scalar perturbations in these models. In addition, we show how such scenarios would modify the spectrum of the CMB assuming that the observations take place in a small patch of a universe with anisotropic curvature

  3. Cosmological signatures of anisotropic spatial curvature

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pereira, Thiago S. [Departamento de Física, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, 86057-970, Londrina – PR (Brazil); Marugán, Guillermo A. Mena [Instituto de Estructura de la Materia, IEM-CSIC, Serrano 121, 28006, Madrid (Spain); Carneiro, Saulo, E-mail: tspereira@uel.br, E-mail: mena@iem.cfmac.csic.es, E-mail: saulo.carneiro@pq.cnpq.br [Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal da Bahia, 40210-340, Salvador – BA (Brazil)

    2015-07-01

    If one is willing to give up the cherished hypothesis of spatial isotropy, many interesting cosmological models can be developed beyond the simple anisotropically expanding scenarios. One interesting possibility is presented by shear-free models in which the anisotropy emerges at the level of the curvature of the homogeneous spatial sections, whereas the expansion is dictated by a single scale factor. We show that such models represent viable alternatives to describe the large-scale structure of the inflationary universe, leading to a kinematically equivalent Sachs-Wolfe effect. Through the definition of a complete set of spatial eigenfunctions we compute the two-point correlation function of scalar perturbations in these models. In addition, we show how such scenarios would modify the spectrum of the CMB assuming that the observations take place in a small patch of a universe with anisotropic curvature.

  4. Assessing the spatial and temporal variability of fine particulate matter components in Israeli, Jordanian, and Palestinian cities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarnat, Jeremy A.; Moise, Tamar; Shpund, Jacob; Liu, Yang; Pachon, Jorge E.; Qasrawi, Radwan; Abdeen, Ziad; Brenner, Shmuel; Nassar, Khaled; Saleh, Rami; Schauer, James J.

    2010-07-01

    This manuscript presents results from an extensive, multi-country comparative monitoring study of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) and its primary chemical components in Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian cities. This study represented the first time that researchers from these countries have worked together to examine spatial and temporal relationships for PM 2.5 and its major components among the study sites. The findings indicated that total PM 2.5 mass was relatively homogenous among many of the 11 sites as shown from strong between-site correlations. Mean annual concentrations ranged from 19.9 to 34.9 μg m -3 in Haifa and Amman, respectively, and exceeded accepted international air quality standards for annual PM 2.5 mass. Similarity of total mass was largely driven by SO 42- and crustal PM 2.5 components. Despite the close proximity of the seven, well correlated sites with respect to PM 2.5, there were pronounced differences among the cities for EC and, to a lesser degree, OC. EC, in particular, exhibited spatiotemporal trends that were indicative of strong local source contributions. Interestingly, there were moderate to strong EC correlations ( r > 0.65) among the large metropolitan cities, West Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Amman. For these relatively large cities, (i.e., West Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Amman), EC sources from the fleet of buses and cars typical for many urban areas predominate and likely drive spatiotemporal EC distributions. As new airshed management strategies and public health interventions are implemented throughout the Middle East, our findings support regulatory strategies that target integrated regional and local control strategies to reduce PM 2.5 mass and specific components suspected to drive adverse health effects of particulate matter exposure.

  5. Augmented reality to training spatial skills

    OpenAIRE

    Martin-Gutierrez, Jorge; Contero, Manuel; Alcañiz Raya, Mariano Luis

    2015-01-01

    La Laguna University has been offering courses for the development of spatial skills since 2004. Each year since that time spatial ability of engineering students has been measured before and after the courses to check progress after each training session. We have developed a spatial skills training course based on augmented reality and graphic engineering contents, and designed the AR_Dehaes tool, which is based on its own library the uses computer vision techniques for incorporating vis...

  6. The relationship between language and spatial ability an analysis of spatial language for reconstructing the solving of spatial tasks

    CERN Document Server

    Mizzi, Angel

    2017-01-01

    This work investigates how different fifth-grade students solve spatial-verbal tasks and the role of language in this process. Based on a synthesis of theoretical foundations and methodological issues for supporting the relationship between spatial ability and language, this present study examines and classifies strategies used by students as well as the obstacles they encounter when solving spatial tasks in the reconstruction method. Contents Theoretical Framework Design and Implementation Results and Discussion from the Inductive Data Analyses Target Groups Scholars and students of mathematics education Teachers of mathematics in primary and secondary schools About the Author Angel Mizzi works as a research assistant and lecturer at the University of Duisburg-Essen, where he has successfully completed his PhD studies in mathematics education.

  7. Language and Spatial Reorientation: Evidence from Severe Aphasia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bek, Judith; Blades, Mark; Siegal, Michael; Varley, Rosemary

    2010-01-01

    Investigating spatial cognition in individuals with acquired language impairments can inform our understanding of how components of language are involved in spatial representation. Using the reorientation paradigm of Hermer-Vazquez, Spelke, and Katsnelson (1999), we examined spatial cue integration (landmark-geometry conjunctions) in individuals…

  8. Analyzing Spatial Factors in Crime-inducing Culture in Chaloos

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad Hossein Omidi Noghlehbari

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Feelings of security in urban areas are one of the qualitative criteria of living space. With the rise in urbanization and increasing abnormal urban behavior, especially offenses, this issue has become of great importance. This study aims to identify and analyze the effects of spatial factors on crime-inducing culture in affluent and non-affluent neighborhoods of Chaloos. The method used in this study is analytical-descriptive and it is practical in terms of objective. In order to study and understand the status of physical-spatial structures of affluent and non-affluent neighborhoods in Chaloos, we used field study method. Data were collected through interview, notes taking and questionnaire. The results indicate that in affluent neighborhoods, all criteria components of spatial differences are above the mean (Mean=3, but in non-affluent neighborhoods, all components are lower than the mean. In addition, there is a significant relationship between criteria components of spatial differences and the formation of crime-inducing culture (except the diagnosis component in the affluent and non-affluent neighborhoods.

  9. Evolution of cyclic mixmaster universes with noncomoving radiation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ganguly, Chandrima; Barrow, John D.

    2017-12-01

    We study a model of a cyclic, spatially homogeneous, anisotropic, "mixmaster" universe of Bianchi type IX, containing a radiation field with noncomoving ("tilted" with respect to the tetrad frame of reference) velocities and vorticity. We employ a combination of numerical and approximate analytic methods to investigate the consequences of the second law of thermodynamics on the evolution. We model a smooth cycle-to-cycle evolution of the mixmaster universe, bouncing at a finite minimum, by the device of adding a comoving "ghost" field with negative energy density. In the absence of a cosmological constant, an increase in entropy, injected at the start of each cycle, causes an increase in the volume maxima, increasing approach to flatness, falling velocities and vorticities, and growing anisotropy at the expansion maxima of successive cycles. We find that the velocities oscillate rapidly as they evolve and change logarithmically in time relative to the expansion volume. When the conservation of momentum and angular momentum constraints are imposed, the spatial components of these velocities fall to smaller values when the entropy density increases, and vice versa. Isotropization is found to occur when a positive cosmological constant is added because the sequence of oscillations ends and the dynamics expand forever, evolving towards a quasi-de Sitter asymptote with constant velocity amplitudes. The case of a single cycle of evolution with a negative cosmological constant added is also studied.

  10. Can a marginally open universe amplify magnetic fields?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shtanov, Yuri; Sahni, Varun

    2013-01-01

    In a series of recent papers, including arXiv:1210.1183, it was claimed that large-scale magnetic fields generated during inflation in a spatially open universe could remain astrophysically significant at the present time since they experienced superadiabatic amplification specific to an open universe. We reexamine this assertion and show that, on the contrary, large-scale magnetic fields in a realistic open universe decay in much the same manner as they would in a spatially flat universe. Consequently, their amplitude today is extremely small (B 0 ∼ −59 G) and is unlikely to be of astrophysical significance

  11. Teaching Spatial Thinking in Undergraduate Geology Courses Using Tools and Strategies from Cognitive Science Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ormand, C. J.; Shipley, T. F.; Dutrow, B. L.; Goodwin, L. B.; Hickson, T. A.; Tikoff, B.; Atit, K.; Gagnier, K. M.; Resnick, I.

    2015-12-01

    Spatial visualization is an essential skill in the STEM disciplines, including the geological sciences. Undergraduate students, including geoscience majors in upper-level courses, bring a wide range of spatial skill levels to the classroom. Students with weak spatial skills may struggle to understand fundamental concepts and to solve geological problems with a spatial component. However, spatial thinking skills are malleable. Using strategies that have emerged from cognitive science research, we developed a set of curricular materials that improve undergraduate geology majors' abilities to reason about 3D concepts and to solve spatially complex geological problems. Cognitive science research on spatial thinking demonstrates that predictive sketching, making visual comparisons, gesturing, and the use of analogy can be used to develop students' spatial thinking skills. We conducted a three-year study of the efficacy of these strategies in strengthening the spatial skills of students in core geology courses at three universities. Our methodology is a quasi-experimental quantitative design, utilizing pre- and post-tests of spatial thinking skills, assessments of spatial problem-solving skills, and a control group comprised of students not exposed to our new curricular materials. Students taught using the new curricular materials show improvement in spatial thinking skills. Further analysis of our data, to be completed prior to AGU, will answer additional questions about the relationship between spatial skills and academic performance, spatial skills and gender, spatial skills and confidence, and the impact of our curricular materials on students who are struggling academically. Teaching spatial thinking in the context of discipline-based exercises has the potential to transform undergraduate education in the geological sciences by removing one significant barrier to success.

  12. The Relation between Childhood Spatial Activities and Spatial Abilities in Adulthood

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doyle, Randi A.; Voyer, Daniel; Cherney, Isabelle D.

    2012-01-01

    This study investigated the relation between childhood spatial activities and cognitive gender differences in adults through the validation of the Childhood Activities Questionnaire developed by Cherney and Voyer (2010). A sample of 403 (133 males, 270 females) undergraduates in Introductory Psychology courses at University of New Brunswick, NB,…

  13. Development of Critical Spatial Thinking through GIS Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Minsung; Bednarz, Robert

    2013-01-01

    This study developed an interview-based critical spatial thinking oral test and used the test to investigate the effects of Geographic Information System (GIS) learning on three components of critical spatial thinking: evaluating data reliability, exercising spatial reasoning, and assessing problem-solving validity. Thirty-two students at a large…

  14. Spatial Data Management System (SDMS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hutchison, Mark W.

    1994-01-01

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

  15. Effects of Plymetrics Training and Weight Training on selected Motor Ability Components among University Male Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaikh, Alauddin; Mallick, Nazrul Islam

    2012-11-01

    Introduction: The aim of this study was to find out the effects of plyometrics training and weight training among university male students.Procedure: 60 male students from the different colleges of the Burdwan University were randomly selected as subjects and their age were 19-25 years served as Weight training Group (WTG), second group served as Plyometric Training Group (PTG) and the third group served as Control Group (CT). Eight weeks weight training and six weeks plyometric training were given for experiment accordingly. The control group was not given any training except of their routine. The selected subjects were measured of their motor ability components, speed, endurance, explosive power and agility. ANCOVA was calculation for statistical treatment.Finding: Plyometric training and weight training groups significantly increase speed, endurance, explosive power and agility.Conclusion: The plyometric training has significantly improved speed, explosive power, muscular endurance and agility. The weight training programme has significantly improved agility, muscular endurance, and explosive power. The plometric training is superior to weight training in improving explosive power, agility and muscular endurance.

  16. Neural correlates of the spatial and expectancy components of endogenous and stimulus-driven orienting of attention in the Posner task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doricchi, Fabrizio; Macci, Enrica; Silvetti, Massimo; Macaluso, Emiliano

    2010-07-01

    Voluntary orienting of visual attention is conventionally measured in tasks with predictive central cues followed by frequent valid targets at the cued location and by infrequent invalid targets at the uncued location. This implies that invalid targets entail both spatial reorienting of attention and breaching of the expected spatial congruency between cues and targets. Here, we used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to separate the neural correlates of the spatial and expectancy components of both endogenous orienting and stimulus-driven reorienting of attention. We found that during endogenous orienting with predictive cues, there was a significant deactivation of the right Temporal-Parietal Junction (TPJ). We also discovered that the lack of an equivalent deactivation with nonpredictive cues was matched to drop in attentional costs and preservation of attentional benefits. The right TPJ showed equivalent responses to invalid targets following predictive and nonpredictive cues. On the contrary, infrequent-unexpected invalid targets following predictive cues specifically activated the right Middle and Inferior Frontal Gyrus (MFG-IFG). Additional comparisons with spatially neutral trials demonstrated that, independently of cue predictiveness, valid targets activate the left TPJ, whereas invalid targets activate both the left and right TPJs. These findings show that the selective right TPJ activation that is found in the comparison between invalid and valid trials results from the reciprocal cancelling of the different activations that in the left TPJ are related to the processing of valid and invalid targets. We propose that left and right TPJs provide "matching and mismatching to attentional template" signals. These signals enable reorienting of attention and play a crucial role in the updating of the statistical contingency between cues and targets.

  17. NMDA Signaling in CA1 Mediates Selectively the Spatial Component of Episodic Memory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Place, Ryan; Lykken, Christy; Beer, Zachery; Suh, Junghyup; McHugh, Thomas J.; Tonegawa, Susumu; Eichenbaum, Howard; Sauvage, Magdalena M.

    2012-01-01

    Recent studies focusing on the memory for temporal order have reported that CA1 plays a critical role in the memory for the sequences of events, in addition to its well-described role in spatial navigation. In contrast, CA3 was found to principally contribute to the memory for the association of items with spatial or contextual information in…

  18. Spatial Ability through Engineering Graphics Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marunic, Gordana; Glazar, Vladimir

    2013-01-01

    Spatial ability has been confirmed to be of particular importance for successful engineering graphics education and to be a component of human intelligence that can be improved through instruction and training. Consequently, the creation and communication by means of graphics demand careful development of spatial skills provided by the balanced…

  19. A method for independent component graph analysis of resting-state fMRI

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    de Paula, Demetrius Ribeiro; Ziegler, Erik; Abeyasinghe, Pubuditha M.

    2017-01-01

    Introduction Independent component analysis (ICA) has been extensively used for reducing task-free BOLD fMRI recordings into spatial maps and their associated time-courses. The spatially identified independent components can be considered as intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs) of non-contiguou......Introduction Independent component analysis (ICA) has been extensively used for reducing task-free BOLD fMRI recordings into spatial maps and their associated time-courses. The spatially identified independent components can be considered as intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs) of non......-contiguous regions. To date, the spatial patterns of the networks have been analyzed with techniques developed for volumetric data. Objective Here, we detail a graph building technique that allows these ICNs to be analyzed with graph theory. Methods First, ICA was performed at the single-subject level in 15 healthy...... parcellated regions. Third, between-node functional connectivity was established by building edge weights for each networks. Group-level graph analysis was finally performed for each network and compared to the classical network. Results Network graph comparison between the classically constructed network...

  20. Mapping the spatial distribution of global anthropogenic mercury atmospheric emission inventories

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, Simon J.; Steenhuisen, Frits; Pacyna, Jozef M.; Pacyna, Elisabeth G.

    This paper describes the procedures employed to spatially distribute global inventories of anthropogenic emissions of mercury to the atmosphere, prepared by Pacyna, E.G., Pacyna, J.M., Steenhuisen, F., Wilson, S. [2006. Global anthropogenic mercury emission inventory for 2000. Atmospheric Environment, this issue, doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2006.03.041], and briefly discusses the results of this work. A new spatially distributed global emission inventory for the (nominal) year 2000, and a revised version of the 1995 inventory are presented. Emissions estimates for total mercury and major species groups are distributed within latitude/longitude-based grids with a resolution of 1×1 and 0.5×0.5°. A key component in the spatial distribution procedure is the use of population distribution as a surrogate parameter to distribute emissions from sources that cannot be accurately geographically located. In this connection, new gridded population datasets were prepared, based on the CEISIN GPW3 datasets (CIESIN, 2004. Gridded Population of the World (GPW), Version 3. Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University and Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT). GPW3 data are available at http://beta.sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/gpw/index.jsp). The spatially distributed emissions inventories and population datasets prepared in the course of this work are available on the Internet at www.amap.no/Resources/HgEmissions/

  1. The Spatial Behaviour of Animals and Men

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brindley, T. S.

    1973-01-01

    Describes some common patterns of animal spatial behavior, and discusses spatial relationships that can be observed as an important component of human social behavior. Reports the results of a study relating to the interpersonal distances of people in bus queues in Britain. (JR)

  2. Spatial patterns in accretion on barrier-island salt marshes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Groot, de A.V.; Veeneklaas, R.M.; Kuijper, D.P.J.; Bakker, J.P.

    2011-01-01

    On minerogenic barrier-island salt marshes, sedimentation is spatially heterogeneous. Although the main forcing factors for sedimentation are known, much less is known about the characteristic sizes of this spatial patterning. Such patterning gives information on the spatial component of salt-marsh

  3. Hazard tolerance of spatially distributed complex networks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dunn, Sarah; Wilkinson, Sean

    2017-01-01

    In this paper, we present a new methodology for quantifying the reliability of complex systems, using techniques from network graph theory. In recent years, network theory has been applied to many areas of research and has allowed us to gain insight into the behaviour of real systems that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to analyse, for example increasingly complex infrastructure systems. Although this work has made great advances in understanding complex systems, the vast majority of these studies only consider a systems topological reliability and largely ignore their spatial component. It has been shown that the omission of this spatial component can have potentially devastating consequences. In this paper, we propose a number of algorithms for generating a range of synthetic spatial networks with different topological and spatial characteristics and identify real-world networks that share the same characteristics. We assess the influence of nodal location and the spatial distribution of highly connected nodes on hazard tolerance by comparing our generic networks to benchmark networks. We discuss the relevance of these findings for real world networks and show that the combination of topological and spatial configurations renders many real world networks vulnerable to certain spatial hazards. - Highlights: • We develop a method for quantifying the reliability of real-world systems. • We assess the spatial resilience of synthetic spatially distributed networks. • We form algorithms to generate spatial scale-free and exponential networks. • We show how these “synthetic” networks are proxies for real world systems. • Conclude that many real world systems are vulnerable to spatially coherent hazard.

  4. Intelligibility for Binaural Speech with Discarded Low-SNR Speech Components.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schoenmaker, Esther; van de Par, Steven

    2016-01-01

    Speech intelligibility in multitalker settings improves when the target speaker is spatially separated from the interfering speakers. A factor that may contribute to this improvement is the improved detectability of target-speech components due to binaural interaction in analogy to the Binaural Masking Level Difference (BMLD). This would allow listeners to hear target speech components within specific time-frequency intervals that have a negative SNR, similar to the improvement in the detectability of a tone in noise when these contain disparate interaural difference cues. To investigate whether these negative-SNR target-speech components indeed contribute to speech intelligibility, a stimulus manipulation was performed where all target components were removed when local SNRs were smaller than a certain criterion value. It can be expected that for sufficiently high criterion values target speech components will be removed that do contribute to speech intelligibility. For spatially separated speakers, assuming that a BMLD-like detection advantage contributes to intelligibility, degradation in intelligibility is expected already at criterion values below 0 dB SNR. However, for collocated speakers it is expected that higher criterion values can be applied without impairing speech intelligibility. Results show that degradation of intelligibility for separated speakers is only seen for criterion values of 0 dB and above, indicating a negligible contribution of a BMLD-like detection advantage in multitalker settings. These results show that the spatial benefit is related to a spatial separation of speech components at positive local SNRs rather than to a BMLD-like detection improvement for speech components at negative local SNRs.

  5. A novel spatial performance metric for robust pattern optimization of distributed hydrological models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stisen, S.; Demirel, C.; Koch, J.

    2017-12-01

    Evaluation of performance is an integral part of model development and calibration as well as it is of paramount importance when communicating modelling results to stakeholders and the scientific community. There exists a comprehensive and well tested toolbox of metrics to assess temporal model performance in the hydrological modelling community. On the contrary, the experience to evaluate spatial performance is not corresponding to the grand availability of spatial observations readily available and to the sophisticate model codes simulating the spatial variability of complex hydrological processes. This study aims at making a contribution towards advancing spatial pattern oriented model evaluation for distributed hydrological models. This is achieved by introducing a novel spatial performance metric which provides robust pattern performance during model calibration. The promoted SPAtial EFficiency (spaef) metric reflects three equally weighted components: correlation, coefficient of variation and histogram overlap. This multi-component approach is necessary in order to adequately compare spatial patterns. spaef, its three components individually and two alternative spatial performance metrics, i.e. connectivity analysis and fractions skill score, are tested in a spatial pattern oriented model calibration of a catchment model in Denmark. The calibration is constrained by a remote sensing based spatial pattern of evapotranspiration and discharge timeseries at two stations. Our results stress that stand-alone metrics tend to fail to provide holistic pattern information to the optimizer which underlines the importance of multi-component metrics. The three spaef components are independent which allows them to complement each other in a meaningful way. This study promotes the use of bias insensitive metrics which allow comparing variables which are related but may differ in unit in order to optimally exploit spatial observations made available by remote sensing

  6. Specification of optical components using Wigner distribution function

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu Jiancheng; Li Haibo; Xu Qiao; Chai Liqun; Fan Changjiang

    2010-01-01

    In order to characterize and specify small-scale local wavefront deformation of optical component, a method based on Wigner distribution function has been proposed, which can describe wavefront deformation in spatial and spatial frequency domain. The relationship between Wigner distribution function and power spectral density is analyzed and thus the specification of small-scale local wavefront deformation is obtained by Wigner distribution function. Simulation and experiment demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The proposed method can not only identify whether the optical component meets the requirement of inertial confinement fusion (ICF), but also determine t he location where small-scale wavefront deformation is unqualified. Thus it provides an effective guide to the revision of unqualified optical components. (authors)

  7. Study of displacement cascades in metals by means of component analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hou, M.

    1981-01-01

    Component analysis is used to study the spatial distributions of point defects resulting from collision cascades in solids. The components are the three (orthogonal) eigenvectors of the covariance matrix of the spatial distribution. Those corresponding to the extreme eigenvalues determine the directions maximizing and minimizing the variance of the spatial distribution. The intermediate one is the direction maximizing the variance of the distribution projected on a plane perpendicular to the principal component. The standard deviations of the distribution projected on the three components give a measure of its size. This measure is only dependent on the cascade structure. Vacancy and interstitial distributions generated in metals by the computer code MARLOWE based on the binary collision approximation are analysed and compared in this picture. The simulation of hundreds of cascades generated by projectiles in the keV energy range incident on polycrystalline gold makes it possible to collect information on their average spatial anisotropy, energy density and on the casade development. The dependence of characteristics on the energy and the masses involved is discussed. (orig.)

  8. Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome and Its Individual Components Among Midwestern University Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yahia, Najat; Brown, Carrie A; Snyder, Ericka; Cumper, Stephanie; Langolf, Andrea; Trayer, Chelsey; Green, Chelsea

    2017-08-01

    Michigan has the 17th highest adult obesity rate in the United States. Among college-aged adults between 18 and 25 years old, the rate of obesity was 11.6%. Obesity is a key precedent for the development of metabolic syndrome. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its individual components among a sample of students at Central Michigan University. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 462 students, aged 18-25 years, in Spring 2015 and Fall/Spring 2016 semesters. Students were recruited throughout the campus via flyers, in-class, and Blackboard announcements. Biochemical, anthropometric, and blood pressure measurements were taken for all students. Prevalence of metabolic syndrome was estimated based on the National Cholesterol Education Program's Adult Treatment Panel III guidelines. Multivariable analysis was used to assess the prevalence of metabolic risk components. To explore the association between metabolic risk factors and lifestyle behaviors, students filled out a validated online questionnaire related to their eating habits, physical activity, and sleep patterns. Metabolic syndrome was not prevalent in our sample. However, about one-third of the students had at least one metabolic abnormality, and 6.0% had two metabolic abnormalities. The most common metabolic abnormalities were low HDL-cholesterol levels (22.0%) and high waist circumference (12.6%), and elevated serum triglyceride (5.8%). Adjusting for other factors, excess adiposity and high visceral fat scores were associated with increased risk of metabolic risk factors, whereas healthy lifestyle practices such as daily breakfast consumption, eating three meals a day, being active, and not smoking were associated with lower risks for MetS. Given the adverse consequences of undiagnosed metabolic abnormalities, efforts to identify and manage MetS among asymptomatic college students, particularly women, is essential and warrants further

  9. Multi-component optical solitary waves

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kivshar, Y. S.; Sukhorukov, A. A.; Ostrovskaya, E. A.

    2000-01-01

    We discuss several novel types of multi-component (temporal and spatial) envelope solitary waves that appear in fiber and waveguide nonlinear optics. In particular, we describe multi-channel solitary waves in bit-parallel-wavelength fiber transmission systems for highperformance computer networks......, multi-color parametric spatial solitary waves due to cascaded nonlinearities of quadratic materials, and quasiperiodic envelope solitons due to quasi-phase-matching in Fibonacci optical superlattices. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved....

  10. [A better self-perception of physical fitness is associated with lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its components among university students].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fonseca-Camacho, Deivy Fredery; Hernández-Fonseca, John Manuel; González-Ruíz, Katherine; Tordecilla-Sanders, Alejandra; Ramírez-Vélez, Robinson

    2014-12-17

    To evaluate whether more positive self-perception of physical fitness is associated with lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components in university students in Bogotá, Colombia Method: A total of 493 men (mean age 28.5±11.5 years old) without cardiovascular disease university students completed the self-report fitness tool, namely "The International FItness Scale" (IFIS). The overall prevalence of MetS and its components according to "International Diabetes Federation" (IDF) criteria and the "National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood, Cholesterol in Adults" (NCEP: ATP-III) were measured. Body Fat Mass (BFM), Body Fat Percentage (BF %), Fat-Free Mass (FFM) and Fat-Free Mass Index (FFMI), were estimated using segmental bioelectrical impedance equipment. Twenty three percent of participants had met the criteria of MetS. Central obesity (33%) was the most prevalent factor, followed by low HDL cholesterol level (31%). The other factors associated with the presence of MetS were hypercholesterolemia (60%), high LDL cholesterol level (32%) and hypertriglyceridemia (19%). Participants reporting to have a "good/very good" in the self-reported (cardiorespiratory and muscle fitness specific components), shown a healthy range in blood pressure, FFM, FFMI and triglycerides level (p self-perception of physical fitness have an increased prevalence of MetS and its components. This study suggests that the self-report tool used in this study, the IFIS tool, is a useful method to be used in large scale surveys and epidemiological studies in which, because of time, equipment, or qualified personnel limitations, fitness cannot be directly measured. Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.

  11. Methods used to parameterize the spatially-explicit components of a state-and-transition simulation model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rachel R. Sleeter

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Spatially-explicit state-and-transition simulation models of land use and land cover (LULC increase our ability to assess regional landscape characteristics and associated carbon dynamics across multiple scenarios. By characterizing appropriate spatial attributes such as forest age and land-use distribution, a state-and-transition model can more effectively simulate the pattern and spread of LULC changes. This manuscript describes the methods and input parameters of the Land Use and Carbon Scenario Simulator (LUCAS, a customized state-and-transition simulation model utilized to assess the relative impacts of LULC on carbon stocks for the conterminous U.S. The methods and input parameters are spatially explicit and describe initial conditions (strata, state classes and forest age, spatial multipliers, and carbon stock density. Initial conditions were derived from harmonization of multi-temporal data characterizing changes in land use as well as land cover. Harmonization combines numerous national-level datasets through a cell-based data fusion process to generate maps of primary LULC categories. Forest age was parameterized using data from the North American Carbon Program and spatially-explicit maps showing the locations of past disturbances (i.e. wildfire and harvest. Spatial multipliers were developed to spatially constrain the location of future LULC transitions. Based on distance-decay theory, maps were generated to guide the placement of changes related to forest harvest, agricultural intensification/extensification, and urbanization. We analyze the spatially-explicit input parameters with a sensitivity analysis, by showing how LUCAS responds to variations in the model input. This manuscript uses Mediterranean California as a regional subset to highlight local to regional aspects of land change, which demonstrates the utility of LUCAS at many scales and applications.

  12. Methods used to parameterize the spatially-explicit components of a state-and-transition simulation model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sleeter, Rachel; Acevedo, William; Soulard, Christopher E.; Sleeter, Benjamin M.

    2015-01-01

    Spatially-explicit state-and-transition simulation models of land use and land cover (LULC) increase our ability to assess regional landscape characteristics and associated carbon dynamics across multiple scenarios. By characterizing appropriate spatial attributes such as forest age and land-use distribution, a state-and-transition model can more effectively simulate the pattern and spread of LULC changes. This manuscript describes the methods and input parameters of the Land Use and Carbon Scenario Simulator (LUCAS), a customized state-and-transition simulation model utilized to assess the relative impacts of LULC on carbon stocks for the conterminous U.S. The methods and input parameters are spatially explicit and describe initial conditions (strata, state classes and forest age), spatial multipliers, and carbon stock density. Initial conditions were derived from harmonization of multi-temporal data characterizing changes in land use as well as land cover. Harmonization combines numerous national-level datasets through a cell-based data fusion process to generate maps of primary LULC categories. Forest age was parameterized using data from the North American Carbon Program and spatially-explicit maps showing the locations of past disturbances (i.e. wildfire and harvest). Spatial multipliers were developed to spatially constrain the location of future LULC transitions. Based on distance-decay theory, maps were generated to guide the placement of changes related to forest harvest, agricultural intensification/extensification, and urbanization. We analyze the spatially-explicit input parameters with a sensitivity analysis, by showing how LUCAS responds to variations in the model input. This manuscript uses Mediterranean California as a regional subset to highlight local to regional aspects of land change, which demonstrates the utility of LUCAS at many scales and applications.

  13. Spatial pattern formation induced by Gaussian white noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scarsoglio, Stefania; Laio, Francesco; D'Odorico, Paolo; Ridolfi, Luca

    2011-02-01

    The ability of Gaussian noise to induce ordered states in dynamical systems is here presented in an overview of the main stochastic mechanisms able to generate spatial patterns. These mechanisms involve: (i) a deterministic local dynamics term, accounting for the local rate of variation of the field variable, (ii) a noise component (additive or multiplicative) accounting for the unavoidable environmental disturbances, and (iii) a linear spatial coupling component, which provides spatial coherence and takes into account diffusion mechanisms. We investigate these dynamics using analytical tools, such as mean-field theory, linear stability analysis and structure function analysis, and use numerical simulations to confirm these analytical results. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Apraxia and spatial inattention dissociate in left hemisphere stroke.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Timpert, David C; Weiss, Peter H; Vossel, Simone; Dovern, Anna; Fink, Gereon R

    2015-10-01

    Theories of lateralized cognitive functions propose a dominance of the left hemisphere for motor control and of the right hemisphere for spatial attention. Accordingly, spatial attention deficits (e.g., neglect) are more frequently observed after right-hemispheric stroke, whereas apraxia is a common consequence of left-hemispheric stroke. Clinical reports of spatial attentional deficits after left hemisphere (LH) stroke also exist, but are often neglected. By applying parallel analysis (PA) and voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping (VLSM) to data from a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment of 74 LH stroke patients, we here systematically investigate the relationship between spatial inattention and apraxia and their neural bases. PA revealed that apraxic (and language comprehension) deficits loaded on one common component, while deficits in attention tests were explained by another independent component. Statistical lesion analyses with the individual component scores showed that apraxic (and language comprehension) deficits were significantly associated with lesions of the left superior longitudinal fascicle (SLF). Data suggest that in LH stroke spatial attention deficits dissociate from apraxic (and language comprehension) deficits. These findings contribute to models of lateralised cognitive functions in the human brain. Moreover, our findings strongly suggest that LH stroke patients should be assessed systematically for spatial attention deficits so that these can be included in their rehabilitation regime. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Spatial measurement error and correction by spatial SIMEX in linear regression models when using predicted air pollution exposures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alexeeff, Stacey E; Carroll, Raymond J; Coull, Brent

    2016-04-01

    Spatial modeling of air pollution exposures is widespread in air pollution epidemiology research as a way to improve exposure assessment. However, there are key sources of exposure model uncertainty when air pollution is modeled, including estimation error and model misspecification. We examine the use of predicted air pollution levels in linear health effect models under a measurement error framework. For the prediction of air pollution exposures, we consider a universal Kriging framework, which may include land-use regression terms in the mean function and a spatial covariance structure for the residuals. We derive the bias induced by estimation error and by model misspecification in the exposure model, and we find that a misspecified exposure model can induce asymptotic bias in the effect estimate of air pollution on health. We propose a new spatial simulation extrapolation (SIMEX) procedure, and we demonstrate that the procedure has good performance in correcting this asymptotic bias. We illustrate spatial SIMEX in a study of air pollution and birthweight in Massachusetts. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  16. Statistics of Shared Components in Complex Component Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mazzolini, Andrea; Gherardi, Marco; Caselle, Michele; Cosentino Lagomarsino, Marco; Osella, Matteo

    2018-04-01

    Many complex systems are modular. Such systems can be represented as "component systems," i.e., sets of elementary components, such as LEGO bricks in LEGO sets. The bricks found in a LEGO set reflect a target architecture, which can be built following a set-specific list of instructions. In other component systems, instead, the underlying functional design and constraints are not obvious a priori, and their detection is often a challenge of both scientific and practical importance, requiring a clear understanding of component statistics. Importantly, some quantitative invariants appear to be common to many component systems, most notably a common broad distribution of component abundances, which often resembles the well-known Zipf's law. Such "laws" affect in a general and nontrivial way the component statistics, potentially hindering the identification of system-specific functional constraints or generative processes. Here, we specifically focus on the statistics of shared components, i.e., the distribution of the number of components shared by different system realizations, such as the common bricks found in different LEGO sets. To account for the effects of component heterogeneity, we consider a simple null model, which builds system realizations by random draws from a universe of possible components. Under general assumptions on abundance heterogeneity, we provide analytical estimates of component occurrence, which quantify exhaustively the statistics of shared components. Surprisingly, this simple null model can positively explain important features of empirical component-occurrence distributions obtained from large-scale data on bacterial genomes, LEGO sets, and book chapters. Specific architectural features and functional constraints can be detected from occurrence patterns as deviations from these null predictions, as we show for the illustrative case of the "core" genome in bacteria.

  17. Effect of Spatial Alignment Transformations in PCA and ICA of Functional Neuroimages

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lukic, Ana S.; Wernick, Miles N.; Yang, Yongui

    2007-01-01

    this observation is true, not only for spatial ICA, but also for temporal ICA and for principal component analysis (PCA). In each case we find conditions that the spatial alignment operator must satisfy to ensure invariance of the results. We illustrate our findings using functional magnetic-resonance imaging (f......It has been previously observed that spatial independent component analysis (ICA), if applied to data pooled in a particular way, may lessen the need for spatial alignment of scans in a functional neuroimaging study. In this paper we seek to determine analytically the conditions under which...

  18. Spatial and Social Networks in Organizational Innovation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wineman, Jean D.; Kabo, Felichism W.; Davis, Gerald F.

    2009-01-01

    Research on the enabling factors of innovation has focused on either the social component of organizations or on the spatial dimensions involved in the innovation process. But no one has examined the aggregate consequences of the link from spatial layout, to social networks, to innovation. This project enriches our understanding of how innovation…

  19. Possible physical universes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gordon McCabe

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to discuss the various types of physical universe which could exist according to modern mathematical physics. The paper begins with an introduction that approaches the question from the viewpoint of ontic structural realism. Section 2 takes the case of the 'multiverse' of spatially homogeneous universes, and analyses the famous Collins-Hawking argument, which purports to show that our own universe is a very special member of this collection. Section 3 considers the multiverse of all solutions to the Einstein field equations, and continues the discussion of whether the notions of special and typical can be defined within such a collection.

  20. Lack of Awareness for Spatial and Verbal Constructive Apraxia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rinaldi, Maria Cristina; Piras, Federica; Pizzamiglio, Luigi

    2010-01-01

    It is still a matter of debate whether constructive apraxia (CA) should be considered a form of apraxia or, rather, the motor expression of a more pervasive impairment in visuo-spatial processing. Constructive disorders were linked to visuo-spatial disorders and to deficits in appreciating spatial relations among component sub-parts or problems in…

  1. Sustaining Community-University Collaborations: The Durham University Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrew Russell

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available Durham University has initiated a community outreach and engagement program based on an evolving multifaceted model. This article analyses the components of the model and looks at how our work at Durham has become increasingly embedded in the structures and processes of the university as it has developed. The strengths and weaknesses in what has been achieved are highlighted, as is the future vision for the further development of this innovative community-university program. Keywords Public engagement; community partnerships; employer supported volunteering; corporate social responsibility

  2. Component processes underlying future thinking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    D'Argembeau, Arnaud; Ortoleva, Claudia; Jumentier, Sabrina; Van der Linden, Martial

    2010-09-01

    This study sought to investigate the component processes underlying the ability to imagine future events, using an individual-differences approach. Participants completed several tasks assessing different aspects of future thinking (i.e., fluency, specificity, amount of episodic details, phenomenology) and were also assessed with tasks and questionnaires measuring various component processes that have been hypothesized to support future thinking (i.e., executive processes, visual-spatial processing, relational memory processing, self-consciousness, and time perspective). The main results showed that executive processes were correlated with various measures of future thinking, whereas visual-spatial processing abilities and time perspective were specifically related to the number of sensory descriptions reported when specific future events were imagined. Furthermore, individual differences in self-consciousness predicted the subjective feeling of experiencing the imagined future events. These results suggest that future thinking involves a collection of processes that are related to different facets of future-event representation.

  3. A national prediction model for PM2.5 component exposures and measurement error-corrected health effect inference.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bergen, Silas; Sheppard, Lianne; Sampson, Paul D; Kim, Sun-Young; Richards, Mark; Vedal, Sverre; Kaufman, Joel D; Szpiro, Adam A

    2013-09-01

    Studies estimating health effects of long-term air pollution exposure often use a two-stage approach: building exposure models to assign individual-level exposures, which are then used in regression analyses. This requires accurate exposure modeling and careful treatment of exposure measurement error. To illustrate the importance of accounting for exposure model characteristics in two-stage air pollution studies, we considered a case study based on data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). We built national spatial exposure models that used partial least squares and universal kriging to estimate annual average concentrations of four PM2.5 components: elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), silicon (Si), and sulfur (S). We predicted PM2.5 component exposures for the MESA cohort and estimated cross-sectional associations with carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), adjusting for subject-specific covariates. We corrected for measurement error using recently developed methods that account for the spatial structure of predicted exposures. Our models performed well, with cross-validated R2 values ranging from 0.62 to 0.95. Naïve analyses that did not account for measurement error indicated statistically significant associations between CIMT and exposure to OC, Si, and S. EC and OC exhibited little spatial correlation, and the corrected inference was unchanged from the naïve analysis. The Si and S exposure surfaces displayed notable spatial correlation, resulting in corrected confidence intervals (CIs) that were 50% wider than the naïve CIs, but that were still statistically significant. The impact of correcting for measurement error on health effect inference is concordant with the degree of spatial correlation in the exposure surfaces. Exposure model characteristics must be considered when performing two-stage air pollution epidemiologic analyses because naïve health effect inference may be inappropriate.

  4. Statistics of Shared Components in Complex Component Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrea Mazzolini

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Many complex systems are modular. Such systems can be represented as “component systems,” i.e., sets of elementary components, such as LEGO bricks in LEGO sets. The bricks found in a LEGO set reflect a target architecture, which can be built following a set-specific list of instructions. In other component systems, instead, the underlying functional design and constraints are not obvious a priori, and their detection is often a challenge of both scientific and practical importance, requiring a clear understanding of component statistics. Importantly, some quantitative invariants appear to be common to many component systems, most notably a common broad distribution of component abundances, which often resembles the well-known Zipf’s law. Such “laws” affect in a general and nontrivial way the component statistics, potentially hindering the identification of system-specific functional constraints or generative processes. Here, we specifically focus on the statistics of shared components, i.e., the distribution of the number of components shared by different system realizations, such as the common bricks found in different LEGO sets. To account for the effects of component heterogeneity, we consider a simple null model, which builds system realizations by random draws from a universe of possible components. Under general assumptions on abundance heterogeneity, we provide analytical estimates of component occurrence, which quantify exhaustively the statistics of shared components. Surprisingly, this simple null model can positively explain important features of empirical component-occurrence distributions obtained from large-scale data on bacterial genomes, LEGO sets, and book chapters. Specific architectural features and functional constraints can be detected from occurrence patterns as deviations from these null predictions, as we show for the illustrative case of the “core” genome in bacteria.

  5. Mapping International University Partnerships Identified by East African Universities as Strengthening Their Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health Programs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yarmoshuk, Aaron N; Guantai, Anastasia Nkatha; Mwangu, Mughwira; Cole, Donald C; Zarowsky, Christina

    International university partnerships are recommended for increasing the capacity of sub-Saharan African universities. Many publications describe individual partnerships and projects, and tools are available for guiding collaborations, but systematic mappings of the basic, common characteristics of partnerships are scarce. To document and categorize the international interuniversity partnerships deemed significant to building the capacity of medicine, nursing, and public health programs of 4 East African universities. Two universities in Kenya and 2 in Tanzania were purposefully selected. Key informant interviews, conducted with 42 senior representatives of the 4 universities, identified partnerships they considered significant for increasing the capacity of their institutions' medicine, nursing, and public health programs in education, research, or service. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed. Partners were classified by country of origin and corresponding international groupings, duration, programs, and academic health science components. One hundred twenty-nine university-to-university partnerships from 23 countries were identified. Each university reported between 25 and 36 international university partners. Seventy-four percent of partnerships were with universities in high-income countries, 15% in low- and middle-income countries, and 11% with consortia. Seventy percent included medicine, 37% nursing, and 45% public health; 15% included all 3 programs. Ninety-two percent included an education component, 47% research, and 24% service; 12% included all 3 components. This study confirms the rapid growth of interuniversity cross-border health partnerships this century. It also finds, however, that there is a pool of established international partnerships from numerous countries at each university. Most partnerships that seek to strengthen universities in East Africa should likely ensure they have a significant education component. Universities should make

  6. Spatial ecology across scales.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hastings, Alan; Petrovskii, Sergei; Morozov, Andrew

    2011-04-23

    The international conference 'Models in population dynamics and ecology 2010: animal movement, dispersal and spatial ecology' took place at the University of Leicester, UK, on 1-3 September 2010, focusing on mathematical approaches to spatial population dynamics and emphasizing cross-scale issues. Exciting new developments in scaling up from individual level movement to descriptions of this movement at the macroscopic level highlighted the importance of mechanistic approaches, with different descriptions at the microscopic level leading to different ecological outcomes. At higher levels of organization, different macroscopic descriptions of movement also led to different properties at the ecosystem and larger scales. New developments from Levy flight descriptions to the incorporation of new methods from physics and elsewhere are revitalizing research in spatial ecology, which will both increase understanding of fundamental ecological processes and lead to tools for better management.

  7. The influence of caffeine on spatial-selective attention: an event-related potential study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruijter, J; de Ruiter, M B; Snel, J; Lorist, M M

    2000-12-01

    Following the indications of previous studies that caffeine might have a specific effect on the processing of spatial information compared with other types of information, the present study investigated the influence of caffeine on an often used spatial-selective attention task. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 11 participants under conditions of caffeine (250 mg) and placebo. Spatial-selective attention effects were reflected in the ERPs as more positive going occipital P1 and broadly distributed P2 components, and more negative going occipital-temporal N1 and broadly distributed N2 components. A treatment effect was found as a more positive going frontal P2 component in the caffeine condition, whereas interactions between treatment and attention were observed for P2 and N2 components, but not for P1 and N1 components. This pattern of results suggests that caffeine has no specific influence on spatial-selective attention, but rather, has a more general facilitating effect on perceptual processing, as well as a possible effect on the frontal control mechanisms, i.e. focusing attention and increasing selectivity.

  8. Spatial relationship between climatologies and changes in global vegetation activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Jong, Rogier; Schaepman, Michael E; Furrer, Reinhard; de Bruin, Sytze; Verburg, Peter H

    2013-06-01

    Vegetation forms a main component of the terrestrial biosphere and plays a crucial role in land-cover and climate-related studies. Activity of vegetation systems is commonly quantified using remotely sensed vegetation indices (VI). Extensive reports on temporal trends over the past decades in time series of such indices can be found in literature. However, little remains known about the processes underlying these changes at large spatial scales. In this study, we aimed at quantifying the spatial relationship between changes in potential climatic growth constraints (i.e. temperature, precipitation and incident solar radiation) and changes in vegetation activity (1982-2008). We demonstrate an additive spatial model with 0.5° resolution, consisting of a regression component representing climate-associated effects and a spatially correlated field representing the combined influence of other factors, including land-use change. Little over 50% of the spatial variance could be attributed to changes in climatologies; conspicuously, many greening trends and browning hotspots in Argentina and Australia. The nonassociated model component may contain large-scale human interventions, feedback mechanisms or natural effects, which were not captured by the climatologies. Browning hotspots in this component were especially found in subequatorial Africa. On the scale of land-cover types, strongest relationships between climatologies and vegetation activity were found in forests, including indications for browning under warming conditions (analogous to the divergence issue discussed in dendroclimatology). © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  9. Spatial variation in diesel-related elemental and organic PM2.5 components during workweek hours across a downtown core.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tunno, Brett J; Shmool, Jessie L C; Michanowicz, Drew R; Tripathy, Sheila; Chubb, Lauren G; Kinnee, Ellen; Cambal, Leah; Roper, Courtney; Clougherty, Jane E

    2016-12-15

    Capturing intra-urban variation in diesel-related pollution exposures remains a challenge, given its complex chemical mix, and relatively few well-characterized ambient-air tracers for the multiple diesel sources in densely-populated urban areas. To capture fine-scale spatial resolution (50×50m grid cells) in diesel-related pollution, we used geographic information systems (GIS) to systematically allocate 36 sampling sites across downtown Pittsburgh, PA, USA (2.8km 2 ), cross-stratifying to disentangle source impacts (i.e., truck density, bus route frequency, total traffic density). For buses, outbound and inbound trips per week were summed by route and a kernel density was calculated across sites. Programmable monitors collected fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) samples specific to workweek hours (Monday-Friday, 7 am-7 pm), summer and winter 2013. Integrated filters were analyzed for black carbon (BC), elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), elemental constituents, and diesel-related organic compounds [i.e., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), hopanes, steranes]. To our knowledge, no studies have collected this suite of pollutants with such high sampling density, with the ability to capture spatial patterns during specific hours of interest. We hypothesized that we would find substantial spatial variation for each pollutant and significant associations with key sources (e.g. diesel and gasoline vehicles), with higher concentrations near the center of this small downtown core. Using a forward stepwise approach, we developed seasonal land use regression (LUR) models for PM 2.5 , BC, total EC, OC, PAHs, hopanes, steranes, aluminum (Al), calcium (Ca), and iron (Fe). Within this small domain, greater concentration differences were observed in most pollutants across sites, on average, than between seasons. Higher PM 2.5 and BC concentrations were found in the downtown core compared to the boundaries. PAHs, hopanes, and steranes displayed different spatial

  10. Voronoi tessellations and the cosmic web : Spatial patterns and clustering across the universe

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van de Weygaert, Rien; Gold, CM

    2007-01-01

    The spatial cosmic matter distribution on scales of a few up to more than a hundred Megaparsec(1) displays a salient and pervasive foamlike pattern. Voronoi tessellations are a versatile and flexible mathematical model for such weblike spatial patterns. They would be the natural result of an

  11. The Pronunciation Component in Teaching EAP in Cameroonian Universities: Some Proposals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Safotso, Gilbert Tagne

    2016-01-01

    In Cameroonian universities, EAP is generally seen as a marginalised unit, and its teaching is abandoned to part-time secondary school teachers, or doctorate students who have little or no knowledge of the subject. Most of the time, these teachers do not know the real objective of the subject, and do not master it. In some universities, each…

  12. Spatial and temporal variability of hyperspectral signatures of terrain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, K. F.; Perovich, D. K.; Koenig, G. G.

    2008-04-01

    Electromagnetic signatures of terrain exhibit significant spatial heterogeneity on a range of scales as well as considerable temporal variability. A statistical characterization of the spatial heterogeneity and spatial scaling algorithms of terrain electromagnetic signatures are required to extrapolate measurements to larger scales. Basic terrain elements including bare soil, grass, deciduous, and coniferous trees were studied in a quasi-laboratory setting using instrumented test sites in Hanover, NH and Yuma, AZ. Observations were made using a visible and near infrared spectroradiometer (350 - 2500 nm) and hyperspectral camera (400 - 1100 nm). Results are reported illustrating: i) several difference scenes; ii) a terrain scene time series sampled over an annual cycle; and iii) the detection of artifacts in scenes. A principal component analysis indicated that the first three principal components typically explained between 90 and 99% of the variance of the 30 to 40-channel hyperspectral images. Higher order principal components of hyperspectral images are useful for detecting artifacts in scenes.

  13. The effects of spatial dynamics on a wormhole throat

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alias, Anuar; Wan Abdullah, Wan Ahmad Tajuddin

    2018-02-01

    Previous studies on dynamic wormholes were focused on the dynamics of the wormhole itself, be it either rotating or evolutionary in character and also in various frameworks from classical to braneworld cosmological models. In this work, we modeled a dynamic factor that represents the spatial dynamics in terms of spacetime expansion and contraction surrounding the wormhole itself. Using an RS2-based braneworld cosmological model, we modified the spacetime metric of Wong and subsequently employed the method of Bronnikov, where it is observed that a traversable wormhole is easier to exist in an expanding brane universe, however it is difficult to exist in a contracting brane universe due to stress-energy tensors requirement. This model of spatial dynamic factor affecting the wormhole throat can also be applied on the cyclic or the bounce universe model.

  14. MULTI-COMPONENT ANALYSIS OF POSITION-VELOCITY CUBES OF THE HH 34 JET

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rodríguez-González, A.; Esquivel, A.; Raga, A. C.; Cantó, J.; Curiel, S.; Riera, A.; Beck, T. L.

    2012-01-01

    We present an analysis of Hα spectra of the HH 34 jet with two-dimensional spectral resolution. We carry out multi-Gaussian fits to the spatially resolved line profiles and derive maps of the intensity, radial velocity, and velocity width of each of the components. We find that close to the outflow source we have three components: a high (negative) radial velocity component with a well-collimated, jet-like morphology; an intermediate velocity component with a broader morphology; and a positive radial velocity component with a non-collimated morphology and large linewidth. We suggest that this positive velocity component is associated with jet emission scattered in stationary dust present in the circumstellar environment. Farther away from the outflow source, we find only two components (a high, negative radial velocity component, which has a narrower spatial distribution than an intermediate velocity component). The fitting procedure was carried out with the new AGA-V1 code, which is available online and is described in detail in this paper.

  15. The missing universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Springel, V.; Taillet, R.; Deffayet, C.

    2014-01-01

    According to the Big Bang model, ordinary matter would play a second role in the universe compared to 2 mysterious components: dark matter and dark energy. Although the nature of both components is unknown, observational hints for their existence pile up but the direct detection of both has been unsuccessful so far. New ways have been explored to do without the concepts of dark matter and dark energy. This document that is divided into 3 parts presents the observational data that back the idea of dark matter and dark energy, the experimental effort made worldwide to detect dark matter particles, and the other ways to explain universe expansion

  16. Spatial extrapolation of light use efficiency model parameters to predict gross primary production

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karsten Schulz

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available To capture the spatial and temporal variability of the gross primary production as a key component of the global carbon cycle, the light use efficiency modeling approach in combination with remote sensing data has shown to be well suited. Typically, the model parameters, such as the maximum light use efficiency, are either set to a universal constant or to land class dependent values stored in look-up tables. In this study, we employ the machine learning technique support vector regression to explicitly relate the model parameters of a light use efficiency model calibrated at several FLUXNET sites to site-specific characteristics obtained by meteorological measurements, ecological estimations and remote sensing data. A feature selection algorithm extracts the relevant site characteristics in a cross-validation, and leads to an individual set of characteristic attributes for each parameter. With this set of attributes, the model parameters can be estimated at sites where a parameter calibration is not possible due to the absence of eddy covariance flux measurement data. This will finally allow a spatially continuous model application. The performance of the spatial extrapolation scheme is evaluated with a cross-validation approach, which shows the methodology to be well suited to recapture the variability of gross primary production across the study sites.

  17. Effect of Variable Spatial Scales on USLE-GIS Computations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patil, R. J.; Sharma, S. K.

    2017-12-01

    Use of appropriate spatial scale is very important in Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) based spatially distributed soil erosion modelling. This study aimed at assessment of annual rates of soil erosion at different spatial scales/grid sizes and analysing how changes in spatial scales affect USLE-GIS computations using simulation and statistical variabilities. Efforts have been made in this study to recommend an optimum spatial scale for further USLE-GIS computations for management and planning in the study area. The present research study was conducted in Shakkar River watershed, situated in Narsinghpur and Chhindwara districts of Madhya Pradesh, India. Remote Sensing and GIS techniques were integrated with Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) to predict spatial distribution of soil erosion in the study area at four different spatial scales viz; 30 m, 50 m, 100 m, and 200 m. Rainfall data, soil map, digital elevation model (DEM) and an executable C++ program, and satellite image of the area were used for preparation of the thematic maps for various USLE factors. Annual rates of soil erosion were estimated for 15 years (1992 to 2006) at four different grid sizes. The statistical analysis of four estimated datasets showed that sediment loss dataset at 30 m spatial scale has a minimum standard deviation (2.16), variance (4.68), percent deviation from observed values (2.68 - 18.91 %), and highest coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.874) among all the four datasets. Thus, it is recommended to adopt this spatial scale for USLE-GIS computations in the study area due to its minimum statistical variability and better agreement with the observed sediment loss data. This study also indicates large scope for use of finer spatial scales in spatially distributed soil erosion modelling.

  18. Partitioning the impact of environment and spatial structure on alpha and beta components of taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity in European ants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arnan, Xavier; Cerdá, Xim; Retana, Javier

    2015-01-01

    We analyze the relative contribution of environmental and spatial variables to the alpha and beta components of taxonomic (TD), phylogenetic (PD), and functional (FD) diversity in ant communities found along different climate and anthropogenic disturbance gradients across western and central Europe, in order to assess the mechanisms structuring ant biodiversity. To this aim we calculated alpha and beta TD, PD, and FD for 349 ant communities, which included a total of 155 ant species; we examined 10 functional traits and phylogenetic relatedness. Variation partitioning was used to examine how much variation in ant diversity was explained by environmental and spatial variables. Autocorrelation in diversity measures and each trait's phylogenetic signal were also analyzed. We found strong autocorrelation in diversity measures. Both environmental and spatial variables significantly contributed to variation in TD, PD, and FD at both alpha and beta scales; spatial structure had the larger influence. The different facets of diversity showed similar patterns along environmental gradients. Environment explained a much larger percentage of variation in FD than in TD or PD. All traits demonstrated strong phylogenetic signals. Our results indicate that environmental filtering and dispersal limitations structure all types of diversity in ant communities. Strong dispersal limitations appear to have led to clustering of TD, PD, and FD in western and central Europe, probably because different historical and evolutionary processes generated different pools of species. Remarkably, these three facets of diversity showed parallel patterns along environmental gradients. Trait-mediated species sorting and niche conservatism appear to structure ant diversity, as evidenced by the fact that more variation was explained for FD and that all traits had strong phylogenetic signals. Since environmental variables explained much more variation in FD than in PD, functional diversity should be a

  19. Optical network scaling: roles of spectral and spatial aggregation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arık, Sercan Ö; Ho, Keang-Po; Kahn, Joseph M

    2014-12-01

    As the bit rates of routed data streams exceed the throughput of single wavelength-division multiplexing channels, spectral and spatial traffic aggregation become essential for optical network scaling. These aggregation techniques reduce network routing complexity by increasing spectral efficiency to decrease the number of fibers, and by increasing switching granularity to decrease the number of switching components. Spectral aggregation yields a modest decrease in the number of fibers but a substantial decrease in the number of switching components. Spatial aggregation yields a substantial decrease in both the number of fibers and the number of switching components. To quantify routing complexity reduction, we analyze the number of multi-cast and wavelength-selective switches required in a colorless, directionless and contentionless reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer architecture. Traffic aggregation has two potential drawbacks: reduced routing power and increased switching component size.

  20. Spatial noise-aware temperature retrieval from infrared sounder data

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Malmgren-Hansen, David; Laparra, Valero; Nielsen, Allan Aasbjerg

    2017-01-01

    Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Minimum Noise Fraction (MNF) for dimensionality reduction, and study the compactness and information content of the extracted features. Assessment of the results is done on a big dataset covering many spatial and temporal situations. PCA is widely used...... for these purposes but our analysis shows that one can gain significant improvements of the error rates when using MNF instead. In our analysis we also investigate the relationship between error rate improvements when including more spectral and spatial components in the regression model, aiming to uncover the trade...

  1. Arkansas Tech University TRIGA nuclear reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sankoorikal, J.; Culp, R.; Hamm, J.; Elliott, D.; Hodgson, L.; Apple, S.

    1990-01-01

    This paper describes the TRIGA nuclear reactor (ATUTR) proposed for construction on the campus of Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, Arkansas. The reactor will be part of the Center for Energy Studies located at Arkansas Tech University. The reactor has a steady state power level of 250 kW and can be pulsed with a maximum reactivity insertion of $2.0. Experience gained in dismantling and transporting some of the components from Michigan State University, and the storage of these components will be presented. The reactor will be used for education, training, and research. (author)

  2. Simulation of Time-Varying Spatially Uniform Pressure and Near-Surface Wind Flows on Building Components and Cladding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seraphy Y. Shen

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes a new full-scale (FS testing apparatus for conducting performance evaluations of FS building envelope systems. The simulator can generate spatially uniform, time-varying pressure conditions associated with Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale Category 5 winds while compensating for large air leakage through the specimen and also operate a high-speed wind tunnel, both with dynamic control. This paper presents system details, operating characteristics, and an early case study on the performance of large sectional door systems under wind pressure loading. Failure mechanisms are discussed, and finite element modeling is validated for two specimens. It demonstrates successful dynamic load control for large component and cladding systems, as well as simulation of flows near the building surface. These capabilities serve to complement other FS wind tunnel facilities by offering tools to generate ultimate load conditions on portions of the building. Further, the paper successfully demonstrates the utility of combining physical testing and computational analysis as a matter of routine, which underscores the potential of evolving FS testing to encompass cyber–physical approaches.

  3. Spatial distribution of intra-molecular water and polymeric components in polyelectrolyte dendrimers revealed by small angle scattering investigations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Bin; Li, Xin; Do, Changwoo; Kim, Tae-Hwan; Shew, Chwen-Yang; Liu, Yun; Yang, Jun; Hong, Kunlun; Porcar, Lionel; Chen, Chun-Yu; Liu, Emily L.; Smith, Gregory S.; Herwig, Kenneth W.; Chen, Wei-Ren

    2011-10-01

    An experimental scheme using contrast variation small angle neutron scattering technique is developed to investigate the structural characteristics of amine-terminated poly(amidoamine) dendrimers solutions. Using this methodology, we present the dependence of both the intra-dendrimer water and the polymer distribution on molecular protonation, which can be precisely adjusted by tuning the pH of the solution. Assuming spherical symmetry of the spatial arrangement of the constituent components of dendrimer, and that the atomic ratio of hydrogen-to-deuterium for the solvent residing within the cavities of dendrimer is identical to that for the solvent outside the dendrimer, the intra-dendrimer water distribution along the radial direction is determined. Our result clearly reveals an outward relocation of the peripheral groups, as well as enhanced intra-dendrimer hydration, upon increasing the molecular protonation and, therefore, allows the determination of segmental backfolding in a quantitative manner. The connection between these charge-induced structural changes and our recently observed progressively active segmental dynamics is also discussed.

  4. Spatial vulnerability assessments by regression kriging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pásztor, László; Laborczi, Annamária; Takács, Katalin; Szatmári, Gábor

    2016-04-01

    information representing IEW or GRP forming environmental factors were taken into account to support the spatial inference of the locally experienced IEW frequency and measured GRP values respectively. An efficient spatial prediction methodology was applied to construct reliable maps, namely regression kriging (RK) using spatially exhaustive auxiliary data on soil, geology, topography, land use and climate. RK divides the spatial inference into two parts. Firstly the deterministic component of the target variable is determined by a regression model. The residuals of the multiple linear regression analysis represent the spatially varying but dependent stochastic component, which are interpolated by kriging. The final map is the sum of the two component predictions. Application of RK also provides the possibility of inherent accuracy assessment. The resulting maps are characterized by global and local measures of its accuracy. Additionally the method enables interval estimation for spatial extension of the areas of predefined risk categories. All of these outputs provide useful contribution to spatial planning, action planning and decision making. Acknowledgement: Our work was partly supported by the Hungarian National Scientific Research Foundation (OTKA, Grant No. K105167).

  5. Development of a Spatial Decision Support System for Analyzing Changes in Hydro-meteorological Risk

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Westen, Cees

    2013-04-01

    In the framework of the EU FP7 Marie Curie ITN Network "CHANGES: Changing Hydro-meteorological Risks, as Analyzed by a New Generation of European Scientists (http://www.changes-itn.eu)", a spatial decision support system is under development with the aim to analyze the effect of risk reduction planning alternatives on reducing the risk now and in the future, and support decision makers in selecting the best alternatives. The SDSS is one of the main outputs of the CHANGES network, which will develop an advanced understanding of how global changes, related to environmental and climate change as well as socio-economical change, may affect the temporal and spatial patterns of hydro-meteorological hazards and associated risks in Europe; how these changes can be assessed, modeled, and incorporated in sustainable risk management strategies, focusing on spatial planning, emergency preparedness and risk communication. The CHANGES network consists of 11 full partners and 6 associate partners of which 5 private companies, representing 10 European countries. The CHANGES network has hired 12 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) and is currently hiring 3-6 researchers more for the implementation of the SDSS. The Spatial Decision Support System will be composed of a number of integrated components. The Risk Assessment component allows to carry out spatial risk analysis, with different degrees of complexity, ranging from simple exposure (overlay of hazard and assets maps) to quantitative analysis (using different hazard types, temporal scenarios and vulnerability curves) resulting into risk curves. The platform does not include a component to calculate hazard maps, and existing hazard maps are used as input data for the risk component. The second component of the SDSS is a risk reduction planning component, which forms the core of the platform. This component includes the definition of risk reduction alternatives (related to disaster response planning, risk reduction measures and

  6. Emotional responses as independent components in EEG

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Camilla Birgitte Falk; Petersen, Michael Kai; Larsen, Jakob Eg

    2014-01-01

    susceptible to noise if captured in a mobile context. Hypothesizing that retrieval of emotional responses in mobile usage scenarios could be enhanced through spatial filtering, we compare a standard EEG electrode based analysis against an approach based on independent component analysis (ICA). By clustering...... or unpleasant images; early posterior negativity (EPN) and late positive potential (LPP). Recent studies suggest that several time course components may be modulated by emotional content in images or text. However these neural signatures are characterized by small voltage changes that would be highly...... by emotional content. We propose that similar approaches to spatial filtering might allow us to retrieve more robust signals in real life mobile usage scenarios, and potentially facilitate design of cognitive interfaces that adapt the selection of media to our emotional responses....

  7. SCGICAR: Spatial concatenation based group ICA with reference for fMRI data analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Yuhu; Zeng, Weiming; Wang, Nizhuan

    2017-09-01

    With the rapid development of big data, the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data analysis of multi-subject is becoming more and more important. As a kind of blind source separation technique, group independent component analysis (GICA) has been widely applied for the multi-subject fMRI data analysis. However, spatial concatenated GICA is rarely used compared with temporal concatenated GICA due to its disadvantages. In this paper, in order to overcome these issues and to consider that the ability of GICA for fMRI data analysis can be improved by adding a priori information, we propose a novel spatial concatenation based GICA with reference (SCGICAR) method to take advantage of the priori information extracted from the group subjects, and then the multi-objective optimization strategy is used to implement this method. Finally, the post-processing means of principal component analysis and anti-reconstruction are used to obtain group spatial component and individual temporal component in the group, respectively. The experimental results show that the proposed SCGICAR method has a better performance on both single-subject and multi-subject fMRI data analysis compared with classical methods. It not only can detect more accurate spatial and temporal component for each subject of the group, but also can obtain a better group component on both temporal and spatial domains. These results demonstrate that the proposed SCGICAR method has its own advantages in comparison with classical methods, and it can better reflect the commonness of subjects in the group. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Vacation homes, spatial planning and sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Xue, Jin

    2014-01-01

    patterns of vacation homes are highly relevant to environmental sustainability. Unlike the spatial planning for urban areas where the urban environmental problamatique has been highly recognized and theories of sustainable urban development and planning relatively fully developed, vacation home has been...... a missing component in sustainable spatial development and planning both in theories and practice. Moreover, spatial planning for urban areas and vacation homes cannot be separated as they mutually influence each other. Against this background, the paper is concerned with how and to what extent concerns...... on sustainability of vacation homes is integrated into the spatial planning in the Danish context. The lack of ontological and theoretical debates on the environmental sustainability of vacation homes will be reflected upon before investigating the Danish case. A deep realist approach is adopted to explore...

  9. DETERMINATION OF THE STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS OF LIFE COMPETENCE IN STUDENTS OF CLASSICAL UNIVERSITIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liudmyla Zubkova

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays, life competence of a person plays a very important role as it helps to solve effectively problems that every person can face in his/her life. Nevertheless, contemporary students show an unsatisfactory level of life competence, so it is very important for teachers in high education to pay attention to its formation. It was found that structural components of life competence have been researched by such scientists as M. Stepanenko, N. Nischeta, L. Scherbakova and others. However, in our opinion structural components of life competence should be generalized, so it is the purpose of our article. It is in studies revealing that there is no unified point of view of life competence structural components. In particular, scientists have distinguished such life competence structural components as 1 meta anthropologic, individual and personal, contextual, and social components (M. Stepanenko; 2 self-conception, axiological values, emotional and characterful components (V. Nischeta, 3 social, educative, communicative, and auto psychological components (L. Scherbakova. It should be noticed that the meta anthropologic component concentrates on the ability of a person to reflect individually main attributes of a human life; the individual and personal component focuses on self-identification and self-realization; the contextual component considers the ability of an individual to take real-life situations in good sense; the social component focuses on personal ability to solve real-life tasks regarding to social circumstances. The educative component of life competence includes knowledge of educational process essence and specific features of higher educational establishments. The communicative component represents knowledge about the role of communication in life success strategy. Taking into account scientists’ opinion and the author’s consideration it is concluded that the elucidation and generalization of life competence structural components

  10. Spatial and multidimensional visualization of Indonesia's village health statistics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parmanto, Bambang; Paramita, Maria V; Sugiantara, Wayan; Pramana, Gede; Scotch, Matthew; Burke, Donald S

    2008-06-11

    A community health assessment (CHA) is used to identify and address health issues in a given population. Effective CHA requires timely and comprehensive information from a wide variety of sources, such as: socio-economic data, disease surveillance, healthcare utilization, environmental data, and health resource allocation. Indonesia is a developing country with 235 million inhabitants over 13,000 islands. There are significant barriers to conducting CHA in developing countries like Indonesia, such as the high cost of computing resources and the lack of computing skills necessary to support such an assessment. At the University of Pittsburgh, we have developed the Spatial OLAP (On-Line Analytical Processing) Visualization and Analysis Tool (SOVAT) for performing CHA. SOVAT combines Geographic Information System (GIS) technology along with an advanced multidimensional data warehouse structure to facilitate analysis of large, disparate health, environmental, population, and spatial data. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the potential of SOVAT for facilitating CHA among developing countries by using health, population, healthcare resources, and spatial data from Indonesia for use in two CHA cases studies. Bureau of Statistics administered data sets from the Indonesian Census, and the Indonesian village statistics, were used in the case studies. The data consisted of: healthcare resources (number of healthcare professionals and facilities), population (census), morbidity and mortality, and spatial (GIS-formatted) information. The data was formatted, combined, and populated into SOVAT for CHA use. Case study 1 involves the distribution of healthcare professionals in Indonesia, while case study 2 involves malaria mortality. Screen shots are shown for both cases. The results for the CHA were retrieved in seconds and presented through the geospatial and numerical SOVAT interface. The case studies show the potential of spatial and multidimensional analysis using

  11. Spatial control of groundwater contamination, using principal

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Spatial control of groundwater contamination, using principal component analysis ... anthropogenic (agricultural activities and domestic wastewaters), and marine ... The PC scores reflect the change of groundwater quality of geogenic origin ...

  12. Spatial Component Position in Total Hip Arthroplasty. Accuracy and repeatability with a new CT method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olivecrona, H.

    2003-01-01

    Purpose: 3D detection of centerpoints of prosthetic cup and head after total hip arthroplasty (THA) using CT. Material and Methods: Two CT examinations, 10 min apart, were obtained from each of 10 patients after THA. Two independent examiners placed landmarks in images of the prosthetic cup and head. All landmarking was repeated after 1 week. Centerpoints were calculated and compared. Results: Within volumes, all measurements of centerpoints of cup and head fell, with a 95% confidence, within one CT-voxel of any other measurement of the same object. Across two volumes, the mean error of distance between center of cup and prosthetic head was 1.4 mm (SD 0.73). Intra- and interobserver 95% accuracy limit was below 2 mm within and below 3 mm across volumes. No difference between intra- and interobserver measurements occurred. A formula for converting finite sets of point landmarks in the radiolucent tread of the cup to a centerpoint was stable. The percent difference of the landmark distances from a calculated spherical surface was within one CT-voxel. This data was normally distributed and not dependent on observer or trial. Conclusion: The true 3D position of the centers of cup and prosthetic head can be detected using CT. Spatial relationship between the components can be analyzed visually and numerically

  13. Spatial Component Position in Total Hip Arthroplasty. Accuracy and repeatability with a new CT method

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Olivecrona, H. [Soedersjukhuset, Stockholm (Sweden). Dept. of Hand Surgery; Weidenhielm, L. [Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm (Sweden). Dept. of Orthopedics; Olivecrona, L. [Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm (Sweden). Dept. of Radiology; Noz, M.E. [New York Univ. School of Medicine, NY (United States). Dept. of Radiology; Maguire, G.Q. [Royal Inst. of Tech., Kista (Sweden). Inst. for Microelectronics and Information Technology; Zeleznik, M. P. [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States). Dept. of Radiation Oncology; Svensson, L. [Royal Inst. of Tech., Stockholm (Sweden). Dept. of Mathematics; Jonson, T. [Eskadern Foeretagsutveckling AB, Goeteborg (Sweden)

    2003-03-01

    Purpose: 3D detection of centerpoints of prosthetic cup and head after total hip arthroplasty (THA) using CT. Material and Methods: Two CT examinations, 10 min apart, were obtained from each of 10 patients after THA. Two independent examiners placed landmarks in images of the prosthetic cup and head. All landmarking was repeated after 1 week. Centerpoints were calculated and compared. Results: Within volumes, all measurements of centerpoints of cup and head fell, with a 95% confidence, within one CT-voxel of any other measurement of the same object. Across two volumes, the mean error of distance between center of cup and prosthetic head was 1.4 mm (SD 0.73). Intra- and interobserver 95% accuracy limit was below 2 mm within and below 3 mm across volumes. No difference between intra- and interobserver measurements occurred. A formula for converting finite sets of point landmarks in the radiolucent tread of the cup to a centerpoint was stable. The percent difference of the landmark distances from a calculated spherical surface was within one CT-voxel. This data was normally distributed and not dependent on observer or trial. Conclusion: The true 3D position of the centers of cup and prosthetic head can be detected using CT. Spatial relationship between the components can be analyzed visually and numerically.

  14. Ionizing radiations simulation on bipolar components

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Montagner, X.

    1999-01-01

    This thesis presents the ionizing radiation effects on bipolar components and more specially their behavior facing the total dose. The first part is devoted to the radiation environments with a special attention to the spatial environments and new emergent environments. The specificities of bipolar components are then presented and their behavior facing the interactions. The physical mechanisms bound to the dose rate are also discussed. The second part presents a physical analysis of degradations induced by the cumulated dosimetry on bipolar components and simulation with the ATLAS code. The third part exposes an electric empirical simulation induced by the cumulated dose in static conditions. (A.L.B.)

  15. Right frontal gamma and beta band enhancement while solving a spatial puzzle with insight.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosen, A; Reiner, M

    2017-12-01

    Solving a problem with an "a-ha" effect is known as insight. Unlike incremental problem solving, insight is sudden and unique, and the question about its distinct brain activity, intrigues many researchers. In this study, electroencephalogram signals were recorded from 12 right handed, human participants before (baseline) and while they solved a spatial puzzle known as the '10 coin puzzle' that could be solved incrementally or by insight. Participants responded as soon as they reached a solution and reported whether the process was incremental or by sudden insight. EEG activity was recorded from 19 scalp locations. We found significant differences between insight and incremental solvers in the Gamma and Beta 2 bands in frontal areas (F8) and in the alpha band in right temporal areas (T6). The right-frontal gamma indicates a process of restructuring which leads to an insight solution, in spatial problems, further suggesting a universal role of gamma in restructuring. These results further suggest that solving a spatial puzzle via insight requires exclusive brain areas and neurological-cognitive processes which may be important for meta-cognitive components of insight solutions, including attention and monitoring of the solution. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Spatially Informed Plant PRA Models for Security Assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wheeler, Timothy A.; Thomas, Willard; Thornsbury, Eric

    2006-01-01

    Traditional risk models can be adapted to evaluate plant response for situations where plant systems and structures are intentionally damaged, such as from sabotage or terrorism. This paper describes a process by which traditional risk models can be spatially informed to analyze the effects of compound and widespread harsh environments through the use of 'damage footprints'. A 'damage footprint' is a spatial map of regions of the plant (zones) where equipment could be physically destroyed or disabled as a direct consequence of an intentional act. The use of 'damage footprints' requires that the basic events from the traditional probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) be spatially transformed so that the failure of individual components can be linked to the destruction of or damage to specific spatial zones within the plant. Given the nature of intentional acts, extensive modifications must be made to the risk models to account for the special nature of the 'initiating events' associated with deliberate adversary actions. Intentional acts might produce harsh environments that in turn could subject components and structures to one or more insults, such as structural, fire, flood, and/or vibration and shock damage. Furthermore, the potential for widespread damage from some of these insults requires an approach that addresses the impacts of these potentially severe insults even when they occur in locations distant from the actual physical location of a component or structure modeled in the traditional PRA. (authors)

  17. The Collection of Data for the Research Component of the Internet-Based, ``Doctor of Astronomy'' Professional Degree Program at James Cook University

    Science.gov (United States)

    Millar, W.; White, G. L.; Filipović, M. D.; Hons, A.

    2008-06-01

    We discuss the means by which students collect, analyze and use original data to fulfill the research component of the Internet-based, professional ``Doctor of Astronomy'' degree, at the James Cook University Centre for Astronomy. We give an example of such data obtained with the 1.9 meter telescope at the South African Astronomical Observatory. We also discuss the use of such data in an introductory level astronomy class at a community college.

  18. Parallel ICA identifies sub-components of resting state networks that covary with behavioral indices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meier, Timothy B; Wildenberg, Joseph C; Liu, Jingyu; Chen, Jiayu; Calhoun, Vince D; Biswal, Bharat B; Meyerand, Mary E; Birn, Rasmus M; Prabhakaran, Vivek

    2012-01-01

    Parallel Independent Component Analysis (para-ICA) is a multivariate method that can identify complex relationships between different data modalities by simultaneously performing Independent Component Analysis on each data set while finding mutual information between the two data sets. We use para-ICA to test the hypothesis that spatial sub-components of common resting state networks (RSNs) covary with specific behavioral measures. Resting state scans and a battery of behavioral indices were collected from 24 younger adults. Group ICA was performed and common RSNs were identified by spatial correlation to publically available templates. Nine RSNs were identified and para-ICA was run on each network with a matrix of behavioral measures serving as the second data type. Five networks had spatial sub-components that significantly correlated with behavioral components. These included a sub-component of the temporo-parietal attention network that differentially covaried with different trial-types of a sustained attention task, sub-components of default mode networks that covaried with attention and working memory tasks, and a sub-component of the bilateral frontal network that split the left inferior frontal gyrus into three clusters according to its cytoarchitecture that differentially covaried with working memory performance. Additionally, we demonstrate the validity of para-ICA in cases with unbalanced dimensions using simulated data.

  19. Optical trapping and tweezing using a spatial light modulator

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Ismail, Y

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available using a spatial light modulator Y.Ismail1,2, M. G. Mclaren1,3, A. Forbes1,2,4 1 CSIR National Laser Centre 2 School of Physics, University of KwaZulu-Natal 3 School of Physics, University of the Witwatersrand 4 School of Physics, University... of Stellenbosch Presented at the 2009 South African Institute of Physics Annual Conference University of KwaZulu-Natal Durban, South Africa 6-10 July 2009 Optical tweezing is based on the manipulation of micron sized particles in 3 dimensions 100X...

  20. Off-equilibrium infrared structure of self-interacting scalar fields: Universal scaling, vortex-antivortex superfluid dynamics, and Bose-Einstein condensation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, Jian; Schlichting, Soeren; Venugopalan, Raju; Wang, Qun

    2018-05-01

    We map the infrared dynamics of a relativistic single-component (N =1 ) interacting scalar field theory to that of nonrelativistic complex scalar fields. The Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) equation, describing the real-time dynamics of single-component ultracold Bose gases, is obtained at first nontrivial order in an expansion proportional to the powers of λ ϕ2/m2 where λ , ϕ , and m are the coupling constant, the scalar field, and the particle mass respectively. Our analytical studies are corroborated by numerical simulations of the spatial and momentum structure of overoccupied scalar fields in (2+1)-dimensions. Universal scaling of infrared modes, vortex-antivortex superfluid dynamics, and the off-equilibrium formation of a Bose-Einstein condensate are observed. Our results for the universal scaling exponents are in agreement with those extracted in the numerical simulations of the GP equation. As in these simulations, we observe coarsening phase kinetics in the Bose superfluid with strongly anomalous scaling exponents relative to that of vertex resummed kinetic theory. Our relativistic field theory framework further allows one to study more closely the coupling between superfluid and normal fluid modes, specifically the turbulent momentum and spatial structure of the coupling between a quasiparticle cascade to the infrared and an energy cascade to the ultraviolet. We outline possible applications of the formalism to the dynamics of vortex-antivortex formation and to the off-equilibrium dynamics of the strongly interacting matter formed in heavy-ion collisions.

  1. Judicious use of custom development in an open source component architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bristol, S.; Latysh, N.; Long, D.; Tekell, S.; Allen, J.

    2014-12-01

    Modern software engineering is not as much programming from scratch as innovative assembly of existing components. Seamlessly integrating disparate components into scalable, performant architecture requires sound engineering craftsmanship and can often result in increased cost efficiency and accelerated capabilities if software teams focus their creativity on the edges of the problem space. ScienceBase is part of the U.S. Geological Survey scientific cyberinfrastructure, providing data and information management, distribution services, and analysis capabilities in a way that strives to follow this pattern. ScienceBase leverages open source NoSQL and relational databases, search indexing technology, spatial service engines, numerous libraries, and one proprietary but necessary software component in its architecture. The primary engineering focus is cohesive component interaction, including construction of a seamless Application Programming Interface (API) across all elements. The API allows researchers and software developers alike to leverage the infrastructure in unique, creative ways. Scaling the ScienceBase architecture and core API with increasing data volume (more databases) and complexity (integrated science problems) is a primary challenge addressed by judicious use of custom development in the component architecture. Other data management and informatics activities in the earth sciences have independently resolved to a similar design of reusing and building upon established technology and are working through similar issues for managing and developing information (e.g., U.S. Geoscience Information Network; NASA's Earth Observing System Clearing House; GSToRE at the University of New Mexico). Recent discussions facilitated through the Earth Science Information Partners are exploring potential avenues to exploit the implicit relationships between similar projects for explicit gains in our ability to more rapidly advance global scientific cyberinfrastructure.

  2. The cosmic microwave background in an inhomogeneous universe

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Clarkson, Chris; Regis, Marco, E-mail: chris.clarkson@uct.ac.za, E-mail: regis.mrc@gmail.com [Astrophysics, Cosmology and Gravity Centre and Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, Cape Town (South Africa)

    2011-02-01

    The dimming of Type Ia supernovae could be the result of Hubble-scale inhomogeneity in the matter and spatial curvature, rather than signaling the presence of a dark energy component. A key challenge for such models is to fit the detailed spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). We present a detailed discussion of the small-scale CMB in an inhomogeneous universe, focusing on spherically symmetric 'void' models. We allow for the dynamical effects of radiation while analyzing the problem, in contrast to other work which inadvertently fine tunes its spatial profile. This is a surprisingly important effect and we reach substantially different conclusions. Models which are open at CMB distances fit the CMB power spectrum without fine tuning; these models also fit the supernovae and local Hubble rate data which favour a high expansion rate. Asymptotically flat models may fit the CMB, but require some extra assumptions. We argue that a full treatment of the radiation in these models is necessary if we are to understand the correct constraints from the CMB, as well as other observations which rely on it, such as spectral distortions of the black body spectrum, the kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect or the Baryon Acoustic Oscillations.

  3. UNIVERSITY ICT INFRASTRUCTURE CONSTRUCTION: PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oleksandr V. Spivakovskyi

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available The paper analyzes the main problems and development of ICT infrastructure of a higher education establishment. The influence of the University’s IT development on its ratings is studied. There are four variants of ICT infrastructure development of the University according to the administrative division of its IT departments and the main structural elements of the system “University Governance -n governing and IT maintaining departments”, their activity direction and forms are determined. In addition, the main components of information and communication pedagogical environment of the University and ICT of administrative direction as the main components of ICT university infrastructure are described and determined.

  4. CHANGES SDSS: the development of a Spatial Decision Support System for analysing changing hydro-meteorological risk

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Westen, Cees; Bakker, Wim; Zhang, Kaixi; Jäger, Stefan; Assmann, Andre; Kass, Steve; Andrejchenko, Vera; Olyazadeh, Roya; Berlin, Julian; Cristal, Irina

    2014-05-01

    Within the framework of the EU FP7 Marie Curie Project CHANGES (www.changes-itn.eu) and the EU FP7 Copernicus project INCREO (http://www.increo-fp7.eu) a spatial decision support system is under development with the aim to analyse the effect of risk reduction planning alternatives on reducing the risk now and in the future, and support decision makers in selecting the best alternatives. The Spatial Decision Support System will be composed of a number of integrated components. The Risk Assessment component allows to carry out spatial risk analysis, with different degrees of complexity, ranging from simple exposure (overlay of hazard and assets maps) to quantitative analysis (using different hazard types, temporal scenarios and vulnerability curves) resulting into risk curves. The platform does not include a component to calculate hazard maps, and existing hazard maps are used as input data for the risk component. The second component of the SDSS is a risk reduction planning component, which forms the core of the platform. This component includes the definition of risk reduction alternatives (related to disaster response planning, risk reduction measures and spatial planning) and links back to the risk assessment module to calculate the new level of risk if the measure is implemented, and a cost-benefit (or cost-effectiveness/ Spatial Multi Criteria Evaluation) component to compare the alternatives and make decision on the optimal one. The third component of the SDSS is a temporal scenario component, which allows to define future scenarios in terms of climate change, land use change and population change, and the time periods for which these scenarios will be made. The component doesn't generate these scenarios but uses input maps for the effect of the scenarios on the hazard and assets maps. The last component is a communication and visualization component, which can compare scenarios and alternatives, not only in the form of maps, but also in other forms (risk

  5. Universality of DC electrical conductivity from holography

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ge, Xian-Hui, E-mail: gexh@shu.edu.cn [Shanghai Key Laboratory of High Temperature Superconductors, Department of Physics, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444 (China); Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego, CA92122 (United States); Sin, Sang-Jin, E-mail: sjsin@hangyang.ac.kr [Department of Physics, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791 (Korea, Republic of); Wu, Shao-Feng, E-mail: sfwu@shu.edu.cn [Department of Physics, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444 (China)

    2017-04-10

    We propose a universal formula of dc electrical conductivity in rotational- and translational-symmetries breaking systems via the holographic duality. This formula states that the ratio of the determinant of the dc electrical conductivities along any spatial directions to the black hole area density in zero-charge limit has a universal value. As explicit illustrations, we give several examples elucidating the validation of this formula: We construct an anisotropic black brane solution, which yields linear in temperature for the in-plane resistivity and insulating behavior for the out-of-plane resistivity; We also construct a spatially isotropic black brane solution that both the linear-T and quadratic-T contributions to the resistivity can be realized.

  6. Evaluation of Deep Learning Representations of Spatial Storm Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gagne, D. J., II; Haupt, S. E.; Nychka, D. W.

    2017-12-01

    The spatial structure of a severe thunderstorm and its surrounding environment provide useful information about the potential for severe weather hazards, including tornadoes, hail, and high winds. Statistics computed over the area of a storm or from the pre-storm environment can provide descriptive information but fail to capture structural information. Because the storm environment is a complex, high-dimensional space, identifying methods to encode important spatial storm information in a low-dimensional form should aid analysis and prediction of storms by statistical and machine learning models. Principal component analysis (PCA), a more traditional approach, transforms high-dimensional data into a set of linearly uncorrelated, orthogonal components ordered by the amount of variance explained by each component. The burgeoning field of deep learning offers two potential approaches to this problem. Convolutional Neural Networks are a supervised learning method for transforming spatial data into a hierarchical set of feature maps that correspond with relevant combinations of spatial structures in the data. Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) are an unsupervised deep learning model that uses two neural networks trained against each other to produce encoded representations of spatial data. These different spatial encoding methods were evaluated on the prediction of severe hail for a large set of storm patches extracted from the NCAR convection-allowing ensemble. Each storm patch contains information about storm structure and the near-storm environment. Logistic regression and random forest models were trained using the PCA and GAN encodings of the storm data and were compared against the predictions from a convolutional neural network. All methods showed skill over climatology at predicting the probability of severe hail. However, the verification scores among the methods were very similar and the predictions were highly correlated. Further evaluations are being

  7. Emotional state and local versus global spatial memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brunyé, Tad T; Mahoney, Caroline R; Augustyn, Jason S; Taylor, Holly A

    2009-02-01

    The present work investigated the effects of participant emotional state on global versus local memory for map-based information. Participants were placed into one of four emotion induction groups, crossing high and low arousal with positive and negative valence, or a control group. They then studied a university campus map and completed two memory tests, free recall and spatial statement verification. Converging evidence from these two tasks demonstrated that arousal amplifies symbolic distance effects and leads to a globally-focused spatial mental representation, partially at the expense of local knowledge. These results were found for both positively- and negatively-valenced affective states. The present study is the first investigation of emotional effects on spatial memory, and has implications for theories of emotion and spatial cognition.

  8. Components of spatial information management in wildlife ecology: Software for statistical and modeling analysis [Chapter 14

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hawthorne L. Beyer; Jeff Jenness; Samuel A. Cushman

    2010-01-01

    Spatial information systems (SIS) is a term that describes a wide diversity of concepts, techniques, and technologies related to the capture, management, display and analysis of spatial information. It encompasses technologies such as geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS), remote sensing, and relational database management systems (...

  9. Onsager Vortex Formation in Two-component Bose-Einstein Condensates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Junsik; Tsubota, Makoto

    2018-06-01

    We numerically study the dynamics of quantized vortices in two-dimensional two-component Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) trapped by a box potential. For one-component BECs in a box potential, it is known that quantized vortices form Onsager vortices, which are clusters of same-sign vortices. We confirm that the vortices of the two components spatially separate from each other — even for miscible two-component BECs — suppressing the formation of Onsager vortices. This phenomenon is caused by the repulsive interaction between vortices belonging to different components, hence, suggesting a new possibility for vortex phase separation.

  10. Expression and Organization of Geographic Spatial Relations Based on Topic Maps

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, H. J.; Wang, H.; Cui, T. J.; Guo, J. F.

    2017-09-01

    Spatial Relation is one of the important components of Geographical Information Science and Spatial Database. There have been lots of researches on Spatial Relation and many different spatial relations have been proposed. The relationships among these spatial relations such as hierarchy and so on are complex and this brings some difficulties to the applications and teaching of these spatial relations. This paper summaries some common spatial relations, extracts the topic types, association types, resource types of these spatial relations using the technology of Topic Maps, and builds many different relationships among these spatial relations. Finally, this paper utilizes Java and Ontopia to build a topic map among these common spatial relations, forms a complex knowledge network of spatial relations, and realizes the effective management and retrieval of spatial relations.

  11. transformation, theology and the public university in south africa

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    theological task of theology at a public university – the articulation of transcendence ..... position of theology at the university and its relationship to the humanities; ..... preference; energy foci; international networking, and spatial arrangement. ... geographic location, denominational involvement, personality and theology of ...

  12. A hybrid spatial-spectral denoising method for infrared hyperspectral images using 2DPCA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Jun; Ma, Yong; Mei, Xiaoguang; Fan, Fan

    2016-11-01

    The traditional noise reduction methods for 3-D infrared hyperspectral images typically operate independently in either the spatial or spectral domain, and such methods overlook the relationship between the two domains. To address this issue, we propose a hybrid spatial-spectral method in this paper to link both domains. First, principal component analysis and bivariate wavelet shrinkage are performed in the 2-D spatial domain. Second, 2-D principal component analysis transformation is conducted in the 1-D spectral domain to separate the basic components from detail ones. The energy distribution of noise is unaffected by orthogonal transformation; therefore, the signal-to-noise ratio of each component is used as a criterion to determine whether a component should be protected from over-denoising or denoised with certain 1-D denoising methods. This study implements the 1-D wavelet shrinking threshold method based on Stein's unbiased risk estimator, and the quantitative results on publicly available datasets demonstrate that our method can improve denoising performance more effectively than other state-of-the-art methods can.

  13. Spatial control of groundwater contamination, using principal ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    probe into the spatial controlling processes of groundwater contamination, using principal component analysis (PCA). ... topography, soil type, depth of water levels, and water usage. Thus, the ... of effective sites for infiltration of recharge water.

  14. Changes in selected physical, motor performance and anthropometric components of university-level rugby players after one microcycle of a combined rugby conditioning and plyometric training program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pienaar, Cindy; Coetzee, Ben

    2013-02-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a microcycle (4 weeks) combined rugby conditioning plyometric compared with a nonplyometric rugby conditioning program on selected physical and motor performance components and anthropometric measurements of university-level rugby players. Players (18.94 ± 0.40 years) were assigned to either a control (n = 16) or experimental group (n = 19) from the U/19 rugby teams of the North-West University (South Africa). Twenty-six direct and indirect anthropometric measurements were taken, and the players performed a battery of 5 physical and motor performance tests before and after a microcycle (4 week) combined rugby conditioning plyometric (experimental group) and a nonplyometric rugby conditioning program (control group). The dependent t-test results showed that the control group's upper-body explosive power decreased significantly, whereas the stature, skeletal mass, and femur breadth increased significantly from pre- to posttesting. The experimental group showed significant increases in wrist breadth, speed over 20 m, agility, and power and work measurements of the Wingate anaerobic test (WAnT). Despite these results, the independent t-test revealed that speed over 20 m, average power output at 20 seconds, relative work of the WAnT, and agility were the only components of the experimental group that improved significantly more than the control group. A microcycle combined rugby conditioning plyometric program therefore leads to significantly bigger changes in selected physical and motor performance components of university-level rugby players than a nonplyometric rugby conditioning program alone. Based on these findings, coaches and sport scientists should implement 3 weekly combined rugby conditioning plyometric programs in rugby players' training regimens to improve the players' speed, agility, and power.

  15. Spatially resolved spectroscopy analysis of the XMM-Newton large program on SN1006

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jiang-Tao; Decourchelle, Anne; Miceli, Marco; Vink, Jacco; Bocchino, Fabrizio

    2016-04-01

    We perform analysis of the XMM-Newton large program on SN1006 based on our newly developed methods of spatially resolved spectroscopy analysis. We extract spectra from low and high resolution meshes. The former (3596 meshes) is used to roughly decompose the thermal and non-thermal components and characterize the spatial distributions of different parameters, such as temperature, abundances of different elements, ionization age, and electron density of the thermal component, as well as photon index and cutoff frequency of the non-thermal component. On the other hand, the low resolution meshes (583 meshes) focus on the interior region dominated by the thermal emission and have enough counts to well characterize the Si lines. We fit the spectra from the low resolution meshes with different models, in order to decompose the multiple plasma components at different thermal and ionization states and compare their spatial distributions. In this poster, we will present the initial results of this project.

  16. Comparisons of Spatial Predictions of Conductivity on a Stream Network in an Appalachian Watershed

    Science.gov (United States)

    We made spatial predictions of specific conductance based on spatial stream network (SSN) modeling to compare conductivity measurements of components of the network, such as headwaters, tributaries, and mainstem, which have different spatial extents in a study Appalachian watersh...

  17. An empirical investigation on the effects of spiritual leadership components on organizational learning capacity: A case study of Payame Noor University

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amir Hossein

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents an empirical investigation on the effects of spiritual leadership components on organizational learning capacity for a case study of Payame Noor University, Iran. The proposed study uses a standard questionnaire for measuring spirituality leadership proposed by Fry (2003 [Fry, L. W. (2003. Toward a theory of spiritual leadership. The leadership quarterly, 14(6, 693-727.] and for measuring the impact of organizational learning capacity, the proposed study uses another questionnaire proposed by Teo et al. (2006 [Teo, H. H., Wang, X., Wei, K. K., Sia, C. L., & Lee, M. K. (2006. Organizational learning capacity and attitude toward complex technological innovations: an empirical study. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 57(2, 264-279.]. The results of our survey have indicated that all components of spiritual leadership, except love and altruism as meaningful, influence spirituality leadership, significantly.

  18. The Extent to Which TOEFL iBT Speaking Scores Are Associated with Performance on Oral Language Tasks and Oral Ability Components for Japanese University Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ockey, Gary J.; Koyama, Dennis; Setoguchi, Eric; Sun, Angela

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which performance on the TOEFL iBT speaking section is associated with other indicators of Japanese university students' abilities to communicate orally in an academic English environment and to determine which components of oral ability for these tasks are best assessed by TOEFL iBT. To…

  19. Integrating Hands-On Undergraduate Research in an Applied Spatial Science Senior Level Capstone Course

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kulhavy, David L.; Unger, Daniel R.; Hung, I-Kuai; Douglass, David

    2015-01-01

    A senior within a spatial science Ecological Planning capstone course designed an undergraduate research project to increase his spatial science expertise and to assess the hands-on instruction methodology employed within the Bachelor of Science in Spatial Science program at Stephen F Austin State University. The height of 30 building features…

  20. Rumlig kultur / Spatial Culture

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    RUMLIG KULTUR / SPATIAL CULTURE præsenterer et humanvidenskabeligt livtag med storbyens erfaringsverden. Emnerne for 21 kapitler spænder fra billedhuggeren Bjørn Nørgaard og boligbyggeriet Bispebjerg Bakke til stedsopfattelsen i moderne guidebøger. Undervjs inddrages bykulturens tænkere såsom Steen...... artikler et forskningsfelt for rumlig kultur, hvori alskens sanse- og refleksionsformer finder sammen. Based in humanistic urban studies as practiced in the Department of Arts and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen, SPATIAL CULTURE outlines a novel framework for understanding the social...... and cultural environments of the modern and contemporary metropolis. The contributions focus on urban and suburban cultures of Copenhagen, New York, Hong Kong, Berlin and anderswo, demonstrating how the precise analysis of cultural and artistic phenomena informs a multilayered understanding...

  1. Stability of Spatial Distributions of Stink Bugs, Boll Injury, and NDVI in Cotton.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reay-Jones, Francis P F; Greene, Jeremy K; Bauer, Philip J

    2016-10-01

    A 3-yr study was conducted to determine the degree of aggregation of stink bugs and boll injury in cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., and their spatial association with a multispectral vegetation index (normalized difference vegetation index [NDVI]). Using the spatial analysis by distance indices analyses, stink bugs were less frequently aggregated (17% for adults and 4% for nymphs) than boll injury (36%). NDVI values were also significantly aggregated within fields in 19 of 48 analyses (40%), with the majority of significant indices occurring in July and August. Paired NDVI datasets from different sampling dates were frequently associated (86.5% for weekly intervals among datasets). Spatial distributions of both stink bugs and boll injury were less stable than for NDVI, with positive associations varying from 12.5 to 25% for adult stink bugs for weekly intervals, depending on species. Spatial distributions of boll injury from stink bug feeding were more stable than stink bugs, with 46% positive associations among paired datasets with weekly intervals. NDVI values were positively associated with boll injury from stink bug feeding in 11 out of 22 analyses, with no significant negative associations. This indicates that NDVI has potential as a component of site-specific management. Future work should continue to examine the value of remote sensing for insect management in cotton, with an aim to develop tools such as risk assessment maps that will help growers to reduce insecticide inputs. © The Authors 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  2. Ancestry inference using principal component analysis and spatial analysis: a distance-based analysis to account for population substructure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Byun, Jinyoung; Han, Younghun; Gorlov, Ivan P; Busam, Jonathan A; Seldin, Michael F; Amos, Christopher I

    2017-10-16

    Accurate inference of genetic ancestry is of fundamental interest to many biomedical, forensic, and anthropological research areas. Genetic ancestry memberships may relate to genetic disease risks. In a genome association study, failing to account for differences in genetic ancestry between cases and controls may also lead to false-positive results. Although a number of strategies for inferring and taking into account the confounding effects of genetic ancestry are available, applying them to large studies (tens thousands samples) is challenging. The goal of this study is to develop an approach for inferring genetic ancestry of samples with unknown ancestry among closely related populations and to provide accurate estimates of ancestry for application to large-scale studies. In this study we developed a novel distance-based approach, Ancestry Inference using Principal component analysis and Spatial analysis (AIPS) that incorporates an Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) interpolation method from spatial analysis to assign individuals to population memberships. We demonstrate the benefits of AIPS in analyzing population substructure, specifically related to the four most commonly used tools EIGENSTRAT, STRUCTURE, fastSTRUCTURE, and ADMIXTURE using genotype data from various intra-European panels and European-Americans. While the aforementioned commonly used tools performed poorly in inferring ancestry from a large number of subpopulations, AIPS accurately distinguished variations between and within subpopulations. Our results show that AIPS can be applied to large-scale data sets to discriminate the modest variability among intra-continental populations as well as for characterizing inter-continental variation. The method we developed will protect against spurious associations when mapping the genetic basis of a disease. Our approach is more accurate and computationally efficient method for inferring genetic ancestry in the large-scale genetic studies.

  3. Strategic management for university hospitals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martha Isabel Riaño-Casallas

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: There are several approaches and schools that support strategic management processes. University hospitals require the implementation of a strategic approach to their management, since they are a particular type of organization with the triple mission of providing health care, education and research. Objective: To propose a strategic profile for a university hospital. Materials and methods: The theoretical framework of strategic management was analyzed and some particular components of hospital management were studied; based on these criteria, the strategic management process in three high complexity hospitals of Bogotá, D.C. was examined and a profile of both the objectives and the functional strategies for the hospital was proposed. Results: The main strategic thinking schools are presented; the processes and components of strategic management are described, and a strategic management profile for a university hospital is proposed. Conclusion: The strategic orientation of management for an institution with the characteristics of a university hospital facilitates achieving organizational objectives.

  4. Flexible hydrological modeling - Disaggregation from lumped catchment scale to higher spatial resolutions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tran, Quoc Quan; Willems, Patrick; Pannemans, Bart; Blanckaert, Joris; Pereira, Fernando; Nossent, Jiri; Cauwenberghs, Kris; Vansteenkiste, Thomas

    2015-04-01

    Based on an international literature review on model structures of existing rainfall-runoff and hydrological models, a generalized model structure is proposed. It consists of different types of meteorological components, storage components, splitting components and routing components. They can be spatially organized in a lumped way, or on a grid, spatially interlinked by source-to-sink or grid-to-grid (cell-to-cell) routing. The grid size of the model can be chosen depending on the application. The user can select/change the spatial resolution depending on the needs and/or the evaluation of the accuracy of the model results, or use different spatial resolutions in parallel for different applications. Major research questions addressed during the study are: How can we assure consistent results of the model at any spatial detail? How can we avoid strong or sudden changes in model parameters and corresponding simulation results, when one moves from one level of spatial detail to another? How can we limit the problem of overparameterization/equifinality when we move from the lumped model to the spatially distributed model? The proposed approach is a step-wise one, where first the lumped conceptual model is calibrated using a systematic, data-based approach, followed by a disaggregation step where the lumped parameters are disaggregated based on spatial catchment characteristics (topography, land use, soil characteristics). In this way, disaggregation can be done down to any spatial scale, and consistently among scales. Only few additional calibration parameters are introduced to scale the absolute spatial differences in model parameters, but keeping the relative differences as obtained from the spatial catchment characteristics. After calibration of the spatial model, the accuracies of the lumped and spatial models were compared for peak, low and cumulative runoff total and sub-flows (at downstream and internal gauging stations). For the distributed models, additional

  5. Nanoscale imaging and identification of four-component carbon sample

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sheremet, Evgeniya S [ORNL; Rodriguez, Raul [Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany; Agapov, Alexander L [ORNL; Sokolov, Alexei P [ORNL; Hietschold, Michael [Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany; Zahn, Dietrich [Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany

    2015-01-01

    We demonstrate the unprecedented chemical imaging of individual constituents in a four-component sample made of several carbon allotropes: single-wall carbon nanotubes, graphene oxide, C60 fullerene, and an organic residue. This represents a significant advance with respect to previous works that were mainly limited to systems with one or two components having very different chemical composition. Despite the spectral and spatial overlap from different components, plasmon-based nanospectroscopy allows the discrimination of all individual carbon nanomaterials here investigated. Among other physical insights such as doping observed in carbon nanotubes, the detailed chemical imaging of graphene oxide reveals higher defect concentration at the flake edges similarly to the case of graphene. We found that the organic residue has either low adsorption or lack of resonant enhancement on GO, in contrast to graphene, suggesting a decreased van der Waals interaction. Furthermore, this report paves the way for routine nanoscale analysis of complex carbon systems with spatial resolution of 15 nm and below.

  6. Spatial Ability Differences in Athletes and Non-Athletes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jessica Cynthia

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: Cognitive processes, specifically spatial abilities, are responsible for integration of daily activities. Many factors contribute to the plasticity of the brain which, furthermore, alter the spatial ability. Physical activity, which can be further grouped into sport and exercise, is a modifiable factor that enhances the cognitive processes through a divergent mechanism. This study aimed to gain further understanding on whether sport differs from exercise in altering spatial ability in athletes and non-athletes. Methods: This observational study compared the spatial ability score of athletes of Indonesia National Sport Comitte (Komite Olahraga Nasional Indonesia, KONI in West Java (n= 21 and non-athletes (n= 21. Sampling were performed using stratified random technique and data were collected between August and October 2015 which included spatial scores and demographic of subjects. Results: The difference in spatial scores between athletes and non-athletes were not significant (p=0.432. Conclusions: This study suggests an insignificant difference in spatial ability in athletes performing sport and non-athletes performing exercise. Hence, the cognitive component skills in sport experience do not alter the spatial ability.

  7. SPATIAL ANALYSIS AND DECISION ASSISTANCE (SADA) TRAINING COURSE

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spatial Analysis and Decision Assistance (SADA) is a Windows freeware program that incorporates tools from environmental assessment into an effective problem-solving environment. SADA was developed by the Institute for Environmental Modeling at the University of Tennessee and inc...

  8. Component-Based Approach in Learning Management System Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zaitseva, Larisa; Bule, Jekaterina; Makarov, Sergey

    2013-01-01

    The paper describes component-based approach (CBA) for learning management system development. Learning object as components of e-learning courses and their metadata is considered. The architecture of learning management system based on CBA being developed in Riga Technical University, namely its architecture, elements and possibilities are…

  9. Anatomical and spatial matching in imitation: Evidence from left and right brain-damaged patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mengotti, Paola; Ripamonti, Enrico; Pesavento, Valentina; Rumiati, Raffaella Ida

    2015-12-01

    Imitation is a sensorimotor process whereby the visual information present in the model's movement has to be coupled with the activation of the motor system in the observer. This also implies that greater the similarity between the seen and the produced movement, the easier it will be to execute the movement, a process also known as ideomotor compatibility. Two components can influence the degree of similarity between two movements: the anatomical and the spatial component. The anatomical component is present when the model and imitator move the same body part (e.g., the right hand) while the spatial component is present when the movement of the model and that of the imitator occur at the same spatial position. Imitation can be achieved by relying on both components, but typically the model's and imitator's movements are matched either anatomically or spatially. The aim of this study was to ascertain the contribution of the left and right hemisphere to the imitation accomplished either with anatomical or spatial matching (or with both). Patients with unilateral left and right brain damage performed an ideomotor task and a gesture imitation task. Lesions in the left and right hemispheres gave rise to different performance deficits. Patients with lesions in the left hemisphere showed impaired imitation when anatomical matching was required, and patients with lesions in the right hemisphere showed impaired imitation when spatial matching was required. Lesion analysis further revealed a differential involvement of left and right hemispheric regions, such as the parietal opercula, in supporting imitation in the ideomotor task. Similarly, gesture imitation seemed to rely on different regions in the left and right hemisphere, such as parietal regions in the left hemisphere and premotor, somatosensory and subcortical regions in the right hemisphere. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Measurement of wavefront structure from large aperture optical components by phase shifting interferometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wolfe, C.R.; Lawson, J.K.; Kellam, M.; Maney, R.T.; Demiris, A.

    1995-01-01

    This paper discusses the results of high spatial resolution measurement of the transmitted or reflected wavefront of optical components using phase shifting interferometry with a wavelength of 6328 angstrom. The optical components studied range in size from approximately 50 mm x 100 mm to 400 mm x 750 mm. Wavefront data, in the form of 3-D phase maps, have been obtained for three regimes of scale length: ''micro roughness'', ''mid-spatial scale'', and ''optical figure/curvature.'' Repetitive wavefront structure has been observed with scale lengths from 10 mm to 100 mm. The amplitude of this structure is typically λ/100 to λ/20. Previously unobserved structure has been detected in optical materials and on the surfaces of components. We are using this data to assist in optimizing laser system design, to qualify optical components and fabrication processes under study in our component development program

  11. Is emergent universe a consequence of particle creation process?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chakraborty, Subenoy

    2014-01-01

    A model of an emergent universe is formulated using the mechanism of particle creation. Here the universe is considered as a non-equilibrium thermodynamical system with dissipation due to particle creation mechanism. The universe is chosen as spatially flat FRW space–time and the cosmic substratum is chosen as perfect fluid with barotropic equation of state. Both first and second order deviations from equilibrium prescription are considered and it is found that the scenario of emergent universe is possible in both the cases.

  12. Quantum creation of the universe in N = 8 supergravity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goncharov, Yu.P.; Bytsenko, A.A.

    1988-01-01

    We discuss the possibility of quantum creation of an inflationary universe filled with the fields of maximal extended N = 8 supergravity. If the created universe has spatial topology (S 1 ) 3 and after the creation Starobinskii's inflationary scenario through the topological Casimir effect in N = 8 supergravity is realized, the probability of creation of such a universe can be estimated in the semiclassical approximation. The estimate shows that the creation of a universe with a more isotropic topology is more probable

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

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2013-04-01

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

  14. Blind Separation of Event-Related Brain Responses into Independent Components

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Makeig, Scott

    1996-01-01

    .... We report here a method for the blind separation of event-related brain responses into spatially stationary and temporally independent subcomponents using an Independent Component Analysis algorithm...

  15. The real-time neutron radiography system at Texas A and M University

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reuscher, Jon A.

    1990-01-01

    This paper reports on the development and fabrication of a real-time system at Texas A and M University using commercially available and relatively inexpensive components. The real-time neutron radiography system consists of two major components: a camera and image processing equipment. The neutron beam provides a thermal neutron flux of 10 neutrons/cm -sec (cadmium ratio of 4.0) with the TRIGA reactor operating at a power of 1 MW. A remotely operated turntable is used to position the sample in the neutron beam for optimum viewing and ease of changing position. The front surface mirror at 45 deg. to the neutron beam reflects the scintillation image to the lens. The IRO and CCD camera are placed behind shielding out of the neutron. Results using the imaging system for a cadmium plate (0.032 inch thick) with several holes of different diameters are presented. Applications of this neutron radiography system include sensitivity indicators for the spatial resolution of bubbles in water-filled tubes, moisture content of zeolite samples, operating heat pipes and the freezing and thawing of metallic samples

  16. Spatial abilities and anatomy knowledge assessment: A systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langlois, Jean; Bellemare, Christian; Toulouse, Josée; Wells, George A

    2017-06-01

    Anatomy knowledge has been found to include both spatial and non-spatial components. However, no systematic evaluation of studies relating spatial abilities and anatomy knowledge has been undertaken. The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the relationship between spatial abilities test and anatomy knowledge assessment. A literature search was done up to March 20, 2014 in Scopus and in several databases on the OvidSP and EBSCOhost platforms. Of the 556 citations obtained, 38 articles were identified and fully reviewed yielding 21 eligible articles and their quality were formally assessed. Non-significant relationships were found between spatial abilities test and anatomy knowledge assessment using essays and non-spatial multiple-choice questions. Significant relationships were observed between spatial abilities test and anatomy knowledge assessment using practical examination, three-dimensional synthesis from two-dimensional views, drawing of views, and cross-sections. Relationships between spatial abilities test and anatomy knowledge assessment using spatial multiple-choice questions were unclear. The results of this systematic review provide evidence for spatial and non-spatial methods of anatomy knowledge assessment. Anat Sci Educ 10: 235-241. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.

  17. Chaotic universe model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aydiner, Ekrem

    2018-01-15

    In this study, we consider nonlinear interactions between components such as dark energy, dark matter, matter and radiation in the framework of the Friedman-Robertson-Walker space-time and propose a simple interaction model based on the time evolution of the densities of these components. By using this model we show that these interactions can be given by Lotka-Volterra type equations. We numerically solve these coupling equations and show that interaction dynamics between dark energy-dark matter-matter or dark energy-dark matter-matter-radiation has a strange attractor for 0 > w de  >-1, w dm  ≥ 0, w m  ≥ 0 and w r  ≥ 0 values. These strange attractors with the positive Lyapunov exponent clearly show that chaotic dynamics appears in the time evolution of the densities. These results provide that the time evolution of the universe is chaotic. The present model may have potential to solve some of the cosmological problems such as the singularity, cosmic coincidence, big crunch, big rip, horizon, oscillation, the emergence of the galaxies, matter distribution and large-scale organization of the universe. The model also connects between dynamics of the competing species in biological systems and dynamics of the time evolution of the universe and offers a new perspective and a new different scenario for the universe evolution.

  18. Improvement in spatial frequency characteristics of magneto-optical Kerr microscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ogasawara, Takeshi

    2017-10-01

    The spatial resolution of a conventional magneto-optical Kerr microscope, compared with those of conventional optical microscopes, inevitably deteriorates owing to oblique illumination. An approach to obtaining the maximum spatial resolution using multiple images with different illumination directions is demonstrated here. The method was implemented by rotating the illumination path around the optical axis using a motorized stage. The Fourier transform image of the observed magnetic domain indicates that the spatial frequency component that is lost in the conventional method is restored.

  19. On universality in ergoregion mergers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Elvang, Henriette; Figueras, Pau; Hubeny, Veronika E; Rangamani, Mukund; Horowitz, Gary T

    2009-01-01

    We study non-dynamical mergers of ergoregions in d + 1-dimensional vacuum gravity. At the merger point, where the ergosurfaces bounding each ergoregion just touch, solutions exhibit universal behavior when there is rotation only in one plane: the angle between the merging ergosurfaces depends only on the symmetries of the solution, not on any other details of the configuration. We show that universality follows from the fact that the relevant component of Einstein's equation reduces to Laplace's equation at the point of merger. Thus ergoregion mergers mimic mergers of Newtonian equipotentials and have similar universal behavior. For solutions with rotation in more than one plane, universality is lost. We demonstrate universality and non-universality in several explicit examples.

  20. GIS-based spatial decision support system for grain logistics management

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2010-07-01

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

  1. Spatially dependent properties in a laser additive manufactured Ti–6Al–4V component

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Palanivel, S.; Dutt, A.K. [Center for Friction Stir Processing, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203 (United States); Faierson, E.J. [Quad City Manufacturing Laboratory, Western Illinois University, Rock Island, IL 61201 (United States); Mishra, R.S., E-mail: Rajiv.Mishra@unt.edu [Center for Friction Stir Processing, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203 (United States)

    2016-01-27

    Automotive and aerospace sectors have provided a strong product pull for advancing powder bed fusion technologies. However, as these technologies mature towards large-scale production, issues of build consistency and surface finish are of concern. In order to study these issues, a Ti–6Al–4V mini impeller was fabricated using laser additive manufacturing. The primary objective of this work was to quantify and correlate the variation in mechanical properties and microstructure across and along different locations in the component. Hardness measured at various build locations revealed a stronger hub (highest value: 428 HV) with lower spatial variations in comparison to the blade (highest value: 415 HV). Additional examinations to assess anisotropy showed an average hardness of 397±11 and 385±8 HV along the blade build (Z) and longitudinal (X) directions respectively. Region and direction specific uniaxial tensile testing of the samples indicated a strong hub bottom with yield strength (YS) of 1193 MPa, ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 1310 MPa, and a total elongation of 5.5% in the longitudinal direction. Although the low elongation value correlates well with previous studies, strength is significantly higher and is attributed to having a complete martensitic structure induced by the high cooling rates experienced at the build–substrate interface. On the other hand, YS, UTS and total elongation in the blade were recorded as 978 MPa, 1096 MPa and 9.12%, respectively, along the build direction. Microstructure in the blade region consisted of α′ and α+β. When compared to the polished specimen in the blade, its unpolished counterpart yielded at 896 MPa, had UTS of 1018 MPa, and elongation of 6.24%. An understanding of the reduction in performance of the unfinished blade would help in deciding the need for surface finishing operations after fabrication.

  2. Spatially dependent properties in a laser additive manufactured Ti–6Al–4V component

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Palanivel, S.; Dutt, A.K.; Faierson, E.J.; Mishra, R.S.

    2016-01-01

    Automotive and aerospace sectors have provided a strong product pull for advancing powder bed fusion technologies. However, as these technologies mature towards large-scale production, issues of build consistency and surface finish are of concern. In order to study these issues, a Ti–6Al–4V mini impeller was fabricated using laser additive manufacturing. The primary objective of this work was to quantify and correlate the variation in mechanical properties and microstructure across and along different locations in the component. Hardness measured at various build locations revealed a stronger hub (highest value: 428 HV) with lower spatial variations in comparison to the blade (highest value: 415 HV). Additional examinations to assess anisotropy showed an average hardness of 397±11 and 385±8 HV along the blade build (Z) and longitudinal (X) directions respectively. Region and direction specific uniaxial tensile testing of the samples indicated a strong hub bottom with yield strength (YS) of 1193 MPa, ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 1310 MPa, and a total elongation of 5.5% in the longitudinal direction. Although the low elongation value correlates well with previous studies, strength is significantly higher and is attributed to having a complete martensitic structure induced by the high cooling rates experienced at the build–substrate interface. On the other hand, YS, UTS and total elongation in the blade were recorded as 978 MPa, 1096 MPa and 9.12%, respectively, along the build direction. Microstructure in the blade region consisted of α′ and α+β. When compared to the polished specimen in the blade, its unpolished counterpart yielded at 896 MPa, had UTS of 1018 MPa, and elongation of 6.24%. An understanding of the reduction in performance of the unfinished blade would help in deciding the need for surface finishing operations after fabrication.

  3. Interacting agegraphic dark energy models in non-flat universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sheykhi, Ahmad

    2009-01-01

    A so-called 'agegraphic dark energy' was recently proposed to explain the dark energy-dominated universe. In this Letter, we generalize the agegraphic dark energy models to the universe with spatial curvature in the presence of interaction between dark matter and dark energy. We show that these models can accommodate w D =-1 crossing for the equation of state of dark energy. In the limiting case of a flat universe, i.e. k=0, all previous results of agegraphic dark energy in flat universe are restored.

  4. Transforming Spatial Reasoning Skills in the Upper-Level Undergraduate Geoscience Classroom Through Curricular Materials Informed by Cognitive Science Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ormand, C. J.; Shipley, T. F.; Dutrow, B. L.; Goodwin, L. B.; Hickson, T. A.; Tikoff, B.; Atit, K.; Gagnier, K. M.; Resnick, I.

    2014-12-01

    Spatial visualization is an essential skill in the STEM disciplines, including the geosciences. Undergraduate students, including geoscience majors in upper-level courses, bring a wide range of spatial skill levels to the classroom. Students with weak spatial skills may be unable to understand fundamental concepts and to solve geological problems with a spatial component. However, spatial thinking skills are malleable. As a group of geoscience faculty members and cognitive psychologists, we have developed a set of curricular materials for Mineralogy, Sedimentology & Stratigraphy, and Structural Geology courses. These materials are designed to improve students' spatial skills, and in particular to improve students' abilities to reason about spatially complex 3D geological concepts and problems. Teaching spatial thinking in the context of discipline-based exercises has the potential to transform undergraduate STEM education by removing one significant barrier to success in the STEM disciplines. The curricular materials we have developed are based on several promising teaching strategies that have emerged from cognitive science research on spatial thinking. These strategies include predictive sketching, making visual comparisons, gesturing, and the use of analogy. We have conducted a three-year study of the efficacy of these materials in strengthening the spatial skills of students in upper-level geoscience courses at three universities. Our methodology relies on a pre- and post-test study design, with several tests of spatial thinking skills administered at the beginning and end of each semester. In 2011-2012, we used a "business as usual" approach to gather baseline data, measuring how much students' spatial thinking skills improved in response to the existing curricula. In the two subsequent years we have incorporated our new curricular materials, which can be found on the project website: http://serc.carleton.edu/spatialworkbook/activities.html Structural Geology

  5. UNIVERSITY TEACHERS’ READINESS TO APPLY THE MODERN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irina O. Kotlyarova

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the research is to investigate the readiness of the university teachers to apply the modern educational technologies. Methods. The methods include theoretical: analysis of existing modern educational technologies, the concept «readiness» and its components, abstraction of signs and kinds of modern educational technologies based on the scientific literature and in the Federal State Educational Standards (FSES; empirical: questionnaires and testing methods for detecting levels of university teachers’ skills and readiness to use modern educational technology. Results. The main features of modern educational technologies are identified and justified that are to comply with modern methodology of the theory and practice of education study and the latest FSES requirements; the level of science, manufacturing, and modern rules of human relations. The components of readiness of university teachers to use modern educational technology are structured. The linguistic component is included along with the cognitive, psychological, operational, connotative components; its necessity is proved. The average level of readiness for the use of modern educational technology by university teachers is identified. Scientific novelty. The author specifies the features of the modern educational technology. The most significant components of higher-education teaching personnel readiness to use technological innovations are identified. As a whole, these results form the indicative framework for the development and measurement of readiness of the university teachers to use the modern educational technology. The development of the readiness of the university teachers to apply the modern educational technologies is proved to be an issue of current interest. Practical significance. The research findings can be used as the basis of techniques and methods designing for its further development and measurement of the training, retraining and advanced training of

  6. Study the Application of Strategic Management Components in Academic Libraries in Isfahan City

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mojtaba Darvishi Chadegani

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available This research aimed at investigating the application of strategic management components in libraries of Isfahan University, Isfahan University of Technology, and Isfahan University of Medical Sciences and the research method was descriptive survey study. The population consisted of managers and librarians of academic libraries in Isfahan city(134 persons.To gather the data, a researcher-made questionnaire with 40 questions was used and for the content validity, the face validity and construct validity, the factor analysis of questionnaire using KMO and Bartlett test were estimated 0/89. Using Cronbach’s Alpha the reliability of the questionnaire was estimated 0.97. For analyzing the data SPSS software was used.The findings showed the application of components was higher than average except one of the components. The results of Hotteling showed that the effects of all components were nott the same, considering the component ofexchange of information was highest and care about the strategic affairs was the lowest. The findings showed that there was significance based on demographic factors, major and type of work. But no significance difference was seen based on demographic factors, university, type of library, and years in service (p<0.05.

  7. Spatial Temporal Modelling of Particulate Matter for Health Effects Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamm, N. A. S.

    2016-10-01

    Epidemiological studies of the health effects of air pollution require estimation of individual exposure. It is not possible to obtain measurements at all relevant locations so it is necessary to predict at these space-time locations, either on the basis of dispersion from emission sources or by interpolating observations. This study used data obtained from a low-cost sensor network of 32 air quality monitoring stations in the Dutch city of Eindhoven, which make up the ILM (innovative air (quality) measurement system). These stations currently provide PM10 and PM2.5 (particulate matter less than 10 and 2.5 m in diameter), aggregated to hourly means. The data provide an unprecedented level of spatial and temporal detail for a city of this size. Despite these benefits the time series of measurements is characterized by missing values and noisy values. In this paper a space-time analysis is presented that is based on a dynamic model for the temporal component and a Gaussian process geostatistical for the spatial component. Spatial-temporal variability was dominated by the temporal component, although the spatial variability was also substantial. The model delivered accurate predictions for both isolated missing values and 24-hour periods of missing values (RMSE = 1.4 μg m-3 and 1.8 μg m-3 respectively). Outliers could be detected by comparison to the 95% prediction interval. The model shows promise for predicting missing values, outlier detection and for mapping to support health impact studies.

  8. The hidden flat like universe. Starobinsky-like inflation induced by f(T) gravity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    El Hanafy, W. [The British University in Egypt, Centre for Theoretical Physics, P.O. Box 43, El Sherouk (Egypt); Egyptian Relativity Group, Giza (Egypt); Nashed, G.G.L. [The British University in Egypt, Centre for Theoretical Physics, P.O. Box 43, El Sherouk (Egypt); Ain Shams University, Mathematics Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo (Egypt); Egyptian Relativity Group, Giza (Egypt)

    2015-06-15

    We study a single-fluid component in a flat like universe (FLU) governed by f(T) gravity theories, where T is the teleparallel torsion scalar. The FLU model, regardless of the value of the spatial curvature k, identifies a special class of f(T) gravity theories. Remarkably, FLU f(T) gravity does not reduce to teleparallel gravity theory. In large Hubble spacetime the theory is consistent with the inflationary universe scenario and respects the conservation principle. The equation of state evolves similarly in all models k = 0,±1. We study the case when the torsion tensor consists of a scalar field, which enables to derive a quintessence potential from the obtained f(T) gravity theory. The potential produces Starobinsky-like model naturally without using a conformal transformation, with higher orders continuously interpolate between Starobinsky and quadratic inflation models. The slow-roll analysis shows double solutions, so that for a single value of the scalar tilt (spectral index) n{sub s} the theory can predict double tensor-to-scalar ratios r of E-mode and B-mode polarizations. (orig.)

  9. The hidden flat like universe. Starobinsky-like inflation induced by f(T) gravity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    El Hanafy, W.; Nashed, G.G.L.

    2015-01-01

    We study a single-fluid component in a flat like universe (FLU) governed by f(T) gravity theories, where T is the teleparallel torsion scalar. The FLU model, regardless of the value of the spatial curvature k, identifies a special class of f(T) gravity theories. Remarkably, FLU f(T) gravity does not reduce to teleparallel gravity theory. In large Hubble spacetime the theory is consistent with the inflationary universe scenario and respects the conservation principle. The equation of state evolves similarly in all models k = 0,±1. We study the case when the torsion tensor consists of a scalar field, which enables to derive a quintessence potential from the obtained f(T) gravity theory. The potential produces Starobinsky-like model naturally without using a conformal transformation, with higher orders continuously interpolate between Starobinsky and quadratic inflation models. The slow-roll analysis shows double solutions, so that for a single value of the scalar tilt (spectral index) n s the theory can predict double tensor-to-scalar ratios r of E-mode and B-mode polarizations. (orig.)

  10. Spatially Partitioned Embedded Runge--Kutta Methods

    KAUST Repository

    Ketcheson, David I.

    2013-10-30

    We study spatially partitioned embedded Runge--Kutta (SPERK) schemes for partial differential equations (PDEs), in which each of the component schemes is applied over a different part of the spatial domain. Such methods may be convenient for problems in which the smoothness of the solution or the magnitudes of the PDE coefficients vary strongly in space. We focus on embedded partitioned methods as they offer greater efficiency and avoid the order reduction that may occur in nonembedded schemes. We demonstrate that the lack of conservation in partitioned schemes can lead to nonphysical effects and propose conservative additive schemes based on partitioning the fluxes rather than the ordinary differential equations. A variety of SPERK schemes are presented, including an embedded pair suitable for the time evolution of fifth-order weighted nonoscillatory spatial discretizations. Numerical experiments are provided to support the theory.

  11. Spatially Partitioned Embedded Runge--Kutta Methods

    KAUST Repository

    Ketcheson, David I.; MacDonald, Colin B.; Ruuth, Steven J.

    2013-01-01

    We study spatially partitioned embedded Runge--Kutta (SPERK) schemes for partial differential equations (PDEs), in which each of the component schemes is applied over a different part of the spatial domain. Such methods may be convenient for problems in which the smoothness of the solution or the magnitudes of the PDE coefficients vary strongly in space. We focus on embedded partitioned methods as they offer greater efficiency and avoid the order reduction that may occur in nonembedded schemes. We demonstrate that the lack of conservation in partitioned schemes can lead to nonphysical effects and propose conservative additive schemes based on partitioning the fluxes rather than the ordinary differential equations. A variety of SPERK schemes are presented, including an embedded pair suitable for the time evolution of fifth-order weighted nonoscillatory spatial discretizations. Numerical experiments are provided to support the theory.

  12. Novel probabilistic models of spatial genetic ancestry with applications to stratification correction in genome-wide association studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhaskar, Anand; Javanmard, Adel; Courtade, Thomas A; Tse, David

    2017-03-15

    Genetic variation in human populations is influenced by geographic ancestry due to spatial locality in historical mating and migration patterns. Spatial population structure in genetic datasets has been traditionally analyzed using either model-free algorithms, such as principal components analysis (PCA) and multidimensional scaling, or using explicit spatial probabilistic models of allele frequency evolution. We develop a general probabilistic model and an associated inference algorithm that unify the model-based and data-driven approaches to visualizing and inferring population structure. Our spatial inference algorithm can also be effectively applied to the problem of population stratification in genome-wide association studies (GWAS), where hidden population structure can create fictitious associations when population ancestry is correlated with both the genotype and the trait. Our algorithm Geographic Ancestry Positioning (GAP) relates local genetic distances between samples to their spatial distances, and can be used for visually discerning population structure as well as accurately inferring the spatial origin of individuals on a two-dimensional continuum. On both simulated and several real datasets from diverse human populations, GAP exhibits substantially lower error in reconstructing spatial ancestry coordinates compared to PCA. We also develop an association test that uses the ancestry coordinates inferred by GAP to accurately account for ancestry-induced correlations in GWAS. Based on simulations and analysis of a dataset of 10 metabolic traits measured in a Northern Finland cohort, which is known to exhibit significant population structure, we find that our method has superior power to current approaches. Our software is available at https://github.com/anand-bhaskar/gap . abhaskar@stanford.edu or ajavanma@usc.edu. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved

  13. Linear optical quantum computing in a single spatial mode.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Humphreys, Peter C; Metcalf, Benjamin J; Spring, Justin B; Moore, Merritt; Jin, Xian-Min; Barbieri, Marco; Kolthammer, W Steven; Walmsley, Ian A

    2013-10-11

    We present a scheme for linear optical quantum computing using time-bin-encoded qubits in a single spatial mode. We show methods for single-qubit operations and heralded controlled-phase (cphase) gates, providing a sufficient set of operations for universal quantum computing with the Knill-Laflamme-Milburn [Nature (London) 409, 46 (2001)] scheme. Our protocol is suited to currently available photonic devices and ideally allows arbitrary numbers of qubits to be encoded in the same spatial mode, demonstrating the potential for time-frequency modes to dramatically increase the quantum information capacity of fixed spatial resources. As a test of our scheme, we demonstrate the first entirely single spatial mode implementation of a two-qubit quantum gate and show its operation with an average fidelity of 0.84±0.07.

  14. On Bayesian shared component disease mapping and ecological regression with errors in covariates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    MacNab, Ying C

    2010-05-20

    Recent literature on Bayesian disease mapping presents shared component models (SCMs) for joint spatial modeling of two or more diseases with common risk factors. In this study, Bayesian hierarchical formulations of shared component disease mapping and ecological models are explored and developed in the context of ecological regression, taking into consideration errors in covariates. A review of multivariate disease mapping models (MultiVMs) such as the multivariate conditional autoregressive models that are also part of the more recent Bayesian disease mapping literature is presented. Some insights into the connections and distinctions between the SCM and MultiVM procedures are communicated. Important issues surrounding (appropriate) formulation of shared- and disease-specific components, consideration/choice of spatial or non-spatial random effects priors, and identification of model parameters in SCMs are explored and discussed in the context of spatial and ecological analysis of small area multivariate disease or health outcome rates and associated ecological risk factors. The methods are illustrated through an in-depth analysis of four-variate road traffic accident injury (RTAI) data: gender-specific fatal and non-fatal RTAI rates in 84 local health areas in British Columbia (Canada). Fully Bayesian inference via Markov chain Monte Carlo simulations is presented. Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  15. Sleep modulates the neural substrates of both spatial and contextual memory consolidation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Géraldine Rauchs

    Full Text Available It is known that sleep reshapes the neural representations that subtend the memories acquired while navigating in a virtual environment. However, navigation is not process-pure, as manifold learning components contribute to performance, notably the spatial and contextual memory constituents. In this context, it remains unclear whether post-training sleep globally promotes consolidation of all of the memory components embedded in virtual navigation, or rather favors the development of specific representations. Here, we investigated the effect of post-training sleep on the neural substrates of the consolidation of spatial and contextual memories acquired while navigating in a complex 3D, naturalistic virtual town. Using fMRI, we mapped regional cerebral activity during various tasks designed to tap either the spatial or the contextual memory component, or both, 72 h after encoding with or without sleep deprivation during the first post-training night. Behavioral performance was not dependent upon post-training sleep deprivation, neither in a natural setting that engages both spatial and contextual memory processes nor when looking more specifically at each of these memory representations. At the neuronal level however, analyses that focused on contextual memory revealed distinct correlations between performance and neuronal activity in frontal areas associated with recollection processes after post-training sleep, and in the parahippocampal gyrus associated with familiarity processes in sleep-deprived participants. Likewise, efficient spatial memory was associated with posterior cortical activity after sleep whereas it correlated with parahippocampal/medial temporal activity after sleep deprivation. Finally, variations in place-finding efficiency in a natural setting encompassing spatial and contextual elements were associated with caudate activity after post-training sleep, suggesting the automation of navigation. These data indicate that post

  16. The Problem of English Spatial, Non-spatial and Idiomatic Adpositions in Iranian EFL Environment: A Prototypical Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nassim Golaghaei

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available Several studies of L2 learners’ interlanguage have addressed the complexity of the English adpositional system due to several reasons like L1 transfer, lack of knowledge in L2 and the strong collocational relations of prepositions with other elements of the English language. The major purpose of the present study is to evaluate the performance of Iranian students in dealing with three broad categories of spatial, non-spatial and idiomatic adpositions in English. To achieve the inclinations of the research project, 60 students majoring in TEFL at Roudehen University were selected. A paper-based TOEFL test of English Proficiency was administered to obtain some information about the participants’ general language proficiency. Three completion tasks with the division of spatial, non-spatial (nominal, adjectival and verbal and idiomatic adpositions were administered. The obtained results represented the fact that the Iranian participants were considerably inclined to transfer their L1 adpositional patterns to their L2 production. The correlational analyses indicated that whereas the scores related to adposition task in general, non-spatial as well as the idiomatic subtests were strongly correlated with the scores obtained from the TOEFL test, there was a moderate correlation between the spatial subtest and the TOEFL one. The independent sample t-test results between the freshmen and sophomores dealing with spatial, nominal and adjectival subtests were considered to be significant.  However, in reference to the verbal subtest, the difference between the two groups was not significant. The results obtained from the independent sample t-test indicated no significant differences between the freshmen and sophomores in their performance on idiomatic adpositions. Finally, the result of the correlation coefficients showed high correlation coefficients between the whole adposition test and the three subtests of spatial, non-spatial and idiomatic ones

  17. PREVALENCE OF THE HEPATITIS C VIRUS AMONG UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES IN SÃO PAULO, SOUTHEASTERN BRAZIL: predictive factors and geoprocessing spatial analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cássio Vieira de OLIVEIRA

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Background There are limited studies on the prevalence and risk factors associated with hepatitis C virus (HCV infection. Objective Identify the prevalence and risk factors for HCV infection in university employees of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Methods Digital serological tests for anti-HCV have been performed in 3153 volunteers. For the application of digital testing was necessary to withdraw a drop of blood through a needlestick. The positive cases were performed for genotyping and RNA. Chi-square and Fisher’s exact test were used, with P-value 40 years, blood transfusion, injectable drugs, inhalable drugs (InDU, injectable Gluconergam®, glass syringes, tattoos, hemodialysis and sexual promiscuity. Age (P=0.01, OR 5.6, CI 1.4 to 22.8, InDU (P<0.0001, OR=96.8, CI 24.1 to 388.2, Gluconergam® (P=0.0009, OR=44.4, CI 4.7 to 412.7 and hemodialysis (P=0.0004, OR=90.1, CI 7.5 – 407.1 were independent predictors. Spatial analysis of the prevalence with socioeconomic indices, Gross Domestic Product and Human Development Index by the geoprocessing technique showed no positive correlation. Conclusions The prevalence of HCV infection was 0.7%. The independent risk factors for HCV infection were age, InDU, Gluconergan® and hemodialysis. There was no spatial correlation of HCV prevalence with local economic factors.

  18. Components of working memory and visual selective attention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burnham, Bryan R; Sabia, Matthew; Langan, Catherine

    2014-02-01

    Load theory (Lavie, N., Hirst, A., De Fockert, J. W., & Viding, E. [2004]. Load theory of selective attention and cognitive control. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 133, 339-354.) proposes that control of attention depends on the amount and type of load that is imposed by current processing. Specifically, perceptual load should lead to efficient distractor rejection, whereas working memory load (dual-task coordination) should hinder distractor rejection. Studies support load theory's prediction that working memory load will lead to larger distractor effects; however, these studies used secondary tasks that required only verbal working memory and the central executive. The present study examined which other working memory components (visual, spatial, and phonological) influence visual selective attention. Subjects completed an attentional capture task alone (single-task) or while engaged in a working memory task (dual-task). Results showed that along with the central executive, visual and spatial working memory influenced selective attention, but phonological working memory did not. Specifically, attentional capture was larger when visual or spatial working memory was loaded, but phonological working memory load did not affect attentional capture. The results are consistent with load theory and suggest specific components of working memory influence visual selective attention. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

  19. Particle creation and particle number in an expanding universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parker, Leonard

    2012-01-01

    I describe the logical basis of the method that I developed in 1962 and 1963 to define a quantum operator corresponding to the observable particle number of a quantized free scalar field in a spatially-flat isotropically expanding (and/or contracting) universe. This work also showed for the first time that particles were created from the vacuum by the curved spacetime of an expanding spatially-flat Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker (FLRW) universe. The same process is responsible for creating the nearly scale-invariant spectrum of quantized perturbations of the inflaton scalar field during the inflationary stage of the expansion of the universe. I explain how the method that I used to obtain the observable particle number operator involved adiabatic invariance of the particle number (hence, the name adiabatic regularization) and the quantum theory of measurement of particle number in an expanding universe. I also show how I was led in a surprising way, to the discovery in 1964 that there would be no particle creation by these spatially-flat FLRW universes for free fields of any integer or half-integer spin satisfying field equations that are invariant under conformal transformations of the metric. The methods I used to define adiabatic regularization for particle number were based on generally-covariant concepts like adiabatic invariance and measurement that were fundamental and determined results that were unique to each given adiabatic order. This article is part of a special issue of Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical in honour of Stuart Dowker's 75th birthday devoted to ‘Applications of zeta functions and other spectral functions in mathematics and physics’. (paper)

  20. Identification of spatially-localized initial conditions via sparse PCA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dwivedi, Anubhav; Jovanovic, Mihailo

    2017-11-01

    Principal Component Analysis involves maximization of a quadratic form subject to a quadratic constraint on the initial flow perturbations and it is routinely used to identify the most energetic flow structures. For general flow configurations, principal components can be efficiently computed via power iteration of the forward and adjoint governing equations. However, the resulting flow structures typically have a large spatial support leading to a question of physical realizability. To obtain spatially-localized structures, we modify the quadratic constraint on the initial condition to include a convex combination with an additional regularization term which promotes sparsity in the physical domain. We formulate this constrained optimization problem as a nonlinear eigenvalue problem and employ an inverse power-iteration-based method to solve it. The resulting solution is guaranteed to converge to a nonlinear eigenvector which becomes increasingly localized as our emphasis on sparsity increases. We use several fluids examples to demonstrate that our method indeed identifies the most energetic initial perturbations that are spatially compact. This work was supported by Office of Naval Research through Grant Number N00014-15-1-2522.

  1. University of Maryland component of the Center for Multiscale Plasma Dynamics: Final Technical Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dorland, William [University of Maryland

    2014-11-18

    The Center for Multiscale Plasma Dynamics (CMPD) was a five-year Fusion Science Center. The University of Maryland (UMD) and UCLA were the host universities. This final technical report describes the physics results from the UMD CMPD.

  2. The geo-spatial information infrastructure at the Centre for Control and Prevention of Zoonoses, University of Ibadan, Nigeria: an emerging sustainable One-Health pavilion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olugasa, B O

    2014-12-01

    The World-Wide-Web as a contemporary means of information sharing offers a platform for geo-spatial information dissemination to improve education about spatio-temporal patterns of disease spread at the human-animal-environment interface in developing countries of West Africa. In assessing the quality of exposure to geospatial information applications among students in five purposively selected institutions in West Africa, this study reviewed course contents and postgraduate programmes in zoonoses surveillance. Geospatial information content and associated practical exercises in zoonoses surveillance were scored.. Seven criteria were used to categorize and score capability, namely, spatial data capture; thematic map design and interpretation; spatio-temporal analysis; remote sensing of data; statistical modelling; the management of spatial data-profile; and web-based map sharing operation within an organization. These criteria were used to compute weighted exposure during training at the institutions. A categorical description of institution with highest-scoring of computed Cumulative Exposure Point Average (CEPA) was based on an illustration with retrospective records of rabies cases, using data from humans, animals and the environment, that were sourced from Grand Bassa County, Liberia to create and share maps and information with faculty, staff, students and the neighbourhood about animal bite injury surveillance and spatial distribution of rabies-like illness. Uniformly low CEPA values (0-1.3) were observed across academic departments. The highest (3.8) was observed at the Centre for Control and Prevention of Zoonoses (CCPZ), University of Ibadan, Nigeria, where geospatial techniques were systematically taught, and thematic and predictive maps were produced and shared online with other institutions in West Africa. In addition, a short course in zoonosis surveillance, which offers inclusive learning in geospatial applications, is taught at CCPZ. The paper

  3. Methylphenidate Improves Visual-Spatial Memory in Children with Attention-Deficit- hyperactivity Disorder

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bedard, Anne-Claude; Martinussen, Rhonda; Ickowicz, Abel; Tannock, Rosemary

    2004-01-01

    Objective: To investigate the effect of methylphenidate (MPH) on visual-spatial memory, as measured by subtests of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Testing Automated Battery (CANTAB), in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Visual-spatial memory is a core component of working memory that has been shown to be impaired in…

  4. Figure/ground segregation from temporal delay is best at high spatial frequencies

    OpenAIRE

    Kojima, Haruyuki

    1998-01-01

    Two experiments investigated the role of spatial frequency in performance of a figure/ground segregation task based on temporal cues. Figure orientation was much easier to judge when figure and ground portions of the target were defined exclusively by random texture composed entirely of high spatial frequencies. When target components were defined by low spatial frequencies only, the task was nearly impossible except with long temporal delay between figure and ground. These results are incons...

  5. Bulk viscous cosmology in early Universe

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    The effect of bulk viscosity on the early evolution of Universe for a spatially homogeneous and isotropic Robertson-Walker model is considered. Einstein's field equations are solved by using `gamma-law' equation of state = ( - 1)ρ, where the adiabatic parameter gamma () depends on the scale factor of the model.

  6. Relativistic numerical cosmology with silent universes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bolejko, Krzysztof

    2018-01-01

    Relativistic numerical cosmology is most often based either on the exact solutions of the Einstein equations, or perturbation theory, or weak-field limit, or the BSSN formalism. The silent universe provides an alternative approach to investigate relativistic evolution of cosmological systems. The silent universe is based on the solution of the Einstein equations in 1  +  3 comoving coordinates with additional constraints imposed. These constraints include: the gravitational field is sourced by dust and cosmological constant only, both rotation and magnetic part of the Weyl tensor vanish, and the shear is diagnosable. This paper describes the code simsilun (free software distributed under the terms of the reposi General Public License), which implements the equations of the silent universe. The paper also discusses applications of the silent universe and it uses the Millennium simulation to set up the initial conditions for the code simsilun. The simulation obtained this way consists of 16 777 216 worldlines, which are evolved from z  =  80 to z  =  0. Initially, the mean evolution (averaged over the whole domain) follows the evolution of the background ΛCDM model. However, once the evolution of cosmic structures becomes nonlinear, the spatial curvature evolves from ΩK =0 to ΩK ≈ 0.1 at the present day. The emergence of the spatial curvature is associated with ΩM and Ω_Λ being smaller by approximately 0.05 compared to the ΛCDM.

  7. Continuous spatial representations in the olfactory bulb may reflect perceptual categories

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Benjamin eAuffarth

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available In sensory processing of odors, the olfactory bulb is an important relay station, where odor representations are noise-filtered, sharpened, and possibly re-organized. An organization by perceptual qualities has been found previously in the piriform cortex, however several recent studies indicate that the olfactory bulb code reflects behaviorally relevant dimensions spatially as well as at the population level. We apply a statistical analysis on 2-deoxyglucose images, taken over the entire bulb of glomerular layer of the rat, in order to see how the recognition of odors in the nose is translated into a map of odor quality in the brain. We first confirm previous studies that the first principal component could be related to pleasantness, however the next higher principal components are not directly clear. We then find mostly continuous spatial representations for perceptual categories. We compare the space spanned by spatial and population codes to human reports of perceptual similarity between odors and our results suggest that perceptual categories could be already embedded in glomerular activations and that spatial representations give a better match than population codes. This suggests that human and rat perceptual dimensions of odorant coding are related and indicates that perceptual qualities could be represented as continuous spatial codes of the olfactory bulb glomerulus population.

  8. RiskChanges Spatial Decision Support system for the analysis of changing multi-hazard risk

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Westen, Cees; Zhang, Kaixi; Bakker, Wim; Andrejchenko, Vera; Berlin, Julian; Olyazadeh, Roya; Cristal, Irina

    2015-04-01

    Within the framework of the EU FP7 Marie Curie Project CHANGES and the EU FP7 Copernicus project INCREO a spatial decision support system was developed with the aim to analyse the effect of risk reduction planning alternatives on reducing the risk now and in the future, and support decision makers in selecting the best alternatives. Central to the SDSS are the stakeholders. The envisaged users of the system are organizations involved in planning of risk reduction measures, and that have staff capable of visualizing and analyzing spatial data at a municipal scale. The SDSS should be able to function in different countries with different legal frameworks and with organizations with different mandates. These could be subdivided into Civil protection organization with the mandate to design disaster response plans, Expert organizations with the mandate to design structural risk reduction measures (e.g. dams, dikes, check-dams etc), and planning organizations with the mandate to make land development plans. The SDSS can be used in different ways: analyzing the current level of risk, analyzing the best alternatives for risk reduction, the evaluation of the consequences of possible future scenarios to the risk levels, and the evaluation how different risk reduction alternatives will lead to risk reduction under different future scenarios. The SDSS is developed based on open source software and following open standards, for code as well as for data formats and service interfaces. Code development was based upon open source software as well. The architecture of the system is modular. The various parts of the system are loosely coupled, extensible, using standards for interoperability, flexible and web-based. The Spatial Decision Support System is composed of a number of integrated components. The Risk Assessment component allows to carry out spatial risk analysis, with different degrees of complexity, ranging from simple exposure (overlay of hazard and assets maps) to

  9. Integrating Spatial and Attribute Characteristics of Extended Voronoi Diagrams in Spatial Patterning Research: A Case Study of Wuhan City in China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zuohua Miao

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Rapid urbanization has caused numerous problems, and the urban spatial structure has been a hot topic in sustainable development management. Urban spatial structure is affected by a series of factors. Thus, the research model should synthetically consider the spatial and non-spatial relationship of every element. Here, we propose an extended Voronoi diagram for exploring the urban land spatial pattern. In essence, we first used a principal component analysis method to construct attribute evaluation indicators and obtained the attribute distance for each indicator. Second, we integrated spatial and attribute distances to extend the comparison distance for Voronoi diagrams, and then, we constructed the Voronoi aggregative homogeneous map of the study area. Finally, we make a spatial autocorrelation analysis by using GeoDA and SPSS software. Results show that: (1 the residential land cover aggregation is not significant, but spatial diffusion is obvious; (2 the commercial land cover aggregation is considerable; and (3 the spatial agglomeration degree of the industrial land cover is increased and mainly located in urban fringes. According to the neo-Marxist theory, we briefly analyzed the driving forces for shaping the urban spatial structure. To summarize, our approach yields important insights into the urban spatial structure characterized by attribute similarity with geospatial proximity, which contributes to a better understanding of the urban growth mechanism. In addition, it explicitly identifies ongoing urban transformations, potentially supporting the planning for sustainable urban land use and protection.

  10. Guide for the spatial analysis of compositional data; Guia para el analisis espacial de datos composicionales

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tolosana-Delgado, R.

    2011-07-01

    Dealing with spatially-dependent compositional databases (including proportions, data in percentages, concentrations etc) should pay heed to the mathematical properties of these kinds of data: a valid composition must have positive components whose sum is at most a constant (1, 100% etc.). Generally speaking this is easily done by working on a set of log-ratios of components rather than using the raw data. To study the spatial variability of these databases it is best to estimate and model the ir-variograms, i.e. the set of variogram of all possible pairwise log-ratios of components in the composition. Such lr-variogram contain all the information necessary to deal with intrinsic stationary compositions and may be modelled with standard geostatistical tools such as the linear model of coregionalization. Moreover, the properties of the model can be studied and relationships inferred between components and possible processes linked to a given spatial scale. Finally, component-by-component interpolation and mapping is straightforward with existing kriging and simulation techniques: these tools and concepts should be applied to any set of invertible component log-ratios, i.e. log-ratio transformations, in such a way that the original composition can be recovered from the transformed data and vice versa. (Author) 17 refs.

  11. Critical cooperation range to improve spatial network robustness.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vitor H P Louzada

    Full Text Available A robust worldwide air-transportation network (WAN is one that minimizes the number of stranded passengers under a sequence of airport closures. Building on top of this realistic example, here we address how spatial network robustness can profit from cooperation between local actors. We swap a series of links within a certain distance, a cooperation range, while following typical constraints of spatially embedded networks. We find that the network robustness is only improved above a critical cooperation range. Such improvement can be described in the framework of a continuum transition, where the critical exponents depend on the spatial correlation of connected nodes. For the WAN we show that, except for Australia, all continental networks fall into the same universality class. Practical implications of this result are also discussed.

  12. Hemispheric connectivity and the visual-spatial divergent-thinking component of creativity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, Dana W; Bhadelia, Rafeeque A; Billings, Rebecca L; Fulwiler, Carl; Heilman, Kenneth M; Rood, Kenneth M J; Gansler, David A

    2009-08-01

    Divergent thinking is an important measurable component of creativity. This study tested the postulate that divergent thinking depends on large distributed inter- and intra-hemispheric networks. Although preliminary evidence supports increased brain connectivity during divergent thinking, the neural correlates of this characteristic have not been entirely specified. It was predicted that visuospatial divergent thinking would correlate with right hemisphere white matter volume (WMV) and with the size of the corpus callosum (CC). Volumetric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) analyses and the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) were completed among 21 normal right-handed adult males. TTCT scores correlated negatively with the size of the CC and were not correlated with right or, incidentally, left WMV. Although these results were not predicted, perhaps, as suggested by Bogen and Bogen (1988), decreased callosal connectivity enhances hemispheric specialization, which benefits the incubation of ideas that are critical for the divergent-thinking component of creativity, and it is the momentary inhibition of this hemispheric independence that accounts for the illumination that is part of the innovative stage of creativity. Alternatively, decreased CC size may reflect more selective developmental pruning, thereby facilitating efficient functional connectivity.

  13. Working memory components as predictors of children's mathematical word problem solving.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Xinhua; Swanson, H Lee; Marcoulides, George A

    2011-12-01

    This study determined the working memory (WM) components (executive, phonological loop, and visual-spatial sketchpad) that best predicted mathematical word problem-solving accuracy of elementary school children in Grades 2, 3, and 4 (N=310). A battery of tests was administered to assess problem-solving accuracy, problem-solving processes, WM, reading, and math calculation. Structural equation modeling analyses indicated that (a) all three WM components significantly predicted problem-solving accuracy, (b) reading skills and calculation proficiency mediated the predictive effects of the central executive system and the phonological loop on solution accuracy, and (c) academic mediators failed to moderate the relationship between the visual-spatial sketchpad and solution accuracy. The results support the notion that all components of WM play a major role in predicting problem-solving accuracy, but basic skills acquired in specific academic domains (reading and math) can compensate for some of the influence of WM on children's mathematical word problem solving. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Success-Factors in Transition to University Mathematics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bengmark, S.; Thunberg, H.; Winberg, T. M.

    2017-01-01

    This study examines different factors' relative importance for students' performance in the transition to university mathematics. Students' characteristics (motivation, actions and beliefs) were measured when entering the university and at the end of the first year. Principal component analysis revealed four important constructs:…

  15. Simple spatial scaling rules behind complex cities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Ruiqi; Dong, Lei; Zhang, Jiang; Wang, Xinran; Wang, Wen-Xu; Di, Zengru; Stanley, H Eugene

    2017-11-28

    Although most of wealth and innovation have been the result of human interaction and cooperation, we are not yet able to quantitatively predict the spatial distributions of three main elements of cities: population, roads, and socioeconomic interactions. By a simple model mainly based on spatial attraction and matching growth mechanisms, we reveal that the spatial scaling rules of these three elements are in a consistent framework, which allows us to use any single observation to infer the others. All numerical and theoretical results are consistent with empirical data from ten representative cities. In addition, our model can also provide a general explanation of the origins of the universal super- and sub-linear aggregate scaling laws and accurately predict kilometre-level socioeconomic activity. Our work opens a new avenue for uncovering the evolution of cities in terms of the interplay among urban elements, and it has a broad range of applications.

  16. The Spatial Politics of Spatial Representation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olesen, Kristian; Richardson, Tim

    2011-01-01

    spatial planning in Denmark reveals how fuzzy spatial representations and relational spatial concepts are being used to depoliticise strategic spatial planning processes and to camouflage spatial politics. The paper concludes that, while relational geography might play an important role in building......This paper explores the interplay between the spatial politics of new governance landscapes and innovations in the use of spatial representations in planning. The central premise is that planning experiments with new relational approaches become enmeshed in spatial politics. The case of strategic...

  17. Dual Component Removable Partial Denture shows improved ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    STORAGESEVER

    2009-02-18

    Feb 18, 2009 ... 2Faculty of Dentistry, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. 3Department of ... an example of poor oral condition caused mainly by periodontitis, and ... working model of the Dual Component Removable Partial Denture.

  18. Universe out of a breathing bubble

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guendelman, Eduardo I.; Sakai, Nobuyuki

    2008-01-01

    We consider the model of a false-vacuum bubble with a thin wall where the surface energy density is composed of two different components, 'domain-wall' type and 'dust' type, with opposite signs. We find stably oscillating solutions, which we call 'breathing bubbles'. By decay to a lower mass state, such a breathing bubble could become either (i) a child universe or ii) a bubble that 'eats up' the original universe, depending on the sign of the surface energy of the domain-wall component. We also discuss the effect of the finite-thickness corrections to the thin-wall approximation and possible origins of the energy contents of our model

  19. R2 inflation in anisotropic universes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Berkin, A.L.

    1990-01-01

    The evolution of Bianchi type-I and type-IX universes for a theory of gravity with an εR 2 term added to the usual Lagrangian is considered. As in the spatially flat Robertson-Walker case considered previously by others, inflation is found to occur. For any amount of initial anisotropy, the anisotropy decays quickly relative to the length of the inflationary epoch, and the amount of expansion is enhanced by the anisotropy. The exceptions are Bianchi type-IX universes near or at isotropy. In these cases a wide range of initial parameters causes the universe to recollapse, thus reducing the phase space in which inflation can occur. The diagonal metric is shown to be the most general form in the R 2 theory for both Bianchi type-I universes with a perfect fluid and vacuum Bianchi type-IX models

  20. Quantum universe on extremely small space-time scales

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kuzmichev, V.E.; Kuzmichev, V.V.

    2010-01-01

    The semiclassical approach to the quantum geometrodynamical model is used for the description of the properties of the Universe on extremely small space-time scales. Under this approach, the matter in the Universe has two components of the quantum nature which behave as antigravitating fluids. The first component does not vanish in the limit h → 0 and can be associated with dark energy. The second component is described by an extremely rigid equation of state and goes to zero after the transition to large spacetime scales. On small space-time scales, this quantum correction turns out to be significant. It determines the geometry of the Universe near the initial cosmological singularity point. This geometry is conformal to a unit four-sphere embedded in a five-dimensional Euclidean flat space. During the consequent expansion of the Universe, when reaching the post-Planck era, the geometry of the Universe changes into that conformal to a unit four-hyperboloid in a five-dimensional Lorentzsignatured flat space. This agrees with the hypothesis about the possible change of geometry after the origin of the expanding Universe from the region near the initial singularity point. The origin of the Universe can be interpreted as a quantum transition of the system from a region in the phase space forbidden for the classical motion, but where a trajectory in imaginary time exists, into a region, where the equations of motion have the solution which describes the evolution of the Universe in real time. Near the boundary between two regions, from the side of real time, the Universe undergoes almost an exponential expansion which passes smoothly into the expansion under the action of radiation dominating over matter which is described by the standard cosmological model.

  1. Attentional weights in vision as products of spatial and nonspatial components

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nordfang, Maria; Staugaard, Camilla; Bundesen, Claus

    2018-01-01

    The relationship between visual attentional selection of items in particular spatial locations and selection by nonspatial criteria was investigated in a partial report experiment with report of letters (as many as possible) from brief postmasked exposures of circular arrays of letters and digits....... The data were fitted by mathematical models based on Bundesen's (Psychological Review, 97, 523-547, 1990) theory of visual attention (TVA). Both attentional weights of targets (letters) and attentional weights of distractors (digits) showed strong variations across the eight possible target locations......, but for each of the ten participants, the ratio of the weight of a distractor at a given location to the weight of a target at the same location was approximately constant. The results were accommodated by revising the weight equation of TVA such that the attentional weight of an object equals a product...

  2. Spatial and seasonal diversity of wild food plants in home gardens of Northeast Thailand

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cruz Garcia, G.S.; Struik, P.C.

    2015-01-01

    Wild food plants (WFPs) are major components of tropical home gardens, constituting an important resource for poor farmers. The spatial and seasonal diversity of WFPs was analyzed across multi-species spatial configurations occurring within home gardens in a rice farming village in northeast

  3. Enhancing Spatial Resolution of Remotely Sensed Imagery Using Deep Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beck, J. M.; Bridges, S.; Collins, C.; Rushing, J.; Graves, S. J.

    2017-12-01

    Researchers at the Information Technology and Systems Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville are using Deep Learning with Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to develop a method for enhancing the spatial resolutions of moderate resolution (10-60m) multispectral satellite imagery. This enhancement will effectively match the resolutions of imagery from multiple sensors to provide increased global temporal-spatial coverage for a variety of Earth science products. Our research is centered on using Deep Learning for automatically generating transformations for increasing the spatial resolution of remotely sensed images with different spatial, spectral, and temporal resolutions. One of the most important steps in using images from multiple sensors is to transform the different image layers into the same spatial resolution, preferably the highest spatial resolution, without compromising the spectral information. Recent advances in Deep Learning have shown that CNNs can be used to effectively and efficiently upscale or enhance the spatial resolution of multispectral images with the use of an auxiliary data source such as a high spatial resolution panchromatic image. In contrast, we are using both the spatial and spectral details inherent in low spatial resolution multispectral images for image enhancement without the use of a panchromatic image. This presentation will discuss how this technology will benefit many Earth Science applications that use remotely sensed images with moderate spatial resolutions.

  4. Sex differences in components of imagined perspective transformation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gardner, Mark R; Sorhus, Ingrid; Edmonds, Caroline J; Potts, Rosalind

    2012-05-01

    Little research to date has examined whether sex differences in spatial ability extend to the mental self rotation involved in taking on a third party perspective. This question was addressed in the present study by assessing components of imagined perspective transformations in twenty men and twenty women. Participants made speeded left-right judgements about the hand in which an object was held by front- and back- facing schematic human figures in an "own body transformation task." Response times were longer when the figure did not share the same spatial orientation as the participant, and were substantially longer than those made for a control task requiring left-right judgements about the same stimuli from the participant's own point of view. A sex difference in imagined perspective transformation favouring males was found to be restricted to the speed of imagined self rotation, and was not observed for components indexing readiness to take a third party point of view, nor in left-right confusion. These findings indicate that the range of spatial abilities for which a sex difference has been established should be extended to include imagined perspective transformations. They also suggest that imagined perspective transformations may not draw upon those empathic social-emotional perspective taking processes for which females show an advantage. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Stationary solution of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability for spatially periodic flows: questions of uniqueness, dimensionality, and universality

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abarzhi, S.I.

    1996-01-01

    The stationary solutions of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability for spatially periodic flows with general symmetry are investigated here for the first time. The existence of a set of stationary solutions is established. The question of its dimensionality in function space is resolved on the basis of an analysis of the symmetry of the initial perturbation. The interrelationship between the dimensionality of the solution set and the symmetry of the flow is found. The dimensionality of the solution set is established for flows invariant with respect to one of five symmorphic two-dimensional groups. The nonuniversal character of the set of stationary solutions of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability is demonstrated. For flows in a tube, on the contrary, universality of the solution set, along with its independence of the symmetry of the initial perturbation, is assumed. The problem of the free boundary in the Rayleigh-Taylor instability is solved in the first two approximations, and their convergence is investigated. The dependence of the velocity and Fourier harmonics on the parameters of the problem is found. Possible symmetry violations of the flow are analyzed. Limits to previously studied cases are investigated, and their accuracy is established. Questions of the stability of the solutions obtained and the possibility of a physically correct statement of the problem are discussed

  6. Modelling spatial and temporal variations in the water quality of an artificial water reservoir in the semiarid Midwest of Argentina

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cid, Fabricio D., E-mail: fabricio.cid@gmail.com [Laboratory of Biology ' Prof. E. Caviedes Codelia' , Facultad de Ciencias Humanas, Universidad Nacional de San Luis, San Luis (Argentina); Laboratory of Integrative Biology, Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Biology (IMIBIO-SL), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas, San Luis (Argentina); Department of Biochemistry and Biological Sciences, Facultad de Quimica, Bioquimica y Farmacia, Universidad Nacional de San Luis, San Luis (Argentina); Anton, Rosa I. [Department of Analytical Chemistry, Facultad de Quimica, Bioquimica y Farmacia, Universidad Nacional de San Luis, San Luis (Argentina); Pardo, Rafael; Vega, Marisol [Department of Analytical Chemistry, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid (Spain); Caviedes-Vidal, Enrique [Laboratory of Biology ' Prof. E. Caviedes Codelia' , Facultad de Ciencias Humanas, Universidad Nacional de San Luis, San Luis (Argentina); Laboratory of Integrative Biology, Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Biology (IMIBIO-SL), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas, San Luis (Argentina); Department of Biochemistry and Biological Sciences, Facultad de Quimica, Bioquimica y Farmacia, Universidad Nacional de San Luis, San Luis (Argentina)

    2011-10-31

    Highlights: {yields} Water quality of an Argentinean reservoir has been investigated by N-way PCA. {yields} PARAFAC mode modelled spatial and seasonal variations of water composition. {yields} Two factors related with organic and lead pollution have been identified. {yields} The most polluted areas of the reservoir were located, and polluting sources identified. - Abstract: Temporal and spatial patterns of water quality of an important artificial water reservoir located in the semiarid Midwest of Argentina were investigated using chemometric techniques. Surface water samples were collected at 38 points of the water reservoir during eleven sampling campaigns between October 1998 and June 2000, covering the warm wet season and the cold dry season, and analyzed for dissolved oxygen (DO), conductivity, pH, ammonium, nitrate, nitrite, total dissolved solids (TDS), alkalinity, hardness, bicarbonate, chloride, sulfate, calcium, magnesium, fluoride, sodium, potassium, iron, aluminum, silica, phosphate, sulfide, arsenic, chromium, lead, cadmium, chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), viable aerobic bacteria (VAB) and total coliform bacteria (TC). Concentrations of lead, ammonium, nitrite and coliforms were higher than the maximum allowable limits for drinking water in a large proportion of the water samples. To obtain a general representation of the spatial and temporal trends of the water quality parameters at the reservoir, the three-dimensional dataset (sampling sites x parameters x sampling campaigns) has been analyzed by matrix augmentation principal component analysis (MA-PCA) and N-way principal component analysis (N-PCA) using Tucker3 and PARAFAC (Parallel Factor Analysis) models. MA-PCA produced a component accounting for the general behavior of parameters associated with organic pollution. The Tucker3 models were not appropriate for modelling the water quality dataset. The two-factor PARAFAC model provided the best picture to understand the

  7. Modelling spatial and temporal variations in the water quality of an artificial water reservoir in the semiarid Midwest of Argentina

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cid, Fabricio D.; Anton, Rosa I.; Pardo, Rafael; Vega, Marisol; Caviedes-Vidal, Enrique

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: → Water quality of an Argentinean reservoir has been investigated by N-way PCA. → PARAFAC mode modelled spatial and seasonal variations of water composition. → Two factors related with organic and lead pollution have been identified. → The most polluted areas of the reservoir were located, and polluting sources identified. - Abstract: Temporal and spatial patterns of water quality of an important artificial water reservoir located in the semiarid Midwest of Argentina were investigated using chemometric techniques. Surface water samples were collected at 38 points of the water reservoir during eleven sampling campaigns between October 1998 and June 2000, covering the warm wet season and the cold dry season, and analyzed for dissolved oxygen (DO), conductivity, pH, ammonium, nitrate, nitrite, total dissolved solids (TDS), alkalinity, hardness, bicarbonate, chloride, sulfate, calcium, magnesium, fluoride, sodium, potassium, iron, aluminum, silica, phosphate, sulfide, arsenic, chromium, lead, cadmium, chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), viable aerobic bacteria (VAB) and total coliform bacteria (TC). Concentrations of lead, ammonium, nitrite and coliforms were higher than the maximum allowable limits for drinking water in a large proportion of the water samples. To obtain a general representation of the spatial and temporal trends of the water quality parameters at the reservoir, the three-dimensional dataset (sampling sites x parameters x sampling campaigns) has been analyzed by matrix augmentation principal component analysis (MA-PCA) and N-way principal component analysis (N-PCA) using Tucker3 and PARAFAC (Parallel Factor Analysis) models. MA-PCA produced a component accounting for the general behavior of parameters associated with organic pollution. The Tucker3 models were not appropriate for modelling the water quality dataset. The two-factor PARAFAC model provided the best picture to understand the spatial and

  8. A universe model confronted to observations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Souriau, J.M.

    1982-09-01

    Present work is a detailed study of a Universe model elaborated in several steps, and some of its consequences. Absence zone in quasar spatial distribution is first described; demonstration is made it is sufficient to determine a cosmological model. Each following paragraph is concerned with a type of observation, which is confronted with the model. Universe age and density, redshift-luminosity relation for galaxies and quasars, diameter-redshift relation for radiosources, radiation isotropy at 3 0 K, matter-antimatter contact zone physics. An eventual stratification of universe parallel to this zone is more peculiarly studied; absorption lines in quasar spectra are in way interpreted, just as local super-cluster and local group of galaxies, galaxy HI region orientation, and at last neighbouring galaxy kinematics [fr

  9. Collaboration Between Universities: An effective way of sustaining community-university partnerships?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jonathan Pratt

    2011-11-01

    geography of public administration, with the aim of both increasing democratic accountability and improving the spatial fit between policy interventions and economic and social ‘reality’. Keywords Community-university partnership, collaboration between universities, engagement mechanisms, sustainability, geographic communities

  10. Brain activations during bimodal dual tasks depend on the nature and combination of component tasks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emma eSalo

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate brain activations during nine different dual tasks in which the participants were required to simultaneously attend to concurrent streams of spoken syllables and written letters. They performed a phonological, spatial or simple (speaker-gender or font-shade discrimination task within each modality. We expected to find activations associated specifically with dual tasking especially in the frontal and parietal cortices. However, no brain areas showed systematic dual task enhancements common for all dual tasks. Further analysis revealed that dual tasks including component tasks that were according to Baddeley’s model modality atypical, that is, the auditory spatial task or the visual phonological task, were not associated with enhanced frontal activity. In contrast, for other dual tasks, activity specifically associated with dual tasking was found in the left or bilateral frontal cortices. Enhanced activation in parietal areas, however, appeared not to be specifically associated with dual tasking per se, but rather with intermodal attention switching. We also expected effects of dual tasking in left frontal supramodal phonological processing areas when both component tasks required phonological processing and in right parietal supramodal spatial processing areas when both tasks required spatial processing. However, no such effects were found during these dual tasks compared with their component tasks performed separately. Taken together, the current results indicate that activations during dual tasks depend in a complex manner on specific demands of component tasks.

  11. Making Temporal Search More Central in Spatial Data Infrastructures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corti, P.; Lewis, B.

    2017-10-01

    A temporally enabled Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) is a framework of geospatial data, metadata, users, and tools intended to provide an efficient and flexible way to use spatial information which includes the historical dimension. One of the key software components of an SDI is the catalogue service which is needed to discover, query, and manage the metadata. A search engine is a software system capable of supporting fast and reliable search, which may use any means necessary to get users to the resources they need quickly and efficiently. These techniques may include features such as full text search, natural language processing, weighted results, temporal search based on enrichment, visualization of patterns in distributions of results in time and space using temporal and spatial faceting, and many others. In this paper we will focus on the temporal aspects of search which include temporal enrichment using a time miner - a software engine able to search for date components within a larger block of text, the storage of time ranges in the search engine, handling historical dates, and the use of temporal histograms in the user interface to display the temporal distribution of search results.

  12. Explaining sex differences in mental rotation: role of spatial activity experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nazareth, Alina; Herrera, Asiel; Pruden, Shannon M

    2013-05-01

    Males consistently outperform females on mental rotation tasks, such as the Vandenberg and Kuse (1978) Perceptual and Motor Skills, 47(2), 599-604, mental rotation test (MRT; e.g. Voyer et al. 1995) in Psychological Bulletin, 117, 250-265. The present study investigates whether these sex differences in MRT scores can be explained in part by early spatial activity experience, particularly those spatial activities that have been sex-typed as masculine/male-oriented. Utilizing an online survey, 571 ethnically diverse adult university students completed a brief demographic survey, an 81-item spatial activity survey, and the MRT. Results suggest that the significant relation between sex of the participant and MRT score is partially mediated by the number of masculine spatial activities participants had engaged in as youth. Closing the gap between males and females in spatial ability, a skill linked to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics success, may be accomplished in part by encouraging female youth to engage in more particular kinds of spatial activities.

  13. A model for the distribution of dark matter, galaxies, and the intergalactic medium in a cold dark matter-dominated universe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ryu, Dongsu; Vishniac, Ethan T.; Chiang, Wei-Hwan

    1989-01-01

    The spatial distribution of the cold-dark-matter (CDM) and baryonic components of CDM-dominated cosmological models are characterized, summarizing the results of recent theoretical investigations. The evolution and distribution of matter in an Einstein-de Sitter universe on length scales small enough so that the Newtonian approximation is valid is followed chronologically, assuming (1) that the galaxies, CDM, and the intergalactic medium (IGM) are coupled by gravity, (2) that galaxies form by taking mass and momentum from the IGM, and (3) that the IGM responds to the energy input from the galaxies. The results of the numerical computations are presented in extensive graphs and discussed in detail.

  14. APPLICATION OF PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS TO RELAXOGRAPHIC IMAGES

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    STOYANOVA, R.S.; OCHS, M.F.; BROWN, T.R.; ROONEY, W.D.; LI, X.; LEE, J.H.; SPRINGER, C.S.

    1999-01-01

    Standard analysis methods for processing inversion recovery MR images traditionally have used single pixel techniques. In these techniques each pixel is independently fit to an exponential recovery, and spatial correlations in the data set are ignored. By analyzing the image as a complete dataset, improved error analysis and automatic segmentation can be achieved. Here, the authors apply principal component analysis (PCA) to a series of relaxographic images. This procedure decomposes the 3-dimensional data set into three separate images and corresponding recovery times. They attribute the 3 images to be spatial representations of gray matter (GM), white matter (WM) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) content

  15. The association of lesion eccentricity with plaque morphology and components in the superficial femoral artery: a high-spatial-resolution, multi-contrast weighted CMR study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhao Xihai

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Atherosclerotic plaque morphology and components are predictors of subsequent cardiovascular events. However, associations of plaque eccentricity with plaque morphology and plaque composition are unclear. This study investigated associations of plaque eccentricity with plaque components and morphology in the proximal superficial femoral artery using cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR. Methods Twenty-eight subjects with an ankle-brachial index less than 1.00 were examined with 1.5T high-spatial-resolution, multi-contrast weighted CMR. One hundred and eighty diseased locations of the proximal superficial femoral artery (about 40 mm were analyzed. The eccentric lesion was defined as [(Maximum wall thickness- Minimum wall thickness/Maximum wall thickness] ≥ 0.5. The arterial morphology and plaque components were measured using semi-automatic image analysis software. Results One hundred and fifteen locations were identified as eccentric lesions and sixty-five as concentric lesions. The eccentric lesions had larger wall but similar lumen areas, larger mean and maximum wall thicknesses, and more calcification and lipid rich necrotic core, compared to concentric lesions. For lesions with the same lumen area, the degree of eccentricity was associated with an increased wall area. Eccentricity (dichotomous as eccentric or concentric was independently correlated with the prevalence of calcification (odds ratio 3.78, 95% CI 1.47-9.70 after adjustment for atherosclerotic risk factors and wall area. Conclusions Plaque eccentricity is associated with preserved lumen size and advanced plaque features such as larger plaque burden, more lipid content, and increased calcification in the superficial femoral artery.

  16. Improved application of independent component analysis to functional magnetic resonance imaging study via linear projection techniques.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Long, Zhiying; Chen, Kewei; Wu, Xia; Reiman, Eric; Peng, Danling; Yao, Li

    2009-02-01

    Spatial Independent component analysis (sICA) has been widely used to analyze functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. The well accepted implicit assumption is the spatially statistical independency of intrinsic sources identified by sICA, making the sICA applications difficult for data in which there exist interdependent sources and confounding factors. This interdependency can arise, for instance, from fMRI studies investigating two tasks in a single session. In this study, we introduced a linear projection approach and considered its utilization as a tool to separate task-related components from two-task fMRI data. The robustness and feasibility of the method are substantiated through simulation on computer data and fMRI real rest data. Both simulated and real two-task fMRI experiments demonstrated that sICA in combination with the projection method succeeded in separating spatially dependent components and had better detection power than pure model-based method when estimating activation induced by each task as well as both tasks.

  17. Component Analysis of Long-Lag, Wide-Pulse Gamma-Ray Burst ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Principal Component Analysis of Long-Lag, Wide-Pulse Gamma-Ray. Burst Data. Zhao-Yang Peng. ∗. & Wen-Shuai Liu. Department of Physics, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China. ∗ e-mail: pzy@ynao.ac.cn. Abstract. We have carried out a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of the temporal and spectral ...

  18. Entry into working life: Spatial mobility and the job match quality of higher-educated graduates

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Venhorst, Viktor; Cörvers, F.

    2015-01-01

    We estimate the impact of spatial mobility on job match quality by using a data set of recent Dutch university and college graduates We find positive wage returns related to spatial mobility. However, after controlling for the self-selection of migrants with an IV approach, this effect is no longer

  19. GuidosToolbox: universal digital image object analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peter Vogt; Kurt Riitters

    2017-01-01

    The increased availability of mapped environmental data calls for better tools to analyze the spatial characteristics and information contained in those maps. Publicly available, userfriendly and universal tools are needed to foster the interdisciplinary development and application of methodologies for the extraction of image object information properties contained in...

  20. Spatial Landau-Zener-Stueckelberg interference in spinor Bose-Einstein condensates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, J.-N.; Sun, C.-P.; Yi, S.; Nori, Franco

    2011-01-01

    We investigate the Stueckelberg oscillations of a spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate subject to a spatially inhomogeneous transverse magnetic field and a periodic longitudinal field. We show that the time-domain Stueckelberg oscillations result in modulations in the density profiles of all spin components due to the spatial inhomogeneity of the transverse field. This phenomenon represents the Landau-Zener-Stueckelberg interference in the space domain. Since the magnetic dipole-dipole interaction between spin-1 atoms induces an inhomogeneous effective magnetic field, interference fringes also appear if a dipolar spinor condensate is driven periodically. We also point out some potential applications of this spatial Landau-Zener-Stuekelberg interference.

  1. Spatially resolved single crystal x-ray spectropolarimetry of wire array z-pinch plasmas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wallace, M S; Haque, S; Neill, P; Pereira, N R; Presura, R

    2018-01-01

    A recently developed single-crystal x-ray spectropolarimeter has been used to record paired sets of polarization-dependent and axially resolved x-ray spectra emitted by wire array z-pinches. In this measurement, two internal planes inside a suitable crystal diffract the x-rays into two perpendicular directions that are normal to each other, thereby separating incident x-rays into their linearly polarized components. This paper gives considerations for fielding the instrument on extended sources. Results from extended sources are difficult to interpret because generally the incident x-rays are not separated properly by the crystal. This difficulty is mitigated by using a series of collimating slits to select incident x-rays that propagate in a plane of symmetry between the polarization-splitting planes. The resulting instrument and some of the spatially resolved polarized x-ray spectra recorded for a 1-MA aluminum wire array z-pinch at the Nevada Terawatt Facility at the University of Nevada, Reno will be presented.

  2. Large-scale changes in network interactions as a physiological signature of spatial neglect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baldassarre, Antonello; Ramsey, Lenny; Hacker, Carl L; Callejas, Alicia; Astafiev, Serguei V; Metcalf, Nicholas V; Zinn, Kristi; Rengachary, Jennifer; Snyder, Abraham Z; Carter, Alex R; Shulman, Gordon L; Corbetta, Maurizio

    2014-12-01

    The relationship between spontaneous brain activity and behaviour following focal injury is not well understood. Here, we report a large-scale study of resting state functional connectivity MRI and spatial neglect following stroke in a large (n=84) heterogeneous sample of first-ever stroke patients (within 1-2 weeks). Spatial neglect, which is typically more severe after right than left hemisphere injury, includes deficits of spatial attention and motor actions contralateral to the lesion, and low general attention due to impaired vigilance/arousal. Patients underwent structural and resting state functional MRI scans, and spatial neglect was measured using the Posner spatial cueing task, and Mesulam and Behavioural Inattention Test cancellation tests. A principal component analysis of the behavioural tests revealed a main factor accounting for 34% of variance that captured three correlated behavioural deficits: visual neglect of the contralesional visual field, visuomotor neglect of the contralesional field, and low overall performance. In an independent sample (21 healthy subjects), we defined 10 resting state networks consisting of 169 brain regions: visual-fovea and visual-periphery, sensory-motor, auditory, dorsal attention, ventral attention, language, fronto-parietal control, cingulo-opercular control, and default mode. We correlated the neglect factor score with the strength of resting state functional connectivity within and across the 10 resting state networks. All damaged brain voxels were removed from the functional connectivity:behaviour correlational analysis. We found that the correlated behavioural deficits summarized by the factor score were associated with correlated multi-network patterns of abnormal functional connectivity involving large swaths of cortex. Specifically, dorsal attention and sensory-motor networks showed: (i) reduced interhemispheric functional connectivity; (ii) reduced anti-correlation with fronto-parietal and default mode

  3. Mental map and spatial thinking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vanzella Castellar, Sonia Maria; Cristiane Strina Juliasz, Paula

    2018-05-01

    The spatial thinking is a central concept in our researches at the Faculty of Education of University of São Paulo (FE-USP). The cartography is fundamental to this kind of thinking, because it contributes to the development of the representation of space. The spatial representations are the drawings - mental maps - maps, chart, aerial photos, satellite images, graphics and diagrams. To think spatially - including the contents and concepts geographical and their representations - also corresponds to reason, defined by the skills the individual develops to understand the structure, function of a space, and describe your organization and relation to other spaces. The aim of this paper is to analyze the role of mental maps in the development of concepts of city and landscape - structuring concepts for school geography. The purpose is to analyze how students in Geography and Pedagogy - future teachers - and young children in Early Childhood Education think, feel, and appropriate these concepts. The analys is indicates the importance of developing mental map in activities with pedagogy and geography graduate student to know that students at school can be producers of maps. Cartography is a language and allows the student to develop the spatial and temporal relationships and notions such as orientation, distance and location, learning the concepts of geographical science. Mental maps present the basic features of the location such as the conditions - the features verified in one place - and the connections that is to understand how this place connects to other places.

  4. Spatial and temporal characterizations of water quality in Kuwait Bay.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Mutairi, N; Abahussain, A; El-Battay, A

    2014-06-15

    The spatial and temporal patterns of water quality in Kuwait Bay have been investigated using data from six stations between 2009 and 2011. The results showed that most of water quality parameters such as phosphorus (PO4), nitrate (NO3), dissolved oxygen (DO), and Total Suspended Solids (TSS) fluctuated over time and space. Based on Water Quality Index (WQI) data, six stations were significantly clustered into two main classes using cluster analysis, one group located in western side of the Bay, and other in eastern side. Three principal components are responsible for water quality variations in the Bay. The first component included DO and pH. The second included PO4, TSS and NO3, and the last component contained seawater temperature and turbidity. The spatial and temporal patterns of water quality in Kuwait Bay are mainly controlled by seasonal variations and discharges from point sources of pollution along Kuwait Bay's coast as well as from Shatt Al-Arab River. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Improving Geoscience Students' Spatial Thinking Skills: Applying Cognitive Science Research in the Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ormand, C. J.; Shipley, T. F.; Manduca, C. A.; Tikoff, B.

    2011-12-01

    Spatial thinking skills are critical to success in many subdisciplines of the geosciences (and beyond). There are many components of spatial thinking, such as mental rotation, penetrative visualization, disembedding, perspective taking, and navigation. Undergraduate students in introductory and upper-level geoscience courses bring a wide variety of spatial skill levels to the classroom, as measured by psychometric tests of many of these components of spatial thinking. Furthermore, it is not unusual for individual students to excel in some of these areas while struggling in others. Although pre- and post-test comparisons show that student skill levels typically improve over the course of an academic term, average gains are quite modest. This suggests that it may be valuable to develop interventions to help undergraduate students develop a range of spatial skills that can be used to solve geoscience problems. Cognitive science research suggests a number of strong strategies for building students' spatial skills. Practice is essential, and time on task is correlated to improvement. Progressive alignment may be used to scaffold students' successes on simpler problems, allowing them to see how more complex problems are related to those they can solve. Gesturing has proven effective in moving younger students from incorrect problem-solving strategies to correct strategies in other disciplines. These principles can be used to design instructional materials to improve undergraduate geoscience students' spatial skills; we will present some examples of such materials.

  6. Communication and Cultural Change in University Technology Transfer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wright, David

    2013-01-01

    Faculty culture and communication networks are pivotal components of technology transfer on university campuses. Universities are focused upon diffusing technology to external clients and upon building structure and support systems to enhance technology transfer. However, engaging faculty members in technology transfer requires an internal…

  7. Classical universe emerging from quantum cosmology without horizon and flatness problems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fathi, M.; Jalalzadeh, S. [Shahid Beheshti University, Department of Physics, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Moniz, P.V. [Centro de Matematica e Aplicacoes-UBI, Covilha (Portugal); Universidade da Beira Interior, Departmento de Fisica, Covilha (Portugal)

    2016-10-15

    We apply the complex de Broglie-Bohm formulation of quantum mechanics in Chou and Wyatt (Phys Rev A 76: 012115, 2007), Gozzi (Phys Lett B 165: 351, 1985), Bhalla et al. (Am J Phys 65: 1187, 1997) to a spatially closed homogeneous and isotropic early universe whose matter contents are radiation and dust perfect fluids. We then show that an expanding classical universe can emerge from an oscillating (with complex scale factor) quantum universe without singularity. Furthermore, the universe obtained in this process has no horizon or flatness problems. (orig.)

  8. The supersymmetric Casimir effect and quantum creation of the universe with nontrivial topology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goncharov, Yu.P.; Bytsenko, A.A.

    1985-01-01

    We estimate the probability of quantum creation of the universe, having the spatial topology (S 1 ) 3 , and filled with the fields of minimal N=1 supergravity, in the semiclassical approximation. After creation, inflation of the universe occurs due to the topological Casimir effect. Creation of the universe with an isotropic topology is found to be the most preferable. (orig.)

  9. Identification and analysis of labor productivity components based on ACHIEVE model (case study: staff of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziapour, Arash; Khatony, Alireza; Kianipour, Neda; Jafary, Faranak

    2014-12-15

    Identification and analysis of the components of labor productivity based on ACHIEVE model was performed among employees in different parts of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences in 2014. This was a descriptive correlational study in which the population consisted of 270 working personnel in different administrative groups (contractual, fixed- term and regular) at Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences (872 people) that were selected among 872 people through stratified random sampling method based on Krejcie and Morgan sampling table. The survey tool included labor productivity questionnaire of ACHIEVE. Questionnaires were confirmed in terms of content and face validity, and their reliability was calculated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The data were analyzed by SPSS-18 software using descriptive and inferential statistics. The mean scores for labor productivity dimensions of the employees, including environment (environmental fit), evaluation (training and performance feedback), validity (valid and legal exercise of personnel), incentive (motivation or desire), help (organizational support), clarity (role perception or understanding), ability (knowledge and skills) variables and total labor productivity were 4.10±0.630, 3.99±0.568, 3.97±0.607, 3.76±0.701, 3.63±0.746, 3.59±0.777, 3.49±0.882 and 26.54±4.347, respectively. Also, the results indicated that the seven factors of environment, performance assessment, validity, motivation, organizational support, clarity, and ability were effective in increasing labor productivity. The analysis of the current status of university staff in the employees' viewpoint suggested that the two factors of environment and evaluation, which had the greatest impact on labor productivity in the viewpoint of the staff, were in a favorable condition and needed to be further taken into consideration by authorities.

  10. Identification and Analysis of Labor Productivity Components Based on ACHIEVE Model (Case Study: Staff of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziapour, Arash; Khatony, Alireza; Kianipour, Neda; Jafary, Faranak

    2015-01-01

    Identification and analysis of the components of labor productivity based on ACHIEVE model was performed among employees in different parts of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences in 2014. This was a descriptive correlational study in which the population consisted of 270 working personnel in different administrative groups (contractual, fixed- term and regular) at Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences (872 people) that were selected among 872 people through stratified random sampling method based on Krejcie and Morgan sampling table. The survey tool included labor productivity questionnaire of ACHIEVE. Questionnaires were confirmed in terms of content and face validity, and their reliability was calculated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The data were analyzed by SPSS-18 software using descriptive and inferential statistics. The mean scores for labor productivity dimensions of the employees, including environment (environmental fit), evaluation (training and performance feedback), validity (valid and legal exercise of personnel), incentive (motivation or desire), help (organizational support), clarity (role perception or understanding), ability (knowledge and skills) variables and total labor productivity were 4.10±0.630, 3.99±0.568, 3.97±0.607, 3.76±0.701, 3.63±0.746, 3.59±0.777, 3.49±0.882 and 26.54±4.347, respectively. Also, the results indicated that the seven factors of environment, performance assessment, validity, motivation, organizational support, clarity, and ability were effective in increasing labor productivity. The analysis of the current status of university staff in the employees’ viewpoint suggested that the two factors of environment and evaluation, which had the greatest impact on labor productivity in the viewpoint of the staff, were in a favorable condition and needed to be further taken into consideration by authorities. PMID:25560364

  11. The role of right frontal brain regions in integration of spatial relation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Jiahui; Cao, Bihua; Cao, Yunfei; Gao, Heming; Li, Fuhong

    2016-06-01

    Previous studies have explored the neural mechanisms of spatial reasoning on a two-dimensional (2D) plane; however, it remains unclear how spatial reasoning is conducted in a three-dimensional (3D) condition. In the present study, we presented 3D geometric objects to 16 adult participants, and asked them to process the spatial relationship between different corners of the geometric objects. In premise-1, the first two corners of a geometric shape (e.g., A vs. B) were displayed. In premise-2, the second and third corners (e.g., B vs. C) were displayed. After integrating the two premises, participants were required to infer the spatial relationship between the first and the third corners (e.g., A and C). Finally, the participants were presented with a conclusion object, and they were required to judge whether the conclusion was true or false based on their inference. The event-related potential evoked by premise-2 revealed that (1) compared with 2D spatial reasoning, 3D reasoning elicited a smaller P3b component, and (2) in the right frontal areas, increased negativities were found in the 3D condition during the N400 and late negative components (LNC). These findings imply that higher brain activity in the right frontal brain regions were related with the integration and maintenance of spatial information in working memory for reasoning. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Observational homogeneity of the Universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bonnor, W.B.; Ellis, G.F.R.

    1986-01-01

    A new approach to observational homogeneity is presented. The observation that stars and galaxies in distant regions appear similar to those nearby may be taken to imply that matter has had a similar thermodynamic history in widely separated parts of the Universe (the Postulate of Uniform Thermal Histories, or PUTH). The supposition is now made that similar thermodynamic histories imply similar dynamical histories. Then the distant apparent similarity is evidence for spatial homogeneity of the Universe. General Relativity is used to test this idea, taking a perfect fluid model and implementing PUTH by the condition that the density and entropy per baryon shall be the same function of the proper time along all galaxy world-lines. (author)

  13. Spatial Estimation and Visualization of CO2 Emissions for Campus Sustainability: The Case of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST, Saudi Arabia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yusuf A. Adenle

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available A total of 21 metric tons of CO2 per person in terms of per capita emissions from consumption of energy was recorded in Saudi Arabia in 2011 and forecasts have shown that this emission of CO2 is increasing. This poses the threat of climate change and global warming and therefore the need for the sustainability of the country. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Vision for 2030 addresses environmental sustainability that includes a reduction in CO2 emissions as well as diversified economic growth. Universities have been regarded as institutions with significant responsibilities to resolve the issues of sustainability as well as serve as role model to society by implementing a sustainability plan. This study established a spatial evaluation, estimation, and visualization of the CO2 emissions of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST, Saudi Arabia. The data required for this study were collected from the overall coverage of the university campus buildings by transforming raster data from the satellite image to vector data in the form of polygons, and then multiplying the area by the number of floors of the individual building. ArcGIS 10.3® (ESRI, Redlands, CA, USA software was used for this campus CO2 emissions evaluation and visualization. The overall estimate of the CO2 emissions for the university campus was 127.7-tons CO2 equivalent. The lowest emission was 0.02-tons CO2 equivalent while the maximum value was 20.9-tons of CO2 equivalent. By this ArcGIS-based evaluation, it is evident that geographically integrated model for campus estimation and visualization of CO2 emissions provides the information for decision makers to develop viable strategies for achieving a higher standard in overall campus sustainability and addressing the issue of climate change.

  14. Damage Spreading in Spatial and Small-world Random Boolean Networks

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lu, Qiming [Fermilab; Teuscher, Christof [Portland State U.

    2014-02-18

    The study of the response of complex dynamical social, biological, or technological networks to external perturbations has numerous applications. Random Boolean Networks (RBNs) are commonly used a simple generic model for certain dynamics of complex systems. Traditionally, RBNs are interconnected randomly and without considering any spatial extension and arrangement of the links and nodes. However, most real-world networks are spatially extended and arranged with regular, power-law, small-world, or other non-random connections. Here we explore the RBN network topology between extreme local connections, random small-world, and pure random networks, and study the damage spreading with small perturbations. We find that spatially local connections change the scaling of the relevant component at very low connectivities ($\\bar{K} \\ll 1$) and that the critical connectivity of stability $K_s$ changes compared to random networks. At higher $\\bar{K}$, this scaling remains unchanged. We also show that the relevant component of spatially local networks scales with a power-law as the system size N increases, but with a different exponent for local and small-world networks. The scaling behaviors are obtained by finite-size scaling. We further investigate the wiring cost of the networks. From an engineering perspective, our new findings provide the key design trade-offs between damage spreading (robustness), the network's wiring cost, and the network's communication characteristics.

  15. [Development of spatial orientation during pilot training].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ivanov, V V; Vorob'ev, O A; Snipkov, Iu Iu

    1988-01-01

    The problem of spatial orientation of pilots flying high-altitude aircraft is in the focus of present-day aviation medicine because of a growing number of accidents in the air. One of the productive lines of research is to study spatial orientation in terms of active formation and maintenance of its imagery in a complex environment. However investigators usually emphasize the role of visual (instrumental) information in the image construction, almost ignoring the sensorimotor component of spatial orientation. The theoretical analysis of the process of spatial orientation has facilitated the development of the concept assuming that the pattern of space perception changes with growing professional experience. The concept is based on an active approach to the essence, emergence, formation and variation in the pattern of sensory perception of space in man's consciousness. This concept asserts that as pilot's professional expertise increases, the pattern of spatial orientation becomes geocentric because a new system of spatial perception evolves which is a result of the development of a new (instrumental) type of motor activity in space. This finds expression in the fact that perception of spatial position inflight occurs when man has to resolve a new motor task--movement along a complex trajectory in the three-dimensional space onboard a flying vehicle. The meaningful structure of this problem which is to be implemented through controlling movements of the pilot acts as a factor that forms this new system of perception. All this underlies the arrangement of meaningful collection of instrumental data and detection of noninstrumental signals in the comprehensive perception of changes in the spatial position of a flying vehicle.

  16. Independence and interaction of luminance and chromatic contributions to spatial hyperacuity performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooper, Bonnie; Lee, Barry B

    2014-04-01

    Here we test interactions of luminance and chromatic input to spatial hyperacuity mechanisms. First, we tested alignment of luminance and chromatic gratings matched or mismatched in contrast polarity or grating type. Thresholds with matched gratings were low while all mismatched pairs were elevated. Second, we determined alignment acuity as a function of luminance or chromatic contrast alone or in the presence of constant contrast components of the other type. For in-phase components, performance followed the envelope of the more sensitive mechanism. However, polarity reversals revealed an asymmetric effect for luminance and chromatic conditions, which suggested that luminance can override chromatic mechanisms in hyperacuity; we interpret these findings in the context of spatial mechanisms.

  17. Deciphering factors controlling groundwater arsenic spatial variability in Bangladesh

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Z.; Yang, Q.; Zheng, C.; Zheng, Y.

    2017-12-01

    Elevated concentrations of geogenic arsenic in groundwater have been found in many countries to exceed 10 μg/L, the WHO's guideline value for drinking water. A common yet unexplained characteristic of groundwater arsenic spatial distribution is the extensive variability at various spatial scales. This study investigates factors influencing the spatial variability of groundwater arsenic in Bangladesh to improve the accuracy of models predicting arsenic exceedance rate spatially. A novel boosted regression tree method is used to establish a weak-learning ensemble model, which is compared to a linear model using a conventional stepwise logistic regression method. The boosted regression tree models offer the advantage of parametric interaction when big datasets are analyzed in comparison to the logistic regression. The point data set (n=3,538) of groundwater hydrochemistry with 19 parameters was obtained by the British Geological Survey in 2001. The spatial data sets of geological parameters (n=13) were from the Consortium for Spatial Information, Technical University of Denmark, University of East Anglia and the FAO, while the soil parameters (n=42) were from the Harmonized World Soil Database. The aforementioned parameters were regressed to categorical groundwater arsenic concentrations below or above three thresholds: 5 μg/L, 10 μg/L and 50 μg/L to identify respective controlling factors. Boosted regression tree method outperformed logistic regression methods in all three threshold levels in terms of accuracy, specificity and sensitivity, resulting in an improvement of spatial distribution map of probability of groundwater arsenic exceeding all three thresholds when compared to disjunctive-kriging interpolated spatial arsenic map using the same groundwater arsenic dataset. Boosted regression tree models also show that the most important controlling factors of groundwater arsenic distribution include groundwater iron content and well depth for all three

  18. Physics of the universe

    CERN Document Server

    Sachs, Mendel

    2010-01-01

    This book presents a new approach to the subject of cosmology. It fully exploits Einstein's theory of general relativity. It is found that the most general formal expression of the theory replaces the (10-component) tensor formalism with a (16-component) quaternion formalism. This leads to a unified field theory, where one field incorporates gravitation and electromagnetism. The theory predicts an oscillating universe cosmology with a spiral configuration. Dark matter is explained in terms of a sea of particle-antiparticle pairs, each in a particular (derived) ground state. This leads to an ex

  19. The determination of contribution of emotional intelligence and parenting styles components to predicts positive psychological components

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    hosein Ebrahimi moghadam

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Background: Since the essential of positive psychological components, as compliment of deficiency oriented approaches, has begun in recent days,we decided to take into account this new branch of psychology which scientifically considers studying forces of human, as well as because of the importance of this branch of psychology, we also tried to search the contribution of emotional intelligence and parenting styles components to predict positive psychological components. Materials and Methods:In this cross sectional study 200 psychological students of Azad university (Rudehen branch selected using cluster sampling method. Then they were estimated by Bradbery and Grivers emotional intelligence questionnaire , Bamrind parenting styles and Rajayi et al positive psychological components questionnaire. Research data was analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation, inferential statistics (multiple regression and Pierson correlation coefficient and SPSS software. Results:Among the components of emotional intelligence, the component of emotional self consciousness (β=0.464 had the greatest predictable , and reaction leadership showed no predictability in this research between parenting styles , authority parenting styles had positive significance relationship with positive psychological components. And no significant relationship was found between despot parenting styles and positive psychological components. Conclusion: Regarding the results of this research and importance of positive psychological components, it is suggested to treat the emotional intelligence from childhood and to learn it to parents and remind them the parenting way to decrease the satisfaction of individuals which leads to promotion of society mental health.

  20. Experimental and principal component analysis of waste ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The present study is aimed at determining through principal component analysis the most important variables affecting bacterial degradation in ponds. Data were collected from literature. In addition, samples were also collected from the waste stabilization ponds at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and analyzed to ...

  1. Spontaneous body movements in spatial cognition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergiu eTcaci Popescu

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available People often perform spontaneous body movements during spatial tasks such as giving complex directions or orienting themselves on maps. How are these spontaneous gestures related to spatial problem-solving? We measured spontaneous movements during a perspective-taking task inspired by map reading. Analyzing the motion data to isolate rotation and translation components of motion in specific geometric relation to the task, we found out that most participants executed spontaneous miniature rotations of the head that were significantly related to the main task parameter. These head rotations were as if participants were trying to align themselves with the orientation on the map either in the image plane or on the ground plane, but with tiny amplitudes, typically below 1% of the actual movements. Our results are consistent with a model of sensorimotor prediction driving spatial reasoning. The efference copy of planned movements triggers this prediction mechanism. The movements themselves may then be mostly inhibited; the small spontaneous gestures that we measure are the visible traces of these planned but inhibited actions.

  2. A component-based open hypermedia approach to integreting structure services

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grønbæk, Kaj; Nürnberg, Peter J.; Bucka-Lassen, Dirk

    1999-01-01

    In this paper, we consider the issue of integrating different structure services within a component-based open hypermedia system. We do so by considering the task of collaborative editing, which calls for a variety of different structures traditionally supplied by different structure services. We...... discuss the nature of collaborative editing and how it can be supported by a combination of spatial and navigational hypermedia services. We then present a component-based open hypermedia system architecture and describe various methods of integrating different structure services provided within...... such an architecture. We show the advantages of integration within a component-based framework over other means of integration, highlighting some of the main advantages of the component-based approach to open hypermedia system design and implementation....

  3. Spatial Variability of Soil Morphorlogical and Physico-Chemical ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Spatial Variability of Soil Morphorlogical and Physico-Chemical Properties in Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Cashew Plantation, Ogbomoso. ... Colour (AP, B1 B2 and B3), structure (B2 and B3), stoniness (B1, B2 and B3), concretion (AP B1, B2 and B3) and boundary forms (B1, B2 and B3) have extremely ...

  4. Uniform functional structure across spatial scales in an intertidal benthic assemblage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barnes, R S K; Hamylton, Sarah

    2015-05-01

    To investigate the causes of the remarkable similarity of emergent assemblage properties that has been demonstrated across disparate intertidal seagrass sites and assemblages, this study examined whether their emergent functional-group metrics are scale related by testing the null hypothesis that functional diversity and the suite of dominant functional groups in seagrass-associated macrofauna are robust structural features of such assemblages and do not vary spatially across nested scales within a 0.4 ha area. This was carried out via a lattice of 64 spatially referenced stations. Although densities of individual components were patchily dispersed across the locality, rank orders of importance of the 14 functional groups present, their overall functional diversity and evenness, and the proportions of the total individuals contained within each showed, in contrast, statistically significant spatial uniformity, even at areal scales functional groups in their geospatial context also revealed weaker than expected levels of spatial autocorrelation, and then only at the smaller scales and amongst the most dominant groups, and only a small number of negative correlations occurred between the proportional importances of the individual groups. In effect, such patterning was a surface veneer overlying remarkable stability of assemblage functional composition across all spatial scales. Although assemblage species composition is known to be homogeneous in some soft-sediment marine systems over equivalent scales, this combination of patchy individual components yet basically constant functional-group structure seems as yet unreported. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Mock-up experiment at Birmingham University for BNCT project of Osaka University – Neutron flux measurement with gold foil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tamaki, S.; Sakai, M.; Yoshihashi, S.; Manabe, M.; Zushi, N.; Murata, I.; Hoashi, E.; Kato, I.; Kuri, S.; Oshiro, S.; Nagasaki, M.; Horiike, H.

    2015-01-01

    Mock-up experiment for development of accelerator based neutron source for Osaka University BNCT project was carried out at Birmingham University, UK. In this paper, spatial distribution of neutron flux intensity was evaluated by foil activation method. Validity of the design code system was confirmed by comparing measured gold foil activities with calculations. As a result, it was found that the epi-thermal neutron beam was well collimated by our neutron moderator assembly. Also, the design accuracy was evaluated to have less than 20% error. - Highlights: • Accelerator based neutron source for BNCT is being developed in Osaka University. • Mock-up experiment was carried out at Birmingham University, UK. • Neutronics performance of our assembly was evaluated from gold foil activation. • Gold foil activation was determined by using HPGe detectors. • Validity of the neutronics design code system was confirmed.

  6. Kriging with Unknown Variance Components for Regional Ionospheric Reconstruction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ling Huang

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Ionospheric delay effect is a critical issue that limits the accuracy of precise Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS positioning and navigation for single-frequency users, especially in mid- and low-latitude regions where variations in the ionosphere are larger. Kriging spatial interpolation techniques have been recently introduced to model the spatial correlation and variability of ionosphere, which intrinsically assume that the ionosphere field is stochastically stationary but does not take the random observational errors into account. In this paper, by treating the spatial statistical information on ionosphere as prior knowledge and based on Total Electron Content (TEC semivariogram analysis, we use Kriging techniques to spatially interpolate TEC values. By assuming that the stochastic models of both the ionospheric signals and measurement errors are only known up to some unknown factors, we propose a new Kriging spatial interpolation method with unknown variance components for both the signals of ionosphere and TEC measurements. Variance component estimation has been integrated with Kriging to reconstruct regional ionospheric delays. The method has been applied to data from the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China (CMONOC and compared with the ordinary Kriging and polynomial interpolations with spherical cap harmonic functions, polynomial functions and low-degree spherical harmonic functions. The statistics of results indicate that the daily ionospheric variations during the experimental period characterized by the proposed approach have good agreement with the other methods, ranging from 10 to 80 TEC Unit (TECU, 1 TECU = 1 × 1016 electrons/m2 with an overall mean of 28.2 TECU. The proposed method can produce more appropriate estimations whose general TEC level is as smooth as the ordinary Kriging but with a smaller standard deviation around 3 TECU than others. The residual results show that the interpolation precision of the

  7. Measuring spatial patterns in floodplains: A step towards understanding the complexity of floodplain ecosystems: Chapter 6

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scown, Murray W.; Thoms, Martin C.; DeJager, Nathan R.; Gilvear, David J.; Greenwood, Malcolm T.; Thoms, Martin C.; Wood, Paul J.

    2016-01-01

    Floodplains can be viewed as complex adaptive systems (Levin, 1998) because they are comprised of many different biophysical components, such as morphological features, soil groups and vegetation communities as well as being sites of key biogeochemical processing (Stanford et al., 2005). Interactions and feedbacks among the biophysical components often result in additional phenomena occuring over a range of scales, often in the absence of any controlling factors (sensu Hallet, 1990). This emergence of new biophysical features and rates of processing can lead to alternative stable states which feed back into floodplain adaptive cycles (cf. Hughes, 1997; Stanford et al., 2005). Interactions between different biophysical components, feedbacks, self emergence and scale are all key properties of complex adaptive systems (Levin, 1998; Phillips, 2003; Murray et al., 2014) and therefore will influence the manner in which we study and view spatial patterns. Measuring the spatial patterns of floodplain biophysical components is a prerequisite to examining and understanding these ecosystems as complex adaptive systems. Elucidating relationships between pattern and process, which are intrinsically linked within floodplains (Ward et al., 2002), is dependent upon an understanding of spatial pattern. This knowledge can help river scientists determine the major drivers, controllers and responses of floodplain structure and function, as well as the consequences of altering those drivers and controllers (Hughes and Cass, 1997; Whited et al., 2007). Interactions and feedbacks between physical, chemical and biological components of floodplain ecosystems create and maintain a structurally diverse and dynamic template (Stanford et al., 2005). This template influences subsequent interactions between components that consequently affect system trajectories within floodplains (sensu Bak et al., 1988). Constructing and evaluating models used to predict floodplain ecosystem responses to

  8. Determining the shape of the universe using discrete sources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gomero, G I

    2003-01-01

    Suppose we have identified three clusters of galaxies as being topological copies of the same object. How does this information constrain the possible models for the shape of our universe? It is shown here that, if our universe has flat spatial sections, these multiple images can be accommodated within any of the six classes of compact orientable three-dimensional flat space forms. Moreover, the discovery of two more triples of multiple images in the neighbourhood of the first one would allow the determination of the topology of the universe, and in most cases the determination of its size

  9. Focal plane scanner with reciprocating spatial window

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mao, Chengye (Inventor)

    2000-01-01

    A focal plane scanner having a front objective lens, a spatial window for selectively passing a portion of the image therethrough, and a CCD array for receiving the passed portion of the image. All embodiments have a common feature whereby the spatial window and CCD array are mounted for simultaneous relative reciprocating movement with respect to the front objective lens, and the spatial window is mounted within the focal plane of the front objective. In a first embodiment, the spatial window is a slit and the CCD array is one-dimensional, and successive rows of the image in the focal plane of the front objective lens are passed to the CCD array by an image relay lens interposed between the slit and the CCD array. In a second embodiment, the spatial window is a slit, the CCD array is two-dimensional, and a prism-grating-prism optical spectrometer is interposed between the slit and the CCD array so as to cause the scanned row to be split into a plurality of spectral separations onto the CCD array. In a third embodiment, the CCD array is two-dimensional and the spatial window is a rectangular linear variable filter (LVF) window, so as to cause the scanned rows impinging on the LVF to be bandpass filtered into spectral components onto the CCD array through an image relay lens interposed between the LVF and the CCD array.

  10. Qualitative Description of Spatial Quality in Inclusive Architecture

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ryhl, Camilla; Kajita, Masashi; Sørensen, Rene

    2016-01-01

    Universal design (UD) has gained global significance and is in the process of institutionalisation in the Nordic Region. This is despite an urgent necessity for developing the theoretical basis and practical applicability of UD. Reflecting this need for furthering the comprehensive understanding ...... of assessment criteria is essential in order to support students and designers to make responsible decisions in shaping built environments that are accessible and inclusive but also enjoyable....... of spatial implication of UD, this paper aims to contribute for articulating a means to assess the quality of UD in architecture. Drawing upon numerous cases from research conducted at the Danish Building Research Institute, the paper focuses on sensory aspects of spatial quality, and discusses as well...

  11. Spatially distributed effects of mental exhaustion on resting-state FMRI networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esposito, Fabrizio; Otto, Tobias; Zijlstra, Fred R H; Goebel, Rainer

    2014-01-01

    Brain activity during rest is spatially coherent over functional connectivity networks called resting-state networks. In resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, independent component analysis yields spatially distributed network representations reflecting distinct mental processes, such as intrinsic (default) or extrinsic (executive) attention, and sensory inhibition or excitation. These aspects can be related to different treatments or subjective experiences. Among these, exhaustion is a common psychological state induced by prolonged mental performance. Using repeated functional magnetic resonance imaging sessions and spatial independent component analysis, we explored the effect of several hours of sustained cognitive performances on the resting human brain. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed on the same healthy volunteers in two days, with and without, and before, during and after, an intensive psychological treatment (skill training and sustained practice with a flight simulator). After each scan, subjects rated their level of exhaustion and performed an N-back task to evaluate eventual decrease in cognitive performance. Spatial maps of selected resting-state network components were statistically evaluated across time points to detect possible changes induced by the sustained mental performance. The intensive treatment had a significant effect on exhaustion and effort ratings, but no effects on N-back performances. Significant changes in the most exhausted state were observed in the early visual processing and the anterior default mode networks (enhancement) and in the fronto-parietal executive networks (suppression), suggesting that mental exhaustion is associated with a more idling brain state and that internal attention processes are facilitated to the detriment of more extrinsic processes. The described application may inspire future indicators of the level of fatigue in the neural attention system.

  12. Holistic processing of face configurations and components.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayward, William G; Crookes, Kate; Chu, Ming Hon; Favelle, Simone K; Rhodes, Gillian

    2016-10-01

    Although many researchers agree that faces are processed holistically, we know relatively little about what information holistic processing captures from a face. Most studies that assess the nature of holistic processing do so with changes to the face affecting many different aspects of face information (e.g., different identities). Does holistic processing affect every aspect of a face? We used the composite task, a common means of examining the strength of holistic processing, with participants making same-different judgments about configuration changes or component changes to 1 portion of a face. Configuration changes involved changes in spatial position of the eyes, whereas component changes involved lightening or darkening the eyebrows. Composites were either aligned or misaligned, and were presented either upright or inverted. Both configuration judgments and component judgments showed evidence of holistic processing, and in both cases it was strongest for upright face composites. These results suggest that holistic processing captures a broad range of information about the face, including both configuration-based and component-based information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  13. Coherent Code Tracking for Spatial Transmit Diversity DS-CDMA Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. W. Stewart

    2005-09-01

    Full Text Available Spatial transmit diversity schemes are now well integrated into third-generation cellular mobile communication system specifications. When DS-CDMA-based technology is deployed in typical macro- and microcell environments, multipath diversity and spatial diversity may be exploited simultaneously by a 2D RAKE receiver. The work presented in this paper focuses on taking advantage of spatial transmit diversity in synchronising the 2D RAKE structure. We investigate the use of coherent and noncoherent techniques for tracking the timing parameters of each multipath component. It is shown that both noncoherent and coherent techniques benefit from transmit diversity. Additionally the performance gap between these two techniques increases with the number of antennas.

  14. Linear and spatial correlation of the yield components and soybean yieldCorrelação linear e espacial dos componentes de produção e produtividade da soja

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Morel de Passos e Carvalho

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available The soybean is the crop most cultivated in Brazil, with great socioeconomic importance. In the agriculture year 2008/09 in Selvíria County, Mato Grosso do Sul State, in the Brazilian Savannah, was analyzed the production components and the soybean yield cultivated in a Typic Acrustox on no-tillage. The main purpose objective was select among the production components number of pods per plant, number of grains per pod, number of grains per plant, mass of a thousand grains, mass of grains per plant and population of plants, which of the best linear and spatial correlation aiming explain the soybean yield variability. The irregular geostatistical grid was installed to collect of data, with 120 sampling points, in an area of 8.34 ha. The values of spatial dependence range to be utilized should be among 38.1 and 114.7 meters. The model of the adjusted semivariograma was predominantly the spherical. Of the lineal and spatial point of view, the number of pods per plant and the mass of grains per plant they were correlated in a direct way with the soybean yield, demonstrating be the best components to esteem her. A soja é a cultura de grãos mais cultivada no Brasil, com enorme importância socioeconômica. No ano agrícola de 2008/09, no município de Selvíria (MS, no Cerrado Brasileiro, foram analisados os componentes de produção e a produtividade da soja cultivada em Latossolo Vermelho distroférrico em sistema plantio direto. O objetivo foi selecionar entre os componentes de produção número de vagens por planta, número de grãos por vagem, número de grãos por planta, massa de mil grãos, massa de grãos por planta e população de plantas, aquele com a melhor correlação, linear e espacial, visando explicar a variabilidade da produtividade da soja. Foi instalada a malha geoestatística irregular, para a coleta de dados, com 120 pontos amostrais, numa área de 8,34 ha. Os valores dos alcances da dependência espacial a serem empregados

  15. The Academic SDI—Towards understanding spatial data infrastructures for research and education

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Coetzee, S

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available facilitating and coordinating the exchange of geospatial data and services between stakeholders from different levels in the spatial data community. Universities and other research organisations typically have well-established libraries and digital catalogues...

  16. Virtual Reality As A Spatial Experience For Architecture Design: A Study of Effectiveness for Architecture Students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sapto Pamungkas Luhur

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Studios. This ability gained through visual design thinking. The spatial experience honed by three dimensional thinking from the medium diversity. The spatial experience learned through a room layout, proportion, and composition. This research used an experimental method and the primary data obtained by a “Likert” scale questionnaire. The Respondents are 50 students of the Architectural Design Studio. Moreover, the analysis focuses on the VR for spatial experience. The result was a descriptive explanation of the effectiveness of Virtual Reality for a spatial experience of architecture students at Technology University of Yogyakarta.

  17. SPATIAL VARIABILITY OF PEDOZEMS MECHANICAL IMPEDANCE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhukov A.V.

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available We studied the spatial variability of pedozem mechanical impedance in ResearchRemediation Center of the Dnipropetrovsk State Agrarian University in Ordzhonikidze. Thestatistical distribution of the soil mechanical impedance within the studied area is characterized by deviation from the normal law in 0–10 and 30–50 cm layers from the surface. 2D and 3D modeling shows the structural design of the soil as locations of high mechanical impedance which found in the soils with less hardness.

  18. Poverty, health and satellite-derived vegetation indices: their inter-spatial relationship in West Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sedda, Luigi; Tatem, Andrew J.; Morley, David W.; Atkinson, Peter M.; Wardrop, Nicola A.; Pezzulo, Carla; Sorichetta, Alessandro; Kuleszo, Joanna; Rogers, David J.

    2015-01-01

    Background Previous analyses have shown the individual correlations between poverty, health and satellite-derived vegetation indices such as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). However, generally these analyses did not explore the statistical interconnections between poverty, health outcomes and NDVI. Methods In this research aspatial methods (principal component analysis) and spatial models (variography, factorial kriging and cokriging) were applied to investigate the correlations and spatial relationships between intensity of poverty, health (expressed as child mortality and undernutrition), and NDVI for a large area of West Africa. Results This research showed that the intensity of poverty (and hence child mortality and nutrition) varies inversely with NDVI. From the spatial point-of-view, similarities in the spatial variation of intensity of poverty and NDVI were found. Conclusions These results highlight the utility of satellite-based metrics for poverty models including health and ecological components and, in general for large scale analysis, estimation and optimisation of multidimensional poverty metrics. However, it also stresses the need for further studies on the causes of the association between NDVI, health and poverty. Once these relationships are confirmed and better understood, the presence of this ecological component in poverty metrics has the potential to facilitate the analysis of the impacts of climate change on the rural populations afflicted by poverty and child mortality. PMID:25733559

  19. Qualitative Description of Spatial Quality in Inclusive Architecture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ryhl, Camilla; Kajita, Masashi; Sørensen, René

    2016-01-01

    Universal design (UD) has gained global significance and is in the process of institutionalisation in the Nordic Region. This is despite an urgent necessity for developing the theoretical basis and practical applicability of UD. Reflecting this need for furthering the comprehensive understanding of spatial implication of UD, this paper aims to contribute for articulating a means to assess the quality of UD in architecture. Drawing upon numerous cases from research conducted at the Danish Building Research Institute, the paper focuses on sensory aspects of spatial quality, and discusses as well as reflects an applied method for producing the qualitative description of selected buildings that embody UD through creative solutions. The qualitative description of collected examples appears to be effective in delineating sensory aspects of spatial experience; however the systematic development of assessment criteria is essential in order to support students and designers to make responsible decisions in shaping built environments that are accessible and inclusive but also enjoyable.

  20. Eight-component retrievals from ground-based MAX-DOAS observations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Irie

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available We attempt for the first time to retrieve lower-tropospheric vertical profile information for 8 quantities from ground-based Multi-Axis Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS observations. The components retrieved are the aerosol extinction coefficients at two wavelengths, 357 and 476 nm, and NO2, HCHO, CHOCHO, H2O, SO2, and O3 volume mixing ratios. A Japanese MAX-DOAS profile retrieval algorithm, version 1 (JM1, is applied to observations performed at Cabauw, the Netherlands (51.97° N, 4.93° E, in June–July 2009 during the Cabauw Intercomparison campaign of Nitrogen Dioxide measuring Instruments (CINDI. Of the retrieved profiles, we focus here on the lowest-layer data (mean values at altitudes 0–1 km, where the sensitivity is usually highest owing to the longest light path. In support of the capability of the multi-component retrievals, we find reasonable overall agreement with independent data sets, including a regional chemical transport model (CHIMERE and in situ observations performed near the surface (2–3 m and at the 200-m height level of the tall tower in Cabauw. Plumes of enhanced HCHO and SO2 were likely affected by biogenic and ship emissions, respectively, and an improvement in their emission strengths is suggested for better agreement between CHIMERE simulations and MAX-DOAS observations. Analysis of air mass factors indicates that the horizontal spatial representativeness of MAX-DOAS observations is about 3–15 km (depending mainly on aerosol extinction, comparable to or better than the spatial resolution of current UV-visible satellite observations and model calculations. These demonstrate that MAX-DOAS provides multi-component data useful for the evaluation of satellite observations and model calculations and can play an important role in bridging different data sets having different spatial resolutions.

  1. Towards a 3d Spatial Urban Energy Modelling Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2013-09-01

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

  2. Improvement of Allocentric Spatial Memory Resolution in Children from 2 to 4 Years of Age

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lambert, Farfalla Ribordy; Lavenex, Pierre; Lavenex, Pamela Banta

    2015-01-01

    Allocentric spatial memory, the memory for locations coded in relation to objects comprising our environment, is a fundamental component of episodic memory and is dependent on the integrity of the hippocampal formation in adulthood. Previous research from different laboratories reported that basic allocentric spatial memory abilities are reliably…

  3. The evolution of the Universe

    CERN Document Server

    García-Bellido, J

    2006-01-01

    With the recent measurements of temperature and polarization anisotropies in the microwave background by WMAP, we have entered a new era of precision cosmology, with the cosmological parameters of a Standard Cosmological Model determined to 1%. This Standard Model is based on the Big Bang theory and the inflationary paradigm, a period of exponential expansion in the early universe responsible for the large-scale homogeneity and spatial flatness of our observable patch of the Universe. The spectrum of metric perturbations, seen in the microwave background as temperature anisotropies, were produced during inflation from quantum fluctuations that were stretched to cosmological size by the expansion, and later gave rise, via gravitational collapse, to the observed large-scale structure of clusters and superclusters of galaxies. Furthermore, the same theory predicts that all the matter and radiation in the universe today originated at the end of inflation from an explosive production of particles that could also h...

  4. The Impact of Intellectual Capital on the Performance of Universities

    OpenAIRE

    Umer Shehzad; Zeeshan Fareed; Bushra Zulfiqar; Farrukh Shahzad; Hafiz Shahid Latif

    2014-01-01

    Intellectual capital is a concept that is achieving researcher’s attention day by day. The main purpose of this research study is to explore the role and relationship of intellectual capital and its three components on the performance and efficient working of universities in Pakistan. Education sector especially universities were selected because it plays a critical role for the development and growth of knowledge intensive sector. So in this research study 3 components of intellectual capita...

  5. Planning of spatial development of tourism based on the example of spatial plan of Subotica municipality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Šećerov Velimir

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Planning of tourism development and its spatial disposition in Europe and world today are an important segment of the overall economic development. Having in mind its important economic and social functions, as well as its capability to intensify its other economic branches (agricultural and economic potentials, services of various types, transport and other in a certain territory, it is necessary to realize a precise valorization of tourist values in the spatial plan of municipality and to conclude at what point and at which places the tourism can represent on of development components of the entire economy of the territory to be planed. The example of the spatial plan of Subotica and main guidelines, concept and planning priorities which can be expected in the forthcoming period are presented in this paper. It is without any doubt that the municipality of Subotica with its geostrategic position, the proximity of the EU and important natural and cultural tourist potentials is a suitable space for application of contemporary principles of the tourism development planning and their correlation with other segments of integral development for the whole municipality.

  6. Spatial Thinking in Atmospheric Science Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    McNeal, P. M.; Petcovic, H. L.; Ellis, T. D.

    2016-12-01

    Atmospheric science is a STEM discipline that involves the visualization of three-dimensional processes from two-dimensional maps, interpretation of computer-generated graphics and hand plotting of isopleths. Thus, atmospheric science draws heavily upon spatial thinking. Research has shown that spatial thinking ability can be a predictor of early success in STEM disciplines and substantial evidence demonstrates that spatial thinking ability is improved through various interventions. Therefore, identification of the spatial thinking skills and cognitive processes used in atmospheric science is the first step toward development of instructional strategies that target these skills and scaffold the learning of students in atmospheric science courses. A pilot study of expert and novice meteorologists identified mental animation and disembedding as key spatial skills used in the interpretation of multiple weather charts and images. Using this as a starting point, we investigated how these spatial skills, together with expertise, domain specific knowledge, and working memory capacity affect the ability to produce an accurate forecast. Participants completed a meteorology concept inventory, experience questionnaire and psychometric tests of spatial thinking ability and working memory capacity prior to completing a forecasting task. A quantitative analysis of the collected data investigated the effect of the predictor variables on the outcome task. A think-aloud protocol with individual participants provided a qualitative look at processes such as task decomposition, rule-based reasoning and the formation of mental models in an attempt to understand how individuals process this complex data and describe outcomes of particular meteorological scenarios. With our preliminary results we aim to inform atmospheric science education from a cognitive science perspective. The results point to a need to collaborate with the atmospheric science community broadly, such that multiple

  7. Fractionating the neural correlates of individual working memory components underlying arithmetic problem solving skills in children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Metcalfe, Arron W. S.; Ashkenazi, Sarit; Rosenberg-Lee, Miriam; Menon, Vinod

    2013-01-01

    Baddeley and Hitch’s multi-component working memory (WM) model has played an enduring and influential role in our understanding of cognitive abilities. Very little is known, however, about the neural basis of this multi-component WM model and the differential role each component plays in mediating arithmetic problem solving abilities in children. Here, we investigate the neural basis of the central executive (CE), phonological (PL) and visuo-spatial (VS) components of WM during a demanding mental arithmetic task in 7–9 year old children (N=74). The VS component was the strongest predictor of math ability in children and was associated with increased arithmetic complexity-related responses in left dorsolateral and right ventrolateral prefrontal cortices as well as bilateral intra-parietal sulcus and supramarginal gyrus in posterior parietal cortex. Critically, VS, CE and PL abilities were associated with largely distinct patterns of brain response. Overlap between VS and CE components was observed in left supramarginal gyrus and no overlap was observed between VS and PL components. Our findings point to a central role of visuo-spatial WM during arithmetic problem-solving in young grade-school children and highlight the usefulness of the multi-component Baddeley and Hitch WM model in fractionating the neural correlates of arithmetic problem solving during development. PMID:24212504

  8. Spatial attention can bias search in visual short-term memory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna C Nobre

    2008-03-01

    Full Text Available Whereas top-down attentional control is known to bias perceptual functions at many levels of stimulus analysis, its possible influence over memory-related functions remains uncharted. Our experiment combined behavioral measures and event-related potentials (ERPs to test the ability of spatial orienting to bias functions associated with visual short-term memory (VSTM, and to shed light on the neural mechanisms involved. In particular, we investigated whether orienting attention to a spatial location within an array maintained in VSTM could facilitate the search for a specific remembered item. Participants viewed arrays of one, two or four differently colored items, followed by an informative spatial (100% valid or uninformative neutral retro-cue (1500–2500 ms after the array, and later by a probe stimulus (500–1000 ms after the retro-cue. The task was to decide whether the probe stimulus had been present in the array. Behavioral results showed that spatial retro-cues improved both accuracy and response times for making decisions about the presence of the probe item in VSTM, and significantly attenuated performance decrements caused by increasing VSTM load. We also identified a novel ERP component (N3RS specifically associated with searching for an item within VSTM. Paralleling the behavioral results, the amplitude and duration of the N3RS systematically increased with VSTM load in neutral retro-cue trials. When spatial retro-cues were provided, this “retro-search” component was absent. Our findings clearly show that the infl uence of top-down attentional biases extends to mnemonic functions, and, specifically, that searching for items within VSTM can be under flexible voluntary control.

  9. Toward an Ideal Relational Ethic: Rethinking university-community engagement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Steve Garlick

    2008-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper explores how an ideal relational ethic based on Zygmunt Bauman’s (1995 notion of forms of togetherness is needed to underpin university-community engagement processes and practices. We focus on the notion of being-for, and suggest that it can be used as an ‘engagement bridge’ between higher education institutions, the creation of human capital and communities, and can be a means to achieve ethical outcomes to local concerns. Much of Bauman’s (1995; 2001; 2007 theoretical development has focussed on the liquidity of modernity, to give the impression that community - in the spatially, physically located and fixed sense of the term - no longer exists. This paper proposes that spatial dimensions, particularly in the context of developing relational ethics, are important. This is particularly so for paying adequate attention to context-specific values, principles and issues in communities, for developing enterprising human capital via engagement, and for addressing matters of socio-political importance such as the environment. Contemporary neo-liberal times require ethical and moral leadership from universities. This paper suggests that such leadership can be developed from focussing attention on the forms of togetherness fostered by university-community engagement.

  10. Hippocampal development and the dissociation of cognitive-spatial mapping from motor performance [version 2; referees: 2 approved

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bryan D. Devan

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The publication of a recent article in F1000Research has led to discussion of, and correspondence on a broader issue that has a long history in the fields of neuroscience and psychology.  Namely, is it possible to separate the cognitive components of performance, in this case spatial behavior, from the motoric demands of a task?  Early psychological experiments attempted such a dissociation by studying a form of spatial maze learning where initially rats were allowed to explore a complex maze, termed “latent learning,” before reinforcement was introduced.  Those rats afforded the latent learning experience solved the task faster than those that were not, implying that cognitive map learning during exploration aided in the performance of the task once a motivational component was introduced.  This form of latent learning was interpreted as successfully demonstrating that an exploratory cognitive map component was acquired irrespective of performing a learned spatial response under deprivation/motivational conditions.  The neural substrate for cognitive learning was hypothesized to depend on place cells within the hippocampus.  Subsequent behavioral studies attempted to directly eliminate the motor component of spatial learning by allowing rats to passively view the distal environment before performing any motor response using a task that is widely considered to be hippocampal-dependent.  Latent learning in the water maze, using a passive placement procedure has met with mixed results.  One constraint on viewing cues before performing a learned swimming response to a hidden goal has been the act of dynamically viewing distal cues while moving through a part of the environment where an optimal learned spatial escape response would be observed.  We briefly review these past findings obtained with adult animals to the recent efforts of establishing a “behavioral topology” separating cognitive-spatial learning from tasks differing in

  11. Hippocampal development and the dissociation of cognitive-spatial mapping from motor performance [version 1; referees: 2 approved

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bryan D. Devan

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The publication of a recent article in F1000Research has led to discussion of, and correspondence on a broader issue that has a long history in the fields of neuroscience and psychology.  Namely, is it possible to separate the cognitive components of performance, in this case spatial behavior, from the motoric demands of a task?  Early psychological experiments attempted such a dissociation by studying a form of spatial maze learning where initially rats were allowed to explore a complex maze, termed “latent learning,” before reinforcement was introduced.  Those rats afforded the latent learning experience solved the task faster than those that were not, implying that cognitive map learning during exploration aided in the performance of the task once a motivational component was introduced.  This form of latent learning was interpreted as successfully demonstrating that an exploratory cognitive map component was acquired irrespective of performing a learned spatial response under deprivation/motivational conditions.  The neural substrate for cognitive learning was hypothesized to depend on place cells within the hippocampus.  Subsequent behavioral studies attempted to directly eliminate the motor component of spatial learning by allowing rats to passively view the distal environment before performing any motor response using a task that is widely considered to be hippocampal-dependent.  Latent learning in the water maze, using a passive placement procedure has met with mixed results.  One constraint on viewing cues before performing a learned swimming response to a hidden goal has been the act of dynamically viewing distal cues while moving through a part of the environment where an optimal learned spatial escape response would be observed.  We briefly review these past findings obtained with adult animals to the recent efforts of establishing a “behavioral topology” separating cognitive-spatial learning from tasks differing in

  12. Volatile components of fruits of Ligustrum lucidum Ait. stimulate ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Jane

    2011-08-10

    Aug 10, 2011 ... investigate the effects of volatile components of FLL on the proliferation and differentiation of rat calvarial ... Yang of the Department of Pharmacy, Fujian University of. Traditional Chinese .... the automated integrator. Statistical ...

  13. Spatial filtring and thermocouple spatial filter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Han Bing; Tong Yunxian

    1989-12-01

    The design and study on thermocouple spatial filter have been conducted for the flow measurement of integrated reactor coolant. The fundamental principle of spatial filtring, mathematical descriptions and analyses of thermocouple spatial filter are given

  14. Spatial correlation of probabilistic earthquake ground motion and loss

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wesson, R.L.; Perkins, D.M.

    2001-01-01

    Spatial correlation of annual earthquake ground motions and losses can be used to estimate the variance of annual losses to a portfolio of properties exposed to earthquakes A direct method is described for the calculations of the spatial correlation of earthquake ground motions and losses. Calculations for the direct method can be carried out using either numerical quadrature or a discrete, matrix-based approach. Numerical results for this method are compared with those calculated from a simple Monte Carlo simulation. Spatial correlation of ground motion and loss is induced by the systematic attenuation of ground motion with distance from the source, by common site conditions, and by the finite length of fault ruptures. Spatial correlation is also strongly dependent on the partitioning of the variability, given an event, into interevent and intraevent components. Intraevent variability reduces the spatial correlation of losses. Interevent variability increases spatial correlation of losses. The higher the spatial correlation, the larger the variance in losses to a port-folio, and the more likely extreme values become. This result underscores the importance of accurately determining the relative magnitudes of intraevent and interevent variability in ground-motion studies, because of the strong impact in estimating earthquake losses to a portfolio. The direct method offers an alternative to simulation for calculating the variance of losses to a portfolio, which may reduce the amount of calculation required.

  15. Spatial-temporal dynamics of broadband terahertz Bessel beam propagation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Semenova, V A; Kulya, M S; Bespalov, V G

    2016-01-01

    The unique properties of narrowband and broadband terahertz Bessel beams have led to a number of their applications in different fields, for example, for the depth of focusing and resolution enhancement in terahertz imaging. However, broadband terahertz Bessel beams can probably be also used for the diffraction minimization in the short-range broadband terahertz communications. For this purpose, the study of spatial-temporal dynamics of the broadband terahertz Bessel beams is needed. Here we present a simulation-based study of the propagating in non-dispersive medium broadband Bessel beams generated by a conical axicon lens. The algorithm based on scalar diffraction theory was used to obtain the spatial amplitude and phase distributions of the Bessel beam in the frequency range from 0.1 to 3 THz at the distances 10-200 mm from the axicon. Bessel beam field is studied for the different spectral components of the initial pulse. The simulation results show that for the given parameters of the axicon lens one can obtain the Gauss-Bessel beam generation in the spectral range from 0.1 to 3 THz. The length of non-diffraction propagation for a different spectral components was measured, and it was shown that for all spectral components of the initial pulse this length is about 130 mm. (paper)

  16. The Socioeconomic Factors and the Indigenous Component of Tuberculosis in Amazonas

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-01-01

    Despite the availability of tuberculosis prevention and control services throughout Amazonas, high rates of morbidity and mortality from tuberculosis remain in the region. Knowledge of the social determinants of tuberculosis in Amazonas is important for the establishment of public policies and the planning of effective preventive and control measures for the disease. To analyze the relationship of the spatial distribution of the incidence of tuberculosis in municipalities and regions of Amazonas to the socioeconomic factors and indigenous tuberculosis component, from 2007 to 2013. An ecological study was conducted based on secondary data from the epidemiological surveillance of tuberculosis. A linear regression model was used to analyze the relationship of the annual incidence of tuberculosis to the socioeconomic factors, performance indicators of health services, and indigenous tuberculosis component. The distribution of the incidence of tuberculosis in the municipalities of Amazonas was positively associated with the Gini index and the population attributable fraction of tuberculosis in the indigenous peoples, but negatively associated with the proportion of the poor and the unemployment rate. The spatial distribution of tuberculosis in the different regions of Amazonas was heterogeneous and closely related with the socioeconomic factors and indigenous component of tuberculosis. PMID:27362428

  17. Expansion of geographic information components in the educational programs of cartographers at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Людмила Даценко

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The article considers the necessity to make changes in the university curriculum in accordance with the requirements of today. Modern cartography is integrated with GIS and remote sensing and in this context we see the prospect of training experts at universities. GIS education has some specific features that distinguish it from other types of training such as the interdisciplinary nature, a wide range of highly informative software applications, a combination of geographical and engineering knowledge. GIS specialists must have system knowledge and skills in the design, operation and development in this field. Only intensive use of mapping, GIS, geodetic, and photogrammetric knowledge and methods in scientific research and their effective use in the practice of modern production allow the international community to achieve high results. The main directions of educational programs at the Department of Geodesy and Cartography are preservation and further development of the rich heritage of scientific and pedagogical achievements of higher cartographical education in Ukraine; the study and involvement in the educational process of the best achievements of foreign higher education; preparation and updating of scientific and methodological support of educational process; modernization of material and technical basis for the learning process and field training practices; involvement of new professional teaching staff; training of the faculty staff. The demand on mapping courses and related workshops at the Department of Geodesy and Cartography Geography Department is determined by certain factors: the growth of interdisciplinary research involving extensive mapping component; growing of demand for mapping and GIS products from scientific, practical, commercial, and educational institutions; the need to increase productivity in the field of cartography, geoinformatics and adjacent to their fields of study and practice; issues of general improvement of

  18. Does bimodal stimulus presentation increase ERP components usable in BCIs?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thurlings, Marieke E.; Brouwer, Anne-Marie; Van Erp, Jan B. F.; Blankertz, Benjamin; Werkhoven, Peter J.

    2012-08-01

    Event-related potential (ERP)-based brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) employ differences in brain responses to attended and ignored stimuli. Typically, visual stimuli are used. Tactile stimuli have recently been suggested as a gaze-independent alternative. Bimodal stimuli could evoke additional brain activity due to multisensory integration which may be of use in BCIs. We investigated the effect of visual-tactile stimulus presentation on the chain of ERP components, BCI performance (classification accuracies and bitrates) and participants’ task performance (counting of targets). Ten participants were instructed to navigate a visual display by attending (spatially) to targets in sequences of either visual, tactile or visual-tactile stimuli. We observe that attending to visual-tactile (compared to either visual or tactile) stimuli results in an enhanced early ERP component (N1). This bimodal N1 may enhance BCI performance, as suggested by a nonsignificant positive trend in offline classification accuracies. A late ERP component (P300) is reduced when attending to visual-tactile compared to visual stimuli, which is consistent with the nonsignificant negative trend of participants’ task performance. We discuss these findings in the light of affected spatial attention at high-level compared to low-level stimulus processing. Furthermore, we evaluate bimodal BCIs from a practical perspective and for future applications.

  19. Independent principal component analysis for simulation of soil water content and bulk density in a Canadian Watershed

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alaba Boluwade

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Accurate characterization of soil properties such as soil water content (SWC and bulk density (BD is vital for hydrologic processes and thus, it is importance to estimate θ (water content and ρ (soil bulk density among other soil surface parameters involved in water retention and infiltration, runoff generation and water erosion, etc. The spatial estimation of these soil properties are important in guiding agricultural management decisions. These soil properties vary both in space and time and are correlated. Therefore, it is important to find an efficient and robust technique to simulate spatially correlated variables. Methods such as principal component analysis (PCA and independent component analysis (ICA can be used for the joint simulations of spatially correlated variables, but they are not without their flaws. This study applied a variant of PCA called independent principal component analysis (IPCA that combines the strengths of both PCA and ICA for spatial simulation of SWC and BD using the soil data set from an 11 km2 Castor watershed in southern Quebec, Canada. Diagnostic checks using the histograms and cumulative distribution function (cdf both raw and back transformed simulations show good agreement. Therefore, the results from this study has potential in characterization of water content variability and bulk density variation for precision agriculture.

  20. Large micro-mirror arrays: key components in future space instruments for Universe and Earth Observation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zamkotsian Frederic

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available In future space missions for Universe and Earth Observation, scientific return could be optimized using MOEMS devices. Micro-mirror arrays are used for designing new generation of instruments, multi-object spectrographs in Universe Observation and programmable wide field spectrographs in Earth Observation. Mock-ups have been designed and built for both applications and they show very promising results.

  1. Spatial stability of jets - the nonaxisymmetric fundamental and reflection modes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hardee, P.E.

    1987-01-01

    A spatial stability analysis of the relativistic dispersion relation governing the growth and propagation of harmonic components comprising a perturbation to the surface of a cylindrical jet is performed. The spatial growth of harmonic components associated with the nonaxisymmetric fundamental solution and reflection solutions of several Fourier modes are analyzed. Approximate analytical expressions describing resonant frequencies and wavelengths, and maximum growth rates at resonance applicable to relativistic jets are found from the dispersion relation, and the nature of the resonances is explored. On transonic jets there is only a fundamental solution for each Fourier mode with no resonance or maximum growth rate. On supersonic jets there is a fundamental solution and reflection solutions for each Fourier mode, and each solution contains a resonance at which the growth rate is a maximum. A numerical analysis of the fundamental and first three reflection solutions of the axisymmetric and first three nonaxisymmetric Fourier modes is performed. The numerical analysis is restricted to nonrelativistic flows but otherwise covers a broad range of Mach numbers and jet densities. The numerical results are used along with the analytical results to obtain accurate expressions for resonant frequencies, wavelengths, and growth rates as a function of Mach numnber and jet density. In all cases the fastest spatial growth rate at a given frequency is of harmonic components associated with the fundamental solution of one of the nonaxisymmetric Fourier modes. The application of these results to jet structure and implication of these results for jet structure in extragalactic radio sources are considered. 23 references

  2. Experience of computer technology usage within university training for future specialists of nuclear power plants under «the university-enterprise» program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Semenov, V.K.; Vol'man, M.A.; Zhuravleva, V.S.

    2015-01-01

    The article deals with the aspects of training program for future specialists of nuclear power plants. This program is realized at NPP Department of Ivanovo State University and Kalinin NPP. The usage of computer and simulation modeling at the university are the main components of this concept [ru

  3. Zooming into Molecular Biomarker Distribution through Spatially Resolved Mass Spectrometry on Intact Sediment Sections

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wörmer, L.; Fuchser, J.; Alfken, S.; Elvert, M.; Schimmelmann, A.; Hinrichs, K. U.

    2016-02-01

    Marine microorganisms adapt to their habitat by structural modification of their membrane lipids. After sedimentation, and due to their persistence in the sedimentary record, the information archived in them remains available on geological time-scales. Thereby sedimentary lipid biomarkers become important informants of past environments. Conventional biomarker analysis is labor-intensive and requires cm-sized samples, temporal resolution is consequently low. We here present an approach, based on laser desorption ionization (LDI) coupled to ultra high resolution mass spectrometry, that avoids wet-chemical sample preparation and enables analysis directly on sediment sections at sub-mm spatial resolution. Our initial study targeted archaeal glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs). GDGTS are ubiquitous and persistent components in marine sediments, and used in several, widely recognized paleoenvironmental proxies. Applied to an Eastern Mediterranean Sapropel layer, GDGT-profiles with previously unachieved temporal resolution were obtained, and pointed to a strong influence of high frequency cycles on sea-surface temperature and planktonic archaeal ecology. Spatial information furthermore revealed a new view on the fine-scale patchiness of lipid distribution. Following these pioneering studies, major developments are under way. A dedicated facility has been set up at MARUM/University of Bremen, which combines lipid biomarker and elemental analysis at sub-mm resolution (down to 50 µm). We present methods for other comprehensive lipid biomarkers (e.g. alkenones or sterols) that are currently being targeted; and the application of spatially resolved biomarker analysis to recent laminated sediments (Santa Barbara Basin), yielding informative profiles with subannual resolution. We also discuss criteria for analyte and sample selection, as well as the main potentialities and constraints of this new approach.

  4. Spatial distribution of the chemical properties of the soil and of soybean yield in the field

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexandre Gazolla-Neto

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to evaluate the spatial dependence between chemical properties of the soil and yield components in the soybean using precision farming techniques. Samples of the soil and plants were taken from georeferenced points to determine the chemical properties of the soil and the yield components. The results were submitted to Pearson correlation analysis, descriptive statistics and geostatistics. The coefficient of variation showed a wide range of distribution for the chemical attributes of the soil, with the highest indices being found for the levels of available phosphorus (102% and potassium (72.65%. Soil pH and organic matter showed a coefficient of variation of 5.96 and 15.93% respectively. Semivariogram analysis of the yield components (productivity, 1,000-seed weight and number of seeds and the chemical properties of the soil (organic matter, pH, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, boron, manganese and zinc fitted the spherical model with moderate spatial dependence, with values ranging from 200 to 700 m. Spatial distribution by means of map interpolation was efficient in evaluating spatial variability, allowing the identification and quantification of regions of low and high productivity in the production area, together with the distribution of soil attributes and their respective levels of availability to the soybean plants.

  5. Figure/ground segregation from temporal delay is best at high spatial frequencies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kojima, H

    1998-12-01

    Two experiments investigated the role of spatial frequency in performance of a figure/ground segregation task based on temporal cues. Figure orientation was much easier to judge when figure and ground portions of the target were defined exclusively by random texture composed entirely of high spatial frequencies. When target components were defined by low spatial frequencies only, the task was nearly impossible except with long temporal delay between figure and ground. These results are inconsistent with the hypothesis that M-cell activity is primarily responsible for figure/ground segregation from temporal delay. Instead, these results point to a distinction between temporal integration and temporal differentiation. Additionally, the present results can be related to recent work on the binding of spatial features over time.

  6. Universality classes and critical phenomena in confined liquid systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A.V. Chalyi

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available It is well known that the similar universal behavior of infinite-size (bulk systems of different nature requires the same basic conditions: space dimensionality; number components of order parameter; the type (short- or long-range of the intermolecular interaction; symmetry of the fluctuation part of thermodynamical potential. Basic conditions of similar universal behavior of confined systems needs the same supplementary conditions such as the number of monolayers for a system confinement; low crossover dimensionality, i.e., geometric form of restricted volume; boundary conditions on limiting surfaces; physical properties under consideration. This review paper is aimed at studying all these conditions of similar universal behavior for diffusion processes in confined liquid systems. Special attention was paid to the effects of spatial dispersion and low crossover dimensionality. This allowed us to receive receiving correct nonzero expressions for the diffusion coefficient at the critical point and to take into account the specific geometric form of the confined liquid volume. The problem of 3D⇔2D dimensional crossover was analyzed. To receive a smooth crossover for critical exponents, the Kawasaki-like approach from the theory of mode coupling in critical dynamics was proposed. This ensured a good agreement between data of computer experiment and theoretical calculations of the size dependence of the critical temperature Tc(H of water in slitlike pores. The width of the quasi-elastic scattering peak of slow neutrons near the structural phase transition in the aquatic suspensions of plasmatic membranes (mesostructures with the typical thickness up to 10 nm was studied. It was shown that the width of quasi-elastic peak of neutron scattering decreases due to the process of cell proliferation, i.e., with an increase of the membrane size (including the membrane thickness. Thus, neutron studies could serve as an additional diagnostic test for the

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

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2017-12-01

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

  8. Revisiting the role of language in spatial cognition: Categorical perception of spatial relations in English and Korean speakers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holmes, Kevin J; Moty, Kelsey; Regier, Terry

    2017-12-01

    The spatial relation of support has been regarded as universally privileged in nonlinguistic cognition and immune to the influence of language. English, but not Korean, obligatorily distinguishes support from nonsupport via basic spatial terms. Despite this linguistic difference, previous research suggests that English and Korean speakers show comparable nonlinguistic sensitivity to the support/nonsupport distinction. Here, using a paradigm previously found to elicit cross-language differences in color discrimination, we provide evidence for a difference in sensitivity to support/nonsupport between native English speakers and native Korean speakers who were late English learners and tested in a context that privileged Korean. Whereas the former group showed categorical perception (CP) when discriminating spatial scenes capturing the support/nonsupport distinction, the latter did not. An additional group of native Korean speakers-relatively early English learners tested in an English-salient context-patterned with the native English speakers in showing CP for support/nonsupport. These findings suggest that obligatory marking of support/nonsupport in one's native language can affect nonlinguistic sensitivity to this distinction, contra earlier findings, but that such sensitivity may also depend on aspects of language background and the immediate linguistic context.

  9. Circles-in-the-sky searches and observable cosmic topology in a flat universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mota, B.; Reboucas, M. J.; Tavakol, R.

    2010-01-01

    In a universe with a detectable nontrivial spatial topology, the last scattering surface contains pairs of matching circles with the same distribution of temperature fluctuations--the so-called circles-in-the-sky. Searches for nearly antipodal circles-in-the-sky in maps of cosmic microwave background radiation have so far been unsuccessful. This negative outcome, along with recent theoretical results concerning the detectability of nearly flat compact topologies, is sufficient to exclude a detectable nontrivial topology for most observers in very nearly flat positively and negatively curved universes, whose total matter-energy density satisfies 0 tot -1| -5 . Here, we investigate the consequences of these searches for observable nontrivial topologies if the Universe turns out to be exactly flat (Ω tot =1). We demonstrate that in this case, the conclusions deduced from such searches can be radically different. We show that, although there is no characteristic topological scale in the flat manifolds, for all multiply-connected orientable flat manifolds, it is possible to directly study the action of the holonomies in order to obtain a general upper bound on the angle that characterizes the deviation from antipodicity of pairs of matching circles associated with the shortest closed geodesic. This bound is valid for all observers and all possible values of the compactification length parameters. We also show that in a flat universe, there are observers for whom the circles-in-the-sky searches already undertaken are insufficient to exclude the possibility of a detectable nontrivial spatial topology. It is remarkable how such small variations in the spatial curvature of the Universe, which are effectively indistinguishable geometrically, can have such a drastic effect on the detectability of cosmic topology. Another important outcome of our results is that they offer a framework with which to make statistical inferences from future circles-in-the-sky searches on whether

  10. Improvement of Binary Analysis Components in Automated Malware Analysis Framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-02-21

    AFRL-AFOSR-JP-TR-2017-0018 Improvement of Binary Analysis Components in Automated Malware Analysis Framework Keiji Takeda KEIO UNIVERSITY Final...TYPE Final 3. DATES COVERED (From - To) 26 May 2015 to 25 Nov 2016 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Improvement of Binary Analysis Components in Automated Malware ...analyze malicious software ( malware ) with minimum human interaction. The system autonomously analyze malware samples by analyzing malware binary program

  11. Gravitationally neutral dark matter-dark antimatter universe crystal with epochs of decelerated and accelerated expansion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gribov, I. A.; Trigger, S. A.

    2016-11-01

    A large-scale self-similar crystallized phase of finite gravitationally neutral universe (GNU)—huge GNU-ball—with spherical 2D-boundary immersed into an endless empty 3D- space is considered. The main principal assumptions of this universe model are: (1) existence of stable elementary particles-antiparticles with the opposite gravitational “charges” (M+gr and M -gr), which have the same positive inertial mass M in = |M ±gr | ≥ 0 and are equally presented in the universe during all universe evolution epochs; (2) the gravitational interaction between the masses of the opposite charges” is repulsive; (3) the unbroken baryon-antibaryon symmetry; (4) M+gr-M-gr “charges” symmetry, valid for two equally presented matter-antimatter GNU-components: (a) ordinary matter (OM)-ordinary antimatter (OAM), (b) dark matter (DM)-dark antimatter (DAM). The GNU-ball is weightless crystallized dust of equally presented, mutually repulsive (OM+DM) clusters and (OAM+DAM) anticlusters. Newtonian GNU-hydrodynamics gives the observable spatial flatness and ideal Hubble flow. The GNU in the obtained large-scale self-similar crystallized phase preserves absence of the cluster-anticluster collisions and simultaneously explains the observable large-scale universe phenomena: (1) the absence of the matter-antimatter clusters annihilation, (2) the self-similar Hubble flow stability and homogeneity, (3) flatness, (4) bubble and cosmic-net structures as 3D-2D-1D decrystallization phases with decelerative (a ≤ 0) and accelerative (a ≥ 0) expansion epochs, (5) the dark energy (DE) phenomena with Λ VACUUM = 0, (6) the DE and DM fine-tuning nature and predicts (7) evaporation into isolated huge M±gr superclusters without Big Rip.

  12. Gravitationally neutral dark matter–dark antimatter universe crystal with epochs of decelerated and accelerated expansion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gribov, I A; Trigger, S A

    2016-01-01

    A large-scale self-similar crystallized phase of finite gravitationally neutral universe (GNU)—huge GNU-ball—with spherical 2D-boundary immersed into an endless empty 3D- space is considered. The main principal assumptions of this universe model are: (1) existence of stable elementary particles-antiparticles with the opposite gravitational “charges” ( M + gr and M -gr ), which have the same positive inertial mass M in = | M ±gr | ≥ 0 and are equally presented in the universe during all universe evolution epochs; (2) the gravitational interaction between the masses of the opposite charges” is repulsive; (3) the unbroken baryon-antibaryon symmetry; (4) M +gr -M -gr “charges” symmetry, valid for two equally presented matter-antimatter GNU-components: (a) ordinary matter (OM)-ordinary antimatter (OAM), (b) dark matter (DM)-dark antimatter (DAM). The GNU-ball is weightless crystallized dust of equally presented, mutually repulsive (OM+DM) clusters and (OAM+DAM) anticlusters. Newtonian GNU-hydrodynamics gives the observable spatial flatness and ideal Hubble flow. The GNU in the obtained large-scale self-similar crystallized phase preserves absence of the cluster-anticluster collisions and simultaneously explains the observable large-scale universe phenomena: (1) the absence of the matter-antimatter clusters annihilation, (2) the self-similar Hubble flow stability and homogeneity, (3) flatness, (4) bubble and cosmic-net structures as 3D-2D-1D decrystallization phases with decelerative (a ≤ 0) and accelerative (a ≥ 0) expansion epochs, (5) the dark energy (DE) phenomena with Λ VACUUM = 0, (6) the DE and DM fine-tuning nature and predicts (7) evaporation into isolated huge M ±gr superclusters without Big Rip. (paper)

  13. Automated Verification of Spatial Resolution in Remotely Sensed Imagery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Bruce; Ryan, Robert; Holekamp, Kara; Vaughn, Ronald

    2011-01-01

    Image spatial resolution characteristics can vary widely among sources. In the case of aerial-based imaging systems, the image spatial resolution characteristics can even vary between acquisitions. In these systems, aircraft altitude, speed, and sensor look angle all affect image spatial resolution. Image spatial resolution needs to be verified with estimators that include the ground sample distance (GSD), the modulation transfer function (MTF), and the relative edge response (RER), all of which are key components of image quality, along with signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and dynamic range. Knowledge of spatial resolution parameters is important to determine if features of interest are distinguishable in imagery or associated products, and to develop image restoration algorithms. An automated Spatial Resolution Verification Tool (SRVT) was developed to rapidly determine the spatial resolution characteristics of remotely sensed aerial and satellite imagery. Most current methods for assessing spatial resolution characteristics of imagery rely on pre-deployed engineered targets and are performed only at selected times within preselected scenes. The SRVT addresses these insufficiencies by finding uniform, high-contrast edges from urban scenes and then using these edges to determine standard estimators of spatial resolution, such as the MTF and the RER. The SRVT was developed using the MATLAB programming language and environment. This automated software algorithm assesses every image in an acquired data set, using edges found within each image, and in many cases eliminating the need for dedicated edge targets. The SRVT automatically identifies high-contrast, uniform edges and calculates the MTF and RER of each image, and when possible, within sections of an image, so that the variation of spatial resolution characteristics across the image can be analyzed. The automated algorithm is capable of quickly verifying the spatial resolution quality of all images within a data

  14. Newtonian self-gravitating system in a relativistic huge void universe model

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nishikawa, Ryusuke; Nakao, Ken-ichi [Department of Mathematics and Physics, Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University, 3-3-138 Sugimoto, Sumiyoshi, Osaka 558-8585 (Japan); Yoo, Chul-Moon, E-mail: ryusuke@sci.osaka-cu.ac.jp, E-mail: knakao@sci.osaka-cu.ac.jp, E-mail: yoo@gravity.phys.nagoya-u.ac.jp [Division of Particle and Astrophysical Science, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602 (Japan)

    2016-12-01

    We consider a test of the Copernican Principle through observations of the large-scale structures, and for this purpose we study the self-gravitating system in a relativistic huge void universe model which does not invoke the Copernican Principle. If we focus on the the weakly self-gravitating and slowly evolving system whose spatial extent is much smaller than the scale of the cosmological horizon in the homogeneous and isotropic background universe model, the cosmological Newtonian approximation is available. Also in the huge void universe model, the same kind of approximation as the cosmological Newtonian approximation is available for the analysis of the perturbations contained in a region whose spatial size is much smaller than the scale of the huge void: the effects of the huge void are taken into account in a perturbative manner by using the Fermi-normal coordinates. By using this approximation, we derive the equations of motion for the weakly self-gravitating perturbations whose elements have relative velocities much smaller than the speed of light, and show the derived equations can be significantly different from those in the homogeneous and isotropic universe model, due to the anisotropic volume expansion in the huge void. We linearize the derived equations of motion and solve them. The solutions show that the behaviors of linear density perturbations are very different from those in the homogeneous and isotropic universe model.

  15. Visuo-spatial processing in a dynamic and a static working memory paradigm in schizophrenia

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cocchi, Luca; Schenk, Françoise; Volken, Henri

    2007-01-01

    patients with schizophrenia and matched controls in a new working memory paradigm involving dynamic (the Ball Flight Task - BFT) or static (the Static Pattern Task - SPT) visual stimuli. In the BFT, the responses of the patients were apparently based on the retention of the last set of segments...... that visuo-spatial working memory can simply be dissociated into visual and spatial sub-components....

  16. Study on Problems and Countermeasures of Textbook Management in China Universities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geng, Lihua

    2011-01-01

    Textbook management in universities is an integral component of teaching management. With gradual development of university education teaching, textbook management in China universities can no longer keep pace with the steps of the teaching management, and the work of textbook management is faced up with new challenges. This article makes an…

  17. Spatial Modernist Architectural Artistic Concepts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gudkova, T. V.; Gudkov, A. A.

    2017-11-01

    The development of a single spatial modernist conception had continued until the middle of the twentieth century. The first authors who proposed the new conceptual solutions of an architectural space that had the greatest impact on the further development of architecture were Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies van der Rohein. They embodied different approaches within the common modernist spatial concept using the language of morphological, symbolic and phenomenological descriptions of space. The concept was based on the simplification of functional links, integration of internal architectural space with the environment due to the vanishing of boundaries between them and expansion of their interrelation. Le Corbusier proposed a spatio-temporal concept based on the movement and tempo-rhythmics of the space “from inside to outside.” Frank Lloyd Wright proposed the concept of integral space where inner and outer spaces were the parts of a whole. Mies van der Rohein was the author of the universal space concept in which the idea of the “dissolution” of the inner space in the outer space was embodied.

  18. First spatial isotopic separation of relativistic uranium projectile fragments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Magel, A.; Voss, B.; Armbruster, P.; Aumann, T.; Clerc, H.G.; Czajkowski, S.; Folger, H.; Grewe, A.; Hanelt, E.; Heinz, A.; Irnich, H.; Jong, M. de; Junghans, A.; Nickel, F.; Pfuetzner, M.; Roehl, C.; Scheidenberger, C.; Schmidt, K.H.; Schwab, W.; Steinhaeuser, S.; Suemmerer, K.; Trinder, W.; Wollnik, H.

    1994-07-01

    Spatial isotopic separation of relativistic uranium projectile fragments has been achieved for the first time. The fragments were produced in peripheral nuclear collisions and spatially separated in-flight with the fragment separator FRS at GSI. A two-fold magnetic-rigidity analysis was applied exploiting the atomic energy loss in specially shaped matter placed in the dispersive central focal plane. Systematic investigations with relativistic projectiles ranging from oxygen up to uranium demonstrate that the FRS is a universal and powerful facility for the production and in-flight separation of monoisotopic, exotic secondary beams of all elements up to Z=92. This achievement has opened a new area in heavy-ion research and applications. (orig.)

  19. Density perturbations due to the inhomogeneous discrete spatial structure of space-time

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wolf, C.

    1998-01-01

    For the case that space-time permits an inhomogeneous discrete spatial structure due to varying gravitational fields or a foam-like structure of space-time, it is demonstrated that thermodynamic reasoning implies that matter-density perturbations will arise in the early universe

  20. Relationship between Academic Performance, Spatial Competence, Learning Styles and Attrition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marianela Noriega Biggio

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper discusses the results of research on factors affecting academic performance and attrition in a sample of 1,500 freshman students majoring in architecture, design and urbanism at the Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina [University of Buenos Aires, Argentina] who were enrolled in a drafting course. The hypotheses we tested concern the mediating role of learning styles on the relationship between spatial competence and academic performance, learning-style differences by gender and cohort, and the relationship between attrition, spatial competence level and learning style. Statistical analysis of the data was performed and spatial competence enhanced by motivational profile was found to predict final achievement. Educational implications are identified, highlighting the need to promote in students those academic behaviors that characterize a self-regulated learning style and encourage the use of specific intellectual abilities.

  1. Working Memory Components and Problem-Solving Accuracy: Are There Multiple Pathways?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swanson, H. Lee; Fung, Wenson

    2016-01-01

    This study determined the working memory (WM) components (executive, phonological short-term memory [STM], and visual-spatial sketchpad) that best predicted mathematical word problem-solving accuracy in elementary schoolchildren (N = 392). The battery of tests administered to assess mediators between WM and problem-solving included measures of…

  2. Hořava–Lifshitz gravity inspired Bianchi-II cosmology and the mixmaster universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Giani, Leonardo; Kamenshchik, Alexander Y

    2017-01-01

    We study different aspects of the Hořava-Lifshitz inspired Bianchi-II cosmology and its relations with the mixmaster universe model. First, we present exact solutions for a toy model, where only the cubic in spatial curvature terms are present in the action; then we briefly discuss some exotic singularities, which can appear in this toy model. We study also the toy model where only the quadratic in spatial curvature terms are present in the action. We establish relations between our results and those obtained by using the Hamiltonian formalism. Finally, we apply the results obtained by studying Bianchi-II cosmology to describe the evolution of the mixmaster universe in terms of the Belinsky–Khalatnikov–Lifshitz formalism. Generally, our analysis gives some arguments in favour of the existence of the oscillatory approach to the singularity in a universe governed by the Hořava–Lifshitz type gravity. (paper)

  3. The spatial distribution of magnetospheric convection electric fields at ionospheric altitudes: a review. 1. Observations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Caudal, G.; Blanc, M.

    1983-01-01

    The different techniques used for the study of the large-scale pattern of magnetospheric convection in the auroral zone are reviewed, with particular emphasis on incoherent and coherent scatter radars. For each technique, typical results are presented that illustrate its most important contributions to our knowledge of plasma convection at ionospheric altitudes, and its main advantages, limitations, and typical spatial and temporal coverage are described. Based upon the results gathered to date, the main features of the convection pattern are presented, namely: the double cell system and its asymmetry depending in particular on the Bsub(y) component of the IMF, the Harang discontinuity and its latitudinal dependence, the dayside throat, the attenuation of convection toward lower latitudes and its reversal at the polar cap boundary. The most interesting problems still open include the establishment of a quantitative model of the latitudinal variation of the electric field intensity at the planetary scale. Others entail separating universal time and local time effects in the field variations. Longitude variations have not yet been evaluated, and the characteristic signature of substorms has not been clearly separated from mere global modulations of the intensity of convection. Global coordinated campaigns, taking advantage of the best that each measurement technique has to offer to achieve the spatial and temporal coverage needed, are the only possible way to attack these problems

  4. Going Tobacco-Free on 24 New York City University Campuses: A Public Health Agency's Partnership with a Large Urban Public University System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bresnahan, Marie P.; Sacks, Rachel; Farley, Shannon M.; Mandel-Ricci, Jenna; Patterson, Ty; Lamberson, Patti

    2016-01-01

    The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene partnered with the nation's largest university system, the City University of New York (CUNY), to provide technical assistance and resources to support the development and implementation of a system-wide tobacco-free policy. This effort formed one component of "Healthy CUNY"--a…

  5. Spatial accessibility to specific sport facilities and corresponding sport practice: the RECORD Study

    OpenAIRE

    Karusisi, No?lla; Thomas, Fr?d?rique; M?line, Julie; Chaix, Basile

    2013-01-01

    International audience; BACKGROUND: Physical activity is considered as a major component of a healthy lifestyle. However, few studies have examined the relationships between the spatial accessibility to sport facilities and sport practice with a sufficient degree of specificity. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between the spatial accessibility to specific types of sports facilities and the practice of the corresponding sports after carefully controlling for various i...

  6. Resource Loss and Depressive Symptoms Following Hurricane Katrina: A Principal Component Regression Study

    OpenAIRE

    Liang L; Hayashi K; Bennett P; Johnson T. J; Aten J. D

    2015-01-01

    To understand the relationship between the structure of resource loss and depression after disaster exposure, the components of resource loss and the impact of these resource loss components on depression was examined among college students (N=654) at two universities who were affected by Hurricane Katrina. The component of resource loss was analyzed by principal component analysis first. Gender, social relationship loss, and financial loss were then examined with the regression model on depr...

  7. Heterodyne spatial interferometry of circumstellar dust shells at a wavelength of 11 microns

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sutton, E.C.

    1979-01-01

    The spatial distribution of the 11 micron thermal emission from circumstellar dust envelopes has been studied using an infrared heterodyne interferometer. Circumstellar dust envelopes often exist around cool, late-type stars. These envelopes radiate strongly at 11 microns, particularly if they are composed of silicate grains, which have a strong emission feature near this wavelength. By measuring the spatial distribution of this dust emission it is possible to probe the temperatures and densities of the circumstellar material and thereby to gain an understanding of the structures of circumstellar envelopes. Among the sources which have been observed with this interferometer are α Orionis, o Ceti, VY Canis Majoris, and IRC + 10216. The 11 micron brightness distributions of these objects all have spatially extended dust-emission components which are resolved in these measurements. The dust envelopes of α Orionis and o Ceti are optically thin, having optical depths at 11 microns of 0.02 and 0.04, respectively. In addition, variations are seen in the 11 micron brightness distribution of o Ceti which correlate with the stellar variability. These variations primarily represent changes in the relative amount of spatially compact photospheric emission and spatially extended dust emission. The source VY Canis Majoris, on the other had, has a dust envelope which is optically thick at 11 microns. The dust envelope of IRC + 10216, although optically thick at visible wavelengths, does not seem to be optically thick at 11 microns since there is a spatially compact component of the 11 micron brightness distribution which presumably represents emission from the central star

  8. Violation of Bell's inequality with continuous spatial variables

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abouraddy, Ayman F.; Yarnall, Timothy; Saleh, Bahaa E. A.; Teich, Malvin C.

    2007-01-01

    The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) argument revealed the paradoxical properties of a two-particle system entangled continuously in the spatial parameter. Yet a direct test of quantum nonlocality exhibited by this state, via a violation of Bell's inequality, has not been forthcoming. In this paper, we identify and construct experimental arrangements comprising simple optical components, without nonlinearities or moving parts, that implement operators in the spatial-parity space of single-photon fields that correspond to the familiar Pauli spin operators. We achieve this by first establishing an isomorphism between the single-mode multiphoton electromagnetic-field space spanned by a Fock-state basis and the single-photon multimode electromagnetic-field space spanned by a spatial-eigenmode basis. We then proceed to construct a Hilbert space with a two-dimensional basis of spatial even-odd parity modes. In particular, we describe an arrangement that implements a rotation in the parity space of each photon of an entangled-photon pair, allowing for a straightforward experimental test of Bell's inequality using the EPR state. Finally, the violation of a Bell inequality is quantified in terms of the physical parameters of the two-photon source

  9. Learning outdoors: male lizards show flexible spatial learning under semi-natural conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noble, Daniel W. A.; Carazo, Pau; Whiting, Martin J.

    2012-01-01

    Spatial cognition is predicted to be a fundamental component of fitness in many lizard species, and yet some studies suggest that it is relatively slow and inflexible. However, such claims are based on work conducted using experimental designs or in artificial contexts that may underestimate their cognitive abilities. We used a biologically realistic experimental procedure (using simulated predatory attacks) to study spatial learning and its flexibility in the lizard Eulamprus quoyii in semi-natural outdoor enclosures under similar conditions to those experienced by lizards in the wild. To evaluate the flexibility of spatial learning, we conducted a reversal spatial-learning task in which positive and negative reinforcements of learnt spatial stimuli were switched. Nineteen (32%) male lizards learnt both tasks within 10 days (spatial task mean: 8.16 ± 0.69 (s.e.) and reversal spatial task mean: 10.74 ± 0.98 (s.e.) trials). We demonstrate that E. quoyii are capable of flexible spatial learning and suggest that future studies focus on a range of lizard species which differ in phylogeny and/or ecology, using biologically relevant cognitive tasks, in an effort to bridge the cognitive divide between ecto- and endotherms. PMID:23075525

  10. Blood component fractionation: manual versus automatic procedures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pasqualetti, Daniela; Ghirardini, Alessandro; Cristina Arista, Maria; Vaglio, Stefania; Fakeri, Azis; Waldman, Alan A; Girelli, Gabriella

    2004-02-01

    Over the last few years, quality system requirements have been introduced for blood components. The necessary compliance with standard productions will have a considerable impact on Blood Banks. The introduction of automated methods is the most satisfactory means to meet these requirements for blood component preparation. A new device has been developed to automate the fractionation of blood into components. We evaluated the efficacy of this instrument as compared to manual methods. A total of 218 units of blood have been collected, into several different commercial blood bag systems (77 into standard quadruple bag systems, 141 into bag systems with integrated in line filters), and used to evaluate the universality of the instrument. Whole blood units were processed using the Top/Top system and the Compomat G4 (Fresenius HemoCare). A separate program protocol was developed for each kind of bag. Use of the Compomat G4 resulted in a statistically significant (pblood components, and has been shown adaptable to use with different blood bag systems.

  11. Dynamics of the baryonic component in hierarchical clustering universes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Navarro, Julio

    1993-01-01

    I present self-consistent 3-D simulations of the formation of virialized systems containing both gas and dark matter in a flat universe. A fully Lagrangian code based on the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics technique and a tree data structure has been used to evolve regions of comoving radius 2-3 Mpc. Tidal effects are included by coarse-sampling the density of the outer regions up to a radius approx. 20 Mpc. Initial conditions are set at high redshift (z greater than 7) using a standard Cold Dark Matter perturbation spectrum and a baryon mass fraction of 10 percent (omega(sub b) = 0.1). Simulations in which the gas evolves either adiabatically or radiates energy at a rate determined locally by its cooling function were performed. This allows us to investigate with the same set of simulations the importance of radiative losses in the formation of galaxies and the equilibrium structure of virialized systems where cooling is very inefficient. In the absence of radiative losses, the simulations can be rescaled to the density and radius typical of galaxy clusters. A summary of the main results is presented.

  12. Fractionating the neural correlates of individual working memory components underlying arithmetic problem solving skills in children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Metcalfe, Arron W S; Ashkenazi, Sarit; Rosenberg-Lee, Miriam; Menon, Vinod

    2013-10-01

    Baddeley and Hitch's multi-component working memory (WM) model has played an enduring and influential role in our understanding of cognitive abilities. Very little is known, however, about the neural basis of this multi-component WM model and the differential role each component plays in mediating arithmetic problem solving abilities in children. Here, we investigate the neural basis of the central executive (CE), phonological (PL) and visuo-spatial (VS) components of WM during a demanding mental arithmetic task in 7-9 year old children (N=74). The VS component was the strongest predictor of math ability in children and was associated with increased arithmetic complexity-related responses in left dorsolateral and right ventrolateral prefrontal cortices as well as bilateral intra-parietal sulcus and supramarginal gyrus in posterior parietal cortex. Critically, VS, CE and PL abilities were associated with largely distinct patterns of brain response. Overlap between VS and CE components was observed in left supramarginal gyrus and no overlap was observed between VS and PL components. Our findings point to a central role of visuo-spatial WM during arithmetic problem-solving in young grade-school children and highlight the usefulness of the multi-component Baddeley and Hitch WM model in fractionating the neural correlates of arithmetic problem solving during development. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Immediate and delayed recall of a small-scale spatial array.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tlauka, Michael; Donaldson, Phillip; Bonnar, Daniel

    2015-01-01

    The study examined people's spatial memory of a small-scale array of objects. Earlier work has primarily relied on short-retention intervals, and to date it is not known whether performance is affected by longer intervals between learning and recall. In the present investigation, university students studied seven target objects. Recall was tested immediately after learning and after an interval of seven days. Performance was found to be similar in the immediate and delayed conditions, and the results suggested that recall was facilitated by egocentric and intrinsic cues. The findings are discussed with reference to recent investigations that have shown task parameters can influence spatial recall.

  14. Spatial dependence of void coefficient in the University of Arizona TRIGA research reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spriggs, Gregory D.; Doane, Harry; Wells, Robert

    1980-01-01

    The spatial dependence of the moderator void coefficient of reactivity in the axial direction was experimentally measured in the A-ring using a hollow, air-filled aluminum cylinder. It was found that the void coefficient was positive in the central region of the fuel section reaching a maximum value of approximately + .045 cents/cm 3 and was negative towards the outer edges of the fuel section reaching a maximum of - .09 cents/cm 3 . (author)

  15. [Girls are more successful than boys at the university. Gender group differences in models integrating motivational and aggressive components correlated with Test-Anxiety].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masson, A-M; Hoyois, Ph; Cadot, M; Nahama, V; Petit, F; Ansseau, M

    2004-01-01

    It is surprising to note the evolution of success rates in Belgian universities especially in the first Year. Men are less successful than women and the differences are escalating in an alarming way. Dropouts take the same direction and women now represent a majority of the students at the university. In a previous study, we assessed 616 students in the first Year at the university of Liège with Vasev, the English name of which was TASTE, a self report questionnaire constituted of 4 factors: anxiety, self confidence, procrastination and performance value; anxiety particularly concerned somatic expression of students before and during test evaluations; self confidence was a cognitive component close to self efficacy; procrastination was the behavioral component characterizing avoidance when students are confronted with the risk of failure; performance value referred to intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. French validation of TASTE led to an abbreviated version of 50 items (THEE) consisting of 5 factors, the four of TASTE and an additional one, very consistent, at first called depression because of its correlations with this dimension, then called sense of competence on account of its semantic content. Self-competence has been described in the literature of Achievement Motivation and corresponded to expectancy and ability beliefs in performance process which was also relevant to self-efficacy except the particularity of comparison with others, which was not included in the last construct. Self-competence has been considered as an important part of the Worry component of test anxiety. Some Authors didn't hesitate to view causality flowing from self-competence to test anxiety and have conceptualized the latter as a failure of the self where one's sense of competence has been undermined as a result of experienced failure. In our study, only that factor was equally scored in women and men whereas it was scored higher in failed students. In other respects anxiety and

  16. Effect of a Volleyball Course on Health-Related Fitness Components of University Students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammed Hamdan Hashem Mohammed

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Physical educators need to evaluate the physical education (PE curriculum they provide to their students. One way is through regular health-related fi tness assessments. Physical education programs have improved fi tness levels of schoolchildren, but such data is rare for university students. The aim of this study was to determine the eff ect of a volleyball course on the health-related fi tness of male university students. The participants were non-PE majors from King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals. They registered for a volleyball course which was done twice a week for eight weeks (31 October-29 December 2016, 50 minutes per session. The parameters assessed were as follows: 1 body composition through body mass index (BMI, 2 muscular endurance through the 60s curl-up test, 3 fl exibility through the sit and reach test, 4 leg explosive strength through standing long jump, and 5 cardiovascular endurance through a 1.6 km run. Pre and post measurements were taken and the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired t-test with SPSS 16. P-values for statistical signifi cance was set at0.2 was considered of practical signifi cance. Data from 145 students were analyzed (mean (SD age=20.8 (0.64 years. There were improvements from pre to post in all variables except body mass and BMI. The data shows evidence that the volleyball course improved the health-related fi tness variables of the students. This shows a course designed for non-PE majors may improve their fi tness levels if well designed.

  17. Investigating the spatial scaling effect of the non-linear hydrological ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Precipitation is the most important component and critical to the study of water and energy cycle. In this study we investigated the propagation of precipitation retrieval uncertainty in the simulation of hydrological variables, such as soil moisture, temperature, runoff, and fluxes, for varying spatial resolution on different ...

  18. Black holes in the Universe: Generalized Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi solutions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gao Changjun; Chen Xuelei; Shen Yougen; Faraoni, Valerio

    2011-01-01

    We present new exact solutions which presumably describe black holes in the background of a spatially flat, pressureless dark-matter- or dark matter plus dark energy (DM+DE)- or quintom-dominated Universe. These solutions generalize Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi metrics. For a dark-matter- or (DM+DE)-dominated universe, the area of the black hole apparent horizon (AH) decreases with the expansion of the Universe while that of the cosmic AH increases. However, for a quintom-dominated universe, the black hole AH first shrinks and then expands, while the cosmic AH first expands and then shrinks. A (DM+DE)-dominated universe containing a black hole will evolve to the Schwarzschild-de Sitter solution with both AHs approaching constant size. In a quintom-dominated universe, the black hole and cosmic AHs will coincide at a certain time, after which the singularity becomes naked, violating cosmic censorship.

  19. Conductivity of two-component systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kuijper, A. de; Hofman, J.P.; Waal, J.A. de [Shell Research BV, Rijswijk (Netherlands). Koninklijke/Shell Exploratie en Productie Lab.; Sandor, R.K.J. [Shell International Petroleum Maatschappij, The Hague (Netherlands)

    1996-01-01

    The authors present measurements and computer simulation results on the electrical conductivity of nonconducting grains embedded in a conductive brine host. The shapes of the grains ranged from prolate-ellipsoidal (with an axis ratio of 5:1) through spherical to oblate-ellipsoidal (with an axis ratio of 1:5). The conductivity was studied as a function of porosity and packing, and Archie`s cementation exponent was found to depend on porosity. They used spatially regular and random configurations with aligned and nonaligned packings. The experimental results agree well with the computer simulation data. This data set will enable extensive tests of models for calculating the anisotropic conductivity of two-component systems.

  20. Principal component reconstruction (PCR) for cine CBCT with motion learning from 2D fluoroscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Hao; Zhang, Yawei; Ren, Lei; Yin, Fang-Fang

    2018-01-01

    This work aims to generate cine CT images (i.e., 4D images with high-temporal resolution) based on a novel principal component reconstruction (PCR) technique with motion learning from 2D fluoroscopic training images. In the proposed PCR method, the matrix factorization is utilized as an explicit low-rank regularization of 4D images that are represented as a product of spatial principal components and temporal motion coefficients. The key hypothesis of PCR is that temporal coefficients from 4D images can be reasonably approximated by temporal coefficients learned from 2D fluoroscopic training projections. For this purpose, we can acquire fluoroscopic training projections for a few breathing periods at fixed gantry angles that are free from geometric distortion due to gantry rotation, that is, fluoroscopy-based motion learning. Such training projections can provide an effective characterization of the breathing motion. The temporal coefficients can be extracted from these training projections and used as priors for PCR, even though principal components from training projections are certainly not the same for these 4D images to be reconstructed. For this purpose, training data are synchronized with reconstruction data using identical real-time breathing position intervals for projection binning. In terms of image reconstruction, with a priori temporal coefficients, the data fidelity for PCR changes from nonlinear to linear, and consequently, the PCR method is robust and can be solved efficiently. PCR is formulated as a convex optimization problem with the sum of linear data fidelity with respect to spatial principal components and spatiotemporal total variation regularization imposed on 4D image phases. The solution algorithm of PCR is developed based on alternating direction method of multipliers. The implementation is fully parallelized on GPU with NVIDIA CUDA toolbox and each reconstruction takes about a few minutes. The proposed PCR method is validated and

  1. Multi-University Southeast INIE Consortium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hawari, Ayman; Hertel, Nolan; Al-Sheikhly, Mohamed; Miller, Laurence; Bayoumi, Abdel-Moeze; Haghighat, Ali; Lewis, Kenneth

    2010-01-01

    The Multi-University Southeast INIE Consortium (MUSIC) was established in response to the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Innovations in Nuclear Infrastructure and Education (INIE) program. MUSIC was established as a consortium composed of academic members and national laboratory partners. The members of MUSIC are the nuclear engineering programs and research reactors of Georgia Institute of Technology (GIT), North Carolina State University (NCSU), University of Maryland (UMD), University of South Carolina (USC), and University of Tennessee (UTK). The University of Florida (UF), and South Carolina State University (SCSU) were added to the MUSIC membership in the second year. In addition, to ensure proper coordination between the academic community and the nation's premier research and development centers in the fields of nuclear science and engineering, MUSIC created strategic partnerships with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) including the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) project and the Joint Institute for Neutron Scattering (JINS), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). A partnership was also created with the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI) with the aim of utilizing their reactor in research if funding becomes available. Consequently, there are three university research reactors (URRs) within MUSIC, which are located at NCSU (1-MW PULSTAR), UMD (0.25-MW TRIGA) and UF (0.10-MW Argonaut), and the AFRRI reactor (1-MW TRIGA MARK F). The overall objectives of MUSIC are: (a) Demonstrate that University Research Reactors (URR) can be used as modern and innovative instruments of research in the basic and applied sciences, which include applications in fundamental physics, materials science and engineering, nondestructive examination, elemental analysis, and contributions to research in the health and medical sciences, (b) Establish a strong technical collaboration between the nuclear engineering faculty and the MUSIC URRs

  2. Task and spatial frequency modulations of object processing: an EEG study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Craddock, Matt; Martinovic, Jasna; Müller, Matthias M

    2013-01-01

    Visual object processing may follow a coarse-to-fine sequence imposed by fast processing of low spatial frequencies (LSF) and slow processing of high spatial frequencies (HSF). Objects can be categorized at varying levels of specificity: the superordinate (e.g. animal), the basic (e.g. dog), or the subordinate (e.g. Border Collie). We tested whether superordinate and more specific categorization depend on different spatial frequency ranges, and whether any such dependencies might be revealed by or influence signals recorded using EEG. We used event-related potentials (ERPs) and time-frequency (TF) analysis to examine the time course of object processing while participants performed either a grammatical gender-classification task (which generally forces basic-level categorization) or a living/non-living judgement (superordinate categorization) on everyday, real-life objects. Objects were filtered to contain only HSF or LSF. We found a greater positivity and greater negativity for HSF than for LSF pictures in the P1 and N1 respectively, but no effects of task on either component. A later, fronto-central negativity (N350) was more negative in the gender-classification task than the superordinate categorization task, which may indicate that this component relates to semantic or syntactic processing. We found no significant effects of task or spatial frequency on evoked or total gamma band responses. Our results demonstrate early differences in processing of HSF and LSF content that were not modulated by categorization task, with later responses reflecting such higher-level cognitive factors.

  3. Independent component processes underlying emotions during natural music listening.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rogenmoser, Lars; Zollinger, Nina; Elmer, Stefan; Jäncke, Lutz

    2016-09-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the brain processes underlying emotions during natural music listening. To address this, we recorded high-density electroencephalography (EEG) from 22 subjects while presenting a set of individually matched whole musical excerpts varying in valence and arousal. Independent component analysis was applied to decompose the EEG data into functionally distinct brain processes. A k-means cluster analysis calculated on the basis of a combination of spatial (scalp topography and dipole location mapped onto the Montreal Neurological Institute brain template) and functional (spectra) characteristics revealed 10 clusters referring to brain areas typically involved in music and emotion processing, namely in the proximity of thalamic-limbic and orbitofrontal regions as well as at frontal, fronto-parietal, parietal, parieto-occipital, temporo-occipital and occipital areas. This analysis revealed that arousal was associated with a suppression of power in the alpha frequency range. On the other hand, valence was associated with an increase in theta frequency power in response to excerpts inducing happiness compared to sadness. These findings are partly compatible with the model proposed by Heller, arguing that the frontal lobe is involved in modulating valenced experiences (the left frontal hemisphere for positive emotions) whereas the right parieto-temporal region contributes to the emotional arousal. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  4. Quantitative Analysis of Criteria in University Building Maintenance in Malaysia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olanrewaju Ashola Abdul-Lateef

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available University buildings are a significant part of university assets and considerable resources are committed to their design, construction and maintenance. The core of maintenance management is to optimize productivity and user satisfaction with optimum resources. An important segment in the maintenance management system is the analysis of criteria that influence building maintenance. Therefore, this paper aims to identify quantify, rank and discuss the criteria that influence maintenance costs, maintenance backlogs, productivity and user satisfaction in Malaysian university buildings. The paper reviews the related literature and presents the outcomes of a questionnaire survey. Questionnaires were administered on 50 university maintenance organizations. Thirty-one criteria were addressed to the university maintenance organizations to evaluate the degree to which each of the criteria influences building maintenance management. With a 66% response rate, it was concluded that the consideration of the criteria is critical to the university building maintenance management system. The quality of components and materials, budget constraints and the age of the building were found to be the most influential criteria but information on user performance satisfaction, problems associated with in-house workforce and shortage of materials and components were the least influential criteria. The paper also outlined that maintenance management is a strategic function in university administration.

  5. Multiple foci of spatial attention in multimodal working memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katus, Tobias; Eimer, Martin

    2016-11-15

    The maintenance of sensory information in working memory (WM) is mediated by the attentional activation of stimulus representations that are stored in perceptual brain regions. Using event-related potentials (ERPs), we measured tactile and visual contralateral delay activity (tCDA/CDA components) in a bimodal WM task to concurrently track the attention-based maintenance of information stored in anatomically segregated (somatosensory and visual) brain areas. Participants received tactile and visual sample stimuli on both sides, and in different blocks, memorized these samples on the same side or on opposite sides. After a retention delay, memory was unpredictably tested for touch or vision. In the same side blocks, tCDA and CDA components simultaneously emerged over the same hemisphere, contralateral to the memorized tactile/visual sample set. In opposite side blocks, these two components emerged over different hemispheres, but had the same sizes and onset latencies as in the same side condition. Our results reveal distinct foci of tactile and visual spatial attention that were concurrently maintained on task-relevant stimulus representations in WM. The independence of spatially-specific biasing mechanisms for tactile and visual WM content suggests that multimodal information is stored in distributed perceptual brain areas that are activated through modality-specific processes that can operate simultaneously and largely independently of each other. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Macroecological factors shape local-scale spatial patterns in agriculturalist settlements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tao, Tingting; Abades, Sebastián; Teng, Shuqing; Huang, Zheng Y X; Reino, Luís; Chen, Bin J W; Zhang, Yong; Xu, Chi; Svenning, Jens-Christian

    2017-11-15

    Macro-scale patterns of human systems ranging from population distribution to linguistic diversity have attracted recent attention, giving rise to the suggestion that macroecological rules shape the assembly of human societies. However, in which aspects the geography of our own species is shaped by macroecological factors remains poorly understood. Here, we provide a first demonstration that macroecological factors shape strong local-scale spatial patterns in human settlement systems, through an analysis of spatial patterns in agriculturalist settlements in eastern mainland China based on high-resolution Google Earth images. We used spatial point pattern analysis to show that settlement spatial patterns are characterized by over-dispersion at fine spatial scales (0.05-1.4 km), consistent with territory segregation, and clumping at coarser spatial scales beyond the over-dispersion signals, indicating territorial clustering. Statistical modelling shows that, at macroscales, potential evapotranspiration and topographic heterogeneity have negative effects on territory size, but positive effects on territorial clustering. These relationships are in line with predictions from territory theory for hunter-gatherers as well as for many animal species. Our results help to disentangle the complex interactions between intrinsic spatial processes in agriculturalist societies and external forcing by macroecological factors. While one may speculate that humans can escape ecological constraints because of unique abilities for environmental modification and globalized resource transportation, our work highlights that universal macroecological principles still shape the geography of current human agricultural societies. © 2017 The Author(s).

  7. Constraints on backreaction in dust universes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raesaenen, Syksy

    2006-01-01

    We study backreaction in dust universes using exact equations which do not rely on perturbation theory, concentrating on theoretical and observational constraints. In particular, we discuss the recent suggestion (Kolb et al 2005 Preprint hep-th/0503117) that superhorizon perturbations could explain present-day accelerated expansion as a useful example which can be ruled out. We note that a backreaction explanation of late-time acceleration will have to involve spatial curvature and subhorizon perturbations

  8. The Quantum Effect on Friedmann Equation in FRW Universe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Zhang

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available We study the modified Friedmann equation in the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe with quantum effect. Our modified results mainly stem from the new entropy-area relation and the novel idea of Padmanabhan, who considers the cosmic space to be emerging as the cosmic time progresses, so that the expansion rate of the universe is determined by the difference of degrees of freedom between the holographic surface and the bulk inside. We also discuss the possibility of having bounce cosmological solution from the modified Friedmann equation in spatially flat geometry.

  9. The Component-Based Application for GAMESS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Peng, Fang [Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)

    2007-01-01

    GAMESS, a quantum chetnistry program for electronic structure calculations, has been freely shared by high-performance application scientists for over twenty years. It provides a rich set of functionalities and can be run on a variety of parallel platforms through a distributed data interface. While a chemistry computation is sophisticated and hard to develop, the resource sharing among different chemistry packages will accelerate the development of new computations and encourage the cooperation of scientists from universities and laboratories. Common Component Architecture (CCA) offers an enviromnent that allows scientific packages to dynamically interact with each other through components, which enable dynamic coupling of GAMESS with other chetnistry packages, such as MPQC and NWChem. Conceptually, a cotnputation can be constructed with "plug-and-play" components from scientific packages and require more than componentizing functions/subroutines of interest, especially for large-scale scientific packages with a long development history. In this research, we present our efforts to construct cotnponents for GAMESS that conform to the CCA specification. The goal is to enable the fine-grained interoperability between three quantum chemistry programs, GAMESS, MPQC and NWChem, via components. We focus on one of the three packages, GAMESS; delineate the structure of GAMESS computations, followed by our approaches to its component development. Then we use GAMESS as the driver to interoperate integral components from the other tw"o packages, arid show the solutions for interoperability problems along with preliminary results. To justify the versatility of the design, the Tuning and Analysis Utility (TAU) components have been coupled with GAMESS and its components, so that the performance of GAMESS and its components may be analyzed for a wide range of systetn parameters.

  10. Intelligent estimation of spatially distributed soil physical properties

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iwashita, F.; Friedel, M.J.; Ribeiro, G.F.; Fraser, Stephen J.

    2012-01-01

    Spatial analysis of soil samples is often times not possible when measurements are limited in number or clustered. To obviate potential problems, we propose a new approach based on the self-organizing map (SOM) technique. This approach exploits underlying nonlinear relation of the steady-state geomorphic concave-convex nature of hillslopes (from hilltop to bottom of the valley) to spatially limited soil textural data. The topographic features are extracted from Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission elevation data; whereas soil textural (clay, silt, and sand) and hydraulic data were collected in 29 spatially random locations (50 to 75. cm depth). In contrast to traditional principal component analysis, the SOM identifies relations among relief features, such as, slope, horizontal curvature and vertical curvature. Stochastic cross-validation indicates that the SOM is unbiased and provides a way to measure the magnitude of prediction uncertainty for all variables. The SOM cross-component plots of the soil texture reveals higher clay proportions at concave areas with convergent hydrological flux and lower proportions for convex areas with divergent flux. The sand ratio has an opposite pattern with higher values near the ridge and lower values near the valley. Silt has a trend similar to sand, although less pronounced. The relation between soil texture and concave-convex hillslope features reveals that subsurface weathering and transport is an important process that changed from loss-to-gain at the rectilinear hillslope point. These results illustrate that the SOM can be used to capture and predict nonlinear hillslope relations among relief, soil texture, and hydraulic conductivity data. ?? 2011 Elsevier B.V.

  11. Student Engagement in Public Universities in the Context of University of Raparin Kurdistan Region--Iraq

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmad, Paiman Ramazan

    2015-01-01

    To the best of our knowledge this is the first attempt to investigate student engagement in learning within the Kurdistan region in general and at University of Raparin in particular. Student engagement, self-learning, faculty-student interaction and promoting personal responsibility, besides environment of learning are the components for this…

  12. Non-standard spatial statistics and spatial econometrics

    CERN Document Server

    Griffith, Daniel A

    2011-01-01

    Spatial statistics and spatial econometrics are recent sprouts of the tree "spatial analysis with measurement". Still, several general themes have emerged. Exploring selected fields of possible interest is tantalizing, and this is what the authors aim here.

  13. Spatial Decision Assistance of Watershed Sedimentation (SDAS: Development and Application

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Poerbandono

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper discusses the development and application of a spatial tool for erosion modeling named Spatial Decision Assistance of Watershed Sedimentation (SDAS. SDAS computes export (yield of sediment from watershed as product of erosion rate and sediment delivery ratio (SDR. The erosion rate is calculated for each raster grid according to a digital elevation model, soil, rain fall depth, and land cover data using the Universal Soil Loss Equation. SDR calculation is carried out for each spatial unit. A spatial unit is the smallest sub-watershed considered in the model and generated according to the TauDEM algorithm. The size of one spatial unit is assigned by the user as the minimum number of raster grids. SDR is inversely proportional to sediment resident time and controlled by rainfall, slope, soil, and land cover. Application of SDAS is demonstrated in this paper by simulating the spatial distribution of the annual sediment yield across the Citarum watershed in the northwest of Java, Indonesia. SDAS calibration was carried out based on sediment discharge observations from the upper catchment. We considered factors for hillslope flow depth and for actual and effective rainfall duration to fit the computed sediment yield to the observed sediment discharge. The computed sediment yield agreed with the observation data with a 7% mean relative accuracy.

  14. Building the IDECi-UIB: the scientific spatial data infrastructure node for the Balearic Islands University

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Giner, L.G.; Pérez, M.R.; Stuiver, H.J.

    2011-01-01

    Technical and methodological enhancements in Information Technologies (IT) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) has permitted the growth in Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI) performance. In this way, their uses and applications have grown very rapidly. In the scientific and educational

  15. Interactive Multimedia Learning: Innovating Classroom Education in a Malaysian University

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leow, Fui-Theng; Neo, Mai

    2014-01-01

    This research study was conducted at INTI International University, and aimed at enhancing the quality of classroom learning for University students with three important emphases: Gagne's instructional model, multimedia, and student-centred learning. An Interactive Learning Module (ILM) was developed as the core component in forming the…

  16. Speckle and fringe dynamics in imagingspeckle-pattern interferometry for spatial-filtering velocimetry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jakobsen, Michael Linde; Iversen, Theis F. Q.; Yura, Harold T.

    2011-01-01

    This paper analyzes the dynamics of laser speckles and fringes, formed in an imaging-speckle-pattern interferometer with the purpose of sensing linear three-dimensional motion and out-of-plane components of rotation in real time, using optical spatial-filtering-velocimetry techniques. The ensemble......-average definition of the cross-correlation function is applied to the intensity distributions, obtained in the observation plane at two positions of the object. The theoretical analysis provides a description for the dynamics of both the speckles and the fringes. The analysis reveals that both the magnitude...... and direction of all three linear displacement components of the object movement can be determined. Simultaneously, out-ofplane rotation of the object including the corresponding directions can be determined from the spatial gradient of the in-plane fringe motion throughout the observation plane. The theory...

  17. Critical location identification and vulnerability analysis of interdependent infrastructure systems under spatially localized attacks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ouyang, Min

    2016-01-01

    Infrastructure systems are usually spatially distributed in a wide area and are subject to many types of hazards. For each type of hazards, modeling their direct impact on infrastructure components and analyzing their induced system-level vulnerability are important for identifying mitigation strategies. This paper mainly studies spatially localized attacks that a set of infrastructure components located within or crossing a circle shaped spatially localized area is subject to damage while other components do not directly fail. For this type of attacks, taking interdependent power and gas systems in Harris County, Texas, USA as an example, this paper proposes an approach to exactly identify critical locations in interdependent infrastructure systems and make pertinent vulnerability analysis. Results show that (a) infrastructure interdependencies and attack radius largely affect the position of critical locations; (b) spatially localized attacks cause less vulnerability than equivalent random failures; (c) in most values of attack radius critical locations identified by considering only node failures do not change when considering both node and edge failures in the attack area; (d) for many values of attack radius critical locations identified by topology-based model are also critical from the flow-based perspective. - Highlights: • We propose a method to identify critical locations in interdependent infrastructures. • Geographical interdependencies and attack radius largely affect critical locations. • Localized attacks cause less vulnerability than equivalent random failures. • Whether considering both node and edge failures affects critical locations. • Topology-based critical locations are also critical from flow-based perspective.

  18. Chromatic and Achromatic Spatial Resolution of Local Field Potentials in Awake Cortex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jansen, Michael; Li, Xiaobing; Lashgari, Reza; Kremkow, Jens; Bereshpolova, Yulia; Swadlow, Harvey A; Zaidi, Qasim; Alonso, Jose-Manuel

    2015-10-01

    Local field potentials (LFPs) have become an important measure of neuronal population activity in the brain and could provide robust signals to guide the implant of visual cortical prosthesis in the future. However, it remains unclear whether LFPs can detect weak cortical responses (e.g., cortical responses to equiluminant color) and whether they have enough visual spatial resolution to distinguish different chromatic and achromatic stimulus patterns. By recording from awake behaving macaques in primary visual cortex, here we demonstrate that LFPs respond robustly to pure chromatic stimuli and exhibit ∼2.5 times lower spatial resolution for chromatic than achromatic stimulus patterns, a value that resembles the ratio of achromatic/chromatic resolution measured with psychophysical experiments in humans. We also show that, although the spatial resolution of LFP decays with visual eccentricity as is also the case for single neurons, LFPs have higher spatial resolution and show weaker response suppression to low spatial frequencies than spiking multiunit activity. These results indicate that LFP recordings are an excellent approach to measure spatial resolution from local populations of neurons in visual cortex including those responsive to color. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press.

  19. The effects of seed coating treatment on yield and yield components ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    GREGORY

    2010-09-13

    Sep 13, 2010 ... 2University of Adnan Menderes, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Mechanization, ... Key words: Fuzzy cotton seed, seed coating, yield components. .... gin turnout (%) characteristics are statistically important.

  20. A Framework for Evaluation of Marine Spatial Data Geoportals Using Case Studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tavra Marina

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Need for a Marine Spatial Data Infrastructure (MSDI as a component of a National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI is widely recognized. An MSDI is relevant not only for hydrographers and government planners, but also for many other sectors which takes interest in marine spatial data, whether they are data users, data providers, or data managers [9]. An MSDI encompasses marine and coastal geographic and business information. For efficient use of Marine Spatial Data, it is necessary to ensure its valid and accessible distribution. A geoportal is a specialized web portal for sharing spatial information at different levels over the Internet. This paper re-examines the implementation of an MSDI and what it means for data custodians and end users. Several geoportals are reviewed (German and Australian to determine their web services functionality, capabilities and the scope to which they support the sharing and reuse of Marine Spatial Data to assist the development of the Croatian MSDI Geoportal. This framework provides a context for better understanding the information bases on spatial data standards and a tool for evaluation of MSDI dissemination - Geoportal.

  1. Compactified cosmological simulations of the infinite universe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rácz, Gábor; Szapudi, István; Csabai, István; Dobos, László

    2018-06-01

    We present a novel N-body simulation method that compactifies the infinite spatial extent of the Universe into a finite sphere with isotropic boundary conditions to follow the evolution of the large-scale structure. Our approach eliminates the need for periodic boundary conditions, a mere numerical convenience which is not supported by observation and which modifies the law of force on large scales in an unrealistic fashion. We demonstrate that our method outclasses standard simulations executed on workstation-scale hardware in dynamic range, it is balanced in following a comparable number of high and low k modes and, its fundamental geometry and topology match observations. Our approach is also capable of simulating an expanding, infinite universe in static coordinates with Newtonian dynamics. The price of these achievements is that most of the simulated volume has smoothly varying mass and spatial resolution, an approximation that carries different systematics than periodic simulations. Our initial implementation of the method is called StePS which stands for Stereographically projected cosmological simulations. It uses stereographic projection for space compactification and naive O(N^2) force calculation which is nevertheless faster to arrive at a correlation function of the same quality than any standard (tree or P3M) algorithm with similar spatial and mass resolution. The N2 force calculation is easy to adapt to modern graphics cards, hence our code can function as a high-speed prediction tool for modern large-scale surveys. To learn about the limits of the respective methods, we compare StePS with GADGET-2 running matching initial conditions.

  2. Compactified Cosmological Simulations of the Infinite Universe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rácz, Gábor; Szapudi, István; Csabai, István; Dobos, László

    2018-03-01

    We present a novel N-body simulation method that compactifies the infinite spatial extent of the Universe into a finite sphere with isotropic boundary conditions to follow the evolution of the large-scale structure. Our approach eliminates the need for periodic boundary conditions, a mere numerical convenience which is not supported by observation and which modifies the law of force on large scales in an unrealistic fashion. We demonstrate that our method outclasses standard simulations executed on workstation-scale hardware in dynamic range, it is balanced in following a comparable number of high and low k modes and, its fundamental geometry and topology match observations. Our approach is also capable of simulating an expanding, infinite universe in static coordinates with Newtonian dynamics. The price of these achievements is that most of the simulated volume has smoothly varying mass and spatial resolution, an approximation that carries different systematics than periodic simulations. Our initial implementation of the method is called StePS which stands for Stereographically Projected Cosmological Simulations. It uses stereographic projection for space compactification and naive O(N^2) force calculation which is nevertheless faster to arrive at a correlation function of the same quality than any standard (tree or P3M) algorithm with similar spatial and mass resolution. The N2 force calculation is easy to adapt to modern graphics cards, hence our code can function as a high-speed prediction tool for modern large-scale surveys. To learn about the limits of the respective methods, we compare StePS with GADGET-2 running matching initial conditions.

  3. Attraction of position preference by spatial attention throughout human visual cortex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klein, Barrie P; Harvey, Ben M; Dumoulin, Serge O

    2014-10-01

    Voluntary spatial attention concentrates neural resources at the attended location. Here, we examined the effects of spatial attention on spatial position selectivity in humans. We measured population receptive fields (pRFs) using high-field functional MRI (fMRI) (7T) while subjects performed an attention-demanding task at different locations. We show that spatial attention attracts pRF preferred positions across the entire visual field, not just at the attended location. This global change in pRF preferred positions systematically increases up the visual hierarchy. We model these pRF preferred position changes as an interaction between two components: an attention field and a pRF without the influence of attention. This computational model suggests that increasing effects of attention up the hierarchy result primarily from differences in pRF size and that the attention field is similar across the visual hierarchy. A similar attention field suggests that spatial attention transforms different neural response selectivities throughout the visual hierarchy in a similar manner. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. A general thermodynamical description of the event horizon in the FRW universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tu, Fei-Quan; Chen, Yi-Xin

    2016-01-01

    The Friedmann equation in the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) universe with any spatial curvature is derived from the first law of thermodynamics on the event horizon. The key idea is to redefine a Hawking temperature on the event horizon. Furthermore, we obtain the evolution equations of the universe including the quantum correction and explore the evolution of the universe in f(R) gravity. In addition, we also investigate the generalized second law of thermodynamics in Einstein gravity and f(R) gravity. This perspective also implies that the first law of thermodynamics on the event horizon has a general description in respect of the evolution of the FRW universe. (orig.)

  5. Data Field Modeling and Spectral-Spatial Feature Fusion for Hyperspectral Data Classification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Da; Li, Jianxun

    2016-12-16

    Classification is a significant subject in hyperspectral remote sensing image processing. This study proposes a spectral-spatial feature fusion algorithm for the classification of hyperspectral images (HSI). Unlike existing spectral-spatial classification methods, the influences and interactions of the surroundings on each measured pixel were taken into consideration in this paper. Data field theory was employed as the mathematical realization of the field theory concept in physics, and both the spectral and spatial domains of HSI were considered as data fields. Therefore, the inherent dependency of interacting pixels was modeled. Using data field modeling, spatial and spectral features were transformed into a unified radiation form and further fused into a new feature by using a linear model. In contrast to the current spectral-spatial classification methods, which usually simply stack spectral and spatial features together, the proposed method builds the inner connection between the spectral and spatial features, and explores the hidden information that contributed to classification. Therefore, new information is included for classification. The final classification result was obtained using a random forest (RF) classifier. The proposed method was tested with the University of Pavia and Indian Pines, two well-known standard hyperspectral datasets. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method has higher classification accuracies than those obtained by the traditional approaches.

  6. A spatial emergy model for Alachua County, Florida

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lambert, James David

    will be directly comparable with the results of this study. The results and conclusions of this study reinforce the hypothesis that an urban landscape will develop a predictable spatial pattern that can be described in terms of a universal energy transformation hierarchy.

  7. Dark matter in the universe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turner, Michael S.

    1991-01-01

    What is the quantity and composition of material in the Universe? This is one of the most fundamental questions we can ask about the Universe, and its answer bears on a number of important issues including the formation of structure in the Universe, and the ultimate fate and the earliest history of the Universe. Moreover, answering this question could lead to the discovery of new particles, as well as shedding light on the nature of the fundamental interactions. At present, only a partial answer is at hand. Most of the radiation in the Universe does not give off detectable radiation; it is dark. The dark matter associated with bright galaxies contributes somewhere between 10 and 30 percent of the critical density; baryonic matter contributes between 1.1 and 12 percent of the critical. The case for the spatially flat, Einstein-de Sitter model is supported by three compelling theoretical arguments - structure formation, the temporal Copernican principle, and inflation - and by some observational data. If Omega is indeed unity, or even just significantly greater than 0.1, then there is a strong case for a Universe comprised of nonbaryonic matter. There are three well motivated particle dark matter candidates: an axion of mass 10 (exp -6) eV to 10 (exp -4) eV; a neutrino of mass 10 GeV to about 3 TeV; or a neutrino of mass 20 eV to 90 eV. All three possibilities can be tested by experiments that are either planned or are underway.

  8. Dark matter in the universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Turner, M.S.; Chicago Univ., IL

    1990-11-01

    What is the quantity and composition of material in the Universe? This is one of the most fundamental questions we can ask about the Universe, and its answer bears on a number of important issues including the formation of structure in the Universe, and the ultimate fate and the earliest history of the Universe. Moreover, answering this question could lead to the discovery of new particles, as well as shedding light on the nature of the fundamental interactions. At present, only a partial answer is at hand: Most of the material in the Universe does not give off detectable radiation, i.e., is ''dark;'' the dark matter associated with bright galaxies contributes somewhere between 10% and 30% of the critical density (by comparison luminous matter contributes less than 1%); baryonic matter contributes between 1.1% and 12% of critical. The case for the spatially-flat, Einstein-de Sitter model is supported by three compelling theoretical arguments--structure formation, the temporal Copernican principle, and inflation--and by some observational data. If Ω is indeed unity--or even just significantly greater than 0.1--then there is a strong case for a Universe comprised of nonbaryonic matter. There are three well motivated particle dark-matter candidates: an axion of mass 10 -6 eV to 10 -4 eV; a neutralino of mass 10 GeV to about 3 TeV; or a neutrino of mass 20 eV to 90 eV. All three possibilities can be tested by experiments that are either being planned or are underway. 63 refs

  9. Spatial resolution of the HRRT PET scanner using 3D-OSEM PSF reconstruction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olesen, Oline Vinter; Sibomana, Merence; Keller, Sune Høgild

    2009-01-01

    The spatial resolution of the Siemens High Resolution Research Tomograph (HRRT) dedicated brain PET scanner installed at Copenhagen University Hospital (Rigshospitalet) was measured using a point-source phantom with high statistics. Further, it was demonstrated how the newly developed 3D-OSEM PSF...

  10. The fractal spatial distribution of pancreatic islets in three dimensions: a self-avoiding growth model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jo, Junghyo; Periwal, Vipul; Hörnblad, Andreas; Ahlgren, Ulf; Kilimnik, German; Hara, Manami

    2013-01-01

    The islets of Langerhans, responsible for controlling blood glucose levels, are dispersed within the pancreas. A universal power law governing the fractal spatial distribution of islets in two-dimensional pancreatic sections has been reported. However, the fractal geometry in the actual three-dimensional pancreas volume, and the developmental process that gives rise to such a self-similar structure, has not been investigated. Here, we examined the three-dimensional spatial distribution of islets in intact mouse pancreata using optical projection tomography and found a power law with a fractal dimension of 2.1. Furthermore, based on two-dimensional pancreatic sections of human autopsies, we found that the distribution of human islets also follows a universal power law with a fractal dimension of 1.5 in adult pancreata, which agrees with the value previously reported in smaller mammalian pancreas sections. Finally, we developed a self-avoiding growth model for the development of the islet distribution and found that the fractal nature of the spatial islet distribution may be associated with the self-avoidance in the branching process of vascularization in the pancreas. (paper)

  11. Spatial cyberinfrastructures, ontologies, and the humanities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sieber, Renee E.; Wellen, Christopher C.; Jin, Yuan

    2011-01-01

    We report on research into building a cyberinfrastructure for Chinese biographical and geographic data. Our cyberinfrastructure contains (i) the McGill-Harvard-Yenching Library Ming Qing Women's Writings database (MQWW), the only online database on historical Chinese women's writings, (ii) the China Biographical Database, the authority for Chinese historical people, and (iii) the China Historical Geographical Information System, one of the first historical geographic information systems. Key to this integration is that linked databases retain separate identities as bases of knowledge, while they possess sufficient semantic interoperability to allow for multidatabase concepts and to support cross-database queries on an ad hoc basis. Computational ontologies create underlying semantics for database access. This paper focuses on the spatial component in a humanities cyberinfrastructure, which includes issues of conflicting data, heterogeneous data models, disambiguation, and geographic scale. First, we describe the methodology for integrating the databases. Then we detail the system architecture, which includes a tier of ontologies and schema. We describe the user interface and applications that allow for cross-database queries. For instance, users should be able to analyze the data, examine hypotheses on spatial and temporal relationships, and generate historical maps with datasets from MQWW for research, teaching, and publication on Chinese women writers, their familial relations, publishing venues, and the literary and social communities. Last, we discuss the social side of cyberinfrastructure development, as people are considered to be as critical as the technical components for its success. PMID:21444819

  12. Spatial cyberinfrastructures, ontologies, and the humanities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sieber, Renee E; Wellen, Christopher C; Jin, Yuan

    2011-04-05

    We report on research into building a cyberinfrastructure for Chinese biographical and geographic data. Our cyberinfrastructure contains (i) the McGill-Harvard-Yenching Library Ming Qing Women's Writings database (MQWW), the only online database on historical Chinese women's writings, (ii) the China Biographical Database, the authority for Chinese historical people, and (iii) the China Historical Geographical Information System, one of the first historical geographic information systems. Key to this integration is that linked databases retain separate identities as bases of knowledge, while they possess sufficient semantic interoperability to allow for multidatabase concepts and to support cross-database queries on an ad hoc basis. Computational ontologies create underlying semantics for database access. This paper focuses on the spatial component in a humanities cyberinfrastructure, which includes issues of conflicting data, heterogeneous data models, disambiguation, and geographic scale. First, we describe the methodology for integrating the databases. Then we detail the system architecture, which includes a tier of ontologies and schema. We describe the user interface and applications that allow for cross-database queries. For instance, users should be able to analyze the data, examine hypotheses on spatial and temporal relationships, and generate historical maps with datasets from MQWW for research, teaching, and publication on Chinese women writers, their familial relations, publishing venues, and the literary and social communities. Last, we discuss the social side of cyberinfrastructure development, as people are considered to be as critical as the technical components for its success.

  13. Applications of seismic spatial wavefield gradient and rotation data in exploration seismology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmelzbach, C.; Van Renterghem, C.; Sollberger, D.; Häusler, M.; Robertsson, J. O. A.

    2017-12-01

    Seismic spatial wavefield gradient and rotation data have the potential to open up new ways to address long-standing problems in land-seismic exploration such as identifying and separating P-, S-, and surface waves. Gradient-based acquisition and processing techniques could enable replacing large arrays of densely spaced receivers by sparse spatially-compact receiver layouts or even one single multicomponent station with dedicated instruments (e.g., rotational seismometers). Such approaches to maximize the information content of single-station recordings are also of significant interest for seismic measurements at sites with limited access such as boreholes, the sea bottom, and extraterrestrial seismology. Arrays of conventional three-component (3C) geophones enable measuring not only the particle velocity in three dimensions but also estimating their spatial gradients. Because the free-surface condition allows to express vertical derivatives in terms of horizontal derivatives, the full gradient tensor and, hence, curl and divergence of the wavefield can be computed. In total, three particle velocity components, three rotational components, and divergence, result seven-component (7C) seismic data. Combined particle velocity and gradient data can be used to isolate the incident P- or S-waves at the land surface or the sea bottom using filtering techniques based on the elastodynamic representation theorem. Alternatively, as only S-waves exhibit rotational motion, rotational measurements can directly be used to identify S-waves. We discuss the derivations of the gradient-based filters as well as their application to synthetic and field data, demonstrating that rotational data can be of particular interest to S-wave reflection and P-to-S-wave conversion imaging. The concept of array-derived gradient estimation can be extended to source arrays as well. Therefore, source arrays allow us to emulate rotational (curl) and dilatational (divergence) sources. Combined with 7C

  14. Role of Thickness Confinement on Relaxations of the Fast Component in a Miscible A/B Blend

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Green, Peter [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Sharma, Ravi P. [University of Michigan; Dong, Ban Xuan [University of Michigan

    2018-01-18

    Spatial compositional heterogeneity strongly influences the dynamics of the A and B components of bulk miscible blends. Its effects are especially apparent in mixtures, such as poly(vinyl methyl ether) (PVME)/polystyrene (PS), where there exist significant disparities between the component glass transition temperatures (Tgs) and relaxation times. The relaxation processes characterized by distinct temperature dependencies and relaxation rates manifest different local compositional environments for temperatures above and below the glass transition temperature of the miscible blend. This same behavior is shown to exist in miscible PS/PVME films as thin as 100 nm. Moreover, in thin films, the characteristic segmental relaxation times t of the PVME component of miscible PVME/PS blends confined between aluminum (Al) substrates decrease with increasing molecular weight M of the PS component. These relaxation rates are film thickness dependent, in films up to a few hundred nanometers in thickness. This is in remarkable contrast to homopolymer films, where thickness confinement effects are apparent only on length scales on the order of nanometers. These surprisingly large length scales and M dependence are associated with the preferential interfacial enrichment - wetting layer formation - of the PVME component at the external Al interfaces, which alters the local spatial blend composition within the interior of the film. The implications are that the dynamics of miscible thin film blends are dictated in part by component Tg differences, disparities in component relaxation rates, component-substrate interactions, and chain lengths (entropy of mixing).

  15. Refining English Language Tests for University Admission: A Malaysian Example

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arshad Abd Samad

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available English has now become the lingua franca of much of technological, business and academic endeavours. Consequently, learning the English language is now seen as vital, especially at the university level where proficiency in the language has become a selection criterion. At present, the Malaysian University English Test (MUET has been adopted by Malaysian public universities as an indicator of English language proficiency. A student’s overall result depends on all the four language components of the MUET and often determines the number and nature of the English language courses he or she has to attend at university. This study seeks to examine whether MUET is an accurate predictor of performance and success at university and how the MUET can be finetuned as an entry level English language test. It was carried out among 52 third year undergraduates of the Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia, admitted into the Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL programme. The findings of the study do not offer conclusive evidence about the validity of MUET as a predictor of academic success. However, six models of various combinations of scores on language components on the MUET scores are examined in terms of their effectiveness in increasing the accuracy in selecting students for the TESL programme. The correlations obtained using these models indicate that the combination of various components of the MUET can be used to more accurately predict student achievement at tertiary level than the cumulative MUET score itself. The results of these correlations and their implications in using language tests as admission requirements in general are also discussed

  16. A high time and spatial resolution MRPC designed for muon tomography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, L.; Wang, Y.; Huang, X.; Wang, X.; Zhu, W.; Li, Y.; Cheng, J.

    2014-12-01

    A prototype of cosmic muon scattering tomography system has been set up in Tsinghua University in Beijing. Multi-gap Resistive Plate Chamber (MRPC) is used in the system to get the muon tracks. Compared with other detectors, MRPC can not only provide the track but also the Time of Flight (ToF) between two detectors which can estimate the energy of particles. To get a more accurate track and higher efficiency of the tomography system, a new type of high time and two-dimensional spatial resolution MRPC has been developed. A series of experiments have been done to measure the efficiency, time resolution and spatial resolution. The results show that the efficiency can reach 95% and its time resolution is around 65 ps. The cluster size is around 4 and the spatial resolution can reach 200 μ m.

  17. That's a Different Kind of Person' - Spatial Connotations and Partner Choice

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Haandrikman, Karen; Hutter, Inge

    2012-01-01

    The paper investigates the process of partner choice and the specific role of geographical distance in this process. This focus on the spatial component is a unique and new approach to address the topic. By adopting a qualitative approach, the decision-making process preceding partner choice is

  18. Morningness-eveningness and depressive symptoms: Test on the components level with CES-D in Polish students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jankowski, Konrad S

    2016-05-15

    The study aimed to elucidate previously observed associations between morningness-eveningness and depressive symptomatology in university students. Relations between components of depressive symptomatology and morningness-eveningness were analysed. Nine hundred and seventy-four university students completed Polish versions of the Centre for Epidemiological Studies - Depression scale (CES-D; Polish translation appended to this paper) and the Composite Scale of Morningness. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to test the structure of depressive symptoms. Pearson and partial correlations (with age and sex controlled), along with regression analyses with morning affect (MA) and circadian preference as predictors, were used. PCA revealed three components of depressive symptoms: depressed/somatic affect, positive affect, interpersonal relations. Greater MA was related to less depressive symptoms in three components. Morning circadian preference was related to less depressive symptoms in depressed/somatic and positive affects and unrelated to interpersonal relations. Both morningness-eveningness components exhibited stronger links with depressed/somatic and positive affects than with interpersonal relations. Three CES-D components exhibited stronger links with MA than with circadian preference. In regression analyses only MA was statistically significant for positive affect and better interpersonal relations, whereas more depressed/somatic affect was predicted by lower MA and morning circadian preference (relationship reversed compared to correlations). Self-report assessment. There are three groups of depressive symptoms in Polish university students. Associations of MA with depressed/somatic and positive affects are primarily responsible for the observed links between morningness-eveningness and depressive symptoms in university students. People with evening circadian preference whose MA is not lowered have less depressed/somatic affect. Copyright © 2016

  19. Manifest Spatialization: Militarizing Communication in Canada

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patricia Mazepa

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Focusing on the political economy of communication and the process of spatialization whereby control over space and time is extended through the use of information and communication technology (ICT, this paper provides an overview of the intersections that draw the Canadian federal government, its military, and the ICT, defence and security industries into relationships that reinforce and extend their control. By attending to historical and current examples, it highlights several sub-processes of spatialization, including corporate restructuring (through vertical and horizontal integration, as well as state restructuring (principally through internationalization and commercialization, which together underpin and support the militarization of communication. From the state’s concentration on conventional war and the “Cold War”, through to the current “War on Terror” and its protection of an integrated ICT infrastructure, communication is increasingly confined within a narrow militarized and corporatized framework. Within this framework, both capital and the military prioritize the development and administration of the “command and control” capabilities of ICT, such that the policies and practices of communication become more exclusive, restrictive and surveilled, and less open, accessible, and universal. The paper seeks to explain how this tripartite combination of “command, control, and communication” is indicative of the process of spatialization, and supports a militarized capitalism and the formation of a cross-border MICC poised to expand and defend it.

  20. Einstein's conversion from his static to an expanding universe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nussbaumer, Harry

    2014-02-01

    In 1917 Einstein initiated modern cosmology by postulating, based on general relativity, a homogenous, static, spatially curved universe. To counteract gravitational contraction he introduced the cosmological constant. In 1922 Alexander Friedman showed that Albert Einstein's fundamental equations also allow dynamical worlds, and in 1927 Georges Lemaître, backed by observational evidence, concluded that our universe was expanding. Einstein impetuously rejected Friedman's as well as Lemaître's findings. However, in 1931 he retracted his former static model in favour of a dynamic solution. This investigation follows Einstein on his hesitating path from a static to the expanding universe. Contrary to an often advocated belief the primary motive for his switch was not observational evidence, but the realisation that his static model was unstable.

  1. Mitigating Uncertainty from Vegetation Spatial Complexity with Highly Portable Lidar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paynter, I.; Schaaf, C.; Peri, F.; Saenz, E. J.; Genest, D.; Strahler, A. H.; Li, Z.

    2015-12-01

    To fully utilize the excellent spatial coverage and temporal resolution offered by satellite resources for estimating ecological variables, fine-scale observations are required for comparison, calibration and validation. Lidar instruments have proved effective in estimating the properties of vegetation components of ecosystems, but they are often challenged by occlusion, especially in structurally complex and spatially fragmented ecosystems such as tropical forests. Increasing the range of view angles, both horizontally and vertically, by increasing the number of scans, can mitigate occlusion. However these scans must occur within the window of temporal stability for the ecosystem and vegetation property being measured. The Compact Biomass Lidar (CBL) is a TLS optimized for portability and scanning speed, developed and operated by University of Massachusetts Boston. This 905nm wavelength scanner achieves an angular resolution of 0.25 degrees at a rate of 33 seconds per scan. The ability to acquire many scans within narrow windows of temporal stability for ecological variables has facilitated the more complete investigation of ecosystem structural characteristics, and their expression as a function of view angle. The lightweight CBL has facilitated the use of alternative deployment platforms including towers, trams and masts, allowing analysis of the vertical structure of ecosystems, even in highly enclosed environments such as the sub-canopy of tropical forests where aerial vehicles cannot currently operate. We will present results from view angle analyses of lidar surveys of tropical rainforest in La Selva, Costa Rica where the CBL was deployed at heights up to 10m in Carbono long-term research plots utilizing a portable mast, and on a 25m stationary tower; and temperate forest at Harvard Forest, Massachusetts, USA, where the CBL has been deployed biannually at long-term research plots of hardwood and hemlock, as well as at heights of up to 25m utilizing a

  2. Inflation in a closed universe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ratra, Bharat

    2017-11-01

    To derive a power spectrum for energy density inhomogeneities in a closed universe, we study a spatially-closed inflation-modified hot big bang model whose evolutionary history is divided into three epochs: an early slowly-rolling scalar field inflation epoch and the usual radiation and nonrelativistic matter epochs. (For our purposes it is not necessary to consider a final dark energy dominated epoch.) We derive general solutions of the relativistic linear perturbation equations in each epoch. The constants of integration in the inflation epoch solutions are determined from de Sitter invariant quantum-mechanical initial conditions in the Lorentzian section of the inflating closed de Sitter space derived from Hawking's prescription that the quantum state of the universe only include field configurations that are regular on the Euclidean (de Sitter) sphere section. The constants of integration in the radiation and matter epoch solutions are determined from joining conditions derived by requiring that the linear perturbation equations remain nonsingular at the transitions between epochs. The matter epoch power spectrum of gauge-invariant energy density inhomogeneities is not a power law, and depends on spatial wave number in the way expected for a generalization to the closed model of the standard flat-space scale-invariant power spectrum. The power spectrum we derive appears to differ from a number of other closed inflation model power spectra derived assuming different (presumably non de Sitter invariant) initial conditions.

  3. Research on the spatial analysis method of seismic hazard for island

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jia, Jing; Jiang, Jitong; Zheng, Qiuhong; Gao, Huiying

    2017-01-01

    Seismic hazard analysis(SHA) is a key component of earthquake disaster prevention field for island engineering, whose result could provide parameters for seismic design microscopically and also is the requisite work for the island conservation planning’s earthquake and comprehensive disaster prevention planning macroscopically, in the exploitation and construction process of both inhabited and uninhabited islands. The existing seismic hazard analysis methods are compared in their application, and their application and limitation for island is analysed. Then a specialized spatial analysis method of seismic hazard for island (SAMSHI) is given to support the further related work of earthquake disaster prevention planning, based on spatial analysis tools in GIS and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model. The basic spatial database of SAMSHI includes faults data, historical earthquake record data, geological data and Bouguer gravity anomalies data, which are the data sources for the 11 indices of the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model, and these indices are calculated by the spatial analysis model constructed in ArcGIS’s Model Builder platform. (paper)

  4. Research on the spatial analysis method of seismic hazard for island

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jia, Jing; Jiang, Jitong; Zheng, Qiuhong; Gao, Huiying

    2017-05-01

    Seismic hazard analysis(SHA) is a key component of earthquake disaster prevention field for island engineering, whose result could provide parameters for seismic design microscopically and also is the requisite work for the island conservation planning’s earthquake and comprehensive disaster prevention planning macroscopically, in the exploitation and construction process of both inhabited and uninhabited islands. The existing seismic hazard analysis methods are compared in their application, and their application and limitation for island is analysed. Then a specialized spatial analysis method of seismic hazard for island (SAMSHI) is given to support the further related work of earthquake disaster prevention planning, based on spatial analysis tools in GIS and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model. The basic spatial database of SAMSHI includes faults data, historical earthquake record data, geological data and Bouguer gravity anomalies data, which are the data sources for the 11 indices of the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model, and these indices are calculated by the spatial analysis model constructed in ArcGIS’s Model Builder platform.

  5. Modeling Environmental Literacy of University Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teksoz, Gaye; Sahin, Elvan; Tekkaya-Oztekin, Ceren

    2012-01-01

    The present study proposed an Environmental Literacy Components Model to explain how environmental attitudes, environmental responsibility, environmental concern, and environmental knowledge as well as outdoor activities related to each other. A total of 1,345 university students responded to an environmental literacy survey (Kaplowitz and Levine…

  6. Automatic inventory of components by laser 3D scanner

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rodriguez Garcia, R.; Munoz Prieto, C.; Sarti Fernandez, F.

    2014-01-01

    One of the existing needs in nuclear decommissioning projects is to provide an inventory of components to be dismantled, which is available from its spatial location and elements that exist in your environment. The Laser scanner technology is a system of data acquisition that allows 3D models composed of millions of points, it's models with pinpoint accuracy and are available in a very short space of time. (Author)

  7. Big bang in a universe with infinite extension

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Groen, Oeyvind [Oslo College, Department of Engineering, PO Box 4, St Olavs Pl, 0130 Oslo (Norway); Institute of Physics, University of Oslo, PO Box 1048 Blindern, 0316 Oslo (Norway)

    2006-05-01

    How can a universe coming from a point-like big bang event have infinite spatial extension? It is shown that the relativity of simultaneity is essential in answering this question. Space is finite as defined by the simultaneity of one observer, but it may be infinite as defined by the simultaneity of all the clocks participating in the Hubble flow.

  8. Big bang in a universe with infinite extension

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Groen, Oeyvind

    2006-01-01

    How can a universe coming from a point-like big bang event have infinite spatial extension? It is shown that the relativity of simultaneity is essential in answering this question. Space is finite as defined by the simultaneity of one observer, but it may be infinite as defined by the simultaneity of all the clocks participating in the Hubble flow

  9. SPATIAL-SPECTRAL CLASSIFICATION BASED ON THE UNSUPERVISED CONVOLUTIONAL SPARSE AUTO-ENCODER FOR HYPERSPECTRAL REMOTE SENSING IMAGERY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    X. Han

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Current hyperspectral remote sensing imagery spatial-spectral classification methods mainly consider concatenating the spectral information vectors and spatial information vectors together. However, the combined spatial-spectral information vectors may cause information loss and concatenation deficiency for the classification task. To efficiently represent the spatial-spectral feature information around the central pixel within a neighbourhood window, the unsupervised convolutional sparse auto-encoder (UCSAE with window-in-window selection strategy is proposed in this paper. Window-in-window selection strategy selects the sub-window spatial-spectral information for the spatial-spectral feature learning and extraction with the sparse auto-encoder (SAE. Convolution mechanism is applied after the SAE feature extraction stage with the SAE features upon the larger outer window. The UCSAE algorithm was validated by two common hyperspectral imagery (HSI datasets – Pavia University dataset and the Kennedy Space Centre (KSC dataset, which shows an improvement over the traditional hyperspectral spatial-spectral classification methods.

  10. Effect of the application of a multimedia in the acquisition of skills for the evaluation of physical fitness components related to health, in students of Physical Education of the National University

    OpenAIRE

    Anchía Umaña, Irina; Vargas Araya, Gerardo Alonso; Gutiérrez Vargas, Juan Carlos

    2012-01-01

    The objective of this study was determining the effect of the application of a multimedia on the acquisition of the necessary skills for the evaluation of physical fitness components related to health. Methodology: subjects: university physical education students (n=29), registered in the course Evaluation of Physical Qualities. Instruments: multimedia of battery of tests for physical evaluation related to health (subcutaneous tissue thickness, cardio respiratory capacity, flexibility, muscul...

  11. Cyber-Spatial Academic Networking for Energy (Oil, Natural Gas, Electricity Development in Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Richard INGWE

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Philosophers of society/sociology recently espoused the concept of a new society and its new paradigm distinguished from the old that was based on industry and the energy forms that drove them since the industrial revolution. The new society which is driven by information and communications technologies (ICTs has created the network society whereby cyber-spatial (internet-based platforms operate in leveraging previous and conventional interaction among researchers concerned with single subjects and/or multi-disciplinary research projects, exchanges of ideas, opinions, concerns/worries, viewpoints, project management, among other issues in the nexus of developing and applying academic knowledge. While most of those that are popularly used are of the universal (non-specific nationality or global character, fairly country-specific (i.e. restricted membership or nation-focused cyber-spatial platforms present opportunities for enhancing or optimizing the profit of academic interaction and exchanges that concentrate on challenges that are limited to one country but promote greater understanding among those academics involved compared to the rather universal cyber-spatial platforms. Here, we conceive and hypothetically theorize a cyber-spatial platform for enhancing interaction among Nigerian scholars and academics concerned with energy which has been driving industry. Examined in this article are: contexts of scholarship in Nigeria (tertiary educational institutions, research and knowledge needs for sustainable development; the network society as a suitable framework for theoretically framing the cyber-spatial platform; an exemplary multi-disciplinary approach for multi-disciplinary petroleum oil, natural gas and energy concentrating on (or drawing from the social sciences; management of the program; discussion and conclusion. The implications of this article for policy is that while the National Universities’ Commission and the Federal Ministry of

  12. University Transitions and Gender: From Choice of Studies to Academic Career Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Villar, Alícia; Hernàndez, Francesc Jesús

    2014-01-01

    Based on the results of the authors' research using a case study of a Spanish university, the sociological component of gender is an important factor in building transitions at university. When the authors refer to university transitions they are talking about two periods. Firstly, they refer to the transition of undergraduate students from upper…

  13. Task and spatial frequency modulations of object processing: an EEG study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matt Craddock

    Full Text Available Visual object processing may follow a coarse-to-fine sequence imposed by fast processing of low spatial frequencies (LSF and slow processing of high spatial frequencies (HSF. Objects can be categorized at varying levels of specificity: the superordinate (e.g. animal, the basic (e.g. dog, or the subordinate (e.g. Border Collie. We tested whether superordinate and more specific categorization depend on different spatial frequency ranges, and whether any such dependencies might be revealed by or influence signals recorded using EEG. We used event-related potentials (ERPs and time-frequency (TF analysis to examine the time course of object processing while participants performed either a grammatical gender-classification task (which generally forces basic-level categorization or a living/non-living judgement (superordinate categorization on everyday, real-life objects. Objects were filtered to contain only HSF or LSF. We found a greater positivity and greater negativity for HSF than for LSF pictures in the P1 and N1 respectively, but no effects of task on either component. A later, fronto-central negativity (N350 was more negative in the gender-classification task than the superordinate categorization task, which may indicate that this component relates to semantic or syntactic processing. We found no significant effects of task or spatial frequency on evoked or total gamma band responses. Our results demonstrate early differences in processing of HSF and LSF content that were not modulated by categorization task, with later responses reflecting such higher-level cognitive factors.

  14. Spatial distribution and socioeconomic context of tuberculosis in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alessandra Gonçalves Lisbôa Pereira

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVE To analyze the spatial distribution of risk for tuberculosis and its socioeconomic determinants in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.METHODS An ecological study on the association between the mean incidence rate of tuberculosis from 2004 to 2006 and socioeconomic indicators of the Censo Demográfico (Demographic Census of 2000. The unit of analysis was the home district registered in the Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação (Notifiable Diseases Information System of Rio de Janeiro, Southeastern Brazil. The rates were standardized by sex and age group, and smoothed by the empirical Bayes method. Spatial autocorrelation was evaluated by Moran’s I. Multiple linear regression models were studied and the appropriateness of incorporating the spatial component in modeling was evaluated.RESULTS We observed a higher risk of the disease in some neighborhoods of the port and north regions, as well as a high incidence in the slums of Rocinha and Vidigal, in the south region, and Cidade de Deus, in the west. The final model identified a positive association for the variables: percentage of permanent private households in which the head of the house earns three to five minimum wages; percentage of individual residents in the neighborhood; and percentage of people living in homes with more than two people per bedroom.CONCLUSIONS The spatial analysis identified areas of risk of tuberculosis incidence in the neighborhoods of the city of Rio de Janeiro and also found spatial dependence for the incidence of tuberculosis and some socioeconomic variables. However, the inclusion of the space component in the final model was not required during the modeling process.

  15. Classification of peacock feather reflectance using principal component analysis similarity factors from multispectral imaging data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Medina, José M; Díaz, José A; Vukusic, Pete

    2015-04-20

    Iridescent structural colors in biology exhibit sophisticated spatially-varying reflectance properties that depend on both the illumination and viewing angles. The classification of such spectral and spatial information in iridescent structurally colored surfaces is important to elucidate the functional role of irregularity and to improve understanding of color pattern formation at different length scales. In this study, we propose a non-invasive method for the spectral classification of spatial reflectance patterns at the micron scale based on the multispectral imaging technique and the principal component analysis similarity factor (PCASF). We demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach and its component methods by detailing its use in the study of the angle-dependent reflectance properties of Pavo cristatus (the common peacock) feathers, a species of peafowl very well known to exhibit bright and saturated iridescent colors. We show that multispectral reflectance imaging and PCASF approaches can be used as effective tools for spectral recognition of iridescent patterns in the visible spectrum and provide meaningful information for spectral classification of the irregularity of the microstructure in iridescent plumage.

  16. The magnitude-redshift relation in a perturbed Friedmann universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sasaki, Misao.

    1987-02-01

    A general formula for the magnitude-redshift relation in a linearly perturbed Friedmann universe is derived. The formula does not assume any specific gauge condition, but the gauge-invariance of it is explicitly shown. Then the application of the formula to the spatially flat background model is considered and the implications are discussed. (author)

  17. Large aperture components for solid state laser fusion systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Simmons, W.W.

    1978-01-01

    Solid state lasers for fusion experiments must reliably deliver maximum power to small (approximately .5 mm) targets from stand-off focal distances of 1 m or more. This requirement places stringent limits upon the optical quality, resistance to damage, and overall performance of the several major components--amplifiers, Faraday isolators, spatial filters--in each amplifier train. Component development centers about achieving (1) highest functional material figure of merit, (2) best optical quality, and (3) maximum resistance to optical damage. Specific examples of the performance of large aperture components will be presented within the context of the Argus and Shiva laser systems, which are presently operational at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. Shiva comprises twenty amplifiers, each of 20 cm output clear aperture. Terawatt beams from these amplifiers are focused through two opposed, nested clusters of f/6 lenses onto such targets. Design requirements upon the larger aperture Nova laser components, up to 35 cm in clear aperture, will also be discussed; these pose a significant challenge to the optical industry

  18. Numerical Approach to Spatial Deterministic-Stochastic Models Arising in Cell Biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schaff, James C; Gao, Fei; Li, Ye; Novak, Igor L; Slepchenko, Boris M

    2016-12-01

    Hybrid deterministic-stochastic methods provide an efficient alternative to a fully stochastic treatment of models which include components with disparate levels of stochasticity. However, general-purpose hybrid solvers for spatially resolved simulations of reaction-diffusion systems are not widely available. Here we describe fundamentals of a general-purpose spatial hybrid method. The method generates realizations of a spatially inhomogeneous hybrid system by appropriately integrating capabilities of a deterministic partial differential equation solver with a popular particle-based stochastic simulator, Smoldyn. Rigorous validation of the algorithm is detailed, using a simple model of calcium 'sparks' as a testbed. The solver is then applied to a deterministic-stochastic model of spontaneous emergence of cell polarity. The approach is general enough to be implemented within biologist-friendly software frameworks such as Virtual Cell.

  19. Developing a Model Component

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fields, Christina M.

    2013-01-01

    The Spaceport Command and Control System (SCCS) Simulation Computer Software Configuration Item (CSCI) is responsible for providing simulations to support test and verification of SCCS hardware and software. The Universal Coolant Transporter System (UCTS) was a Space Shuttle Orbiter support piece of the Ground Servicing Equipment (GSE). The initial purpose of the UCTS was to provide two support services to the Space Shuttle Orbiter immediately after landing at the Shuttle Landing Facility. The UCTS is designed with the capability of servicing future space vehicles; including all Space Station Requirements necessary for the MPLM Modules. The Simulation uses GSE Models to stand in for the actual systems to support testing of SCCS systems during their development. As an intern at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), my assignment was to develop a model component for the UCTS. I was given a fluid component (dryer) to model in Simulink. I completed training for UNIX and Simulink. The dryer is a Catch All replaceable core type filter-dryer. The filter-dryer provides maximum protection for the thermostatic expansion valve and solenoid valve from dirt that may be in the system. The filter-dryer also protects the valves from freezing up. I researched fluid dynamics to understand the function of my component. The filter-dryer was modeled by determining affects it has on the pressure and velocity of the system. I used Bernoulli's Equation to calculate the pressure and velocity differential through the dryer. I created my filter-dryer model in Simulink and wrote the test script to test the component. I completed component testing and captured test data. The finalized model was sent for peer review for any improvements. I participated in Simulation meetings and was involved in the subsystem design process and team collaborations. I gained valuable work experience and insight into a career path as an engineer.

  20. Research activities of MPA, Stuttgart University, for enhanced safety and reliability of components under complex load

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Herter, K.H.; Roos, E.; Schuler, X.; Maile, K.

    2004-01-01

    MPA research activities focus on fracture prevention and on the development of a generally applicable method of component integrity testing which, independent of the safety relevance of the components involved, is also part of ageing management. (orig.) [de

  1. Ultraviolet luminosity density of the universe during the epoch of reionization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell-Wynne, Ketron; Cooray, Asantha; Gong, Yan; Ashby, Matthew; Dolch, Timothy; Ferguson, Henry; Finkelstein, Steven; Grogin, Norman; Kocevski, Dale; Koekemoer, Anton; Primack, Joel; Smidt, Joseph

    2015-09-08

    The spatial fluctuations of the extragalactic background light trace the total emission from all stars and galaxies in the Universe. A multiwavelength study can be used to measure the integrated emission from first galaxies during reionization when the Universe was about 500 million years old. Here we report arcmin-scale spatial fluctuations in one of the deepest sky surveys with the Hubble Space Telescope in five wavebands between 0.6 and 1.6 μm. We model-fit the angular power spectra of intensity fluctuation measurements to find the ultraviolet luminosity density of galaxies at redshifts greater than 8 to be log ρ(UV) = 27.4(+0.2)(-1.2) ergs(-1) Hz(-1) Mpc(-3) (1σ). This level of integrated light emission allows for a significant surface density of fainter primeval galaxies that are below the point-source detection level in current surveys.

  2. AITSO: A Tool for Spatial Optimization Based on Artificial Immune Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Xiang; Liu, Yaolin; Liu, Dianfeng; Ma, Xiaoya

    2015-01-01

    A great challenge facing geocomputation and spatial analysis is spatial optimization, given that it involves various high-dimensional, nonlinear, and complicated relationships. Many efforts have been made with regard to this specific issue, and the strong ability of artificial immune system algorithms has been proven in previous studies. However, user-friendly professional software is still unavailable, which is a great impediment to the popularity of artificial immune systems. This paper describes a free, universal tool, named AITSO, which is capable of solving various optimization problems. It provides a series of standard application programming interfaces (APIs) which can (1) assist researchers in the development of their own problem-specific application plugins to solve practical problems and (2) allow the implementation of some advanced immune operators into the platform to improve the performance of an algorithm. As an integrated, flexible, and convenient tool, AITSO contributes to knowledge sharing and practical problem solving. It is therefore believed that it will advance the development and popularity of spatial optimization in geocomputation and spatial analysis. PMID:25678911

  3. AITSO: A Tool for Spatial Optimization Based on Artificial Immune Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiang Zhao

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available A great challenge facing geocomputation and spatial analysis is spatial optimization, given that it involves various high-dimensional, nonlinear, and complicated relationships. Many efforts have been made with regard to this specific issue, and the strong ability of artificial immune system algorithms has been proven in previous studies. However, user-friendly professional software is still unavailable, which is a great impediment to the popularity of artificial immune systems. This paper describes a free, universal tool, named AITSO, which is capable of solving various optimization problems. It provides a series of standard application programming interfaces (APIs which can (1 assist researchers in the development of their own problem-specific application plugins to solve practical problems and (2 allow the implementation of some advanced immune operators into the platform to improve the performance of an algorithm. As an integrated, flexible, and convenient tool, AITSO contributes to knowledge sharing and practical problem solving. It is therefore believed that it will advance the development and popularity of spatial optimization in geocomputation and spatial analysis.

  4. Spatial attention related SEP amplitude modulations covary with BOLD signal in S1--a simultaneous EEG--fMRI study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schubert, Ruth; Ritter, Petra; Wüstenberg, Torsten; Preuschhof, Claudia; Curio, Gabriel; Sommer, Werner; Villringer, Arno

    2008-11-01

    Recent studies investigating the influence of spatial-selective attention on primary somatosensory processing have produced inconsistent results. The aim of this study was to explore the influence of tactile spatial-selective attention on spatiotemporal aspects of evoked neuronal activity in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1). We employed simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG)-functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 14 right-handed subjects during bilateral index finger Braille stimulation to investigate the relationship between attentional effects on somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) components and the blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal. The 1st reliable EEG response following left tactile stimulation (P50) was significantly enhanced by spatial-selective attention, which has not been reported before. FMRI analysis revealed increased activity in contralateral S1. Remarkably, the effect of attention on the P50 component as well as long-latency SEP components starting at 190 ms for left stimuli correlated with attentional effects on the BOLD signal in contralateral S1. The implications are 2-fold: First, the correlation between early and long-latency SEP components and the BOLD effect suggest that spatial-selective attention enhances processing in S1 at 2 time points: During an early passage of the signal and during a later passage, probably via re-entrant feedback from higher cortical areas. Second, attentional modulations of the fast electrophysiological signals and the slow hemodynamic response are linearly related in S1.

  5. Teaching Geosciences With Visualizations: Challenges for Spatial Thinking and Abilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Montello, D. R.

    2004-12-01

    It is widely recognized that the geosciences are very spatial disciplines. Their subject matter includes phenomena on, under, and above the Earth surface whose spatial properties are critical to understanding them. Important spatial properties of geoscience structures and processes include location (both absolute and relative), size, shape, and pattern; temporal changes in spatial properties are also of interest. Information visualizations that depict spatiality are thus critically important to teaching in the geosciences, at all levels from K-12 to Ph.D. work; verbal and mathematical descriptions are quite insufficient by themselves. Such visualizations range from traditional maps and diagrams to digital animations and virtual environments. These visualizations are typically rich and complex because they are attempts to communicate rich and complex realities. Thus, understanding geoscience visualizations accurately and efficiently involves complex spatial thinking. Over a century of psychometric and experimental research reveals some of the cognitive components of spatial thinking, and provides insight into differences among individuals and groups of people in their abilities to think spatially. Some research has specifically examined these issues within the context of geoscience education, and recent research is expanding these investigations into the realm of new digital visualizations that offer the hope of using visualizations to teach complex geoscience concepts with unprecedented effectiveness. In this talk, I will briefly highlight some of the spatial cognitive challenges to understanding geoscience visualizations, including the pervasive and profound individual and group differences in spatial abilities. I will also consider some visualization design issues that arise because of the cognitive and ability challenges. I illustrate some of these research issues with examples from research being conducted by my colleagues and me, research informed by

  6. Multi-University Southeast INIE Consortium

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ayman Hawari; Nolan Hertel; Mohamed Al-Sheikhly; Laurence Miller; Abdel-Moeze Bayoumi; Ali Haghighat; Kenneth Lewis

    2010-12-29

    2 Project Summary: The Multi-University Southeast INIE Consortium (MUSIC) was established in response to the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Innovations in Nuclear Infrastructure and Education (INIE) program. MUSIC was established as a consortium composed of academic members and national laboratory partners. The members of MUSIC are the nuclear engineering programs and research reactors of Georgia Institute of Technology (GIT), North Carolina State University (NCSU), University of Maryland (UMD), University of South Carolina (USC), and University of Tennessee (UTK). The University of Florida (UF), and South Carolina State University (SCSU) were added to the MUSIC membership in the second year. In addition, to ensure proper coordination between the academic community and the nation’s premier research and development centers in the fields of nuclear science and engineering, MUSIC created strategic partnerships with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) including the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) project and the Joint Institute for Neutron Scattering (JINS), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). A partnership was also created with the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI) with the aim of utilizing their reactor in research if funding becomes available. Consequently, there are three university research reactors (URRs) within MUSIC, which are located at NCSU (1-MW PULSTAR), UMD (0.25-MW TRIGA) and UF (0.10-MW Argonaut), and the AFRRI reactor (1-MW TRIGA MARK F). The overall objectives of MUSIC are: a) Demonstrate that University Research Reactors (URR) can be used as modern and innovative instruments of research in the basic and applied sciences, which include applications in fundamental physics, materials science and engineering, nondestructive examination, elemental analysis, and contributions to research in the health and medical sciences, b) Establish a strong technical collaboration between the nuclear engineering

  7. Unbiased classification of spatial strategies in the Barnes maze.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Illouz, Tomer; Madar, Ravit; Clague, Charlotte; Griffioen, Kathleen J; Louzoun, Yoram; Okun, Eitan

    2016-11-01

    Spatial learning is one of the most widely studied cognitive domains in neuroscience. The Morris water maze and the Barnes maze are the most commonly used techniques to assess spatial learning and memory in rodents. Despite the fact that these tasks are well-validated paradigms for testing spatial learning abilities, manual categorization of performance into behavioral strategies is subject to individual interpretation, and thus to bias. We have previously described an unbiased machine-learning algorithm to classify spatial strategies in the Morris water maze. Here, we offer a support vector machine-based, automated, Barnes-maze unbiased strategy (BUNS) classification algorithm, as well as a cognitive score scale that can be used for memory acquisition, reversal training and probe trials. The BUNS algorithm can greatly benefit Barnes maze users as it provides a standardized method of strategy classification and cognitive scoring scale, which cannot be derived from typical Barnes maze data analysis. Freely available on the web at http://okunlab.wix.com/okunlab as a MATLAB application. eitan.okun@biu.ac.ilSupplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  8. A Simple Three-component Synthesis of 3-Amino-5-arylpyridazine-4 ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    NICO

    2012-12-26

    Dec 26, 2012 ... A Simple Three-component Synthesis of ... Therefore, continuing our interest in the synthesis of pyri- dazine derivatives, we decided to ..... Acknowledgements. We thank the University of Urmia for the financial support.

  9. ENTREPRENEURIAL UNIVERSITY: DEVELOPING AND INTEGRATING THE THIRD MISSION IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mihaela, DIACONU

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available The modern unversity which activates in a highly competitive market and is mostly assisted and not financially supported by the state must find tools with which to be competitive and prestigious. It is necessary to identify the managerial and scientific opportunities with which to build the best resources in order to fulfill its mission. This study presents the role of the university in the economic and social environment supported by the mission undertaken by three components: teaching, scientific research and the social function and to what extent the third mission of the modern university is seen as a necessity in the context of current economic and social context by the universities of Romania. The method used was the content analysis of the mission of universities in Romania presented in the University Charter and its correlation with the analysis models on entrepreneurship and academic entrepreneurial management offered by the specialized literature. The conclusion is that more than 60% of universities in Romania formulated their mission by considering the three components and that understanding and building entrepreneurial culture is a condition of the successful fulfillment of the mission of the modern university.

  10. Principal Component Clustering Approach to Teaching Quality Discriminant Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xian, Sidong; Xia, Haibo; Yin, Yubo; Zhai, Zhansheng; Shang, Yan

    2016-01-01

    Teaching quality is the lifeline of the higher education. Many universities have made some effective achievement about evaluating the teaching quality. In this paper, we establish the Students' evaluation of teaching (SET) discriminant analysis model and algorithm based on principal component clustering analysis. Additionally, we classify the SET…

  11. Adding Vectors across the North: Development of Laboratory Component of Distance Education Physics Course

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spencer, V. K.; Solie, D. J.

    2010-12-01

    Bush Physics for the 21st Century (BP21) is a distance education physics course offered through the Interior Aleutians Campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. It provides an opportunity for rural Alaskan high school and community college students, many of whom have no other access to advanced science courses, to earn university science credit. The curriculum is mathematically rigorous and includes a laboratory component to prepare students who wish to pursue science and technology careers. The laboratory component has been developed during the past 3 years. Students learn lab safety, basic laboratory technique, experiment components and group collaboration. Experiments have place-based themes and involve skills that translate to rural Alaska when possible. Preliminary data on the general effectiveness of the labs have been analyzed and used to improve the course.

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

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2011-02-01

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

  13. Improving spatial-simultaneous working memory in Down syndrome: effect of a training program led by parents instead of an expert

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesca ePulina

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Recent studies have suggested that the visuospatial component of working memory (WM is selectively impaired in individuals with Down syndrome (DS, the deficit relating specifically to the spatial-simultaneous component, which is involved when stimuli are presented simultaneously. The present study aimed to analyze the effects of a computer-based program for training the spatial-simultaneous component of WM in terms of: specific effects (on spatial-simultaneous WM tasks; near and far transfer effects (on spatial-sequential and visuospatial abilities, and everyday memory tasks; and maintenance effects (one month after the training. A comparison was drawn between the results obtained when the training was led by parents at home as opposed to an expert in psychology.Thirty-nine children and adolescents with DS were allocated to one of two groups: the training was administered by an expert in one, and by appropriately-instructed parents in the other. The training was administered individually twice a week for a month, in 8 sessions lasting approximately 30 minutes each. Our participants’ performance improved after the training, and these results were maintained a month later in both groups. Overall, our findings suggest that spatial-simultaneous WM performance can be improved, obtaining specific and transfer gains; above all, it seems that, with adequate support, parents could effectively administer a WM training to their child.

  14. Vulnerability, diversity and scarcity: on universal rights.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turner, Bryan Stanley; Dumas, Alex

    2013-11-01

    This article makes a contribution to the on-going debates about universalism and cultural relativism from the perspective of sociology. We argue that bioethics has a universal range because it relates to three shared human characteristics,--human vulnerability, institutional precariousness and scarcity of resources. These three components of our argument provide support for a related notion of 'weak foundationalism' that emphasizes the universality and interrelatedness of human experience, rather than their cultural differences. After presenting a theoretical position on vulnerability and human rights, we draw on recent criticism of this approach in order to paint a more nuanced picture. We conclude that the dichotomy between universalism and cultural relativism has some conceptual merit, but it also has obvious limitations when we consider the political economy of health and its impact on social inequality.

  15. Spatial distribution of environmental risk associated to a uranium abandoned mine (Central Portugal)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antunes, I. M.; Ribeiro, A. F.

    2012-04-01

    The abandoned uranium mine of Canto do Lagar is located at Arcozelo da Serra, central Portugal. The mine was exploited in an open pit and produced about 12430Kg of uranium oxide (U3O8), between 1987 and 1988. The dominant geological unit is the porphyritic coarse-grained two-mica granite, with biotite>muscovite. The uranium deposit consists of two gaps crushing, parallel to the coarse-grained porphyritic granite, with average direction N30°E, silicified, sericitized and reddish jasperized, with a width of approximately 10 meters. These gaps are accompanied by two thin veins of white quartz, 70°-80° WNW, ferruginous and jasperized with chalcedony, red jasper and opal. These veins are about 6 meters away from each other. They contain secondary U-phosphates phases such as autunite and torbernite. Rejected materials (1000000ton) were deposited on two dumps and a lake was formed in the open pit. To assess the environmental risk of the abandoned uranium mine of Canto do Lagar, were collected and analysed 70 samples on stream sediments, soils and mine tailings materials. The relation between samples composition were tested using the Principal Components Analysis (PCA) (multivariate analysis) and spatial distribution using Kriging Indicator. The spatial distribution of stream sediments shows that the probability of expression for principal component 1 (explaining Y, Zr, Nb, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Hf, Th and U contents), decreases along SE-NW direction. This component is explained by the samples located inside mine influence. The probability of expression for principal component 2 (explaining Be, Na, Al, Si, P, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, As, Rb, Sr, Mo, Cs, Ba, Tl and Bi contents), increases to middle stream line. This component is explained by the samples located outside mine influence. The spatial distribution of soils, shows that the probability of expression for principal component 1 (explaining Mg, P, Ca, Ge, Sr, Y, Zr, La, Ce, Pr

  16. Spacetime emergence of the robertson-walker universe from a matrix model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erdmenger, Johanna; Meyer, René; Park, Jeong-Hyuck

    2007-06-29

    Using a novel, string theory-inspired formalism based on a Hamiltonian constraint, we obtain a conformal mechanical system for the spatially flat four-dimensional Robertson-Walker Universe. Depending on parameter choices, this system describes either a relativistic particle in the Robertson-Walker background or metric fluctuations of the Robertson-Walker geometry. Moreover, we derive a tree-level M theory matrix model in this time-dependent background. Imposing the Hamiltonian constraint forces the spacetime geometry to be fuzzy near the big bang, while the classical Robertson-Walker geometry emerges as the Universe expands. From our approach, we also derive the temperature of the Universe interpolating between the radiation and matter dominated eras.

  17. Universal effect of dynamical reinforcement learning mechanism in spatial evolutionary games

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Hai-Feng; Wu, Zhi-Xi; Wang, Bing-Hong

    2012-01-01

    One of the prototypical mechanisms in understanding the ubiquitous cooperation in social dilemma situations is the win–stay, lose–shift rule. In this work, a generalized win–stay, lose–shift learning model—a reinforcement learning model with dynamic aspiration level—is proposed to describe how humans adapt their social behaviors based on their social experiences. In the model, the players incorporate the information of the outcomes in previous rounds with time-dependent aspiration payoffs to regulate the probability of choosing cooperation. By investigating such a reinforcement learning rule in the spatial prisoner's dilemma game and public goods game, a most noteworthy viewpoint is that moderate greediness (i.e. moderate aspiration level) favors best the development and organization of collective cooperation. The generality of this observation is tested against different regulation strengths and different types of network of interaction as well. We also make comparisons with two recently proposed models to highlight the importance of the mechanism of adaptive aspiration level in supporting cooperation in structured populations

  18. Impaired early visual response modulations to spatial information in chronic schizophrenia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knebel, Jean-François; Javitt, Daniel C.; Murray, Micah M.

    2011-01-01

    Early visual processing stages have been demonstrated to be impaired in schizophrenia patients and their first-degree relatives. The amplitude and topography of the P1 component of the visual evoked potential (VEP) are both affected; the latter of which indicates alterations in active brain networks between populations. At least two issues remain unresolved. First, the specificity of this deficit (and suitability as an endophenotype) has yet to be established, with evidence for impaired P1 responses in other clinical populations. Second, it remains unknown whether schizophrenia patients exhibit intact functional modulation of the P1 VEP component; an aspect that may assist in distinguishing effects specific to schizophrenia. We applied electrical neuroimaging analyses to VEPs from chronic schizophrenia patients and healthy controls in response to variation in the parafoveal spatial extent of stimuli. Healthy controls demonstrated robust modulation of the VEP strength and topography as a function of the spatial extent of stimuli during the P1 component. By contrast, no such modulations were evident at early latencies in the responses from patients with schizophrenia. Source estimations localized these deficits to the left precuneus and medial inferior parietal cortex. These findings provide insights on potential underlying low-level impairments in schizophrenia. PMID:21764264

  19. Spatial and temporal variability of thermohaline properties in the Bay of Koper (northern Adriatic Sea)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soczka Mandac, Rok; Žagar, Dušan; Faganeli, Jadran

    2013-04-01

    In this study influence of fresh water discharge on the spatial and temporal variability of thermohaline (TH) conditions is explored for the Bay of Koper (Bay). The Bay is subject to different driving agents: wind stress (bora, sirocco), tidal and seiches effect, buoyancy fluxes, general circulation of the Adriatic Sea and discharge of the Rizana and Badaševica rivers. These rivers have torrential characteristics that are hard to forecast in relation to meteorological events (precipitation). Therefore, during episodic events the spatial and temporal variability of TH properties in the Bay is difficult to determine [1]. Measurements of temperature, salinity and turbidity were conducted monthly on 35 sampling points in the period: June 2011 - December 2012. The data were processed and spatial interpolated with an objective analysis method. Furthermore, empirical orthogonal function analysis (EOF) [2] was applied to investigate spatial and temporal TH variations. Strong horizontal and vertical stratification was observed in the beginning of June 2011 due to high fresh water discharge of the Rizana (31 m3/s) and Badaševica (2 m3/s) rivers. The horizontal gradient (ΔT = 6°C) was noticed near the mouth of the Rizana river. Similar pattern was identified for salinity field on the boundary of the front where the gradient was ΔS = 20 PSU. Vertical temperature gradient was ΔT = 4°C while salinity gradient was ΔS = 18 PSU in the subsurface layer at depth of 3 m. Spatial analysis of the first principal component (86% of the total variance) shows uniform temperature distribution in the surface layer (1m) during the studied period. Furthermore, temporal variability of temperature shows seasonal variation with a minimum in February and maximum in August. This confirms that episodic events have a negligible effect on spatial and temporal variation of temperature in the subsurface layer. Further analysis will include application of EOF on the salinity, density and total

  20. The contribution of spatial ability to mathematics achievement in middle childhood.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilligan, Katie A; Flouri, Eirini; Farran, Emily K

    2017-11-01

    Strong spatial skills are associated with success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) domains. Although there is convincing evidence that spatial skills are a reliable predictor of mathematical achievement in preschool children and in university students, there is a lack of research exploring associations between spatial and mathematics achievement during the primary school years. To address this question, this study explored associations between mathematics and spatial skills in children aged 5 and 7years. The study sample included 12,099 children who participated in both Wave 3 (mean age=5; 02 [years; months]) and Wave 4 (mean age=7; 03) of the Millennium Cohort Study. Measures included a standardised assessment of mathematics and the Pattern Construction subscale of the British Ability Scales II to assess intrinsic-dynamic spatial skills. Spatial skills at 5 and 7years of age explained a significant 8.8% of the variation in mathematics achievement at 7years, above that explained by other predictors of mathematics, including gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and language skills. This percentage increased to 22.6% without adjustment for language skills. This study expands previous findings by using a large-scale longitudinal sample of primary school children, a population that has been largely omitted from previous research exploring associations between spatial ability and mathematics achievement. The finding that early and concurrent spatial skills contribute to mathematics achievement at 7years of age highlights the potential of spatial skills as a novel target in the design of mathematics interventions for children in this age range. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Two-Dimensional One-Component Plasma on Flamm's Paraboloid

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fantoni, Riccardo; Téllez, Gabriel

    2008-11-01

    We study the classical non-relativistic two-dimensional one-component plasma at Coulomb coupling Γ=2 on the Riemannian surface known as Flamm's paraboloid which is obtained from the spatial part of the Schwarzschild metric. At this special value of the coupling constant, the statistical mechanics of the system are exactly solvable analytically. The Helmholtz free energy asymptotic expansion for the large system has been found. The density of the plasma, in the thermodynamic limit, has been carefully studied in various situations.

  2. Digital visual communications using a Perceptual Components Architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watson, Andrew B.

    1991-01-01

    The next era of space exploration will generate extraordinary volumes of image data, and management of this image data is beyond current technical capabilities. We propose a strategy for coding visual information that exploits the known properties of early human vision. This Perceptual Components Architecture codes images and image sequences in terms of discrete samples from limited bands of color, spatial frequency, orientation, and temporal frequency. This spatiotemporal pyramid offers efficiency (low bit rate), variable resolution, device independence, error-tolerance, and extensibility.

  3. Modern approaches of control of spatial organization of schoolchildren body in the process of physical education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bondar O.M.

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Technology of control of spatial organization of body of schoolboys is developed. Technology includes the diagnostic, informative and practical stages. Research is oriented to the schoolchildren 7-16 years. The diagnostic stage is supposed by a complex inspection and express control of spatial organization of bodies. The informative stage includes computer treatment of research results. The practical stage consists of development of recommendations on the correction of indexes of spatial organization of body of schoolchildren. Logical component allows to expose the level of knowledge of parents and teachers of physical culture about control of spatial organization of body of schoolchildren. The developed technology allows to carry out timely diagnostics of violations of spatial organization of body of schoolchildren and estimate adequacy of pedagogical influences.

  4. Metal Amorphous Nanocomposite (MANC) Alloy Cores with Spatially Tuned Permeability for Advanced Power Magnetics Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Byerly, K.; Ohodnicki, P. R.; Moon, S. R.; Leary, A. M.; Keylin, V.; McHenry, M. E.; Simizu, S.; Beddingfield, R.; Yu, Y.; Feichter, G.; Noebe, R.; Bowman, R.; Bhattacharya, S.

    2018-06-01

    Metal amorphous nanocomposite (MANC) alloys are an emerging class of soft magnetic materials showing promise for a range of inductive components targeted for higher power density and higher efficiency power conversion applications including inductors, transformers, and rotating electrical machinery. Magnetization reversal mechanisms within these alloys are typically determined by composition optimization as well as controlled annealing treatments to generate a nanocomposite structure composed of nanocrystals embedded in an amorphous precursor. Here we demonstrate the concept of spatially varying the permeability within a given component for optimization of performance by using the strain annealing process. The concept is realized experimentally through the smoothing of the flux profile from the inner to outer core radius achieved by a monotonic variation in tension during the strain annealing process. Great potential exists for an extension of this concept to a wide range of other power magnetic components and more complex spatially varying permeability profiles through advances in strain annealing techniques and controls.

  5. Increased component safety through improved methods for residual stress analysis. Subprojects. Consideration of real component geometries (phase 1). Final report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nau, Andreas; Scholtes, B.

    2014-01-01

    Residual stresses can be result in both detrimental as well as beneficial consequences on the component's strength and lifetime. A most detailed knowledge of the residual stress state is a pre-requisite for the assessment of the component's performance. The mechanical methods for residual stress measurements are classified in non-destructive, destructive and semi-destructive methods. The two commonly used (semi-destructive) mechanical methods are the hole drilling and the ring core method. In the context of reactor safety research of the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), two fundamental and interacting weak points of the hole drilling as well as of the ring core method are investigated. On the one hand, there are effects concerning geometrical boundary conditions of the components and on the other hand, there are influences of plasticity due to notch effects. Both aspects affect the released strain field, when the material is removed and finally, the calculated residual stresses. The first issue mentioned above is under the responsibility of Institute of Materials Engineering - Metallic Materials (Kassel University) and the last one will be investigated by University of Stuttgart-Otto-Graf-Institut - materials testing institute. Within the framework of this project it could be demonstrated that updated calibration coefficients lead to more reliable residual stress calculation in contrast to existing ones. These findings are valid for points of measurements on components without geometrical boundary effects like edges or shoulders. Reasons are high developed Finite-Element software packages and the opportunity of modelling the point of measurement (hole geometry, layout of the strain gauges) and its vicinity more in detail. Special challenges are multi-axial residual stress depth distributions and the geometry of components composing edges and claddings. Unlike existing analyses considering uni-axial and homogeneous stress states, bi

  6. Dark matter in the Universe

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Turner, M.S. (Fermi National Accelerator Lab., Batavia, IL (USA) Chicago Univ., IL (USA). Enrico Fermi Inst.)

    1991-03-01

    What is the quantity and composition of material in the universe This is one of the most fundamental questions we can ask about the universe, and its answer bears on a number of important issues including the formation of structure in the universe, and the ultimate fate and the earliest history of the universe. Moreover, answering this question could lead to the discovery of new particles, as well as shedding light on the nature of the fundamental interactions. At present, only a partial answer is at hand: most of the material in the universe does not give off detectable radiation, i.e., is dark;'' the dark matter associated with bright galaxies contributes somewhere between 10% and 30% of the critical density (by comparison luminous matter contributes less than 1%); baryonic matter contributes between 1.1% and 12% of critical. The case for the spatially-flat, Einstein-de Sitter model is supported by three compelling theoretical arguments -- structure formation, the temporal Copernican principle, and inflation -- and by some observational data. If {Omega} is indeed unity--or even just significantly greater than 0.1--then there is a strong case for a universe comprised of nonbaryonic matter. There are three well motivated particle dark-matter candidates: an axion of mass 10{sup {minus}6} eV to 10{sup {minus}4} eV; a neutralino of mass 10 GeV to about 3 TeV; or a neutrino of mass 20 eV to 90 eV. All three possibilities can be tested by experiments that are either being planned or are underway. 71 refs., 6 figs.

  7. Dark matter in the universe

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Turner, M.S. (Fermi National Accelerator Lab., Batavia, IL (USA) Chicago Univ., IL (USA). Enrico Fermi Inst.)

    1990-11-01

    What is the quantity and composition of material in the Universe This is one of the most fundamental questions we can ask about the Universe, and its answer bears on a number of important issues including the formation of structure in the Universe, and the ultimate fate and the earliest history of the Universe. Moreover, answering this question could lead to the discovery of new particles, as well as shedding light on the nature of the fundamental interactions. At present, only a partial answer is at hand: Most of the material in the Universe does not give off detectable radiation, i.e., is dark;'' the dark matter associated with bright galaxies contributes somewhere between 10% and 30% of the critical density (by comparison luminous matter contributes less than 1%); baryonic matter contributes between 1.1% and 12% of critical. The case for the spatially-flat, Einstein-de Sitter model is supported by three compelling theoretical arguments--structure formation, the temporal Copernican principle, and inflation--and by some observational data. If {Omega} is indeed unity--or even just significantly greater than 0.1--then there is a strong case for a Universe comprised of nonbaryonic matter. There are three well motivated particle dark-matter candidates: an axion of mass 10{sup {minus}6} eV to 10{sup {minus}4} eV; a neutralino of mass 10 GeV to about 3 TeV; or a neutrino of mass 20 eV to 90 eV. All three possibilities can be tested by experiments that are either being planned or are underway. 63 refs.

  8. Investigation of crack origin in hybrid components with twocolor digital Fresnel holography

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Moisson E.

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents a two-color digital holographic interferometer. The set-up is devoted to the investigation of crack origin in hybrid industrial electronic components. Optical configuration and algorithms to recover the optical phase of two-color digitally encoded holograms are described. The method is based on a spatial-color-multiplexing scheme in which holographic reconstruction is performed using a spectral scanning algorithm. Experimental results exhibit in-plane and out-of-plane non uniform deformations that are the probable cause of the cracking of the component.

  9. Outlook on Student Retention in Higher Education University Reforms in Morocco

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zoulal Mansouri

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available High student attrition rates at university have become one of the most challenging issues in higher education worldwide in the last five decades. Moroccan universities are no exception. At-risk students drop out of studies for a plethora of reasons, and the attrition rate is increasing despite the efforts made in education reforms carried out since 1999. This article reviews the most important components of the higher education reforms that have been adopted in Moroccan higher education in their endeavor to enhance student retention in university. These components are chronologically reviewed, first in the National Charter of Education and Training (NCET launched in 1999, second in the Emergency Plan conducted in 2009-2012, and finally in the latest Strategic Vision of Reform 2015-2030. It is concluded that more efforts are necessary to strike a balance between quantity and quality in terms of student retention in university education.

  10. Spatial distribution of radiation damage to crystalline proteins at 25–300 K

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Warkentin, Matthew; Badeau, Ryan; Hopkins, Jesse B.; Thorne, Robert E., E-mail: ret6@cornell.edu [Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States)

    2012-09-01

    Dose-dependent atomic B factors are used to determine the average spatial distribution of radiation damage to crystalline thaumatin and urease. The spatial distribution of radiation damage (assayed by increases in atomic B factors) to thaumatin and urease crystals at temperatures ranging from 25 to 300 K is reported. The nature of the damage changes dramatically at approximately 180 K. Above this temperature the role of solvent diffusion is apparent in thaumatin crystals, as solvent-exposed turns and loops are especially sensitive. In urease, a flap covering the active site is the most sensitive part of the molecule and nearby loops show enhanced sensitivity. Below 180 K sensitivity is correlated with poor local packing, especially in thaumatin. At all temperatures, the component of the damage that is spatially uniform within the unit cell accounts for more than half of the total increase in the atomic B factors and correlates with changes in mosaicity. This component may arise from lattice-level, rather than local, disorder. The effects of primary structure on radiation sensitivity are small compared with those of tertiary structure, local packing, solvent accessibility and crystal contacts.

  11. Spatial Characteristics of Twitter Users—Toward the Understanding of Geosocial Media Production

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michal Rzeszewski

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Social media is a rich source of spatial data but it has also many flaws and well-known limitations, especially in regard to representation and representativeness, since very little is known about the demographics of the user population. At the same time, the use of locational services, is in fact, dependent on those characteristics. We address this gap in knowledge by exploring divides between Twitter users, based on the spatial and temporal distribution of the content they produce. We chose five cities and data from 2015 to represent different socio-spatial contexts. Users were classified according to spatial and non-spatial measures: home range estimation; standard distance; nearest neighbor index, and; proposed localness index. There are distinct groups of geosocial media producers, which suggests that such datasets cannot be treated as uniform representations. We found a positive correlation between spatial behavior and posting activity. It is suggested that there are universal patterns of behavior that are conditioned by software services—the example of Foucauldian “technologies of self”. They can also represent the dominance of the most prolific users over the whole data stream. Results are discussed in the context of the importance and role of user location in social media.

  12. Lack of awareness for spatial and verbal constructive apraxia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rinaldi, Maria Cristina; Piras, Federica; Pizzamiglio, Luigi

    2010-05-01

    It is still a matter of debate whether constructive apraxia (CA) should be considered a form of apraxia or, rather, the motor expression of a more pervasive impairment in visuo-spatial processing. Constructive disorders were linked to visuo-spatial disorders and to deficits in appreciating spatial relations among component sub-parts or problems in reproducing three-dimensionality. We screened a large population of brain-damaged patients for CA. Only patients with constructive disorders and no signs of neglect and/or aphasia were selected. Five apractic subjects were tested with both visuo-spatial and verbal tasks requiring constructive abilities. The former ones were tests such as design copying, while the latter were experimental tasks built to transpose into the linguistic domain the constructive process as phrasing by arranging paper scraps into a sentence. A first result showed a constructive impairment in both the visuo-spatial and the linguistic domain; this finding challenges the idea that CA is confined to the visuo-spatial domain. A second result showed a systematic association between CA and unawareness for constructive disorders. Third, lack of awareness was always associated with a lesion in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a region deemed as involved in managing a conflict between intentions and sensory feed-back. Anosognosia for constructive disorders and the potential role of the right prefrontal cortex in generating the impairment, are discussed in the light of current models of action control. The core of CA could be the inability to detect any inconsistency between intended and executed action rather than a deficit in reproducing spatial relationship. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Nonlinear Elastodynamic Behaviour Analysis of High-Speed Spatial Parallel Coordinate Measuring Machines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiulong Chen

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available In order to study the elastodynamic behaviour of 4- universal joints- prismatic pairs- spherical joints / universal joints- prismatic pairs- universal joints 4-UPS-UPU high-speed spatial PCMMs(parallel coordinate measuring machines, the nonlinear time-varying dynamics model, which comprehensively considers geometric nonlinearity and the rigid-flexible coupling effect, is derived by using Lagrange equations and finite element methods. Based on the Newmark method, the kinematics output response of 4-UPS-UPU PCMMs is illustrated through numerical simulation. The results of the simulation show that the flexibility of the links is demonstrated to have a significant impact on the system dynamics response. This research can provide the important theoretical base of the optimization design and vibration control for 4-UPS-UPU PCMMs.

  14. Casting an ergonomic eye on university libraries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferrer, Nicole; Villarouco, Vilma

    2012-01-01

    Research in the field of Ergonomics of the Built Environment has been developed with a view to consolidating studies in this area, the objective of which is to provide evidence that the joint participation of users and designers on drawing up projects is important. In this context, the theme of this study is to investigate the interactions between users and the environment in a university library. To do so, well-established techniques from Ergonomics, Architecture and Environmental Psychology were used to make a functional and behavioral evaluation to identify the level of user satisfaction in six libraries in the various study centers of the Federal University of Pernambuco in Recife, northeast Brazil, so as to identify the strengths and also weaknesses in these spatial structures.

  15. Encouraging Spatial Talk: Using Children's Museums to Bolster Spatial Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Polinsky, Naomi; Perez, Jasmin; Grehl, Mora; McCrink, Koleen

    2017-01-01

    Longitudinal spatial language intervention studies have shown that greater exposure to spatial language improves children's performance on spatial tasks. Can short naturalistic, spatial language interactions also evoke improved spatial performance? In this study, parents were asked to interact with their child at a block wall exhibit in a…

  16. Multi-component time, spatial and frequency analysis of Paleoclimatic Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cristiano, Luigia; Stampa, Johannes; Feeser, Ingo; Dörfler, Walter; Meier, Thomas

    2017-04-01

    The investigation of the paleoclimatic data offers a powerful tool for understanding the impact of extreme climatic events as well as gradual climatic variations on the human development and cultural changes. The current global record of paleoclimatic data is relatively rich but is not generally uniformly structured and regionally distributed. The general characteristic of the reconstructed time series of paleoclimatic data is a not constant sampling interval and data resolution together with the presence of gaps in the record. Our database consists of pollen concentration from annually laminated lake sediments in two sites in Northern Germany. Such data characteristic offers the possibility for high-resolution palynological and sedimentological analyses on a well constrained time scale. Specifically we are interested to investigate the time dependence of proxies, and time and spatial correlation of the different observables respect each other. We present here a quantitative analysis of the pollent data in the frequency and time. In particular we are interested to understand the complexity of the system and understand the cause of sudden as well as the slow changes in the time dependence of the observables. We show as well our approach for handling the not uniform sampling interval and the broad frequency content characterizing the paleoclimatic databases. In particular we worked to the development of a robust data analysis to answer the key questions about the correlation between rapid climatic changes and changes in the human habits and quantitatively elaborate a model for the processed data. Here we present the preliminary results on synthetics as well as on real data for the data visualization for the trend identification with a smoothing procedure, for the identification of sharp changes in the data as function of time with AutoRegressive approach. In addition to that we use the cross-correlation and cross spectrum by applying the Multiple Filtering Technique

  17. Project-Oriented University – Building the Capability for Innovation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul DOBRESCU

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Global economy is increasingly a knowledge economy, making people’s skills and qualifications more important than traditional power indicators such as territory, geography, natural resources. Globalization imposes new rhythms of performance to every economic or social field. Higher education is no exception to this, since it lies at the interface with the external environment, where skills and qualifications will be used and exploited for economic benefits. Universities are under a two-fold pressure. First, they provide services, knowledge, skills for fast-moving sectors. The knowledge and skills may quickly become obsolete and irrelevant for the economy. Second, universities need to innovate and to adapt to situations of constant change. Both types of pressure force universities to develop their capability for innovation, which becomes a prerequisite for survival. The purpose of this paper is to explain the concept of projectoriented university as a type of university that explicitly uses projects to perform processes of medium to high complexity, thus allowing it to deal with the increasing turbulence and dynamics of its environments. This concept is premised on the idea that there is a connection between a university’s maturity in project management and its managerial competitiveness and innovativeness. The concept inherits the conceptual core of the model of the projectoriented company and it comprises two components. The former is concerned with the structural dimensions of project management, “the hard” component – processes, procedures, organizational structures, terminology. The latter is concerned with the social dimension of project management, the “soft” component – skills, attitudes, competences, project management culture. Empirical results are considered representative for the Romanian higher education system as a whole, with due nuances and exceptions.

  18. Challenges of Replacing NAD 83, NAVD 88, and IGLD 85: Exploiting the Characteristics of 3-D Digital Spatial Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burkholder, E. F.

    2016-12-01

    One way to address challenges of replacing NAD 83, NGVD 88 and IGLD 85 is to exploit the characteristics of 3-D digital spatial data. This presentation describes the 3-D global spatial data model (GSDM) which accommodates rigorous scientific endeavors while simultaneously supporting a local flat-earth view of the world. The GSDM is based upon the assumption of a single origin for 3-D spatial data and uses rules of solid geometry for manipulating spatial data components. This approach exploits the characteristics of 3-D digital spatial data and preserves the quality of geodetic measurements while providing spatial data users the option of working with rectangular flat-earth components and computational procedures for local applications. This flexibility is provided by using a bidirectional rotation matrix that allows any 3-D vector to be used in a geodetic reference frame for high-end applications and/or the local frame for flat-earth users. The GSDM is viewed as compatible with the datum products being developed by NGS and provides for unambiguous exchange of 3-D spatial data between disciplines and users worldwide. Three geometrical models will be summarized - geodetic, map projection, and 3-D. Geodetic computations are performed on an ellipsoid and are without equal in providing rigorous coordinate values for latitude, longitude, and ellipsoid height. Members of the user community have, for generations, sought ways to "flatten the world" to accommodate a flat-earth view and to avoid the complexity of working on an ellipsoid. Map projections have been defined for a wide variety of applications and remain very useful for visualizing spatial data. But, the GSDM supports computations based on 3-D components that have not been distorted in a 2-D map projection. The GSDM does not invalidate either geodesy or cartographic computational processes but provides a geometrically correct view of any point cloud from any point selected by the user. As a bonus, the GSDM also

  19. Spatial trends of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in avian species: Utilization of stored samples in the Environmental Specimen Bank of Ehime University (es-Bank)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kunisue, Tatsuya; Higaki, Yumi; Isobe, Tomohiko; Takahashi, Shin; Subramanian, Annamalai; Tanabe, Shinsuke

    2008-01-01

    The present study determined concentrations and patterns of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in specimens of open sea, and Japanese coastal and inland avian species, which have been stored in the Environmental Specimen Bank of Ehime University (es-Bank), to examine the spatial trends. PBDEs and PCBs were detected in all the muscle samples analyzed, suggesting that PBDE pollution has spread even to the remote open sea areas, as in the case of PCBs. Japanese coastal and inland birds accumulated higher concentrations of PBDEs than open sea birds. In addition, higher PBDE/PCB concentration ratios were observed in Japanese coastal and inland birds than in open sea birds, indicating the input of PBDEs into the Japanese terrestrial environment. Compositions of PBDEs varied among avian species with a predominance of BDE47 or BDE153. This could be due to differences in their habitat, food habit and/or biotransformation capacity of PBDEs. - Open sea birds have been exposed to PBDEs, but the accumulation levels were lower than those in Japanese coastal and inland birds

  20. Exploring spatial patterns and hotspots of diarrhea in Chiang Mai, Thailand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tripathi Nitin K

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Diarrhea is a major public health problem in Thailand. The Ministry of Public Health, Thailand, has been trying to monitor and control this disease for many years. The methodology and the results from this study could be useful for public health officers to develop a system to monitor and prevent diarrhea outbreaks. Methods The objective of this study was to analyse the epidemic outbreak patterns of diarrhea in Chiang Mai province, Northern Thailand, in terms of their geographical distributions and hotspot identification. The data of patients with diarrhea at village level and the 2001–2006 population censuses were collected to achieve the objective. Spatial analysis, using geographic information systems (GIS and other methods, was used to uncover the hidden phenomena from the data. In the data analysis section, spatial statistics such as quadrant analysis (QA, nearest neighbour analysis (NNA, and spatial autocorrelation analysis (SAA, were used to identify the spatial patterns of diarrhea in Chiang Mai province. In addition, local indicators of spatial association (LISA and kernel density (KD estimation were used to detect diarrhea hotspots using data at village level. Results The hotspot maps produced by the LISA and KD techniques showed spatial trend patterns of diarrhea diffusion. Villages in the middle and northern regions revealed higher incidences. Also, the spatial patterns of diarrhea during the years 2001 and 2006 were found to represent spatially clustered patterns, both at global and local scales. Conclusion Spatial analysis methods in GIS revealed the spatial patterns and hotspots of diarrhea in Chiang Mai province from the year 2001 to 2006. To implement specific and geographically appropriate public health risk-reduction programs, the use of such spatial analysis tools may become an integral component in the epidemiologic description, analysis, and risk assessment of diarrhea.

  1. Land Markets and Public Policy; An Act of Balance in Spatial Equilibrium

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Grevers, Wilbert

    2007-01-01

    The organisation of human social and economic life is constrained by time as well as space. The spatial component does not only pose limitations in the form of distances, but can also offer possibilities for development as a result of favourable location characteristics. Some of the characteristics

  2. Availability of thermodynamic system with multiple performance parameters based on vector-universal generating function

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cai Qi; Shang Yanlong; Chen Lisheng; Zhao Yuguang

    2013-01-01

    Vector-universal generating function was presented to analyze the availability of thermodynamic system with multiple performance parameters. Vector-universal generating function of component's performance was defined, the arithmetic model based on vector-universal generating function was derived for the thermodynamic system, and the calculation method was given for state probability of multi-state component. With the stochastic simulation of the degeneration trend of the multiple factors, the system availability with multiple performance parameters was obtained under composite factors. It is shown by an example that the results of the availability obtained by the binary availability analysis method are somewhat conservative, and the results considering parameter failure based on vector-universal generating function reflect the operation characteristics of the thermodynamic system better. (authors)

  3. International outreach for promoting open geoscience content in Finnish university libraries - libraries as the advocates of citizen science awareness on emerging open geospatial data repositories in Finnish society

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rousi, A. M.; Branch, B. D.; Kong, N.; Fosmire, M.

    2013-12-01

    In their Finnish National Spatial Strategy 2010-2015 the Finland's Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry delineated e.g. that spatial data skills should support citizens everyday activities and facilitate decision-making and participation of citizens. Studies also predict that open data, particularly open spatial data, would create, when fully realizing their potential, a 15% increase into the turnovers of Finnish private sector companies. Finnish libraries have a long tradition of serving at the heart of Finnish information society. However, with the emerging possibilities of educating their users on open spatial data a very few initiatives have been made. The National Survey of Finland opened its data in 2012. Finnish technology university libraries, such as Aalto University Library, are open environments for all citizens, and seem suitable of being the first thriving entities in educating citizens on open geospatial data. There are however many obstacles to overcome, such as lack of knowledge about policies, lack of understanding of geospatial data services and insufficient know-how of GIS software among the personnel. This framework examines the benefits derived from an international collaboration between Purdue University Libraries and Aalto University Library to create local strategies in implementing open spatial data education initiatives in Aalto University Library's context. The results of this international collaboration are explicated for the benefit of the field as a whole.

  4. Modeling Spatially Unrestricted Pedestrian Traffic on Footbridges

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zivanovic, Stana; Pavic, Aleksandar; Ingólfsson, Einar Thór

    2010-01-01

    restricted movement of pedestrians, has kept attracting attention of researchers. However, it is the normal spatially unrestricted pedestrian traffic, and its vertical dynamic loading component, that are most relevant for vibration serviceability checks for most footbridges. Despite the existence of numerous...... design procedures concerned with this loading, the current confidence in its modelling is low due to lack of verification of the models on as-built structures. This is the motivation behind reviewing the existing design procedures for modelling normal pedestrian traffic in this paper and evaluating...

  5. Children's Spatial Thinking: Does Talk about the Spatial World Matter?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pruden, Shannon M.; Levine, Susan C.; Huttenlocher, Janellen

    2011-01-01

    In this paper we examine the relations between parent spatial language input, children's own production of spatial language, and children's later spatial abilities. Using a longitudinal study design, we coded the use of spatial language (i.e. words describing the spatial features and properties of objects; e.g. big, tall, circle, curvy, edge) from…

  6. Dimensionality-varied convolutional neural network for spectral-spatial classification of hyperspectral data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Wanjun; Liang, Xuejian; Qu, Haicheng

    2017-11-01

    Hyperspectral image (HSI) classification is one of the most popular topics in remote sensing community. Traditional and deep learning-based classification methods were proposed constantly in recent years. In order to improve the classification accuracy and robustness, a dimensionality-varied convolutional neural network (DVCNN) was proposed in this paper. DVCNN was a novel deep architecture based on convolutional neural network (CNN). The input of DVCNN was a set of 3D patches selected from HSI which contained spectral-spatial joint information. In the following feature extraction process, each patch was transformed into some different 1D vectors by 3D convolution kernels, which were able to extract features from spectral-spatial data. The rest of DVCNN was about the same as general CNN and processed 2D matrix which was constituted by by all 1D data. So that the DVCNN could not only extract more accurate and rich features than CNN, but also fused spectral-spatial information to improve classification accuracy. Moreover, the robustness of network on water-absorption bands was enhanced in the process of spectral-spatial fusion by 3D convolution, and the calculation was simplified by dimensionality varied convolution. Experiments were performed on both Indian Pines and Pavia University scene datasets, and the results showed that the classification accuracy of DVCNN improved by 32.87% on Indian Pines and 19.63% on Pavia University scene than spectral-only CNN. The maximum accuracy improvement of DVCNN achievement was 13.72% compared with other state-of-the-art HSI classification methods, and the robustness of DVCNN on water-absorption bands noise was demonstrated.

  7. Spatial electromagnetic field intensity modelling of global system for mobile communication base stations in the Istanbul Technical University Ayazaga campus area.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boz, Kubra; Denli, Hayri Hakan

    2018-05-07

    The rapid development of the global system for mobile communication services and the consequent increased electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure to the human body have generated debate on the potential danger with respect to human health. The many research studies focused on this subject have, however, not provided any certain evidence about harmful consequences due to mobile communication systems. On the other hand, there are still views suggesting such exposure might affect the human body in different ways. To reduce such effects to a minimum, the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) has declared boundary values for the energy released by the base stations, which are the main source of the electromagnetic fields. These values are accepted by many countries in various parts of the world. The aim of this study was to create EMF intensity maps for the area covered by Istanbul Technical University (ITU) and find areas of potential risk with regard to health considering the current situation and future trends. In this study, the field intensities of electromagnetic signals issued at the frequencies of 900 and 1800 MHz were measured in V/m at 29 pre-specified survey points using a spectrum analyzer (Spectran HF-6065). Geographic information systems and spatial interpolation techniques were used to produce EMF intensity maps. Three different spatial interpolation methods, minimum mean square error, Radial Basis and Empirical Bayesian Kriging, were compared. The results were geographically analyzed and the measurements expressed as heat maps covering the study area. Using these maps, the values measured were compared with the EMF intensity standards issued by ICNIRP. The results showed that the exposure levels to the EMF intensities were all within the ICNIRP limits at the ITU study area. However, since the EMF intensity level with respect to human health is not known, it is not possible to confirm if these levels are safe or not.

  8. Spatial electromagnetic field intensity modelling of global system for mobile communication base stations in the Istanbul Technical University Ayazaga campus area

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kubra Boz

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available The rapid development of the global system for mobile communication services and the consequent increased electromagnetic field (EMF exposure to the human body have generated debate on the potential danger with respect to human health. The many research studies focused on this subject have, however, not provided any certain evidence about harmful consequences due to mobile communication systems. On the other hand, there are still views suggesting such exposure might affect the human body in different ways. To reduce such effects to a minimum, the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP has declared boundary values for the energy released by the base stations, which are the main source of the electromagnetic fields. These values are accepted by many countries in various parts of the world. The aim of this study was to create EMF intensity maps for the area covered by Istanbul Technical University (ITU and find areas of potential risk with regard to health considering the current situation and future trends. In this study, the field intensities of electromagnetic signals issued at the frequencies of 900 and 1800 MHz were measured in V/m at 29 pre-specified survey points using a spectrum analyzer (Spectran HF-6065. Geographic information systems and spatial interpolation techniques were used to produce EMF intensity maps. Three different spatial interpolation methods, minimum mean square error, Radial Basis and Empirical Bayesian Kriging, were compared. The results were geographically analyzed and the measurements expressed as heat maps covering the study area. Using these maps, the values measured were compared with the EMF intensity standards issued by ICNIRP. The results showed that the exposure levels to the EMF intensities were all within the ICNIRP limits at the ITU study area. However, since the EMF intensity level with respect to human health is not known, it is not possible to confirm if these levels are safe

  9. The effects of computer-aided design software on engineering students' spatial visualisation skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kösa, Temel; Karakuş, Fatih

    2018-03-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of computer-aided design (CAD) software-based instruction on the spatial visualisation skills of freshman engineering students in a computer-aided engineering drawing course. A quasi-experimental design was applied, using the Purdue Spatial Visualization Test-Visualization of Rotations (PSVT:R) for both the pre- and the post-test. The participants were 116 freshman students in the first year of their undergraduate programme in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at a university in Turkey. A total of 72 students comprised the experimental group; they were instructed with CAD-based activities in an engineering drawing course. The control group consisted of 44 students who did not attend this course. The results of the study showed that a CAD-based engineering drawing course had a positive effect on developing engineering students' spatial visualisation skills. Additionally, the results of the study showed that spatial visualisation skills can be a predictor for success in a computer-aided engineering drawing course.

  10. Inter cropping and population density effects on yield component ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Thus the objective of this study was to determine the influence of intercropping and population density on protein and oil yield components, photosynthesis of sorghum and Soybean at the canopy closure. The study was conducted at the University of Nairobi farm during the long rains. There was a significant increase in the ...

  11. Who Gets Market Supplements? Gender Differences within a Large Canadian University

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doucet, Christine; Durand, Claire; Smith, Michael

    2008-01-01

    This study examines the gender pay gap among university faculty by analyzing gender differences in one component of faculty members' salaries--"market premiums." The data were collected during the Fall of 2002 using a survey of faculty at a single Canadian research university. Correspondence analysis and logistic regression analysis were…

  12. Creating biomaterials with spatially organized functionality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chow, Lesley W; Fischer, Jacob F

    2016-05-01

    Biomaterials for tissue engineering provide scaffolds to support cells and guide tissue regeneration. Despite significant advances in biomaterials design and fabrication techniques, engineered tissue constructs remain functionally inferior to native tissues. This is largely due to the inability to recreate the complex and dynamic hierarchical organization of the extracellular matrix components, which is intimately linked to a tissue's biological function. This review discusses current state-of-the-art strategies to control the spatial presentation of physical and biochemical cues within a biomaterial to recapitulate native tissue organization and function. © 2016 by the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine.

  13. Multi-wavelength and multi-colour temporal and spatial optical solitons

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kivshar, Y. S.; Sukhorukov, A. A.; Ostrovskaya, E. A.

    2000-01-01

    We present an overview of several novel types of multi- component envelope solitary waves that appear in fiber and waveguide nonlinear optics. In particular, we describe multi-channel solitary waves in bit-parallel-wavelength fiber transmission systems for high performance computer networks, multi......-color parametric spatial solitary waves due to cascaded nonlinearities of quadratic materials, and quasiperiodic envelope solitons in Fibonacci optical superlattices....

  14. The large-scale peculiar velocity field in flat models of the universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vittorio, N.; Turner, M.S.

    1986-10-01

    The inflationary Universe scenario predicts a flat Universe and both adiabatic and isocurvature primordial density perturbations with the Zel'dovich spectrum. The two simplest realizations, models dominated by hot or cold dark matter, seem to be in conflict with observations. Flat models are examined with two components of mass density, where one of the components of mass density is smoothly distributed and the large-scale (≥10h -1 MpC) peculiar velocity field for these models is considered. For the smooth component relativistic particles, a relic cosmological term, and light strings are considered. At present the observational situation is unsettled; but, in principle, the large-scale peculiar velocity field is very powerful discriminator between these different models. 61 refs

  15. Differential solvation of intrinsically disordered linkers drives the formation of spatially organized droplets in ternary systems of linear multivalent proteins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harmon, Tyler S.; Holehouse, Alex S.; Pappu, Rohit V.

    2018-04-01

    Intracellular biomolecular condensates are membraneless organelles that encompass large numbers of multivalent protein and nucleic acid molecules. The bodies assemble via a combination of liquid–liquid phase separation and gelation. A majority of condensates included multiple components and show multilayered organization as opposed to being well-mixed unitary liquids. Here, we put forward a simple thermodynamic framework to describe the emergence of spatially organized droplets in multicomponent systems comprising of linear multivalent polymers also known as associative polymers. These polymers, which mimic proteins and/or RNA have the architecture of domains or motifs known as stickers that are interspersed by flexible spacers known as linkers. Using a minimalist numerical model for a four-component system, we have identified features of linear multivalent molecules that are necessary and sufficient for generating spatially organized droplets. We show that differences in sequence-specific effective solvation volumes of disordered linkers between interaction domains enable the formation of spatially organized droplets. Molecules with linkers that are preferentially solvated are driven to the interface with the bulk solvent, whereas molecules that have linkers with negligible effective solvation volumes form cores in the core–shell architectures that emerge in the minimalist four-component systems. Our modeling has relevance for understanding the physical determinants of spatially organized membraneless organelles.

  16. l=1 helical axis heliotron device in Kyoto university

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nagasaki, K.; Sano, F.; Mizuuchi, T.; Hanatani, K.; Okada, H.; Obiki, T.

    1999-01-01

    Helical systems are an attractive candidate for magnetic fusion reactor. Recently, there has been great progress in theoretical research of three dimensional magnetic field structures, resulting in several kinds of confinement optimization being proposed for toroidal magnetic confinement system. For example, some sophisticated ideas have appeared on stage such as quasi-helical symmetry and quasi-isodynamic system. To find experimentally which way is the best Optimisation, a new helical axis heliotron device, so called 'Heliotron J', is under construction in the Institute of Advanced Energy, Kyoto University, Japan. In this conference, the basic concept and the present status will be presented. In the conventional plane axis helical system, it was difficult to have both good particle confinement and good MHD stability simultaneously. The goal of Heliotron J project is to clarify their compatibility in the spatial axis toroidal device. The best way for Optimising the helical magnetic field configuration will be explored by investigating the plasma response to the change in the field components. The main subjects for plasma experiment are: demonstration of the existence of good magnetic flux surfaces, reduction of neoclassical transport in collisionless regime, MHD Stabilisation in high β plasma, controllability of bootstrap current, good confinement of high energy particles

  17. Monitoring and evaluation of spatially managed areas: A generic framework for implementation of ecosystem based marine management and its application

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stelzenmüller, Vanessa; Breen, Patricia; Stamford, Tammy

    2013-01-01

    This study introduces a framework for the monitoring and evaluation of spatially managed areas (SMAs), which is currently being tested by nine European case studies. The framework provides guidance on the selection, mapping, and assessment of ecosystem components and human pressures, the evaluati...... on qualitative information are addressed. The lessons learned will provide a better insight into the full range of methods and approaches required to support the implementation of the ecosystem approach to marine spatial management in Europe and elsewhere.......This study introduces a framework for the monitoring and evaluation of spatially managed areas (SMAs), which is currently being tested by nine European case studies. The framework provides guidance on the selection, mapping, and assessment of ecosystem components and human pressures, the evaluation...... of management effectiveness and potential adaptations to management. Moreover, it provides a structured approach with advice on spatially explicit tools for practical tasks like the assessment of cumulative impacts of human pressures or pressure-state relationships. The case studies revealed emerging challenges...

  18. Analysis of Unit Costs in a University. The Fribourg Example. Program on Institutional Management in Higher Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pasquier, Jacques; Sachse, Matthias

    Costing principles are applied to a university by estimating unit costs and their component factors for the university's different inputs, activities, and outputs. The information system used is designed for Fribourg University but could be applicable to other Swiss universities and could serve Switzerland's universities policy. In general, it…

  19. Universal relations for spin-orbit-coupled Fermi gas near an s -wave resonance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Pengfei; Sun, Ning

    2018-04-01

    Synthetic spin-orbit-coupled quantum gases have been widely studied both experimentally and theoretically in the past decade. As shown in previous studies, this modification of single-body dispersion will in general couple different partial waves of the two-body scattering and thus distort the wave function of few-body bound states which determines the short-distance behavior of many-body wave function. In this work, we focus on the two-component Fermi gas with one-dimensional or three-dimensional spin-orbit coupling (SOC) near an s -wave resonance. Using the method of effective field theory and the operator product expansion, we derive universal relations for both systems, including the adiabatic theorem, viral theorem, and pressure relation, and obtain the momentum distribution matrix 〈ψa†(q ) ψb(q ) 〉 at large q (a ,b are spin indices). The momentum distribution matrix shows both spin-dependent and spatial anisotropic features. And the large momentum tail is modified at the subleading order thanks to the SOC. We also discuss the experimental implication of these results depending on the realization of the SOC.

  20. A Computational Model of Spatial Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hiraki, Kazuo; Sashima, Akio; Phillips, Steven

    Psychological experiments on children's development of spatial knowledge suggest experience at self-locomotion with visual tracking as important factors. Yet, the mechanism underlying development is unknown. We propose a robot that learns to mentally track a target object (i.e., maintaining a representation of an object's position when outside the field-of-view) as a model for spatial development. Mental tracking is considered as prediction of an object's position given the previous environmental state and motor commands, and the current environment state resulting from movement. Following Jordan & Rumelhart's (1992) forward modeling architecture the system consists of two components: an inverse model of sensory input to desired motor commands; and a forward model of motor commands to desired sensory input (goals). The robot was tested on the `three cups' paradigm (where children are required to select the cup containing the hidden object under various movement conditions). Consistent with child development, without the capacity for self-locomotion the robot's errors are self-center based. When given the ability of self-locomotion the robot responds allocentrically.

  1. Anthropogenic heat flux: advisable spatial resolutions when input data are scarce

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gabey, A. M.; Grimmond, C. S. B.; Capel-Timms, I.

    2018-02-01

    Anthropogenic heat flux (QF) may be significant in cities, especially under low solar irradiance and at night. It is of interest to many practitioners including meteorologists, city planners and climatologists. QF estimates at fine temporal and spatial resolution can be derived from models that use varying amounts of empirical data. This study compares simple and detailed models in a European megacity (London) at 500 m spatial resolution. The simple model (LQF) uses spatially resolved population data and national energy statistics. The detailed model (GQF) additionally uses local energy, road network and workday population data. The Fractions Skill Score (FSS) and bias are used to rate the skill with which the simple model reproduces the spatial patterns and magnitudes of QF, and its sub-components, from the detailed model. LQF skill was consistently good across 90% of the city, away from the centre and major roads. The remaining 10% contained elevated emissions and "hot spots" representing 30-40% of the total city-wide energy. This structure was lost because it requires workday population, spatially resolved building energy consumption and/or road network data. Daily total building and traffic energy consumption estimates from national data were within ± 40% of local values. Progressively coarser spatial resolutions to 5 km improved skill for total QF, but important features (hot spots, transport network) were lost at all resolutions when residential population controlled spatial variations. The results demonstrate that simple QF models should be applied with conservative spatial resolution in cities that, like London, exhibit time-varying energy use patterns.

  2. Multi criteria evaluation for universal soil loss equation based on geographic information system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Purwaamijaya, I. M.

    2018-05-01

    The purpose of this research were to produce(l) a conceptual, functional model designed and implementation for universal soil loss equation (usle), (2) standard operational procedure for multi criteria evaluation of universal soil loss equation (usle) using geographic information system, (3) overlay land cover, slope, soil and rain fall layers to gain universal soil loss equation (usle) using multi criteria evaluation, (4) thematic map of universal soil loss equation (usle) in watershed, (5) attribute table of universal soil loss equation (usle) in watershed. Descriptive and formal correlation methods are used for this research. Cikapundung Watershed, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia was study location. This research was conducted on January 2016 to May 2016. A spatial analysis is used to superimposed land cover, slope, soil and rain layers become universal soil loss equation (usle). Multi criteria evaluation for universal soil loss equation (usle) using geographic information system could be used for conservation program.

  3. The deegree framework - Spatial Data Infrastructure solution for end-users and developers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kiehle, Christian; Poth, Andreas

    2010-05-01

    The open source software framework deegree is a comprehensive implementa­tion of standards as defined by ISO and Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). It has been developed with two goals in mind: provide a uniform framework for implementing Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI) and adhering to standards as strictly as possible. Although being open source software (Lesser GNU Public Li­cense, LGPL), deegree has been developed with a business model in mind: providing the general building blocks of SDIs without license fees and offer cus­tomization, consulting and tailoring by specialized companies. The core of deegree is a comprehensive Java Application Programming Inter­face (API) offering access to spatial features, analysis, metadata and coordinate reference systems. As a library, deegree can and has been integrated as a core module inside spatial information systems. It is reference implementation for several OGC standards and based on an ISO 19107 geometry model. For end users, deegree is shipped as a web application providing easy-to-set-up components for web mapping and spatial analysis. Since 2000, deegree has been the backbone of many productive SDIs, first and foremost for governmental stakeholders (e.g. Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy in Germany, the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the En­vironment in the Netherlands, etc.) as well as for research and development projects as an early adoption of standards, drafts and discussion papers. Be­sides mature standards like Web Map Service, Web Feature Service and Cata­logue Services, deegree also implements rather new standards like the Sensor Observation Service, the Web Processing Service and the Web Coordinate Transformation Service (WCTS). While a robust background in standardization (knowledge and implementation) is a must for consultancy, standard-compliant services and encodings alone do not provide solutions for customers. The added value is comprised by a sophistic­ated set of

  4. Spatial autocorrelation in farmland grasshopper assemblages (Orthoptera: Acrididae) in western France.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Badenhausser, I; Gouat, M; Goarant, A; Cornulier, T; Bretagnolle, V

    2012-10-01

    Agricultural intensification in western Europe has caused a dramatic loss of grassland surfaces in farmlands, which have resulted in strong declines in grassland invertebrates, leading to cascade effects at higher trophic levels among consumers of invertebrates. Grasshoppers are important components of grassland invertebrate assemblages in European agricultural ecosystems, particularly as prey for bird species. Understanding how grasshopper populations are distributed in fragmented landscapes with low grassland availability is critical for both studies in biodiversity conservation and insect management. We assessed the range and strength of spatial autocorrelation for two grasshopper taxa (Gomphocerinae subfamily and Calliptamus italicus L.) across an intensive farmland in western France. Data from surveys carried out over 8 yr in 1,715 grassland fields were analyzed using geostatistics. Weak spatial patterns were observed at small spatial scales, suggesting important local effects of management practices on grasshopper densities. Spatial autocorrelation patterns for both grasshopper taxa were only detected at intermediate scales. For Gomphocerinae, the range of spatial autocorrelation varied from 802 to 2,613 m according to the year, depending both on grasshopper density and on grassland surfaces in the study site, whereas spatial patterns for the Italian locust were more variable and not related to grasshopper density or grassland surfaces. Spatial patterns in the distribution of Gomphocerinae supported our hypothesis that habitat availability was a major driver of grasshopper distribution in the landscape, and suggested it was related to density-dependent processes such as dispersal.

  5. Spatial scaling of net primary productivity using subpixel landcover information

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, X. F.; Chen, Jing M.; Ju, Wei M.; Ren, L. L.

    2008-10-01

    Gridding the land surface into coarse homogeneous pixels may cause important biases on ecosystem model estimations of carbon budget components at local, regional and global scales. These biases result from overlooking subpixel variability of land surface characteristics. Vegetation heterogeneity is an important factor introducing biases in regional ecological modeling, especially when the modeling is made on large grids. This study suggests a simple algorithm that uses subpixel information on the spatial variability of land cover type to correct net primary productivity (NPP) estimates, made at coarse spatial resolutions where the land surface is considered as homogeneous within each pixel. The algorithm operates in such a way that NPP obtained from calculations made at coarse spatial resolutions are multiplied by simple functions that attempt to reproduce the effects of subpixel variability of land cover type on NPP. Its application to a carbon-hydrology coupled model(BEPS-TerrainLab model) estimates made at a 1-km resolution over a watershed (named Baohe River Basin) located in the southwestern part of Qinling Mountains, Shaanxi Province, China, improved estimates of average NPP as well as its spatial variability.

  6. On the minimal vacuum definition for spin 1 massive fields in Robertson-Walker universes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Castagnino, M.; Laciana, C.; Chimento, L.

    1986-01-01

    A definition of quantum vacuum is introduced for spin 1, massive, neutral fields, in spatially flat Robertson-Walker universes. For this definition all relevant observables turn out to be devoid of ultraviolet divergencies. (author)

  7. Spatial auditory attention is modulated by tactile priming.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Menning, Hans; Ackermann, Hermann; Hertrich, Ingo; Mathiak, Klaus

    2005-07-01

    Previous studies have shown that cross-modal processing affects perception at a variety of neuronal levels. In this study, event-related brain responses were recorded via whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG). Spatial auditory attention was directed via tactile pre-cues (primes) to one of four locations in the peripersonal space (left and right hand versus face). Auditory stimuli were white noise bursts, convoluted with head-related transfer functions, which ensured spatial perception of the four locations. Tactile primes (200-300 ms prior to acoustic onset) were applied randomly to one of these locations. Attentional load was controlled by three different visual distraction tasks. The auditory P50m (about 50 ms after stimulus onset) showed a significant "proximity" effect (larger responses to face stimulation as well as a "contralaterality" effect between side of stimulation and hemisphere). The tactile primes essentially reduced both the P50m and N100m components. However, facial tactile pre-stimulation yielded an enhanced ipsilateral N100m. These results show that earlier responses are mainly governed by exogenous stimulus properties whereas cross-sensory interaction is spatially selective at a later (endogenous) processing stage.

  8. Urban Land Expansion and Spatial Dynamics in Globalizing Shanghai

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Han Li

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Urban land expansion in China has attracted considerable scholarly attention. However, more work is needed to apply spatial modeling to understanding the mechanisms of urban growth from both institutional and physical perspectives. This paper analyzes urban expansion in Shanghai and its development zones (DZs. We find that, as nodes of global-local interface, the DZs are the most significant components of urban growth in Shanghai, and major spatial patterns of urban expansion in Shanghai are infilling and edge expansion. We apply logistic regression, geographically weighted logistic regression (GWLR and spatial regime regression to investigate the determinants of urban land expansion including physical conditions, state policy and land development. Regressions reveal that, though the market has been an important driving force in urban growth, the state has played a predominant role through the implementation of urban planning and the establishment of DZs to fully capitalize on globalization. We also find that differences in urban growth dynamics exist between the areas inside and outside of the DZs. Finally, this paper discusses policies to promote sustainable development in Shanghai.

  9. Multi-component and multi-array TEM detection in karst tunnels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sun, Huaifeng; Li, Shucai; Su, Maoxin; Xue, Yiguo; Li, Xiu; Qi, Zhipeng

    2012-01-01

    Emerging applications of transient electromagnetic methods (TEM) in tunnelling require higher resolution on the distributions and shapes of low resistivity bodies, such as karst water and karst pipes, using multi-component and multi-array receivers. However, there are no apparent resistivity definitions for both vertical and horizontal components with offsets inside the loop. Although the raw field can show the differences of the earth electric structure, it is not straightforward. Apparent resistivity is very convenient and easy for engineers. We have developed a method for multi-component and multi-array TEM which can be applied in tunnelling and defined the expressions of apparent resistivity. This method takes advantage of the difference in resolution among components. A homogeneous half-space model and four typical three-layered models are used to test the effectiveness of the new definition. A field case history is carried out and analysed to demonstrate the viability of this technique. The results suggest that it is feasible to use the technique in tunnelling, especially for identifying the spatial distribution of karst water and karst pipes. (paper)

  10. Active and passive spatial learning in human navigation: acquisition of graph knowledge.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chrastil, Elizabeth R; Warren, William H

    2015-07-01

    It is known that active exploration of a new environment leads to better spatial learning than does passive visual exposure. We ask whether specific components of active learning differentially contribute to particular forms of spatial knowledge-the exploration-specific learning hypothesis. Previously, we found that idiothetic information during walking is the primary active contributor to metric survey knowledge (Chrastil & Warren, 2013). In this study, we test the contributions of 3 components to topological graph and route knowledge: visual information, idiothetic information, and cognitive decision making. Four groups of participants learned the locations of 8 objects in a virtual hedge maze by (a) walking or (b) watching a video, crossed with (1) either making decisions about their path or (2) being guided through the maze. Route and graph knowledge were assessed by walking in the maze corridors from a starting object to the remembered location of a test object, with frequent detours. Decision making during exploration significantly contributed to subsequent route finding in the walking condition, whereas idiothetic information did not. Participants took novel routes and the metrically shortest routes on the majority of both direct and barrier trials, indicating that labeled graph knowledge-not merely route knowledge-was acquired. We conclude that, consistent with the exploration-specific learning hypothesis, decision making is the primary component of active learning for the acquisition of topological graph knowledge, whereas idiothetic information is the primary component for metric survey knowledge. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

  11. Alpha-Band Activity Reveals Spontaneous Representations of Spatial Position in Visual Working Memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foster, Joshua J; Bsales, Emma M; Jaffe, Russell J; Awh, Edward

    2017-10-23

    An emerging view suggests that spatial position is an integral component of working memory (WM), such that non-spatial features are bound to locations regardless of whether space is relevant [1, 2]. For instance, past work has shown that stimulus position is spontaneously remembered when non-spatial features are stored. Item recognition is enhanced when memoranda appear at the same location where they were encoded [3-5], and accessing non-spatial information elicits shifts of spatial attention to the original position of the stimulus [6, 7]. However, these findings do not establish that a persistent, active representation of stimulus position is maintained in WM because similar effects have also been documented following storage in long-term memory [8, 9]. Here we show that the spatial position of the memorandum is actively coded by persistent neural activity during a non-spatial WM task. We used a spatial encoding model in conjunction with electroencephalogram (EEG) measurements of oscillatory alpha-band (8-12 Hz) activity to track active representations of spatial position. The position of the stimulus varied trial to trial but was wholly irrelevant to the tasks. We nevertheless observed active neural representations of the original stimulus position that persisted throughout the retention interval. Further experiments established that these spatial representations are dependent on the volitional storage of non-spatial features rather than being a lingering effect of sensory energy or initial encoding demands. These findings provide strong evidence that online spatial representations are spontaneously maintained in WM-regardless of task relevance-during the storage of non-spatial features. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Spatial analysis methods and land-use planning models for rural areas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patrizia Tassinari

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available The work presents a brief report of the main results of a study carried out by the Spatial Engineering Division of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Engineering of the University of Bologna, within a broader PRIN 2005 research project concerning landscape and economic analysis, planning and programming. In particular, the study focuses on the design of spatial analysis methods aimed at building knowledge frameworks of the various natural and anthropic resources of rural areas. The goal is to increase the level of spatial and information detail of common databases, thus allowing higher accuracy and effectiveness of the analyses needed to achieve the goals of new generation spatial and agriculture planning. Specific in-depth analyses allowed to define techniques useful in order to reduce the increase in survey costs. Moreover, the work reports the main results regarding a multicriteria model for the analysis of the countryside defined by the research. Such model is aimed to assess the various agricultural, environmental and landscape features, vocations, expressions and attitudes, and support the definition and implementation of specific and targeted planning and programming policies.

  13. Spatial History e humanidades digitais, uma entrevista com o brasilianista Zephyr Frank

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    FREDERICO FREITAS

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Resumo: Entrevista com Zephyr Frank, diretor do Spatial History Project (Projeto de História Espacial e do Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis (Centro de Análise Espacial e Textual da Universidade Stanford, nos Estados Unidos, sobre spatial history e outras linhas de pesquisa englobadas sob o rótulo das humanidades digitais. A discussão toca o tema do uso de novos métodos digitais como o SIG histórico, a leitura à distância e a análise de redes sociais na pesquisa em humanidades, questionando os limites e as possibilidades de tais ferramentas. Por fim, discute-se sobre o investimento institucional e financeiro necessário para a implementação dessas novas tecnologias de pesquisa.Palavras-chave: Spatial History – Humanidades Digitais – Redes Sociais – Leitura à Distância. Abstract: An interview with Zephyr Frank, director of both the Spatial History Project and the Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis at Stanford University, on spatial history and other lines of research encompassed by the digital humanities label. The discussion touches on the new digital methods of research like historical GIS, distant reading, and social network analysis, which are becoming more common among humanists. It also questions the possibilities and limits of such tools. Finally, it presents a brief discussion on the institutional and financial resources needed for implementing those new research technologies.Keywords: Spatial History – Digital Humanities – Social Networks – Distant Reading.

  14. Real-time spatial optimization : based on the application in wood supply chain management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Scholz, J.

    2010-01-01

    Real-time spatial optimization - a combination of Geographical Information Science and Technology and Operations Research - is capable of generating optimized solutions to given spatial problems in real-time. The basic concepts to develop a real-time spatial optimization system are outlined in this thesis. Geographic Information Science delivers the foundations for acquiring, storing, manipulating, visualizing and analyzing spatial information. In order to develop a system that consists of several independent components the concept of Service Oriented Architectures is applied. This facilitates communication between software systems utilizing standardized services that ensure interoperability. Thus, standards in the field of Geographic Information are inevitable for real-time spatial optimization. By exploiting the ability of mobile devices to determine the own position paired with standardized services Location Based Services are created. They are of interest in order to gather real-time data from mobile devices that are of importance for the optimization process itself. To optimize a given spatial problem, the universe of discourse has to be modeled accordingly. For the problem addressed in this thesis - Wood Supply Chain management - Graph theory is used. In addition, the problem of Wood Supply Chain management can be represented by a specific mathematical problem class, the Vehicle Routing problem - specifically the Vehicle Routing Problem with Pickup and Delivery and Time Windows. To optimize this problem class, exact and approximate solution techniques exist. Exact algorithms provide optimal solutions and guarantee their optimally, whereas approximate techniques - approximation algorithms or heuristics - do not guarantee that a global optimum is found. Nevertheless, the are capable of handling large problem instances in reasonable time. For optimizing the Wood Supply Chain Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search is selected as appropriate optimization technique

  15. Spatial features register: toward standardization of spatial features

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cascio, Janette

    1994-01-01

    As the need to share spatial data increases, more than agreement on a common format is needed to ensure that the data is meaningful to both the importer and the exporter. Effective data transfer also requires common definitions of spatial features. To achieve this, part 2 of the Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS) provides a model for a spatial features data content specification and a glossary of features and attributes that fit this model. The model provides a foundation for standardizing spatial features. The glossary now contains only a limited subset of hydrographic and topographic features. For it to be useful, terms and definitions must be included for other categories, such as base cartographic, bathymetric, cadastral, cultural and demographic, geodetic, geologic, ground transportation, international boundaries, soils, vegetation, water, and wetlands, and the set of hydrographic and topographic features must be expanded. This paper will review the philosophy of the SDTS part 2 and the current plans for creating a national spatial features register as one mechanism for maintaining part 2.

  16. Global and 3D spatial assessment of neuroinflammation in rodent models of Multiple Sclerosis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shashank Gupta

    Full Text Available Multiple Sclerosis (MS is a progressive autoimmune inflammatory and demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS. T cells play a key role in the progression of neuroinflammation in MS and also in the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE animal models for the disease. A technology for quantitative and 3 dimensional (3D spatial assessment of inflammation in this and other CNS inflammatory conditions is much needed. Here we present a procedure for 3D spatial assessment and global quantification of the development of neuroinflammation based on Optical Projection Tomography (OPT. Applying this approach to the analysis of rodent models of MS, we provide global quantitative data of the major inflammatory component as a function of the clinical course. Our data demonstrates a strong correlation between the development and progression of neuroinflammation and clinical disease in several mouse and a rat model of MS refining the information regarding the spatial dynamics of the inflammatory component in EAE. This method provides a powerful tool to investigate the effect of environmental and genetic forces and for assessing the therapeutic effects of drug therapy in animal models of MS and other neuroinflammatory/neurodegenerative disorders.

  17. Study of spatially extended dynamical systems using probabilistic cellular automata

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vanag, Vladimir K

    1999-01-01

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

  18. Differentiating Spatial Memory from Spatial Transformations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Street, Whitney N.; Wang, Ranxiao Frances

    2014-01-01

    The perspective-taking task is one of the most common paradigms used to study the nature of spatial memory, and better performance for certain orientations is generally interpreted as evidence of spatial representations using these reference directions. However, performance advantages can also result from the relative ease in certain…

  19. Broadband analog to digital conversion with spatial-spectral holography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Babbitt, W. Randall; Neifeld, Mark A.; Merkel, Kristian D.

    2007-01-01

    A new approach to broadband photonic-assisted analog-to-digital converter (ADC) technology is proposed and analyzed. The core of the device is a spatial spectral holographic (SSH) material, which can directly record the signals of interest in the frequency domain. An SSH-ADC acts as a frequency-domain stretch processor, which leverages the high performance of conventional ADCs by converting high bandwidth input signals to low bandwidth output signals without loss of information. Analysis of a 10 GHz bandwidth SSH-ADC predicts that 10-bit performance can be achieved with currently available materials and components. SSH-ADC technology is scalable to bandwidths over 100 GHz with recently developed SSH materials. While the SSH-ADC is a transient digitizer, the spatial parallelism of SSH materials can be utilized to enable continuous digitization

  20. Broadband analog to digital conversion with spatial-spectral holography

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Babbitt, W. Randall [Spectrum Lab, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717-3510 (United States)]. E-mail: babbitt@physics.montana.edu; Neifeld, Mark A. [Spectrum Lab, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717-3510 (United States); Merkel, Kristian D. [Spectrum Lab, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717-3510 (United States)

    2007-11-15

    A new approach to broadband photonic-assisted analog-to-digital converter (ADC) technology is proposed and analyzed. The core of the device is a spatial spectral holographic (SSH) material, which can directly record the signals of interest in the frequency domain. An SSH-ADC acts as a frequency-domain stretch processor, which leverages the high performance of conventional ADCs by converting high bandwidth input signals to low bandwidth output signals without loss of information. Analysis of a 10 GHz bandwidth SSH-ADC predicts that 10-bit performance can be achieved with currently available materials and components. SSH-ADC technology is scalable to bandwidths over 100 GHz with recently developed SSH materials. While the SSH-ADC is a transient digitizer, the spatial parallelism of SSH materials can be utilized to enable continuous digitization.