ALBERT

Beschreibung: The notion of resilience is being utilised by an increasing number of authors keen to understand the dynamics of local and regional economies and particularly how they deal with economic shocks and recessionary crises. Within the burgeoning literature however, fairly limited attention has been paid to date to developing a robust conceptual understanding of what role policy-makers, particularly at sub-national level, might play in building economic resilience in regions. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap. Drawing on resilience literatures which employ a complex adaptive systems perspective, the paper seeks to develop a conceptual framework within which policy action, particularly at the subnational level, can be theorised and understood. It identifies three critical dimensions which frame the role and scope for policy intervention in the management of regional economic resilience: the modes and structures of governance, the types of policy interventions which help build resilience, and the horizons or timings for appropriate intervention. The paper concludes by considering what this framing means for the nature and scope of subnational policy intervention for regional economic resilience.

Beschreibung: Zusammenfassung In der Stadtforschung und Stadtplanung fungiert die „Dichte“ als eines der wichtigsten Maße für die Beschreibung der baulichen Physis einer Stadt. Im Vergleich zu anderen Maßen – genannt seien beispielhaft die „Nutzungsmischung“, die „Polyzentralität“ oder die „Kompaktheit“ – erscheint die „Dichte“ auf den ersten Blick als objektiv ermittelbar und gut verständlich. Bei näherer Betrachtung handelt es sich jedoch um ein Konzept, das sich einer einfachen empirischen Ermittlung weitgehend entzieht. Bis heute gibt es kein international anerkanntes Dichtemaß und Dichteangaben für verschiedene Länder, Regionen und Städte sind in der Regel nicht oder nur eingeschränkt vergleichbar. In diesem Beitrag werden die analytischen Möglichkeiten neuer Geodatenanwendungen für eine objektive und transparente Ermittlung der baulichen und nutzungsbezogenen Dichte städtischer Siedlungsgebiete aufgezeigt. Eine Fallstudie für das Gebiet der Stadt Köln demonstriert an ausgewählten Themen die Einsatzmöglichkeiten kleinräumiger Dichtedaten.

Beschreibung: Zusammenfassung Angesichts steigender Studierendenzahlen und zunehmender Wohnungsknappheit gewinnen Diskussionen über das Segment des studentischen Wohnens in Politik, Medien, Wohnungswirtschaft und Wissenschaft erneut an Aufmerksamkeit. Verlässliche und umfassende Informationen über die Märkte und Marktentwicklungen dienen in diesem Zusammenhang als wichtige Voraussetzung für sozialpolitische und wohnungswirtschaftliche Entscheidungen. Dabei wird deutlich, dass in Wissenschaft und Praxis nur geringe Kenntnisse über die aktuelle Entwicklung und Struktur des Segments und seinen Auswirkungen auf die lokalen Wohnungsmärkte vorhanden sind. Der Beitrag setzt an dieser Forschungslücke an. Für das Segment des studentischen Wohnens werden zunächst die Faktoren der steigenden Wohnungsnachfrage Studierender herausgearbeitet und Untersuchungen zum studentischen Wohnen im Hinblick auf ihre wohnungsmarktpolitische Bedeutung vorgestellt. Weiterhin werden die Entwicklung und Struktur der Angebots– und Nachfrageseite in ihrer jeweiligen Besonderheit charakterisiert und Kopplungseffekte mit dem lokalen Wohnungsmarkt abgeleitet. Vor dem Hintergrund der derzeitigen Diskussion um Wohnungsknappheit werden die Folgen der Marktbedingungen auf Mieter- und Vermietermärkten für Studierende herausgearbeitet sowie marktspezifische Handlungsansätze zur Erhöhung der Markttransparenz dargestellt.

Beschreibung: This article aims to identify the resilience of the Pomorskie Region in Poland. The analysed region belongs to a group of European regions where the negative impact of the economic crisis has not been distinctively visible. In a unitary state like Poland the resilience of the region to the crisis results to a high degree from the external macroeconomic factors of the country. However some regional features play an important role in strengthening resilience. We analysed socio-economic structures in the context of their significance for the region's resilience. Walker's and Salt's (Resilience Thinking. Sustaining ecosystems and people in a changing world, 2006) resilience attributes were used as a template for the findings. Although it is difficult to determine the level of a region's resilience in a situation of ongoing and growing recession, some conclusions may be derived from the analysis. One of the most important factors of the Pomorskie Region's resilience is the diversity of economic and social structures. The community and its social capital is undoubtedly one of the strongest attributes of the regional resilience. The Pomorskie Region's richness in ecosystem services also strengthens its resilience significantly. Overlaps in governance are mainly connected with the development of institutional embeddedness. However the current lack of governance on the level of the most dynamically developing metropolitan areas is an impediment to more dynamic development. The post-totalitarian tradition of centralised governance continues to negatively influence the tight feedbacks attribute of resilience.

Beschreibung: This introductory paper looks at recent debates on the concept of regional economic resilience and focuses on three elements of debate: (1) indicator systems and consideration of the normative content of the concept; (2) the evolutionary dimension of the concept and its inter-disciplinary linkages; (3) the policy dimension and challenges for the development of policy recommendations. The author discusses the state of the debate and presents some directions for future research priorities.

Beschreibung: Zusammenfassung Die Bedeutung von großen Städten und Metropolen steht im Zusammenhang mit dem Strukturwandel zugunsten der Dienstleistungs- und Wissensökonomie und den weltweiten wirtschaftlichen Verflechtungen, die strategische Orte bzw. Knotenpunkte an Kontroll- und Steuerungsfunktionen hervorbringen. An diesen Knoten konzentrieren sich hochrangige Funktionen, die sich von anderen Räumen abheben. Gegenstand des Beitrags ist eine theoretische Systematisierung und Operationalisierung solcher höherrangigen metropolitanen Funktionen von Städten auf Basis internationaler Stadtkonzepte sowie der Typologie der Metropolfunktionen – Entscheidungs- und Kontrollfunktion, Innovations- und Wettbewerbsfunktion, Gatewayfunktion und Symbolfunktion. Dazu wird eine Datenbank mit 48 Indikatoren erstellt, die sich auf lokalisierte funktionale Attributeigenschaften bezieht, um den Grad der Metropolität sämtlicher 439 kreisfreien Städte/Kreise und funktional-analytischen Metropolräume zu erfassen. Es wird geprüft, welche Städte metropolitane Funktionen haben und wie sich diese im Hinblick auf die Prozesse der räumlichen Konzentration und funktionalen Spezialisierung zwischen 1995 und 2010 entwickelt haben. Es wird angenommen, dass aufgrund von Agglomerationsvorteilen (z. B. räumliche Nähe oder Entwicklungssvorsprünge) die „großen“ Metropolräume als Gewinner der Metropolisierungsprozesse hervorgehen.

Beschreibung: The paper presents numerical simulation of hysteretic live load effect in a soil-steel bridge. The effect was originally identified experimentally by Machelski [1], [2]. The truck was crossing the bridge one way and the other in the full-scale test performed. At the same time, displacements and stress in the shell were measured. The major conclusion from the research was that the measured quantities formed hysteretic loops. A numerical simulation of that effect is addressed in the present work. The analysis was performed using Flac finite difference code. The methodology of solving the mechanical problems implemented in Flac enables us to solve the problem concerning a sequence of load and non-linear mechanical behaviour of the structure. The numerical model incorporates linear elastic constitutive relations for the soil backfill, for the steel shell and the sheet piles, being a flexible substructure for the shell. Contact zone between the shell and the soil backfill is assumed to reflect elastic-plastic constitutive model. Maximum shear stress in contact zone is limited by the Coulomb condition. The plastic flow rule is described by dilation angle ψ = 0. The obtained results of numerical analysis are in fair agreement with the experimental evidence. The primary finding from the performed simulation is that the slip in the interface can be considered an explanation of the hysteresis occurrence in the charts of displacement and stress in the shell.

Beschreibung: Liquefaction has always been intensely studied in parts of the world where earthquakes occur. However, the seismic activity is not the only possible cause of this phenomenon. It may in fact be triggered by some human activities, such as constructing and mining or by rail and road transport. In the paper a road embankment built across a shallow water reservoir is analyzed in terms of susceptibility to liquefaction. Two types of dynamic loadings are considered: first corresponding to an operation of a vibratory roller and second to an earthquake. In order to evaluate a susceptibility of soil to liquefaction, a factor of safety against triggering of liquefaction is used (FSTriggering). It is defined as a ratio of vertical effective stresses to the shear stresses both varying with time. For the structure considered both stresses are obtained using finite element method program, here Plaxis 2D. The plastic behavior of the cohesionless soils is modeled by means of Hardening Soil (HS) constitutive relationship, implemented in Plaxis software. As the stress tensor varies with time during dynamic excitation, the FSTriggering has to be calculated for some particular moment of time when liquefaction is most likely to occur. For the purposes of this paper it is named a critical time and established for reference point at which the pore pressures were traced in time. As a result a factor of safety distribution throughout embankment is generated. For the modeled structure, cyclic point loads (i.e., vibrating roller) present higher risk than earthquake of magnitude 5.4. Explanation why considered structure is less susceptible to earthquake than typical dam could lay in stabilizing and damping influence of water, acting here on both sides of the slope. Analogical procedure is applied to assess liquefaction susceptibility of the road embankment considered but under earthquake excitation. Only the higher water table is considered as it is the most unfavorable. Additionally the modified factor of safety is introduced, where the dynamic shear stress component is obtained at a time step when its magnitude is the highest - not necessarily at the same time step when the pore pressure reaches its peak (i.e., critical time). This procedure provides a greater margin of safety as the computed factors of safety are smaller. Method introduced in the paper presents a clear and easy way to locate liquefied zones and estimate liquefaction susceptibility of the subsoil - not only in the road embankment.

Beschreibung: This paper is a presentation of landslide monitoring, early warning and remediation methods recommended for the Polish Carpathians. Instrumentation included standard and automatic on-line measurements with the real-time transfer of data to an Internet web server. The research was funded through EU Innovative Economy Programme and also by the SOPO Landslide Counteraction Project. The landslides investigated were characterized by relatively low rates of the displacements. These ranged from a few millimetres to several centimetres per year. Colluviums of clayey flysch deposits were of a soil-rock type with a very high plasticity and moisture content. The instrumentation consisted of 23 standard inclinometers set to depths of 5-21 m. The starting point of monitoring measurements was in January 2006. These were performed every 1-2 months over the period of 8 years. The measurements taken detected displacements from several millimetres to 40 cm set at a depth of 1-17 m. The modern, on-line monitoring and early warning system was installed in May 2010. The system is the first of its kind in Poland and only one of several such real-time systems in the world. The installation was working with the Local Road Authority in Gorlice. It contained three automatic field stations for investigation of landslide parameters to depths of 12-16 m and weather station. In-place tilt transducers and innovative 3D continuous inclinometer systems with sensors located every 0.5 m were used. It has the possibility of measuring a much greater range of movements compared to standard systems. The conventional and real-time data obtained provided a better recognition of the triggering parameters and the control of geohazard stabilizations. The monitoring methods chosen supplemented by numerical modelling could lead to more reliable forecasting of such landslides and could thus provide better control and landslide remediation possibilities also to stabilization works which prevent landslides.

Beschreibung: The paper presents results of laboratory investigation and analysis of crack initiation threshold identification of dolomite samples. First, selected methods for determining crack initiation thresholds are briefly described with special attention paid to four methods: crack volume strain method [14], change in Poisson’s ratio [8], lateral strain response method [16], and dilatancy method [4]. The investigation performed on dolomite samples shows that for the uniaxial and conventional triaxial compression tests, the above mentioned methods give quite similar values, except for the crack volume strain method. Crack initiation threshold determined by this method has a distinctively lower value than that obtained by the other methods. The aim of the present paper was to review and assess these methods for identifying crack initiation threshold based on laboratory tests of dolomite samples.

Beschreibung: DC resistivity methods, soundings and Electrical Resistivity Tomography, were applied to study shallow geology in the place of planned construction of an experimental flood bank. The geoelectrical surveys provided quantitative information about the spatial presence of the various geoelectrical/geological layers: alluvial soils, sands, gravels and clays. ERT allowed maps to be constructed showing subsurface structure. A combination of geoelectrical and geological information resulted in a much better identification of the geological structure.

Beschreibung: Crashed or dimensional rocks have been used as natural construction material, decoration stone or as material for artistic sculptures. Especially old historical towns not only in Slovakia have had experiences with use of stones for construction purposes for centuries. The whole buildings were made from dimensional stone, like sandstone, limestone or rhyolite. Pavements were made especially from basalt, andesite, rhyolite or granite. Also the most common modern construction material - concrete includes large amounts of crashed rock, especially limestone, dolostone and andesite. However, rock as any other material if exposed to exogenous processes starts to deteriorate. Especially mechanical weathering can be very intensive if rock with unsuitable rock properties is used. For long it had been believed that repeated freezing and thawing in relation to high absorption is the main reason of the rock deterioration. In Slovakia for many years the high water absorption was set as exclusion criterion for use of rocks and stones in building industry. Only after 1989 the absorption was accepted as merely informational rock property and not exclusion. The reason of the change was not the understanding of the relationship between the porosity and rock deterioration, but more or less good experiences with some high porous rocks used in constructions exposed to severe weather conditions and proving a lack of relationship between rock freeze-thaw resistivity and water absorption. Results of the recent worldwide research suggest that understanding a resistivity of rocks against deterioration is hidden not in the absorption but in the structure of rock pores in relation to thermodynamic properties of pore water and tensile strength of rocks and rock minerals. Also this article presents some results of research on rock deterioration and pore structure performed on 88 rock samples. The results divide the rocks tested into two groups - group N in which the pore water does not freeze even when the temperature decreases to -20 ºC, and the second group F in which the pore water freezes. It has been found that the rocks from group N contain critical portion of adsorbed water in pores which prevents freezing of the pore water. The presence of adsorbed water enables thermodynamic processes related to osmosis which are dominantly responsible for deterioration of rocks from group N. A high correlation (R = 0.81) between content of adsorbed water and freeze-thaw loss was proved and can be used as durability estimator of rocks from group N. The rock deterioration of group F is caused not only by osmosis, but also by some other processes and influences, such as hydraulic pressure, permeability, grain size, rock and mineral tensile strength, degree of saturation, etc., and the deterioration cannot be predicted yet without the freeze-thaw test. Since the contents of absorbed water and ratio between adsorbed and bulk water (of which the absorbed water consists) is controlled by the porosity and pore structure, it can be concluded that the deterioration of some rocks is strongly related to rock pore structure.

Beschreibung: The needle probe test, as a thermal conductivity measurement method, has become very popular in recent years. In the present study, the efficiency of this methodology, for the case of composite materials, is investigated based on the numerical simulations. The material under study is a two-phase composite with periodic microstructure of “matrix-inclusion” type. Two-scale analysis, incorporating micromechanics approach, is performed. First, the effective thermal conductivity of the composite considered is found by the solution of the appropriate boundary value problem stated for the single unit cell. Next, numerical simulations of the needle probe test are carried out. In this case, two different locations of the measuring sensor are considered. It is shown that the “equivalent” conductivity, derived from the probe test, is strongly affected by the location of the sensor. Moreover, comparing the results obtained for different scales, one can notice that the “equivalent” conductivity cannot be interpreted as the effective one for the composites considered. Hence, a crude approximation of the effective property is proposed based on the volume fractions of constituents and the equivalent conductivities derived from different sensor locations.

Beschreibung: The paper is focused on changes of geomechanical properties with regard to loss of long-term resistance in studies on the influence of salt spray on the structure of selected rocks from Poland. The investigation has shown that the analyzed rock material shows variable susceptibility to this corrosive factor. The most susceptible to ageing by salt mist were Śmiłów sandstones, whose progressive deterioration was observed in subsequent cycles. Analysis of resistance parameters has shown decreased resistance to uniaxial compression exceeding 30% also in the case of the Józefów limestones. Limestones from Raciszyn have revealed high resistance to ageing by salt mist.

Beschreibung: Based on a literature review concerning methane emissions in Poland, it was stated in 2009 that the National Greenhouse Inventory 2007 [13] was published. It was prepared firstly to meet Poland’s obligations resulting from point 3.1 Decision no. 280/2004/WE of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004, concerning a mechanism for monitoring community greenhouse gas emissions and for implementing the Kyoto Protocol and secondly, for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Kyoto Protocol. The National Greenhouse Inventory states that there are no detailed data concerning methane emissions in collieries in the Polish mining industry. That is why the methane emission in the methane coal mines of Górnośląskie Zagłębie Węglowe - GZW (Upper Silesian Coal Basin - USCB) in Poland was meticulously studied and evaluated. The applied methodology for estimating methane emission from the GZW coal mining system was used for the four basic sources of its emission. Methane emission during the mining and post-mining process. Such an approach resulted from the IPCC guidelines of 2006 [10]. Updating the proposed methods (IPCC2006) of estimating the methane emissions of hard coal mines (active and abandoned ones) in Poland, assumes that the methane emission factor (EF) is calculated based on methane coal mine output and actual values of absolute methane content. The result of verifying the method of estimating methane emission during the mining process for Polish coal mines is the equation of methane emission factor EF.

Beschreibung: The article presents an application of X-ray microtomography for identification of the carbonation zone in concrete material. A concrete specimen subjected earlier to harsh environmental conditions is investigated. The material is firstly checked with the use of chemical corrosion indicators and then is subjected to microstructural analysis performed with the use of X-ray microtomography. Two different settings of scanning parameters are applied implying the image resolutions of approximately 14 μm per 1 pixel and about 7 μm per 1 pixel, respectively. The results obtained are then compared and analyzed. The depth of the carbonation zone is evaluated based on the attenuation curve. The paper highlights also the significance of the corrosion phenomenon in concrete structures. Details of the deterioration mechanisms in concrete are shortly presented.

Beschreibung: Polish standards concerning field investigation with the use of a Weight Sounding Test (WST) probe give interpretation of results for non-cohesive soils only. The lack of such interpretation for cohesive soils excludes this testing equipment from use. This paper presents the results of geotechnical site investigation and laboratory tests performed for Miocene clays in Carpathian Foredeep in the Cracow area. Based on the analysis of the results a correlation was determined between the characteristic values for the WST probe (number of half-turns NWST) and the selected properties of Miocene clays. The article is an attempt to create a complete interpretation of test results obtained for cohesive soil with WST equipment.

Beschreibung: During the construction of an airport terminal it was found that as a result of the hydrostatic pressure of underground water the foundation plate of the building had dangerously shifted in the direction opposite to that of the gravitational forces. The only effective measure was to introduce a drainage system on the site. The complex geology of the area indicated that two independent drainage systems, i.e., a horizontal system in the Quaternary beds and a vertical system in the Tertiary water-bearing levels, were necessary. This paper presents numerical FEM calculations of the two drainage systems being part of the airport terminal drainaged esign. The computer simulation which was carried out took into consideration the actual effect of the drainage systems and their impact on the depression cone being formed in the two aquifers.

Beschreibung: Most of underground hydrocarbon storage are located in depleted natural gas reservoirs. Seismic survey is the most economical source of detailed subsurface information. The inversion of seismic section for obtaining pseudoacoustic impedance section gives the possibility to extract detailed subsurface information. The seismic wavelet parameters and noise briefly influence the resolution. Low signal parameters, especially long signal duration time and the presence of noise decrease pseudoimpedance resolution. Drawing out from measurement or modelled seismic data approximation of distribution of acoustic pseuoimpedance leads us to visualisation and images useful to stratum homogeneity identification goal. In this paper, the improvement of geologic section image resolution by use of minimum entropy deconvolution method before inversion is applied. The author proposes context and adaptive transformation of images and edge detection methods as a way to increase the effectiveness of correct interpretation of simulated images. In the paper, the edge detection algorithms using Sobel, Prewitt, Robert, Canny operators as well as Laplacian of Gaussian method are emphasised. Wiener filtering of image transformation improving rock section structure interpretation pseudoimpedance matrix on proper acoustic pseudoimpedance value, corresponding to selected geologic stratum. The goal of the study is to develop applications of image transformation tools to inhomogeneity detection in salt deposits.

Beschreibung: We estimate the contamination risks from the atmospheric dispersion of radionuclides released by severe nuclear power plant accidents using the ECHAM/Modular Earth Submodel System (MESSy) atmospheric chemistry (EMAC) atmospheric chemistry-general circulation model at high resolution (50 km). We present an overview of global risks and also a case study of nuclear power plants that are currently under construction, planned and proposed in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, a region prone to earthquakes. We implemented continuous emissions from each location, making the simplifying assumption that all potential accidents release the same amount of radioactivity. We simulated atmospheric transport and decay, focusing on 137Cs and 131I as proxies for particulate and gaseous radionuclides, respectively. We present risk maps for potential surface layer concentrations, deposition and doses to humans from the inhalation exposure of 131I. The estimated risks exhibit seasonal variability, with the highest surface level concentrations of gaseous radionuclides in the Northern Hemisphere during winter.

Beschreibung: The long-lived pioneer species Pericopsis elata is one of the rare tropical timbers on the list of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species, supporting the need for accurate and reliable growth data. In one planted and one natural forest in the Democratic Republic of Congo, respectively four and 37 Pericopsis stem disks were collected. The tree-ring series of planted trees were used to confirm annual tree-ring formation. For the natural forest, a tree-ring chronology with 24 stem disks ranged from 1852 up to 2008. This chronology was compared with time-series of local precipitation, resulting in a significant correlation with the second half of the rainy season (September–November). This seasonal precipitation was related with sea surface temperatures of the West Indian Ocean. Higher precipitation during El Niño years corresponded with higher tree-ring indices but differences were not significant. In addition, pointer years were rare and did not have a consistent link with extreme climatic conditions. The existence of annual tree rings encourages further tree-ring analyses of P. elata and other flagship timber species in order to further document climate-growth responses and to provide the long-term framework that is needed for sustainable management planning.

Beschreibung: Our aim is to explore general practitioners’ (GPs’) knowledge about EMF, and to assess whether different knowledge structures are related to the GPs’ concern about EMF. Random samples were drawn from lists of GPs in Germany in 2008. Knowledge about EMF was assessed by seven items. A latent class analysis was conducted to identify latent structures in GPs’ knowledge. Further, the GPs’ concern about EMF health risk was measured using a score comprising six items. The association between GPs’ concern about EMF and their knowledge was analysed using multiple linear regression. In total 435 (response rate 23.3%) GPs participated in the study. Four groups were identified by the latent class analysis: 43.1% of the GPs gave mainly correct answers; 23.7% of the GPs answered low frequency EMF questions correctly; 19.2% answered only the questions relating EMF with health risks, and 14.0% answered mostly “don’t know”. There was no association between GPs’ latent knowledge classes or between the number of correct answers given by the GPs and their EMF concern, whereas the number of incorrect answers was associated with EMF concern. Greater EMF concern in subjects with more incorrect answers suggests paying particular attention to misconceptions regarding EMF in risk communication.

Beschreibung: This study aims to explore the efficiency of using online education as an intervention measure to prevent occupational hazards in a clinical nursing setting. The subjects were 320 female nursing staff from two hospitals in Taiwan. The questionnaire results indicated that the subjects primarily experienced human factor occupational hazards, as well as psychological and social hazards. Specifically, 73.1% and 69.8% of the subjects suffered from poor sleep quality and low back pain, respectively. After web-based learning, the experimental group had higher post-test scores than the control group in terms of knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP). However, there was only a significant difference (p 〈 0.05) in their knowledge about the prevention of occupational hazards. It is suggested that an online discussion may enhance nursing staff’s participation in web-based learning, and further facilitate their comments on negative factors. The findings can highly promote nursing staff’s attitudes and practices toward preventing occupational hazards through web-based learning.

Beschreibung: Ambient particulate matters and temperature were reported to have additive effects over the respiratory disease hospital admissions and deaths. The purpose of this study is to discuss the interactive pulmonary toxicities of cold stress and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure by estimating inflammation and oxidative stress responses. 48 Wistar male rats, matched by weight and age, were randomly assigned to six groups, which were treated with cold stress alone (0 °C, 10 °C, and 20 °C (Normal control)) and cold stresses plus PM2.5 exposures respectively. Cold stress alone groups were intratracheal instillation of 0.25 mL normal saline, while cold stress plus PM2.5 exposure groups were intratracheal instillation of 8 mg/0.25 mL PM2.5. These procedures were carried out for three times with an interval of 48 hours for each treatment. All rats were sacrificed after 48 hours of the third treatment. The bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was collected for analyzing inflammatory cells and cytokines, and lung homogenate MDA was determined for oxidative stress estimation. Results showed higher level of total cell and neutrophil in the BALF of PM2.5 exposed groups (p 〈 0.05). Negative relationships between cold stress intensity and the level of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a), C-reactive protein (CRP) interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) in BALF were indicated in PM2.5 exposure groups. Exposure to cold stress alone caused significant increase of inflammatory cytokines and methane dicarboxylic aldehyde (MDA) and decline of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity only in 0 °C exposure group (p 〈 0.05). The two-way ANOVA found significant interactive effects between PM2.5 exposure and cold stress in the level of neutrophil, IL-6 and IL-8 and SOD activity (p 〈 0.05). These data demonstrated that inflammation and oxidative stress involved in the additive effect of PM2.5 exposure and cold stress on pulmonary toxicity, providing explanation for epidemiological studies on the health effect of ambient PM2.5 and cold stress.

Beschreibung: This paper presents a detailed description of an approach designed to investigate the application of the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) framework to assess the potential health impacts of climate change. A HIA framework has been combined with key climate change terminology and concepts. The fundamental premise of this framework is an understanding of the interactions between people, the environment and climate. The diversity and complexity of these interactions can hinder much needed action on the critical health issue of climate change. The objectives of the framework are to improve the methodology for understanding and assessing the risks associated with potential health impacts of climate change, and to provide decision-makers with information that can facilitate the development of effective adaptation plans. While the process presented here provides guidance with respect to this task it is not intended to be prescriptive. As such, aspects of the process can be amended to suit the scope and available resources of each project. A series of working tables has been developed to assist in the collation of evidence throughout the process. The framework has been tested in a number of locations including Western Australia, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Nauru.

Beschreibung: One of the most uncertain parameters in stepped spillway design is the length (from the crest) of boundary layer development. The normal velocity profiles responding to the steps as bed roughness are investigated in the developing non-aerated flow region. A detailed analysis of the logarithmic vertical velocity profiles on stepped spillways is conducted through experimental data to verify the computational code and numerical experiments to expand the data available. To determine development length, the hydraulic roughness and displacement thickness, along with the shear velocity, are needed. This includes determining displacement height d and surface roughness length z0 and the relationship of d and z0 to the step geometry. The results show that the hydraulic roughness height ks is the primary factor on which d and z0 depend. In different step height, step width, discharge and intake Froude number, the relations d/ks = 0.22–0.27, z0/ks = 0.06–0.1 and d/z0 = 2.2–4 result in a good estimate. Using the computational code and numerical experiments, air inception will occur over stepped spillway flow as long as the Bauer-defined boundary layer thickness is between 0.72 and 0.79.

Beschreibung: A regional-level and dimensionless analysis for designing a domestic rainwater harvesting system (DRWHS) was developed. To consider various combinations of water demand, storage capacity, effective roof area, and rainfall in DRWHS design, two dimensionless ratios were used, namely, demand fraction and storage fraction, along with a relationship between the two ratios. Firstly, Northern Taiwan was divided into four sub-regions through cluster analysis based on the average annual 10-day rainfall distribution at rainfall stations and administrative districts. Easy-to-use dimensionless curves between demand fraction and storage fraction were obtained for five rainwater supply reliabilities of the DRWHS for the four sub-regions. Based on the dimensionless curves, a nomogram was constructed for designing DRWHSs at a rainwater supply reliability of 95% in the sub-region I. Storage capacities determined from the dimensionless curves showed a close fit with those determined from simulated values, but were larger than the values estimated from the method presented in the Green Building Evaluation Manual in most situations. The methodology developed herein can be used effectively for the preliminary design of a DRWHS and for overcoming the difficulties faced in designing a DRWHS without rainfall data and with incomplete rainfall data.

Beschreibung: Journal Name: Acta Geologica Polonica Volume: 64 Issue: 3 Pages: 311-323

Beschreibung: Journal Name: Acta Geologica Polonica Volume: 64 Issue: 3 Pages: 261-280

Beschreibung: Journal Name: Acta Geologica Polonica Volume: 64 Issue: 3 Pages: 353-360

Beschreibung: Journal Name: Acta Geologica Polonica Volume: 64 Issue: 3 Pages: 325-349

Beschreibung: Three ideal point-based multi-criteria decision methods (MCDM), i.e., iterative ideal point thresholding (IIPT), compromise programming (CP) and a newly-proposed CP variant, called balanced compromise programming (BCP), were applied to the Tabacay catchment in Ecuador with the aim of finding a distribution of land use types (LUT) that optimizes regional land performance. This performance was expressed in terms of several conflicting on-site ecosystem services (ESS), namely water conservation, soil protection, carbon storage and monetary income. IIPT selects the best performing LUT on a per-land unit basis, that is the assignment of a LUT to a land unit is completely independent with respect to other land units. CP and BCP, on the other hand, aim at optimizing the integrated regional performance. These methods produce a LUT distribution that is as close as possible to the absolute optimal performance that would be achieved when conflict among ESS is not considered. In general, similar results were obtained with CP and BCP. This was not the case when the results produced by these two methods were contrasted with IIPT. For most ESS under consideration, CP and BCP produced balanced results that were closer to the absolute optimal values when compared to IIPT. We conclude from our results that, when optimization of land performance at a regional scale is at stake, CP-derived models emerge as the preferable option over IIPT, especially when balanced solutions are a requirement.

Beschreibung: Current understanding of aspen fire ecology in western North America includes the paradoxical characterization that aspen-dominated stands, although often regenerated following fire, are “fire-proof”. We tested this idea by predicting potential fire behavior across a gradient of aspen dominance in northern Utah using the Forest Vegetation Simulator and the Fire and Fuels Extension. The wind speeds necessary for crowning (crown-to-crown fire spread) and torching (surface to crown fire spread) were evaluated to test the hypothesis that predicted fire behavior is influenced by the proportion of aspen in the stand. Results showed a strong effect of species composition on crowning, but only under moderate fire weather, where aspen-dominated stands were unlikely to crown or torch. Although rarely observed in actual fires, conifer-dominated stands were likely to crown but not to torch, an example of “hysteresis” in crown fire behavior. Results support the hypothesis that potential crown fire behavior varies across a gradient of aspen dominance and fire weather, where it was likely under extreme and severe fire weather, and unlikely under moderate and high fire weather. Furthermore, the “fire-proof” nature of aspen stands broke down across the gradient of aspen dominance and fire weather.

Beschreibung: Journal Name: Zeitschrift für Kristallographie - New Crystal Structures Volume: 229 Issue: 4 Pages: 317-318

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Beschreibung: In this study we evaluate the capabilities of three satellite sensors for assessing water composition and bottom depth in Lake Garda, Italy. A consistent physics-based processing chain was applied to Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and RapidEye. Images gathered on 10 June 2014 were corrected for the atmospheric effects with the 6SV code. The computed remote sensing reflectance (Rrs) from MODIS and OLI were converted into water quality parameters by adopting a spectral inversion procedure based on a bio-optical model calibrated with optical properties of the lake. The same spectral inversion procedure was applied to RapidEye and to OLI data to map bottom depth. In situ measurements of Rrs and of concentrations of water quality parameters collected in five locations were used to evaluate the models. The bottom depth maps from OLI and RapidEye showed similar gradients up to 7 m (r = 0.72). The results indicate that: (1) the spatial and radiometric resolutions of OLI enabled mapping water constituents and bottom properties; (2) MODIS was appropriate for assessing water quality in the pelagic areas at a coarser spatial resolution; and (3) RapidEye had the capability to retrieve bottom depth at high spatial resolution. Future work should evaluate the performance of the three sensors in different bio-optical conditions.

Beschreibung: From a holistic view, this paper addresses a perspective of coordinated development of economy, society, and environment for regional sustainability assessment. Firstly, a comprehensive indicator system for co-evaluating the level of economic, social, and environmental subsystems is presented based on a holistic understanding of regional sustainability. Then, a coordinated development index model focusing on the level of coordination among the subsystems as well as their comprehensive development level is established. Furthermore, an empirical study of all the provinces and municipalities is conducted by collecting the panel data from 2004 to 2010. The result shows that: (1) the coordinated developments of the most developed and the most underdeveloped regions stay stable while the regions with medium development level possess more fluctuant trends during the study years; (2) regional disparities are indicated according to the grading of CDI (the coordinated development index), which are further analyzed to be related to the local economic development patterns; (3) the conditions and causes of economic, social, and environmental development in real situations under different grades of CDI are discussed through detailed case studies of typical regions, which indicate specific suggestions of sustainable development for regions in the same pattern.

Beschreibung: As the largest solid waste (SW) generator in the world, China is facing serious pollution issues induced by increasing quantities of SW. The sustainability assessment of SW management is very important for designing relevant policy for further improving the overall efficiency of solid waste management (SWM). By focusing on industrial solid waste (ISW) and municipal solid waste (MSW), the paper investigated the sustainability performance of SWM by applying decoupling analysis, and further identified the main drivers of SW change in China by adopting Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) model. The results indicate that China has made a great achievement in SWM which was specifically expressed as the increase of ISW utilized amount and harmless disposal ratio of MSW, decrease of industrial solid waste discharged (ISWD), and absolute decoupling of ISWD from economic growth as well. However, China has a long way to go to achieve the goal of sustainable management of SW. The weak decoupling, even expansive negative decoupling of ISW generation and MSW disposal suggests that China needs timely technology innovation and rational institutional arrangement to reduce SW intensity from the source and promote classification and recycling. The factors of investment efficiency and technology are the main determinants of the decrease in SW, inversely, economic growth has increased SW discharge. The effects of investment intensity showed a volatile trend over time but eventually decreased SW discharged. Moreover, the factors of population and industrial structure slightly increased SW.

Beschreibung: This paper aims to construct conservation laws for a Benjamin–Bona–Mahony equation with variable coefficients, which is a third-order partial differential equation. This equation does not have a Lagrangian and so we transform it to a fourth-order partial differential equation, which has a Lagrangian. The Noether approach is then employed to construct the conservation laws. It so happens that the derived conserved quantities fail to satisfy the divergence criterion and so one needs to make adjustments to the derived conserved quantities in order to satisfy the divergence condition. The conservation laws are then expressed in the original variable. Finally, a conservation law is used to obtain exact solution of a special case of the Benjamin–Bona–Mahony equation.

Beschreibung: The sensorimotor system (SMS) plays an important role in sports and in every day movement. Several tools for assessment and training have been designed. Many of them are directed to specific populations, and have major shortcomings due to the training effect or safety. The aim of the present study was to design and assess a dynamic sensorimotor test and training device that can be adjusted for all levels of performance. The novel pneumatic-driven mechatronic device can guide the trainee, allow independent movements or disrupt the individual with unpredicted perturbations while standing on a platform. The test-reliability was evaluated using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Subjects were required to balance their center of pressure (COP) in a target circle (TITC). The time in TITC and the COP error (COPe) were recorded for analysis. The results of 22 males and 14 females (23.7 ± 2.6 years) showed good to excellent test–retest reliability. The newly designed Active Balance System (ABS) was then compared with the Biodex Balance System SD® (BBS). The results of 15 females, 14 males (23.4 ± 1.6 years) showed modest correlation in static and acceptable correlation in dynamic conditions, suggesting that ABS could be a reliable and comparable tool for dynamic balance assessments.

Beschreibung: Climate change will increase the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events and create risks that will impact health care facilities. Health care facilities will need to assess climate change risks and adopt adaptive management strategies to be resilient, but guidance tools are lacking. In this study, a toolkit was developed for health care facility officials to assess the resiliency of their facility to climate change impacts. A mixed methods approach was used to develop climate change resiliency indicators to inform the development of the toolkit. The toolkit consists of a checklist for officials who work in areas of emergency management, facilities management and health care services and supply chain management, a facilitator’s guide for administering the checklist, and a resource guidebook to inform adaptation. Six health care facilities representing three provinces in Canada piloted the checklist. Senior level officials with expertise in the aforementioned areas were invited to review the checklist, provide feedback during qualitative interviews and review the final toolkit at a stakeholder workshop. The toolkit helps health care facility officials identify gaps in climate change preparedness, direct allocation of adaptation resources and inform strategic planning to increase resiliency to climate change.

Beschreibung: The World Health Organization defines social determinants of health as “complex, integrated, and overlapping social structures and economic systems” that are responsible for most health inequities. Similar to the individual-level risk factors such as behavioral and biological risk factors that influence disease, we consider social determinants of health such as the distribution of income, wealth, influence and power as risk factors for risk of disease. We operationally define health inequity in a disease within a population due to a risk factor that is unfair and avoidable as the difference between the disease outcome with and without the risk factor in the population. We derive expressions for difference in health inequity between two populations due to a risk factor that is unfair and avoidable for a given disease. The difference in heath inequity between two population groups due to a risk factor increases with increasing difference in relative risks and the difference in prevalence of the risk factor in the two populations. The difference in health inequity could be larger than the difference in health outcomes between the two populations in some situations. Compared to health disparities which are typically measured and monitored using absolute or relative disparities of health outcomes, the methods presented in this manuscript provide a different, yet complementary, picture because they parse out the contributions of unfair and avoidable risk factors.

Beschreibung: In this research, structural-functional integrated cement-based materials were prepared by employing cement paste and a microencapsulated phase change material (MPCM) manufactured using urea-formaldehyde resin as the shell and paraffin as the core material. The encapsulation ratio of the MPCM could reach up to 91.21 wt%. Thermal energy storage cement pastes (TESCPs) incorporated with different MPCM contents (5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% by weight of cement) were developed, and their thermal and mechanical properties were studied. The results showed that the total energy storage capacity of the hardened cement specimens with MPCM increased by up to 3.9-times compared with that of the control cement paste. The thermal conductivity at different temperature levels (35–36 °C, 55–56 °C and 72–74 °C) decreased with the increase of MPCM content, and the decrease was the highest when the temperature level was 55–56 °C. Moreover, the compressive strength, flexural strength and density of hardened cement paste decreased with the increase in MPCM content linearly. Among the evaluated properties, the compressive strength of TESCPs had a larger and faster degradation with the increase of MPCM content.

Beschreibung: Land surface temperature (LST) retrieval is a key issue in infrared quantitative remote sensing. In this paper, a split window algorithm is proposed to estimate LST with daytime data in two mid-infrared channels (channel 66 (3.746~4.084 μm) and channel 68 (4.418~4.785 μm)) from Airborne Hyperspectral Scanner (AHS). The estimation is conducted after eliminating reflected direct solar radiance with the aid of water vapor content (WVC), the view zenith angle (VZA), and the solar zenith angle (SZA). The results demonstrate that the LST can be well estimated with a root mean square error (RMSE) less than 1.0 K. Furthermore, an error analysis for the proposed method is also performed in terms of the uncertainty of LSE and WVC, as well as the Noise Equivalent Difference Temperature (NEΔT). The results show that the LST errors caused by a LSE uncertainty of 0.01, a NEΔT of 0.33 K, and a WVC uncertainty of 10% are 0.4~2.8 K, 0.6 K, and 0.2 K, respectively. Finally, the proposed method is applied to the AHS data of 4 July 2008. The results show that the differences between the estimated and the ground measured LST for water, bare soil and vegetation areas are approximately 0.7 K, 0.9 K and 2.3K, respectively.

Beschreibung: Enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) extract heat from underground hot dry rock (HDR) by first fracturing the HDR and then circulating a geofluid (typically water) into it and bringing the heated geofluid to a power plant to generate electricity. This study focuses on analysis, examination, and comparison of leading geothermal power plant configurations with a geofluid temperature from 200 to 800 °C, and also analyzes the embodied energy of EGS surface power plants. The power generation analysis is focused on flash type cycles for using subcritical geofluid (〈374 °C) and expansion type cycles for using supercritical geofluid (>374 °C). Key findings of this study include: (i) double-flash plants have 24.3%–29.0% higher geofluid effectiveness than single-flash ones, and 3%–10% lower specific embodied energy; (ii) the expansion type plants have geofluid effectiveness > 750 kJ/kg, significantly higher than flash type plants (geofluid effectiveness 〈 300 kJ/kg) and the specific embodied energy is lower; (iii) to increase the turbine outlet vapor fraction from 0.75 to 0.90, we include superheating by geofluid but that reduces the geofluid effectiveness by 28.3%; (iv) for geofluid temperatures above 650 °C, double-expansion plants have a 2% higher geofluid effectiveness and 5%–8% lower specific embodied energy than single-expansion ones.

Beschreibung: A new method of depositing tin dioxide nanofibers in order to develop chemical sensors is presented. It involves an electrospinning process with in-plane electrostatic focusing over micromechanized substrates. It is a fast and reproducible method. After an annealing process, which can be performed by the substrate heaters, it is observed that the fibers are intertwined forming porous networks that are randomly distributed on the substrate. The fiber diameters oscillate from 100 nm to 200 nm and fiber lengths reach several tens of microns. Each fiber has a polycrystalline structure with multiple nano-grains. The sensors have been tested for the detection of acetone and hydrogen peroxide (precursors of the explosive triacetone triperoxide, TATP) in air in the ppm range. High and fast responses to these gases have been obtained.

Beschreibung: The effects of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) exposure and sodium selenite supplementation on cell apoptosis of jejunum in broilers were studied. A total of 240 one-day-old male AA broilers were randomly assigned four dietary treatments containing 0 mg/kg of AFB1 (control), 0.3 mg/kg AFB1 (AFB1), 0.4 mg/kg supplement Se (+ Se) and 0.3 mg/kg AFB1 + 0.4 mg/kg supplement Se (AFB1 + Se), respectively. Compared with the control broilers, the number of apoptotic cells, the expression of Bax and Caspase-3 mRNA were significantly increased, while the expression of Bcl-2 mRNA and the Bcl-2/Bax ratio were significantly decreased in AFB1 broilers. The number of apoptotic cells and the expression of Caspase-3 mRNA in AFB1 + Se broilers were significantly higher than those in the control broilers, but significantly lower than those in AFB1 broilers. There were no significant changes in the expression of Bax mRNA between AFB1 + Se and control broilers; the expression of Bcl-2 mRNA and the Bcl-2/Bax ratio in AFB1 + Se broilers were significantly lower than those in the control broilers, but significantly higher than those in AFB1 broilers. In conclusion, 0.3 mg/kg AFB1 in the diet can increase cell apoptosis, decrease Bcl-2 mRNA expression, and increase of Bax and Caspase-3 mRNA expression in broiler’s jejunum. However, supplementation of dietary sodium selenite at the concentration of 0.4 mg/kg Se may ameliorate AFB1-induced apoptosis by increasing Bcl-2 mRNA expression, and decreasing Bax and Caspase-3 mRNA expression.

Beschreibung: In this study, an electroactive polymer (EAP), poly(2,5-bis(N-methyl-N-hexylamino)phenylene vinylene) (BAM-PPV) was investigated as a potential alternative surface pretreatment for hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI))-based aerospace coatings. BAM-PPV was tested as a pretreatment coating on an aerospace aluminum alloy (AA2024-T3) substrate in combination with a non-Cr(VI) epoxy primer and a polyurethane Advanced Performance Coating (APC) topcoat. This testing was undertaken to determine BAM-PPV’s adhesion, corrosion-inhibition, compatibility and survivability in laboratory testing and during outdoor field-testing. BAM-PPV showed excellent adhesion and acceptable corrosion performance in laboratory testing. The BAM-PPV aerospace coating system (BAM-PPV, non-Cr(VI) epoxy primer and polyurethane APC topcoat) was field tested for one year on the rear hatch door of the United States Air Force C-5 cargo plane. After one year of field testing there was no evidence of delamination or corrosion of the BAM-PPV aerospace coating system.

Beschreibung: The effect of chemical treatment of hemp hurds slices in three solutions (EDTA (Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid), NaOH and Ca(OH)2) on the properties of natural material was discussed in this paper. Changes in the morphology, chemical composition and structure as well as thermal stability of hemp hurds before and after their modification were investigated by using FTIR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy), XRD (X-ray powder diffraction analysis) and TG (thermogravimetry)/DSC (differential scanning calorimetry). Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) measurements were used for determination of degree of cellulose polymerization of hemp hurd samples. Chemical modification is related to the partial removal of non-cellulosic components of lignin, hemicellulose and pectin as well as waxes from the surface of hemp hurd slices. Another effect of the chemical treatment applied is connected with increasing the crystallinity index of cellulose determined by FTIR and XRD methods. Decrease in degree of cellulose polymerization and polydispersity index in chemically modified hemp hurds compared to the original sample was observed. Increase in thermal stability of treated hemp hurd was found. The most significant changes were observed in alkaline treated hemp hurds by NaOH.

Beschreibung: Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) is an active sensor that can effectively acquire a large number of three-dimensional (3-D) points. LiDAR systems can be equipped on different platforms for different applications, but to integrate the data, point cloud registration is needed to improve geometric consistency. The registration of airborne and terrestrial mobile LiDAR is a challenging task because the point densities and scanning directions differ. We proposed a scheme for the registration of airborne and terrestrial mobile LiDAR using the least squares 3-D surface registration technique to minimize the surfaces between two datasets. To analyze the effect of point density in registration, the simulation data simulated different conditions and estimated the theoretical errors. The test data were the point clouds of the airborne LiDAR system (ALS) and the mobile LiDAR system (MLS), which were acquired by Optech ALTM 3070 and Lynx, respectively. The resulting simulation analysis indicated that the accuracy of registration improved as the density increased. For the test dataset, the registration error of mobile LiDAR between different trajectories improved from 40 cm to 4 cm, and the registration error between ALS and MLS improved from 84 cm to 4 cm. These results indicate that the proposed methods can obtain 5 cm accuracy between ALS and MLS.

Beschreibung: Nighttime satellite imagery from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Programs’ Operational Linescan System (DMSP OLS) is being used for myriad applications including population mapping, characterizing economic activity, disaggregate estimation of CO2 emissions, wildfire monitoring, and more. Here we present a method for in situ radiance calibration of the DMSP OLS using a ground based light source as an active target. We found that the wattage of light used by our active target strongly correlates with the signal measured by the DMSP OLS. This approach can be used to enhance our ability to make intertemporal and intersatellite comparisons of DMSP OLS imagery. We recommend exploring the possibility of establishing a permanent active target for the calibration of nocturnal imaging systems.

Beschreibung: For near real-time water applications, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometers (MODIS) on Terra and Aqua are currently the only satellite instruments that can provide well-calibrated top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiance data over the global aquatic environments. However, TOA radiance data in the MODIS ocean bands over turbid atmosphere in east China often saturate, leaving only four land bands to use. In this study, an approach based on Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis has been developed and validated to estimate chlorophyll a concentrations (Chla, μg/L) in surface waters of Taihu Lake, the third largest freshwater lake in China. The EOF approach analyzed the spectral variance of normalized Rayleigh-corrected reflectance (Rrc) data at 469, 555, 645, and 859 nm, and subsequently related that variance to Chla using 28 concurrent MODIS and field measurements. This empirical algorithm was then validated using another 30 independent concurrent MODIS and field measurements. Image analysis and radiative transfer simulations indicated that the algorithm appeared to be tolerant to aerosol perturbations, with unbiased RMS uncertainties of 〈80% for Chla ranging between 3 and 100 μg/L. Application of the algorithm to a total of 853 MODIS images between 2000 and 2013 under cloud-free conditions revealed spatial distribution patterns and seasonal changes that are consistent to previous findings based on floating algae mats. The current study can provide additional quantitative estimates of Chla that can be assimilated in an existing forecast model, which showed improved performance over the use of a previous Chla algorithm. However, the empirical nature, relatively large uncertainties, and limited number of spectral bands all point to the need of further improvement in data availability and accuracy with future satellite sensors.

Beschreibung: MEMS Inertial Measurement Units are available at low cost and can replace expensive units in mobile mapping platforms which need direct georeferencing. This is done through the integration with GNSS measurements in order to achieve a continuous positioning solution and to obtain orientation angles. This paper presents the results of the assessment of the accuracy of a system that integrates GNSS and a MEMS IMU in a terrestrial platform. We describe the methodology used and the tests realized where the accuracy of the positions and orientation parameters were assessed using an independent photogrammetric technique employing cameras that integrate the mobile mapping system developed by the authors. Results for the accuracy of attitude angles and coordinates show that accuracies better than a decimeter in positions, and under a degree in angles, can be achieved even considering that the terrestrial platform is operating in less than favorable environments.

Beschreibung: This paper proposes an automated system for monitoring mobility patterns using a network of very low resolution visual sensors (30 30 pixels). The use of very low resolution sensors reduces privacy concern, cost, computation requirement and power consumption. The core of our proposed system is a robust people tracker that uses low resolution videos provided by the visual sensor network. The distributed processing architecture of our tracking system allows all image processing tasks to be done on the digital signal controller in each visual sensor. In this paper, we experimentally show that reliable tracking of people is possible using very low resolution imagery. We also compare the performance of our tracker against a state-of-the-art tracking method and show that our method outperforms. Moreover, the mobility statistics of tracks such as total distance traveled and average speed derived from trajectories are compared with those derived from ground truth given by Ultra-Wide Band sensors. The results of this comparison show that the trajectories from our system are accurate enough to obtain useful mobility statistics.

Beschreibung: Magnetic sensing technology offers an attractive alternative for in vivo tracking with much better performance than RF and ultrasound technologies. In this paper, an efficient in vivo magnetic tracking system is presented. The proposed system is intended to localize an endoscopic capsule which delivers biomarkers around specific locations of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. For efficiently localizing a magnetic marker inside the capsule, a mathematical model has been developed for the magnetic field around a cylindrical magnet and used with a localization algorithm that provides minimum error and fast computation. The proposed tracking system has much reduced complexity compared to the ones reported in the literature to date. Laboratory tests and in vivo animal trials have demonstrated the suitability of the proposed system for tracking a magnetic marker with expected accuracy.

Beschreibung: Terra Preta Sanitation (TPS) plays a key role in sustainable sanitation (SuSan) and in the sustainable management of resources such as water, energy, soil (agriculture), liquid and solid organic waste streams as well as in the development of sustainable urban environment and infrastructure systems. This paper discusses the advantages of, and requirements for, SuSan systems, focusing on TPS. Case studies showing the stepwise extension and re-development of conventional sanitation systems (CSS) using TPS technologies and system approaches are presented and discussed. Decentralized TPS systems integrated in sustainable urban resource management were implemented in the German cities of Hamburg and Berlin. The compilation of best practice examples and findings using the newest TPS systems illustrates the immense potential of this approach for the transformation from conventional to SuSan systems. For this purpose, the potential savings of drinking water resources and the recycling potential of nutrient components are quantified. The results strongly suggest the need to encourage the development and application of innovative decentralized sanitation technologies, urban infrastructures, and resource management systems that have TP as a key component.

Beschreibung: Native chilies (Capsicum spp.) are currently underutilized in Bolivia, one of this crop’s centers of diversity. Fewer local farmers cultivate native chilies annually due to low market demand. Increasing its private use value can lead to the in-situ conservation of this crop. The objective of the paper is to evaluate the market acceptability of three native chili products: (a) chili marmalade; (b) chili cooking paste; and (c) pickled chilies. Multi-product Becker-DeGroot-Marschak experimental auctions and hedonic tests were conducted with 337 participants in La Paz and Santa Cruz. Data were analyzed using seemingly unrelated regressions. Results suggest that consumers are willing to pay price premiums of about 25–50 percent. Biodiversity conservation and improvements in farmers’ quality of life statements would not have influence on first purchase decisions but rather on repurchase decisions and therefore on consumers’ product loyalty. This in turn could lead to sustainable agro-biodiversity conservation, centered on consumers’ purchase of these products over time.

Beschreibung: This study proposes a new concept, green organisational ambidexterity, that integrates green exploration learning and green exploitation learning simultaneously. Besides, this study argues that the antecedents of green organisational ambidexterity are green shared vision and green absorptive capacity and its consequents are green radical innovation performance and green incremental innovation performance. The results demonstrate that green exploration learning partially mediates the positive relationships between green radical innovation performance and its two antecedents—green shared vision and green absorptive capacity. In addition, this study indicates that green exploitation learning partially mediates the positive relationships between green incremental innovation performance and its two antecedents—green shared vision and green absorptive capacity. Hence, firms have to increase their green shared vision, green absorptive capacity, and green organisational ambidexterity to raise their green radical innovation performance and green incremental innovation performance.

Beschreibung: This paper presents a sensor fusion system of cameras and a 2D laser sensorfor large-scale 3D reconstruction. The proposed system is designed to capture data on afast-moving ground vehicle. The system consists of six cameras and one 2D laser sensor,and they are synchronized by a hardware trigger. Reconstruction of 3D structures is doneby estimating frame-by-frame motion and accumulating vertical laser scans, as in previousworks. However, our approach does not assume near 2D motion, but estimates free motion(including absolute scale) in 3D space using both laser data and image features. In orderto avoid the degeneration associated with typical three-point algorithms, we present a newalgorithm that selects 3D points from two frames captured by multiple cameras. The problemof error accumulation is solved by loop closing, not by GPS. The experimental resultsshow that the estimated path is successfully overlaid on the satellite images, such that thereconstruction result is very accurate.

Beschreibung: The proliferation of mobile smart devices has led to a rapid increase of location-based services, many of which are amassing large datasets of user trajectory information. Unfortunately, current trajectory information is not yet sufficiently rich to support classification of user transportation modes. In this paper, we propose a method that employs both the Global Positioning System and accelerometer data from smart devices to classify user outdoor transportation modes. The classified modes include walking, bicycling, and motorized transport, in addition to the motionless (stationary) state, for which we provide new depth analysis. In our classification, stationary mode has two sub-modes: stay (remaining in the same place for a prolonged time period; e.g., in a parked vehicle) and wait (remaining at a location for a short period; e.g., waiting at a red traffic light). These two sub-modes present different semantics for data mining applications. We use support vector machines with parameters that are optimized for pattern recognition. In addition, we employ ant colony optimization to reduce the dimension of features and analyze their relative importance. The resulting classification system achieves an accuracy rate of 96.31% when applied to a dataset obtained from 18 mobile users.

Beschreibung: For many years, ultrasound has provided clinicians with an affordable and effective imaging tool for applications ranging from cardiology to obstetrics. Development of microbubble contrast agents over the past several decades has enabled ultrasound to distinguish between blood flow and surrounding tissue. Current clinical practices using microbubble contrast agents rely heavily on user training to evaluate degree of localized perfusion. Advances in separating the signals produced from contrast agents versus surrounding tissue backscatter provide unique opportunities for specialized sensors designed to image microbubbles with higher signal to noise and resolution than previously possible. In this review article, we describe the background principles and recent developments of ultrasound transducer technology for receiving signals produced by contrast agents while rejecting signals arising from soft tissue. This approach relies on transmitting at a low-frequency and receiving microbubble harmonic signals at frequencies many times higher than the transmitted frequency. Design and fabrication of dual-frequency transducers and the extension of recent developments in transducer technology for dual-frequency harmonic imaging are discussed.

Beschreibung: In this paper, a new low complexity and lossless image compression system for capsule endoscopy (CE) is presented. The compressor consists of a low-cost YEF color space converter and variable-length predictive with a combination of Golomb-Rice and unary encoding. All these components have been heavily optimized for low-power and low-cost and lossless in nature. As a result, the entire compression system does not incur any loss of image information. Unlike transform based algorithms, the compressor can be interfaced with commercial image sensors which send pixel data in raster-scan fashion that eliminates the need of having large buffer memory. The compression algorithm is capable to work with white light imaging (WLI) and narrow band imaging (NBI) with average compression ratio of 78% and 84% respectively. Finally, a complete capsule endoscopy system is developed on a single, low-power, 65-nm field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) chip. The prototype is developed using circular PCBs having a diameter of 16 mm. Several in-vivo and ex-vivo trials using pig's intestine have been conducted using the prototype to validate the performance of the proposed lossless compression algorithm. The results show that, compared with all other existing works, the proposed algorithm offers a solution to wireless capsule endoscopy with lossless and yet acceptable level of compression.

Beschreibung: A reflection fiber inclinometer is proposed and experimentally demonstrated based on two linearly polarized (LP) modes coupling. The configuration consists of a section of polarization-maintaining fiber (PMF) containing a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) splicing with single mode fiber (SMF). Bending the PMF in the upstream of FBG can induce an additional birefringence of PMF, which results in the intensity changes of two LP modes owing to orthogonal polarization coupling. The experimental results represent that the device shows different bending responses at the angle range from 0° to 40°and from 64° to 88°, respectively. Moreover, the temperature change just shifts the wavelengths of LP modes reflected and does not influence their intensities, which effectively avoid the temperature cross-sensitivity and make it a good candidate for measuring inclinometer and temperature simultaneously.

Beschreibung: Biological invasions of aquatic systems disrupt ecological communities, and cause major changes in diversity and ecosystem function. The Laurentian Great Lakes of North America have been dramatically altered by such invasions, especially zebra (Dreissena polymorpha) and quagga (D. rostriformis bugensis) mussels. Responses to mussel invasions have included increased water clarity, and decreased chlorophyll and phytoplankton abundance. Although not all systems have responded similarly, in general, mussels have changed nutrient dynamics and physical habitat conditions. Therefore examination of different impacts can help us further understand mechanisms that underlie ecosystem responses to biological invasions. To aid our understanding of ecosystem impacts, we sampled established locations along a well-studied trophic gradient in Green Bay, Lake Michigan, after the 1993 zebra mussel invasion. A strong trophic gradient remained during the period sampled after the mussel invasion (2000–2012). However, mean summer chlorophyll increased and other measures of phytoplankton biomass (microscope and electronic cell counting) did not change significantly. Multivariate analyses of phytoplankton community structure demonstrate a significant community shift after the invasion. Cyanobacteria increased in dominance, with Microcystis becoming the major summer taxon in lower Green Bay. Diatom diversity and abundance also increased and Chlorophyta became rare. Phytoplankton responses along the trophic gradient of Green Bay to zebra mussel invasion highlight the importance of mussel effects on nutrient dynamics and phytoplankton diversity and function.

Beschreibung: This paper proposes a polygeneration system based on a multi-input chemical looping combustion system, which generates methanol and electricity, through the use of natural gas and coal. In this system, the chemical looping hydrogen (CLH) production system and the coal-based methanol production system are integrated. A high quality fuel, natural gas, is used to improve the conversion ratio of coal. The Gibbs energy of the two kinds of fuels is fully used. Benefitting from the chemical looping process, 27% CO2 can be captured without energy penalty. With the same outputs of methanol and electricity, the energy savings ratio of the new system is about 12%. Based on the exergy analyses, it is disclosed that the integration of synthetic utilization of natural gas and coal plays a significant role in reducing the exergy destruction of the new system. The promising results obtained in this paper may lead to a clean coal technology that will utilize natural gas and coal more efficiently and economically.

Beschreibung: Many city governments choose to supply more developable land and transportation infrastructure with the hope of attracting people and businesses to their cities. However, like those in Taiwan, major cities worldwide suffer from traffic congestion. This study applies the system thinking logic of the causal loops diagram (CLD) model in the System Dynamics (SD) approach to analyze the issue of traffic congestion and other issues related to roads and land development in Taiwan’s cities. Comparing the characteristics of development trends with yearbook data for 2002 to 2013 for all of Taiwan’s cities, this study explores the developing phenomenon of unlimited city sprawl and identifies the cause and effect relationships in the characteristics of development trends in traffic congestion, high-density population aggregation in cities, land development, and green land disappearance resulting from city sprawl. This study provides conclusions for Taiwan’s cities’ sustainability and development (S&D). When developing S&D policies, during decision making processes concerning city planning and land use management, governments should think with a holistic view of carrying capacity with the assistance of system thinking to clarify the prejudices in favor of the unlimited developing phenomena resulting from city sprawl.

Beschreibung: This study assessed the feasibility of community-based comprehensive intervention on Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) on a large population in China. An intervention study was conducted on 7200 T2DM patients within one year and consisted of six lectures on health issues, and four times face-to-face lifestyle counseling delivered by general health practitioners, at local primary health centers (PHCs). A “knowledge, attitude and practice” (KAP) survey and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) measurement were conducted at baseline and after the intervention, respectively. A total of 6586 T2DM patients completed the intervention. After one year intervention, patients’ KAP level improved significantly (p 〈 0.001) and the average FPG has decreased from 8.53 mmol/L (standard deviation: 2.84) to 7.11 mmol/L (standard deviation: 1.34) (p 〈 0.001). Patients in rural areas and with lower education level showed higher FPG and poorer KAP level both before and after the intervention. In conclusion, community-based comprehensive intervention for T2DM is feasible on a large population. Improving and repeating the comprehensive strategy is greatly recommended in order to sustain the impact, especially in rural areas and for patients with lower education levels.

Beschreibung: Building change detection is useful for land management, disaster assessment, illegal building identification, urban growth monitoring, and geographic information database updating. This study proposes an automatic method that applies object-based analysis to multi-temporal point cloud data to detect building changes. The aim of this building change detection method is to identify areas that have changed and to obtain from-to information. In this method, the data are first preprocessed to generate two sets of digital surface models (DSMs), digital elevation models, and normalized DSMs from registered old and new point cloud data. Thereafter, on the basis of differential DSM, candidates for changed building objects are identified from the points in the smooth areas by using a connected component analysis technique. The random sample consensus fitting algorithm is then used to distinguish the true changed buildings from trees. The changed building objects are classified as “newly built”, “taller”, “demolished” or “lower” by using rule-based analysis. Finally, a test data set consisting of many buildings of different types in an 8.5 km2 area is selected for the experiment. In the test data set, the method correctly detects 97.8% of buildings larger than 50 m2. The accuracy of the method is 91.2%. Furthermore, to decrease the workload of subsequent manual checking of the result, the confidence index for each changed object is computed on the basis of object features.

Beschreibung: In this study, we test and demonstrate the utility of disturbance and recovery information derived from annual Landsat time series to predict current forest vertical structure (as compared to the more common approaches, that consider a sample of airborne Lidar and single-date Landsat derived variables). Mean Canopy Height (MCH) was estimated separately using single date, time series, and the combination of single date and time series variables in multiple regression and random forest (RF) models. The combination of single date and time series variables, which integrate disturbance history over the entire time series, overall provided better MCH prediction than using either of the two sets of variables separately. In general, the RF models resulted in improved performance in all estimates over those using multiple regression. The lowest validation error was obtained using Landsat time series variables in a RF model (R2 = 0.75 and RMSE = 2.81 m). Combining single date and time series data was more effective when the RF model was used (opposed to multiple regression). The RMSE for RF mean canopy height prediction was reduced by 13.5% when combining the two sets of variables as compared to the 3.6% RMSE decline presented by multiple regression. This study demonstrates the value of airborne Lidar and long term Landsat observations to generate estimates of forest canopy height using the random forest algorithm.

Beschreibung: Rice is the most important food security crop in Asia. Information on its seasonal extent forms part of the national accounting of many Asian countries. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery is highly suitable for detecting lowland rice, especially in tropical and subtropical regions, where pervasive cloud cover in the rainy seasons precludes the use of optical imagery. Here, we present a simple, robust, rule-based classification for mapping rice area with regularly acquired, multi-temporal, X-band, HH-polarized SAR imagery and site-specific parameters for classification. The rules for rice detection are based on the well-studied temporal signature of rice from SAR backscatter and its relationship with crop stages. We also present a procedure for estimating the parameters based on “temporal feature descriptors” that concisely characterize the key information in the rice signatures in monitored field locations within each site. We demonstrate the robustness of the approach on a very large dataset. A total of 127 images across 13 footprints in six countries in Asia were obtained between October 2012, and April 2014, covering 4.78 m ha. More than 1900 in-season site visits were conducted across 228 monitoring locations in the footprints for classification purposes, and more than 1300 field observations were made for accuracy assessment. Some 1.6 m ha of rice were mapped with classification accuracies from 85% to 95% based on the parameters that were closely related to the observed temporal feature descriptors derived for each site. The 13 sites capture much of the diversity in water management, crop establishment and maturity in South and Southeast Asia. The study demonstrates the feasibility of rice detection at the national scale using multi-temporal SAR imagery with robust classification methods and parameters that are based on the knowledge of the temporal dynamics of the rice crop. We highlight the need for the development of an open-access library of temporal signatures, further investigation into temporal feature descriptors and better ancillary data to reduce the risk of misclassification with surfaces that have temporal backscatter dynamics similar to those of rice. We conclude with observations on the need to define appropriate SAR acquisition plans to support policies and decisions related to food security.

Beschreibung: The amount of liquid water in snow characterizes the wetness of a snowpack. Its temporal evolution plays an important role for wet-snow avalanche prediction, as well as the onset of meltwater release and water availability estimations within a river basin. However, it is still a challenge and a not yet satisfyingly solved issue to measure the liquid water content (LWC) in snow with conventional in situ and remote sensing techniques. We propose a new approach based on the attenuation of microwave radiation in the L-band emitted by the satellites of the Global Positioning System (GPS). For this purpose, we performed a continuous low-cost GPS measurement experiment at the Weissfluhjoch test site in Switzerland, during the snow melt period in 2013. As a measure of signal strength, we analyzed the carrier-to-noise power density ratio (C/N0) and developed a procedure to normalize these data. The bulk volumetric LWC was determined based on assumptions for attenuation, reflection and refraction of radiation in wet snow. The onset of melt, as well as daily melt-freeze cycles were clearly detected. The temporal evolution of the LWC was closely related to the meteorological and snow-hydrological data. Due to its non-destructive setup, its cost-efficiency and global availability, this approach has the potential to be implemented in distributed sensor networks for avalanche prediction or basin-wide melt onset measurements.