34 research outputs found
Soccer Fields as Rainfall Detectors using Machine Learning: The case of Ghana
No full textAgriculture is an important source of income for many countries in the Global South, where it may account for as much as 25% of GDP. Precipitation is crucial for agriculture in countries like Ghana, where ~95% of farming is rainfed. Accurate rainfall observations are limited in Ghana. The sparse rain gauge network and the lack of weather radars make remote sensing methods a potentially attractive alternative source of rainfall data. Radar satellites, such as Sentinel-1, emit radiation that passes through the atmosphere and is scattered back to the satellite by the Earth’s surface. The backscatter measured by the satellite is correlated with the wetness of the soil but the existence of vegetation hinders straightforward quantification of soil moisture. By choosing sites with a simple and, more or less, constant phenology, it may be possible to eliminate the effect of vegetation on backscatter. Soccer field may qualify as sites with such a simple and constant phenology. The main objective of this study is to use the Sentinel-1 data over soccer fields and assess them as rainfall detectors. A machine learning approach will be used to reach this objective. This research assessed the stability and the generalization capabilities of a classification model (rain/no rain). The model was trained with and applied to different locations and periods (2019 & 2020). Ground observations from 53 Ghanaian (TAHMO) and 1 Greek stations were used. Soccer fields in Ghana and Greece were selected and their suitability as rainfall detectors was checked based on the correlation between modeled soil moisture and backscatter strength. The rain/no rain classification of the soccer fields was made with a stacked classifier that was trained and validated with both spaceborne and ground data. The classifier was tested on six different datasets from Greece and Ghana 2019 and 2020. The stability of the model was assessed by a Leave-p out cross-validation approach. The generalization in space was tested by using different environments. The generalization in time was tested by using different time periods. The results showed that the classification was stable. The minimum and maximum performances for the different testing datasets were 0.43 to 0.85. The median performance of the algorithm in Ghana for 2020 is 67%. The stacked classifier was found to have the best performance compared to other classifiers. Finally, the performance of the stacked classifier was competitive in comparison with the performance of the well-known IMERG algorithm. The study showed that there is a potential for using radar backscatter from suitable fields to detect rainfall. The classifier is stable and can be generalized in time and space under certain conditions.TWIGAWater Managemen
Semantic 3D city models as support for urban flood resilience: Experiences from Rotterdam
No full textThis paper presents a process to develop a CityGML-based 3D city model that, together with results from a flood simulation, can be used to investigate direct and indirect effects of floods on a city, its inhabitants and its critical infrastructure, and to quantify such effects by means of a Flood Resilience Score. In addition, the model can be used as a spatial planning support tool for urban planners to prioritise the redevelopment of certain areas and to test new spatial design decisions. First, a semantic 3D city model is prepared and enriched with additional building and infrastructure information. Then a Flood Resilience Score (FReSco) is defined and computed by quantifying the direct and indirect impacts of flooding on buildings, households, and critical infrastructure points using information from both the 3D city model and the flood simulation results. Lastly, a prototype of a spatial planning support tool is proposed to evaluate the flood resilience of a new environmental plan. As a case study, the neighbourhood of “Nieuw Kralingen” in Rotterdam was chosen. Overall, the outcomes of this work are meant to help cities better understand the impacts of flooding and adjust their urban planning activities accordingly. At the same time, the developed methodology also tests the strengths and limits of CityGML-based 3D city models in combination with openly available data and software.Urban Data Scienc
Solid state recycling of aluminium alloys via a porthole die hot extrusion process: Scaling up to production
No full textComplex deformation routes for direct recycling aluminium alloy scrap via industrial hot extrusion
No full textFondos documentales para la Historia del Arte en Málaga y su provincia
No full textIn 1990 y 1991, the author published in Boletín de Arte (n.º 11-12) a collection of documental notes about Architecture in the province of Málaga in Modern Ages. Now, he contributes with some new of them.En los años 1990 y 1991 dimos a conocer en este mismo Boletín de Arte (n.º 11 y 12) una serie de noticias que ahora completamos con otras últimamente encontradas. Esperamos que, como aquellas, contribuyan a iluminar ciertos aspectos artísticos de algunas construcciones malagueñas de notable valía
The poems of John Mauropous: introduction, critical edition, translation and commentary
No full textThis doctoral dissertation aims to highlight the poetic work of an important intellectual figure of the 11th century, Ioannis Mauropous. Through the study of secular and religious poems of a wide range of topics (autobiographical, laudatory, epitaphs, epigrams in works of art, etc.), beyond an image of the poet's particular writing characteristics, issues will arise related to social and cultural backround of 11th century that he lived through. The PhD thesis consists of four parts. The introduction presents information about the life and work of the author, as well as the historical, social and cultural context of his time. The next section is the classification of the poems into ideological and thematic categories, while the same section includes information about language, rhetoric, narrative techniques, metrics and manuscript tradition of the poems. The second part presents the critical edition of the poems accompanied by the apparati (critical and literary), and a parallel translation in modern Greek. The third part involves a multi-level (historical, philological and prosopographical) commentary of the poems, and the last section contains four indices (Index nominum, Index verborum notabilium, Index locorum and Index initiorum carminum), as well as the image epimeter.Η παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή επιχειρεί την ανάδειξη του ποιητικού έργου μιας σημαντικής πνευματικής φυσιογνωμίας του 11ου αιώνα, του Ιωάννη Μαυρόποδα. Μέσα από την μελέτη θύραθεν και θρησκευτικών ποιημάτων ευρείας θεματολογίας (αυτοβιογραφικών, εγκωμιαστικών, επιτάφιων, επιγραμμάτων σε έργα τέχνης κ.ά.), πέρα από μια εικόνα για τα ιδιαίτερα χαρακτηριστικά γραφής του ποιητή, θα ανακύψουν ζητήματα που συσχετίζονται με το κοινωνικό και το πολιτισμικό κλίμα της εποχής που έζησε. Η διδακτορική διατριβή διαρθρώνεται σε τέσσερα μέρη. Στην εισαγωγή παρουσιάζονται πληροφορίες για τον βίο και το έργο του συγγραφέα, καθώς και για το ιστορικό, κοινωνικό και πολιτισμικό πλαίσιο της εποχής του. Ακολουθεί η κατάταξη των ποιημάτων σε ειδολογικές και θεματικές κατηγορίες, ενώ στο ίδιο τμήμα εκτίθενται ζητήματα σχετικά με τη γλώσσα, τη ρητορική, τις αφηγηματικές τεχνικές, τη μετρική και τη χειρόγραφη παράδοσή τους. Το δεύτερο μέρος πλαισιώνει η κριτική έκδοση συνοδευόμενη από τα υπομνήματα (κριτικό και υπόμνημα πηγών), καθώς και παράλληλη απόδοση των ποιημάτων στη νέα ελληνική. Το τρίτο μέρος περιλαμβάνει πολυεπίπεδο σχολιασμό (ιστορικό, φιλολογικό και προσωπογραφικό) των ποιημάτων, ενώ στο τελευταίο τμήμα παρατίθενται οι τέσσερις indices (Index nominum, Index verborum notabolium, Index locorum και Index initiorum carminum), καθώς και το παράρτημα εικόνων
Bmi1 Is Expressed in Postnatal Myogenic Satellite Cells, Controls Their Maintenance and Plays an Essential Role in Repeated Muscle Regeneration
No full textPMCID: PMC3212532This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Performative Translations, Intimate Dialogues and Political Transformations: Contemporary Experiments on Translating the Classics
No full textIn this article I bring together three different textual practices that set up intimate dialogues with the works of variously canonical authors (Dante, Petrarch and César Vallejo). William Rowe and Helen Dimos present a new bilingual version of Vallejo’s Trilce with glosses, Tim Atkins answers Il Canzionere with 366 “sonnets” that not only enter into a dialogue with Petrarch but also with previous translations of his work, and Caroline Bergvall performs an experimental engagement with translations of Dante’s Divine Comedy. These exercises in translation challenge notions of fidelity and break phantasmagorical hierarchies built by the canon. Instead of fidelity, there is intimacy in their dialogues, since they each open up particular, personal approaches to the oeuvre, its author, its translators, its history, and the audience or reader. I argue that these works understand translation as an intimate performative and political action, and their reading provokes a reconfiguration of both the source text and its previous translations
Complex deformation routes for direct recycling aluminium alloy scrap via industrial hot extrusion
No full text© 2018 Author(s). This paper presents the final results of an industrial project, aiming for direct hot extrusion of wrought aluminium alloy scrap at an industrial scale. Two types of complex deformation/extrusion routes were tested for the production of the same profile, starting from AA6060 scrap in form of machining chips. More specifically scrap-based billets were extruded through: a 2-porthole and a 4-porthole die-set, modified for enhanced scrap consolidation and grain refinement. For comparison reasons, cast billets of the same alloy were extruded through the modified 2-porthole die set. The tensile testing results as well as microstructural investigations show that the 4-porthole extrusion route further improves scrap consolidation compared to the 2-porthole die output. The successful implementation of solid state recycling, directly at industrial level, indicates the technological readiness level of this research.sponsorship: The authors acknowledge the support of the IWT MIP ICON project ASSURE (140634).status: Published onlin
