54,481 research outputs found
Are Chinese loess deposits essentially continuous?
Full text linkWe conducted a paleomagnetic examination of the last glacial loess of three representative profiles along an east-west transect in the central Loess Plateau in order to assess the continuity of Chinese loess. The results show that the Xifeng and Luochuan profiles record the Laschamp geomagnetic excursion but with different morphologies. Together with the published results from Weinan, southern plateau, our results suggest that sedimentation of the last glacial loess in the central-southern plateau was continuous at the time scale equivalent to the duration of the Laschamp excursion (~2 kyr), but probably episodic at finer time scales (<2 kyr). No geomagnetic excursion was found at the Yichuan profile near the Yellow River valley, where loess accumulation may be strongly affected by local environmental changes and thus may have been discontinuous. Both site location and time scale therefore need to be considered when considering continuity of Chinese loess.<br/
Compressive Sensing for PAN-Sharpening
No full textBased on compressive sensing framework and sparse reconstruction technology, a new pan-sharpening method, named Sparse Fusion of Images (SparseFI, pronounced as sparsify), is proposed in [1]. In this paper, the proposed SparseFI algorithm is validated using UltraCam and WorldView-2 data. Visual and statistic analysis show superior performance of SparseFI compared to the existing conventional pan-sharpening methods in general, i.e. rich in spatial information and less spectral distortion. Moreover, popular quality assessment metrics are employed to explore the dependency on regularization parameters and evaluate the efficiency of various sparse reconstruction toolboxes
Roary : rapid large-scale prokaryote pan genome analysis
No full textThis work was supported by the Wellcome Trust (grant WT 098051).A typical prokaryote population sequencing study can now consist of hundreds or thousands of isolates. Interrogating these datasets can provide detailed insights into the genetic structure of prokaryotic genomes. We introduce Roary, a tool that rapidly builds large-scale pan genomes, identifying the core and accessory genes. Roary makes construction of the pan genome of thousands of prokaryote samples possible on a standard desktop without compromising on the accuracy of results. Using a single CPU Roary can produce a pan genome consisting of 1000 isolates in 4.5 hours using 13 GB of RAM, with further speedups possible using multiple processors.Peer reviewe
Pan-americanismo no Brasil: uma abordagem conceitual a partir do Estado Novo
Full text linkDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em História, Florianópolis, 2013.Esta dissertação objetivou investigar o conceito de pan-americanismo no Brasil, suas repercussões, ressignificações e práticas políticas a ele associados durante o período que culminou com o envolvimento do país na Segunda Guerra Mundial, enfatizando as aparentes contradições entre uma ideia de pan-americanismo e o discurso de sustentação do Estado Novo. Como história de um conceito político, apoiada nas considerações de Reinhart Kosselleck e Quentin Skinner, a busca pelos antecedentes do pan-americanismo no Brasil se fez necessária, de modo a elucidar as maneiras com que o conceito repercutiu no país desde suas origens nos Estados Unidos, e os desdobramentos posteriores das Conferências Pan-Americanas e das atividades da União Pan-Americana. Tal busca serviu para elucidar os elementos de um "pan-americanismo brasileiro", ou seja, de um conceito externo que foi apropriado em um diferente contexto com diferentes fins políticos durante as três primeiras décadas do século XX. Isso faz a ligação entre a "ideia pan-americana" e a política externa brasileira do período Vargas e, mais especificamente, do Estado Novo, quando o Brasil foi para a guerra. Foi visto, assim, que o Estado Novo utilizou o pan-americanismo como instrumento de aproximação aos Estados Unidos, com objetivos de premência sobre a América do Sul durante um período de crise mundial, e ao mesmo tempo viu-se obrigado a reajustar o discurso da ?ideia pan-americana? aos princípios antiliberais que sustentavam o regime, sofrendo as consequências políticas desta tentativa de ajuste. Abstract : This dissertation aimed to investigate the concept of pan Americanism in Brazil, its repercussions, meanings and political uses associated to it during the period that culminated with the involvement in the Second World War, emphasizing the apparent contradictions related to a pan American idea and the ideas that sustained the Brazilian Estado Novo regime. As a history of a political concept, supported by the considerations of Reinhart Koselleck and Quentin Skinner, the search for the previous history of pan Americanism in Brazil was necessary. It elucidated the ways which the concept reverberated in Brazil since its origins in the United States, and its later results at the Pan American Conferences and the activities of the Pan American Union. This search helped in elucidating the elements of a "Brazilian pan Americanism", i. e., a foreign concept which was reframed to a different context with different political aims during the first three decades of the 20th century. From this on, it was possible to establish a connection between the "pan American idea" and the Vargas regime foreign policy, mainly, the Estado Novo, when Brazil went to war. It was found that the Estado Novo used pan Americanism as an instrument for approach towards United States, aiming a South American prevalence during the period of world crisis, and, at the same time, was obliged to adjust the pan American discourse to the anti-liberal principles that sustained the regime
Maximizing the power extraction from train suspension energy harvesting system
No full textIn this paper, an equivalent electric model for railway vehicle suspension harvester is proposed. With reference to the maximization of the extracted power, the open issues for such kinds of systems are reviewed. In particular, it is evidenced that the use of passive diode bridge rectifiers unavoidably leads to a reduction of power with respect to both the resistive load case and the theoretical optimal load case. Therefore, suitable average power maximization techniques and power electronics architectures are needed. In this paper, two techniques are proposed. The first technique is based on the adoption of additional passive components and, in the considered test cases, it allows the increase of the power output up to 45%. The second technique is based on the adoption of a properly controlled active power electronic interface and it is much more efficient since, in the considered test cases, it allows the increase of the power output up to 135%
Physiological Correlation of Airway Pressure and Transpulmonary Pressure Stress Index on Respiratory Mechanics in Acute Respiratory Failure
Full text linkBackground: Stress index at post-recruitment maneuvers could be a method of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) titration in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients. However, airway pressure (Paw) stress index may not reflect lung mechanics in the patients with high chest wall elastance. This study was to evaluate the Pawstress index on lung mechanics and the correlation between Pawstress index and transpulmonary pressure (PL) stress index in acute respiratory failure (ARF) patients.
Methods: Twenty-four ARF patients with mechanical ventilation (MV) were consecutively recruited from July 2011 to April 2013 in Zhongda Hospital, Nanjing, China and Ospedale S. Giovanni Battista-Molinette Hospital, Turin, Italy. All patients underwent MV with volume control (tidal volume 6 ml/kg) for 20 min. PEEP was set according to the ARDSnet study protocol. The patients were divided into two groups according to the chest wall elastance/respiratory system elastance ratio. The high elastance group (H group, n = 14) had a ratio ≥30%, and the low elastance group (L group, n = 10) had a ratio <30%. Respiratory elastance, gas-exchange, Pawstress index, and PLstress index were measured. Student's t-test, regression analysis, and Bland–Altman analysis were used for statistical analysis.
Results: Pneumonia was the major cause of respiratory failure (71.0%). Compared with the L group, PEEP was lower in the H group (5.7 ± 1.7 cmH2O vs. 9.0 ± 2.3 cmH2O, P < 0.01). Compared with the H group, lung elastance was higher (20.0 ± 7.8 cmH2O/L vs. 11.6 ± 3.6 cmH2O/L, P < 0.01), and stress was higher in the L group (7.0 ± 1.9 vs. 4.9 ± 1.9, P = 0.02). A linear relationship was observed between the Pawstress index and the PLstress index in H group (R2 = 0.56, P < 0.01) and L group (R2 = 0.85, P < 0.01).
Conclusion: In the ARF patients with MV, Pawstress index can substitute for PLto guide ventilator settings.
Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02196870 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02196870)
Emerging epidemic in a growing industry: cigarette smoking among female micro-electronics workers in Taiwan
No full textFluorescent properties and bifenthrin binding behavior of maize (Zea mays L.) seedling root exudates
No full textDeposition and separation of W and Mo from aqueous solutions with simultaneous hydrogen production in stacked bioelectrochemical systems (BESs): Impact of heavy metals W(VI)/Mo(VI) molar ratio, initial pH and electrode material
Full text linkThe deposition and separation of W and Mo from aqueous solutions with simultaneous hydrogen production was investigated in stacked bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) composed of microbial electrolysis cell (1#) serially connected with parallel connected microbial fuel cell (2#). The impact of W/Mo molar ratio (in the range 0.01 mM: 1 mM and vice-versa), initial pH (1.5 to 4.0) and cathode material (stainless steel mesh (SSM), carbon rod (CR) and titanium sheet (TS)) on the BES performance was systematically investigated. The concentration of Mo(VI) was more influential than W(VI) in determining the rate of deposition of both metals and the rate of hydrogen production. Complete metal recovery was achieved at equimolar W/Mo ratio of 0.05 mM: 0.05 mM. The rates of metal deposition and hydrogen production increased at acidic pH, with the fastest rates at pH 1.5. The morphology of the metal deposits and the valence of the Mo were correlated with W/Mo ratio and pH. CR cathodes (2#) coupled with SSM cathodes (1#) achieved a significant rate of hydrogen production (0.82 ± 0.04 m3/m3/d) with W and Mo deposition (0.049 ± 0.003 mmol/L/h and 0.140 ± 0.004 mmol/L/h (1#); 0.025 ± 0.001 mmol/L/h and 0.090 ± 0.006 mmol/L/h (2#))
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