bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of Sentinel-3A Wave Height Observations Near the Coast of Southwest England
Authors: Nencioli Francesco , Quartly Graham D.
Published: December 2019

Due to the smaller ground footprint and higher spatial resolution of the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mode, altimeter observations from the Sentinel-3 satellites are expected to be overall more accurate in coastal areas than conventional nadir altimetry. The performance of Sentinel-3A in the coastal region of southwest England was assessed by comparing SAR mode observations of significant wave height against those of Pseudo Low Resolution Mode (PLRM). Sentinel-3A observations were evaluated against in-situ observations from a network of 17 coastal wave buoys, which provided continuous time-series of hourly values of significant wave height, period and direction. As the buoys are evenly distributed along the coast of southwest England, they are representative of a broad range of morphological configurations and swell conditions against which to assess Sentinel-3 SAR observations. The analysis indicates that SAR observations outperform PLRM within 15 km from the coast. Within that region, regression slopes between SAR and buoy observations are close to the 1:1 relation, and the average root mean square error between the two is 0.46 ± 0.14 m. On the other hand, regression slopes for PLRM observations rapidly deviate from the 1:1 relation, while the average root mean square error increases to 0.84 ± 0.45 m. The analysis did not identify any dependence of the bias between SAR and in-situ observation on the swell period or direction. The validation is based on a synergistic approach which combines satellite and in-situ observations with innovative use of numerical wave model output to help inform the choice of comparison regions. Such an approach could be successfully applied in future studies to assess the performance of SAR observations over other combinations of coastal regions and altimeters.
Isolation Forests to Evaluate Class Separability and the Representativeness of Training and Validation Areas in Land Cover Classification
Authors: Alonso-Sarria Francisco , Valdivieso-Ros Carmen , Gomariz-Castillo Francisco
Published: December 2019

Supervised land cover classification from remote sensing imagery is based on gathering a set of training areas to characterise each of the classes and to train a predictive model that is then used to predict land cover in the rest of the image. This procedure relies mainly on the assumptions of statistical separability of the classes and the representativeness of the training areas. This paper uses isolation forests, a type of random tree ensembles, to analyse both assumptions and to easily correct lack of representativeness by digitising new training areas where needed to improve the classification of a Landsat-8 set of images with Random Forest. The results show that the improved set of training areas after the isolation forest analysis is more representative of the whole image and increases classification accuracy. Besides, the distribution of isolation values can be useful to estimate class separability. A class separability parameter that summarises such distributions is proposed. This parameter is more correlated to omission and commission errors than other separability measures such as the Jeffries–Matusita distance.
Mapping Spatial Variations of Structure and Function Parameters for Forest Condition Assessment of the Changbai Mountain National Nature Reserve
Authors: Chen Lin , Ren Chunying , Zhang Bai , Wang Zongming , Wang Yeqiao
Published: December 2019

Forest condition is the baseline information for ecological evaluation and management. The National Forest Inventory of China contains structural parameters, such as canopy closure, stand density and forest age, and functional parameters, such as stand volume and soil fertility. Conventionally forest conditions are assessed through parameters collected from field observations, which could be costly and spatially limited. It is crucial to develop modeling approaches in mapping forest assessment parameters from satellite remote sensing. This study mapped structure and function parameters for forest condition assessment in the Changbai Mountain National Nature Reserve (CMNNR). The mapping algorithms, including statistical regression, random forests, and random forest kriging, were employed with predictors from Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS)-2, Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2 satellite sensors, digital surface model of ALOS, and 1803 field sampled forest plots. Combined predicted parameters and weights from principal component analysis, forest conditions were assessed. The models explained spatial dynamics and characteristics of forest parameters based on an independent validation with all r values above 0.75. The root mean square error (RMSE) values of canopy closure, stand density, stand volume, forest age and soil fertility were 4.6%, 33.8%, 29.4%, 20.5%, and 14.3%, respectively. The mean assessment score suggested that forest conditions in the CMNNR are mainly resulted from spatial variations of function parameters such as stand volume and soil fertility. This study provides a methodology on forest condition assessment at regional scales, as well as the up-to-date information for the forest ecosystem in the CMNNR.
An End-to-End Local-Global-Fusion Feature Extraction Network for Remote Sensing Image Scene Classification
Authors: Lv Yafei , Zhang Xiaohan , Xiong Wei , Cui Yaqi , Cai Mi
Published: December 2019

Remote sensing image scene classification (RSISC) is an active task in the remote sensing community and has attracted great attention due to its wide applications. Recently, the deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs)-based methods have witnessed a remarkable breakthrough in performance of remote sensing image scene classification. However, the problem that the feature representation is not discriminative enough still exists, which is mainly caused by the characteristic of inter-class similarity and intra-class diversity. In this paper, we propose an efficient end-to-end local-global-fusion feature extraction (LGFFE) network for a more discriminative feature representation. Specifically, global and local features are extracted from channel and spatial dimensions respectively, based on a high-level feature map from deep CNNs. For the local features, a novel recurrent neural network (RNN)-based attention module is first proposed to capture the spatial layout information and context information across different regions. Gated recurrent units (GRUs) is then exploited to generate the important weight of each region by taking a sequence of features from image patches as input. A reweighed regional feature representation can be obtained by focusing on the key region. Then, the final feature representation can be acquired by fusing the local and global features. The whole process of feature extraction and feature fusion can be trained in an end-to-end manner. Finally, extensive experiments have been conducted on four public and widely used datasets and experimental results show that our method LGFFE outperforms baseline methods and achieves state-of-the-art results.
A Novel Method for the Absolute Pose Problem with Pairwise Constraints
Authors: Liu Yinlong , Li Xuechen , Wang Manning , Knoll Alois , Chen Guang , Song Zhijian
Published: December 2019

Absolute pose estimation from corrupted point correspondences is typically a problem of estimating parameters from outlier-contaminated data. Conventionally, for a fixed dimensionality d and the number of measurements N, a robust estimation problem cannot be solved exactly faster than O ( N d ) . Furthermore, it is almost impossible to remove d from the exponent of the runtime of a globally optimal algorithm. However, absolute pose estimation is a geometric parameter estimation problem, and thus has special constraints. In this paper, we consider pairwise constraints and propose a novel algorithm utilizing global optimization method Branch-and-Bound (BnB) for solving the absolute pose estimation problem. Concretely, we first decouple the rotation and the translation subproblems by utilizing the pairwise constraints, and then we solve the rotation subproblem using the BnB algorithm. Lastly, we estimate the translation based on the optimal rotation by using another BnB algorithm. The proposed algorithm has an approximately linear complexity in the number of correspondences at a given outlier ratio. The advantages of our method were demonstrated via thorough testing on both synthetic and real-world data.
Development of a VNIR/SWIR Multispectral Imaging System for Vegetation Monitoring with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Authors: Jenal Alexander , Bareth Georg , Bolten Andreas , Kneer Caspar , Weber Immanuel , Bongartz Jens
Published: December 2019

Short-wave infrared (SWIR) imaging systems with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are rarely used for remote sensing applications, like for vegetation monitoring. The reasons are that in the past, sensor systems covering the SWIR range were too expensive, too heavy, or not performing well enough, as, in contrast, it is the case in the visible and near-infrared range (VNIR). Therefore, our main objective is the development of a novel modular two-channel multispectral imaging system with a broad spectral sensitivity from the visible to the short-wave infrared spectrum (approx. 400 nm to 1700 nm) that is compact, lightweight and energy-efficient enough for UAV-based remote sensing applications. Various established vegetation indices (VIs) for mapping vegetation traits can then be set up by selecting any suitable filter combination. The study describes the selection of the individual components, starting with suitable camera modules, the optical as well as the control and storage parts. Special bandpass filters are used to select the desired wavelengths to be captured. A unique flange system has been developed, which also allows the filters to be interchanged quickly in order to adapt the system to a new application in a short time. The characterization of the system was performed in the laboratory with an integrating sphere and a climatic chamber. Finally, the integration of the novel modular VNIR/SWIR imaging system into a UAV and a subsequent first outdoor test flight, in which the functionality was tested, are described.
Dissolved Carbon Dioxide Sensing Platform for Freshwater and Saline Water Applications: Characterization and Validation in Aquaculture Environments
Authors: Mendes J.P. , Coelho L. , Kovacs B. , Almeida J.M.M.M. de , Pereira C.M. , Jorge P.A.S. , Borges M.T.
Published: December 2019

A sensing configuration for the real-time monitoring, detection, and quantification of dissolved carbon dioxide (dCO2) was developed for aquaculture and other applications in freshwater and saline water. A chemical sensing membrane, based on a colorimetric indicator, is combined with multimode optical fiber and a dual wavelength light-emitting diode (LED) to measure the dCO2-induced absorbance changes in a self-referenced ratiometric scheme. The detection and processing were achieved with an embeded solution having a mini spectrometer and microcontroller. For optrode calibration, chemical standard solutions using sodium carbonate in acid media were used. Preliminary results in a laboratory environment showed sensitivity for small added amounts of CO2 (0.25 mg·L−1). Accuracy and response time were not affected by the type of solution, while precision was affected by salinity. Calibration in freshwater showed a limit of detection (LOD) and a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 1.23 and 1.87 mg·L−1, respectively. Results in saline water (2.5%) showed a LOD and LOQ of 1.05 and 1.16 mg·L−1, respectively. Generally, performance was improved when moving from fresh to saline water. Studies on the dynamics of dissolved CO2 in a recirculating shallow raceway system (SRS+RAS) prototype showed higher precision than the tested commercial sensor. The new sensor is a compact and robust device, and unlike other sensors used in aquaculture, stirring is not required for correct and fast detection. Tests performed showed that this new sensor has a fast accurate detection as well as a strong potential for assessing dCO2 dynamics in aquaculture applications.
Smart RFID Sensors Embedded in Building Structures for Early Damage Detection and Long-Term Monitoring
Authors: Strangfeld Christoph , Johann Sergej , Bartholmai Matthias
Published: December 2019

In civil engineering, many structures are made of reinforced concrete. Most degradation processes relevant to this material, e.g., corrosion, are related to an increased level of material moisture. Therefore, moisture monitoring in reinforced concrete is regarded as a crucial method for structural health monitoring. In this study, passive radio frequency identification (RFID)-based sensors are embedded into the concrete. They are well suited for long-term operation over decades and are well protected against harsh environmental conditions. The energy supply and the data transfer of the humidity sensors are provided by RFID. The sensor casing materials are optimised to withstand the high alkaline environment in concrete, having pH values of more than 12. Membrane materials are also investigated to identify materials capable of enabling water vapour transport from the porous cement matrix to the embedded humidity sensor. By measuring the corresponding relative humidity with embedded passive RFID-based sensors, the cement hydration is monitored for 170 days. Moreover, long-term moisture monitoring is performed for more than 1000 days. The experiments show that embedded passive RFID-based sensors are highly suitable for long-term structural health monitoring in civil engineering.
Multimodal Approach for Emotion Recognition Based on Simulated Flight Experiments
Authors: César Cavalcanti Roza Válber , Adrian Postolache Octavian
Published: December 2019

The present work tries to fill part of the gap regarding the pilots’ emotions and their bio-reactions during some flight procedures such as, takeoff, climbing, cruising, descent, initial approach, final approach and landing. A sensing architecture and a set of experiments were developed, associating it to several simulated flights ( N f l i g h t s = 13 ) using the Microsoft Flight Simulator Steam Edition (FSX-SE). The approach was carried out with eight beginner users on the flight simulator ( N p i l o t s = 8 ). It is shown that it is possible to recognize emotions from different pilots in flight, combining their present and previous emotions. The cardiac system based on Heart Rate (HR), Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) and Electroencephalography (EEG), were used to extract emotions, as well as the intensities of emotions detected from the pilot face. We also considered five main emotions: happy, sad, angry, surprise and scared. The emotion recognition is based on Artificial Neural Networks and Deep Learning techniques. The Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) and Mean Absolute Error (MAE) were the main methods used to measure the quality of the regression output models. The tests of the produced output models showed that the lowest recognition errors were reached when all data were considered or when the GSR datasets were omitted from the model training. It also showed that the emotion surprised was the easiest to recognize, having a mean RMSE of 0.13 and mean MAE of 0.01; while the emotion sad was the hardest to recognize, having a mean RMSE of 0.82 and mean MAE of 0.08. When we considered only the higher emotion intensities by time, the most matches accuracies were between 55% and 100%.
Six-Axis Force Torque Sensor Model-Based In Situ Calibration Method and Its Impact in Floating-Based Robot Dynamic Performance
Authors: Andrade Chavez Francisco Javier , Traversaro Silvio , Pucci Daniele
Published: December 2019

A crucial part of dynamic motions is the interaction with other objects or the environment. Floating base robots have yet to perform these motions repeatably and reliably. Force torque sensors are able to provide the full description of a contact. Despite that, their use beyond a simple threshold logic is not widespread in floating base robots. Force torque sensors might change performance when mounted, which is why in situ calibration methods can improve the performance of robots by ensuring better force torque measurements. The Model-Based in situ calibration method with temperature compensation has shown promising results in improving FT sensor measurements. There are two main goals for this paper. The first is to facilitate the use and understanding of the method by providing guidelines that show their usefulness through experimental results. Then the impact of having better FT measurements with no temperature drift are demonstrated by proving that the offset estimated with this method is still useful days and even a month from the time of estimation. The effect of this is showcased by comparing the sensor response with different offsets simultaneously during real robot experiments. Furthermore, quantitative results of the improvement in dynamic behaviors due to the in situ calibration are shown. Finally, we show how using better FT measurements as feedback in low and high level controllers can impact the performance of floating base robots during dynamic motions. Experiments were performed on the floating base robot iCub.
Governance Assessment of the Flood’s Infrastructure Policy in San Pedro Cholula, Mexico: Potential for a Leapfrog to Water Sensitive
Authors: Casiano Flores Cesar , Crompvoets Joep , Ibarraran Viniegra Maria Eugenia , Farrelly Megan
Published: December 2019

Climate change together with population growth and land-use change have increased the risk of urban floods. Urban floods cause severe damages to cities and their inhabitants, and they are expected to increase over time. Consequently, urban adaptation is required to shift from traditional infrastructure (grey) to multifunctional infrastructure (blue-green) for improved flood management. Until recently, studies on the role and adoption of blue-green infrastructure have centered around large cities in developed countries, including Melbourne and Rotterdam, among others. Meanwhile, middle-sized cities in developing countries have received less attention. According to the Urban Water Management Transition Framework (UWMTF), cities in developing countries can learn from the experiences of developed cities and leapfrog to more ‘water sensitive’ practices. Although leapfrogging is context-dependent, our understanding of factors that support leapfrogging remains embryonic. This paper contributes to the scholarly understanding of the governance factors that support and limit leapfrogging. By applying the Governance Assessment Tool through semi-structured interviews and reviewing secondary data, this research assessed the implementation of flood protection infrastructure in San Pedro Cholula, a middle size city of Mexico. This work found the most supportive quality for delivering multifunctional infrastructure, was the extent of the governance system. The governance support extent was rated as moderate-low considering the platform for change is limited to government actors, which has further reinforced traditional approaches to infrastructure. In addition, the necessary governance features of coherence, flexibility and intensity were assessed as constraining change, with flexibility being the least supportive governance factor and ultimately hindering social actors’ participation and innovation. While the contemporary governance arrangements of San Pedro Cholula are not yet conducive to promoting a leapfrog in the delivery of urban flood infrastructure, the analysis has pointed to three catalytic factors to underpin a leapfrogging situation: trans-disciplinary science; cross-sector partnerships; and, innovation experiments.
Community Engagement: An Appreciative Inquiry Case Study with Theodore Roosevelt National Park Gateway Communities
Authors: Joyner Leah , Lackey N. Qwynne , Bricker Kelly S.
Published: December 2019

Appreciative Inquiry was employed to understand the mutual impact of Theodore Roosevelt National Park and nearby communities’ relationships with tourism. Specifically, the goals of this study were to: understand the role of Theodore Roosevelt National Park related to stimulating regional tourism; to ascertain gateway community resident perceptions of benefits from tourism as it relates to economic development and quality of; and, to explore nearby communities’ relationships with the park and how those communities may help influence quality visitor experiences, advance park goals, and develop and leverage partnerships. Results include a collection of emergent themes from the community inquiry related to resource access and tourism management, citizen and community engagement, conservation, marketing, and communication between the park and neighboring residents. These findings illuminate the need to understand nearby communities’ relationship to public lands and regional sustainability support between public land managers and these communities.
Impact of Land Use Rights on the Investment and Efficiency of Organic Farming
Authors: Akram Muhammad Waqar , Akram Nida , Hongshu Wang , Andleeb Shahla , ur Rehman Khalil , Kashif Umair , Mehmood Ayesha
Published: December 2019

This study investigated the impact of three land tenure arrangements on organic farming (OF) in terms of increment of efficiency, yield, and investment in soil-improving activities by using farm-level data gathered from three districts located at Punjab, Pakistan. A multivariate tobit model that captured the probable substitute and investment choices, as well as the endogenous nature of land tenure arrangements, has been employed in this analysis. The empirical outcomes displayed that rights of land use affected the decisions made by farmers to invest in land and to improve efficiency. In detail, owner-farmers with secure rental arrangements invested more in improving their land and productivity compared to those with unsecured lease agreements. The yield per hectare was the highest for owner cultivation farm, while sharecropper output seemed the lowest, which are in agreement with the hypothesis of Marshallian inefficiency.
Why Are the Carbon Footprints of China’s Urban Households Rising? An Input–Output Analysis and Structural Decomposition Analysis
Authors: Liu Xiaoyu , Wang Xian’en , Song Junnian , Duan Haiyan , Wang Shuo
Published: December 2019

A rise in China’s economy and urbanization has brought about obvious growth in the carbon footprints of urban households over the past years. In this study, input–output analysis was adopted to calculate the carbon footprints of urban households in China. Furthermore, a detailed analysis of the impact factors on indirect carbon footprints was carried out by using the structural decomposition analysis at both holistic and sectoral levels. The results showed that the carbon footprints of urban households were 941.37 MtCO2 in 2002, 1498.11 MtCO2 in 2007, and 2139.50 MtCO2 in 2012. Electricity was the main contributor to the direct urban household carbon footprints, accounting for over 40%. The category of “household facilities” contributed the most to indirect carbon footprints (306.00 MtCO2) in 2012, and the “transportation” had the fastest growth rate (395%) during 2002–2012. The industrial sector of “wearing apparel” had the largest increments (139.92 MtCO2) in carbon footprints during the past decade. Generally, consumption level and population size presented positive effects on the increments in indirect carbon footprints, while emission intensity decreased indirect carbon footprints. However, the impact of consumption structure and intermediate demand on indirect carbon footprints varied at holistic and sectoral levels. The mitigation efforts should focus on reducing emission intensity, shifting consumption structure and changing intermediate demand.
Botanical Gardens for Productive Interplay between Emotions and Cognition
Authors: Błaszak Maciej , Rybska Eliza , Tsivitanidou Olia , Constantinou Costas P.
Published: December 2019

Botanical gardens are often designed with biological deliberations in mind, such as the need to preserve biodiversity. As in other community acts, functionality is also an important concern. In contrast, the need to connect with human values, such as tolerance, care or justice, and the facility to provoke interaction, reflection and discussion are often sidelined. More broadly, the social and educational aims of these institutions are often placed second in the design priorities, even though they are emphasized strongly in formulations of the underlying purpose and intentions. From an educational perspective, the interplay between emotions and cognition has an important influence on the visitor learning experience. In this paper, we elaborate on this interplay and we explore possible implications (a) for the design of botanical garden spaces, but also (b) for the formative process that emerges from the convolution of garden spaces, visitor expectations and interactive activities for teaching and learning. We introduce the term useful botanical garden and, through analysis, we develop a theoretical framework that provides a cognitive approach for the educational design of botanical gardens drawing on three dimensions: Sensibility (refering to those features of the design of botanical garden spaces that serve to create a sense of welcoming comfort, safety and homeostasis). Functionality (features of the garden spaces that scaffold interactions and cognitive processes). Rationality (refering to the facility of visitors to reflect on six values—care, fairness, loyalty, authority, sanctity, and liberty—and how they relate to the elements present in the botanical garden). We illustrate this model with reference to a range of botanical gardens. We elaborate on how these factors work together to highlight the educational features of botanical gardens and also discuss the implications of this model for the design of activities and educational experiences as well as for teacher preparation and professional development in the service of promoting environmental insight.
External Quality Assessment of Bacterial Identification and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing in African National Public Health Laboratories, 2011–2016
Authors: Perovic Olga , Yahaya Ali A. , Viljoen Crystal , Ndihokubwayo Jean-Bosco , Smith Marshagne , Coulibaly Sheick O. , De Gouveia Linda , Oxenford Christopher J. , Cognat Sebastien , Ismail Husna , Frean John
Published: December 2019

Background: In 2002, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a regional microbiology external quality assessment (EQA) programme for national public health laboratories in the African region, initially targeting priority epidemic-prone bacterial diseases, and later including other common bacterial pathogens. Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyse the efficacy of an EQA programme as a laboratory quality system evaluation tool. Methods: We analysed the proficiency of laboratories’ performance of bacterial identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) for the period 2011–2016. The National Institute for Communicable Diseases of South Africa provided technical coordination following an agreement with WHO, and supplied EQA samples of selected bacterial organisms for microscopy (Gram stain), identification, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST). National public health laboratories, as well as laboratories involved in the Invasive Bacterial Diseases Surveillance Network, were enrolled by the WHO Regional Office for Africa to participate in the EQA programme. We analysed participants’ results of 41 surveys, which included the following organisms sent as challenges: Streptococcus pneumonia, Haemophilus influenzae, Neisseria meningitidis, Salmonella Typhi, Salmonella Enteritidis, Shigella flexneri, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus anginosus, Enterococcus faecium, Serratia marcescens, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Enterobacter cloacae. Results: Eighty-one laboratories from 45 countries participated. Overall, 76% of participants obtained acceptable scores for identification, but a substantial proportion of AST scores were not in the acceptable range. Of 663 assessed AST responses, only 42% had acceptable scores. Conclusion: In the African Region, implementation of diagnostic stewardship in clinical bacteriology is generally suboptimal. This report illustrates that AST is poorly done compared to microscopy and identification. It is critically important to make the case for implementation of quality assurance in AST, as it is the cornerstone of antimicrobial resistance surveillance reporting and implementation of the Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System.
Modelling Vector Transmission and Epidemiology of Co-Infecting Plant Viruses
Authors: Allen Linda J. S. , Bokil Vrushali A. , Cunniffe Nik J. , Hamelin Frédéric M. , Hilker Frank M. , Jeger Michael J.
Published: December 2019

Co-infection of plant hosts by two or more viruses is common in agricultural crops and natural plant communities. A variety of models have been used to investigate the dynamics of co-infection which track only the disease status of infected and co-infected plants, and which do not explicitly track the density of inoculative vectors. Much less attention has been paid to the role of vector transmission in co-infection, that is, acquisition and inoculation and their synergistic and antagonistic interactions. In this investigation, a general epidemiological model is formulated for one vector species and one plant species with potential co-infection in the host plant by two viruses. The basic reproduction number provides conditions for successful invasion of a single virus. We derive a new invasion threshold which provides conditions for successful invasion of a second virus. These two thresholds highlight some key epidemiological parameters important in vector transmission. To illustrate the flexibility of our model, we examine numerically two special cases of viral invasion. In the first case, one virus species depends on an autonomous virus for its successful transmission and in the second case, both viruses are unable to invade alone but can co-infect the host plant when prevalence is high.
Viral Diversity of Microbats within the South West Botanical Province of Western Australia
Authors: Prada Diana , Boyd Victoria , Baker Michelle L. , O’Dea Mark , Jackson Bethany
Published: December 2019

Bats are known reservoirs of a wide variety of viruses that rarely result in overt clinical disease in the bat host. However, anthropogenic influences on the landscape and climate can change species assemblages and interactions, as well as undermine host-resilience. The cumulative result is a disturbance of bat–pathogen dynamics, which facilitate spillover events to sympatric species, and may threaten bat communities already facing synergistic stressors through ecological change. Therefore, characterisation of viral pathogens in bat communities provides important basal information to monitor and predict the emergence of diseases relevant to conservation and public health. This study used targeted molecular techniques, serological assays and next generation sequencing to characterise adenoviruses, coronaviruses and paramyxoviruses from 11 species of insectivorous bats within the South West Botanical Province of Western Australia. Phylogenetic analysis indicated complex ecological interactions including virus–host associations, cross-species infections, and multiple viral strains circulating concurrently within selected bat populations. Additionally, we describe the entire coding sequences for five alphacoronaviruses (representing four putative new species), and one novel adenovirus. Results indicate that viral burden (both prevalence and richness) is not homogeneous among species, with Chalinolobus gouldii identified as a key epidemiological element within the studied communities.
Evaluation of Immunity to Measles in a Cohort of Medical Students in Rome, Italy
Authors: Coppeta Luca , Biondi Giorgia , Lieto Piergiorgio , Pietroiusti Antonio
Published: December 2019

Background: Measles is a highly contagious viral disease with serious complications. Currently, in Italy, measles vaccination is not mandatory for health care workers (HCWs) and medical students, and the free offer of the Measles Mumps Rubella (MMR) vaccine is the only national prevention measure to increase the coverage rate among these subjects. Aims: The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact on vaccination rate of the National Plan of Vaccine Prevention (NPVP) implemented in 2017. Material and Methods: This is a retrospective observational study that evaluated the measles-specific IgG immunity status of medical students at the University Tor Vergata of Rome, which underwent occupational health surveillance from 1 January to 31 December 2018. Results: In 2018, 84 of 319 students (26.30%) were serologically non-immune to measles; among these, 16 (19%) had previously been vaccinated, and 35 of the remaining 68 students accepted the MMR vaccine. Therefore, 33 out of 319 students did not undergo vaccination in 2018. These data are similar to those obtained in the previous year. In the 2017 screening, 84/314 (26.75%) students tested negative at the serological screening, whereas 15/85 (17.8%) among them documented a previous vaccination with two doses of the MMR vaccine; 69 students tested as unprotected. Vaccine compliance was 51.44%. Conclusions: No change in vaccination coverage occurred after the introduction of the last NPVP. Further efforts are needed to sensitize target populations about the relevance of vaccination; providing pre-employment screening for measles and free vaccine might be useful for this purpose.
Mapping Host-Related Correlates of Influenza Vaccine-Induced Immune Response: An Umbrella Review of the Available Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
Authors: Domnich Alexander , Manini Ilaria , Calabrò Giovanna Elisa , de Waure Chiara , Montomoli Emanuele
Published: December 2019

Seasonal influenza is the leading infectious disease in terms of its health and socioeconomic impact. Annual immunization is the most efficient way to reduce this burden. Several correlates of influenza vaccine-induced protection are commonly used, owing to their ready availability and cheapness. Influenza vaccine-induced immunogenicity is a function of host-, virus- and vaccine-related factors. Host-related factors constitute the most heterogeneous group. The objective of this study was to analyze the available systematic evidence on the host factors able to modify influenza vaccine-induced immunogenicity. An umbrella review approach was undertaken. A total of 28 systematic reviews/meta-analyses were analyzed—these covered the following domains: intravenous drug use, psychological stress, acute and chronic physical exercise, genetic polymorphisms, use of pre-/pro-/symbiotics, previous Bacillus Calmette–Guérin vaccination, diabetes mellitus, vitamin D supplementation/deficiency, latent cytomegalovirus infection and various forms of immunosuppression. In order to present effect sizes on the same scale, all possible meta-analyses were re-performed and cumulative evidence synthesis ranking was carried out. The meta-analysis was conducted separately on each health condition category and virus (sub)type. A total of 97 pooled estimates were used in order to construct an evidence-based stakeholder-friendly map. The principal public health implications are discussed.
Experimental Investigation of Coherent Vortex Structures in a Backward-Facing Step Flow
Authors: Wang Fangfang , Gao Ang , Wu Shiqiang , Zhu Senlin , Dai Jiangyu , Liao Qian
Published: December 2019

Coherent vortex structures (CVS) are discovered for more than half a century, and they are believed to play a significant role in turbulence especially for separated flows. An experimental study is conducted for a pressured backward-facing step flow with Reynolds number (Reh) being 4400 and 9000. A synchronized particle image velocimetry (PIV) system is developed for measurement of a wider range of velocity fields with high resolution. The CVS are proved to exist in the separation-reattachment process. For their temporal evolution, a life cycle is proposed that vortices form in the free shear layer, develop with pairings and divisions and finally shed at the reattachment zone, and sometimes new vortical structures are restructured with recovery of flow pattern. The CVS favor the free shear layer with frequent pairings and divisions particularly at the developing stage around x/h = 2~5 (x: distance from the step in flow direction, h: step height), which may contribute to the high turbulent intensity and shear stress there. A critical distance is believed to exist among CVS, which affects their amalgamation (pairing) and division events. Statistics show that the CVS are well organized in spatial distribution and show specific local features with the flow structures distinguished. The streamwise and vertical diameters (Dx and Dy) and width to height ratio (Dx/Dy) all obey to the lognormal distribution. With increase of Reh from 4400 to 9000, Dx decreases and Dy increases, but the mean diameter (D=0.5 × (Dx + Dy)) keeps around (0.28~0.29) h. As the increase of Reh, the vortical shape change toward a uniform condition, which may be contributed by enhancement of the shear intensity.
Field Testing of Porous Pavement Performance on Runoff and Temperature Control in Taipei City
Authors: Cheng Yung-Yun , Lo Shang-Lien , Ho Chia-Chun , Lin Jen-Yang , Yu Shaw
Published: December 2019

The Taipei University of Technology, under contract from the Taipei City Government, completed a study on porous asphalt (PA) and permeable interlocking concrete brick (PICB) pavement performance with respect to stormwater runoff reduction and surface temperature mitigation. Additionally, the variation of infiltration rates against time of these pavements was monitored. The results show the following: (a) Runoff peak reduction ranged from 16% for large, intense storms to 55% for small, long-duration storms. Rainfall volume reduction ranged from 16% to 77% with an average of 37.6%; (b) Infiltration rate: for PICB, it decreased by 25% to 50% over a 15-month monitoring period, but the rate at one location increased significantly after cleaning; for PA, the rate remained high at one location, but decreased by 70%–80% after 10 months at two other locations, due mainly to clogging problems; (c) Surface temperature: during storm events, porous concrete bricks had on average lower temperatures compared to regular concrete with a maximum difference of 6.6 °C; for porous asphalt the maximum drop was 3.9 °C. During dry days, both PA and PICB showed a tendency of faster temperature increase as the air temperature rose, but also faster temperature decreases as the air cooled when compared to regular pavements. On very hot days, much lower surface temperatures were observed for porous pavements (for PA: 17.0 °C and for PICB: 14.3 °C) than those for regular pavements. The results suggest that large-scale applications of porous pavements could help mitigate urban heat island impacts.
Role and Impact of Hydrograph Shape on Tidal Current-Induced Scour in Physical-Modelling Environments
Authors: Schendel Alexander , Welzel Mario , Hildebrandt Arndt , Schlurmann Torsten , Hsu Tai-Wen
Published: December 2019

For physical model tests, the time-varying characteristics of tidal currents are often simplified by a hydrograph following a shape of a unidirectional current or by resolving the tidal velocity signal into discrete steps of constant flow velocity. The influence of this generalization of the hydrograph’s shape on the scouring process in tidal currents has not yet been investigated systematically, further increasing the uncertainty in the prediction of scour depth and rate. Therefore, hydraulic model tests were carried out to investigate and quantify the influence of the hydrograph shape on the scouring processes under tidal currents. Several different hydrographs including those with continuously changing velocities, constant unidirectional currents, square-tide velocities and stepped velocity time series were analyzed. Results show that the scouring process in tidal currents is characterized by concurrent sediment backfilling and displacement which can only be reproduced by hydrographs that incorporate a varying flow direction. However, if only a correct representation of final scour depths is of interest, similar scour depths as in tidal currents might be achieved by a constant, unidirectional current, provided that a suitable flow velocity is selected. The effective flow work approach was found capable to identify such suitable hydraulic loads with reasonable practical accuracy.
Variability of Water Transit Time Distributions at the Strengbach Catchment (Vosges Mountains, France) Inferred Through Integrated Hydrological Modeling and Particle Tracking Algorithms
Authors: Weill Sylvain , Lesparre Nolwenn , Jeannot Benjamin , Delay Frederick
Published: December 2019

The temporal variability of transit-time distributions (TTDs) and residence-time distributions (RTDs) has received particular attention recently, but such variability has barely been studied using distributed hydrological modeling. In this study, a low-dimensional integrated hydrological model is run in combination with particle-tracking algorithms to investigate the temporal variability of TTDs, RTDs, and StorAge Selection (SAS) functions in the small, mountainous Strengbach watershed belonging to the French network of critical-zone observatories. The particle-tracking algorithms employed rely upon both forward and backward formulations that are specifically developed to handle time-variable velocity fields and evaluate TTDs and RTDs under transient hydrological conditions. The model is calibrated using both traditional streamflow measurements and magnetic resonance sounding (MRS)—which is sensitive to the subsurface water content—and then verified over a ten-year period. The results show that the mean transit time is rather short, at 150–200 days, and that the TTDs and RTDs are not greatly influenced by water storage within the catchment. This specific behavior is mainly explained by the small size of the catchment and its small storage capacity, a rapid flow mainly controlled by gravity along steep slopes, and climatic features that keep the contributive zone around the stream wet all year long.
Impact of Filters to Reduce Phosphorus Losses: Field Observations and Modelling Tests in Tile-Drained Lowland Catchments
Authors: Bauwe Andreas , Kahle Petra , Lennartz Bernd
Published: December 2019

In this study, we analyzed Dissolved Reactive Phosphorus (DRP) and Total Phosphorus (TP) concentration dynamics over two years in surface waters of five nested catchments in northeastern Germany. Based on this, we constructed a filter box filled with iron-coated sand for Phosphorus (P) removal at the edge of a tile-drained field. Results of the filter box experiment were used for a model scenario analysis aiming at evaluating the P removal potential at catchment scale. DRP and TP concentrations were generally low but they exceeded occasionally target values. Results of the filter box experiment indicated that 28% of the TP load could be retained but the DRP load reduction was negligible. We assume that DRP could not be reduced due to short residence times and high flow dynamics. Instead, particulate P fractions were probably retained mechanically by the filter material. The scenario analysis revealed that the P removal potential of such filters are highest in areas, in which tile drainage water is the dominant P source. At a larger spatial scale, in which other P (point) sources are likewise important, edge-of-field P filters can only be one part of an integrated catchment strategy involving a variety of measures to reduce P losses.
Análise do percurso terapêutico de doentes crônicos na Saúde da Família
Authors: Santos Renata Oliveira Maciel
Published: December 2019

Objetivo: analisar o percurso assistencial de usuários portadores de doenças crônicas, na busca por cuidado em uma Unidade Básica de Saúde (UBS) com a Estratégia de Saúde da Família no município do Rio de Janeiro. Metodologia: estudo descritivo, exploratório, de abordagem qualitativa, que teve como participantes 11 profissionais da equipe de saúde da família e quatro usuários, sendo utilizado o fluxograma descritor para apresentar o percurso assistencial dos doentes crônicos. Resultados: a análise do percurso assistencial de usuários demonstrou pontos de tensão na demanda espontânea, na oferta de consulta médica e de enfermagem, na visita domiciliar e na regulação. Considerações finais: as tensões reveladas expressam as dificuldades encontradas pelos usuários ao ingressar na UBS, situação contraditória ao atributo de primeiro contato na atenção básica. Os problemas no fluxo dos usuários apresentam um reflexo dos problemas encontrados no serviço de saúde, configurando dificuldades em proporcionar equilíbrio entre demanda, acesso e recursos.
Estratégias que reforçam a resiliência em pacientes com distúrbio oncológico: uma revisão integrativa
Authors: Braga Bruna Rodrigues , MIRANDA DE LIMA AMANDA MAURICIO , DE OLIVEIRA FRAGA LUCIANA CASTRO
Published: December 2019

Objetivo: analisar em produções científicas quais são as forças que aumentam a resiliência em pacientes portadores de distúrbios oncológicos. Metodologia: trata-se de uma revisão integrativa guiada pela metodologia PRISMA, a partir da pergunta norteadora: No conjunto de produções cientificas, quais forças os pacientes portadores de distúrbios oncológicos utilizam para aumentar sua resiliência? Resultados: conforme os estudos, observou-se que, para os pacientes portadores de distúrbios oncológicos, alguns fatores, como interação familiar e apoio psicossocial, podem reforçar e contribuir positivamente para o aumento da resiliência. Considerações finais: aumento da resiliência desses pacientes foi positivamente associada a satisfação, convívio e atividades diárias que lhes possibilitam bem-estar e qualidade de vida. Além disso, houve apoio dos familiares, amigos e da equipe de Enfermagem no enfrentamento, o que foi essencial para recuperar a positividade e a autoestima desses pacientes.
Processo de trabalho: avaliação dos enfermeiros de um hospital de ensino
Authors: Buss Thoferhn Maira , Rauber Joner Leandro , Rutz Porto Adrize , Gomes Campos Borel Manuela , Jacondino Barboza Michelle , Cristina Cavalló Viana Neyla
Published: December 2019

Objetivo: conhecer o processo de trabalho dos enfermeiros de um hospital de ensino, e sua relação com a assistência de Enfermagem. Metodologia: pesquisa qualitativa, exploratória, descritiva. Como participantes, contou-se com a presença de nove enfermeiros de um hospital de ensino de médio porte. Os dados foram coletados no segundo semestre de 2012 por meio de dois encontros de grupo focal e analisados pela proposta operativa de Minayo. Resultados: revelam-se três categorias temáticas: visão dos enfermeiros acerca das fragilidades no processo de trabalho da Enfermagem, visão dos enfermeiros acerca das potencialidades no processo de trabalho da Enfermagem e visão dos enfermeiros acerca das estratégias para mudança no processo de trabalho da Enfermagem. Considerações finais: esta pesquisa emergiu a necessidade de construir momentos que permitam a reunião dos profissionais em espaços de discussão e troca de informações, de maneira que os participantes discutam o seu processo de trabalho, e não somente recebam ordens.
Comércio e Trabalho:
Authors: S. Matos Maria Izilda , Truzzi Oswaldo
Published: December 2019

Lançando mão de um leque de fontes de natureza diversa, este artigo procura rastrear a presença dos imigrantes portugueses no interior do Estado de São Paulo entre o final do século XIX e início do XX, abordando aspectos dessas experiências, e particularizando, no setor comercial, especialmente atividades como a de caixeiros e padeiros