bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effects of N-Doped TiO2 Thin Films on Corrosion Resistance of Stainless Steel Orthodontic Brackets in Artificial Saliva
Authors: Yuan Xue-shun , Wang Yu , Cao Lin , Cao Bao-cheng , Liang Jun
Published: January 2015

N-doped TiO2 thin films were prepared on 316L stainless steel orthodontic brackets using the radio frequency magnetron sputtering method. The microstructure and composition of specimens were analyzed by field emission scanning electron microscope equipped with energy-dispersive spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction. The corrosion resistance of the as-prepared samples was evaluated by potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and a static immersion test in simulated oral solutions. Results showed that N-doped TiO2 thin films had a nanosized anatase structure, with a uniform and compact surface. In artificial saliva and 1.23% acidified phosphate fluoride solutions, the as-prepared thin films lowered the corrosion current density and increased the polarization resistance, indicating improved corrosion resistance. The Ni and Cr out-diffusion levels were far lower than the recommended daily doses, indicating the N-doped TiO2 thin films may be safe for clinical use.
Macroscopic impacts of cloud and precipitation processes on maritime shallow convection as simulated by a large eddy simulation model with bin microphysics
Authors: Grabowski W. W. , Wang L.-P. , Prabha T. V.
Published: January 2015

Abstract. This paper discusses impacts of cloud and precipitation processes on macrophysical properties of shallow convective clouds as simulated by a large eddy model applying warm-rain bin microphysics. Simulations with and without collision–coalescence are considered with cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations of 30, 60, 120, and 240 mg−1. Simulations with collision–coalescence include either the standard gravitational collision kernel or a novel kernel that includes enhancements due to the small-scale cloud turbulence. Simulations with droplet collisions were discussed in Wyszogrodzki et al. (2013) focusing on the impact of the turbulent collision kernel. The current paper expands that analysis and puts model results in the context of previous studies. Despite a significant increase of the drizzle/rain with the decrease of CCN concentration, enhanced by the effects of the small-scale turbulence, impacts on the macroscopic cloud field characteristics are relatively minor. Model results show a systematic shift in the cloud-top height distributions, with an increasing contribution of deeper clouds for stronger precipitating cases. We show that this is consistent with the explanation suggested in Wyszogrodzki et al. (2013); namely, the increase of drizzle/rain leads to a more efficient condensate offloading in the upper parts of the cloud field. A second effect involves suppression of the cloud droplet evaporation near cloud edges in low-CCN simulations, as documented in previous studies (e.g., Xue and Feingold, 2006). We pose the question whether the effects of cloud turbulence on drizzle/rain formation in shallow cumuli can be corroborated by remote sensing observations, for instance, from space. Although a clear signal is extracted from model results, we argue that the answer is negative due to uncertainties caused by the temporal variability of the shallow convective cloud field, sampling and spatial resolution of the satellite data, and overall accuracy of remote sensing retrievals.
Satellite observations of cirrus clouds in the Northern Hemisphere lowermost stratosphere
Authors: Spang R. , Günther G. , Riese M. , Hoffmann L. , Müller R. , Griessbach S.
Published: January 2015

Abstract. Here we present observations of the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere (CRISTA) of cirrus cloud and water vapour in August 1997 in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS). The observations indicate a considerable flux of moisture from the upper tropical troposphere into the extratropical lowermost stratosphere (LMS), resulting in the occurrence of high-altitude optically thin cirrus clouds in the LMS. The locations of the LMS cloud events observed by CRISTA are consistent with the tropopause height determined from coinciding radiosonde data. For a hemispheric analysis in tropopause relative coordinates an improved tropopause determination has been applied to the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) temperature profiles. We found that a significant fraction of the cloud occurrences in the tropopause region are located in the LMS, even if a conservative overestimate of the cloud top height (CTH) determination by CRISTA of 500 m is assumed. The results show rather high occurrence frequencies (~ 5%) up to high northern latitudes (70° N) and altitudes well above the tropopause (> 500 m at ~350 K and above) in large areas at mid- and high latitudes. Comparisons with model runs of the Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere (CLaMS) over the CRISTA period show a reasonable consistency in the retrieved cloud pattern. For this purpose a limb ray tracing approach was applied through the 3-D model fields to obtain integrated measurement information through the atmosphere along the limb path of the instrument. The simplified cirrus scheme implemented in CLaMS seems to cause a systematic underestimation in the CTH occurrence frequencies in the LMS with respect to the observations. The observations together with the model results demonstrate the importance of isentropic, quasi-horizontal transport of water vapour from the subtropics and the potential for the occurrence of cirrus clouds in the lowermost stratosphere and tropopause region.
Microphysical processing of aerosol particles in orographic clouds
Authors: Pousse-Nottelmann S. , Zubler E. M. , Lohmann U.
Published: January 2015

Abstract. An explicit and detailed treatment of cloud-borne particles allowing for the consideration of aerosol cycling in clouds has been implemented in the regional weather forecast and climate model COSMO. The effects of aerosol scavenging, cloud microphysical processing and regeneration upon cloud evaporation on the aerosol population and on subsequent cloud formation are investigated. For this, two-dimensional idealized simulations of moist flow over two bell-shaped mountains were carried out varying the treatment of aerosol scavenging and regeneration processes for a warm-phase and a mixed-phase orographic cloud. The results allowed to identify different aerosol cycling mechanisms. In the simulated non-precipitating warm-phase cloud, aerosol mass is incorporated into cloud droplets by activation scavenging and released back to the atmosphere upon cloud droplet evaporation. In the mixed-phase cloud, a first cycle comprises cloud droplet activation and evaporation via the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen process. A second cycle includes below-cloud scavenging by precipitating snow particles and snow sublimation and is connected to the first cycle via the riming process which transfers aerosol mass from cloud droplets to snow flakes. In the simulated mixed-phase cloud, only a negligible part of the total aerosol mass is incorporated into ice crystals. Sedimenting snow flakes reaching the surface remove aerosol mass from the atmosphere. The results show that aerosol processing and regeneration lead to a vertical redistribution of aerosol mass and number. However, the processes not only impact the total aerosol number and mass, but also the shape of the aerosol size distributions by enhancing the internally mixed/soluble accumulation mode and generating coarse mode particles. Concerning subsequent cloud formation at the second mountain, accounting for aerosol processing and regeneration increases the cloud droplet number concentration with possible implications for the ice crystal number concentration.
Perturbations of the optical properties of mineral dust particles by mixing with black carbon: a numerical simulation study
Authors: Scarnato B. V. , China S. , Nielsen K. , Mazzoleni C.
Published: January 2015

Abstract. Field observations show that individual aerosol particles are a complex mixture of a wide variety of species, reflecting different sources and physico-chemical transformations. The impacts of individual aerosol morphology and mixing characteristics on the Earth system are not yet fully understood. Here we present a sensitivity study on climate relevant aerosols' optical properties to various approximations. Based on aerosol samples collected in various geographical locations, we have observationally constrained size, morphology and mixing, and accordingly simulated, using the discrete dipole approximation model (DDSCAT), optical properties of 3 aerosols types: (1) bare black carbon (BC) aggregates, (2) bare mineral dust, and (3) an internal mixture of a BC aggregate laying on top of a mineral dust particle, also referred as polluted dust. DDSCAT predicts optical properties and their spectral dependence consistently with observations for all the studied cases. Predicted values of mass absorption, scattering and extinction coefficients (MAC, MSC, MEC) for bare BC show a weak dependence on the BC aggregate size, while the asymmetry parameter (g) shows the opposites. The simulated optical properties of bare mineral dust present a large variability depending on the modeled dust shape, confirming the limited range of applicability of spheroids over different types and size of mineral dust aerosols, in agreement with previous modeling studies. The polluted dust cases show a strong decrease in MAC values with the increase in dust particle size (for the same BC size), while an increase of the single scattering albedo (SSA). Further, polluted dust particles with radius between 180–300 nm are characterized by a decrease in SSA values compared to bare dust, in agreement with field observations. This paper demonstrates that observationally constrained DDSCAT simulations allow to better understand the variability of the measured aerosol optical properties in ambient air, and to define benchmarks biases due to different approximations in aerosol parametrization.
Evaluation of MAX-DOAS aerosol retrievals by coincident observations using CRDS, lidar, and sky radiometer in Tsukuba, Japan
Authors: Irie H. , Nakayama T. , Shimizu A. , Yamazaki A. , Nagai T. , Uchiyama A. , Zaizen Y. , Kagamitani S. , Matsumi Y.
Published: January 2015

Abstract. Coincident aerosol observations of Multi-Axis Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS), Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy (CRDS), lidar, and sky radiometer were conducted in Tsukuba, Japan on 5–18 October 2010. MAX-DOAS aerosol retrieval (for aerosol extinction coefficient and aerosol optical depth at 476 nm) was evaluated from the viewpoint of the need for a correction factor for oxygen collision complexes (O4 or O2-O2) absorption. The present study strongly supports this need, as systematic residuals at relatively high elevation angles (20 and 30°) were evident in MAX-DOAS profile retrievals conducted without the correction. However, adopting a single number for the correction factor (fO4 = 1.25) for all of the elevation angles led to systematic overestimation of near-surface aerosol extinction coefficients, as reported in the literature. To achieve agreement with all three observations, we limited the set of elevation angles to ≤ 10° and adopted an elevation-angle-dependent correction factor for practical profile retrievals with scattered light observations by a ground-based MAX-DOAS. With these modifications, we expect to minimize the possible effects of temperature-dependent O4 absorption cross section and uncertainty in DOAS fit on an aerosol profile retrieval, although more efforts are encouraged to quantitatively identify a physical explanation for the need of a correction factor.
A study of turbulent fluxes and their measurement errors for different wind regimes over the tropical Zongo glacier (16° S) during the dry season
Authors: Litt M. , Sicart J.-E. , Helgason W.
Published: January 2015

Abstract. Over glaciers in the outer tropics, during the dry winter season, turbulent fluxes are an important sink of melt energy due to high sublimation rates, but measurements in stable surface layers, in remote and complex terrains remain challenging. Eddy-covariance (EC) and bulk-aerodynamic (BA) methods were used to estimate surface turbulent heat fluxes of sensible (H) and latent heat (LE) in the ablation zone of the tropical Zongo glacier, Bolivia (16° S, 5080 m a.s.l.), from 22 July to 1 September 2007. We studied the turbulent fluxes and their associated random and systematic measurement errors under the three most frequent wind regimes. For nightly, density-driven katabatic flows, and for strong downslope flows related to large-scale forcing, H generally heats the surface (i.e., is positive), while LE cools it down (i.e., is negative). On average, both fluxes exhibit similar magnitudes and cancel each other out. Most energy losses through turbulence occur for daytime upslope flows, when H is weak due to small temperature gradients and LE is strongly negative due to very dry air. Mean random errors of the BA method (6% on net H + LE fluxes) originated mainly from large uncertainties in roughness lengths. For EC fluxes, mean random errors were due mainly to poor statistical sampling of large-scale outer-layer eddies (12%). The BA method is highly sensitive to the method used to derive surface temperature from long-wave radiation measurements and underestimates fluxes due to vertical flux divergence at low heights and nonstationarity of turbulent flow. The EC method also probably underestimates the fluxes, but to a lesser extent, due to underestimation of vertical wind speed and to vertical flux divergence. For both methods, when H and LE compensate each other in downslope fluxes, biases tend to cancel each other out or remain small. When the net turbulent fluxes (H + LE) are the largest in upslope flows, nonstationarity effects and underestimations of the vertical wind speed do not compensate, and surface temperature errors are important, so that large biases on H + LE are expected when using both the EC and the BA method.
A modification to the ionospheric correction method used in GPS radio occultation
Authors: Healy S. B. , Culverwell I. D.
Published: January 2015

Abstract. A modification to the standard bending angle correction used in GPS radio occultation is proposed. The modified approach should reduce systematic residual ionospheric errors in GPS radio occultation climatologies. A new second order term is introduced in order to account for a known source of systematic error, which is generally neglected. The new term has the form κ(a) × (αL1 (a)-αL1(a))2, where a is the impact parameter, and (αL1, αL2) are the L1 and L2 bending angles, respectively. The variable κ is a weak function of impact parameter, a, but it does depend on a priori ionospheric information. The theoretical basis of the new term is examined. The sensitivity of κ to the assumed ionospheric parameters is investigated in one-dimensional simulations, and it is shown that κ ≃ 10–20 rad−1. We note that the current implicit assumption is κ = 0, and this is probably adequate for numerical weather prediction applications. However, the uncertainty in κ should be included in the uncertainty estimates for the geophysical climatologies produced from GPS-RO measurements. The limitations of the new ionospheric correction when applied to CHAMP measurements are noted. These arise because of the assumption that the refractive index is unity at the satellite, made when deriving bending angles from the Doppler shift values.
GOMOS bright limb ozone data set
Authors: Tukiainen S. , Kyrölä E. , Tamminen J. , Blanot L.
Published: January 2015

Abstract. We have created a daytime ozone profile data set from the measurements of the Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars (GOMOS) instrument on board the Envisat satellite. This so-called GOMOS bright limb (GBL) data set contains ~ 358 000 stratospheric daytime ozone profiles measured by GOMOS in 2002–2012. The GBL data set complements the widely used GOMOS night-time data based on stellar occultation measurements. The GBL data set is based on the GOMOS daytime occultations but instead of the transmitted star light, we use limb scattered solar light. The ozone profiles retrieved from these radiance spectra cover 18–60 km tangent height range and have approximately 2–3 km vertical resolution. We show that these profiles are generally in better than 10% agreement with the NDACC (Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change) ozone sounding profiles and with the GOMOS night-time, MLS (Microwave Limb Sounder), and OSIRIS (Optical Spectrograph, and InfraRed Imaging System) satellite measurements. However, there is a 10–13% negative bias at 40 km tangent height and a 10–50% positive bias at 50 km when the solar zenith angle > 75°. These biases are most likely caused by stray light which is difficult to characterize and remove entirely from the measured spectra. Nevertheless, the GBL data set approximately doubles the amount of useful GOMOS ozone profiles and improves coverage of the summer pole.
A dominant acoustic-gravity mode in the polar thermosphere
Authors: Fedorenko A. K. , Bespalova A. V. , Cheremnykh O. K. , Kryuchkov E. I.
Published: January 2015

Abstract. The article presents a summary of the main findings of the systematic study of acoustic-gravity waves (AGWs) in the polar thermosphere. This study was based on the in situ measurements made by the Dynamics Explorer 2 (DE2) spacecraft late in its mission when it descended low enough (250–400 km). It was found out that AGWs in the polar thermosphere are observed within a narrow frequency band close to the Brunt–Väisälä frequency and with horizontal wavelengths about 500–600 km. The broadband spectrum of travelling ionospheric disturbance (TID) frequencies observed by radars is caused by the Doppler effect. The AGW amplitudes do not depend on the altitude, but grow almost linearly with the wind velocity. They propagate towards the wind.
The extreme solar storm of May 1921: observations and a complex topological model
Authors: Lundstedt H. , Persson T. , Andersson V.
Published: January 2015

Abstract. A complex solid torus model was developed in order to be able to study an extreme solar storm, the so-called "Great Storm" or "New York Railroad Storm" of May 1921, when neither high spatial and time resolution magnetic field measurements, solar flare nor coronal mass ejection observations were available. We suggest that a topological change happened in connection with the occurrence of the extreme solar storm. The solar storm caused one of the most severe space weather effects ever.
Divergence of above- and belowground C and N pool within predominant plant species along two precipitation gradients in North China
Authors: Ye X. H. , Pan X. , Cornwell W. K. , Gao S. Q. , Dong M. , Cornelissen J. H. C.
Published: January 2015

Abstract. The coupling of carbon cycle and nitrogen cycle drives the food web structure and biogeochemistry of an ecosystem. However, across precipitation gradients, there may be a shift in C pool and N pool from above- to belowground because of shifting plant stoichiometry and allocation. Based on previous evidence, biomass allocation to roots should increase with aridity, while leaf [N] should increase. If their effect sizes are equal, they should cancel each other out, and the above- and belowground proportions of the N would remain constant. Here, we present the first study to explicitly compare above- and belowground pool sizes of N and C within predominant plant species along precipitation gradients. Biomass and nutrient concentrations of leaves, stems and roots of three predominant species were measured along two major precipitation gradients in Inner Mongolia, China. Along the two gradients, the effect sizes of the biomass shifts were remarkably consistent among three predominant species. However, the size of the shift in aboveground [N] was not, leading to a species-specific pattern in above- and belowground pool size. In two species (Stipa grandis and Artemisia ordosica) the effect sizes of biomass allocation and [N] were equal and the proportion of N of above- and belowground did not change with aridity, but in S. bungeana the increase in leaf [N] with aridity was much weaker than the biomass shift, leading to a decrease in the proportion of N aboveground at dry sites. We have found examples of consistent N pool sizes above- and belowground and a shift to a greater proportion of belowground N in drier sites depending on the species. We suggest that precipitation gradients do potentially decouple the C and N pool, but the exact nature of the decoupling depends on the dominant species' capacity for intraspecific variation.
Carbon storage versus albedo change: radiative forcing of forest expansion in temperate mountainous regions of Switzerland
Authors: Schwaab J. , Bavay M. , Davin E. , Hagedorn F. , Hüsler F. , Lehning M. , Schneebeli M. , Thürig E. , Bebi P.
Published: January 2015

Abstract. In this study, we assess the climate mitigation potential from afforestation in a mountainous snow-rich region (Switzerland) with strongly varying environmental conditions. Using radiative forcing calculations, we quantify both the carbon sequestration potential and the effect of albedo change at high resolution. We calculate the albedo radiative forcing based on remotely sensed data sets of albedo, global radiation and snow cover. Carbon sequestration is estimated from changes in carbon stocks based on national inventories. We first estimate the spatial pattern of radiative forcing (RF) across Switzerland assuming homogeneous transitions from open land to forest. This highlights where forest expansion still exhibits climatic benefits when including the radiative forcing of albedo change. Second, given that forest expansion is currently the dominant land-use change process in the Swiss Alps, we calculate the radiative forcing that occurred between 1985 and 1997. Our results show that the net RF of forest expansion ranges from −24 W m−2 at low elevations of the northern Prealps to 2 W m−2 at high elevations of the Central Alps. The albedo RF increases with increasing altitude, which offsets the CO2 RF at high elevations with long snow-covered periods, high global radiation and low carbon sequestration. Albedo RF is particularly relevant during transitions from open land to open forest but not in later stages of forest development. Between 1985 and 1997, when overall forest expansion in Switzerland was approximately 4%, the albedo RF offset the CO2 RF by an average of 40%. We conclude that the albedo RF should be considered at an appropriately high resolution when estimating the climatic effect of forestation in temperate mountainous regions.
CEH-GEAR: 1 km resolution daily and monthly areal rainfall estimates for the UK for hydrological use
Authors: Keller V. D. J. , Tanguy M. , Prosdocimi I. , Terry J. A. , Hitt O. , Cole S. J. , Fry M. , Morris D. G. , Dixon H.
Published: January 2015

Abstract. The Centre for Ecology & Hydrology – Gridded Estimates of Areal Rainfall (CEH-GEAR) dataset was developed to provide reliable 1 km gridded estimates of daily and monthly rainfall for Great Britain (GB) and Northern Ireland (NI) (together with approximately 3500 km2 of catchment in the Republic of Ireland) from 1890 onwards. The dataset was primarily required to support hydrological modelling. The rainfall estimates are derived from the Met Office collated historical weather observations for the UK which include a national database of raingauge observations. The natural neighbour interpolation methodology, including a normalisation step based on average annual rainfall, was used to generate the daily and monthly rainfall grids. To derive the monthly estimates, rainfall totals from monthly and daily (when complete month available) read raingauges were used in order to obtain maximum information from the raingauge network. The daily grids were adjusted so that the monthly grids are fully consistent with the daily grids. The CEH-GEAR dataset was developed according to the guidance provided by the British Standards Institution. The CEH-GEAR dataset contains 1 km grids of daily and monthly rainfall estimates for GB and NI for the period 1890–2012. For each day and month, CEH-GEAR includes a secondary grid of distance to the nearest operational raingauge. This may be used as an indicator of the quality of the estimates. When this distance is greater than 100 km, the estimates are not calculated due to high uncertainty. CEH-GEAR is available free of charge for commercial and non-commercial use subject to licensing terms and conditions. doi:10.5285/5dc179dc-f692-49ba-9326-a6893a503f6e
AS17-148-22727 – Face à la Terre
Authors: Gillet A.
Published: January 2015

Abstract. Taken by the Apollo 17 crew on 7 December 1972, AS-17-148-22727 is one of the most famous photographs ever taken. Its iconic status has been commented on by many writers. In an article entitled "Contested Global Visions" (1994), Denis Cosgrove showed the huge impact it had on the way we think and depict the world and our presence in it. However, his analysis did not address the question of its prior reorientation and reframing, which are in essence cartographic operations. Our object therefore is to focus on the difference between zenithal and horizontal viewpoints, and eventually free ourselves from our mapping conventions when looking at the Earth. The work done by Genevan anarchist Charles Perron at the turn of the 20th century on the relief map of Switzerland with a scale of 100 000 is a major landmark in that direction.
The Met Office Global Coupled model 2.0 (GC2) configuration
Authors: Williams K. D. , Harris C. M. , Bodas-Salcedo A. , Camp J. , Comer R. E. , Copsey D. , Fereday D. , Graham T. , Hill R. , Hinton T. , Hyder P. , Ineson S. , Masato G. , Milton S. F. , Roberts M. J. , Rowell D. P. , Sanchez C. , Shelly A. , Sinha B. , Walters D. N. , West A. , Woollings T. , Xavier P. K.
Published: January 2015

Abstract. The latest coupled configuration of the Met Office Unified Model (Global Coupled configuration 2, GC2) is presented. This paper documents the model components which make up the configuration (although the scientific description of these components is detailed elsewhere) and provides a description of the coupling between the components. The performance of GC2 in terms of its systematic errors is assessed using a variety of diagnostic techniques. The configuration is intended to be used by the Met Office and collaborating institutes across a range of timescales, with the seasonal forecast system (GloSea5) and climate projection system (HadGEM) being the initial users. In this paper GC2 is compared against the model currently used operationally in those two systems.
A generic approach to explicit simulation of uncertainty in the NEMO ocean model
Authors: Brankart J.-M. , Candille G. , Garnier F. , Calone C. , Melet A. , Bouttier P.-A. , Brasseur P. , Verron J.
Published: January 2015

Abstract. In this paper, a simple and generic implementation approach is presented, with the aim of transforming a deterministic ocean model (like NEMO) into a probabilistic model. With this approach, several kinds of stochastic parameterizations are implemented to simulate the non-deterministic effect of unresolved processes, unresolved scales, unresolved diversity. The method is illustrated with three applications, showing that uncertainties can produce a major effect in the circulation model, in the ecosystem model, and in the sea ice model. These examples show that uncertainties can produce an important effect in the simulations, strongly modifying the dynamical behaviour of these three components of ocean systems.
Site effect classification based on microtremor data analysis using a concentration–area fractal model
Authors: Adib A. , Afzal P. , Heydarzadeh K.
Published: January 2015

Abstract. The aim of this study is to classify the site effect using concentration–area (C–A) fractal model in Meybod city, central Iran, based on microtremor data analysis. Log–log plots of the frequency, amplification and vulnerability index (k−g) indicate a multifractal nature for the parameters in the area. The results obtained from the C–A fractal modelling reveal that proper soil types are located around the central city. The results derived via the fractal modelling were utilized to improve the Nogoshi and Igarashi (1970, 1971) classification results in the Meybod city. The resulting categories are: (1) hard soil and weak rock with frequency of 6.2 to 8 Hz, (2) stiff soil with frequency of about 4.9 to 6.2 Hz, (3) moderately soft soil with the frequency of 2.4 to 4.9 Hz, and (4) soft soil with the frequency lower than 2.4 Hz.
Spectral diagonal ensemble Kalman filters
Authors: Kasanický I. , Mandel J. , Vejmelka M.
Published: January 2015

Abstract. A new type of ensemble Kalman filter is developed, which is based on replacing the sample covariance in the analysis step by its diagonal in a spectral basis. It is proved that this technique improves the aproximation of the covariance when the covariance itself is diagonal in the spectral basis, as is the case, e.g., for a second-order stationary random field and the Fourier basis. The method is extended by wavelets to the case when the state variables are random fields which are not spatially homogeneous. Efficient implementations by the fast Fourier transform (FFT) and discrete wavelet transform (DWT) are presented for several types of observations, including high-dimensional data given on a part of the domain, such as radar and satellite images. Computational experiments confirm that the method performs well on the Lorenz 96 problem and the shallow water equations with very small ensembles and over multiple analysis cycles.
Mass changes in Arctic ice caps and glaciers: implications of regionalizing elevation changes
Authors: Nilsson J. , Sandberg Sørensen L. , Barletta V. R. , Forsberg R.
Published: January 2015

Abstract. The mass balance of glaciers and ice caps is sensitive to changing climate conditions. The mass changes derived in this study are determined from elevation changes derived measured by the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) for the time period 2003–2009. Four methods, based on interpolation and extrapolation, are used to regionalize these elevation changes to areas without satellite coverage. A constant density assumption is then applied to estimate the mass change by integrating over the entire glaciated region. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the sensitivity of the regional mass balance of Arctic ice caps and glaciers to different regionalization schemes. The sensitivity analysis is based on studying the spread of mass changes and their associated errors, and the suitability of the different regionalization techniques is assessed through cross-validation. The cross-validation results shows comparable accuracies for all regionalization methods, but the inferred mass change in individual regions, such as Svalbard and Iceland, can vary up to 4 Gt a−1, which exceeds the estimated errors by roughly 50% for these regions. This study further finds that this spread in mass balance is connected to the magnitude of the elevation change variability. This indicates that care should be taken when choosing a regionalization method, especially for areas which exhibit large variability in elevation change.
Responsabilidad del Propietario y del Naviero en el Derecho Marítimo Hondureño
Authors: García Pineda Nicolás J
Published: January 2015

La responsabilidad de los sujetos en el derecho marítimo presupone la aplicación de principios distintos con respecto a aquellos instituidos por el derecho civil. El presente artículo pretende discutir el grado de responsabilidad del propietario de buque y del naviero con especial referencia a supuestos determinados en el Código de Comercio y Convenios Internacionales, así como los diversos sistemas de limitación de responsabilidad. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5377/lrd.v34i0.1748 Revista de Derecho, Vol. 34, Nº 1, Año 2013: 55-75
Derecho al Desarrollo para los Adultos Mayores en Honduras
Authors: Berrios Shirley Patricia
Published: January 2015

En este artículo se expone el Derecho al Desarrollo para los Adultos Mayores, donde se establecen la aplicación del Pacto Internacional de Derechos Sociales, Económicos y Culturales, y de nuestra normativa nacional. Se determina si el Estado defiende y protege los derechos que deben de gozar los adultos mayores. Cocluimos que se tiene que exigir a las distintas instituciones públicas y privadas a que respete la Ley Integral de Protección al Adulto Mayor y Jubilados, ya que en nuestro país no existe un total respeto a los preceptos establecidos en los tratados internacionales. Se menciona la importancia que tiene la Dirección General del Adulto Mayor (DGMA) en cuanto a la supervisión y apoyo y socialización de la Ley Integral del Adulto Mayor. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5377/lrd.v34i0.1750 Revista de Derecho, Vol. 34, Nº 1, Año 2013: 77-89
Novedades Legislativas Año 2013
Authors: Editora La
Published: January 2015

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5377/lrd.v34i0.1752Revista de Derecho, Vol. 34, Nº 1, Año 2013: 107-110
Informe sobre los Artículos de acuerdo a las Prioridades de la U.N.A.H.
Authors: Editora La
Published: January 2015

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5377/lrd.v34i0.1771 Revista de Derecho, Vol. 34, Nº 1, Año 2013: 138-140
Errantes no Século XXI: de Construtores a Vítimas de Trabalho Precário
Authors: Sailva Filho Luís Abel , De Queiroz Silvana Nunes
Published: January 2015

A recente dinâmica econômica brasileira proporcionou bom desempenho no mercado formal de trabalho. Todos os setores de atividade econômica mostraram desempenho significativo na geração de empregos formais. Todavia, foi na construção civil que se assistiu às maiores taxas de crescimento na geração de empregos formais no Nordeste. Diante disso, este artigo tem como objetivo analisar o mercado de trabalho nesse segmento e observar a rotatividade nos postos formais de trabalho do setor. Para tanto, utilizam-se dados da Relação Anual de Informações Sociais (RAIS) e do Cadastro Geral de Empregados e Desempregados (CAGED) do Ministério do Trabalho e do Emprego (MTE). A abrangência geográfica delimita-se à região Nordeste do Brasil e o recorte temporal compreende os biênios de 2000-2001 e 2009-2010. Os principais achados confirmam a elevação dos postos de trabalho na construção civil, nas faixas mais baixas de remuneração, mesmo com a relativa melhora na escolaridade dos ocupados. Adicionalmente, registraram-se a elevadas taxas de rotatividade, mais acentuadas para a mão de obra jovem, menos escolarizada e para os postos de trabalho com rendimentos nas menores faixas de remuneração.
Dilema do Prisioneiro Iterado e Estratégia Evolucionariamente Estavel: Uma Abordagem Econômica
Authors: Almeida Helberte França , Chacha Lucas Alves
Published: January 2015

As Estratégias Evolucionariamente Estéveis (EEE) tem por objetivo analisar a seleção natural Darwiniana. No entanto, pode-se estender suas aplicações a problemas de ordem econômica. Uma estratégia é dita evolucionariamente estável se, uma vez adotada por todos os membros da população, uma pequena fração de indivíduos, denominada de mutantes, não conseguem invadir a estratégia usada pela maioria dos indivíduos da população. Denido o conceito de EEE,este artigo pretende explorar os resultados obtidos pela interação de diversas estratégias em ambientes específicos, criados em Matlab, e verificar qual ou quais estratégias podem ser consideradas EEEs. Os resultados obtidos neste artigo mostram que as estratégias estáveis sãoaquelas que utilizam-se de cooperação, mas punem as estratéegias que não cooperam.
Identificação do Nível de Desenvolvimento Regional das Microrregiões Paranaense por meio da Análise Fatorial
Authors: Turra Salatiel , Bezerra Fernanda Mendes
Published: January 2015

Este trabalho tem por objetivo identificar e analisar o desenvolvimento regional das microrregiões do estado do Paraná. Para isso, por meio da metodologia da análise fatorial é construído um nível de desenvolvimento regional, através de variáveis socioeconômicas, o qual permite examinar os fatores do desenvolvimento, bem como, classificar as microrregiões de acordo com o seu grau de desenvolvimento identificado. Os resultados mostram que, em uma escala de 0 a 100, o nível médio de desenvolvimento regional situou-se em 33,37. A classificação das microrregiões, através do grau de desenvolvimento evidencia que apenas 12,82% das microrregiões do estado encontram-se na categoria de nível de desenvolvimento regional alto, tornando-se evidente que existe necessidade de focalizar políticas públicas e/ou privadas nas microrregiões, pois a maioria delas encontram-se nas categorias de nível de desenvolvimento regional médio, baixo e muito baixo.
Effect of Topical Application of Hydro-Ethanolic Extract of Acacia nilotica Pods on Second-Degree Cutaneous Infected Burns
Authors: Kossi Metowogo  , Tchin Darré  , François Daubeuf  , Povi Lawson-Evi  , Kwashi Eklu-Gadegbeku  , Kodjo A. Aklikokou  , Gado Napo-Koura  , Nelly Frossard  , Messanvi Gbeassor
Published: January 2015

Acacia nilotica is a medicinal plant used traditionally in Togo to treat various diseases including burn wounds. The aim of this study was to evaluate experimentally Acacia nilotica burn wound healing effect.Cutaneous burn wounds were symmetrically caused on depilated areas of rat skin through contact with an aluminum bar (r = 10 mm), preheated at 80°C for 30 sec. Five groups of animal were constituted and each group contained 8 mice. Four groups of animal’s burn wounds were infected by Staphylococcus aureus. One group burn wound is uninfected and serves as negative control. Burn wounds were assessed by planimetry and histological parameters of healing. Twelve days after burn wound induction, wound contraction in the uninfected groups (negative control) was 19.9% for topical application against -2.43% for infected control. In the infected groups treated with extract, wound contraction was generally stimulates. Histological examination showed granulated tissue developing over the wounds treated with the extract of A. nilotica at 2.5% and 5% where the proliferation of fibroblasts and neo-blood vessels was very marked.In conclusion, A. nilotica pod contents tannin, flavonoids, alkaloids and protein reduces DPPH solution and significantly accelerates wound healing of burns, and this is the case even if wounds are infected with 109CFU/mL of S. aureus.
Fungi Isolated from Traditional and Exotic Apple Varieties from Portugal and Patulin Production
Authors: C.M.M. Almeida  , M.M. Lopes
Published: January 2015

The objective of our study was to examine the effects of cultivar type on developed fungi species and evaluate the potential for patulin production by fungi. In addition, patulin diffusion was also investigated. The experiments were carried out in traditional (Bravo de Esmolfe) and exotic apples (Golden, Starking, Fuji, Reineta Parda and Gala Galaxy) varieties from Portugal. High-performance liquid chromatography with solid phase extraction and UV detection (SPE-HPLC-UV) was validated and used to analyze patulin in the apple. The most prevalent fungal population was Penicillium spp and 27% of rotten fruits had patulin. Fungi of the genera Cladosporium spp., Alternaria spp., Fusarium spp. and Aspergillus spp. were also found even in apples without patulin production. The variety with the highest production of patulin was Bravo Esmolfe, however this variety showed the lowest prevalence of Penicillium spp. compared to other varieties of apples where was detected patulin.Patulin was not detected in any apples of Fuji and Gala varieties, despite having been identified fungi usually associated with the production of patulin. Thus, these two varieties are presented as the most suitable for the production of the apple based-foods.
Inferential Procedures for Comparing the Accuracy and Intrinsic Measures of Multivariate Receiver Operating Characteristic (MROC) Curve
Authors: Vardhan R. Vishnu , Sameera G. , Chandrasekharan P.A. , Beere Thulasi
Published: January 2015

A number of classification techniques are prevailing in literature. Of them, one of the most important techniques is the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve. A multivariate extension of this technique is proposed in the recent years. This technique helps in classifying the objects/individuals into one of the two classes by considering two or more markers. The most important measure of an ROC curve is the Area Under the Curve (AUC) and it explains the accuracy and discriminating ability of the test under study. There are two intrinsic measures of ROC namely sensitivity (Sn) and specificity (Sp). Further, two ROC curves can be compared by comparing their measures. The practical application of the proposed inferential procedures is explained with the help of two real datasets namely, Indian Liver Patient (ILP) Dataset and Intra Uterine Growth Restricted Fetal Doppler Study (IUGRFDS) dataset. These inferential procedures are developed based on the measures of multivariate ROC (MROC) curve proposed by Sameera G, R Vishnu Vardhan and KVS Sarma [1].
The Hybrid ROC (HROC) Curve and its Divergence Measures for Binary Classification
Authors: Balaswamy S. , Vardhan R. Vishnu , Sarma K.V.S.
Published: January 2015

In assessing the performance of a diagnostic test, the widely used classification technique is the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) Curve. The Binormal model is commonly used when the test scores in the diseased and healthy populations follow Normal Distribution. It is possible that in real applications the two distributions are different but having a continuous density function. In this paper we considered a model in which healthy and diseased populations follow half normal and exponential distributions respectively, hence named it as the Hybrid ROC (HROC) Curve. The properties and Area under the curve (AUC) expressions were derived. Further, to measure the distance between the defined distributions, a popular divergence measure namely Kullback Leibler Divergence (KLD) has been used. Simulation studies were conducted to study the functional behavior of Hybrid ROC curve and to show the importance of KLD in classification.
Evaluating Treatment Effect in Multicenter Trials with Small Centers Using Survival Modeling
Authors: Govindarajulu Usha S. , Malloy Elizabeth J.
Published: January 2015

Clinical trials of rare diseases commonly enlist several centers to achieve recruitment goals. The aim of this study is to examine the estimation of treatment effects for survival outcomes in multicenter clinical trials with varying numbers of centers and few patients per center for rarer disease outcomes (i.e. rare cancers). We modeled the heterogeneity between centers using Cox frailty models to account for the variability in patients and patient care between centers and examined measures of model fit via smoothed functions of a prognostic factor. Through a simulation study, we were able to examine the consequence of having only a few centers or a few patients per center on the treatment and prognostic factor effects and model performance indices. Overall, we found it is preferable to have more patients per site and more sites in a multicenter trial as expected. However, having a few patients per site is feasible if there are many sites in a trial.
Establishing Reliability When Multiple Examiners Evaluate a Single Case-Part II: Applications to Symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Authors: Cicchetti Domenic , Fontana Alan , Showalter Donald
Published: January 2015

In an earlier article, the authors assessed the clinical significance of each of 19 Clinician Administered PTSD Scale items and composite scores (CAPS-1) [1] when 12 clinicians evaluated a Vietnam era veteran. A second patient was also evaluated by the same 12 clinicians and used for cross-validation purposes [2]. The objectives of this follow-up research are: (1) to describe and apply novel bio-statistical methods for establishing the statistical significance of these reliability estimates when the same 12 examiners evaluated each of the two Vietnam era patients. This approach is also utilized within the broader contexts of the ideographic and nomothetic conceptualizations to science, and the interplay between statistical and clinical or practical significance; (2) to detail the steps for applying the new methodology; and (3) to investigate whether the quality of the symptoms (frequency, intensity); item content; or specific clinician affect the levels of rater reliability. The more typical (nomothetic) reliability research design focuses on group averages and broader principles related to biomedical issues, rather than the focus on the individual case (ideographic approach). Both research designs (ideographic and nomothetic) have been incorporated in this follow-up research endeavor.
Age Scale for Assessing Activities of Daily Living
Authors: Figueroa Rafael , Seino Satoshi , Yabushita Noriko , Okubo Yoshiro , Osuka Yosuke , Nemoto Miyuki , Jung Songee , Tanaka Kiyoji
Published: January 2015

The purpose of this study was to develop an age scale for assessing activities of daily living (ADL) among community-dwelling adults aged 75 years or older. Participants were 1006 older Japanese: 312 men (79.6 ± 4.3 years) and 694 women, (79.9 ± 5.5 years). Participants completed a battery of 8 performance tests related to ADL and the Barthel index (BI) questionnaire. Spearman rank-order correlation analysis was applied to obtain the correlation of the 8 ADL performance tests with the total BI score. Three variables were high rank-order correlated with BI, secondly those items were subjected to the principal component analysis. The weighted combination of the principal component scores was summed. Resulting in an ADL score (ADLS), women = 0.075 X1 – 0.082 X2 – 0.063 X3 + 0.124, men = 0.051 X1 – 0.105 X2 – 0.099 X3 + 0.249, where X1 = hand-grip strength, X2 = timed up and go, X3 = five-chair sit to stand. Individual ADLS was transformed to an ADL age scale (ADLA). The estimation was – 5.493 ADLS + 79.90 for women, and – 4.272 ADLS + 79.57 for men. Due to the distortion at the regression edges, the equation was corrected as suggested by Dubina et al. ADLA women after correction was = 0.447 (chronological age: CA) – 5.49ADLS + 44.17, men = 0.519CA – 4.27ADLS + 38.26. ADLA can be used to identify or monitor the characteristics of the ADL levels of physical abilities in older Japanese aged 75 years or older.
Estimating Mean and Standard Deviation from the Sample Size, Three Quartiles, Minimum, and Maximum
Authors: Bland Martin
Published: January 2015

Background: We sometimes want to include in a meta-analysis data from studies where results are presented as medians and ranges or interquartile ranges rather than as means and standard deviations. In this paper I extend a method of Hozo et al. to estimate mean and standard deviation from median, minimum, and maximum to the case where quartiles are also available.
Methods: Inequalities are developed for each observation using upper and lower limits derived from the minimum, the three quartiles, and the maximum. These are summed to give bounds for the sum and hence the mean of the observations, the average of these bounds in the estimate. A similar estimate is found for the sum of the observations squared and hence for the variance and standard deviation.
Results: For data from a Normal distribution, the extended method using quartiles gives good estimates of sample means but sample standard deviations are overestimated. For data from a Lognormal distribution, both sample mean and standard deviation are overestimated. Overestimation is worse for larger samples and for highly skewed parent distributions. The extended estimates using quartiles are always superior in both bias and precision to those without.
Conclusions: The estimates have the advantage of being extremely simple to carry out. I argue that as, in practice, such methods will be applied to small samples, the overestimation may not be a serious problem.