bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A new species and new records of Molophilus Curtis, 1833 (Diptera: Limoniidae) from the Western Palaearctic Region
Authors: Kolcsár Levente-Péter , Török Edina , Keresztes Lujza
Published: August 2015

Molophilus Curtis, 1833 is the most species-rich Limoniidae genus with a total number of 1006 species and subspecies, from which 97 are recorded in the Western-Palaearctic region so far. However new species are still expected from less investigated regions, like the Balkans or the Eastern Europe.

In the present article, we desrcibe a new limonid crane fly species, Molophilus balcanicus Kolcsár sp. n. from the Central Balkan area (Bulgaria). This new taxa is closely related to M. serpentiger Edwards, 1938 and M. variispinus Starý​, 1971 based on the external male genital structures, but differs from its siblings mostly in the structure of the inner and outer gonostylus. Additionally, a number of species are reported for the first time from various European countries, like M. variispinus Starý, 1971 and M. occultus de Meijere, 1918 from Romania; M. crassipygus de Meijere 1918, M. obsoletus Lackschewitz, 1940 and M. medius de Meijere, 1918 from Greece; M. flavus Goetghebuer, 1920 from Andorra; M. cinereifrons de Meijere, 1920 from Bulgaria and M. corniger Meijere, 1920 from Spain.
A Gompertz regression model for fern spores germination
Authors: Gabriel y Galán Jose María , Prada Carmen , Martínez-Calvo Cristina , Lahoz-Beltrá Rafael
Published: August 2015

Germination is one of the most important biological processes for both seed and spore plants, also for fungi. At present, mathematical models of germination have been developed in fungi, bryophytes and several plant species. However, ferns are the only group whose germination has never been modelled. In this work we develop a regression model of the germination of fern spores. We have found that for Blechnum serrulatum, Blechnum yungense, Cheilanthes pilosa, Niphidium macbridei and Polypodium feuillei species the Gompertz growth model describe satisfactorily cumulative germination. An important result is that regression parameters are independent of fern species and the model is not affected by intraspecific variation. Our results show that the Gompertz curve represents a general germination model for all the non-green spore leptosporangiate ferns, including in the paper a discussion about the physiological and ecological meaning of the model.
Constructing a psychological coping profile in the call centre environment: Wellness-related dispositions in relation to resiliency-related behavioural capacities
Authors: Harry Nisha
Published: August 2015

Orientation: The context of this research is the coping and wellness of call centre agents in a characteristically high-stress work environment. Research purpose: The purpose of the study was to construct a psychological coping profile by investigating the overall relationship between individuals’ wellness-related dispositional attributes and their resiliency-related behavioural capacities. Motivation of the study: It is important that coping in the call centre environment be understood in light of the complexity of the challenges that call centre agents experience in terms of their wellbeing. Research design, approach and method: A quantitative cross-sectional survey approach was followed, using a non-probability purposive sample (N = 409) comprising predominantly early career, permanently employed black females in call centres in Africa. Main findings: A canonical correlation analysis indicated a significant overall relationship between the wellness-related constructs (sense of coherence, emotional intelligence and burnout) and the resiliency-related constructs (career adaptability and hardiness). Structural equation modelling indicated that managing own emotions and cynicism contributed significantly to explaining the participants’ resiliency-related behavioural capacities (hardicommitment and hardi-control). Practical/managerial implications: Enhancing call centre agents’ emotional intelligence and lowering cynicism will increase resiliency-related capacities, such as sense of control and commitment, and will significantly increase the resiliency and capacity of call centre agents to cope with pressure, which can lead to positive work attitudes. Contribution/value-add: The findings may provide valuable pointers for the design of wellness intervention practices and could potentially add to the body of knowledge concerned with employee wellness in call centres.
Erythematous candidiasis leading to systemic manifestations of human immunodeficiency virus co-infection with secondary syphilis: A diagnostic and therapeutic dilemma
Authors: Suvirya Swastika , Gandhi Rahul , Agarwal Jyotsana , Patil Ranjitkumar
Published: August 2015

The intensification of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and rising frequency of immunocompromised individuals have resulted in a resurgence of opportunistic infections. The most common opportunistic oral fungal infection in HIV-positive individuals is oral candidiasis. The classical presentation is as white scrapable form called as thrush, which is easily diagnosed and treated. The clinician is presented with a diagnostic and management dilemma when these lesions appear in new facades such as erythematous candidiasis, the latter's prevalence with HIV and AIDS being well established. In this case report, we present a case of Erythematous Candidiasis, which was associated with type 1 HIV co-infected with syphilis. We highlight the diagnostic importance of a naive looking manifestation of the tongue which was followed by a series of challenging presentations of secondary syphilis. Since the patient had a negative Veneral Disease Research Laboratory and left us with a management dilemma, the article also features the importance of prozone phenomenon (seen in 2% cases of secondary syphilis), and it's higher association with HIV co-infected individuals. With confusing clinical oral manifestations associated with these diseases, the dentist might be the first person to encounter such lesions, who should be able to recognize erythematous candidiasis and correlate them with the underlying pathology.
Stress distribution of endodontically treated teeth with titanium alloy post and carbon fiber post with different alveolar bone height: A three-dimensional finite element analysis
Authors: Singh S. Vijay , Bhat Manohar , Gupta Saurabh , Sharma Deepak , Satija Harsha , Sharma Sumeet
Published: August 2015

Objective: A three-dimensional (3D) finite element analysis (FEA) on the stress distribution of endodontically treated teeth with titanium alloy post and carbon fiber post with different alveolar bone height. Materials and Methods: The 3D model was fabricated using software to represent an endodontically treated mandibular second premolar with post and restored with a full ceramic crown restoration, which was then analyzed using FEA using FEA ANSYS Workbench V13.0 (ANSYS Inc., Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.A) software. Results: The FEA showed the maximum stresses of 137.43 Mpa in dentin with alveolar bone height of 4 mm when the titanium post was used, 138.48 Mpa when carbon fiber post was used as compared to 105.91 Mpa in the model with alveolar bone height of 2 mm from the cement enamel junction (CEJ) when the titanium post was used and 107.37 Mpa when the carbon fiber post was used. Conclusions: Stress was observed more in alveolar bone height level of 4 mm from CEJ than 2 mm from CEJ. Stresses in the dentin were almost similar when the carbon fiber post was compared to titanium post. However, stresses in the post and the cement were much higher when titanium post was used as compared to carbon fiber post.
Pulp tissue dissolution capacity of QMix 2in1 irrigation solution
Authors: Arslan Dilara , Guneser Mehmet Burak , Kustarci Alper , Er Kursat , Siso Seyda Herguner
Published: August 2015

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the tissue dissolution efficacy of four root canal irrigation solutions (sodium hypochlorite [NaOCl], chlorhexidine gluconate [CHX], Octenidine [OCT], and QMix 2in1) on bovine pulp tissue. Materials and Methods: Fifty bovine pulp tissue samples, each weighing 6.55 mg, were prepared and randomly divided into four experimental groups and one control group (n = 10) according to the dissolution irrigants used: (1) 5.25% NaOCl group; (2) 2% CHX group; (3) OCT group; (4) QMix 2in1 group; and (5) control group (saline solution). These samples were then placed into special bovine dentin reservoir models and immersed for 1 h with each test solution (0.1 mL of each) at room temperature. The pulp samples were then blotted dry and weighed again. The percentage of weight loss was calculated. Statistically analyzed with one-way analysis of variance and post-hoc Tukey tests (P = 0.05). Results: Saline solution did not dissolve the bovine pulp tissue. All groups, except OCT, dissolved pulp samples more effectively than the control group (P < 0.05). The highest tissue dissolution was observed in 5.25% NaOCl group (P < 0.05). No statistically significant difference was found between the tissue-dissolving effect between QMix 2in1 and those of 2% CHX. Conclusions: Within the limitations of this in vitro study, NaOCl exhibited the best tissue-dissolving effect out of all solutions tested. CHX and QMix 2in1 were able to dissolve pulp tissue but less than NaOCl. OCT and saline solutions could not exhibit significantly tissue-dissolving effectiveness. This study shown that QMix 2in1 has little capacity to dissolve pulp tissue therefore used alone is not sufficient for this purpose.
Unusual intraosseous capillary hemangioma of the mandible
Authors: Dereci Omur , Acikalin Mustafa Fuat , Ay Sinan
Published: August 2015

Intraosseous hemangioma is a benign vascular neoplasm, which is mostly seen in vertebrae, maxillofacial bones, and long bones. Intraosseous hemangioma is rarely seen on jaw bones compared to other skeletal bones and usually occurs in the cavernous form. Capillary intraosseous hemangioma of jaws is an uncommon form of intraosseous hemangioma and has not been thoroughly described so far. In this study, a case of capillary intraosseous hemangioma of the mandible was presented with relevant literature review.
Relationship between periodontal status and degree of visual impairment in institutionalized individuals
Authors: da Cunha Luana Dias , Proença Mariana Almeida Melo , Rodrigues Vandilson Pinheiro , Pereira Adriana Fátima Vasconcelos , Benatti Bruno Braga
Published: August 2015

Objective: Periodontal disease is a set of inflammatory infections that affect the supporting structures of the dentition. Patients with visual impairment (VI) may have more difficulty in cleaning and maintaining oral health. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible relationship between periodontal status and degree of VI in institutionalized individuals. Materials and Methods: Fifty-two visually impaired individuals were included in this cross-sectional study. The periodontal parameters assessed were clinical attachment level (CAL), probing depth (PD), and visible plaque index. The degree of VI was established as: Group 1 (mild or moderate VI), Group 2 (severe or profound VI), and Group 3 (completely blind); and the types of VI were considered as congenital and acquired. Fisher's exact, Kruskal–Wallis, Mann–Whitney, and Spearman correlation coefficient test were used. The level of significance was set at 5%. Result: Only plaque index was higher on proximal surfaces of subjects with mild/moderate VI when compared to the other degrees of VI (P = 0.01). Furthermore, we observed higher values for interproximal CAL (P = 0.01), total PD (P = 0.04), and interproximal PD in subjects with acquired VI when compared to subjects with congenital VI (P = 0.01). Conclusions: These findings suggest that periodontal status may be more related to the type of disability than with the degree of VI. Acquired VI people presented a worse periodontal health than the group with congenital VI.
Pleasantness of facial profile and its correlation with soft tissue cephalometric parameters: Perception of orthodontists and lay people
Authors: Marchiori Geraldo Eugênio , Sodré Leonardo Oliveira , da Cunha Tereza Cristina Rodrigues , Torres Fernando César , Rosário Henrique Damian , Paranhos Luiz Renato
Published: August 2015

Objective: This study was aimed to evaluate the perception of orthodontists and of lay people about the facial profile and its possible correlation with cephalometrics parameters. Materials and Methods: A total of 20 evaluators were divided into two groups (10 orthodontists and 10 people with no relation to such area – lay people). They were asked to evaluate the photographs of 25 young males and of 25 young females, aged 17–24-year-old (mean age of 22.3 years, standard deviation 2.41 years). Photographs were randomly arranged in a photo album. The evaluators rated each photograph by means of a scale ranging from “good” to “deficient” based on the pleasantness of their facial profile. Nasolabial angle, Holdaway's H-line and the distance from H-line to nose tip were measured, in order to verify a possible relation between these soft tissue profile cephalometric measurements and the subjective ratings. Results: The kappa statistics test showed a concordance of 0.23 among orthodontists and 0.24 among lay people. Regarding the perception of orthodontists and lay people on facial profile, no significant divergence could be detected. For the correlation between cephalometric parameters and subjective ratings, there was a statistically significant correlation between the measures H and H-nose and the rating ascribed to the profile. Conclusions: It was concluded that smaller the difference from the normal cephalometric pattern, the higher was the rating given to the profile, demonstrating an important relation between subjective and objective criteria.
Implant-supported hybrid prosthesis: Conventional treatment method for borderline cases
Authors: Egilmez Ferhan , Ergun Gulfem , Cekic-Nagas Isil , Bozkaya Suleyman
Published: August 2015

An implant-supported hybrid prosthesis is an acrylic resin complete fixed dental prosthesis and supported by implants might be a solution in extreme cases that the need of the restoration for esthetics, function, lip support, and speech. This clinical report aims to present the esthetic and functional prosthetic rehabilitation of three borderline cases with implant-supported hybrid prostheses. Patient 1 (62-year-old man) and Patient 2 (61-year-old man) presented a chief complaint of a compromised esthetic. After clinical evaluations, in Patient 1, 8 implants in the maxilla and 7 implants in mandibula were observed. Patient 2 had 7 implants in the maxilla and 7 implants in mandibula, which were previously placed. The intra-arch dimension of both patients was excessive and an insufficient peri-oral soft tissue support was observed. Patient 3 was a 61-year-old man had 2 implants with a history of previously implanted graft infection and implant loss on his maxillary posterior jaw. An excessive intra-arch dimension was observed in clinical examination. In addition, massive bone defect and insufficient soft tissue support were examined. In all patients, implant-supported hybrid prostheses were successfully performed. The clinical and radiologic findings were satisfactory. After 3 years of follow-up, no functional, phonetic, or esthetic problems with the restorations were noted. These case reports suggest that implant-supported hybrid prostheses can be a reliable alternative treatment procedure when a porcelain-fused metal fixed restoration does not satisfy a patient's requirements for esthetics, phonetics, oral hygiene, and oral comfort.
Oral health and nutrition as gatekeepers to overall health: We are all in this together
Authors: Stanski Rebecca , Palmer Carole A.
Published: August 2015

Oral diseases are prevalent worldwide and have significant health implications. Complex multidirectional relationships exist among oral health, general health, and nutrition, although the extent of these relationships is not completely understood. The purpose of this review was to examine some of the known relationships among oral health, general health, and nutrition and to provide nutrition-based recommendations for patients with common systemic and oral conditions.
Chlorine dioxide: An ideal preprocedural mouthrinse in dental set-up
Authors: Saini Rajiv
Published: August 2015

Background: Aerosols generated during ultrasonic scaling is a potential risk factor for cross-contamination in dental settings. The aim of this study is to evaluate and compare the efficacy of commercially available chlorine dioxide as preprocedural mouthrinses in reducing the level of viable bacteria in aerosols. Materials and Methods: This single-center clinical double-blinded study was conducted over a period of 4 months. A total of 80 patients were divided randomly into two groups (A and B) of 40 patients each to receive the chlorine dioxide mouthwash and water as preprocedural rinse. The aerosol produced by the ultrasonic unit was collected at five standardized location with respect to the reference point, that is, the mouth of the patient. The blood agar plates were incubated at 37°C for 48 h, and total number of colony-forming units (CFUs) was counted and statistically analyzed. Results: The results showed that CFUs in test group A were significantly reduced compared with control group B, P < 0.001 (analysis of variance). The numbers of CFUs were highest in the patient chest area and lowest at the patient front, that is, 6 o′ clock position. Conclusion: This study proves that a regular preprocedural mouthrinse with chlorine dioxide could significantly reduce aerosols generated during professional oral prophylaxis.
Perceived sources of stress among dental college students: An Indian perspective
Authors: Sekhon Tegbir Singh , Grewal Simran , Gambhir Ramandeep Singh , Sharma Sumit
Published: August 2015

Background: Identification of the potential sources of stress is important in dental education program, as it gives opportunity to take various measures to prevent stress in the dental school environment. The purpose of the present study was to address various sources of stress among dental school students and its relation with gender and year of the study. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire based cross-sectional study was conducted among 3rd and 4th year students of a dental school. Questionnaire used in the study comprised the modified version of the questionnaire used in Dental Environmental Stress. A four-point Likert scale was used to record the responses from the subjects. A total of 174 subjects participated in the study. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS package version 16. Results: Of the participants, 39% (68) were males and 61% (106) were females. Majority of students felt stressed about academic performance, clinic/patient related stress, and career related stress. Top stressors in academic performance related stress were exam and grade stress (95%), followed by fear of failing (90.5%), lack of time between tests/clinics, and criticism at work (94%). Mean stress scores were significantly related to year and gender of students. Conclusion: Worries about fulfilling clinical requirements, academics, exam stress, and insecurity regarding career were the major sources of stress reported by the clinical year dental students in the present study.
Safety evaluation on pH and fluoride content of locally available and packaged milk as a potential factor in dental fluorosis in Jaipur, India
Authors: Vishnani Preeti , Nagaraj Anup , Yousuf Asif , Ganta Shravani , Pareek Sonia , Acharya Siddharth , Singh Kushpal
Published: August 2015

Objective: Milk being the most consumed food in the 1st years of life and the fluoride exposure through infant foods including milk, during the critical period of tooth development may lead to dental fluorosis. Thus, the aim of the study was to assess and compare the pH using digital pH meter and fluoride content using the spectrophotometric method of locally available and packaged milk in Jaipur. Materials and Methods: Fluoride and pH analysis were carried out among 3 milk groups: (i) Locally available milk (ii) packet milk and (iii) packaged tetra-pack milk. A total of 19 samples were included in the study. Results: The mean fluoride content was found to be 0.017 (±0.003 standard error of mean) with a range of 0.001-0.02. The pH of the milk samples was found to be in the range of 4.46-7.11. Conclusion: In view of the results of the present study, milk consumption has no major impact on total daily dietary fluoride intake, but the pH of the soy-based tetra-pack milk was found to be less than critical pH.
Desquamative gingivitis: A clinical sign in mucous membrane pemphigoid
Authors: Abbayya Keshava , Kadashetti Vidya , Baad Rajendra , Lohana Mohini
Published: August 2015

Gingival desquamation is a clinical sign in which the gingiva appears reddish, friable with desquamation of epithelium. It may be the result of various disease process such as, mucous membrane pemphigoid (MMP), oral lichen planus, and pemphigus vulgaris which accounts for a major cause of desquamation. MMP is a rare chronic autoimmune disorder characterized by subepithelial bullae clinically and suprabasilar split histologically most commonly affecting the oral cavity manifesting as a desquamative gingivitis. Here is a case of pemphigoid appearing as a desquamative gingivitis.
Ash iron mobilization through physicochemical processing in volcanic eruption plumes: a numerical modeling approach
Authors: Hoshyaripour G. A. , Hort M. , Langmann B.
Published: August 2015

Abstract. It has been shown that volcanic ash fertilizes the Fe-limited areas of the surface ocean through releasing soluble iron. As ash iron is mostly insoluble upon the eruption, it is hypothesized that heterogeneous in-plume and in-cloud processing of the ash promote the iron solubilization. Direct evidences concerning such processes are, however, lacking. In this study, a 1-D numerical model is developed to simulate the physicochemical interactions of the gas–ash–aerosol in volcanic eruption plumes focusing on the iron mobilization processes at temperatures between 600 and 0 °C. Results show that sulfuric acid and water vapor condense at ~ 150 and ~ 50 °C on the ash surface, respectively. This liquid phase then efficiently scavenges the surrounding gases (> 95 % of HCl, 3–20 % of SO2 and 12–62 % of HF) forming an extremely acidic coating at the ash surface. The low pH conditions of the aqueous film promote acid-mediated dissolution of the Fe-bearing phases present in the ash material. We estimate that 0.1–33 % of the total iron available at the ash surface is dissolved in the aqueous phase before the freezing point is reached. The efficiency of dissolution is controlled by the halogen content of the erupted gas as well as the mineralogy of the iron at ash surface: elevated halogen concentrations and presence of Fe2+-carrying phases lead to the highest dissolution efficiency. Findings of this study are in agreement with the data obtained through leaching experiments.
The radiative impact of desert dust on orographic rain in the Cevennes–Vivarais area: a case study from HyMeX
Authors: Flamant C. , Chaboureau J.-P. , Chazette P. , Di Girolamo P. , Bourrianne T. , Totems J. , Cacciani M.
Published: August 2015

Abstract. The study is focused on Intensive Observation Period (IOP) 14 of the Hydrology Cycle in the Mediterranean Experiment first Special Observing Period (HyMeX SOP 1) that took place from 17 to 19 October and was dedicated to the study of orographic rain in the Cevennes Vivarais (CV) target area. During this IOP a dense dust plume originating from North Africa (Maghreb and Sahara) was observed to be transported over the Balearic Islands towards the south of France. The plume was characterized by an aerosol optical depth between 0.2 and 0.8 at 550 nm, highly variable in time and space over the Western Mediterranean basin. The impact of this dust plume, the biggest event observed during the 2 month long HyMeX SOP 1, on the precipitation over the CV area has been analyzed using high resolution simulations from the convection permitting mesoscale model Meso-NH validated against measurements obtained from numerous instruments deployed specifically during SOP 1 (ground-based/airborne water vapor and aerosol lidars, airborne microphysics probes) as well as space-borne aerosol products. The 4 day simulation reproduced realistically the temporal and spatial variability (incl. vertical distribution) of the dust. The dust radiative impact led to an average 0.6 K heating at the altitude of the dust layer in the CV area (and up to +3 K locally) and an average 100 J kg-1 increase of most unstable convective available potential energy (and up to +900 J kg-1 locally) with respect to a simulation without prescribed dust aerosols. The rainfall amounts and location were only marginally affected by the dust radiative effect, even after 4 days of simulation. The transient nature of this radiative effect in dynamical environments such as those found in the vicinity of heavy precipitation events in the Mediterranean is not sufficient to impact 24 h accumulated rainfall in the dusty simulation.
Possible influence of atmospheric circulations on winter hazy pollution in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, northern China
Authors: Zhang Z. , Zhang X. , Gong D. , Kim S.-J. , Mao R. , Zhao X.
Published: August 2015

Abstract. Using the daily records derived from the synoptic weather stations and the NCEP/NCAR and ERA-Interim reanalysis data, the variability of the winter hazy pollutions (indicated by the mean visibility and number of hazy days) in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region during the period 1981 to 2015 and its relationship to the atmospheric circulations in middle-high latitude were analyzed in this study. The winter hazy pollution in BTH had distinct inter-annual and inter-decadal variabilities without a significant long-term trend. According to the spatial distribution of correlation coefficients, six atmospheric circulation indices (I1 to I6) were defined from the key areas in sea level pressure (SLP), zonal and meridional winds at 850 hPa (U850, V850), geopotential height field at 500 hPa (H500), zonal wind at 200 hPa (U200), and air temperature at 200 hPa (T200), respectively. All of the six indices have significant and stable correlations with the winter visibility and number of hazy days in BTH. Both the visibility and number of hazy days can be estimated well by using the six indices and fitting and the cross-validation with leave-N-out method, respectively. The high level of the prediction statistics and the reasonable mechanism suggested that the winter hazy pollutions in BTH can be forecasted or estimated credibly based on the optimized atmospheric circulation indices. However, we also noted that the statistic estimation models would be largely influenced by the artificial control of a pollutant discharge. Thus it is helpful for government decision-making departments to take actions in advance in dealing with probably severe hazy pollutions in BTH indicated by the atmospheric circulation conditions.
Development of coccolithophore-based transfer functions in the Western Mediterranean Sea: a sea surface salinity reconstruction for the last 15.5 kyr
Authors: Ausín B. , Hernández-Almeida I. , Flores J.-A. , Sierro F.-J. , Grosjean M. , Francés G. , Alonso B.
Published: August 2015

Abstract. A new dataset of 88 marine surface sediment samples and related oceanic environmental variables (temperature, salinity, chlorophyll a, oxygen, etc.) was studied to quantify the relationship between assemblages of coccolithophore species and modern environmental conditions in the Western Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, west of the Strait of Gibraltar. Multivariate statistical analyses revealed that coccolithophore species were primarily related to the sea surface salinity (SSS) gradient, which explains an independent and significant proportion of variance in the coccolithophore data. A quantitative coccolithophore-based transfer function to estimate SSS was developed using the Modern Analog Technique (MAT) and weighted-averaging partial-least square regression (WA-PLS). The bootstrapped regression coefficient (R2boot) was 0.85MAT and 0.80WA-PLS, with root-mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of 0.29MAT and 0.30WA-PLS (psu). The resulting transfer function was applied to fossil coccolithophore assemblages in the highly resolved (∼ 65 yr) sediment core CEUTA10PC08 from the Alboran Sea (Western Mediterranean) in order to reconstruct SSS for the last 25 kyr. The reliability of the reconstruction was evaluated by assessing the degree of similarity between fossil and modern coccolithophore assemblage, and comparison of reconstruction with fossil ordination scores. Analogs were poor for the stadials associated with Heinrich Event 2 and 1 and part of the Last Glacial Maximum. Good analogs indicate more reliable reconstruction of the SSS for the last 15.5 kyr. During this period, several millennial and centennial SSS changes were observed and associated with variations in the Atlantic Water entering the Alboran Sea, sea-level oscillations, and arid or humid atmospheric conditions in the Western Mediterranean.
Soil moisture–precipitation coupling: observations from the Oklahoma Mesonet and underlying physical mechanisms
Authors: Ford T. W. , Rapp A. D. , Quiring S. M. , Blake J.
Published: August 2015

Abstract. Interactions between soil moisture and the atmosphere are driven by the partitioning of sensible and latent heating, through which soil moisture has been connected to atmospheric modifications that could potentially lead to the initiation of convective precipitation. The majority of previous studies linking the land surface to subsequent precipitation have used atmospheric reanalysis or model data sets. In this study, we link in situ observations of soil moisture from more than 100 stations in Oklahoma to subsequent unorganized afternoon convective precipitation. We use hourly next generation (NEXRAD) radar-derived precipitation to identify convective events, and then compare the location of precipitation initiation to underlying soil moisture anomalies in the morning. Overall we find a statistically significant preference for convective precipitation initiation over drier than normal soils, with over 70 % of events initiating over soil moisture below the long-term median. The significant preference for precipitation initiation over drier than normal soils is in contrast with previous studies using satellite-based precipitation to identify the region of maximum precipitation accumulation. We evaluated 19 convective events occurring near Lamont, Oklahoma, where soundings of the atmospheric profile at 06:00 and 12:00 LST are also available. For these events, soil moisture has strong negative correlations with the level of free convection (LFC), planetary boundary layer (PBL) height, and surface temperature changes between 06:00 and 12:00 LST. We also find strong positive correlations between morning soil moisture and morning-to-afternoon changes in convective available potential energy and convective inhibition. In general, the results of this study demonstrate that both positive and negative soil moisture feedbacks are important in this region of the USA.
FINDING A GOOD FEATURE DETECTOR-DESCRIPTOR COMBINATION FOR THE 2D KEYPOINT-BASED REGISTRATION OF TLS POINT CLOUDS
Authors: Urban S. , Weinmann M.
Published: August 2015

Abstract. The automatic and accurate registration of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) data is a topic of great interest in the domains of city modeling, construction surveying or cultural heritage. While numerous of the most recent approaches focus on keypoint-based point cloud registration relying on forward-projected 2D keypoints detected in panoramic intensity images, little attention has been paid to the selection of appropriate keypoint detector-descriptor combinations. Instead, keypoints are commonly detected and described by applying well-known methods such as the Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) or Speeded-Up Robust Features (SURF). In this paper, we present a framework for evaluating the influence of different keypoint detector-descriptor combinations on the results of point cloud registration. For this purpose, we involve five different approaches for extracting local features from the panoramic intensity images and exploit the range information of putative feature correspondences in order to define bearing vectors which, in turn, may be exploited to transfer the task of point cloud registration from the object space to the observation space. With an extensive evaluation of our framework on a standard benchmark TLS dataset, we clearly demonstrate that replacing SIFT and SURF detectors and descriptors by more recent approaches significantly alleviates point cloud registration in terms of accuracy, efficiency and robustness.
AUTOMATIC REGISTRATION OF APPROXIMATELY LEVELED POINT CLOUDS OF URBAN SCENES
Authors: Moussa A. , Elsheimy N.
Published: August 2015

Abstract. Registration of point clouds is a necessary step to obtain a complete overview of scanned objects of interest. The majority of the current registration approaches target the general case where a full range of the registration parameters search space is assumed and searched. It is very common in urban objects scanning to have leveled point clouds with small roll and pitch angles and with also a small height differences. For such scenarios the registration search problem can be handled faster to obtain a coarse registration of two point clouds. In this paper, a fully automatic approach is proposed for registration of approximately leveled point clouds. The proposed approach estimates a coarse registration based on three registration parameters and then conducts a fine registration step using iterative closest point approach. The approach has been tested on three data sets of different areas and the achieved registration results validate the significance of the proposed approach.
AN ASSESSMENT OF CITIZEN CONTRIBUTED GROUND REFERENCE DATA FOR LAND COVER MAP ACCURACY ASSESSMENT
Authors: Foody G. M.
Published: August 2015

Abstract. It is now widely accepted that an accuracy assessment should be part of a thematic mapping programme. Authoritative good or best practices for accuracy assessment have been defined but are often impractical to implement. Key reasons for this situation are linked to the ground reference data used in the accuracy assessment. Typically, it is a challenge to acquire a large sample of high quality reference cases in accordance to desired sampling designs specified as conforming to good practice and the data collected are normally to some degree imperfect limiting their value to an accuracy assessment which implicitly assumes the use of a gold standard reference. Citizen sensors have great potential to aid aspects of accuracy assessment. In particular, they may be able to act as a source of ground reference data that may, for example, reduce sample size problems but concerns with data quality remain. The relative strengths and limitations of citizen contributed data for accuracy assessment are reviewed in the context of the authoritative good practices defined for studies of land cover by remote sensing. The article will highlight some of the ways that citizen contributed data have been used in accuracy assessment as well as some of the problems that require further attention, and indicate some of the potential ways forward in the future.
QOS MANAGEMENT IN REAL-TIME SPATIAL BIG DATA USING FEEDBACK CONTROL SCHEDULING
Authors: Hamdi S. , Bouazizi E. , Faiz S.
Published: August 2015

Abstract. Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computer system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of spatial data. Spatial data, whether captured through remote sensors or large scale simulations has always been big and heterogenous. The issue of real-time and heterogeneity have been extremely important for taking effective decision. Thus, heterogeneous real-time spatial data management has become a very active research domain. Existing research has principally focused on querying of real-time spatial data and their updates. But the unpredictability of access to data maintain the behavior of the real-time GIS unstable. In this paper, we propose the use of the real-time Spatial Big Data and we define a new architecture called FCSA-RTSBD (Feedback Control Scheduling Architecture for Real-Time Spatial Big Data). The main objectives of this architecture are the following: take in account the heterogeneity of data, guarantee the data freshness, enhance the deadline miss ratio even in the presence of conflicts and unpredictable workloads and finally satisfy the requirements of users by the improving of the quality of service (QoS).
MODELLING THE CONSTRAINTS OF SPATIAL ENVIRONMENT IN FAUNA MOVEMENT SIMULATIONS: COMPARISON OF A BOUNDARIES ACCURATE FUNCTION AND A COST FUNCTION
Authors: Jolivet L. , Cohen M. , Ruas A.
Published: August 2015

Abstract. Landscape influences fauna movement at different levels, from habitat selection to choices of movements’ direction. Our goal is to provide a development frame in order to test simulation functions for animal’s movement. We describe our approach for such simulations and we compare two types of functions to calculate trajectories. To do so, we first modelled the role of landscape elements to differentiate between elements that facilitate movements and the ones being hindrances. Different influences are identified depending on landscape elements and on animal species. Knowledge were gathered from ecologists, literature and observation datasets. Second, we analysed the description of animal movement recorded with GPS at fine scale, corresponding to high temporal frequency and good location accuracy. Analysing this type of data provides information on the relation between landscape features and movements. We implemented an agent-based simulation approach to calculate potential trajectories constrained by the spatial environment and individual’s behaviour. We tested two functions that consider space differently: one function takes into account the geometry and the types of landscape elements and one cost function sums up the spatial surroundings of an individual. Results highlight the fact that the cost function exaggerates the distances travelled by an individual and simplifies movement patterns. The geometry accurate function represents a good bottom-up approach for discovering interesting areas or obstacles for movements.
EVALUATING VOXEL ENABLED SCALABLE INTERSECTION OF LARGE POINT CLOUDS
Authors: Wang J. , Lindenbergh R. , Menenti M.
Published: August 2015

Abstract. Laser scanning has become a well established surveying solution for obtaining 3D geo-spatial information on objects and environment. Nowadays scanners acquire up to millions of points per second which makes point cloud huge. Laser scanning is widely applied from airborne, carborne and stable platforms, resulting in point clouds obtained at different attitudes and with different extents. Working with such different large point clouds makes the determination of their overlapping area necessary but often time consuming. In this paper, a scalable point cloud intersection determination method is presented based on voxels. The method takes two overlapping point clouds as input. It consecutively resamples the input point clouds according to a preset voxel cell size. For all non-empty cells the center of gravity of the points in contains is computed. Consecutively for those centers it is checked if they are in a voxel cell of the other point cloud. The same process is repeated after interchanging the role of the two point clouds. The quality of the results is evaluated by the distance to the pints from the other data set. Also computation time and quality of the results are compared for different voxel cell sizes. The results are demonstrated on determining he intersection between an airborne and carborne laser point clouds and show that the proposed method takes 0.10%, 0.15%, 1.26% and 14.35% of computation time compared the the classic method when using cell sizes of of 10, 8, 5 and 3 meters respectively.
A NOVEL APPROACH TO VETERINARY SPATIAL EPIDEMIOLOGY: DASYMETRIC REFINEMENT OF THE SWISS DOG TUMOR REGISTRY DATA
Authors: Boo G. , Fabrikant S. I. , Leyk S.
Published: August 2015

Abstract. In spatial epidemiology, disease incidence and demographic data are commonly summarized within larger regions such as administrative units because of privacy concerns. As a consequence, analyses using these aggregated data are subject to the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP) as the geographical manifestation of ecological fallacy. In this study, we create small area disease estimates through dasymetric refinement, and investigate the effects on predictive epidemiological models. We perform a binary dasymetric refinement of municipality-aggregated dog tumor incidence counts in Switzerland for the year 2008 using residential land as a limiting ancillary variable. This refinement is expected to improve the quality of spatial data originally aggregated within arbitrary administrative units by deconstructing them into discontinuous subregions that better reflect the underlying population distribution. To shed light on effects of this refinement, we compare a predictive statistical model that uses unrefined administrative units with one that uses dasymetrically refined spatial units. Model diagnostics and spatial distributions of model residuals are assessed to evaluate the model performances in different regions. In particular, we explore changes in the spatial autocorrelation of the model residuals due to spatial refinement of the enumeration units in a selected mountainous region, where the rugged topography induces great shifts of the analytical units i.e., residential land. Such spatial data quality refinement results in a more realistic estimation of the population distribution within administrative units, and thus, in a more accurate modeling of dog tumor incidence patterns. Our results emphasize the benefits of implementing a dasymetric modeling framework in veterinary spatial epidemiology.
A USER-DRIVEN SELECTION OF VGI BASED ON MINIMUM ACCEPTABLE QUALITY LEVELS
Authors: Bordogna G. , Carrara P. , Criscuolo L. , Pepe M. , Rampini A.
Published: August 2015

Abstract. Despite Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) activities are now extremely helpful in a number of scientific applications, researchers and decision makers oppose some resistance to the usage of volunteered contributions, due to quality issues. Several methods and workflows have been proposed to face quality issues in different VGI projects, usually built ad-hoc for specific datasets, thus resulting neither extensible nor transferable. In order to overcome this weakness, the authors propose to perform an user-driven assessment on VGI items in order to filter only those that satisfy minimally acceptable quality levels defined according to their specific quality requirements and project goals. In the present work the users, i.e., information consumers, are seen as decision makers and are allowed to set the minimum acceptable quality levels Thus the approach proposes a user driven assessment of the fitness for use of VGI items. The paper first briefly presents a view on VGI components and suitable quality indices, then it describes a logic architecture for managing them and for enabling a querying mechanism to the datasets. The approach is finally exemplified with a case study simulation.
AUTOMATIC DETECTION OF BUILDING POINTS FROM LIDAR AND DENSE IMAGE MATCHING POINT CLOUDS
Authors: Maltezos E. , Ioannidis C.
Published: August 2015

Abstract. This study aims to detect automatically building points: (a) from LIDAR point cloud using simple techniques of filtering that enhance the geometric properties of each point, and (b) from a point cloud which is extracted applying dense image matching at high resolution colour-infrared (CIR) digital aerial imagery using the stereo method semi-global matching (SGM). At first step, the removal of the vegetation is carried out. At the LIDAR point cloud, two different methods are implemented and evaluated using initially the normals and the roughness values afterwards: (1) the proposed scan line smooth filtering and a thresholding process, and (2) a bilateral filtering and a thresholding process. For the case of the CIR point cloud, a variation of the normalized differential vegetation index (NDVI) is computed for the same purpose. Afterwards, the bare-earth is extracted using a morphological operator and removed from the rest scene so as to maintain the buildings points. The results of the extracted buildings applying each approach at an urban area in northern Greece are evaluated using an existing orthoimage as reference; also, the results are compared with the corresponding classified buildings extracted from two commercial software. Finally, in order to verify the utility and functionality of the extracted buildings points that achieved the best accuracy, the 3D models in terms of Level of Detail 1 (LoD 1) and a 3D building change detection process are indicatively performed on a sub-region of the overall scene.
EXPLICITLY ACCOUNTING FOR UNCERTAINTY IN CROWDSOURCED DATA FOR SPECIES DISTRIBUTION MODELLING
Authors: Rocchini D. , Comber A. , Garzon-Lopez C. X. , Neteler M. , Barbosa A. M. , Marcantonio M. , Groom Q. , da Costa Fonte C. , Foody G. M.
Published: August 2015

Abstract. Species distribution models represent an important approach to map the spread of plant and animal species over space (and time). As all the statistical modelling techniques related to data from the field, they are prone to uncertainty. In this study we explicitly dealt with uncertainty deriving from field data sampling; in particular we propose i) methods to map sampling effort bias and ii) methods to map semantic bias.
HOWMUCH DO WE KNOWABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS TO VOLUNTEERED GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION AND CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECTS?
Authors: Mooney P. , Morgan L.
Published: August 2015

Abstract. In the last number of years there has been increased interest from researchers in investigating and understanding the characteristics and backgrounds of citizens who contribute to Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) and Citizen Science (CS) projects. Much of the reluctance from stakeholders such as National Mapping Agencies, Environmental Ministries, etc. to use data and information generated and collected by VGI and CS projects grows from the lack of knowledge and understanding about who these contributors are. As they are drawn from the crowd there is a sense of the unknown about these citizens. Subsequently there are justifiable concerns about these citizens’ ability to collect, generate and manage high quality and accurate spatial, scientific and environmental data and information. This paper provides a meta review of some of the key literature in the domain of VGI and CS to assess if these concerns are well founded and what efforts are ongoing to improve our understanding of the crowd.