bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Teachers' Experience as Foreign Language Online Learners
Authors: Wang Congcong
Published: February 2018

Due to the continuing linguistic and cultural diversity among K-12 students in the US and across the English-speaking world and the increasing influence of digital technologies on learning, this qualitative study was conducted to explore pre-service teachers' perceptions of learning a foreign language online, and how such experience influences teaching linguistically, culturally, and technologically diverse students. Participants comprised 35 teacher education students, all of whom took a 9-week online Chinese language/culture course. A variety of surveys with closed and open-ended questions were conducted before, during, and after the course. Data were collected online and then coded and analyzed. The participants' responses suggested that: 1) new forms of online learning were engaging to teacher-learners with diverse learning styles, prior technological experience, needs, and goals; 2) the pre-service teachers perceived that online foreign language learning during their teacher education program enhanced their linguistic, cultural, and technological awareness; and 3) the participants felt that they benefited from being prepared to work with linguistic, cultural, and technological diversity in classrooms. This study has implications for similar contexts around the world.
The Activity System of Higher Education Students Using Technology
Authors: Murphy Elizabeth , Rodríguez-Manzanares María A.
Published: February 2018

This chapter presents a review of studies and reports of students' use of technology in higher education published primarily in the U.S. and Canada from 2005 to 2012. The review is conducted using an Activity Theory framework that organizes information from the literature according to the components of the activity system—subject, tools, object, norms, community, division of labour, and outcomes. The chapter concludes with a summary of the activity system and limitations of the approach.
Human Systems Engineering and Educational Technology
Authors: Roscoe Rod D. , Branaghan Russell J. , Cooke Nancy J. , Craig Scotty D.
Published: February 2018

The design and development of educational technologies is a complex, interdisciplinary endeavor. Learning science research reveals principles of learning and instruction, and advances in computer science implement these principles in innovative technologies. This chapter promotes a complementary discipline—human systems engineering or “user science”—that emphasizes designing with human users' goals, needs, capabilities, and limitations in mind. Systematic and iterative human systems engineering should contribute to educational technologies that are more functional, usable, desirable, and ultimately more effective. The authors overview key human systems engineering principles (e.g., usability and user experience) and methods (e.g., cognitive task analysis, contextual inquiry, heuristic evaluation, and participatory design), and then consider example applications from research on automated writing evaluation technologies. The chapter concludes with broad research questions posed to researchers, developers, and educators in the field of educational technology.
Adaptation of Descriptive Metadata for Managing Educational Resources in the GREDOS Repository
Authors: Morgado Erla M. Morales , Ortuño Rosalynn A. Campos , Yang Ling Ling , Ferreras-Fernández Tránsito
Published: February 2018

In this chapter the authors describe a Project entitled “Divulgación de Recursos Educativos Digitales (DIRED)” (Divulgation of Digital Educational Resources) addressed to promoting specific educational resources and mobile apps for educational proposals in order to manage them through the institutional repository of the Salamanca University (GREDOS). The authors present a proposal for describing learning objects based on pedagogical information, digital competences and learning styles. The authors also suggest educational information for classifying useful mobile apps. To achieve their suitable access and recovery, the authors focus on the use of Learning Object specific metadata in digital repositories such as LOM (Learning Object Metadata). The authors study the metadata mapping necessary to adapt from LOM to Qualified Dublin Core, because this is the standard used in the GREDOS repository built with a DSpace platform. Finally, the authors present their implementation of Learning Object Description in the GREDOS repository.
Adult Learners Online
Authors: Morris Adam A. , Miller Michael T.
Published: February 2018

The current chapter describes how adult learners of different cultures experience and respond to online learning, and what different instructional strategies and personnel in higher education can do to develop an appropriately delivered online experience. Adult learners approach formal education differently than younger children (Olsen & Clark, 1977), namely the utilitarian functions of education and the application of learning to personal experiences, and personal needs are paramount to the learning experience (Peters & Associates, 1980). This foundation has a limited element of cultural differentiation and is complicated by using one-size-fits all online courses. Instructors, administrators, and instructional designers must all collaborate to re-think and re-build the effective online course experience: an experience with a hallmark of flexibility and diversified instructional techniques. Effective cultural responsiveness can greatly improve adult learning and potentially respond to a unique group of learner motivations.
Brand Anthropomorphism
Authors: Wandel Tamara L.
Published: February 2018

This chapter addresses brand anthropomorphism, in particular how sports mascots can be utilized on social media to increase emotional connectivity with fans and their affiliated teams. The history and role of mascots and present day usage encourages understanding of how narratives are a positive and promising tool for marketing communication professionals and those in the sports and entertainment industry. Interviews were conducted with personnel associated with mascots to gain insights into the concept of brand anthropomorphism. Also, an online survey was conducted on mascot brand attributes and results were presented. The ability to personify a brand has significant managerial implications, and this chapter demonstrates how social media platforms may drive brand loyalty.
Play It Like Beckham!
Authors: Castellano Sylvaine , Khelladi Insaf
Published: February 2018

New opportunities and challenges are emerging thanks to the growing Internet importance and social media usage. Although practitioners have already recognized the strategic dimension of e-reputation and the power of social media, academic research is still in its infancy when it comes to e-reputation determinants in a social networks context. A study was conducted in the sports setting to explore the impact of social networks on the sportspeople's e-reputation. Whereas the study emphasized (1) the influence of social networks' perception on the sportspeople's e-reputation, and the neutral roles of (2) the motives for following sportspeople online, and (3) the negative content on the Internet, additional insights are formulated on maintaining, restoring and managing e-reputation on social networks. Finally, future research directions are suggested on the role of image to control e-reputation.
Sports Marketing and Social Media
Authors: Mohammadkazemi Reza
Published: February 2018

In this chapter, we are going to focus on the impact of Social media to change the marketing world in every industry. Social media marketing (SMM) has had a particular impact in the field of sports marketing. Social media in sports has effectively rendered a new style of communication with important implications for the field. The fans' connection to sports is changing and social media is creating a whole new channel for the fans to interact and be a part of the action beyond that which they may hope to achieve by physically being present at the stadium or the ballpark. Sports organizations today are reliant upon social media for their continued success and growth. This chapter describes how social media is being used amongst sports organizations and how it has changed the sports industry.
Views on Sports Sponsorship in Singapore
Authors: Wai Lyon Lai Mun
Published: February 2018

Sports sponsorship is growing and this figure is projected to rise exponentially (Belzer, 2013). Hence, the sporting arena has approached a platform where sponsorship has become an intricate pillar in the sports industry (Hoye et al., 2012). Whilst it is widely acknowledged that sponsorship is able to advance the profit margins of sponsors (Boyle, 2001), there is little literature documenting the views of sports sponsorship in Singapore. This chapter seeks to identify the key stakeholders in the local sports sponsorship as well as the acknowledged elements in a successful collaboration. References are made to the local sporting scene based on qualitative feedback collected from relevant personnel and set against common practices worldwide based on the literature review of current papers. A model of how these factors are interlinked is finally proposed.
The Effect of E-Service Quality on Football Fan Satisfaction and Fan Loyalty Toward the Websites of Their Favorable Football Teams
Authors: Pool Javad Khazaei , Dehghan Ali , Jamkhaneh Hadi Balouei , Jaberi Akbar , Sharifkhani Maryam
Published: February 2018

The purpose of the current study was to examine the effect of electronic service quality on fan satisfaction and fan loyalty in the online environment. Selection of three hundred and fifty-six fans of a famous sports club was through random sampling using the club's website. AMOS used structural equation modeling for data analysis. Results provided strong support on the effect of electronic service quality (E-S-QUAL) on fan satisfaction and fan loyalty toward the website of their favorable football teams. Business enterprises have well researched e-service quality and loyalty. However, limited research exists in the sports context. This paper provides valuable insight into the measurement of e-service quality and fan loyalty in the sport and offers a foundation for future marketing research.
Enabling Creativity
Authors: Boesch Becky
Published: February 2018

This chapter uses current developments in cognitive neuroscience to explore the notion that educational activities should involve the whole person. To that end, the author explains in depth an undergraduate college assignment that allows for learning through the coupling of creativity (divergent) and analysis (convergent) thinking in an integrative learning task. First, students explore the concept of metaphor which provides both mental association and ambiguity. With this underpinning, students experience three very different types of gardens and try to uncover the metaphors of nature lying within their design. Students record a journal and take images of the gardens and later create a photographic montage of each garden which reflects the metaphor that the students saw emerging in the garden itself. Accompanying the visual image is a written reflection which discusses the metaphor they experienced sensually in the garden and how it is represented in their images.
Integrating Interpersonal Neurobiology Into the Play Therapy Process
Authors: Taylor Dalena L. Dillman , Wheeler Naomi Joy
Published: February 2018

Advancements in neuroscience provide theoretical support for principles and practices of counseling and play therapy intervention (Badenoch & Kestley, 2015; Siegel, 2012). Likewise, AdPT shares many conceptual similarities with IPNB and neuroscience research including emphasis on childhood experience, social interest and relationships, purposefulness of behavior, holism, and the internalized narrative or self-schema. This chapter per the authors will (a) develop connections from neuroscience and IPNB to play and play therapy, (b) review the IPNB model's domains of integration and their relationship to AdPT, and (c) provide an updated AdPT framework that encompasses the most recent neuroscience empirical support.
Neuromarketing Perspective of Consumer Choice
Authors: Lahmiri Salim
Published: February 2018

Behavioural research attempts to study how individuals make decisions and interact and influence other individuals, organizations, markets and society. In this regard, applied neuroscience in human decision-making has gained an increasing attention in recent decades with emergence of two disciplines; namely neuroeconomics and neuromarketing. Indeed, neuroeconomics has emerged as a multidisciplinary research area that integrates knowledge from neuroscience, psychology, and economics to better understand economic decision making and to specify more accurate models of choice and decision. In particular, neuroeconomics is becoming an attractive area of study and research in financial decision making with particular emphasis on understanding investor sentiment and fear when faced to different investment opportunities characterized by various scenarios. In particular, it aims to understand and explain consumer decision process and influence of marketing key factors on consumer choice. As a result, companies may define appropriate marketing strategies based on neuromarketing studies.
Neuroscience Applications on the Assessments of TV Ads
Authors: Çakar Tuna , Gez Kaan
Published: February 2018

The progress in neurotechnologies has enabled a potentially better and cheaper analysis for the neural signals not limited to medical applications but influencing several fields from marketing to economics and law to ethics. Since the main targets have been to understand the brain mechanisms better as well as providing useful applications specifically regarding the sector-specific interest, one related application has been about the assessments of TV ads as a complementary and more objective tool than traditional methods that rely on the verbal self-reports and interviews that could be speculative and misleading depending on the given context. For assessing several TV ads within a shorter duration, the use of neuroscientific methods has attracted much interest. This chapter will focus on the current practices with the given constructs for the TV ad research specifically in relation to the practices such as attention, emotional engagement, individual preference, and market success.
The Neuroscience of Social Television
Authors: Seixas Shaun A , Nield Geoffrey E , Pynta Peter , Silberstein Richard B
Published: February 2018

In a short few years, social media has become the dominant way in which we communicate with the outside world. It has become prevalent in almost every aspect of our daily lives, but one of the most significant changes social media has had, has been on the way we watch television. This phenomenon, known as dual screening, has caused some concern amongst marketers and advertisers, who believed that this behaviour was having an overall negative impact on consumer engagement with television. This chapter attempts to address some of these concerns by providing evidence obtained from the neurosciences and from a case study. The evidence we present in this chapter demonstrates the opposite effect, whereby social media can actually be used to enhance viewer engagement.
Rational, Emotional, and Neural Foundations of Economic Preferences
Authors: Chandan Harish C.
Published: February 2018

Classical economics assumes human economic decision making is completely rational and dominated by self-interest. Behavior economics emerged to account for the fact that human economic preferences are often influenced by emotional and psychological factors leading to inconsistent, intransitive, and irrational decisions that fail to maximize utility and minimize cost and transcend only self-interest. Both rationality and emotions are seated in the human brain in the prefrontal cortex and limbic system, respectively. The brain imaging methods of neuroscience help in understanding the interplay between economic behavior and neural mechanisms. The human economic decision making behavior involves computational and neurobiological processes and is related to the psychological processes. Classical Economics, Psychology, and Neuroscience converge in Neuroeconomics to better understand and predict human economic decision-making. Neuromarketing is an emerging field that uses neuroscience techniques to understand economic preferences of consumers.
Theorizing Sociomaterial Practices
Authors: Styhre Alexander
Published: February 2018

The recent interest in sociomaterial practices and forms of imbrication of social and material resources in, for example, studies of the use of information technology and information systems in organizations, has called for new theoretical developments to enact and fully understand materiality. This chapter examines the work of French philosopher Gilbert Simondon as an important, yet to date little explored resource in organization studies. Following Orlikowski's call for a relational ontology apprehending the enfolding of materiality and social resources, Simondon's analytical framework, which includes key concepts such as individual-tion, transduction, and relations, is presented. The chapter contributes to the recent debates regarding how to theorize and examine material resources such as information and communication technologies used in organizations.
Exploring the Determinants Affecting Academics' Knowledge-Sharing Behavior in United Arab Emirates Public Universities
Authors: Skaik Huda , Othman Roslina
Published: February 2018

This chapter investigates knowledge-sharing practice among academics, examines the relationship between knowledge-sharing behavior and its predictors based on theory of planned behavior, and identifies the motivators and barriers affecting these predictors. Data were collected using a web-based questionnaire. Using SPSS and PLS-SEM, the analysis process involved (1) measuring the extent of knowledge sharing practice, (2) assessing the measurement model, (3) assessing the structural model, (4) testing the hypotheses, (5) validating research model fit. Results showed (1) great extent of knowledge-sharing practice, (2) knowledge-sharing behavior is significantly affected by intention, which is affected by attitude, subjective norms, self-efficacy, but not affected by controllability, (3) attitude is positively affected by trust and reputation as motivators of knowledge sharing, while controllability is negatively affected by lack of time and poor communication as barriers of knowledge sharing. This is the first research on knowledge-sharing behavior in higher education in UAE.
Knowledge-Intensive Evolutionary Algorithms for Solving a Healthcare Fleet Optimization Problem
Authors: Catania Carlos Adrian , Zanni-Merk Cecilia , Bertrand de Beuvron François de , Collet Pierre
Published: February 2018

In this chapter, the authors show how knowledge engineering techniques can be used to guide the definition of evolutionary algorithms (EA) for problems involving a large amount of structured data, through the resolution of a real problem. Various representations of the fitness functions, the genome, and mutation/crossover operators adapted to different types of problems (routing, scheduling, etc.) have been proposed in the literature. However, real problems including specific constraints (legal restrictions, specific usages, etc.) are often overlooked by the proposed generic models. To ensure that these constraints are effectively considered, the authors propose a methodology based on the structuring of the conceptual model underlying the problem, as a labelled domain ontology suitable for optimization by EA. The authors show that a precise definition of the knowledge model with a labelled domain ontology can be used to describe the chromosome, the evaluation functions, and the crossover and mutation operators. The authors show the details for a real implementation and some experimental results.
Women Leaders in Higher Education
Authors: Ellington Linda
Published: February 2018

An interesting inquiry is whether women leaders are desiring, dismissing, or being disqualified from senior leadership positions in the global K-20 educational academy. Why is there a leadership underrepresentation of those born female? It may be that women leaders have not been socialized in accordance with the male-centric leadership model; they are relatively outsiders who must forge new ways of leading. This chapter's author embarked on a small literature search of history to identify what is not new to us, but possibly forgotten – the experiences and lessons learned from women leaders who met challenges through their bold and effective leadership, as they forged paths for us. There is a feeling of belonging to the past, but not fully understanding it. There is a sense of having acquired a pressing but obscure responsibility, along with a peculiar female ancestry, for us to be the twenty-first century generation in a long line of uncommon women. The insights in this chapter are presented through a simple folktale, asking the question, Where is Walda?
New Hybrid Genetic Based Approach for Real-Time Scheduling of Reconfigurable Embedded Systems
Authors: Gharbi Ibrahim , Gharsellaoui Hamza , Bouamama Sadok
Published: February 2018

This journal article deals with the problem of real-time scheduling of operating systems (OS) tasks by a hybrid genetic-based scheduling algorithm. Indeed, most of real-time systems are framed with aid of priority-based scheduling algorithms. Nevertheless, when such a scenario is applied to save the system at the occurrence of hardware-software faults, or to improve its performance, some real-time properties can be violated at run-time. In contrast, most of the applications of real-time systems are based on timing constraints, i.e. OS tasks should be scheduled properly to finish their execution within the time specified by the real-time systems. For this reason, the authors propose in their article, a hybrid genetic-based scheduling approach that automatically checks the systems feasibility after any reconfiguration scenario was applied to an embedded system. A benchmark example is given, and the experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the originally proposed genetic-based scheduling approach over other such classical genetic algorithmic approaches.
Analysing Open Data in Virtual Research Environments
Authors: Zuiderwijk Anneke
Published: February 2018

This article describes how virtual research environments (VREs) offer new opportunities for researchers to analyse open data and to obtain new insights for policy making. Although various VRE-related initiatives are under development, there is a lack of insight into how VREs support collaborative open data analysis by researchers and how this might be improved, ultimately leading to input for policy making to solve societal issues. This article clarifies in which ways VREs support researchers in open data analysis. Seven cases presenting different modes of researcher support for open data analysis were investigated and compared. Four types of support were identified: 1) ‘Figure it out yourself', 2) ‘Leading users by the hand', 3) ‘Training to provide the basics' and 4) ‘Learning from peers'. The author provides recommendations to improve the support of researchers' open data analysis and to subsequently obtain new insights for policy making to solve societal challenges.
Information Security and Ecosystems in Smart Cities
Authors: Touq Ahmed Bin , Ijeh Anthony
Published: February 2018

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the impact of ecosystems on Information Security in Smart Cities using Dubai as a case study. Innovative interconnected systems can affect the integrity of the information used by residents and citizens if not properly secured. The case study research method was used to examine the impact of the Internet of Everything on secure information exchanges. Data collected from the case study was used to assess the smartness of the urban development in managing its communication processes and information assets in a secure and confidential manner. The limitations of the study are found in its focus on one single city. By evaluating processes used to obtain information from interconnected systems, steps can be taken that would help to reduce threats in thriving innovative urban environments. The findings support the theory and perceptions held by management practitioners and information security specialists.
Risk Management Usage and Impact on Information Systems Project Success
Authors: Reed April H. , Angolia Mark
Published: February 2018

This article explores the usage of risk management practices on virtual Information Systems projects to address the growing industry practice of geographically separated teams. A survey of 557 virtual-project managers assessed usage of risk management practices and association with successful outcomes. The Theory of Reasoned Action is used to model attitudes and behavior. Correlation analysis indicated a strong relationship between risk management and successful outcomes, irrespective of success measured by budget, functionality, or schedule. Findings indicated that while the highest levels of risk management usage were characteristic of project success for virtual projects, many well-trained project managers are short-cutting use of all three core practices. While risk assessment and risk control are typically performed, only 52% of participants completed the final step of developing a risk management plan. This may not only lead to sub-optimal project outcomes, but also renders the first two actions an inefficient use of resources.
Airway Management in Athletes Wearing Lacrosse Equipment
Authors: Bowman Thomas G. , Boergers Richard J. , Lininger Monica R.
Published: February 2018

Context: 

Patient ventilation volume and rate have been found to be compromised due to the inability to seal a pocket mask over the chinstrap of football helmets. The effects of supraglottic airway devices such as the King LT and of lacrosse helmets on these measures have not been studied.

Objective: 

To assess the effects of different airway management devices and helmet conditions on producing quality ventilations while performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on simulation manikins.

Design: 

Crossover study.

Setting: 

Simulation laboratory.

Patients or Other Participants: 

Thirty-six athletic trainers (12 men, 24 women) completed this study.

Intervention(s): 

Airway-management device (pocket mask, oral pharyngeal airway, King LT airway [KA]) and helmet condition (no helmet, Cascade helmet, Schutt helmet, Warrior helmet) served as the independent variables. Participant pairs performed 2 minutes of 2-rescuer cardiopulmonary resuscitation under 12 trial conditions.

Main Outcome Measure(s): 

Ventilation volume (mL), ventilation rate (ventilations/min), rating of perceived difficulty (RPD), and percentage of quality ventilations were the dependent variables.

Results: 

A significant interaction was found between type of airway-management device and helmet condition on ventilation volume and rate (F12,408 = 2.902, P < .0001). In addition, a significant interaction was noted between airway-management device and helmet condition on RPD scores (F6,204 = 3.366, P = .003). The no-helmet condition produced a higher percentage of quality ventilations compared with the helmet conditions (P ≤ .003). Also, the percentage of quality ventilations differed, and the KA outperformed each of the other devices (P ≤ .029).

Conclusions: 

The helmet chinstrap inhibited quality ventilation (rate and volume) in airway procedures that required the mask to be sealed on the face. However, the KA allowed quality ventilation in patients wearing a helmet with the chinstrap fastened. If a KA is not available, the helmet may need to be removed to provide quality ventilations.
On joins and intersections of subgroups in free groups
Authors: Ivanov Sergei V.
Published: February 2018

We study graphs of (generalized) joins and intersections of finitely generated subgroups of a free group. We show how to disprove a lemma of Imrich and Müller on these graphs, how to repair the lemma and how to utilize it.
Evidence for pyrazine-based chromophores in cloudwater mimics
containing methylglyoxal and ammonium sulfate
Authors: Hawkins Lelia Nahid , Greer Welsh Hannah , Von Alexander Matthew
Published: February 2018

Abstract. Simulating aqueous brown carbon (aqBrC) formation from small molecule amines and aldehydes in cloud water mimics provides insight into potential humic-like substance (HULIS) contributors and their effect on local and global aerosol radiative forcing. Previous work has shown that these (Maillard type) reactions generate products that are chemically, physi- cally, and optically similar to atmospheric HULIS in many significant ways, including in their complexity. Despite numerous characterization studies, attribution of the intense brown color of many aqBrC systems to specific compounds remains in- complete. In this work, we present evidence of novel pyrazine-based chromophores (PBC) in the product mixture of aqueous solutions containing methylglyoxal and ammonium sulfate. PBC observed here include 2,5-dimethyl pyrazine (DMP) and products of methylglyoxal addition to the pyrazine ring. This finding is significant as the literature of Maillard reactions in food chemistry tightly links the formation of pyrazine (and related compounds) to browning in foods. We investigated both the roles of cloud processing (by bulk evaporation) and pH on absorptivity and product distribution in microliter samples to understand the contribution of these PBC to aqBrC properties. In agreement with previous work, we observed elevated absorptivity across the entire UV/visible spectrum following simulated cloud processing as well as higher absorptivity in more basic samples. Absorptivity of the pH 2 sample, following evaporation, exceeded that of the unevaporated pH 9 sample, indicating that cloud processing can overcome the previously observed kinetic barrier imposed on aqBrC formation in acidic conditions. Further, the fraction of pyrazine compounds in the product mixture increased by up to a factor of four in response to drying with a maximum observed contribution of 16 % at pH 5. Therefore, cloud processing under more acidic conditions may produce PBC at the expense of imine and imidazole-derived compounds. This finding has implications for further BrC reactivity and degradation pathways.
Long-term evaluation of air sensor technology under ambient conditions in Denver, Colorado
Authors: Feinberg Stephen , Williams Ron , Hagler Gayle S. W. , Rickard Joshua , Brown Ryan , Garver Daniel , Harshfield Greg , Stauffer Phillip , Mattson Erick , Judge Robert , Garvey Sam
Published: February 2018

Abstract. Air pollution sensors are quickly proliferating for use in a wide variety of applications, with a low price point that supports use in high density networks, citizen science, and individual consumer use. This emerging technology motivates the assessment under real-world conditions, including varying pollution levels and environmental conditions. A seven-month, systematic field evaluation of low-cost air pollution sensors was performed in Denver, Colorado over 2015–2016; the location chosen to evaluate the sensors in a high altitude, cool, and dry climate. A suite of particulate matter (PM), Ozone (O3), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) sensors were deployed in triplicate, and were collocated with Federal Equivalent Method (FEM) monitors at an urban regulatory site. Sensors were evaluated for their data completeness, correlation with reference monitors, and ability to reproduce trends in pollution data, such as daily concentration values and wind-direction patterns. Most sensors showed high data completeness when data loggers were functioning properly. The sensors displayed a range of correlations with reference instruments, from poor to very high (e.g. hourly-average PM Pearson correlations with reference measurements varied from 0.01 to 0.86). Some sensors showed a change in response to laboratory audits/testing from before the sampling campaign to afterwards, such as the Aeroqual, where the O3 response slope changed from about 1.2 to 0.6. Some PM sensors measured wind-direction and time of day trends similar to those measured by reference monitors, while others did not. This study showed different results for sensor performance than previous studies performed by the U.S. EPA and others, which could be due to different geographic location, meteorology, and aerosol properties. These results imply that continued field testing is necessary to understand emerging air sensing technology.
Continuous measurements of nitrous oxide isotopomers during incubation experiments
Authors: Winther Malte , Balslev-Harder David , Christensen Søren , Priemé Anders , Elberling Bo , Crosson Eric , Blunier Thomas
Published: February 2018

Abstract. Nitrous oxide (N2O) is an important and strong greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. It is produced by microbes during nitrification and denitrification in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The main sinks for N2O are turnover by denitrification and photolysis and photo-oxidation in the stratosphere. In the linear N = N = O molecule 15N substitution is possible in two distinct positions: central and terminal. The respective molecules, 14N15N16O and 15N14N16O, are called isotopomers. It has been demonstrated that N2O produced by nitrifying or denitrifying microbes exhibits a different relative abundance of the isotopomers. Therefore, measurements of the site preference (difference in the abundance of the two isotopomers) in N2O can be used to determine the source of N2O, i.e., nitrification or denitrification. Recent instrument development allows for continuous position-dependent δ15N measurements at N2O concentrations relevant for studies of atmospheric chemistry. We present results from continuous incubation experiments with denitrifying bacteria, Pseudomonas fluorescens (producing and reducing N2O) and Pseudomonas chlororaphis (only producing N2O). The continuous measurements of N2O isotopomers reveals the transient isotope exchange among KNO3, N2O, and N2. We find bulk isotopic fractionation of −5.01 ‰ ± 1.20 for P. chlororaphis, in line with previous results for production from denitrification. For P. fluorescens, the bulk isotopic fractionation during production of N2O is −52.21 ‰ ± 9.28 and 8.77 ‰ ± 4.49 during N2O reduction.The site preference (SP) isotopic fractionation for P. chlororaphis is −3.42 ‰ ± 1.69. For P. fluorescens, the calculations result in SP isotopic fractionation values of 5.73 ‰ ± 5.26 during production of N2O and 2.41 ‰ ± 3.04 during reduction of N2O. In summary, we implemented continuous measurements of N2O isotopomers during incubation of denitrifying bacteria and believe that similar experiments will lead to a better understanding of denitrifying bacteria and N2O turnover in soils and sediments and ultimately hands-on knowledge on the biotic mechanisms behind greenhouse gas exchange of the globe.
Anatomical structure overrides temperature controls on magnesium uptake – calcification in the Arctic/subarctic coralline algae Leptophytum laeve and Kvaleya epilaeve (Rhodophyta; Corallinales)
Authors: Nash Merinda C. , Adey Walter
Published: February 2018

Abstract. Calcified coralline red algae are ecologically key organisms in photic
benthic environments. In recent decades they have become important climate
proxies, especially in the Arctic and subarctic. It has been widely accepted
that magnesium content in coralline tissues is directly a function of ambient
temperature, and this is a primary basis for their value as a climate
archive. In this paper we show for two genera of Arctic/subarctic corallines,
Leptophytum laeve and Kvaleya epilaeve, that previously
unrecognised complex tissue and cell wall anatomy bears a variety of basal
signatures for Mg content, with the accepted temperature relationship being
secondary. The interfilament carbonate has lower Mg than adjacent cell walls
and the hypothallial cell walls have the highest Mg content. The internal
structure of the hypothallial cell walls can differ substantially from the
perithallial radial cell wall structure. Using high-magnification scanning
electron microscopy and etching we expose the nanometre-scale structures within the
cell walls and interfilament. Fibrils concentrate at the internal and
external edges of the cell walls. Fibrils ∼ 10 nm thick appear
to thread through the radial Mg-calcite grains and form concentric bands
within the cell wall. This banding may control Mg distribution within the
cell. Similar fibril banding is present in the hypothallial cell walls but
not the interfilament. Climate archiving with corallines can achieve greater
precision with recognition of these parameters.
Ecophysiological characteristics of red, green and brown strains of the Baltic picocyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. – a laboratory study
Authors: Śliwińska-Wilczewska Sylwia , Cieszyńska Agata , Maculewicz Jakub , Latała Adam
Published: February 2018

Abstract. The bloom of picocyanobacteria (PCY), accompanied by a drastic ecological crisis is a new phenomenon in Europe, which requires careful investigation. Therefore, this work examined the response of Synechococcus sp. physiology to different environmental conditions. Three strains of Synechococcus sp. (red BA-120, green BA-124 and brown BA-132) were cultivated in a laboratory under previously determined environmental conditions. These conditions were as follows: temperature (T) from 10 by 5 to 25 °C, salinity from 3 by 5 to 18 and Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) from 10 by 90 to 280 μmol photons m−2 s−1, which gave 64 combinations of synthetic, though real environmental conditions. Scenarios reflecting all possible combinations were applied in the laboratory experiments. Results pointed to differences in growth rates between strains. However, there was also a similar pattern for BA-124 and BA-132, which showed the highest concentrations of picocyanobacteria cells at higher T and PAR. This was also found to be true for BA-120, but only to a certain degree as the growth rates started to decrease above 190 μmol photons m−2 s−1 PAR. Pigmentation, chlorophyll a (Chl a), fluorescence and rate of photosynthesis presented both similarities and differences between the strains. In this context, more consistent features were observed for brown and red strains when compared to the green. In this paper are defined the ecophysiological responses of PCY.
Global Downscaling of Remotely-Sensed Soil Moisture using Neural Networks
Authors: Alemohammad Seyed Hamed , Kolassa Jana , Prigent Catherine , Aires Filipe , Gentine Pierre
Published: February 2018

Abstract. Characterizing soil moisture at spatio-temporal scales relevant to land surface processes (i.e. of the order of a kilometer) is necessary in order to quantify its role in regional feedbacks between land surface and the atmospheric boundary layer. Moreover, several applications such as agricultural management can benefit from soil moisture information at fine spatial scales. Soil moisture estimates from current satellite missions have a reasonably good temporal revisit over the globe (2–3 days repeat time); however, their finest spatial resolution is 9 km. NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite estimates soil moisture at two different spatial scales of 36 km and 9 km since April 2015. In this study, we develop a neural networks-based downscaling algorithm using SMAP observations and disaggregate soil moisture to 2.25 km spatial resolution. Our approach uses mean monthly Normalized Differenced Vegetation Index (NDVI) as an ancillary data to quantify sub-pixel heterogeneity of soil moisture. Evaluation of the downscaled soil moisture estimates against in situ observations shows that their accuracy is better than or equal to the SMAP 9 km soil moisture estimates.
Assessment of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model for simulation of extreme rainfall events in the upper Ganga Basin
Authors: Chawla Ila , Osuri Krishna K. , Mujumdar Pradeep P. , Niyogi Dev
Published: February 2018

Abstract. Reliable estimates of extreme rainfall events are necessary for an accurate prediction of floods. Most of the global rainfall products are available at a coarse resolution, rendering them less desirable for extreme rainfall analysis. Therefore, regional mesoscale models such as the advanced research version of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model are often used to provide rainfall estimates at fine grid spacing. Modelling heavy rainfall events is an enduring challenge, as such events depend on multi-scale interactions, and the model configurations such as grid spacing, physical parameterization and initialization. With this background, the WRF model is implemented in this study to investigate the impact of different processes on extreme rainfall simulation, by considering a representative event that occurred during 15–18 June 2013 over the Ganga Basin in India, which is located at the foothills of the Himalayas. This event is simulated with ensembles involving four different microphysics (MP), two cumulus (CU) parameterizations, two planetary boundary layers (PBLs) and two land surface physics options, as well as different resolutions (grid spacing) within the WRF model. The simulated rainfall is evaluated against the observations from 18 rain gauges and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Multi-Satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) 3B42RT version 7 data. From the analysis, it should be noted that the choice of MP scheme influences the spatial pattern of rainfall, while the choice of PBL and CU parameterizations influences the magnitude of rainfall in the model simulations. Further, the WRF run with Goddard MP, Mellor–Yamada–Janjic PBL and Betts–Miller–Janjic CU scheme is found to perform best in simulating this heavy rain event. The selected configuration is evaluated for several heavy to extremely heavy rainfall events that occurred across different months of the monsoon season in the region. The model performance improved through incorporation of detailed land surface processes involving prognostic soil moisture evolution in Noah scheme compared to the simple Slab model. To analyse the effect of model grid spacing, two sets of downscaling ratios – (i) 1 : 3, global to regional (G2R) scale and (ii) 1 : 9, global to convection-permitting scale (G2C) – are employed. Results indicate that a higher downscaling ratio (G2C) causes higher variability and consequently large errors in the simulations. Therefore, G2R is adopted as a suitable choice for simulating heavy rainfall event in the present case study. Further, the WRF-simulated rainfall is found to exhibit less bias when compared with the NCEP FiNaL (FNL) reanalysis data.
Design and evaluation of a continuum robot with extendable balloons
Authors: Yarbasi Efe Yamac , Samur Evren
Published: February 2018

Abstract. This article presents the design and preliminary evaluation of a novel
continuum robot actuated by two extendable balloons. Extendable balloons are
utilized as the actuation mechanism of the robot, and they are attached to
the tip from their slack sections. These balloons can extend very much in
length without having a significant change in diameter. Employing two
balloons in an axially extendable, radially rigid flexible shaft, radial
strain becomes constricted, allowing high elongation. As inflated, the
balloons apply a force on the wall of the tip, pushing it forward. This force
enables the robot to move forward. The air is supplied to the balloons by an
air compressor and its flow rate to each balloon can be independently
controlled. Changing the air volumes differently in each balloon, when they
are radially constricted, orients the robot, allowing navigation. Elongation
and force generation capabilities and pressure data are measured for
different balloons during inflation and deflation. Afterward, the robot is
subjected to open field and maze-like environment navigation tests. The
contribution of this study is the introduction of a novel actuation mechanism
for soft robots to have extreme elongation (2000 %) in order to be
navigated in substantially long and narrow environments.
Characteristics of debris avalanche deposits inferred from source volume estimate and hummock morphology around Mt. Erciyes, central Turkey
Authors: Hayakawa Yuichi S. , Yoshida Hidetsugu , Obanawa Hiroyuki , Naruhashi Ryutaro , Okumura Koji , Zaiki Masumi , Kontani Ryoichi
Published: February 2018

Abstract. Debris avalanches caused by volcano sector collapse often form characteristic
depositional landforms such as hummocks. Sedimentological and
geomorphological analyses of debris avalanche deposits (DADs) are crucial to
clarify the size, mechanisms, and emplacement of debris avalanches. We
describe the morphology of hummocks on the northeastern flank of Mt. Erciyes
in Kayseri, central Turkey, likely formed in the late Pleistocene. Using a
remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) and the structure-from-motion and
multi-view stereo (SfM–MVS) photogrammetry, we obtained high-definition
digital elevation model (DEM) and orthorectified images of the hummocks to
investigate their geometric features. We estimated the source volume of the
DAD by reconstructing the topography of the volcano edifice using a
satellite-based DEM. We examined the topographic cross sections based on the
slopes around the scar regarded as remnant topography. Spatial distribution
of hummocks is anomalously concentrated at a certain distance from the
source, unlike those that follow the distance–size relationship. The
high-definition land surface data by RPAS and SfM revealed that many of the
hummocks are aligned toward the flow direction of the debris avalanche,
suggesting that the extensional regime of the debris avalanche was dominant.
However, some displaced hummocks were also found, indicating that the
compressional regime of the flow contributed to the formation of hummocks.
These indicate that the flow and emplacement of the avalanche were
constrained by the topography. The existing caldera wall forced the initial
eastward flow to move northward, and the north-side caldera wall forced the
flow into the narrow and steepened outlet valley where the sliding debris
underwent a compressional regime, and out into the unconfined terrain where
the debris was most likely emplaced on an extensional regime. Also, the
estimated volume of 12–15 × 108 m3 gives a mean
thickness of 60–75 m, which is much deeper than the reported cases of other
DADs. This suggests that the debris avalanche must have flowed further
downstream and beyond the current DAD extent. Assessments of the DAD
incorporating the topographic constraints can provide further insights into
the risk and mitigation of potential disasters in the study area.