bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Quality Teaching in the Social Sciences
Authors: Hunt Lynne
Published: March 2013

This chapter is about discipline-based teaching and students’ active engagement in learning-by-doing. It notes threshold concepts in sociology, highlighting the development of critical thinking and academic study and research skills. It shows how student-centred, authentic learning pedagogy and a student learning journey perspective was applied to social science teaching, in particular, sociology, and offers practical examples of teaching strategies revealing the importance of curriculum alignment, planning, and reflective practice for university teachers and students.
Life at the Research-Teaching Nexus
Authors: Dunne David
Published: March 2013

In this chapter, the authors show how research in design methods can be integrated with research in learning to teach students to cope with challenging, ill-defined problems. They provide examples of courses in which students are encouraged to see problems from different perspectives and reflect on the process of problem solving itself. This type of reflection has been woven into the authors’ own teaching of Management in four ways: by engaging in reflective problem solving, by approaching problems as researchers would, by confronting theory with practice and building new theories, and by turning process into subject matter. The authors describe these approaches and provide examples of their application in practice.
Applying Technology in a Classroom Setting, where Procedural Learning is the Focus
Authors: Currie Elliott
Published: March 2013

This chapter explores the use of Lecture Capture Technology in accounting courses that are taught using a five-stage learning model based on aviation training. The implementation of the technology in large classes exceeding 250 students is complicated by lack of attendance; this is addressed through technology by implementing an electronic Classroom Response System. Both systems have been further improved to effectively and efficiently provide readily accessible lecture videos and increase the rigour of the graded response system. Additional research is warranted to substantiate the anecdotal findings and research conducted in other arenas of education.
Inquiring Minds in Undergraduate Instruction
Authors: Chichekian Tanya , Hua Olivia (Liv) , Shore Bruce M.
Published: March 2013

Research-based or scholarship-based teaching is better teaching because it leads to better learning and sustained motivation. Creating a mutually supportive link between teaching and research comprises the teaching-research nexus. In this chapter, the authors address the teaching-research nexus in undergraduate education by presenting a range of initiatives for inquiry-based instructional improvement through activities that require integrated, individual, and collaborative efforts in and across disciplines. The authors present theoretical and practical arguments of the theory of social constructivism in support of a professor’s own scholarship and teaching. They also highlight the importance of changing the nature of undergraduate teaching by offering examples of how undergraduate instructors can foster inquiry-based learning in their teaching as well as ways of facilitating these approaches to teaching. To be able to connect research and teaching in students’ minds, instructors must strengthen within undergraduate students some of the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that enable the development and maintenance of inquiring minds.
DoS Attacks on RFID Systems
Authors: Duc Dang Nguyen , Kim Kwangjo
Published: March 2013

In this chapter, the authors discuss the impact of providing tag privacy on the performance of an RFID system, in particular the complexity of identifying the tags being queried at the back-end server. A common technique to provide tag privacy is to use pseudonyms. That is, for each authentication session, a tag uses a temporary and random-looking identifier so that it is infeasible for attackers to relate two authentication sessions. A natural question which should arise here is how the server can identify a tag given that the tag’s identity is changing all the time. This problem becomes even more serious when the shared secret key between a tag and the server is updated after every authentication session to provide forward privacy. In the first part of this chapter, the authors review different techniques to deal with this problem. They then point out that most of the existing techniques lead to vulnerability of the back-end server against Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks. They illustrate some of these attacks by describing methods which attackers can use to abuse the server’s computational resources in several popular RFID authentication protocols. Finally, the authors discuss some techniques to address the privacy vs. performance dilemma so that DoS attacks can be prevented while keeping tag identification efficient.
Ethical Leadership Styles of Future Managers in Central and Eastern European Countries
Authors: Remišová Anna , Lašáková Anna
Published: March 2013

There is a limited understanding what the constituent elements of the ethical leadership are. Although various researchers defined ethical leadership as a specific leadership style, with typical personality traits and behaviors, the precise instantiation of the content of ethical leadership was only seldom investigated. The body of empirical research on ethical leadership is only slowly beginning to build up. Furthermore, the ethical leadership in Central and Eastern European countries (CEE countries) is permanently an under-researched issue. This article focuses on the interdisciplinary perspective in regard to the empirical research of ethical traits and behaviors of leaders and the level of preference of respective leadership attributes. First, selected influential theoretical considerations of the issue of ethical leadership are being discussed. In the application part of this article, particular ethical leadership personality traits and behaviors are being identified through the qualitative-quantitative research lens. Next, four ethical leadership styles within the cluster of five CEE countries, namely Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia are specified. Cross-country variations are a matter of concern, too. In the Slovak – CEE countries comparison significant differences concerning the level of preference of ethical leadership styles are indicated. Impact of various demographic predictors on the level of preference of ethical leadership is researched, too.
Occupational Attainment of Male Immigrants and Ethnic Minorities in the UK
Authors: Bidisha Sayema Haque
Published: March 2013

Using Labor Force Survey data of the UK, this paper examines occupational attainment of immigrants and ethnic minorities in the last two decades. It suggests that, over time representation of immigrants in superior occupations has reduced, which is in contrast to the improvement of job market status of their native counterparts. The paper also applies a decomposition technique to comprehend such performances through explained and unexplained parts and found both of the factors playing important role in determining occupational attainment of male immigrants and ethnic minorities in the UK.
Exploring the Reading Experiences of High School Students on E-Book Reader
Authors: Cheng Yu-Chung , Liao Wen-Hung , Li Tsai-Yen , Chueh Chien-Pao , Cho Hsiao-Ching
Published: March 2013

Today’s ‘digital natives’ grew up in the age of network and digital devices. They have a completely different kind of cross-medium user experiences from the older generations. Understanding how the digital natives use e-book reader and their reading behavior will be an important issue for designing the next-generation e-book reader and mobile device. This study aims to explore how the introduction of e-book reader into high school campus influences the students’ learning and daily life. The authors found that e-book reader does help the students to develop a habit of mobile reading. Its effect exceeds our expectation of achieving digital learning. Using e-book reader, students engaged in creating new form of digital contents and became active in peer-sharing activities. Thus, they propose that when new curricula are designed, user experience with the e-book reader can be taken into account in order to maximize the potential of using the e-book reader in education.
A Novel System for Analysis of Surface Profiles from 3-D Components Using the Dickinson Rotating Ring Contact Profiler
Authors: Dickinson Matthew , Renevier Nathalie , Ahmed Waqar
Published: March 2013

In this paper the authors present a novel system, the Dickinson Rotating Ring Contact Profiler (DRRCP) for measuring the surface profiles of components with ring profiles. Race car piston rings have been used as a test case to prove the simplicity and validity of the new system. The results obtained from the DRRCP were compared with the standard system and similar values of the mean and standard deviation were obtained, Ra = 0.3±0.05 and Rz = 0.6 ± 0.09 respectively. The system is readily adaptable to other cylindrical components and is predicted to have further applications in other fields/systems.
Receiver Diversity for Distributed Detection in Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Al-Jarrah Mohammad A. , Al-Ibrahim Mohammad M.
Published: March 2013

In this paper, parallel distributed detection in wireless sensor network (WSN) is considered where the sensors process the observations to make local decisions and send these decisions to a central device called fusion center. Receiver diversity technique is proposed here for the distributed detection system in order to enhance the system reliability by improving the detection performance. The fusion center is assumed to be multiple antennas device in order to imply the idea of receiver diversity. Different combining schemes at the fusion center side are used to reduce the fading effects in the case of receiver diversity. Transmitter diversity is also considered in this paper. Cooperative sensors are assumed in order to obtain Alamouti space time block codes. Optimal and sub-optimal fusion rules are derived for each case study. Simulation results show the performance improvement obtained as compared to the conventional distributed detection system in which no diversity is used.
Implementation of Dedicated Short Range Communications Combined with Radar Detection for Forward Collision Warning System
Authors: Tsai Ming-Fong , Chilamkurti Naveen , Ho Ping-Fan , Lu Yin-Chih
Published: March 2013

The Forward Collision Warning System (FCWS) has become an important research topic in recent years. Many FCWS products are used in the real world. However, these FCWS products cannot provide emergency braking events warning from the vehicle in front. Hence, this paper proposes a Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) system combined with radar detection for an FCWS mechanism. The mechanism proposed by this paper will actively probe the emergency brakes of the vehicle in front and broadcast warning information with the Global Positioning System (GPS) position. Moreover, this mechanism uses warning information based on the GPS position to calculate the time of collision in order to alert the driver.
Designing Ambient Media
Authors: Mustaquim Moyen Mohammad
Published: March 2013

The philosophy of information is the area of research that studies conceptual issues arising at the intersection of computer science, information technology and philosophy. Universal design is a concept that emphasizes the importance of non-specialized features in things and environments. As ambient media is becoming more intelligent and the users are already across a larger part of the population, the path towards achieving universal design and change of attitude in the authors’ minds is clear but requires that they think globally and frame the issues a little differently. This article aims to see universal design concept; its principles, uses, design processes, from a philosophical perspective in terms of ambient media design. Principles for designing intelligent user interface are derived from the universal design principles and a framework is proposed. The framework is then verified to see how optimally these intelligent user interface design principles can work to enhance ambient media experience. The paper concludes by arguing that the concept of universal design for ambient media development is not a style but an attitude of accepting the difference and responsibility of ours by proposing what needs to be done further for upholding the universal design concept of ambient media design.
Multichannel Modality in Displaying Information
Authors: Benetti Elisa , Mazzini Gianluca
Published: March 2013

Computer science and telecommunications are increasingly important in society and this leads also public administrations to take advantage of ICT, in order to communicate with citizens in a more rapid and simpler way than the complex and paper-based bureaucracy of the past. While on the one hand the use of these technologies responds to the duty of any public institution to involve the largest number of addressees, on the other hand, society must also consider the limitations of these technologies. Firstly not everybody is so familiar in their use. Moreover, the digital administration thus becomes virtual, accessible only through technological devices and not present in a physical location, and is therefore essential to ensure full coverage of the territory, which is currently not always possible. The main novelty of this paper is the implementation of an automated system capable of adapting different types of government services to multiple communication media. The joint exploitation of multiple technologies allows to use the strengths of one of them when are found the limits of another, making this multichannel modality the solution to the requirement of ICT in public administration.
A Novel Approach for Detecting and Classifying Breast Cancer in Mammogram Images
Authors: Shanthi S. , Bhaskaran V. Murali
Published: March 2013

This study uses data mining techniques for computer-aided diagnosis that involves the feature extraction for cancer detection, so as to help doctors towards making optimal decisions quickly and accurately. Features play an important role in detecting the cancer in the digital mammogram and feature extraction stage is the most vital and difficult stage. In this paper, an enhanced feature extraction method named Multiscale Surrounding Region Dependence Method (MSRDM) is proposed to be effective in classifying the mammogram images into normal or benign or malignant. This proposed system is based on a four-step procedure: Regions of Interest specification, two dimensional discrete wavelet transformation, and multiscale surrounding region dependence matrix computation and feature extraction. The performance of the proposed feature set is compared with the conventional texture-analysis methods such as gray level cooccurence matrix features and surrounding region dependence method features. Experiments have been conducted on both real and benchmark data and the results have been proved to be progressive.
Detecting Distributed Predicates Using Genetic Algorithms
Authors: Al Maghayreh Eslam , Abu Doush Iyad , Alkhateeb Faisal
Published: March 2013

Detection of distributed predicates is one of the techniques that have been used in the literature to improve the dependability of distributed programs. This technique (sometimes referred to as runtime verification) is used to verify that a given run of a distributed program satisfies certain properties (specified as predicates). In general, the detection of a distributed predicate can incur significant overhead due to the existence of multiple processes running concurrently. Several techniques have been introduced in the literature to efficiently detect distributed predicates. However, most of these techniques work efficiently for certain classes of predicates, like conjunctive predicates. In this paper, the authors have presented a technique based on genetic algorithms to efficiently detect distributed predicates under the possibly modality. The authors have used JGAP (Java Genetic Algorithms Package) to implement the algorithm and conducted several experiments to demonstrate its effectiveness.
Clusters Go Green
Authors: Da Ronch Barbara , Di Maria Eleonora , Micelli Stefano
Published: March 2013

Literature on eco-parks and eco-clusters has emphasized the opportunities for the coupling of local economic development and sustainability, going beyond firms’ green strategies to include also supply chains and local networks of firms. Studies have described the conditions and policies for the development of new sustainable economic activities in specific areas based on the industrial ecology approach. In contrast, little attention has been given to analysing how existing industrial districts are facing the chances of the new competitive pressures related to sustainability. The paper investigates the drivers and the evolutionary paths of industrial districts towards environmental sustainability. The empirical analysis is based on qualitative case studies of two Italian industrial districts specializing in the production of leather (Arzignano) and tiles (Sassuolo). Managerial and policy implications are provided.
Gender Wage Gap
Authors: Machová Zuzana , Filipová Lenka
Published: March 2013

This paper was written as a part of a research project studying problem of wage determinant measuring and wage discrimination considering different wage requirements of men and women. The wage determinants and gender wage discrimination are analyzed using a probit model. The whole analysis is methodologically based on Mincer’s Wage Regression and Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition of gender wage gap. The wage variables include, aside from standard personal characteristics, dummies for institutional and firm characteristics and dummies for family status and family roles. The data were gained by a questionnaire survey carried out in Ostrava city. The results of the analysis, representative for the city, show statistically significant differences between wage determinants of men and women. The survey concluded in 2 statements: (1) family role is an important wage determinant and its inclusion to Mincer’s Wage Regression leads to better explanation of wages; and (2) including family characteristics in Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition can significantly reduce unexplained part of gender wage gap, i.e., a part of a wage difference usually ascribed to gender wage discrimination can be explained by different preferences of men and women on a labor market.
Utilizing Prometheus Design Tool for Truck Load Consolidation Decisions
Authors: Baykasoglu Adil , Kaplanoglu Vahit , Durmusoglu Zeynep D. U.
Published: March 2013

Load consolidation decisions constitute one of the most important operational decisions in logistics. In demand-driven truckload shipment businesses, third-party logistics companies (or agencies) try to assign orders to the most appropriate trucks which are available for the load assignment. Efficiency and the effectiveness of the load consolidation decisions directly affect the success of any logistics operation. This is mainly because the utilization of the transportation vehicles directly affects the cost of transportation services provided. Agent-based concepts are considered as novel system approaches which have effective mechanisms for modeling dynamic systems like the truck load consolidation decisions within third party logistics operations. In this paper, truck load consolidation decisions are designed by utilizing Prometheus Design Tool (PDT) which is based on Prometheus design methodology and developed for specifying and designing agent-oriented software systems.
Deriving Principles for Guiding Service Encounters
Authors: Bharosa Nitesh , Janssen Marijn , Bajnath Satiesh
Published: March 2013

Driven by the rising customer expectations and decreasing budgets, organizations are searching for means to improve service encounters with their citizens and businesses. However, many initiatives take an organizational perspective, whereas service encounters emphasize the client perspective. This research follows a participative design research approach that focuses on the derivation, demonstration and infusion of principles for improved service encounters. A role-playing game refers to a situation in which human participants play a certain role and follow a script to simulate complex service encounters. From the perspective of the professional, these principles emphasize “doing the right things” in their service encounters with customers. The authors found that the approach for deriving principles not only enables capturing the experience of professionals in a fun and entertaining manner, but also expands their view on customers and the back-office. This paper makes two contributions to existing work: (1) a participative design method based on role-play games and (2) six principles for service encounters resulting from the role-playing game.
Practitioners’ Perspectives on Supply Chain Collaboration in UK Construction Projects
Authors: Meng Xianhai , Sun Ming , Jones Martyn
Published: March 2013

Since the beginning of 1990s, there has been an increasing emphasis on supply chain collaboration in the UK construction industry through learning from manufacturing. The adoption of supply chain collaboration is now widely recognised as an effective way of addressing various traditional construction problems. This paper presents the findings of a research project that examines the practitioners’ perspectives on supply chain collaboration in construction projects. The critical success factors (CSFs) of supply chain collaboration are identified from an online focus group discussion and ten expert interviews, whose results are analysed by using the NVivo software package. Unlike existing studies, this study develops an input-process-output model based on the categorisation of the identified CSFs. In addition, supply chain collaboration is compared between public and private sectors, between short-term and long-term programmes, between upstream and downstream supply chains, and between different areas of relationships. The comparative analysis describes the balanced and the unbalanced natures of supply chain collaboration. The findings in this study provide a better understanding of supply chain collaboration in today’s construction practice. Although this study is based on the UK construction industry, its findings may also be useful for construction organisations in other countries to pursue supply chain collaboration.
Linkages between Organization Design Structures, Performance Measurement Systems and Project Performance in Project Based Technical Environment—An Empirical Analysis
Authors: Baloch Sameen , Khan Azhar M.
Published: March 2013

The purpose of this paper is to examine the socio-technical structures prevailing in technical organizations. It explores relationships that exist between technical and social structures and imperative project management practices, using statistical techniques. The study investigates links between organization design structures, project management performance, multiple dimensions of project managers’ competencies including personal, business knowledge, interpersonal and managerial competencies and project performance. A systematic teardown approach was adopted for the analysis of various competencies. The statistical analysis technique, ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) was conducted to validate various factors. The results of statistical analysis has shown that organization design structures are not the major determinants, only organizational design structures with functionally structured resource distributions are established as determinants of project management performance. Furthermore, it was proven that the project managers’ competencies have a major influence on project performance. This study will help to improve performance of technical projects and will lay a foundation for the framework of improvement and development of organizations.
Time-Based Release Management in Free and Open Source (FOSS) Projects
Authors: Michlmayr Martin , Fitzgerald Brian
Published: March 2013

As the Free and Open Source (FOSS) concept has matured, its commercial significance has also increased, and issues such as quality and sustainability have moved to the fore. In this study, the authors focus on time-based release management in large volunteer FOSS projects, and reveal how they address quality and sustainability issues. They discuss the differences between release management in the traditional software context and contrast it with FOSS settings. Based on detailed case studies of a number of prominent FOSS projects, they describe the move to time-based release management and identify the factors and criteria necessary for a successful transition. The authors also consider the implications for software development more generally in the current dynamic Internet-enabled environment.
The License Choices of SMEs doing Business with Open Source Software
Authors: Piva Evila , Rossi-Lamastra Cristina
Published: March 2013

In the past decade, Open Source (OS) licenses have attracted the interest of many scholars. However, there is still a limited understanding of the license choices made by small and medium enterprises doing business with OS (OS SMEs). The present paper aims at filling this gap. The authors argue that, because of firm specificities, OS SMEs tend to prefer copyleft licenses. Their arguments are corroborated by empirical evidence from a survey on 146 Italian OS SMEs. This evidence documents that OS SMEs are not plagued by the GPL fear theorized by the OS founding fathers. Conversely, these firms use copyleft licenses to more easily in-source knowledge from the community of OS users and developers. At the same time, license choices are influenced by the ideological motivations that OS SMEs inherit from their owner-managers.
Axillary Ultrasound for Breast Cancer Staging: an Attempt to Identify Clinical/Histopathological Factors Impacting Diagnostic Performance
Authors: Ertan Kubilay , Linsler Christina , Di Liberto Alexander , Ong Mei Fang , Solomayer Erich , Endrikat Jan
Published: March 2013

Aim

To assess the diagnostic value of pre-surgery axillary ultrasound for nodal staging in patients with primary breast cancer and to identify clinical/histopathological factors impacting diagnostic performance.

Study Design

Single-center, retrospective chart analysis. We assessed sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive value of clinical examination as well as axillary ultrasound vs. clinical examination alone. The histopathological results were the standard of truth. In addition, we analyzed clinical and histopathological factors regarding their potential to impact sensitivity and specificity.

Results

We enrolled a total of 172 women in the study. Sensitivity of clinical examination plus ultrasound was significantly higher than for clinical examination alone (58% vs. 31.6%). Specificity and positive predictive value were similar while the negative predictive value increased from 63.4% to 73% when additionally applying ultrasound. Sensitivity and specificity of axillary ultrasound were impacted by tumor size ( P = 0.2/0.04), suspicious axillary palpation ( P < 0.01/<0.01), number of affected lymph nodes ( P < 0.01/-) and distant metastases ( P = 0.04/<0.01). All other factors had no impact.

Conclusion

Since pre-surgery axillary nodal staging is currently used to determine disease management, axillary ultrasound is a useful add-on tool in the diagnostic armamentarium for breast cancer patients. Tumor size, suspicious axillary palpation, number of affected lymph nodes and distant metastases increase diagnostic performance of this diagnostic modality.
Peripheral Helper Lymphocytes Produce Interleukin 12 in Cancer Patients
Authors: Michelin Márcia A. , Abdalla Douglas R. , Aleixo Andréa A.R. , Murta Eddie F.C.
Published: March 2013

The aim of the study was to seek evidence for the production of IL-12 by CD4+ T lymphocytes in in vitro and ex vivo trials. We performed in vitro trials with spleen cells from mice subjected to carcinogenesis, as well as ex vivo trials with cells obtained from the peripheral blood of healthy individuals and cancer patients. We were able to verify a significantly increased expression of IL-12 in CD4+ T lymphocytes from mice and patients with tumors, compared to controls. Follow-up studies are needed to clarify whether this difference is related to being in a chronic disease state or whether it is an attempt by the immune system to produce an anti-tumor response, since T lymphocytes from healthy donors were not able to produce IL-12 when in contact with polyclonal stimuli. We concluded that, in cancer, T helper cells are capable of synthesizing IL-12, raising the question of whether we are faced with another profile, Th12.
Consumers’ Experiences in Dual Focus Mutual Aid for Co-occurring Substance Use and Mental Health Disorders
Authors: Matusow Harlan , Guarino Honoria , Rosenblum Andrew , Vogel Howard , Uttaro Thomas , Khabir Sadiqua , Rini Martin , Moore Thomas , Magura Stephen
Published: March 2013

Mutual aid fellowships have been shown to improve outcomes for those with co-occurring substance use and mental illness disorders. Processes associated with usefulness include helper therapy (the assumption of a helping role to foster commitment) and reciprocal learning (the sharing of problems and solutions among members). The present qualitative investigation used focus groups comprised a subset of participants in Double Trouble in Recovery (DTR), a 12-step mutual aid group for those with co-occurring disorders, to gather their subjective perceptions of the groups. Participants emphasized that in linking them to others with similar problems, the DTR groups played a vital emotional role in their lives and provided a needed venue for information sharing that might have been otherwise unavailable.
Timing is Everything: The Impact of School Lunch Length on Children's Body Weight
Authors: Bhatt Rachana
Published: March 2013

The large number of overweight children in the United States has prompted school administrators and policy makers to identify practices in schools that contribute to unhealthy weight outcomes for children and develop strategies to prevent further increases. Advocates for school nutrition reform have suggested that it is important for children to have an adequate amount of time to eat meals in school in order to maintain a healthy weight. This article examines whether the length of time children are given to eat lunch in school has an impact on their weight. I find evidence that an increase in lunch length reduces the probability a child is overweight, and this finding is robust across various econometric specifications, including a two‐sample instrumental variable model and difference‐in‐differences model that account for the potential endogeneity of lunch length.
Chemical composition and hygroscopic properties of aerosol particles over the Aegean Sea
Authors: Bezantakos S. , Barmpounis K. , Giamarelou M. , Bossioli E. , Tombrou M. , Mihalopoulos N. , Eleftheriadis K. , Kalogiros J. , Allan J. D. , Bacak A. , Percival C. J. , Coe H. , Biskos G.
Published: March 2013

Abstract. The chemical composition and water uptake characteristics of sub-micrometer atmospheric particles in the region of the Aegean Sea were measured between 25 August and 11 September 2011 in the framework of the Aegean-Game campaign. High time-resolution measurements of the chemical composition of the particles were conducted using an airborne compact Time-Of-Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (cTOF-AMS). These measurements involved two flights from the island of Crete to the island of Lemnos and back. A Hygroscopic Tandem Differential Mobility Analyzer (HTDMA) located on the island of Lemnos was used to measure the ability of the particles to take up water. The HTDMA measurements showed that the particles were internally mixed, having hygroscopic growth factors that ranged from 1.00 to 1.59 when exposed to 85% relative humidity. When the aircraft flew near the ground station on Lemnos, the cTOF-AMS measurements showed that the organic volume fraction of the particles ranged from 43 to 56%. These measurements corroborate the range of hygroscopic growth factors measured by the HTDMA during that time. Good closure between HTDMA and cTOF-AMS measurements was achieved when assuming that the organic species were hydrophobic and had an average density that corresponds to aged organic species. Using the results from the closure study, the cTOF-AMS measurements were employed to determine a representative aerosol hygroscopic parameter κmix for the whole path of the two flights. Calculated κmix values ranged from 0.17 to 1.03 during the first flight and from 0.15 to 0.93 during the second flight. Air masses of different origin as determined by back trajectory calculations can explain the spatial variation in the chemical composition and κmix values of the particles observed in the region.
Simulation of aromatic SOA formation using the lumping model integrated with explicit gas-phase kinetic mechanisms and aerosol-phase reactions
Authors: Im Y. , Jang M. , Beardsley R. L.
Published: March 2013

Abstract. The Unified Partitioning-Aerosol phase Reaction (UNIPAR) model has been developed to predict the secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation through multiphase reactions. An explicit gas-kinetic model was employed to express gas-phase oxidation of aromatic hydrocarbons. Gas-phase products are grouped based on volatility (6 levels) and reactivity (5 levels) and used to construct the stoichiometric coefficients (αi,j) matrix, the set of parameters used to describe the concentrations of organic compounds in multiphase. Weighting of the αi,j matrix as a function of NOx improved the evaluation of NOx effects on SOA. The total amount of organic matter (OMT) is predicted by two modules in the UNIPAR model: OMP by a partitioning process and OMAR by aerosol-phase reactions. OMP is estimated using the SOA partitioning model that has been used in a regional air quality model (CMAQ 5.0.1). OMAR predicts multiphase reactions of organic compounds, such as oligomerization, acid-catalyzed reactions, and organosulfate (OS) formation. The model was evaluated with the SOA data produced from the photooxidation of toluene and 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene using an outdoor reactor (UF-APHOR chamber). The model reasonably simulates SOA formation under various aerosol acidities, NOx concentrations, humidities and temperatures. Furthermore, the OS fraction in the SOA predicted by the model was in good agreement with the experimentally measured OS fraction.
Assessment of past, present and future health-cost externalities of air pollution in Europe and the contribution from international ship traffic using the EVA model system
Authors: Brandt J. , Silver J. D. , Christensen J. H. , Andersen M. S. , Bønløkke J. H. , Sigsgaard T. , Geels C. , Gross A. , Hansen A. B. , Hansen K. M. , Hedegaard G. B. , Kaas E. , Frohn L. M.
Published: March 2013

Abstract. An integrated model system, EVA (Economic Valuation of Air pollution), based on the impact-pathway chain has been developed, to assess the health-related economic externalities of air pollution resulting from specific emission sources or sectors. The model system can be used to support policy-making with respect to emission control. In this study, we apply the EVA system to Europe, and perform a more detailed assessment of past, present, and future health-cost externalities of the total air pollution levels in Europe (including both natural and anthropogenic sources), represented by the years 2000, 2007, 2011, and 2020. We also assess the contribution to the health-related external costs from international ship traffic with special attention to the international ship traffic in the Baltic and North Seas, since special regulatory actions on sulphur emissions, called SECA (sulphur emission control area), have been introduced in these areas,. We conclude that despite efficient regulatory actions in Europe in recent decades, air pollution still constitutes a serious problem to human health, hence the related external costs are considerable. The total health-related external costs for the whole of Europe is estimated at 803 bn Euro yr−1 for the year 2000, decreasing to 537 bn Euro yr−1 in the year 2020. We estimate the total number of premature deaths in Europe in the year 2000 due to air pollution to be around 680 000 yr−1, decreasing to approximately 450 000 in the year 2020. The contribution from international ship traffic in the Northern Hemisphere was estimated to 7% of the total health-related external costs in Europe in the year 2000, increasing to 12% in the year 2020. In contrast, the contribution from international ship traffic in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea decreases 36% due to the regulatory efforts of reducing sulphur emissions from ship traffic in SECA. Introducing this regulatory instrument for all international ship traffic in the Northern Hemisphere, or at least in areas close to Europe, would have a significant positive impact on human health in Europe.
Updated aerosol module and its application to simulate secondary organic aerosols during IMPACT campaign May 2008
Authors: Li Y. P. , Elbern H. , Lu K. D. , Friese E. , Kiendler-Scharr A. , Mentel Th. F. , Wang X. S. , Wahner A. , Zhang Y. H.
Published: March 2013

Abstract. The formation of Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) was simulated with the Secondary ORGanic Aerosol Model (SORGAM) by a classical gas-particle partitioning concept, using the two-product model approach, which is widely used in chemical transport models. In this study, we extensively updated SORGAM including three major modifications: firstly, we derived temperature dependence functions of the SOA yields for aromatics and biogenic VOCs, based on recent chamber studies within a sophisticated mathematic optimization framework; secondly, we implemented the SOA formation pathways from photo oxidation (OH initiated) of isoprene; thirdly, we implemented the SOA formation channel from NO3-initiated oxidation of reactive biogenic hydrocarbons (isoprene and monoterpenes). The temperature dependence functions of the SOA yields were validated against available chamber experiments. Moreover, the whole updated SORGAM module was validated against ambient SOA observations represented by the summed oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA) concentrations abstracted from Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) measurements at a rural site near Rotterdam, the Netherlands, performed during the IMPACT campaign in May 2008. In this case, we embedded both the original and the updated SORGAM module into the EURopean Air pollution and Dispersion-Inverse Model (EURAD-IM), which showed general good agreements with the observed meteorological parameters and several secondary products such as O3, sulfate and nitrate. With the updated SORGAM module, the EURAD-IM model also captured the observed SOA concentrations reasonably well especially those during nighttime. In contrast, the EURAD-IM model before update underestimated the observations by a factor of up to 5. The large improvements of the modeled SOA concentrations by updated SORGAM were attributed to the mentioned three modifications. Embedding the temperature dependence functions of the SOA yields, including the new pathways from isoprene photo oxidations, and switching on the SOA formation from NO3 initiated biogenic VOCs oxidations contributed to this enhancement by 10%, 22% and 47%, respectively. However, the EURAD-IM model with updated SORGAM still clearly underestimated the afternoon SOA observations up to a factor of two. More work such as to improve the simulated OH concentrations under high VOCs and low NOx concentrations, further including the SOA formation from semi-volatile organic compounds, the correct aging process of aerosols, oligomerization process and the influence on the biogenic SOA by the anthropogenic SOA, are still required to fill the gap.
Synergistic effects of pCO2 and iron availability on nutrient consumption ratio of the Bering Sea phytoplankton community
Authors: Sugie K. , Endo H. , Suzuki K. , Nishioka J. , Kiyosawa H. , Yoshimura T.
Published: March 2013

Abstract. Little is known concerning the effect of CO2 on phytoplankton ecophysiological processes under nutrient and trace element-limited conditions, because most of the CO2 manipulation experiments have been conducted under these element-replete conditions. To investigate the effects of CO2 and iron availability on phytoplankton ecophysiology, we conducted an experiment using a phytoplankton community in the iron-limited, high-nutrient, low-chlorophyll (HNLC) region of the Bering Sea basin in September 2009. Carbonate chemistry was controlled by the bubbling of the several levels of CO2 concentration (180, 380, 600, and 1000 ppm) controlled air, and two iron conditions were established with or without the addition of inorganic iron. We demonstrated that in the iron-limited control conditions, the specific growth rate and the maximum photochemical quantum efficiency (Fv/Fm) of photosystem (PS) II decreased with increasing CO2 levels, suggesting a~further decrease in iron bioavailability under the high CO2 conditions. In addition, biogenic silica to particulate nitrogen and biogenic silica to particulate organic carbon ratios increased from 2.65 to 3.75 and 0.39 to 0.50, respectively with an increase in CO2 level in the iron-limited controls. In contrast, in the iron-added treatments, specific growth rate, Fv/Fm values and elemental compositions did not change in response to the CO2 variations, indicating that the addition of iron cancelled out the effect of the modulation of iron bioavailability due to the change in carbonate chemistry. Our results suggest that high CO2 conditions can alter the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients through decreasing iron bioavailability in the iron-limited HNLC regions in the future.
Evaluation of the new UKCA climate-composition model – Part 2: The Troposphere
Authors: O'Connor F. M. , Johnson C. E. , Morgenstern O. , Abraham N. L. , Braesicke P. , Dalvi M. , Folberth G. A. , Sanderson M. G. , Telford P. J. , Young P. J. , Zeng G. , Collins W. J. , Pyle J. A.
Published: March 2013

Abstract. In this paper, we present a description of the tropospheric chemistry component of the UK Chemistry and Aerosols (UKCA) model which has been coupled to the Met Office Hadley Centre's HadGEM family of climate models. We assess the model's transport and scavenging processes, in particular focussing on convective transport, boundary layer mixing, wet scavenging and inter-hemispheric exchange. Simulations with UKCA of the short-lived radon tracer suggest that modelled distributions are comparable to those of other models and the comparison with observations indicate that apart from a few locations, boundary layer mixing and convective transport are effective in the model as a means of vertically re-distributing surface emissions of radon. Comparisons of modelled lead tracer concentrations with observations suggest that UKCA captures surface concentrations in both hemispheres very well although there is a tendency to underestimate the observed geographical and interannual variability in the Northern Hemisphere. In particular, UKCA replicates the shape and absolute concentrations of observed lead profiles, a key test in the evaluation of a model's wet scavenging scheme. The timescale for inter-hemispheric transport, calculated in the model using a simple krypton tracer experiment, does appear to be long relative to other models and could indicate deficiencies in tropical deep convection and/or insufficient boundary layer mixing. We also describe the main components of the tropospheric chemistry and evaluate it against observations and other tropospheric chemistry models. In particular, from a climate forcing perspective, present-day observed surface methane concentrations and tropospheric ozone concentrations are reproduced very well by the model, thereby making it suitable for long centennial integrations as well as studies of biogeochemical feedbacks. Results from both historical and future simulations with UKCA tropospheric chemistry are presented. Future projections of tropospheric ozone vary with the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP). In RCP2.6, for example, tropospheric ozone increases up to 2010 and then declines by 13% of its year-2000 global mean by the end of the century. In RCP8.5, tropospheric ozone continues to steadily rise throughout the 21st century, with methane being the main driving factor. Finally, we highlight aspects of the UKCA model which are undergoing and/or have undergone recent developments and are suitable for inclusion in a next-generation Earth System Model.
Analyzing the effects of geological and parameter uncertainty on prediction of groundwater head and travel time
Authors: He X. , Sonnenborg T. O. , Jørgensen F. , Høyer A.-S. , Roende Møller R. , Jensen K. H.
Published: March 2013

Abstract. Uncertainty of groundwater model predictions has in the past mostly been related to uncertainty in the hydraulic parameters whereas uncertainty in the geological structure has not been considered to the same extent. Recent developments in theoretical methods for quantifying geological uncertainty have made it possible to consider this factor in groundwater modeling. In this study we have applied the multiple-point geostatistical method (MPS) integrated in the Stanford Geostatistical Modeling Software (SGeMS) for exploring the impact of geological uncertainty on groundwater flow patterns for a site in Denmark. Realizations from the geostatistical model were used as input to a groundwater model developed from MODFLOW within the GMS modeling environment. The uncertainty analysis was carried out in three scenarios involving simulation of groundwater head distribution and groundwater age. The first scenario implied 100 stochastic geological models all assigning the same hydraulic parameters for the same geological units. In the second scenario the same 100 geological models were subjected to model optimization where the hydraulic parameters for each of them were estimated by calibration against observations of hydraulic head and stream discharge. In the third scenario each geological model was run with 216 randomized set of parameters. The analysis documented that the uncertainty on the conceptual geological model was as significant as the uncertainty related to the embedded hydraulic parameters.
The application of FORMOSAT-2 high-temporal- and high-spatial resolution imagery for monitoring open straw burning and carbon emission detection
Authors: Liu C.-C. , Tseng P.-Y. , Chen C.-Y.
Published: March 2013

Abstract. Rice is produced in more than 95 countries worldwide and is a staple food for over half of the world's population. Rice is also a major food crop of Taiwan. There are numerous rice crops planted on the western plains of Taiwan, and, after the harvest season, the left-over straw is often burned on-site. The air pollutants from the burning emissions include CO2, CO, CH4 and other suspended particles, most of these being the greenhouse gases which cause global climate change. In this study FORMOSAT-2 satellite images and ground-truth data from 2008 and 2009 are used to conduct supervised classification and calculate the extent of the straw burning areas. It was found that 10% of the paddies in the study area were burned after harvest during this 2-yr period. On this pro rata basis, we calculated the overall carbon emissions from the burning of the straw. The findings showed that these few farmers produced up to 34 000 tons of carbon emissions in 2008, and 40 000 tons in 2009. The study results indicate that remotely sensed images can be used to efficiently evaluate the important characteristics for carbon emission detection. It also provides quantitative results that are relevant to tracking sources of transport pollution, postharvest burning, and Asian dust in Taiwan.