bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Psychology of Harmony and Harmonization: Advancing the Perspectives for the Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development
Authors: Di Fabio Annamaria , Tsuda Akira
Published: December 2018

After delineating the roots of harmony in the literature from both the Eastern and the Western perspectives, the paper introduces the new Psychology of harmony in terms of harmonization that widens the perspective calling for psychological contributions regarding components, processes and building strengths in a preventive perspective. The complex construction of Harmony from a psychological perspective underlines the concept of relationality. Harmony results at three main points, with oneself, with others, and with nature/the natural world, also taking into account the spatial and temporal perspectives. The Psychology of harmony as harmonization represents a pillar for a new research area in the psychology of sustainability and sustainable development, considering harmonization in geographical and temporal perspectives, including meaningful construction processes from the past, to the present, and into the future using reflexivity processes at the individual, group, community, social, and national levels. Introducing the innovative psychology of harmony as harmonization the present article offers promising perspectives for research and intervention with the aim to individuate and foster new strengths from a preventive perspective.
Capturing Social Innovations in Agricultural Transformation from the Field: Outcomes of a Write-Shop
Authors: Peters Bram , Herens Marion , Brouwers Jan
Published: December 2018

The aim of this project was to explore the theme of social innovation for nutrition-sensitive and sustainable agriculture, resulting in examples of improved production and consumption of nutritious food. Social innovation refers to the generation and implementation of new ideas about how people organize interpersonal activities, or social interactions, to meet one or more common goals and in the process change basic routines, resources, and decision-making processes. In the country context of Myanmar, this research aimed to capture a variety of social innovation cases related to processes of agricultural transformation. Through the method of a collaborative case study write-shop, Myanmar-specific social innovations were identified, illustrating various forms of social innovation across the cases with citizen engagement processes. The write-shop method, in combination with the embedded expertise of development practitioners, proved to be a promising approach to identify niche innovations, distil insights, reframe actions, and promote critical thinking among different actors.
Incorporating Sustainability Considerations into Lending Decisions and the Management of Bad Loans: Evidence from Greece
Authors: Anagnostopoulos Theodosios , Skouloudis Antonis , Khan Nadeem , Evangelinos Konstantinos
Published: December 2018

The financial sector’s role is undeniably crucial in modern economies. Yet, this sector often attracts criticisms. Of particular concern is the negligence of proper credit risk management, which may undermine (macro)economic stability. The absence of appropriate policies (industry and institutional) draws attention to firm performance indicators, which remain short-sighted in assessing the provision of sustainable risk management. The sector and, in particular, financial intermediaries (FIs) must confront the complex task of assessing their impacts and, in doing so, actively endorse enabling conditions towards sustainable development. Our paper offers managerial insights from a wide range of financial intermediaries (FIs) currently active in Greece. We address the critical question of how FIs incorporate sustainability in credit risk management. A mixed-methods approach of online questionnaires and semi-structured interviews was utilized to link and investigate managerial perspectives of sustainability risks and their impact on bad loans. The executives’ responses revealed that sustainability risk management indeed exists, but it has yet to penetrate core processes. It does provide strong motives over new management techniques and contributes to a higher level of materiality of FI’s core operations. Nonetheless, there is still plenty of room for improvement before sustainability risk assessments are comprehensively incorporated in all phases of the credit risk management process so that a robust sustainability management approach underpins FI’s core mission and goals.
The Role of Public Interest Litigation in the Achievement of Sustainable Waste Management in Ethiopia
Authors: Gebregiorgs Merhatbeb Teklemedhn
Published: December 2018

This research assessed the role of public interest litigation in the achievement of sustainable waste management in the Addis Ababa Administration (AAA) of Ethiopia. It employed a single country case-oriented comparative research design, and data triangulation was used to establish the validity of the findings. The research first shows Ethiopia’s commitment to sustainable waste management, implementing environmental tax and the command-and-control instruments of the polluter-pays principle and public interest litigation within the context of environmental justice. Secondly, it shows that public interest litigation is one of the innovative techniques in the struggle against waste mismanagement across all legal systems. Thirdly, it demonstrates the potential role of public interest litigation in Ethiopia in encouraging the federal and regional environmental protection and management organs to implement environmental tax and command-and-control instruments. Fourthly, it uncovers that public interest litigation is not fully compatible with the Civil Procedure Code of Ethiopia. Fifthly, it shows the failure of the judiciary system of Ethiopia to accommodate environmental courts and tribunals that flexibly and innovatively adopt public interest litigation. Sixthly, it reveals that, in Ethiopia, the scope of public interest standing is highly restrictive for Civil Society Organizations (CSO). Finally, it implies that the legal viability and administrative feasibility of environmental public interest litigation in Ethiopia is in its infancy, and its crystallization is partly contingent on the cautious review of the Civil Procedure Code and CSO laws and on greening the judiciary system.
Spatial Spillover and the Influencing Factors Relating to Provincial Carbon Emissions in China Based on the Spatial Panel Data Model
Authors: Tong Xin , Li Xuesen , Tong Lin , Jiang Xuan
Published: December 2018

From the perspective of spatial geography, this paper verifies the spatial dependence of China’s provincial carbon emissions. The contribution of impact factors with different fields of view to carbon emissions’ growth is estimated based on the spatial panel data model, t. The study found that during 2000–2015, China’s energy-related carbon emissions in the provinces were dependent on the spatial, and the spatial spillover effect of carbon emissions and its influencing factors in the neighboring provinces are obvious. It was also found that economic growth, industrial structure, financial development, and urbanization rates are positive, and the effect of the population and technological progress on reducing carbon emissions is significant. The effect of source price, export dependence, and fiscal decentralization on carbon emissions’ growth did not pass a significance test. In the formulation of carbon emission-related policies and development plans, the government must consider the effect of the influencing factors affecting the carbon emissions in the adjacent area and combine the carbon emissions and spatial spillover effect of the related factors in order to reduce carbon emissions in the time dimension and the spatial dimension of China as a whole.
Analysis of Evolution Mechanism and Optimal Reward-Penalty Mechanism for Collection Strategies in Reverse Supply Chains: The Case of Waste Mobile Phones in China
Authors: Ding Yangke , Ma Lei , Zhang Ye , Feng Dingzhong
Published: December 2018

The aim of this paper is to discuss the coopetition (cooperative competition) relationship between a manufacturer and a collector in the collection of waste mobile phones (WMPs) and examine the evolution mechanism and the internal reward-penalty mechanism (RPM) for their collection strategies. A coopetition evolutionary game model based on evolutionary game theory was developed to obtain their common and evolutional collection strategies. The pure-strategy Nash equilibriums of this model were obtained which showed their collection strategy choices of perfect competition or cooperation. The mixed strategy Nash equilibrium was obtained which revealed evolution trends and laws. In addition, the optimal RPM was obtained in the sensitivity analysis of related parameters. The example of WMPs in China was taken to examine the simulation of the RPM. Results show that (i) although the manufacturer and the collector may change their strategies of cooperation and competition over time, cooperation is their best choice to increase payoffs; (ii) the optimal RPM is beneficial to propel their cooperation tendency and then to increase their payoffs.
Dynamics of Cooperation in Minority Games in Alliance Networks
Authors: Zhang Xin-Jie , Tang Yong , Xiong Jason , Wang Wei-Jia , Zhang Yi-Cheng
Published: December 2018

Alliance networks are the underlying structures of social systems in business, management, and society. The sustainability and dynamics of a social system rely on the structural evolutions of the topologies. Understanding the evolution sheds light on the dynamics and sustainability of a social system. Minority game models have been successfully applied across social science, economy, management, and engineering. They provide simple yet applicable modeling to articulate the evolutionary cooperation dynamics of competitive players in binary decision situations. By extending the minority games played in alliance networks, the cooperation in structured systems of different network topologies is analyzed. In this model, local and global score strategies are considered with and without cooperation rewiring options. The cooperation level, the score, and the topological properties are investigated. The research uses a numerical simulation approach on random networks, scale-free networks, and small-world networks. The results suggest that the network rewiring strategy leads to higher systemic performance with a higher score and a higher level of stability in decision-making. Competitive decision-making can lead to a higher level of cooperation from a poor initial start. However, stubbornness in decision-making can lead to a poor situation when cooperation is discouraged. Players with local or global information adopt local and global score strategies. The results show that local strategies might lead to imbalance, while a global strategy might achieve a relatively stable outcome. This work contributes to bridge minority games in structured networks to study the cooperation between formation and evolution, and calls for future minority game modeling on social networks.
Individual-Level and Population-Level Lateralization: Two Sides of the Same Coin
Authors: Frasnelli Elisa , Vallortigara Giorgio
Published: December 2018

Lateralization, i.e., the different functional roles played by the left and right sides of the brain, is expressed in two main ways: (1) in single individuals, regardless of a common direction (bias) in the population (aka individual-level lateralization); or (2) in single individuals and in the same direction in most of them, so that the population is biased (aka population-level lateralization). Indeed, lateralization often occurs at the population-level, with 60–90% of individuals showing the same direction (right or left) of bias, depending on species and tasks. It is usually maintained that lateralization can increase the brain’s efficiency. However, this may explain individual-level lateralization, but not population-level lateralization, for individual brain efficiency is unrelated to the direction of the asymmetry in other individuals. From a theoretical point of view, a possible explanation for population-level lateralization is that it may reflect an evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) that can develop when individually asymmetrical organisms are under specific selective pressures to coordinate their behavior with that of other asymmetrical organisms. This prediction has been sometimes misunderstood as it is equated with the idea that population-level lateralization should only be present in social species. However, population-level asymmetries have been observed in aggressive and mating displays in so-called “solitary” insects, suggesting that engagement in specific inter-individual interactions rather than “sociality” per se may promote population-level lateralization. Here, we clarify that the nature of inter-individuals interaction can generate evolutionarily stable strategies of lateralization at the individual- or population-level, depending on ecological contexts, showing that individual-level and population-level lateralization should be considered as two aspects of the same continuum.
A Novel Adaptive Non-Local Means-Based Nonlinear Fitting for Visibility Improving
Authors: Wu Hongtao , Jia Lei , Meng Ying , Liu Xiao , Lan Jinhui
Published: December 2018

The spatial-based method has become the most widely used method in improving the visibility of images. The visibility improving is mainly to remove the noise in the image, in order to trade off denoising and detail maintaining. A novel adaptive non-local means-based nonlinear fitting method is proposed in this paper. Firstly, according to the smoothness of the intensity around the central pixel, eight kinds of templates with different precision are exploited to approximate the central pixel through a novel adaptive non-local means filter design; the approximate weight coefficients of templates are derived from the approximation credibility. Subsequently, the fractal correction is used to smooth the denoising results. Eventually, the Rockafellar multiplier method is employed to generalize the smooth plane fitting to any geometric surface, thus yielding the optimal fitting of the center pixel approximation. Through a large number of experiments, it is clearly elucidated that compared with the classical spatial iteration-based methods and the recent denoising algorithms, the proposed algorithm is more robust and has better effect on denoising, while keeping more original details during denoising.
Complete Nucleotide Sequence of a Partitivirus from Rhizoctonia solani AG-1 IA Strain C24
Authors: Liu Chen , Zeng Miaolin , Zhang Meiling , Shu Canwei , Zhou Erxun
Published: December 2018

The complete genome of a novel double-stranded (ds) RNA mycovirus, named as Rhizoctonia solani partitivirus 5 (RsPV5), isolated from rice sheath blight fungus R. solani AG-1 IA strain C24, was sequenced and analysed. RsPV5 consists of two segments, dsRNA-1 (1899 nucleotides) and dsRNA-2 (1787 nucleotides). DsRNA-1 has an open reading frame (ORF) 1 that potentially codes for a protein of 584 amino acid (aa) containing the conserved motifs of a RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), and dsRNA-2 also contains a ORF 2, encoding a putative capsid protein (CP) of 513 aa. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that RsPV5 clustered together with six other viruses in an independent clade of the genus Alphapartitivirus, indicating that RsPV5 was a new member of the genus Alphapartitivirus, within the family Partitiviridae.
Metatranscriptomic Analysis and In Silico Approach Identified Mycoviruses in the Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus Rhizophagus spp.
Authors: Neupane Achal , Feng Chenchen , Feng Jiuhuan , Kafle Arjun , Bücking Heike , Lee Marzano Shin-Yi
Published: December 2018

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), including Rhizophagus spp., can play important roles in nutrient cycling of the rhizosphere. However, the effect of virus infection on AMF’s role in nutrient cycling cannot be determined without first knowing the diversity of the mycoviruses in AMF. Therefore, in this study, we sequenced the R. irregularis isolate-09 due to its previously demonstrated high efficiency in increasing the N/P uptake of the plant. We identified one novel mitovirus contig of 3685 bp, further confirmed by reverse transcription-PCR. Also, publicly available Rhizophagus spp. RNA-Seq data were analyzed to recover five partial virus sequences from family Narnaviridae, among which four were from R. diaphanum MUCL-43196 and one was from R. irregularis strain-C2 that was similar to members of the Mitovirus genus. These contigs coded genomes larger than the regular mitoviruses infecting pathogenic fungi and can be translated by either a mitochondrial translation code or a cytoplasmic translation code, which was also reported in previously found mitoviruses infecting mycorrhizae. The five newly identified virus sequences are comprised of functionally conserved RdRp motifs and formed two separate subclades with mitoviruses infecting Gigaspora margarita and Rhizophagus clarus, further supporting virus-host co-evolution theory. This study expands our understanding of virus diversity. Even though AMF is notably hard to investigate due to its biotrophic nature, this study demonstrates the utility of whole root metatranscriptome.
RVFV Infection in Goats by Different Routes of Inoculation
Authors: Kroeker Andrea L. , Smid Valerie , Embury-Hyatt Carissa , Moffat Estella , Collignon Brad , Lung Oliver , Lindsay Robbin , Weingartl Hana
Published: December 2018

Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is a zoonotic arbovirus of the Phenuiviridae family. Infection causes abortions in pregnant animals, high mortality in neonate animals, and mild to severe symptoms in both people and animals. There is currently an ongoing effort to produce safe and efficacious veterinary vaccines against RVFV in livestock to protect against both primary infection in animals and zoonotic infections in people. To test the efficacy of these vaccines, it is essential to have a reliable challenge model in relevant target species, including ruminants. We evaluated two goat breeds (Nubian and LaMancha), three routes of inoculation (intranasal, mosquito-primed subcutaneous, and subcutaneous) using an infectious dose of 107 pfu/mL, a virus strain from the 2006–2007 Kenyan/Sudan outbreak and compared the effect of using virus stocks produced in either mammalian or mosquito cells. Our results demonstrated that the highest and longest viremia titers were achieved in Nubian goats. The Nubian breed was also efficient at producing clinical signs, consistent viremia (peak viremia: 1.2 × 103–1.0 × 105 pfu/mL serum), nasal and oral shedding of viral RNA (1.5 × 101–8 × 106 genome copies/swab), a systemic infection of tissues, and robust antibody responses regardless of the inoculation route. The Nubian goat breed and a needle-free intranasal inoculation technique could both be utilized in future vaccine and challenge studies. These studies are important for preventing the spread and outbreak of zoonotic viruses like RVFV and are supported by the Canadian-led BSL4ZNet network.
The N-Terminus of the HIV-1 p6 Gag Protein Regulates Susceptibility to Degradation by IDE
Authors: Schmalen Adrian , Karius-Fischer Julia , Rauch Pia , Setz Christian , Korn Klaus , Henklein Petra , Fossen Torgils , Schubert Ulrich
Published: December 2018

As part of the Pr55Gag polyprotein, p6 fulfills an essential role in the late steps of the replication cycle. However, almost nothing is known about the functions of the mature HIV-1 p6 protein. Recently, we showed that p6 is a bona fide substrate of the insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE), a ubiquitously expressed zinc metalloprotease. This phenomenon appears to be specific for HIV-1, since p6 homologs of HIV-2, SIV and EIAV were IDE-insensitive. Furthermore, abrogation of the IDE-mediated degradation of p6 reduces the replication capacity of HIV-1 in an Env-dependent manner. However, it remained unclear to which extent the IDE mediated degradation is phylogenetically conserved among HIV-1. Here, we describe two HIV-1 isolates with IDE resistant p6 proteins. Sequence comparison allowed deducing one single amino acid regulating IDE sensitivity of p6. Exchanging the N-terminal leucine residue of p6 derived from the IDE sensitive isolate HIV-1NL4-3 with proline enhances its stability, while replacing Pro-1 of p6 from the IDE insensitive isolate SG3 with leucine restores susceptibility towards IDE. Phylogenetic analyses of this natural polymorphism revealed that the N-terminal leucine is characteristic for p6 derived from HIV-1 group M except for subtype A, which predominantly expresses p6 with an N-terminal proline. Consequently, p6 peptides derived from subtype A are not degraded by IDE. Thus, IDE mediated degradation of p6 is specific for HIV-1 group M isolates and not occasionally distributed among HIV-1.
Parechovirus A Detection by a Comprehensive Approach in a Clinical Laboratory
Authors: Chen Bao-Chen , Chang Jenn-Tzong , Huang Tsi-Shu , Chen Jih-Jung , Chen Yao-Shen , Jan Ming-Wei , Chang Tsung-Hsien
Published: December 2018

Parechovirus A (Human parechovirus, HPeV) causes symptoms ranging from severe neonatal infection to mild gastrointestinal and respiratory disease. Use of molecular approaches with RT-PCR and genotyping has improved the detection rate of HPeV. Conventional methods, such as viral culture and immunofluorescence assay, together with molecular methods facilitate comprehensive viral diagnosis. To establish the HPeV immunofluorescence assay, an antibody against HPeV capsid protein VP0 was generated by using antigenic epitope prediction data. The specificity of the anti-HPeV VP0 antibody was demonstrated on immunofluorescence assay, showing that this antibody was specific for HPeV but not enteroviruses. A total of 74 HPeV isolates, 7 non–polio-enteroviruses and 12 HPeV negative cell culture supernatant were used for evaluating the efficiency of the anti-HPeV VP0 antibody. The sensitivity of HPeV detection by the anti-HPeV VP0 antibody was consistent with 5′untranslated region (UTR) RT-PCR analysis. This study established comprehensive methods for HPeV detection that include viral culture and observation of cytopathic effect, immunofluorescence assay, RT-PCR and genotyping. The methods were incorporated into our routine clinical practice for viral diagnosis. In conclusion, this study established a protocol for enterovirus and HPeV virus identification that combines conventional and molecular methods and would be beneficial for HPeV diagnosis.
A Method for Determining the Discharge of Closed-End Furrow Irrigation Based on the Representative Value of Manning’s Roughness and Field Mean Infiltration Parameters Estimated Using the PTF at Regional Scale
Authors: Nie Wei-Bo , Li Yi-Bo , Zhang Fan , Dong Shu-Xin , Wang Heng , Ma Xiao-Yi
Published: December 2018

Infiltration parameters and Manning’s roughness are essential input parameters for surface irrigation simulation models. Multiple points of infiltration experiments require time-consuming, costly data collection and problematic calculations of field mean infiltration parameters. This study estimated the field mean infiltration parameters and Manning’s roughness values on a regional scale, on the basis of closed-end furrow irrigation experiments conducted at 45 experimental sites on the Guanzhong plain, and evaluated the influence of Manning’s roughness on advance trajectory and performance indicators of closed-end furrow irrigation. Then, we present a functional normalization of the Kostiakov equation and pedotransfer function (PTF) to estimate the normalization factors. The proposed method can be used to estimate the field mean infiltration parameters using PTF and the represented Manning’s roughness to determine the optimal discharge of closed-end furrow irrigation. The results revealed that the advance trajectory and performance of closed-end furrow irrigation was not sensitive to variations of Manning’s roughness, which can be adopted as a representative value (i.e., 0.075) of the maize field. The normalization method was proven to be feasible for the Kostiakov equation, and the PTF reliably estimated the normalization factors. Last, the optimized values of the inflow discharge were determined using the proposed method, with various combinations of furrow lengths and bottom slopes in the study area, and also compared with the inflow discharge determined based on infiltration parameters and Manning’s roughness, which were inversed by SIPAR_ID. The results indicated that the inflow discharge values obtained through using the two methods were approximately equal, proving that the proposed method was reliable and easy to use in practice.
Effects of Backwashing on Granular Activated Carbon with Ammonium Removal Potential in a Full-Scale Drinking Water Purification Plant
Authors: Niu Jia , Kasuga Ikuro , Kurisu Futoshi , Furumai Hiroaki
Published: December 2018

Granular activated carbon (GAC) has been widely introduced to advanced drinking water purification plants to remove organic matter and ammonium. Backwashing, which is the routine practice for GAC maintenance, is an important operational factor influencing the performance of GAC and its microbial biomass. In this study, the effects of backwashing on the ammonium removal potential of GAC were evaluated. In addition, abundances of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) on GAC were analyzed. GAC samples before and after backwashing were collected from a full-scale drinking water purification plant. Samplings were conducted before and after implementation of prechlorination of raw water. The results showed that the ammonium removal potential of the GAC increased by 12% after backwashing before prechlorination (p < 0.01). After implementing the prechlorination, the ammonium removal potential of the GAC decreased by 12% even after backwashing (p < 0.01). The AOA was predominant on the GAC in the two samplings. Regardless of prechlorination, the amounts of the AOA and the AOB remained at the same level before and after backwashing. Analysis of the backwashing water indicated that the amounts of the AOA and AOB washed out from the GAC were negligible (0.08%–0.26%) compared with their original amounts on the GAC. These results revealed the marginal role of backwashing on the biomass of ammonia oxidizers on GAC. However, the results also revealed that backwashing could have a negative impact on the ammonium removal potential of GAC during prechlorination.
Water Environment Variation in the Three Gorges Tributary and Its Influencing Factors on Different Scales
Authors: Hu Sheng , Xia Jun , Wu Xia , Wang Yingcai , Xia Fan
Published: December 2018

Long River is a small tributary typical of the Three Gorges Reservoir. In order to clarify the influence of hydro-meteorological factors and human regulation of the reservoir water level on the water environment, we monitored water environment parameters at six sites along Long River for three years, and were able to assess the degree to which variation in the water environment was affected from the micro-scale to macro-scale processes. We found that the water environment parameters have obvious seasonal variation and spatial distribution patterns. From upstream to the estuary, the influence of the backwater was gradually enhanced, whereas the influence of inflow gradually weakened. The distance coefficient between the samples in the backwater area and control sites in the upstream and the Yangtze River had a significant longitudinal gradient pattern (ANOVA, p < 0.05). Through redundancy analysis (RDA) forward selection, we found that cumulative precipitation, water level, cumulative net radiation, daily average temperature, daily net radiation, and daily precipitation all had significant influences on the water environment of the Long River (global permutation test, p < 0.05). The perennial backwater area was mostly affected by water level fluctuations (explaining 39.9% of data variation), whereas the fluctuation backwater area and the upstream inflow area were most affected by cumulative precipitation (explaining 42.9% and 44.0% of data variation, respectively). On the macroscale, the contribution rate of monthly change to the variation of water environment variables reached 54.9%, and the contribution rate of geographical change to the variation of water environment variables was only 7.2%, indicating that the water environment of Long River was mainly affected by exogenous input factors driven by the monsoon climate. Furthermore, we showed that the spatial interpolation method combined with the distance coefficient can easily and efficiently describe the complicated dynamic influences of the upstream inflow and the Yangtze River backwater on the water environment in the Long River bay. The conclusions are helpful in explaining the driving mechanisms of the water environment in the tributaries of the Three Gorges Reservoir, which can provide reference for water environmental protection and management in the Three Gorges Reservoir.
Variations of Fluvial Sediment Transport after Large Earthquakes: Field Study in Taiwan Catchments
Authors: Lin Guan-Wei
Published: December 2018

By estimating long-term suspended sediment discharges around river catchments, recovery periods of fluvial sediment transport after a large earthquake can be assessed. This study proved that the recovery period in a given catchment is positively correlated with the peak ground motions triggered by an earthquake. The correlation indicates that a recovery period of more than four years is required if a catchment is affected by an earthquake with a ground acceleration greater than 400 gal (~0.4 g). A total of four factors (sediment transport, seismic frequency, rock strength, and joint density) in the multivariate analysis were carefully considered to assess their influence on the sediment yield. As expected, runoff and geomaterial properties were the most important factors affecting the amount of suspended sediment discharges. The analysis of the influence factors further revealed that earthquake frequency is another important factor for sediment yield, especially within a few years after a large earthquake.
Integration of Remote Sensing Evapotranspiration into Multi-Objective Calibration of Distributed Hydrology–Soil–Vegetation Model (DHSVM) in a Humid Region of China
Authors: Pan Suli , Liu Li , Bai Zhixu , Xu Yue-Ping
Published: December 2018

This study presents an approach that integrates remote sensing evapotranspiration into multi-objective calibration (i.e., runoff and evapotranspiration) of a fully distributed hydrological model, namely a distributed hydrology–soil–vegetation model (DHSVM). Because of the lack of a calibration module in the DHSVM, a multi-objective calibration module using ε-dominance non-dominated sorted genetic algorithm II (ε-NSGAII) and based on parallel computing of a Linux cluster for the DHSVM (εP-DHSVM) is developed. The module with DHSVM is applied to a humid river basin located in the mid-west of Zhejiang Province, east China. The results show that runoff is simulated well in single objective calibration, whereas evapotranspiration is not. By considering more variables in multi-objective calibration, DHSVM provides more reasonable simulation for both runoff (NS: 0.74% and PBIAS: 10.5%) and evapotranspiration (NS: 0.76% and PBIAS: 8.6%) and great reduction of equifinality, which illustrates the effect of remote sensing evapotranspiration integration in the calibration of hydrological models.
Feasibility and acceptability of follow-up for prostate cancer in primary care: a pilot study
Authors: Heins Marianne , Schellevis François , Schotman Mirjam , van Bezooijen Bart , Tchaoussoglou Ismene , van der Waart Mirjam , Veldhuis Lilan , van Dulmen Sandra , Donker Gé , Korevaar Joke
Published: December 2018

Background

The number of patients with prostate cancer is increasing, which puts additional pressure on health care. GP-led follow up may help reduce costs, travel time for patients, and workload for urologists and improve continuity of care.

Aim

To test the feasibility and acceptability of a new clinical pathway for GP-led prostate cancer follow-up.

Design & setting

A feasibility pilot study was performed in cooperation with six GP practices in the Dutch region of Amersfoort.

Method

The study included 20 patients with prostate cancer in a stable phase, who were aged ≥65 years and with comorbidity. Follow-up for prostate cancer was transferred to the GP for one year. Participating GPs and urologists jointly developed a protocol. Patient satisfaction was measured at 0 and 12 months with the ‘personalised care’ subscale of the Consumer Quality (CQ) index 'general practice care'. Next, patients, GPs, and urologists were interviewed about their experiences. The clinical pathway was considered successful if no patients were referred back to the urologist, except for an increase in prostate-specific antigen (PSA), and if the majority of patients and participating urologists and GPs were satisfied.

Results

Of the 20 patients included in the study, three were referred back to the urologist because of increasing PSA levels and one died (unrelated to prostate cancer). Most patients (73%) were satisfied with the transfer of care, indicated by a score of ≥3 on the ‘personalised care’ subscale. GPs and urologists had confidence in the ability of GPs to provide follow-up care and preferred to continue this.

Conclusion

The new clinical pathway was successful, warranting a larger study to provide evidence for the (cost-)effectiveness of GP-led prostate cancer follow-up.
Organometallic vs organic photoredox catalysts for photocuring reactions in the visible region
Authors: Bonardi Aude-Héloise , Dumur Frédéric , Noirbent Guillaume , Lalevée Jacques , Gigmes Didier
Published: December 2018

Recent progresses achieved in terms of synthetic procedures allow now the access to polymers of well-defined composition, molecular weight and architecture. Thanks to these recent progresses in polymer engineering, the scope of applications of polymers is far wider than that of any other class of material, ranging from adhesives, coatings, packaging materials, inks, paints, optics, 3D printing, microelectronics or textiles. From a synthetic viewpoint, photoredox catalysis, originally developed for organic chemistry, has recently been applied to the polymer synthesis, constituting a major breakthrough in polymer chemistry. Thanks to the development of photoredox catalysts of polymerization, a drastic reduction of the amount of photoinitiators could be achieved, addressing the toxicity and the extractability issues; high performance initiating abilities are still obtained due to the catalytic approach which regenerates the catalyst. As it is a fast-growing field, this review will be mainly focused on an overview of the recent advances concerning the development of organic and organometallic photoredox catalysts for the photoreticulation of multifunctional monomers for a rapid and efficient access to 3D polymer networks.
Validating the C i 5052.17 Å/Mg ii 4481 Å Equivalent Width Ratio as a Diagnostic for F-type Lambda Boo Stars
Authors: Cheng Kwang-Ping , Tarbell Erik S. , Giacinto Anthony J. , Neff James E. , Romo Christopher A. , Gray Richard O. , Corbally Christopher J. , Johnson Dustin M.
Published: December 2018

The Lambda Boo-type stars are chemically peculiar stars with deficiencies of iron-peak elements but near-solar C, N, O, and S abundances. Since the prototype Lambda Boötis was first reported as peculiar, this group has been expanded from a small group of early A-type stars to a larger group of late B to early F-type dwarfs. Although a detailed abundance analysis that supports the Lambda Boo-like abundance pattern is the definitive confirmation of this Lambda Boo characteristic, the rapid rotation of many Lambda Boo stars generally limits how much detail can be derived from an abundance analysis. Traditionally, Lambda Boo candidates have been classified by visually examining the difference between their spectra and spectra of standard stars. Therefore, some ambiguity remains especially for mild or borderline Lambda Boo stars. This is the third paper in a series that establishes a straightforward yet reliable way to identify Lambda Boo-type stars. In previous papers, we identified line equivalent width (EW) ratios in the ultraviolet and visible regions that can distinguish Lambda Boo stars from other metal-weak stars. In this paper, we apply the visible line EW ratio diagnostic to 25 Lambda Boo candidates and carry out a detailed abundance analysis of HD 81290, an F2 star with a C i/Mg ii EW ratio in the range expected for Lambda Boo-type stars. Our elemental abundance analysis results confirm HD 81290's Lambda Boo membership and demonstrate the utility of our EW ratio as a diagnostic for cooler F-type Lambda Boo stars.
Hydrodynamic Simulations of Moonlet-induced Propellers in Saturn’s Rings: Application to Blériot
Authors: Seiß Martin , Albers Nicole , Sremčević Miodrag , Schmidt Jürgen , Salo Heikki , Seiler Michael , Hoffmann Holger , Spahn Frank
Published: December 2018

One of the biggest successes of the Cassini mission is the detection of small moons (moonlets) embedded in Saturns rings that cause S-shaped density structures in their close vicinity, called propellers. Here, we present isothermal hydrodynamic simulations of moonlet-induced propellers in Saturn’s A ring that denote a further development of the original model. We find excellent agreement between these new hydrodynamic and corresponding N-body simulations. Furthermore, the hydrodynamic simulations confirm the predicted scaling laws and the analytical solution for the density in the propeller gaps. Finally, this mean field approach allows us to simulate the pattern of the giant propeller Blériot, which is too large to be modeled by direct N-body simulations. Our results are compared to two stellar occultation observations by the Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (UVIS), which intersect the propeller Blériot. Best fits to the UVIS optical depth profiles are achieved for a Hill radius of 590 m, which implies a moonlet diameter of about 860 m. Furthermore, the model favors a kinematic shear viscosity of the surrounding ring material of ν
0 = 340 cm2 s−1, a dispersion velocity in the range of 0.3 cm s−1 < c
0 < 1.5 cm s−1, and a fairly high bulk viscosity 7 < ξ
0/ν
0 < 17. These large transport values might be overestimated by our isothermal ring model and should be reviewed by an extended model including thermal fluctuations.
Long-term Spot Stability in the Post-common-envelope Binary QS Vir
Authors: Latković Olivera , Cséki Attila , Djurašević Gojko , Essam Ahmed , Hamed Amal S. , Youssef Shahenaz M.
Published: December 2018

We observed the post-common-envelope eclipsing binary with a white dwarf component, QS Vir, using the 1.88 m telescope of Kotammia Observatory in Egypt. The new observations were analyzed together with all multicolor light curves available online (sampling a period of 25 yr), using a full-feature binary system modeling software based on Roche geometry. This is the first time complete photometric modeling was done with most of these data. QS Vir is a detached system, with the red dwarf component underfilling its Roche lobe by a small margin. All light curves feature out-of-eclipse variability that is associated with ellipsoidal variation, mutual irradiation and irregularities in surface brightness of the tidally distorted and magnetically active red dwarf. We tested models with one, two, and three dark spots and found that one spot is sufficient to account for the light curve asymmetry in all data sets, although this does not rule out the presence of multiple spots. We also found that a single spotted model cannot fit light curves observed simultaneously in different filters. Instead, each filter requires a different spot configuration. To thoroughly explore the parameter space of spot locations, we devised a grid-search procedure and used it to find consistent solutions. Based on this, we conclude that the dark spot responsible for light curve distortions has been stable for the past 15 yr, after a major migration that happened between 1993 and 2002, possibly due to a flip-flop event.
Tracking Solar Phenomena from the SDO
Authors: Kempton Dustin J. , Schuh Michael A. , Angryk Rafal A.
Published: December 2018

This paper focuses on the problem of tracking solar phenomena by creating spatiotemporal trajectories from solar event detection reports. Though tracking of multiple objects in video sequences has seen much research and improvement in recent years, there has been relatively little focus on the domain of tracking solar phenomena (events). In this work, we improve on our previous endeavors by eliminating offline model training requirements and utilizing crowd-sourced human labels to evaluate our performance. We apply our method to the metadata of two solar event types spanning 4 yr of detection reports from the automated detection modules for the Solar Dynamics Observatory mission. We compare our results with those produced by the detection module for active regions and coronal holes by using a crowd-sourced trajectory database as the ground truth. We show that our results are as good as or better than the event-specific detection module for these two event types. This is especially promising because our tracking algorithm is a generalized module for all solar events, and not specific to a single event type, allowing it to be applied to other solar event types reported to the Heliophysics Event Knowledgebase that do not contain tracking information.
The Application of Autocorrelation SETI Search Techniques in an ATA Survey
Authors: Harp G. R. , Ackermann R. F. , Astorga Alfredo , Arbunich Jack , Barrios Jose , Hightower Kristin , Meitzner Seth , Barott W. C. , Nolan Michael C. , Messerschmitt D. G. , Vakoch Douglas A. , Shostak Seth , Tarter J. C.
Published: December 2018

We report a novel radio autocorrelation search for extraterrestrial intelligence. For selected frequencies across the terrestrial microwave window (1–10 GHz), observations were conducted at the Allen Telescope Array to identify artificial non-sinusoidal periodic signals with radio bandwidths greater than 4 Hz, which are capable of carrying substantial messages with symbol rates from 4 to 106 Hz. Out of 243 observations, about half (101) were directed toward sources with known continuum flux >∼1 Jy over the sampled bandwidth (quasars, pulsars, supernova remnants, and masers), based on the hypothesis that they might harbor heretofore undiscovered natural or artificial repetitive, phase or frequency modulation. The rest of the observations were directed mostly toward exoplanet stars with no previously discovered continuum flux. No signals attributable to extraterrestrial technology were found in this study. We conclude that the maximum probability that future observations like the ones described here will reveal repetitively modulated emissions is less than 5% for continuum sources and exoplanets alike. The paper concludes by describing a new approach to expanding this survey to many more targets and much greater sensitivity using archived data from interferometers all over the world.
Wave-mean Flow Interactions in the Atmospheric Circulation of Tidally Locked Planets
Authors: Hammond Mark , Pierrehumbert Raymond T.
Published: December 2018

We use a linear shallow-water model to investigate the global circulation of the atmospheres of tidally locked planets. Simulations, observations, and simple models show that if these planets are sufficiently rapidly rotating, their atmospheres have an eastward equatorial jet and a hotspot east of the substellar point. We linearize the shallow-water model about this eastward flow and its associated height perturbation. The forced solutions of this system show that the shear flow explains the form of the global circulation, particularly the hotspot shift and the positions of the cold standing waves on the nightside. We suggest that the eastward hotspot shift seen in observations and 3D simulations of these atmospheres is caused by the zonal flow Doppler shifting the stationary wave response eastwards, summed with the height perturbation from the flow itself. This differs from other studies that explained the hotspot shift as pure advection of heat from air flowing eastwards from the substellar point, or as equatorial waves traveling eastwards. We compare our solutions to simulations in our climate model Exo-FMS, and show that the height fields and wind patterns match. We discuss how planetary properties affect the global circulation, and how they change observables such as the hotspot shift or day–night contrast. We conclude that the wave-mean flow interaction between the stationary planetary waves and the equatorial jet is a vital part of the equilibrium circulation on tidally locked planets.
Effect of Alpha Beams on Low-frequency Electromagnetic Waves Driven by Proton Beams
Authors: Xiang L. , Wu D. J. , Chen L.
Published: December 2018

Electromagnetic waves (EMWs) below or near the proton gyrofrequency can be left-hand (LH) or right-hand (RH) polarized waves, which are believed to be fundamentally important in the energization of plasma particles. Proton and alpha beams that are associated with EMW activities are ubiquitous in space and astrophysical plasmas. Based upon linear Vlasov theory, we study the effect of alpha beams on the LH and RH instabilities driven by both the presence of proton and alpha beam populations in a compensated-current system. The results show that the thresholds, real frequencies, and growth rates of both instabilities are highly sensitive to the density and drift velocity of alpha beams. In particular, alpha beams with

inhibit two kinds of instabilities; where

is the drift velocity of alpha beams with minimum values of growth rates, while for

both the growth rates are enhanced with the density or drift velocity of alpha beams, especially for the LH waves. We also investigate the competition between the LH and RH instabilities. The RH waves have a lower threshold and higher growth rate than the LH waves. Additionally, a comparison of the approximate analytical solutions with the exact numerical calculations based on WHAMP indicates that the analytical results are in good agreement with the numerical calculations. A possible application to EMW activities with respect to the formation and evolution of ion beams in the solar wind is briefly discussed.