bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
How to finance energy renovation of residential buildings: Review of current and emerging financing instruments in the EU
Authors: Bertoldi Paolo , Economidou Marina , Palermo Valentina , Boza‐Kiss Benigna , Todeschi Valeria 
Published: June 2020

AbstractThe Paris Agreement goals require net‐zero CO2 emissions by mid‐century. The European Commission in its recent proposal for climate and energy strategy for 2050 indicated the need for more intensified actions to substantially improve the energy performances of buildings. With the rate of new construction in Europe, the challenge is to increase both the pace and depth of building energy renovations. Several barriers inhibit the wide uptake of comprehensive energy renovations, including the inability or inertia to finance upfront costs of energy renovations. Despite various policies implemented to address some of these barriers, current investments in buildings remain at suboptimal levels. The paper reviews current financing practices for energy renovations and investigates some innovative instruments with a special focus on their applicability to residential buildings. In addition to “traditional” financial schemes such as subsidies, tax incentives, and loans, the paper assesses innovative financing schemes: On property tax and on‐bill financing, energy efficiency mortgages, and energy efficiency feed‐in tariffs. The paper also investigates the concept of one‐stop shops for building renovations and crowdfunding. The paper offers an assessment of the characteristics, benefits, and challenges of each analyzed financing instrument and provides policy recommendations for their successful implementation. In general, as financing instruments involve different stakeholders and due to complex nature of the sector, there is no single solution to accelerate energy renovation investment in buildings. The emerging financial models offer the potential to address the long‐standing barriers to investment in energy efficiency.This article is categorized under:
Energy Efficiency > Economics and Policy
Energy Efficiency > Climate and Environment
Energy and Climate > Economics and Policy
Remote Detection of Invasive Alien Species
Authors: Bolch Erik A. , Santos Maria J. , Ade Christiana , Khanna Shruti , Basinger Nicholas T. , Reader Martin O. , Hestir Erin L. 
Published: June 2020

AbstractThe spread of invasive alien species (IAS) is recognized as the most severe threat to biodiversity outside of climate change and anthropogenic habitat destruction. IAS negatively impact ecosystems, local economies, and residents. They are especially problematic because once established, they give rise to positive feedbacks, increasing the likelihood of further invasions and spread. The integration of remote sensing (RS) to the study of invasion, in addition to contributing to our understanding of invasion processes and impacts to biodiversity, has enabled managers to monitor invasions and predict the spread of IAS, thus supporting biodiversity conservation and management action. This chapter focuses on RS capabilities to detect and monitor invasive plant species across terrestrial, riparian, aquatic, and human-modified ecosystems. All of these environments have unique species assemblages and their own optimal methodology for effective detection and mapping, which we discuss in detail.
A Range of Earth Observation Techniques for Assessing Plant Diversity
Authors: Lausch Angela , Heurich Marco , Magdon Paul , Rocchini Duccio , Schulz Karsten , Bumberger Jan , King Doug J. 
Published: June 2020

AbstractVegetation diversity and health is multidimensional and only partially understood due to its complexity. So far there is no single monitoring approach that can sufficiently assess and predict vegetation health and resilience. To gain a better understanding of the different remote sensing (RS) approaches that are available, this chapter reviews the range of Earth observation (EO) platforms, sensors, and techniques for assessing vegetation diversity. Platforms include close-range EO platforms, spectral laboratories, plant phenomics facilities, ecotrons, wireless sensor networks (WSNs), towers, air- and spaceborne EO platforms, and unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Sensors include spectrometers, optical imaging systems, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), and radar. Applications and approaches to vegetation diversity modeling and mapping with air- and spaceborne EO data are also presented. The chapter concludes with recommendations for the future direction of monitoring vegetation diversity using RS.
How the Optical Properties of Leaves Modify the Absorption and Scattering of Energy and Enhance Leaf Functionality
Authors: Ustin Susan L. , Jacquemoud Stéphane 
Published: June 2020

AbstractLeaves absorb, scatter, and transmit sunlight at all wavelengths across the visible, near-infrared, and shortwave-infrared spectrum. The optical properties of a leaf are determined by its biochemical and biophysical characteristics, including its 3-D cellular organization. The absorption and scattering properties of leaves together create the shape of their reflectance spectra. Terrestrial seed plant species share similar physiological and metabolic processes for fluxes of gases (CO2, O2, H2O), nutrients, and energy, while differences are primarily consequences of how these properties are distributed and their physical structures. Related species generally share biochemical and biophysical traits, and their optical properties are also similar, providing a mechanism for identification. However, it is often the minor differences in spectral properties throughout the wavelengths of the solar spectrum that define a species or groups of related species. This chapter provides a review and summary of the most common interactions between leaf properties and light and the physical processes that regulate the outcomes of these interactions.
Integrating Biodiversity, Remote Sensing, and Auxiliary Information for the Study of Ecosystem Functioning and Conservation at Large Spatial Scales
Authors: Schrodt Franziska , de la Barreda Bautista Betsabe , Williams Christopher , Boyd Doreen S. , Schaepman-Strub Gabriela , Santos Maria J. 
Published: June 2020

AbstractAssessing patterns and processes of plant functional, taxonomic, genetic, and structural biodiversity at large scales is essential across many disciplines, including ecosystem management, agriculture, ecosystem risk and service assessment, conservation science, and forestry. In situ data housed in databases necessary to perform such assessments over large parts of the world are growing steadily. Integrating these in situ data with remote sensing (RS) products helps not only to improve data completeness and quality but also to account for limitations and uncertainties associated with each data product. Here, we outline how auxiliary environmental and socioeconomic data might be integrated with biodiversity and RS data to expand our knowledge about ecosystem functioning and inform the conservation of biodiversity. We discuss concepts, data, and methods necessary to assess plant species and ecosystem properties across scales of space and time and provide a critical discussion of outstanding issues.
Prospects and Pitfalls for Spectroscopic Remote Sensing of Biodiversity at the Global Scale
Authors: Schimel David , Townsend Philip A. , Pavlick Ryan 
Published: June 2020

AbstractImaging spectroscopy is a powerful new approach for observing aspects of the biological diversity of the Earth, conveying information about plant functional traits, habitat, and plant diversity itself. For decades, spectroscopic data suitable for this application have mainly been collected by aircraft. But in the next decade, global coverage from space by high-quality spectroscopic data will become available, preceded by instruments providing “global access”—not wall-to-wall coverage but data from almost anywhere in the world. For decades, scientists have experimented with and discussed optimal strategies for collecting spectroscopic data, but the next set of missions is now sufficiently well-defined that ecologists should consider how best to use the data that can now be expected. The anticipated flood of data will provide a new window on diversity, characterizing it in new ways that comprehensively sample space and change over time. Spectroscopic data will be peta-scale or larger, perhaps as much as 10 TB per day, and the data themselves will be high dimensional, requiring and allowing advanced big data techniques to be fully exploited. These data raise specific challenges such as how to characterize aggregate ecosystem characteristics, since the traits observed will change with phenology. Pixels will be fixed at ~30 m, 10–106times larger than the plants they sample; other instrument objectives are likely in the range of 10 nm spectral sampling, coverage from 400 to 2500 nm with signal to noise in the range of 250–400. Imaging spectroscopy from space represents a huge opportunity for global ecology, but many conceptual, algorithmic, and theoretical issues will challenge the users.
Applying Remote Sensing to Biodiversity Science
Authors: Cavender-Bares Jeannine , Schweiger Anna K. , Pinto-Ledezma Jesús N. , Meireles Jose Eduardo 
Published: June 2020

AbstractBiodiversity is organized hierarchically from individuals to populations to major lineages in the tree of life. This hierarchical structure has consequences for remote sensing of plant phenotypes and leads to the expectation that more distantly related plants will be more spectrally distinct. Applying remote sensing to understand ecological processes from biodiversity patterns builds on prior efforts that integrate functional and phylogenetic information of organisms with their environmental distributions to discern assembly processes and the rules that govern species distributions. Spectral diversity metrics critical to detecting biodiversity patterns expand on the many metrics for quantifying multiple dimensions of biodiversity—taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional—and can be applied at local (alpha diversity) to regional (gamma diversity) scales to examine variation among communities (beta diversity). Remote-sensing technologies stand to illuminate the nature of biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships and ecosystem service trade-offs over large spatial extents and to estimate their uncertainties. Such advances will improve our capacity to manage natural resources in the Anthropocene.
The Laegeren Site: An Augmented Forest Laboratory
Authors: Morsdorf Felix , Schneider Fabian D. , Gullien Carla , Kükenbrink Daniel , Leiterer Reik , Schaepman Michael E. 
Published: June 2020

AbstractGiven the increased pressure on forests and their diversity in the context of global change, new ways of monitoring diversity are needed. Remote sensing has the potential to inform essential biodiversity variables on the global scale, but validation of data and products, particularly in remote areas, is difficult. We show how radiative transfer (RT) models, parameterized with a detailed 3-D forest reconstruction based on laser scanning, can be used to upscale leaf-level information to canopy scale. The simulation approach is compared with actual remote sensing data, showing very good agreement in both the spectral and spatial domains. In addition, we compute a set of physiological and morphological traits from airborne imaging spectroscopy and laser scanning data and show how these traits can be used to estimate the functional richness of a forest at regional scale. The presented RT modeling framework has the potential to prototype and validate future spaceborne observation concepts aimed at informing variables of biodiversity, while the trait-based mapping of diversity could augment in situ networks of diversity, providing effective spatiotemporal gap filling for a comprehensive assessment of changes to diversity.
Ester and amide derivatives of rhodamine B exert cytotoxic effects on different human tumor cell lines
Authors: Serbian Immo , Hoenke Sophie , Kraft Oliver , Csuk René 
Published: June 2020

AbstractThree esters of rhodamine B (1–3) differing in their alkyl chain lengths as well as several rhodamine B amides (4–9) were synthesized in good yields and tested for their cytotoxicity in SRB assays employing several human tumor cell lines. The rhodamine B esters were unselective but showed cytotoxicity of as low as EC50 = 0.15 ± 0.02 µM. The rhodamine B amides were slightly less cytotoxic but showed good selectivity against MCF-7 and A2780 tumor cell lines. Especially a morpholinyl derivative 4 was ~20 time more cytotoxic for MCF-7 than for nonmalignant NIH 3T3 cells.
Establishing an oncocardiology service
Authors: Lehmann L. H. , Totzeck M. 
Published: June 2020

AbstractOncocardiology is an emerging field in cardiovascular healthcare. Besides establishing surveillance and follow-up strategies for cancer patients, it will be essential to set up specialized oncocardiology services. However, there is a lack of clinical studies to give evidence-based recommendations regarding cardiological diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for cancer patients. An oncocardiology service is a patient-centered structure that aims to integrate research and interdisciplinary patient care to bridge this gap. We discuss the current challenges in developing an oncocardiology service and review the literature on this topic. We further provide an overview of the essential diagnostic tools and upcoming ethical issues to be considered in the management of oncology patients.
Method of average voltages in integration step: theory and application
Authors: Plakhtyna O. , Kutsyk A. , Lozynskyy A. 
Published: June 2020

AbstractA numerical one-step method of average voltage values in integration step, which allows to algebraize the differential equations for electric circuits of electromechanical systems with semiconductor converters, was described in the paper. The method is proposed for the creation of digital power circuit real-time models of electrical systems in hybrid models that combine digital and physical components. Digital models in hybrid systems must continuously function over a long time period in conjunction with physical objects. The indicated method provides stability of mathematical models, and is also effective in the sense of the amount of calculations. The article describes the application of the method of average voltage values in the integration step to create a hybrid model of power generation system for a ship's power plant with diesel generator. The digital component of the hybrid model, in this case, is power conversion system that includes a synchronous generator driven by a diesel engine, while the physical part is real excitation controller of generator with automatic voltage regulator. The research results obtained on the hybrid model and their comparison with the results of the physical experiment at the laboratory plant are presented.
Characterization of charge transfer excited states in [2Fe–2S] iron–sulfur clusters using conventional configuration interaction techniques
Authors: Kubas Adam 
Published: June 2020

AbstractThe experimental UV–Vis spectra of the biologically relevant [2Fe–2S] iron–sulfur clusters feature typically three bands in the 300–800 nm range. Based on ground-state orbitals and using the one electron transition picture, these bands are said to be of charge transfer character. The key complication in the electronic structure calculations of these compounds are the antiferromagnetic coupling of the iron centers and high covalency of Fe–S bonds. Thus, the examples of the direct computations of electronically excited states of these systems are rare. Whereas low lying electronic excited states were subject of recent studies, higher energy states computed with many-body theories were never reported. In this work we present, for the first time, calculations of the electronic spectra of [Fe2S2](SMe)42−biomimetic compound. We demonstrate that spin-averaged restricted open-shell Hartree–Fock orbitals are superior to high-spin orbitals and are convenient reference for subsequent configuration interaction calculations. Moreover, the use of conventional configuration interaction methods enabled us to study the nature of the excited states in details with the difference density maps. By systematic extension of the donor orbital space we show that key excitations in the 300–800 nm range are of Fe 3d ← (μ-S) character.
Examining Land Use Changes to Evaluate the Effects of Land Management in a Complex, Dynamic Landscape
Authors: Martin Amanda K. , Root Karen V. 
Published: June 2020

AbstractAnthropogenic alterations to landscapes have increased as the human population continues to rise, leading to detrimental changes in natural habitats. Ecological restoration assists in recovery by altering habitats to improve conditions and foster biodiversity. We examined land cover changes over time within a complex, dynamic region in the Midwest to assess the long-term effects of conservation. We used Landsat 8 bands for a 15-class land cover map of Oak Openings Region using supervised classification. We validated our map and achieved an overall accuracy of 71.2% from correctly classified points out of total visited points. Change over 10 years, from 2006 to 2016, was explored by comparing class statistics from FRAGSTATS between our map and original land cover map. We found that natural land, i.e., forest and early successional, covered 33%, with 10% permanently protected, while human-modified land, i.e., agricultural and developed, covered 67% of the region. Over 10 years, natural classes increased, and cultural classes decreased by 5.8%. There were decreases for the three forest communities and increases for the two early successional communities. These changes are likely the result of natural recovery and disturbance, and conservation efforts by the Green Ribbon Initiative. Changes in habitat also came with distribution changes, e.g., increased fragmentation for some classes, which was readily visible. Our useful method measured functionality by emphasizing changes in composition and configuration. Our approach provides a tool for assessing cumulative regional-scale effects from site-level management and conservation. This large-scale view for conservation is needed to effectively mitigate future changes.
Vascular Corrosion Casting: Review of Advantages and Limitations in the Application of Some Simple Quantitative Methods
Authors: Hossler Fred E. , Douglas John E. 
Published: June 2020

AbstractVascular corrosion casting has been used for about 40 years to produce replicas of normal and abnormal vasculature and microvasculature of various tissues and organs that could be viewed at the ultrastructural level. In combination with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the primary application of corrosion casting has been to describe the morphology and anatomical distribution of blood vessels in these tissues. However, such replicas should also contain quantitative information about that vasculature. This report summarizes some simple quantitative applications of vascular corrosion casting. Casts were prepared by infusing Mercox resin or diluted Mercox resin into the vasculature. Surrounding tissues were removed with KOH, hot water, and formic acid, and the resulting dried casts were observed with routine SEM. The orientation, size, and frequency of vascular endothelial cells were determined from endothelial nuclear imprints on various cast surfaces. Vascular volumes of heart, lung, and avian salt gland were calculated using tissue and resin densities, and weights. Changes in vascular volume and functional capillary density in an experimentally induced emphysema model were estimated from confocal images of casts. Clearly, corrosion casts lend themselves to quantitative analysis. However, because blood vessels differ in their compliances, in their responses to the toxicity of casting resins, and in their response to varying conditions of corrosion casting procedures, it is prudent to use care in interpreting this quantitative data. Some of the applications and limitations of quantitative methodology with corrosion casts are reviewed here.
Development of a Nanoindenter for In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy
Authors: Stach Eric A. , Freeman Tony , Minor Andrew M. , Owen Doug K. , Cumings John , Wall Mark A. , Chraska Tomas , Hull Robert , Morris J.W. , Zettl A. , Dahmen Ulrich 
Published: June 2020

AbstractIn situ transmission electron microscopy is an established experimental technique that permits direct observation of the dynamics and mechanisms of dislocation motion and deformation behavior. In this article, we detail the development of a novel specimen goniometer that allows real-time observations of the mechanical response of materials to indentation loads. The technology of the scanning tunneling microscope is adopted to allow nanometer-scale positioning of a sharp, conductive diamond tip onto the edge of an electron-transparent sample. This allows application of loads to nanometer-scale material volumes coupled with simultaneous imaging of the material’s response. The emphasis in this report is qualitative and technique oriented, with particular attention given to sample geometry and other technical requirements. Examples of the deformation of aluminum and titanium carbide as well as the fracture of silicon will be presented.
Accurate Recording and Measurement of Electron Diffraction Data in Structural and Difference Fourier Studies of Proteins
Authors: Downing Kenneth H. , Li Huilin 
Published: June 2020

AbstractMany of the techniques that have been developed in X-ray crystallography are being applied in electron crystallographic studies of proteins. Electron crystallography has the advantage of measuring structure factor phases directly from high resolution images with an accuracy substantially higher than is common in X-ray crystallography. However, electron diffraction amplitudes are often not as precise as those obtained in X-ray work. We discuss here some approaches to maximizing the reliability of the diffraction amplitudes through choice of exposure and data processing schemes. With accurate measurement of diffraction data, Fourier difference methods can be used in electron crystallographic studies of small, localized changes of proteins that exist in two-dimensional crystals. The mathematical basis for the power of these methods in detecting small changes is reviewed. We then discuss several issues related to optimizing the quality of the diffraction data and derive an expression for the best exposure for recording diffraction patterns. An application of Fourier difference maps in localizing drug binding sites on the protein tubulin is discussed.
Surface Kinetics of Copper Oxidation Investigated by In Situ Ultra-high Vacuum Transmission Electron Microscopy
Authors: Yang Judith C. , Bharadwaj Mridula D. , Zhou Guangwen , Tropia Lori 
Published: June 2020

AbstractWe review our studies of the initial oxidation stages of Cu(001) thin films as investigated by in situ ultra-high vacuum transmission electron microscopy. We present our observations of surface reconstruction and the nucleation to coalescence of copper oxide during in situ oxidation in O2. We have proposed a semi-quantitative model, where oxygen surface diffusion is the dominant mechanism of the initial oxidation stages of Cu. We have also investigated the effect of water vapor on copper oxidation. We have observed that the presence of water vapor in the oxidizing atmosphere retards the rate of Cu oxidation and Cu2O is reduced when exposed directly to steam.