bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A new method of vegetation–climate classification in China
Authors: Yanling Sun , Xiaodong Yan , Deti Xie 
Published: June 2007

AbstractCoefficient C is a synthetic index from the third correlative equation, which represents the state of moisture in a region and may be used for assigning vegetation zonality. The third correlative equation is a new equation concerning heat and water balance from knowledge of evaporation on land. In this article, coefficient C and accumulated temperature over 5 °C (AT5) are combined to predict the distribution of vegetation zones in China. Predictions of vegetation distribution are made using observational climate data interpolated into a 25 × 25 km grid.The overall impression from examining the resulting vegetation map is that the location and distribution of vegetation zones in China are predicted fairly well. Comparison between the predicted vegetation map and the vegetation regionalization map are based on Kappa statistics and indicate very good agreement for the cold–temperate coniferous forest zone, the subtropical evergreen broadleaved forest zone, and the temperate mixed coniferous–broadleaved forest zone. Agreement is good for the warm–temperate deciduous broadleaved forest zone, the temperate steppe zone, the temperate desert zone, and the Tibetan high‐cold plateau zone. Agreement between the regionalization map and the produced map is fair for the tropical rainforest and monsoon forest zone.Compared with those produced by the Holdridge, Thornthwaite, Penman, and the Kira models, as well as the Budyko method, the Kappa statistics in this article are all better except for the cold–temperate (boreal) coniferous forest zone and the temperate desert zone. The results are particularly superior for the Tibetan high‐cold plateau zone. Coefficient C provides important information for predicting the distribution of vegetation zones in China, and this article attempts to study vegetation–climate classification on a large scale using coefficient C and AT5. Copyright © 2007 Royal Meteorological Society
Features of the Caribbean low level jet
Authors: Whyte Felicia S. , Taylor Michael A. , Stephenson Tannecia S. , Campbell Jayaka D. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThe Caribbean Low Level Jet (CLLJ) is shown to be a real and dominant climatological feature of the early summer Caribbean climate. It manifests as an intensification in the trade winds in the western Caribbean basin (70°W–80°W) with an east‐west axis along 15°N. It is confined to heights below 600 mb and has maximum wind speeds approaching 16 m/s near the surface. The study shows that there is variability in the strength and zonal extent of the CLLJ which can be related to zonal SST gradients between the eastern equatorial Pacific and the north tropical and/or equatorial Atlantic. When the gradient is driven by the Pacific (as in an EL Niño event) the CLLJ winds are intensified to the north and in its southwesternmost quadrant. When the winds are driven by the tropical north Atlantic there is uniform wind intensification about the jet axis. The CLLJ is also linked to a precipitation maximum over the near waters and along the Caribbean coast of Central America (up to 16°N) during June and more so, in July. There is evidence of variation at the northern extent of this wet zone depending on the ocean basin forcing the SST gradient. The CLLJ is also linked to moderate drying in the main Caribbean basin. Copyright © 2007 Royal Meteorological Society
Predictability of Sri Lankan rainfall based on ENSO
Authors: Zubair Lareef , Siriwardhana Manjula , Chandimala Janaki , Yahiya Zeenas 
Published: June 2007

AbstractInvestigating the year‐round rainfall of Sri Lanka provides understanding into the South Asian monsoon system as it compliments studies on the Indian summer monsoon. The El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a primary mode of climate variability of this area. Here, the predictability of Sri Lanka rainfall based on ENSO is quantified based on composite analysis, correlations and contingency tables. The rainfall is modestly predictable based on ENSO during January–March, July–August and October–December. El Niño typically leads to wetter conditions during October to December and drier conditions during January to March and July to August on average. The correlations of ENSO indices with rainfall are statistically significant for October to December, January to March and July to August and an analysis based on contingency tables shows modest predictability. The use of ENSO indices derived from the central Pacific sea surfaces improves the predictability from January to June. The predictability in the mountain regions is diminished when garnering orographic rainfall. The predictability in the east is diminished during the cyclone season. The predictability based on ENSO for October to December rainfall is robust on a decadal scale while the predictability of January to March and July to August rainfall has acquired significance in recent decades. An ENSO‐based scheme that is adapted to each season and region, and takes account of decadal variations can thus provide skillful rainfall predictions. Copyright © 2007 Royal Meteorological Society
Use of seasonal climate information to predict coconut production in Sri Lanka
Authors: Peiris T. S. G. , Hansen J. W. , Zubair Lareef 
Published: June 2007

AbstractAccurate forecasting of annual national coconut production (ANCP) is important for national agricultural planning and negotiating forward contracts. Climate and the long‐term trends (attributed to ‘technology’) are major factors that determine ANCP. The effect of climate on ANCP of the following year was studied for the seven agro‐ecological regions (AER's) in the principal coconut growing areas for the period 19502002. Climate was studied based on seasons aggregated by the monsoon calendar and by quarters that are consistent with the agricultural calendar. The use of quarterly seasons explained more of the variability of ANCP than the use of monsoon based seasons. January–March rainfall in all AER's and July–September rainfall in the wetter regions are positively correlated with the ANCP (p < 0.005). The technology effect was estimated using a log–linear trend model. The regression model integrates both climate and technology effects developed to predict ANCP with high fidelity (R2 = 0.94). The climate effect was estimated by regressing production data that had been de‐trended to remove the technology effects with quarterly rainfall in the year prior to harvest. The most significant predictors were found to be the quarterly rainfall from the AER's in the coconut growing regions that are designated as wet and intermediate. Representative rainfall from each quarter was used in a regression model with corrections for the technology effect. The correlation between observed and predicted values of the ANCP was 0.83 (p < 0.001). The prediction of ANCP for 2003 and 2004 gave errors of only 6.5 and 7.0%. The estimated value of ANCP for 2005 is 2715 million nuts, which is 12% higher than the mean. The lead time of the prediction extends to 15 months but it may be extended with the use of seasonal climate forecasts to 24 months. Copyright © 2007 Royal Meteorological Society
Complicated ENSO models do not significantly outperform very simple ENSO models
Authors: Halide Halmar , Ridd Peter 
Published: June 2007

AbstractAn extremely simple univariate statistical model called ‘IndOzy’ was developed to predict El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. The model uses five delayed‐time inputs of the Niño 3.4 sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) index to predict up to 12 months in advance. The prediction skill of the model was assessed using both short‐ and long‐term indices and compared with other operational dynamical and statistical models. Using ENSO‐CLIPER(climatology and persistence) as benchmark, only a few statistical models including IndOzy are considered skillful for short‐range prediction. All models, however, do not differ significantly from the benchmark model at seasonal Lead‐3–6. None of the models show any skill, even against a no‐skill random forecast, for seasonal Lead‐7. When using the Niño 3.4 SSTA index from 1856 to 2005, the ultra simple IndOzy shows a useful prediction up to 4 months lead, and is slightly less skillful than the best dynamical model LDEO5. That such a simple model such as IndOzy, which can be run in a few seconds on a standard office computer, can perform comparably with respect to the far more complicated models raises some philosophical questions about modelling extremely complicated systems such as ENSO. It seems evident that much of the complexity of many models does little to improve the accuracy of prediction. If larger and more complex models do not perform significantly better than an almost trivially simple model, then perhaps future models that use even larger data sets, and much greater computer power may not lead to significant improvements in both dynamical and statistical models. Investigating why simple models perform so well may help to point the way to improved models. For example, analysing dynamical models by successively stripping away their complexity can focus in on the most important parameters for a good prediction. Copyright © 2007 Royal Meteorological Society
Freezing of lakes on the Swiss plateau in the period 1901–2006
Authors: Franssen H. J. Hendricks , Scherrer S. C. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractData of ice cover for deep Alpine lakes contain relevant climatological information since ice cover and winter temperature are closely related. For the first time, ice cover data from 11 lakes on the Swiss plateau have been collected and analysed for the period 1901–2006. The ice cover data used stem from systematic registration by individuals or groups (fishermen, an ice club and lake security service) and from several national, regional and local newspapers. It is found that in the past 40 years, and especially during the last two decades, ice cover on Swiss lakes was significantly reduced. This is in good agreement with the observed increase in the winter temperature in this period. The trend of reduced ice cover is more pronounced for lakes that freeze rarely than for the lakes that freeze more frequently. This agrees well with the stronger relative decrease in the probability to exceed the sum of negative degree days (NDD) needed for freezing the lakes that rarely freeze. The ice cover data are related with the temperature measurements such as the sum of NDD of nearby official meteorological stations by means of binomial logistic regression. The derived relationships estimate the probability of a complete ice cover on a lake as function of the sum of NDD. The sums of NDD needed are well related to the average depth of the lake (rNDD–Depth = 0.85). Diagnosing lake ice cover on the basis of the sum of NDD is much better than a prediction on the basis of a climatological freezing frequency. The variance of lake ice cover that cannot be explained by the sum of NDD is important for judging the uncertainty associated with climate reconstruction on the basis of data on lake ice cover. Copyright © 2007 Royal Meteorological Society
Initial speleothem results from western Flores and eastern Java, Indonesia: were climate changes from 47 to 5 ka responsible for the extinction of Homo floresiensis?
Authors: Westaway K. E. , Zhao J.‐x. , Roberts R. G. , Chivas A. R. , Morwood M. J. , Sutikna T. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractLittle is known about climate changes on Flores that influenced Homo floresiensis during the period of occupation of Liang Bua (95–12 ka) or the late‐surviving pygmy Stegodon lineage; both species became locally extinct at ca. 12 ka. Previous palaeoclimate analysis in this region has established that a prolonged dry period (ca. 45–12 ka) was followed by a rapid increase in rainfall, but lacks a firm chronology. Here we report initial results for stalagmites from western Flores and eastern Java. Using δ18O data from contemporaneous records, a series of isotopic shifts has been identified that reflects changes in the amount of rainfall, and in moisture sources. The isotopic signals from oxygen and carbon suggest differing ages for the rapid increase in rainfall, at ca. 13 ka and 17–16.5 ka, respectively. Thus, it cannot be determined from this evidence whether the abrupt disappearance of Stegodon and Homo floresiensis in western Flores was coincident with a major change in climate, or was caused instead, or as well, by a volcanic eruption at ca. 12 ka, or was related to the arrival of Homo sapiens at Liang Bua by ca. 10.5 ka. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Sediment mixing at Nonda Rock: investigations of stratigraphic integrity at an early archaeological site in northern Australia and implications for the human colonisation of the continent
Authors: David Bruno , Roberts Richard G. , Magee John , Mialanes Jerome , Turney Chris , Bird Michael , White Chris , Fifield L. Keith , Tibby John 
Published: June 2007

AbstractArchaeological excavations in sediments dating to between 60 000 and 40 000 years ago are rare in Australia. Yet this is precisely the period in which most archaeologists consider that Aboriginal people arrived on the continent. In the few cases where such early sites have been investigated, questions have invariably been raised as to the reliability of stratigraphic associations between cultural items and the surrounding sediments. This paper describes a method for examining sediment mixing in a stratigraphic sequence using the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) signals from individual sand‐sized grains of quartz. We apply this method to the archaeological site of Nonda Rock (north Queensland), in combination with radiocarbon dating of charcoal fragments, to construct chronologies for human occupation and for the preceding, culturally sterile, deposits. Our age estimates have implications for the timing of first human arrival in Australia. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The effect of the time and mode of application of gibberellic acid and inhibitors of gibberellin biosynthesis on the dormancy of potato tubers grown from true potato seed
Authors: Alexopoulos Alexios A , Akoumianakis Konstantinos A , Olympios Christos M , Passam Harold C 
Published: June 2007

AbstractGibberellic acid (GA3) and inhibitors of gibberellin biosynthesis (daminozide and chlormequat chloride) were applied to the foliage of potato plants grown from true seed (TPS) either once at two stages of plant development, 40 and 60 days after transplantation (DAT), or repeatedly at 10 day intervals starting from the same growth stages. When GA3 was applied towards the end of the vegetative cycle (either singly 60 DAT or repeatedly from the same date), it induced rapid breakage of tuber dormancy, a reduction in specific weight, a higher rate of respiration and increased weight loss during storage. Single applications of GA3 early in the vegetative cycle (40 DAT) had no effect on the weight loss and specific weight of tubers during storage, whereas repeated foliar applications of GA3 starting from the same stage resulted in the formation of tubers with a low specific weight and a high rate of weight loss during storage. However, the tubers from these treatments did not break dormancy uniformly, and, although in the early stages of storage they exhibited a high rate of respiration, this declined to the level of the control (no growth regulator applied). Although daminozide and chlormequat chloride did not affect the duration of tuber dormancy and had little or no effect on any of the other metabolic indicators studied, gibberellin is nevertheless implicated in dormancy breakage, and its application late in the growth cycle may be of practical value in cases where tubers are required for planting soon after harvest. Overall, tubers from TPS respond to plant growth regulator treatment in a similar way to those from plants grown from seed tubers. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry
In‐house validation of a high‐performance liquid chromatography analytical method for quantification of ochratoxin A in unfermented grape juice
Authors: Murillo Ma Teresa , González‐Peñas Elena , Amézqueta Susana , de Cerain Adela López 
Published: June 2007

AbstractA validated high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method with fluorescence detection for the quantitative analysis of ochratoxin A (OTA) in unfermented grape juice is described. Five millilitres of unfermented grape juice was mixed with 45 mL of PBS, and the pH was adjusted to 7.2. Then the mixture was filtered under vacuum through a glass microfibre filter and cleaned up with immunoaffinity columns prior to analysis by HPLC. Validation of the analytical method was based on the following criteria: selectivity, linearity, limit of detection and quantification, precision (within‐day and between‐day variability) and recovery and uncertainty estimation. Detection and quantification limits obtained were 0.02 µg L−1 and 0.05 µg L−1 respectively. The percentage recovery was 91.5% (RSD = 3.9). This method was applied to the measurement of 30 veraison stage unfermented grape juice samples. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry
Radical scavenging activities, endogenous oxidative enzymes and total phenols in edible mushrooms commonly consumed in Europe
Authors: Ramírez‐Anguiano Ana Cristina , Santoyo Susana , Reglero Guillermo , Soler‐Rivas Cristina 
Published: June 2007

AbstractEdible mushrooms are a good source of antioxidants. Methanol extracts of mushrooms such as Pleurotus sp., Agaricus bisporus, Morchella esculenta, Boletus edulis (approx. 2 mg mL−1) showed a high 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity close to 90%. Water extracts showed even higher antioxidant activity. In this case, B. edulis, Lentinus edodes and Amanita cesarea showed the highest 2,2′‐azino‐bis(3‐ethylbenzothiazoline‐6‐sulfonic acid (ABTS) scavenging activity at approx. 0.14 mg mL−1. Other mushrooms such as Lactarius deliciosus and Cantharellus cibarius showed lower antioxidant activity in both extracts. Oxidative enzymes (peroxidases and polyphenol oxidases) present in the water fractions reduced their antioxidant activity by different extents since the phenols responsible for the antioxidant activity were not only those substrates of the oxidative enzymes. Other phenolic compounds and low‐molecular‐weight compounds were also involved in the antioxidant activity and differed depending on mushroom species. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry
Sealed CO2 Laser Update – Product Trends Driven by Diverse Applications
Authors: Gaebler Frank , Schulze Matthias 
Published: June 2007

AbstractSealed CO2 lasers with powers up to 500 watts play a major role in many applications, in large part because they offer the lowest cost of ownership per watt of any industrial laser technology, together with the broad applicability of their midinfrared output. Two different types of sealed lasers service most of these applications ‐ CW lasers with average power of 100 watts or less, and pulsed models in the 100 to 500 watt range. This article reviews the different market demands for each of these laser types, and explores how manufacturers have responded to these needs.
Industrial Disk Lasers for Micro Material Processing – Compact Reliable Systems Conquer the Market
Authors: Kaiser Thomas , Albrecht Gunther John 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThe thin disk laser concept is a laser design for diode‐pumped solid‐state lasers, allowing the realization of laser systems with high output power, excellent efficiency and perfect beam quality. At present, multi‐kW thin disk lasers are commercially available for material processing. In the wide field of micro material processing, the demand is predominantly for several watts right up to 100 W of average output power.
Corrosion inhibitors performance for mild steel in CO2 containing solutions
Authors: Zavala Olivares G. , Hernández Gayosso M. J. , Mora Mendoza J. L. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThe Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), was used to evaluate and compare the behavior of three different corrosion inhibitors: quaternary amine (QA), oleic imidazoline (OI) and amino coco propionic acid (ACP), on the corrosion of mild steel in 3% NaCl solutions, saturated with CO2 gas, under static conditions. Two pH values: 3.8 and 5.5 were considered. Under the conditions considered in this work, the results indicated film formation at the metal surface, probable due to the formation of iron carbonate. This condition modified the values of the resistance and double layer capacitance of the system. In general terms, the ACP inhibitor exhibited better performance, compared to the QA and OI. During the impedance measurements with OI and ACP, some deviations were observed at high frequencies, indicating probably that the inhibitors adsorption occurs in different way to the QA inhibitor and the amine adsorption is weaker than the other two inhibitors adsorption.
Corrosion of reinforcing steel and low cycle fatigue behaviour
Authors: Apostolopoulos Ch. Alk. , Michalopoulos D. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractChloride induced corrosion of reinforcing steel can be highly detrimental and of great influence on the low cycle fatigue (LCF) characteristics. An experimental study conducted on BSt500s reinforcing steel, showed that the LCF and life expectancy were reduced considerably according to the level of corrosion. Low cycle strain controlled fatigue testing under ± 1 and ± 2.5% constant amplitude strain indicated that the corroded steel bars exhibit gradual reduction in available energy, number of cycles to failure and the load bearing ability. Formation of irregularities such as pits, notches and cavities occurred on the corroded steel surface and stress concentration points were developed which are highly localized at imperfections and especially at the rib bases. The experimental investigation of the corroded specimens subjected to LCF showed that the life expectancy, the remaining energy density and the strength properties were reduced considerably as a result of these irregularities combined with the mass loss and reduction of the exterior hard layer of martensite. Structural design capable of resisting seismic activity that does not account for the reduction of the load bearing ability and life expectancy as well as the cumulative plastic deformation of the steel reinforcement due to corrosion and loading history that a structure will be subjected in harsh climatic environments and ground oscillating motion could lead to serious and unpredictable performance.