pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Cross-comparison of climate change adaptation strategies across large river basins in Europe, Africa and Asia

A cross-comparison of climate change adaptation strategies across regions was performed, considering six large river basins as case study areas. Three of the basins, namely the Elbe, Guadiana, and Rhine, are located in Europe, the Nile Equatorial Lakes region and the Orange basin are in Africa, and the Amudarya basin is in Central Asia. The evaluation was based mainly on the opinions of policy makers and water management experts in the river basins. The adaptation strategies were evaluated considering the following issues: expected climate change, expected climate change impacts, drivers for development of adaptation strategy, barriers for adaptation, state of the implementation of a range of water management measures, and status of adaptation strategy implementation. The analysis of responses and cross-comparison were performed with rating the responses where possible. According to the expert opinions, there is an understanding in all six regions that climate change is happening. Different climate change impacts are expected in the basins, whereas decreasing annual water availability, and increasing frequency and intensity of droughts (and to a lesser extent floods) are expected in all of them. According to the responses, the two most important drivers for development of adaptation strategy are: climate-related disasters, and national and international policies. The following most important barriers for adaptation to climate change were identified by responders: spatial and temporal uncertainties in climate projections, lack of adequate financial resources, and lack of horizontal cooperation. The evaluated water resources management measures are on a relatively high level in the Elbe and Rhine basins, followed by the Orange and Guadiana. It is lower in the Amudarya basin, and the lowest in the NEL region, where many measures are only at the planning stage. Regarding the level of adaptation strategy implementation, it can be concluded that the adaptation to climate change has started in all basins, but progresses rather slowly
Distributed power generation in the United States

With electricity consumption increasing within the UnitedStates, new paradigms of delivering electricity are required in order to meet demand. One promising option is the increased use of distributedpowergeneration. Already a growing percentage of electricity generation, distributedgeneration locates the power plant physically close to the consumer, avoiding transmission and distribution losses as well as providing the possibility of combined heat and power. Despite the efficiency gains possible, regulators and utilities have been reluctant to implement distributedgeneration, creating numerous technical, regulatory, and business barriers. Certain governments, most notable California, are making concerted efforts to overcome these barriers in order to ensure distributedgeneration plays a part as the country meets demand while shifting to cleaner sources of energy
Strengthening mechanisms of graphene sheets in aluminium matrix nanocomposites

Uniform dispersion of SiC nanoparticles with a high propensity to agglomerate within a thixoformed aluminium matrix was attained using a graphene encapsulating approach. The analytical model devised in this study has demonstrated the significant role of shear lag and thermally activated dislocation mechanisms in strengthening aluminium metal matrix composites due to the exceptional negative thermal expansion coefficient of graphene sheets. This, in turn, triggers the pinning capacity of nano-sized rod-liked aluminium carbide, prompting strong interface bonding for SiC nanoparticles with the matrix, thereby enhancing tensile elongation
Comparison of Subgrid-scale Viscosity Models and Selective Filtering Strategy for Large-eddy Simulations

Explicitly filtered large-eddy simulations (LES), combining high-accuracy schemes with the use of a selective filtering without adding an explicit subgrid-scales (SGS) model, are carried out for the Taylor-Green-vortex and the supersonic-boundary-layer cases. First, the present approach is validated against direct numerical simulation (DNS) results. Subsequently, several SGS models are implemented in order to investigate if they can improve the initial filter-based methodology. It is shown that the most accurate results are obtained when the filtering is used alone as an implicit model, and for a minimal cost. Moreover, the tests for the Taylor-Green vortex indicate that the discretization error from the numerical methods, notably the dissipation error from the high-order filtering, can have a greater influence than the SGS models
Interaction of S413-PV cell penetrating peptide with model membranes: relevance to peptide translocation across biological membranes

Cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) have been successfully used to mediate the intracellular delivery of a wide variety of molecules of pharmacological interest both in vitro and in vivo, although the mechanisms by which the cellular uptake occurs remain unclear and controversial. Following our previous work demonstrating that the cellular uptake of the S413-PV CPP occurs mainly through an endocytosis-independent mechanism, we performed a detailed biophysical characterization of the interaction of this peptide with model membranes. We demonstrate that the interactions of the S413-PV peptide with membranes are essentially of electrostatic nature. As a consequence of its interaction with negatively charged model membranes, the S413-PV peptide becomes buried into the lipid bilayer, which occurs concomitantly with significant peptide conformational changes that are consistent with the formation of a helical structure. Comparative studies using two related peptides demonstrate that the conformational changes and the extent of cell penetration are dependent on the peptide sequence, indicating that the helical structure acquired by the S413-PV peptide is relevant for its nonendocytic uptake. Overall, our data suggest that the cellular uptake of the S413-PV CPP is a consequence of its direct translocation through cell membranes, following conformational changes induced by peptide-membrane interactions. Copyright © 2007 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/psc.84
Cyanuric acid-epichlorohydrin prepolymers

In this study, we investigated the reaction of cyanuric acid and epichlorohydrin (ECH). SnCl4 was used as a catalyst. Several reaction conditions were tested, and the products were analyzed by means of Fourier transform infrared and 1H-NMR spectroscopy, hydroxyl group content, molar mass, elemental and thermal analysis, viscosity, and density. ECH reacted with the amine groups of the cyanuric acid ring to form lateral chains that contained chloroalkyl and hydroxyl end groups. Full substitution of the amine groups was observed in all of the synthesized products. The solvent used in the synthesis was found to be very important for the structure of the final prepolymers. When N,N-dimethylformamide was used, relatively low-molar-mass prepolymers of cyanuric acid and ECH were obtained. When solvents with low dielectric constants were used, no reaction with cyanuric acid was observed. The prepared prepolymers were thermally stable up to 160°C. At this temperature, degradation started via the lateral chains. The viscosity of the products decreased as the ECH-cyanuric acid ratio increased, whereas the density remained basically constant. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 99: 3684-3691, 2006http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/app.2309
The determination of the path with minimum-cost norm value

The multiobjective shortest path problem (MSPP) consists of finding the best nondominated path linking two specified nodes in a network where k > 1 different criteria are considered for the arc costs. Solving the MSPP implies determining all the nondominated paths; there may be many such paths, making the selection process a very hard task to accomplish. A traditional way of dealing with such a difficulty is using a utility function where the parameters are aggregated with different weights. In this work, an alternative utility function based on the norm value associated with each path is considered. Two algorithms for solving the minimum-cost norm path problem are then proposed and some computational results are presented. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/net.1007
Thin-film gold electrodes produced by magnetron sputtering. Voltammetric characteristics and application in batch injection analysis with amperometric detection

Thin-film gold electrodes were produced by radio-frequency sputtering using a polyvinyl chloride foil as substrate. The voltammetric behavior was characterized in various electrolyte solutions. In alkaline and neutral aqueous solutions reliable voltammetric measurements can be performed while in acidic media some nondefined phenomena occur. A novel type of electrode for batch injection analysis (BIA) is presented which is produced from circular pieces of the thin-film material. This electrode can be used for BIA in conventional voltammetric cells. Pulsed amperometric detection is demonstrated to be viable with thin-film gold electrodes and shows analytical advantages over constant-potential detection in the BIA of hydrogen peroxide.http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/elan.114009030
Reversible size of shear-induced multi-lamellar vesicles

We have investigated the reversibility in the shear-induced multi-lamellar vesicle (MLV) size during stepwise cycling of the shear rate by employing common rheometry, polarized light microscopy and rheo-optic techniques. We thus address the question whether there is a true MLV steady state, irrespective of history. The system studied, was the nonionic surfactant triethylene glycol decyl ether (C10E3) with a concentration of 40 wt.% in D2O and a constant temperature of 25°C. It was found that the MLV size varies reversibly with varying shear rate, and hence there exists a true steady state in the presence of shear flow. The experimental observations of reversibility are however restricted to higher shear rates. Because the transformation of the size results from the shear strain, the process is very slow at lower shear rates, where the steady state cannot be reached within a reasonable experimental time.http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00396-005-1367-
REM observations of GRB060418 and GRB060607A: the onset of the afterglow and the initial fireball Lorentz factor determination

Context. Gamma-ray burst (GRB) emission is believed to originate in highly relativistic fireballs.\ud
Aims. Currently, only lower limits were securely set to the initial fireball Lorentz factor Γο. We aim to provide a direct measure of Γο.\ud
Methods. The early-time afterglow light curve carries information about Γο, which determines the time of the afterglow peak. We have obtained early observations of the near-infrared afterglows of GRB 060418 and GRB 060607A with the REM robotic telescope.\ud
Results. For both events, the afterglow peak could be clearly singled out, allowing a firm determination of the fireball Lorentz of Γο ~400, fully confirming the highly relativistic nature of GRB fireballs. The deceleration radius was inferred to be R[dec] ≈\ud
10¹⁷ cm. This is much larger than the internal shocks radius (believed to power the prompt emission), thus providing further evidence for a different origin of the prompt and afterglow stages of the GRB
Identifying person re-occurrences for personal photo management applications

Automatic identification of "who" is present in individual digital images within a photo management system using only content-based analysis is an extremely difficult problem. The authors present a system which enables identification of person reoccurrences within a personal photo management application by combining image content-based analysis tools with context data from image capture. This combined system employs automatic face detection and body-patch matching techniques, which collectively facilitate identifying person re-occurrences within images grouped into events based on context data. The authors introduce a face detection approach combining a histogram-based skin detection model and a modified BDF face detection method to detect multiple frontal faces in colour images. Corresponding body patches are then automatically segmented relative to the size, location and orientation of the detected faces in the image. The authors investigate the suitability of using different colour descriptors, including MPEG-7 colour descriptors, color coherent vectors (CCV) and color correlograms for effective body-patch matching. The system has been successfully integrated into the MediAssist platform, a prototype Web-based system for personal photo management, and runs on over 13000 personal photos
Enrichment of raw sensor data to enable high-level queries

Sensor networks are increasingly used across various application domains. Their usage has the advantage of automated, often continuous, monitoring of activities and events. Ubiquitous sensor networks detect location of people and objects and their movement. In our research,\ud
we employ a ubiquitous sensor network to track the movement\ud
of players in a tennis match. By doing so, our goal is to create a detailed analysis of how the match progressed, recording points scored, games and sets, and in doing so, greatly reduce the eort of coaches and players who are required to study matches afterwards. The sensor network\ud
is highly efficient as it eliminates the need for manual recording of the match. However, it generates raw data that is unusable by domain experts as it contains no frame of reference or context and cannot be analyzed or queried. In this work, we present the UbiQuSE system of data transformers which bridges the gap between raw sensor data and the high-level requirements of domain specialists such as the tennis coach
Photochromic spiropyran monolithic polymers: Molecular photo-controllable electroosmotic pumps for micro-fluidic devices

A novel photo-controllable micro-fluidic electroosmotic pump based on spiropyran monolithic polymers is presented here for the first time. Photochromic monolithic scaffolds have been synthesised within poly(tetrafluoroethylene) coated fused silica capillaries. These monoliths have a photochromic spiropyran monomer incorporated in the bulk by thermally induced copolymerisation with a cross-linking agent (divinylbenzene) and were encased in micro-fluidic devices to function as photo-controllable electroosmotic pumps (EOPs). Due to the presence of the spiropyran the monolith can exist in two forms: a zwitterionic merocyanine (MC) form and an uncharged spiropyran (SP). As both forms bare a net overall zero charge, an acidic electrolyte was used to produce a stable anodic electroosmotic flow (EOF), while still retaining the ability to switch between the SP and the MC forms, which exhibit different charge distributions. It was confirmed that visible light, which produces the SP form, caused an increase in EOF while UV light, which generates the MC form, caused a decrease in EOF. In this way the EOF from the chip was modified by light and not by changing the electric field, temperature or buffer pH, some of the more common methods of altering the EOF
Traffic jam driving with NMV avoidance

n recent years, the development of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) – mainly based on lidar and cameras – has considerably improved the safety of driving in urban environments. These systems provide warning signals for the driver in the case that any unexpected traffic circumstance is detected. The next step is to develop systems capable not only of warning the driver but also of taking over control of the car to avoid a potential collision. In the present communication, a system capable of autonomously avoiding collisions in traffic jam situations is presented. First, a perception system was developed for urban situations—in which not only vehicles have to be considered, but also pedestrians and other non-motor-vehicles (NMV). It comprises a differential global positioning system (DGPS) and wireless communication for vehicle detection, and an ultrasound sensor for NMV detection. Then, the vehicle's actuators – brake and throttle pedals – were modified to permit autonomous control. Finally, a fuzzy logic controller was implemented capable of analyzing the information provided by the perception system and of sending control commands to the vehicle's actuators so as to avoid accidents. The feasibility of the integrated system was tested by mounting it in a commercial vehicle, with the results being encouraging
Mapping wood production in European forests

Wood production is an important forest use, impacting a \ud
range of other ecosystem services. However, information on the spatial patterns in wood production is limited and \ud
often available only for larger administrative units. In this study, we developed high-resolution wood production maps for European forests. We collected wood production \ud
statistics for 29 European countries from 2000 to 2010, as well as comprehensive sets of biophysical and socioeconomic location factors. We used regression analyses to produce maps indicating the harvest likelihood on a 1 × 1 km2\ud
 grid. These likelihood maps were validated using national forest inventory plot data. We then disaggregated wood production statistics from larger administrative units to the grid level using the harvest likelihood as weights. We verified the resulting wood production maps by correlating predicted and observed wood production at the level of smaller administrative units not used for generating the wood production maps. We conclude that (i) productivity, tree species composition and terrain ruggedness are \ud
the most important location factors that determine the spatial patterns of wood production at the pan-European scale and that (ii) incorporating these location factors substantially improves the results of disaggregating wood production statistics compared to a disaggregation based on forest cover only. Our wood production maps give insight into forest ecosystem service provisioning and can be used to improve the assessment of potentials and costs of woody biomass supply
Quasi-autonomous thermal model reduction for steady-state problems in space systems

A matrix method is developed to reduce the number of elements of spacecraft thermal mathematical\ud
models based on the lumped parameter method. The aim of this method is to achieve a satisfactory\ud
thermal model reduction for steady-state problems, in an automatic way, while preserving the physical\ud
meaning of the system and the main characteristics of the model. The simplicity of the method, and the\ud
computational cost, are also taken into account. The reduction process is based on the manipulation of\ud
the conductive coupling matrix, which is treated as a sparse graph adjacency matrix. Then, a depthfirst search algorithm is used to find the strongly connected components, which define the condensed nodes. Finally, all the thermal entities are reduced, and the results from the condensed model are compared to those from the detailed one. The entire reduction process is tested on a real thermal model,showing a good performance. In the conclusions section the characteristics and limitations of this method are shown
The Portuguese version of the Basic Empathy Scale (BES): Dimensionality and measurement invariance in a community adolescent sample

Empathy is the heightened ability to cognitively perceive and/or affectively share the emotions of others, which has been consistently associated with desirable social interactions.  This paper aimed to test the bi-factorial structure of a Portuguese version of the Basic Empathy Scale and examine its variation by gender and age using a large community sample (n=1029) of adolescents. The two-factor model, originally developed and supported by other cross-cultural validations, presented good fit indicators which was similar across genders and adolescent age groups. Girls were more empathic than boys and younger adolescents were more empathic than the older ones. Further support for the validity of the new scale comes from its relations to measures of social skills and aggression which were similar to theoretical predictions. In conclusion, the Portuguese version of the BES is a consistent and valid instrument for the assessment of empathy in samples of adolescents aged 12 to 18 years old in Portugal, which can now be used in cross-cultural studies of this important psychological construct
Experimental optomechanics with silicon micromirrors

We experimentally demonstrate the high-sensitivity optical monitoring of moving micromirrors, made of low-loss dielectric coatings upon silicon resonators of various shapes and sizes. The very high optical finesses obtained (\mathcal{F}\simeq 30\,000 ) have allowed us to measure the thermal noise of the micromirrors at room temperature with a shot-noise limited sensitivity at the 10^{-19}\,{\rm m}/\sqrt{\rm Hz} level and to completely characterize their mechanical behavior, in excellent agreement with the results of a finite-element computation. Applications of such optomechanical systems range from quantum optics experiments to the experimental demonstration of the quantum ground state of a macroscopic mechanical resonator
TTA solvation kinetics in the ionic liquid Bumim$Tf_2N$

TTA, a classical complexing agent of metallic cations, has been studied by UV–vis in the ionic liquid (IL) 1-methyl-3-butyl-imidazolium bistriflimide (BumimTf2N), in the presence of variable amounts of water. Depending on the water content, the keto-hydrate/enol equilibrium kinetics can last up to tens of hours. Modelling by use of classical homogeneous kinetic equations appears unsatisfactory, which pledges for the existence of non-homogeneous phenomena in such solutions, most probably related to the state of water in ILs
Nutritional value, bioactive compounds and antioxidant properties of three edible mushrooms from Poland

Mushrooms contain a multitude of biomolecules with nutritional and/or biological activity. Among the bioactive molecules, phenolic compounds and tocopherols are the most responsible for their antioxidant activity. In the present work, Boletus edulis, Lentinus edodes and Xerocomus badius, three edible mushroom species originated from Poland, were analyzed for their chemical composition and antioxidant activity. Carbohydrates were the most abundant macronutrients, followed by proteins and ash. Fructose, mannitol and trehalose were the prevalent sugars, but glucose was only found in B. edulis. Polyunsaturated fatty acids predominated over mono and saturated fatty acids. Palmitic, oleic and linoleic acids were abundant in the three samples. α- and β- Tocopherols were quantified in all the samples, but γ-tocopherol was only identified in X. badius. Oxalic and fumaric acids were quantified in the three samples; quinic acid was only present in L. edodes, and malic and citric acids were only found in X. badius. p-Hydroxybenzoic, protocatechuic and cinnamic acids were quantified in all the species, while p-coumaric acid was only found in B. edulis. This species and X. badius revealed the highest antioxidant properties, being B. edulis more effective in radicals scavenging activity and reducing power, and X. badius in lipid peroxidation inhibition, which is related with the highest amounts in phenolic compounds and tocopherols, respectively.The authors are grateful to Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) for financial support to CIMO (strategic project PEst-OE/AGR/UI0690/2011), S.A. Heleno grant (BD/70304/2010)