In situ study of Ge(100) surfaces with tertiarybutylphosphine supply in vapor phase epitaxy ambient

GaInP nucleation on Ge(100) often starts by annealing of the Ge(100) substrates under supply of phosphorus precursors. However, the influence on the Ge surface is not well understood. Here, we studied vicinal Ge(100) surfaces annealed under tertiarybutylphosphine (TBP) supply in MOVPE by in situ reflection anisotropy spectroscopy (RAS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and low energy electron diffraction (LEED). While XPS reveals a P termination and the presence of carbon on the Ge surface, LEED patterns indicate a disordered surface probably due to by-products of the TBP pyrolysis. However, the TBP annealed Ge(100) surface exhibits a characteristic RA spectrum, which is related to the P termination. RAS allows us to in situ control phosphorus desorption dependent on temperature.

High optical sensitivity to ambient conditions of uncapped InGaAs surface quantum dots

The influence of the environment on the optical properties of self-assembled In0.5Ga0.5As surface quantum dots is studied as a function of different ambient conditions for sensing applications. Their room temperature photoluminescence (PL) quenches under vacuum and decreases strongly under dry O2 or N2 environments. Nevertheless, they have a strong signal at 1.55 lm in air or in a wet atmosphere. The presence of water molecules in the environment improves the PL intensity likely due to its polar character and therefore its easier adsorption by the surface dangling bonds, leading to a suppression of the non-radiative recombination centers.

AALUMO: a user model ontology for ambient assisted living services supported in next-generation networks

Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) services are emerging as context-awareness solutions to support elderly people?s autonomy. The context-aware paradigm makes applications more user-adaptive. In this way, context and user models expressed in ontologies are employed by applications to describe user and environment characteristics. The rapid advance of technology allows creating context server to relieve applications of context reasoning techniques. Specifically, the Next Generation Networks (NGN) provides by means of the presence service a framework to manage the current user's state as well as the user's profile information extracted from Internet and mobile context. This paper propose a user modeling ontology for AAL services which can be deployed in a NGN environment with the aim at adapting their functionalities to the elderly's context information and state.

New method for analytical photovoltaic parameters identification: meeting manufacturer’s datasheet for different ambient conditions

At present, photovoltaic energy is one of the most important renewable energy sources. The demand for solar panels has been continuously growing, both in the industrial electric sector and in the private sector. In both cases the analysis of the solar panel efficiency is extremely important in order to maximize the energy production. In order to have a more efficient photovoltaic system, the most accurate understanding of this system is required. However, in most of the cases the only information available in this matter is reduced, the experimental testing of the photovoltaic device being out of consideration, normally for budget reasons. Several methods, normally based on an equivalent circuit model, have been developed to extract the I-V curve of a photovoltaic device from the small amount of data provided by the manufacturer. The aim of this paper is to present a fast, easy, and accurate analytical method, developed to calculate the equivalent circuit parameters of a solar panel from the only data that manufacturers usually provide. The calculated circuit accurately reproduces the solar panel behavior, that is, the I-V curve. This fact being extremely important for practical reasons such as selecting the best solar panel in the market for a particular purpose, or maximize the energy extraction with MPPT (Maximum Peak Power Tracking) methods.

How network operators can enhance ambient assisted living applications through next generation networks

Within the technological framework of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), consumers are currently requesting multimedia services with simplicity of use, reliability, security and service availability through mobile and fixed access. Network operators are proposing the Next Generation Networks (NGN) to address the challenges of providing both services and network convergence. Apart from these considerations, there is a need to provide social and healthcare assistance services in order to support the progressive aging in the elderly population. In order to achieve this objective, the Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) initiative proposes ICT systems and services to promote autonomy and an independent life among the elderly. This paper describes the design and implementation of a group of services, called “service enablers”, which helps AAL applications to be supported in NGN. The presented enablers are identified to support the teleconsulting applications requirements in an NGN environment, involving the implementation of a virtual waiting room, a virtual whiteboard, a multimedia multiconference and a vital-signs monitoring presence status. A use case is defined and implemented to evaluate the developed enablers' performance.

`Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus´ titers in citrus and acquisition rates by Diaphorina citri are decreased by higher temperature

`Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus´ is the most prevalent Liberibacter sp. associated with huanglongbing (HLB) in Brazil. Within São Paulo state (SP), HLB has spread more rapidly to and reached higher incidence in regions with relatively mild (cooler) summer temperatures. This suggests that climate can influence disease spread and severity. ?Ca. L. asiaticus? titers on soft, immature leaves from infected ?Valencia? sweet orange plants exposed to different temperature regimes and adult Diaphorina citri fed for 48 h on these plants for ?Ca. L. asiaticus? acquisition were determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction in two experiments. The first experiment included plants with three levels of infection, three incubation periods (IPs), and air temperatures favorable (14.6 to 28°C) and unfavorable (24 to 38°C) to ?Ca. L. asiaticus?. The second included plants with severe late-stage infections, 10 IPs (based on 3-day intervals over 27 days), and three air temperature regimes (12 to 24, 18 to 30, and 24 to 38°C). Overall, ?Ca. L. asiaticus? titers and the percentages of ?Ca. L. asiaticus?-positive psyllids were lower in plants maintained at the warmer temperature regime (24 to 38°C) than in plants maintained in the cooler regimes. The results suggest that the lower incidence and slower spread of ?Ca. L. asiaticus? to warmer regions of SP are related to the influence of ambient temperatures on titers of ?Ca. L. asiaticus? in leaves.

Advances in technologies and techniques for ambient intelligence

Human activity attracting a lot of research activity in several fields including the use of wireless sensors, positioning technologies and techniques, embedded computing, remote sensing and energy management among others. There are a number of applications where the results of those investigations can be applied, including ambient intelligence to support human activity, particularly the elderly and disabled people. Ambient intelligence is a new paradigm for the information and communications technologies where the electronic/digital environment takes care of the people presence and their needs, becoming an active, adaptive and responsive environment.

Analysis of Contributions to NO2 Ambient Air Quality Levels in Madrid City (Spain) through Modeling. Implications for the Development of Policies and Air Quality Monitoring

As environmental standards become more stringent (e.g. European Directive 2008/50/EC), more reliable and sophisticated modeling tools are needed to simulate measures and plans that may effectively tackle air quality exceedances, common in large cities across Europe, particularly for NO2. Modeling air quality in urban areas is rather complex since observed concentration values are a consequence of the interaction of multiple sources and processes that involve a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. Besides a consistent and robust multi-scale modeling system, comprehensive and flexible emission inventories are needed. This paper discusses the application of the WRF-SMOKE-CMAQ system to the Madrid city (Spain) to assess the contribution of the main emitting sectors in the region. A detailed emission inventory was compiled for this purpose. This inventory relies on bottom-up methods for the most important sources. It is coupled with the regional traffic model and it makes use of an extensive database of industrial, commercial and residential combustion plants. Less relevant sources are downscaled from national or regional inventories. This paper reports the methodology and main results of the source apportionment study performed to understand the origin of pollution (main sectors and geographical areas) and define clear targets for the abatement strategy. Finally the structure of the air quality monitoring is analyzed and discussed to identify options to improve the monitoring strategy not only in the Madrid city but the whole metropolitan area.

Aplicación de Process Mining para modelos de comportamiento en entornos de Ambient Intelligence

Esta memoria es el resultado de un proyecto cuyo objetivo ha sido realizar un análisis de la posible aplicación de técnicas relativas al Process Mining para entornos AmI (Ambient Intelligence). Dicho análisis tiene la facultad de presentar de forma clara los resultados extraídos de los procesos relativos a un caso de uso planteado, así como de aplicar dichos resultados a aplicaciones relativas a entornos AmI, como automatización de tareas o simulación social basada en agentes. Para que dicho análisis sea comprensible por el lector, se presentan detalladas explicaciones de los conceptos tratados y las técnicas empleadas. Además, se analizan exhaustivamente las dos herramientas software más utilizadas en cuanto a minería de procesos se refiere, ProM y Disco, presentando ventajas e inconvenientes de cada una, así como una comparación entre las dos. Posteriormente se ha desarrollado una metodología para el análisis de procesos con la herramienta ProM, anteriormente mencionada, explicando cuidadosamente cada uno de los pasos así como los fundamentos de los algoritmos utilizados. Por último, se han presentado las conclusiones extraídas del trabajo, así como las posibles líneas de continuación del proyecto.

Prospectives of monitoring biological activity in a red-legged partridge incubator with a carbon dioxide probe

This study focuses on the relationship between CO2 production and the ultimate hatchability of the incubation. A total amount of 43316 eggs of red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa) were supervised during five actual incubations: three in 2012 and two in 2013. The CO2 concentration inside the incubator was monitored over a 20-day period, showing sigmoidal growth from ambient level (428 ppm) up to 1700 ppm in the incubation with the highest hatchability. Two sigmoid growth models (logistic and Gompertz) were used to describe the CO2 production by the eggs, with the result that the logistic model was a slightly better fit (r2=0.976 compared to r2=0.9746 for Gompertz). A coefficient of determination of 0.997 between the final CO2 estimation (ppm) using the logistic model and hatchability (%) was found.