Fine sediment delivery and transfer in lowland catchments: modelling suspended sediment concentrations in response to hydrological forcing

Fine sediment delivery to and storage in stream channel reaches can disrupt aquatic habitats, impact river hydromorphology, and transfer adsorbed nutrients and pollutants from catchment slopes to the fluvial system. This paper presents a modelling toot for simulating the time-dependent response of the fine sediment system in catchments, using an integrated approach that incorporates both land phase and in-stream processes of sediment generation, storage and transfer. The performance of the model is demonstrated by applying it to simulate in-stream suspended sediment concentrations in two lowland catchments in southern England, the Enborne and the Lambourn, which exhibit contrasting hydrological and sediment responses due to differences in substrate permeability. The sediment model performs well in the Enborne catchment, where direct runoff events are frequent and peak suspended sediment concentrations can exceed 600 mg l(-1). The general trends in the in-stream concentrations in the Lambourn catchment are also reproduced by the model, although the observed concentrations are low (rarely exceeding 50 mg l(-1)) and the background variability in the concentrations is not fully characterized by the model. Direct runoff events are rare in this highly permeable catchment, resulting in a weak coupling between the sediment delivery system and the catchment hydrology. The generic performance of the model is also assessed using a generalized sensitivity analysis based on the parameter bounds identified in the catchment applications. Results indicate that the hydrological parameters contributing to the sediment response include those controlling (1) the partitioning of runoff between surface and soil zone flows and (2) the fractional loss of direct runoff volume prior to channel delivery. The principal sediment processes controlling model behaviour in the simulations are the transport capacity of direct runoff and the in-stream generation, storage and release of the fine sediment fraction. The in-stream processes appear to be important in maintaining the suspended sediment concentrations during low flows in the River Enborne and throughout much of the year in the River Lambourn. Copyright (c) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A preliminary investigation of the release of oil from contaminated clays and other fine-grained sediments during consolidation

Fine-grained sediments on land, or in a freshwater or marine environment, may become contaminated with a wide range of pollutants including hydrocarbons. This paper is concerned with preliminary studies of the mobilization and transportation of hydrocarbons, during the process of consolidation, to adjacent sediments or water bodies. A modified Rowe Cell was used to measure the consolidation properties of prepared kaolinite and bentonite clay-water slurries, with and without the addition of oil, along with hydrocarbon-bearing drill-cuttings samples taken from the sea-bed adjacent to two North Sea oil-well platforms. The consolidation properties of the kaolinite and bentonite clay slurries were little altered by the addition of oil, which was present at concentrations of between 8073 and 59 572 mg kg(-1). During each consolidation stage, samples of the expelled pore-fluids were collected and analysed for oil content. These values were very low in comparison with the original oil concentration in the samples and changed little between each consolidation stage. Analysis of the slurry samples both before and after consolidation confirms that, proportionally, little oil is removed as a result of consolidation. The implication of these results is that, for the range of samples tested, the very high hydraulic gradients and particle rearrangements that occur during the process of consolidation are capable of releasing only proportionally small amounts of oil bound to the fine-grained clay and silt particles.

A contour-advective semi-lagrangian numerical algorithm for simulating fine-scale conservative dynamical fields

This paper describes a novel numerical algorithm for simulating the evolution of fine-scale conservative fields in layer-wise two-dimensional flows, the most important examples of which are the earth's atmosphere and oceans. the algorithm combines two radically different algorithms, one Lagrangian and the other Eulerian, to achieve an unexpected gain in computational efficiency. The algorithm is demonstrated for multi-layer quasi-geostrophic flow, and results are presented for a simulation of a tilted stratospheric polar vortex and of nearly-inviscid quasi-geostrophic turbulence. the turbulence results contradict previous arguments and simulation results that have suggested an ultimate two-dimensional, vertically-coherent character of the flow. Ongoing extensions of the algorithm to the generally ageostrophic flows characteristic of planetary fluid dynamics are outlined.

Fine-grained multi-phase array designs

Hybrid multiprocessor architectures which combine re-configurable computing and multiprocessors on a chip are being proposed to transcend the performance of standard multi-core parallel systems. Both fine-grained and coarse-grained parallel algorithm implementations are feasible in such hybrid frameworks. A compositional strategy for designing fine-grained multi-phase regular processor arrays to target hybrid architectures is presented in this paper. The method is based on deriving component designs using classical regular array techniques and composing the components into a unified global design. Effective designs with phase-changes and data routing at run-time are characteristics of these designs. In order to describe the data transfer between phases, the concept of communication domain is introduced so that the producer–consumer relationship arising from multi-phase computation can be treated in a unified way as a data routing phase. This technique is applied to derive new designs of multi-phase regular arrays with different dataflow between phases of computation.

Variation among Attic fine wares: the case of the Pan Painter's pelikai

This paper is a case study of the continuum between standardization and variation in the production of red-figure Athenian fine wares in the first half of the 5th century BC. An investigation of the Pan Painter's pelikai reveals that they fall into 3 distinct groups, according to size. While the pelikai in each group are also distinguishable from each other by shape, pattern, and iconography, the next clearest distinction between the groups (after size) is in their style of decoration. The pelikai in the largest group, which is comprised of small pelikai, are particularly distinct from the Pan Painter's broader oeuvre of ca. 220 vases insofar as they exemplify a lackadaisical painting style, which I have termed banausic, on account of its frequent use for images of craftsmen, women at work, and other such genre images. While this casual style is antithetical to the Pain Painter's refined style, for which he is better known, and which he employs for his large pelikai, affinities between the 2 styles—as judged by his confident line, anatomical details, and other technical features—permit the conclusion that this group of pelikai were executed by one and the same craftsman as the others. As with all of the vases attributed to this talented painter, however, the pelikai—whether large or small—are decorated with a great bariety of images. While most painted Athenian vases are understood to have been individually created, not mass-produced, the Pan Painter's coherent group of small pelikai seem to have been created en masse, in a uniform size and shape and with a distinct decorative style. This group of standardized vases represents a body of work executed under the influence or at the behest of a specific vase workshop. The form of the small pelikai in fact allows us to associate them with the Geras Painter. With his work on these small pelikai, perhaps in the latter part of his career, the Pan Painter may have intentionally minimized variability in favour of standardization, to meet market demands.

Fine-scale temporal characterization of trends in soil water dissolved organic carbon and potential drivers

Long-term monitoring of surface water quality has shown increasing concentrations of Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) across a large part of the Northern Hemisphere. Several drivers have been implicated including climate change, land management change, nitrogen and sulphur deposition and CO2 enrichment. Analysis of stream water data, supported by evidence from laboratory studies, indicates that an effect of declining sulphur deposition on catchment soil chemistry is likely to be the primary mechanism, but there are relatively few long term soil water chemistry records in the UK with which to investigate this, and other, hypotheses directly. In this paper, we assess temporal relationships between soil solution chemistry and parameters that have been argued to regulate DOC production and, using a unique set of co-located measurements of weather and bulk deposition and soil solution chemistry provided by the UK Environmental Change Network and the Intensive Forest Monitoring Level II Network . We used statistical non-linear trend analysis to investigate these relationships at 5 forested and 4 non-forested sites from 1993 to 2011. Most trends in soil solution DOC concentration were found to be non-linear. Significant increases in DOC occurred mostly prior to 2005. The magnitude and sign of the trends was associated qualitatively with changes in acid deposition, the presence/absence of a forest canopy, soil depth and soil properties. The strongest increases in DOC were seen in acidic forest soils and were most clearly linked to declining anthropogenic acid deposition, while DOC trends at some sites with westerly locations appeared to have been influenced by shorter-term hydrological variation. The results indicate that widespread DOC increases in surface waters observed elsewhere, are most likely dominated by enhanced mobilization of DOC in surficial organic horizons, rather than changes in the soil water chemistry of deeper horizons. While trends in DOC concentrations in surface horizons have flattened out in recent years, further increases may be expected as soil chemistry continues to adjust to declining inputs of acidity.

Paper dimensional stability in sheet-fed offset printing : Papperets dimensionsstabilitet i en arkoffsetpress

In offset printing, dampening solution is used to create a good balance in the process. If too much water is transferred to the paper, the sheet can change its size between the printing units, due to water absorption, and cause a problem with the colour register. This phenomenon is usually referred to as fanout. In this degree project, an investigation was made to see if the paper dimensions changed through its way in the sheet-fed printing process. The instrument Luchs Register Measuring Systems (Lynx) was used, and a method for measuring if the paper changed its dimensions with this instrument, was developed. Paper qualities with three different grammages were used, 90, 130 and 250 gsm. This investigation showed that all paper qualities changed their size with widening in the gripper edge in the range of 10 - 70 µm and in the trailing edge the increase was 10 - 130 µm. The elongations of the papers were in the range of 10- 300 µm. The papers with lowest grammage changed more than the heavier. To see if the print had been affected of the widening and elongation, print quality parameters like relative contrast, dot gain and mottle were correlated with the Lynx data from the sheets. The group of papers that gave correlations were in 130 gsm. The sheets had visual doubling and the combined standard deviation from the Lynx marks K3, K5 and K21 correlated with dot gain. When the variations increased so did the dot gain and this indicates that the doubling was due to the widening. There was also a correlation between the standard deviation from K3 and Mottle. The sheets widened with an average of 30 µm in the gripper edge and since there probably were doubling due to widening it also affected the Mottle values. What the widening depends on is hard to tell. Since widening was so small, it could be due to water absorption, papers being ironed out or maybe the sheets have been flattened out. It probably needs a more detailed investigation to find out what causes the widening. Further investigations about how print quality is affected by the register accuracy of a printing machine should include a print form with measuring areas close to the Lynx marks. The measuring areas should contain fine hairlines, negative text printed with at least two colours and some pictures to evaluate together with standard measuring should give a good knowledge about the subject.

Digital spiral analysis for objective assessment of fine motor timing variability in Parkinson's disease

OBJECTIVES: To develop a method for objective assessment of fine motor timing variability in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients, using digital spiral data gathered by a touch screen device. BACKGROUND: A retrospective analysis was conducted on data from 105 subjects including65 patients with advanced PD (group A), 15 intermediate patients experiencing motor fluctuations (group I), 15 early stage patients (group S), and 10 healthy elderly subjects (HE) were examined. The subjects were asked to perform repeated upper limb motor tasks by tracing a pre-drawn Archimedes spiral as shown on the screen of the device. The spiral tracing test was performed using an ergonomic pen stylus, using dominant hand. The test was repeated three times per test occasion and the subjects were instructed to complete it within 10 seconds. Digital spiral data including stylus position (x-ycoordinates) and timestamps (milliseconds) were collected and used in subsequent analysis. The total number of observations with the test battery were as follows: Swedish group (n=10079), Italian I group (n=822), Italian S group (n = 811), and HE (n=299). METHODS: The raw spiral data were processed with three data processing methods. To quantify motor timing variability during spiral drawing tasks Approximate Entropy (APEN) method was applied on digitized spiral data. APEN is designed to capture the amount of irregularity or complexity in time series. APEN requires determination of two parameters, namely, the window size and similarity measure. In our work and after experimentation, window size was set to 4 and similarity measure to 0.2 (20% of the standard deviation of the time series). The final score obtained by APEN was normalized by total drawing completion time and used in subsequent analysis. The score generated by this method is hence on denoted APEN. In addition, two more methods were applied on digital spiral data and their scores were used in subsequent analysis. The first method was based on Digital Wavelet Transform and Principal Component Analysis and generated a score representing spiral drawing impairment. The score generated by this method is hence on denoted WAV. The second method was based on standard deviation of frequency filtered drawing velocity. The score generated by this method is hence on denoted SDDV. Linear mixed-effects (LME) models were used to evaluate mean differences of the spiral scores of the three methods across the four subject groups. Test-retest reliability of the three scores was assessed after taking mean of the three possible correlations (Spearman’s rank coefficients) between the three test trials. Internal consistency of the methods was assessed by calculating correlations between their scores. RESULTS: When comparing mean spiral scores between the four subject groups, the APEN scores were different between HE subjects and three patient groups (P=0.626 for S group with 9.9% mean value difference, P=0.089 for I group with 30.2%, and P=0.0019 for A group with 44.1%). However, there were no significant differences in mean scores of the other two methods, except for the WAV between the HE and A groups (P<0.001). WAV and SDDV were highly and significantly correlated to each other with a coefficient of 0.69. However, APEN was not correlated to neither WAV nor SDDV with coefficients of 0.11 and 0.12, respectively. Test-retest reliability coefficients of the three scores were as follows: APEN (0.9), WAV(0.83) and SD-DV (0.55). CONCLUSIONS: The results show that the digital spiral analysis-based objective APEN measure is able to significantly differentiate the healthy subjects from patients at advanced level. In contrast to the other two methods (WAV and SDDV) that are designed to quantify dyskinesias (over-medications), this method can be useful for characterizing Off symptoms in PD. The APEN was not correlated to none of the other two methods indicating that it measures a different construct of upper limb motor function in PD patients than WAV and SDDV. The APEN also had a better test-retest reliability indicating that it is more stable and consistent over time than WAV and SDDV.

Materials Collection Creation and Administration: A New Role for Libraries (White Paper)

The Problem/Opportunity: To define, identify, and guide design-based materials collections in academic settings and foster community among those with existing collections and/or those considering creating and supporting one. Contents and topics: What is a materials collection? Why have a materials collection? Acquisition strategies Organizational approaches Programming possibilities Symposium summary Resources

FINE-STRUCTURE AND MORPHOGENESIS OF THE MICROPYLE APPARATUS IN BEES EGGS

The present paper deals with the description of the formation of the micropylar apparatus in some species of Apidae bees. The features of the cells located in the anterior pole of the oocyte chamber are described at light microscopy and with SEM and TEM. The resulting micropylar region has the form of a sieved plate, slightly elevated in relationship to the oocyte surface. It is not clear if all the holes in the sieve are opened.

Fine synchronization of the CMS muon drift-tube local trigger using cosmic rays

The CMS experiment uses self-triggering arrays of drift tubes in the barrel muon trigger to perform the identification of the correct bunch crossing. The identification is unique only if the trigger chain is correctly synchronized. In this paper, the synchronization performed during an extended cosmic ray run is described and the results are reported. The random arrival time of cosmic ray muons allowed several synchronization aspects to be studied and a simple method for the fine synchronization of the Drift Tube Local Trigger at LHC to be developed. © 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd and SISSA.

Recycling residues from the pulp and paper industries in the civil construction

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Fine-tuning of defensive behaviors in the dorsal periaqueductal gray by atypical neurotransmitters

This paper presents an up-to-date review of the evidence indicating that atypical neurotransmitters such as nitric oxide (NO) and endocannabinoids (eCBs) play an important role in the regulation of aversive responses in the periaqueductal gray (PAG). Among the results supporting this role, several studies have shown that inhibitors of neuronal NO synthase or cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1) receptor agonists cause clear anxiolytic responses when injected into this region. The nitrergic and eCB systems can regulate the activity of classical neurotransmitters such as glutamate and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) that control PAG activity. We propose that they exert a ‘fine-tuning’ regulatory control of defensive responses in this area. This control, however, is probably complex, which may explain the usually bell-shaped dose-response curves observed with drugs that act on NO- or CB1-mediated neurotransmission. Even if the mechanisms responsible for this complex interaction are still poorly understood, they are beginning to be recognized. For example, activation of transient receptor potential vanilloid type-1 channel (TRPV1) receptors by anandamide seems to counteract the anxiolytic effects induced by CB1 receptor activation caused by this compound. Further studies, however, are needed to identify other mechanisms responsible for this fine-tuning effect.

Limitations of Remotely-sensed Aerosol as a Spatial Proxy for Fine Particulate Matter

Recent research highlights the promise of remotely-sensed aerosol optical depth (AOD) as a proxy for ground-level PM2.5. Particular interest lies in the information on spatial heterogeneity potentially provided by AOD, with important application to estimating and monitoring pollution exposure for public health purposes. Given the temporal and spatio-temporal correlations reported between AOD and PM2.5 , it is tempting to interpret the spatial patterns in AOD as reflecting patterns in PM2.5 . Here we find only limited spatial associations of AOD from three satellite retrievals with PM2.5 over the eastern U.S. at the daily and yearly levels in 2004. We then use statistical modeling to show that the patterns in monthly average AOD poorly reflect patterns in PM2.5 because of systematic, spatially-correlated error in AOD as a proxy for PM2.5 . Furthermore, when we include AOD as a predictor of monthly PM2.5 in a statistical prediction model, AOD provides little additional information to improve predictions of PM2.5 when included in a model that already accounts for land use, emission sources, meteorology and regional variability. These results suggest caution in using spatial variation in AOD to stand in for spatial variation in ground-level PM2.5 in epidemiological analyses and indicate that when PM2.5 monitoring is available, careful statistical modeling outperforms the use of AOD.