Global LAI uncertainty and relative uncertainty datasets derived from a Triple Collocation Error Model (TCEM)

Uncertainty information for global leaf area index (LAI) products is important for global modeling studies but usually difficult to systematically obtain at a global scale. Here, we present a new method that cross-validates existing global LAI products and produces consistent uncertainty information. The method is based on a triple collocation error model (TCEM) that assumes errors among LAI products are not correlated. Global monthly absolute and relative uncertainties, in 0.05° spatial resolutions, were generated for MODIS, CYCLOPES, and GLOBCARBON LAI products, with reasonable agreement in terms of spatial patterns and biome types. CYCLOPES shows the lowest absolute and relative uncertainties, followed by GLOBCARBON and MODIS. Grasses, crops, shrubs, and savannas usually have lower uncertainties than forests in association with the relatively larger forest LAI. With their densely vegetated canopies, tropical regions exhibit the highest absolute uncertainties but the lowest relative uncertainties, the latter of which tend to increase with higher latitudes. The estimated uncertainties of CYCLOPES generally meet the quality requirements (± 0.5) proposed by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), whereas for MODIS and GLOBCARBON only non-forest biome types have met the requirement. Nevertheless, none of the products seems to be within a relative uncertainty requirements of 20%. Further independent validation and comparative studies are expected to provide a fair assessment of uncertainties derived from TCEM. Overall, the proposed TCEM is straightforward and could be automated for the systematic processing of real time remote sensing observations to provide theoretical uncertainty information for a wider range of land products.

Extended Triple-Junction Solar Cell 3D Distributed Model: Application to Chromatic Aberration-Related Losses

An extended 3D distributed model based on distributed circuit units for the simulation of triple‐junction solar cells under realistic conditions for the light distribution has been developed. A special emphasis has been put in the capability of the model to accurately account for current mismatch and chromatic aberration effects. This model has been validated, as shown by the good agreement between experimental and simulation results, for different light spot characteristics including spectral mismatch and irradiance non‐uniformities. This model is then used for the prediction of the performance of a triple‐junction solar cell for a light spot corresponding to a real optical architecture in order to illustrate its suitability in assisting concentrator system analysis and design process.

Triple-junction solar cell performance under Fresnel-based concentrators taking into account chromatic aberration and off-axis operation

Concentration photovoltaic (CPV) systems might produce quite uneven irradiance distributions (both on their level and on their spectral distribution) on the solar cell. This effect can be even more evident when the CPV system is slightly off-axis, since they are often designed to assure good uniformity only at normal incidence. The non-uniformities both in absolute irradiance and spectral content produced by the CPV systems, can originate electrical losses in multi-junction solar cells (MJSC). This works is focused on the integration of ray-tracing methods for simulating the irradiance and spectrum maps produced by different optic systems throughout the solar cell surface, with a 3D fully distributed circuit model which simulates the electrical behavior of a state-of-the-art triple-junction solar cell under the different light distributions obtained with ray-tracing. In this study four different CPV system (SILO, XTP, RTP, and FK) comprising Fresnel lenses concentrating sunlight onto the same solar cell are modeled when working on-axis and 0.6 degrees off-axis. In this study the impact of non-uniformities on a CPV system behavior is revealed. The FK outperforms other Fresnel-based CPV systems in both on-axis and off-axis conditions.

Raman spectral evidence for hydration forces between collagen triple helices

Hydration forces are thought to result from the energetic cost of water rearrangement near macromolecular surfaces. Raman spectra, collected on the same collagen samples on which these forces were measured, reveal a continuous change in water hydrogen-bonding structure as a function of separation between collagen triple helices. The varying spectral parameters track the force-distance curve. The energetic cost of water “restructuring,” estimated from the spectra, is consistent with the measured energy of intermolecular interaction. These correlations support the idea that the change in water structure underlies the exponentially varying forces seen in this system at least over the 13–18-Å range of interaxial separations.

Applying Wildlife Conservation Tourism to Marine Endangered Species: Identifying Indicators for Triple Bottom Line Sustainability

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

The extended metamorphosis of a complete bipartite design into a cycle system

A K-t,K-t-design of order n is an edge-disjoint decomposition of K-n into copies of K-t,K-t. When t is odd, an extended metamorphosis of a K-t,K-t-design of order n into a 2t-cycle system of order n is obtained by taking (t - 1)/2 edge-disjoint cycles of length 2t from each K-t,K-t block, and rearranging all the remaining 1-factors in each K-t,K-t block into further 2t-cycles. The 'extended' refers to the fact that as many subgraphs isomorphic to a 2t-cycle as possible are removed from each K-t,K-t block, rather than merely one subgraph. In this paper an extended metamorphosis of a K-t,K-t-design of order congruent to 1 (mod 4t(2)) into a 2t-cycle system of the same order is given for all odd t > 3. A metamorphosis of a 2-fold K-t,K-t-design of any order congruent to 1 (mod 4t(2)) into a 2t-cycle system of the same order is also given, for all odd t > 3. (The case t = 3 appeared in Ars Combin. 64 (2002) 65-80.) When t is even, the graph K-t,K-t is easily seen to contain t/2 edge-disjoint cycles of length 2t, and so the metamorphosis in that case is straightforward. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Is Australia ready for triple gene herbicide stack technology?

Integration of multiple herbicide-resistant genes (trait stacking) into crop plants would allow over the top application of herbicides that are otherwise fatal to crops. The US has just approved Bollgard II® XtendFlex™ cotton which has dicamba, glyphosate and glufosinate resistance traits stacked. The pace of glyphosate resistance evolution is expected to be slowed by this technology. In addition, over the top application of two more herbicides may help to manage hard to kill weeds in cotton such as flax leaf fleabane and milk thistle. However, there are some issues that need to be considered prior to the adoption of this technology. Wherever herbicide tolerant technology is adopted, volunteer crops can emerge as a weed problem, as can herbicide resistant weeds. For cotton, seed movement is the most likely way for resistant traits to move around. Management of multiple stack volunteers may add additional complexity to volunteer management in cotton fields and along roadsides. This paper attempts to evaluate the pros and cons of trait stacking technology by analysing the available literature in other crop growing regions across the world. The efficacy of dicamba and glufosinate on common weeds of the Australian cotton system, herbicide resistance evolution, synergy and antagonisms due to herbicide mixtures, drift hazards and the evolution of herbicide resistance to glyphosate, glufosinate and dicamba were analysed based on the available literature.

Eficacia del aceite de oliva en la prevención de úlceras por presión en pacientes inmovilizados en atención primaria. Ensayo clínico aleatorizado, multicéntrico, paralelo, triple ciego, de no inferioridad

Las úlceras por presión representan un importante problema de salud pública y tienen un importante impacto económico en los sistemas de salud. La mayoría de los estudios para prevenir las úlceras por presión se han llevado a cabo en contextos hospitalarios, usando ácidos grasos hiperoxigenados (AGHO) y hasta la fecha, no se ha realizado ningún estudio específico con aceite de oliva virgen extra (AOVE) en el entorno domiciliario. Material y método Objetivo principal: evaluar si la utilización de AOVE no es inferior a los AGHO en la prevención de úlceras por presión (UPP) en pacientes inmovilizados en el entorno domiciliario. Diseño: Ensayo clínico aleatorizado multicéntrico, paralelo, a triple ciego, de no inferioridad. Ámbito: Población consultante de centros de salud andaluces. Muestra: 831 pacientes inmovilizados en riesgo de padecer UPP. Resultados El período de seguimiento fue de 16 semanas. En el análisis por protocolo, ninguna de las zonas evaluadas presentó diferencias de riesgo de incidencia de las úlceras por presión que superasen el valor delta establecido (10%). Sacro: AOVE 8 (2,55%) vs AGHO 8 (3,08%), RAR 0,53 (-2,2 a 3,26). Talón derecho: AOVE 4 (1,27%) vs AGHO 5 (1,92)%, RAR 0,65 (-1,43 a 2,73). Talón izquierdo: AOVE 3 (0,96%) vs AGHO 3 (1,15%), RAR 0.2 (-1,49 a 1,88). Trocánter Derecho: AOVE 0 (0%) vs AGHO 4 (1,54%), RAR 1,54 (0,04-3,03). Trocánter izquierdo: AOVE 1 (0,32%) vs AGHO 1 (0,38%), RAR 0.07 (-0,91 a 1,04). Discusión Este ensayo clínico pretendía evaluar si la prevención de las UPP usando una fórmula de AOVE no era inferior a la prevención de UPP con el uso AGHO, en el entorno domiciliario y con pacientes inmovilizados de alto riesgo. Los resultados han mostrado esta no inferioridad al no observarse diferencias que hayan superado el límite inferior del intervalo de confianza y convierte al aceite de oliva en un producto eficaz para la prevención de UPP en este tipo de pacientes. Se necesitan más estudios para investigar el mecanismo de acción del AOVE en la prevención de las UPP y relacionarlo con la etiopatogenia de éstas. Bibliografía 1. Gorecki C, Brown JM, Nelson EA, Briggs M, Schoonhoven L, Dealey C, et al. Impact of pressure ulcers on quality of life in older patients: a systematic review. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2009 Jul;57(7):1175–83. 2. Yamamoto Y, Hayashino Y, Higashi T, Matsui M, Yamazaki S, Takegami M, et al. Keeping vulnerable elderly patients free from pressure ulcer is associated with high caregiver burden in informal caregivers. J Eval Clin Pract. 2010 Jun;16(3):585–9. 3. Hanson D, Langemo DK, Anderson J, Thompson P, Hunter S. Friction and shear considerations in pressure ulcer development. Adv Skin Wound Care. 2010 Jan;23(1):21–4. 4. Soldevilla Agreda JJ, Torra i Bou J-E, Verdú Soriano J, López Casanova P. 3.er Estudio Nacional de Prevalencia de Úlceras por Presión en España, 2009: Epidemiología y variables definitorias de las lesiones y pacientes. Gerokomos. 2011 Jun;22(2):77–90. 5. Kottner J, Lahmann N, Dassen T. [Pressure ulcer prevalence: comparison between nursing homes and hospitals]. Pflege Z. 2010 Apr;63(4):228–31. 6. Wilborn D, Halfens R, Dassen T, Tannen A. [Pressure ulcer prevalence in German nursing homes and hospitals: what role does the National Nursing Expert Standard Prevention of Pressure Ulcer play?]. Gesundheitswesen Bundesverb Ärzte Öffentl Gesundheitsdienstes Ger. 2010 Apr;72(4):240–5. 7. Tubaishat A, Anthony D, Saleh M. Pressure ulcers in Jordan: a point prevalence study. J Tissue Viability. 2011 Feb;20(1):14–9. 8. James J, Evans JA, Young T, Clark M. Pressure ulcer prevalence across Welsh orthopaedic units and community hospitals: surveys based on the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel minimum data set. Int Wound J. 2010 Jun;7(3):147–52. 9. Defloor T, Schoonhoven L, Katrien V, Weststrate J, Myny D. Reliability of the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel classification system. J Adv Nurs. 2006 Apr;54(2):189–98

Gradual correction of phosphorus availability in the no-tillage system.

2016