On the radial expansion of tubular structures in a quark-gluon plasma

We study the radial expansion of cylindrical tubes in a hot QGP. These tubes are treated as perturbations in the energy density of the system which is formed in heavy ion collisions at RHIC and LHC. We start from the equations of relativistic hydrodynamics in two spatial dimensions and cylindrical symmetry and perform an expansion of these equations in a small parameter, conserving the nonlinearity of the hydrodynamical formalism. We consider both ideal and viscous fluids and the latter are studied with a relativistic Navier-Stokes equation. We use the equation of state of the MIT bag model. In the case of ideal fluids we obtain a breaking wave equation for the energy density fluctuation, which is then solved numerically. We also show that, under certain assumptions, perturbations in a relativistic viscous fluid are governed by the Burgers equation. We estimate the typical expansion time of the tubes. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Judet quadricepsplasty in the treatment of posttraumatic knee rigidity: Long-term outcomes of 45 cases

BACKGROUND: Posttraumatic knee stiffness is a very debilitating condition. Judet's quadricepsplasty technique has been used for more than 50 years. However, few reports of quadricepsplasty results exist in the literature. METHODS: We report the results of 45 cases of posttraumatic arthrofibrosis of the knee treated with Judet's quadricepsplasty. The results of the procedure were analyzed by measuring the degrees of flexion of the operated knees at different time points (before, immediately after, and late postoperatively). RESULTS: The degree of flexion increased from 33.6 degrees (range, 5-80 degrees) preoperatively to 105 degrees (range, 45-160 degrees) immediately after surgery, followed by a slight fall in the range of motion (ROM) in the late postoperative period, which reached an average of 84.8 degrees. There was no significant correlation between knee strength and the patient's gender, but there was a slight trend of lower strength with age. Although Judet's quadricepsplasty technique dates from more than 50 years ago, it still provides good outcomes in the treatment of rigid knees of various etiologies. In general, all cases showed the same pattern of a small decrease in the ROM in the late postoperative period. CONCLUSION: Judet's quadricepsplasty can increase the ROM of rigid knees. The ROM obtained with the surgery persists long term. (J Trauma. 2012; 72: E77-E80. Copyright (C) 2012 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins)

Evaluation of movements of lower limbs in non-professional ballet dancers: hip abduction and flexion

Background The literature indicated that the majority of professional ballet dancers present static and active dynamic range of motion difference between left and right lower limbs, however, no previous study focused this difference in non-professional ballet dancers. In this study we aimed to evaluate active movements of the hip in non-professional classical dancers. Methods We evaluated 10 non professional ballet dancers (16-23 years old). We measured the active range of motion and flexibility through Well Banks. We compared active range of motion between left and right sides (hip flexion and abduction) and performed correlation between active movements and flexibility. Results There was a small difference between the right and left sides of the hip in relation to the movements of flexion and abduction, which suggest the dominant side of the subjects, however, there was no statistical significance. Bank of Wells test revealed statistical difference only between the 1st and the 3rd measurement. There was no correlation between the movements of the hip (abduction and flexion, right and left sides) with the three test measurements of the bank of Wells. Conclusion There is no imbalance between the sides of the hip with respect to active abduction and flexion movements in non-professional ballet dancers.

Bilateral asymptomatic fibrous-ankylosis of the temporomandibular joint associated with rheumatoid arthritis: a case report

The American Academy of Orofacial Pain (AAOP) defines ankylosis of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) as a restriction of movements due to intracapsular fibrous adhesions, fibrous changes in capsular ligaments (fibrous-ankylosis) and osseous mass formation resulting in the fusion of the articular components (osseous-ankylosis). The clinical features of the fibrous-ankylosis are severely limited mouth-opening capacity (limited range of motion during the opening), usually no pain and no joint sounds, marked deflection to the affected side and marked limitation of movement to the contralateral side. A variety of factors may cause TMJ ankylosis, such as trauma, local and systemic inflammatory conditions, neoplasms and TMJ infection. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the systemic inflammatory conditions that affect the TMJ and can cause ankylosis. The aim of this study is to present a case of a female patient diagnosed with bilateral asymptomatic fibrous-ankylosis of the TMJ associated with asymptomatic rheumatoid arthritis. This case illustrates the importance of a comprehensive clinical examination and correct diagnosis of an unusual condition causing severe mouth opening limitation.

Conceptual problem for noncommutative inflation and the new approach for nonrelativistic inflationary equation of state

In a previous paper, we connected the phenomenological noncommutative inflation of Alexander, Brandenberger and Magueijo [ Phys. Rev. D 67 081301 (2003)] and Koh and Brandenberger [ J. Cosmol. Astropart Phys. 2007 21 ()] with the formal representation theory of groups and algebras and analyzed minimal conditions that the deformed dispersion relation should satisfy in order to lead to a successful inflation. In that paper, we showed that elementary tools of algebra allow a group-like procedure in which even Hopf algebras (roughly the symmetries of noncommutative spaces) could lead to the equation of state of inflationary radiation. Nevertheless, in this paper, we show that there exists a conceptual problem with the kind of representation that leads to the fundamental equations of the model. The problem comes from an incompatibility between one of the minimal conditions for successful inflation (the momentum of individual photons being bounded from above) and the Fock-space structure of the representation which leads to the fundamental inflationary equations of state. We show that the Fock structure, although mathematically allowed, would lead to problems with the overall consistency of physics, like leading to a problematic scattering theory, for example. We suggest replacing the Fock space by one of two possible structures that we propose. One of them relates to the general theory of Hopf algebras (here explained at an elementary level) while the other is based on a representation theorem of von Neumann algebras (a generalization of the Clebsch-Gordan coefficients), a proposal already suggested by us to take into account interactions in the inflationary equation of state.

Records of migration in the exoplanet configurations

When compared to our Solar System, many exoplanet systems exhibit quite unusual planet configurations; some of these are hot Jupiters, which orbit their central stars with periods of a few days, others are resonant systems composed of two or more planets with commensurable orbital periods. It has been suggested that these configurations can be the result of a migration processes originated by tidal interactions of the planets with disks and central stars. The process known as planet migration occurs due to dissipative forces which affect the planetary semi-major axes and cause the planets to move towards to, or away from, the central star. In this talk, we present possible signatures of planet migration in the distribution of the hot Jupiters and resonant exoplanet pairs. For this task, we develop a semi-analytical model to describe the evolution of the migrating planetary pair, based on the fundamental concepts of conservative and dissipative dynamics of the three-body problem. Our approach is based on an analysis of the energy and the orbital angular momentum exchange between the two-planet system and an external medium; thus no specific kind of dissipative forces needs to be invoked. We show that, under assumption that dissipation is weak and slow, the evolutionary routes of the migrating planets are traced by the stationary solutions of the conservative problem (Birkhoff, Dynamical systems, 1966). The ultimate convergence and the evolution of the system along one of these modes of motion are determined uniquely by the condition that the dissipation rate is sufficiently smaller than the roper frequencies of the system. We show that it is possible to reassemble the starting configurations and migration history of the systems on the basis of their final states, and consequently to constrain the parameters of the physical processes involved.

Tidal evolution in co-orbital configurations

We study the orbital evolution of a two co-orbital planet system which undergo tidal interactions with the central star. Our main goal is to investigate the final outcome of a system originally evolving in a 1:1 resonant configuration when the tidal effect acts to change the orbital elements. Preliminary results of the numerical simulations of the exact equations of motions indicate that, at least for equal mass planets, the combined effect of resonant motion and tidal interaction leads the system to orbital instability, including collisions between the planets. We discuss the cases of two hot super-Earths and two hot-Saturn planets, comparing with the results of dynamical maps.

Design methodology of piezoelectric energy-harvesting skin using topology optimization

Abstract This paper describes a design methodology for piezoelectric energy harvester s that thinly encapsulate the mechanical devices and expl oit resonances from higher- order vibrational modes. The direction of polarization determines the sign of the pi ezoelectric tensor to avoid cancellations of electric fields from opposite polarizations in the same circuit. The resultant modified equations of state are solved by finite element method (FEM). Com- bining this method with the solid isotropic material with penalization (SIMP) method for piezoelectric material, we have developed an optimization methodology that optimizes the piezoelectric material layout and polarization direc- tion. Updating the density function of the SIMP method is performed based on sensitivity analysis, the sequen- tial linear programming on the early stage of the opti- mization, and the phase field method on the latter stage

Pair approximation for a model of vertical and horizontal transmission of parasites.

We apply Stochastic Dynamics method for a differential equations model, proposed by Marc Lipsitch and collaborators (Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 260, 321, 1995), for which the transmission dynamics of parasites occurs from a parent to its offspring (vertical transmission), and by contact with infected host (horizontal transmission). Herpes, Hepatitis and AIDS are examples of diseases for which both horizontal and vertical transmission occur simultaneously during the virus spreading. Understanding the role of each type of transmission in the infection prevalence on a susceptible host population may provide some information about the factors that contribute for the eradication and/or control of those diseases. We present a pair mean-field approximation obtained from the master equation of the model. The pair approximation is formed by the differential equations of the susceptible and infected population densities and the differential equations of pairs that contribute to the former ones. In terms of the model parameters, we obtain the conditions that lead to the disease eradication, and set up the phase diagram based on the local stability analysis of fixed points. We also perform Monte Carlo simulations of the model on complete graphs and Erdös-Rényi graphs in order to investigate the influence of population size and neighborhood on the previous mean-field results; by this way, we also expect to evaluate the contribution of vertical and horizontal transmission on the elimination of parasite. Pair Approximation for a Model of Vertical and Horizontal Transmission of Parasites.

Numerical simulations of magma chamber dynamics at Campi Flegrei, and associated seismicity, deformation and gravity changes

Understanding the complex relationships between quantities measured by volcanic monitoring network and shallow magma processes is a crucial headway for the comprehension of volcanic processes and a more realistic evaluation of the associated hazard. This question is very relevant at Campi Flegrei, a volcanic quiescent caldera immediately north-west of Napoli (Italy). The system activity shows a high fumarole release and periodic ground slow movement (bradyseism) with high seismicity. This activity, with the high people density and the presence of military and industrial buildings, makes Campi Flegrei one of the areas with higher volcanic hazard in the world. In such a context my thesis has been focused on magma dynamics due to the refilling of shallow magma chambers, and on the geophysical signals detectable by seismic, deformative and gravimetric monitoring networks that are associated with this phenomenologies. Indeed, the refilling of magma chambers is a process frequently occurring just before a volcanic eruption; therefore, the faculty of identifying this dynamics by means of recorded signal analysis is important to evaluate the short term volcanic hazard. The space-time evolution of dynamics due to injection of new magma in the magma chamber has been studied performing numerical simulations with, and implementing additional features in, the code GALES (Longo et al., 2006), recently developed and still on the upgrade at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia in Pisa (Italy). GALES is a finite element code based on a physico-mathematical two dimensional, transient model able to treat fluids as multiphase homogeneous mixtures, compressible to incompressible. The fundamental equations of mass, momentum and energy balance are discretised both in time and space using the Galerkin Least-Squares and discontinuity-capturing stabilisation technique. The physical properties of the mixture are computed as a function of local conditions of magma composition, pressure and temperature.The model features enable to study a broad range of phenomenologies characterizing pre and sin-eruptive magma dynamics in a wide domain from the volcanic crater to deep magma feeding zones. The study of displacement field associated with the simulated fluid dynamics has been carried out with a numerical code developed by the Geophysical group at the University College Dublin (O’Brien and Bean, 2004b), with whom we started a very profitable collaboration. In this code, the seismic wave propagation in heterogeneous media with free surface (e.g. the Earth’s surface) is simulated using a discrete elastic lattice where particle interactions are controlled by the Hooke’s law. This method allows to consider medium heterogeneities and complex topography. The initial and boundary conditions for the simulations have been defined within a coordinate project (INGV-DPC 2004-06 V3_2 “Research on active volcanoes, precursors, scenarios, hazard and risk - Campi Flegrei”), to which this thesis contributes, and many researchers experienced on Campi Flegrei in volcanological, seismic, petrological, geochemical fields, etc. collaborate. Numerical simulations of magma and rock dynamis have been coupled as described in the thesis. The first part of the thesis consists of a parametric study aimed at understanding the eect of the presence in magma of carbon dioxide in magma in the convection dynamics. Indeed, the presence of this volatile was relevant in many Campi Flegrei eruptions, including some eruptions commonly considered as reference for a future activity of this volcano. A set of simulations considering an elliptical magma chamber, compositionally uniform, refilled from below by a magma with volatile content equal or dierent from that of the resident magma has been performed. To do this, a multicomponent non-ideal magma saturation model (Papale et al., 2006) that considers the simultaneous presence of CO2 and H2O, has been implemented in GALES. Results show that the presence of CO2 in the incoming magma increases its buoyancy force promoting convection ad mixing. The simulated dynamics produce pressure transients with frequency and amplitude in the sensitivity range of modern geophysical monitoring networks such as the one installed at Campi Flegrei . In the second part, simulations more related with the Campi Flegrei volcanic system have been performed. The simulated system has been defined on the basis of conditions consistent with the bulk of knowledge of Campi Flegrei and in particular of the Agnano-Monte Spina eruption (4100 B.P.), commonly considered as reference for a future high intensity eruption in this area. The magmatic system has been modelled as a long dyke refilling a small shallow magma chamber; magmas with trachytic and phonolitic composition and variable volatile content of H2O and CO2 have been considered. The simulations have been carried out changing the condition of magma injection, the system configuration (magma chamber geometry, dyke size) and the resident and refilling magma composition and volatile content, in order to study the influence of these factors on the simulated dynamics. Simulation results allow to follow each step of the gas-rich magma ascent in the denser magma, highlighting the details of magma convection and mixing. In particular, the presence of more CO2 in the deep magma results in more ecient and faster dynamics. Through this simulations the variation of the gravimetric field has been determined. Afterward, the space-time distribution of stress resulting from numerical simulations have been used as boundary conditions for the simulations of the displacement field imposed by the magmatic dynamics on rocks. The properties of the simulated domain (rock density, P and S wave velocities) have been based on data from literature on active and passive tomographic experiments, obtained through a collaboration with A. Zollo at the Dept. of Physics of the Federici II Univeristy in Napoli. The elasto-dynamics simulations allow to determine the variations of the space-time distribution of deformation and the seismic signal associated with the studied magmatic dynamics. In particular, results show that these dynamics induce deformations similar to those measured at Campi Flegrei and seismic signals with energies concentrated on the typical frequency bands observed in volcanic areas. The present work shows that an approach based on the solution of equations describing the physics of processes within a magmatic fluid and the surrounding rock system is able to recognise and describe the relationships between geophysical signals detectable on the surface and deep magma dynamics. Therefore, the results suggest that the combined study of geophysical data and informations from numerical simulations can allow in a near future a more ecient evaluation of the short term volcanic hazard.

Meccanismi di formazione dei tubi di lava

Two analytical models are proposed to describe two different mechanisms of lava tubes formation. A first model is introduced to describe the development of a solid crust in the central region of the channel, and the formation of a tube when crust widens until it reaches the leve\'es. The Newtonian assumption is considered and the steady state Navier- Stokes equation in a rectangular conduit is solved. A constant heat flux density assigned at the upper flow surface resumes the combined effects of two thermal processes: radiation and convection into the atmosphere. Advective terms are also included, by the introduction of velocity into the expression of temperature. Velocity is calculated as an average value over the channel width, so that lateral variations of temperature are neglected. As long as the upper flow surface cools, a solid layer develops, described as a plastic body, having a resistance to shear deformation. If the applied shear stress exceeds this resistance, crust breaks, otherwise, solid fragments present at the flow surface can weld together forming a continuous roof, as it happens in the sidewall flow regions. Variations of channel width, ground slope and effusion rate are analyzed, as parameters that strongly affect the shear stress values. Crust growing is favored when the channel widens, and tube formation is possible when the ground slope or the effusion rate reduce. A comparison of results is successfully made with data obtained from the analysis of pictures of actual flows. The second model describes the formation of a stable, well defined crust along both channel sides, their growing towards the center and their welding to form the tube roof. The fluid motion is described as in the model above. Thermal budget takes into account conduction into the atmosphere, and advection is included considering the velocity depending both on depth and channel width. The solidified crust has a non uniform thickness along the channel width. Stresses acting on the crust are calculated using the equations of the elastic thin plate, pinned at its ends. The model allows to calculate the distance where crust thickness is able to resist the drag of the underlying fluid and to sustain its weight by itself, and the level of the fluid can lower below the tube roof. Viscosity and thermal conductivity have been experimentally investigated through the use of a rotational viscosimeter. Analyzing samples coming from Mount Etna (2002) the following results have been obtained: the fluid is Newtonian and the thermal conductivity is constant in a range of temperature above the liquidus. For lower temperature, the fluid becomes non homogeneous, and the used experimental techniques are not able to detect any properties, because measurements are not reproducible.

Tropospheric photochemistry of ozone, its precursors and the hydroxyl radical

Zusammenfassung Ein 3-dimensionales globales Modell der unterenAtmosphäre wurde für die Untersuchung derOzonchemie, sowie der Chemie des Hydroxylradikals (OH) undwichtiger Vorläufersubstanzen, wie reaktiverStickstoffverbindungen und Kohlenwasserstoffe, verwendet.Hierfür wurde die Behandlung vonNicht-Methan-Kohlenwasserstoffen (NMKW) hinzugefügt,was auch die Entwicklung einer vereinfachten Beschreibungihrer Chemie, sowie die Erfassung von Depositionsprozessenund Emissionen erforderte. Zur Lösung der steifengewöhnlichen Differentialgleichungen der Chemie wurdeeine schnelles Rosenbrock-Verfahren eingesetzt, das soimplementiert wurde, dass die Modell-Chemie fürzukünftige Studien leicht abgeändert werden kann. Zur Evaluierung des Modells wurde ein umfangreicherVergleich der Modellergebnisse mit Bodenmessungen, sowieFlugzeug-, Sonden- und Satelliten-Daten durchgeführt.Das Modell kann viele Aspekte der Beobachtungen derverschieden Substanzen realistisch wiedergeben. Es wurdenjedoch auch einige Diskrepanzen festgestellt, die Hinweiseauf fehlerhafte Emissionsfelder oder auf die Modell-Dynamikund auch auf fehlende Modell-Chemie liefern. Zur weiteren Untersuchung des Einflusses verschiedenerStoffgruppen wurden drei Läufe mit unterschiedlichkomplexer Chemie analysiert. Durch das Berücksichtigender NMKW wird die Verteilung mehrerer wichtiger Substanzensignifikant beeinflusst, darunter z.B. ein Anstieg desglobalen Ozons. Es wurde gezeigt, dass die biogene SubstanzIsopren etwa die Hälfte des Gesamteffekts der NMKWausmachte (mehr in den Tropen, weniger anderswo). In einer Sensitivitätsstudie wurden die Unsicherheitenbei der Modellierung von Isopren weitergehend untersucht.Dabei konnte gezeigt werden, dass die Unsicherheit beiphysikalischen Aspekten (Deposition und heterogene Prozesse)ebenso groß sein kann, wie die aus dem chemischenGasphasen-Mechanismus stammende, welche zu globalbedeutsamen Abweichungen führte. Lokal können sichnoch größere Abweichungen ergeben. Zusammenfassend kann gesagt werden, dass die numerischenStudien dieser Arbeit neue Einblicke in wichtige Aspekte derPhotochemieder Troposphäre ergaben und in Vorschläge fürweiter Studien mündeten, die die wichtigsten gefundenenUnsicherheiten weiter verringern könnten.

Spectral and variational characterizations of solutions to semilinear eigenvalue problems

Die vorliegende Arbeit befaßt sich mit einer Klasse von nichtlinearen Eigenwertproblemen mit Variationsstrukturin einem reellen Hilbertraum. Die betrachteteEigenwertgleichung ergibt sich demnach als Euler-Lagrange-Gleichung eines stetig differenzierbarenFunktionals, zusätzlich sei der nichtlineare Anteil desProblems als ungerade und definit vorausgesetzt.Die wichtigsten Ergebnisse in diesem abstrakten Rahmen sindKriterien für die Existenz spektral charakterisierterLösungen, d.h. von Lösungen, deren Eigenwert gerade miteinem vorgegeben variationellen Eigenwert eines zugehörigen linearen Problems übereinstimmt. Die Herleitung dieserKriterien basiert auf einer Untersuchung kontinuierlicher Familien selbstadjungierterEigenwertprobleme und erfordert Verallgemeinerungenspektraltheoretischer Konzepte.Neben reinen Existenzsätzen werden auch Beziehungen zwischenspektralen Charakterisierungen und denLjusternik-Schnirelman-Niveaus des Funktionals erörtert.Wir betrachten Anwendungen auf semilineareDifferentialgleichungen (sowieIntegro-Differentialgleichungen) zweiter Ordnung. Diesliefert neue Informationen über die zugehörigenLösungsmengen im Hinblick auf Knoteneigenschaften. Diehergeleiteten Methoden eignen sich besonders für eindimensionale und radialsymmetrische Probleme, während einTeil der Resultate auch ohne Symmetrieforderungen gültigist.

Supramolecular order and dynamics of discotic materials studied by solid-state NMR recoupling methods

The topic of this thesis is the investigation of structure,order and dynamics in discotic mesogens by advancedsolid-state NMR spectroscopy. Most of the discotic mesogensunder investigation are hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene (HBC)derivatives which are of particular interest for potentialdevice applications due to their high one-dimensional chargecarrier mobilities. The supramolecular stacking arrangement of the discoticcores was investigated by 2D 1H-1H double-quantum (DQ)methods, which were modified by incorporating the WATERGATEsuppression technique into the experiments in order toovercome severe phase problems arising from the strongsignal of the long alkyl sidechains. Molecular dynamics and sample orientation was probed throughthe generation of sideband patterns by reconversion rotorencoding in 2D recoupling experiments. These experimentswere extended by new recoupling schemes to enable thedistinction of motion and orientation effects. The solid-state NMR studies presented in this work aim tothe understanding of structure-property relationships in theinvestigated discotic materials, while the experimentsapplied to these materials include new recoupling schemeswhich make the desired information on molecular orientationand dynamics accessible without isotope labelling.

Modeling surface-atmosphere exchange of trace gases and energy within and above the Amazon rain forest

Die vorliegende Dissertation untersucht die biogeochemischen Vorgänge in der Vegetationsschicht (Bestand) und die Rückkopplungen zwischen physiologischen und physikalischen Umweltprozessen, die das Klima und die Chemie der unteren Atmosphäre beeinflussen. Ein besondere Schwerpunkt ist die Verwendung theoretischer Ansätze zur Quantifizierung des vertikalen Austauschs von Energie und Spurengasen (Vertikalfluss) unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Wechselwirkungen der beteiligten Prozesse. Es wird ein differenziertes Mehrschicht-Modell der Vegetation hergeleitet, implementiert, für den amazonischen Regenwald parametrisiert und auf einen Standort in Rondonia (Südwest Amazonien) angewendet, welches die gekoppelten Gleichungen zur Energiebilanz der Oberfläche und CO2-Assimilation auf der Blattskala mit einer Lagrange-Beschreibung des Vertikaltransports auf der Bestandesskala kombiniert. Die hergeleiteten Parametrisierungen beinhalten die vertikale Dichteverteilung der Blattfläche, ein normalisiertes Profil der horizontalen Windgeschwindigkeit, die Lichtakklimatisierung der Photosynthesekapazität und den Austausch von CO2 und Wärme an der Bodenoberfläche. Desweiteren werden die Berechnungen zur Photosynthese, stomatären Leitfähigkeit und der Strahlungsabschwächung im Bestand mithilfe von Feldmessungen evaluiert. Das Teilmodell zum Vertikaltransport wird im Detail unter Verwendung von 222-Radon-Messungen evaluiert. Die ``Vorwärtslösung'' und der ``inverse Ansatz'' des Lagrangeschen Dispersionsmodells werden durch den Vergleich von beobachteten und vorhergesagten Konzentrationsprofilen bzw. Bodenflüssen bewertet. Ein neuer Ansatz wird hergeleitet, um die Unsicherheiten des inversen Ansatzes aus denjenigen des Eingabekonzentrationsprofils zu quantifizieren. Für nächtliche Bedingungen wird eine modifizierte Parametrisierung der Turbulenz vorgeschlagen, welche die freie Konvektion während der Nacht im unteren Bestand berücksichtigt und im Vergleich zu früheren Abschätzungen zu deutlich kürzeren Aufenthaltszeiten im Bestand führt. Die vorhergesagte Stratifizierung des Bestandes am Tage und in der Nacht steht im Einklang mit Beobachtungen in dichter Vegetation. Die Tagesgänge der vorhergesagten Flüsse und skalaren Profile von Temperatur, H2O, CO2, Isopren und O3 während der späten Regen- und Trockenzeit am Rondonia-Standort stimmen gut mit Beobachtungen überein. Die Ergebnisse weisen auf saisonale physiologische Änderungen hin, die sich durch höhere stomatäre Leitfähigkeiten bzw. niedrigere Photosyntheseraten während der Regen- und Trockenzeit manifestieren. Die beobachteten Depositionsgeschwindigkeiten für Ozon während der Regenzeit überschreiten diejenigen der Trockenzeit um 150-250%. Dies kann nicht durch realistische physiologische Änderungen erklärt werden, jedoch durch einen zusätzlichen cuticulären Aufnahmemechanismus, möglicherweise an feuchten Oberflächen. Der Vergleich von beobachteten und vorhergesagten Isoprenkonzentrationen im Bestand weist auf eine reduzierte Isoprenemissionskapazität schattenadaptierter Blätter und zusätzlich auf eine Isoprenaufnahme des Bodens hin, wodurch sich die globale Schätzung für den tropischen Regenwald um 30% reduzieren würde. In einer detaillierten Sensitivitätsstudie wird die VOC Emission von amazonischen Baumarten unter Verwendung eines neuronalen Ansatzes in Beziehung zu physiologischen und abiotischen Faktoren gesetzt. Die Güte einzelner Parameterkombinationen bezüglich der Vorhersage der VOC Emission wird mit den Vorhersagen eines Modells verglichen, das quasi als Standardemissionsalgorithmus für Isopren dient und Licht sowie Temperatur als Eingabeparameter verwendet. Der Standardalgorithmus und das neuronale Netz unter Verwendung von Licht und Temperatur als Eingabeparameter schneiden sehr gut bei einzelnen Datensätzen ab, scheitern jedoch bei der Vorhersage beobachteter VOC Emissionen, wenn Datensätze von verschiedenen Perioden (Regen/Trockenzeit), Blattentwicklungsstadien, oder gar unterschiedlichen Spezies zusammengeführt werden. Wenn dem Netzwerk Informationen über die Temperatur-Historie hinzugefügt werden, reduziert sich die nicht erklärte Varianz teilweise. Eine noch bessere Leistung wird jedoch mit physiologischen Parameterkombinationen erzielt. Dies verdeutlicht die starke Kopplung zwischen VOC Emission und Blattphysiologie.