Use of negative information in positioning and tracking algorithms

To avoid additional hardware deployment, indoor localization systems have to be designed in such a way that they rely on existing infrastructure only. Besides the processing of measurements between nodes, localization procedure can include the information of all available environment information. In order to enhance the performance of Wi-Fi based localization systems, the innovative solution presented in this paper considers also the negative information. An indoor tracking method inspired by Kalman filtering is also proposed.

Ambient noise tomography of the East African Rift in Mozambique

Seismic ambient noise tomography is applied to central and southern Mozambique, located in the tip of the East African Rift (EAR). The deployment of MOZART seismic network, with a total of 30 broad-band stations continuously recording for 26 months, allowed us to carry out the first tomographic study of the crust under this region, which until now remained largely unexplored at this scale. From cross-correlations extracted from coherent noise we obtained Rayleigh wave group velocity dispersion curves for the period range 5–40 s. These dispersion relations were inverted to produce group velocity maps, and 1-D shear wave velocity profiles at selected points. High group velocities are observed at all periods on the eastern edge of the Kaapvaal and Zimbabwe cratons, in agreement with the findings of previous studies. Further east, a pronounced slow anomaly is observed in central and southern Mozambique, where the rifting between southern Africa and Antarctica created a passive margin in the Mesozoic, and further rifting is currently happening as a result of the southward propagation of the EAR. In this study, we also addressed the question concerning the nature of the crust (continental versus oceanic) in the Mozambique Coastal Plains (MCP), still in debate. Our data do not support previous suggestions that the MCP are floored by oceanic crust since a shallow Moho could not be detected, and we discuss an alternative explanation for its ocean-like magnetic signature. Our velocity maps suggest that the crystalline basement of the Zimbabwe craton may extend further east well into Mozambique underneath the sediment cover, contrary to what is usually assumed, while further south the Kaapval craton passes into slow rifted crust at the Lebombo monocline as expected. The sharp passage from fast crust to slow crust on the northern part of the study area coincides with the seismically active NNE-SSW Urema rift, while further south the Mazenga graben adopts an N-S direction parallel to the eastern limit of the Kaapvaal craton. We conclude that these two extensional structures herald the southward continuation of the EAR, and infer a structural control of the transition between the two types of crust on the ongoing deformation.

Potential sources of biodynamically active natural products in Brazil

In contrast to China where vegatation is predominantly herbaceous, vegetation in Brazil is commonly arboreous. This fact may explain why Chinese drugs are usually acetate derived, while actual and potential natural therapeutic agents from Brazil are mostly shikimate derived. Only relatively few compounds isolated from Brazilian plants have been submitted to adequate pharmacological testing

Bottled natural mineral water in catalonia: origin and geographical evolution of its consumption and production

During the second half of the nineteenth century a major mineral water bottling industry appeared in Catalonia which vigorously lasted until the first third of the 20th century. The fact that the industry appeared in Catalonia and in other parts of Europe and the United States almost at the same time and had not existed before can be explained by a series of factors which coincided in time. This situation encouraged producers to pack, transport and sell bottled water from their respective sources. Among these factors there is the rise of hygienism, very influential in Catalonia, the declining water quality due to industrialization, the increase in population density, the improvement in transport, the emergence of thermal tourism or the invention of better containers used to store water. This project aims to explain thoroughly all the mentioned factors, and to give some light to why, when and how the Catalan bottled water industry appeared.

Iowa's Water - Ambient Monitoring Program: Biological Assessment of Iowa's Streams and Rivers, February 2001

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has produced an 4 page article about how to assess Iowa's streams and rivers. How to use ambient monitoring.

Aggregate stability as affected by short and long-term tillage systems and nutrient sources of a hapludox in southern Brazil

The ability of a soil to keep its structure under the erosive action of water is usually high in natural conditions and decreases under frequent and intensive cultivation. The effect of five tillage systems (NT = no-till; CP = chisel plowing and one secondary disking; CT = primary and two secondary distings; CTb = CT with crop residue burning; and CTr = CT with removal of crop residues from the field), combined with five nutrient sources (C = control, no nutrient application; MF = mineral fertilizers according to technical recommendations for each crop; PL = 5 Mg ha-1 y-1 fresh matter of poultry litter; CM = 60 m³ ha-1 y-1 slurry cattle manure; and SM = 40 m³ ha-1 y-1 slurry swine manure) on wet-aggregate stability was determined after nine years (four sampled soil layers) and on five sampling dates in the 10th year (two sampled soil layers) of the experiment. The size distribution of the air-dried aggregates was strongly affected by soil bulk density, and greater values of geometric mean diameter (GMD AD) found in some soil tillage or layer may be partly due to the higher compaction degree. After nine years, the GMD AD on the surface was greater in NT and CP compared to conventional tillage systems (CT, CTb and CTr), due to the higher organic matter content, as well as less soil mobilization. Aggregate stability in water, on the other hand, was affected by the low variation in previous gravimetric moisture of aggregates, which contributed to a high coefficient of variation of this attribute. The geometric mean diameter of water-stable aggregates (GMD WS) was highest in the 0.00-0.05 m layer in the NT system, in the layers 0.05-0.10 and 0.12-0.17 m in the CT, and values were intermediate in CP. The stability index (SI) in the surface layers was greater in treatments where crop residues were kept in the field (NT, CP and CT), which is associated with soil organic matter content. No differences were found in the layer 0.27-0.32 m. The effect of nutrient sources on GMD AD and GMD WS was small and did not affect SI.

Vitamin E intake from natural sources and head and neck cancer risk : a pooled analysis in the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology consortium.

BACKGROUND: Evidence for the possible effect of vitamin E on head and neck cancers (HNCs) is limited. METHODS: We used individual-level pooled data from 10 case-control studies (5959 cases and 12 248 controls) participating in the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology (INHANCE) consortium to assess the association between vitamin E intake from natural sources and cancer of the oral cavity/pharynx and larynx. Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using unconditional logistic regression models applied to quintile categories of nonalcohol energy-adjusted vitamin E intake. RESULTS: Intake of vitamin E was inversely related to oral/pharyngeal cancer (OR for the fifth vs the first quintile category=0.59, 95% CI: 0.49-0.71; P for trend <0.001) and to laryngeal cancer (OR=0.67, 95% CI: 0.54-0.83, P for trend <0.001). There was, however, appreciable heterogeneity of the estimated effect across studies for oral/pharyngeal cancer. Inverse associations were generally observed for the anatomical subsites of oral and pharyngeal cancer and within covariate strata for both sites. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that greater vitamin E intake from foods may lower HNC risk, although we were not able to explain the heterogeneity observed across studies or rule out certain sources of bias.

Theory of surface noise under Coulomb correlations between carriers and surface states

We present a theory of the surface noise in a nonhomogeneous conductive channel adjacent to an insulating layer. The theory is based on the Langevin approach which accounts for the microscopic sources of fluctuations originated from trapping¿detrapping processes at the interface and intrachannel electron scattering. The general formulas for the fluctuations of the electron concentration, electric field as well as the current-noise spectral density have been derived. We show that due to the self-consistent electrostatic interaction, the current noise originating from different regions of the conductive channel appears to be spatially correlated on the length scale correspondent to the Debye screening length in the channel. The expression for the Hooge parameter for 1/f noise, modified by the presence of Coulomb interactions, has been derived

Astringency and other oral sensations : biological sources of individual variation and association with food and beverage behaviour

Orosensory perception strongly influences liking and consumption of foods and beverages. This thesis examines the influence of biological sources of individual variation on the perception of prototypical orosensory stimuli, food liking, self-reported alcohol liking and consumption, and indices of health. Two orosensory indices were examined: propylthiouracil (PROP) responsiveness, a genetically-mediated index of individual variation associated with enhanced responsiveness to orosensory stimuli often expressed as PROP taster status (PTS); and thermal taster status (TTS), a recently reported index of orosensory responsiveness. Taster status in PTS and/or TTS confers greater responsiveness to most orosensory stimuli. Gender, age, ethnicity, and fungiform papillae (FP) density were not associated with orosensory responsiveness to tastants, an astringent, and a flavour. Unlike PROP responsiveness, FP density was not associated with TTS. Both PROP responsiveness and TTS were associated with increased responsiveness to orosensory stimuli, including temperature and astringency. For PROP, this association did not hold when stimuli were presented at cold or warm temperatures, which are ecologically valid since most foods and beverages are not consumed at ambient temperature. Thermal tasters (TTs), who perceive 'phantom' taste sensations with lingual thermal stimulation, were more responsive to stimuli at both temperatures than thermal non-tasters (TnTs). While PTS, TIS, and gender affected self-reported liking and consumption of some alcoholic beverages, gender associated with the greatest number of beverage types and consumption parameters, with males generally liking and consuming alcoholic beverages more than females. Age and gender were the best predictors of alcoholic beverageAiking and consumption. As expected, .. liking of bitter and fatty foods and cream was inversely related to PROP responsiveness. TTS did not associate with body mass index or waist circumference, and contrary to previous studies, neither did PROP responsiveness. Taken together, TnTs' greater liking of cooked fruits and vegetables and high alcohol, and astringent alcoholic beverages than TTs suggests differences between TTS groups may be driven by perceived temperature and texture. Neither an interaction between PTS and TTS nor a TTS effect on PROP responsiveness was observed, suggesting these two indices of individual variation exert their influences on orosensory perception independently.

Prompt electron emission and collisional ionization of ambient gas during pulsed laser ablation of silver

A silver target kept under partial vacuum conditions was irradiated with focused nanosecond pulses at 1:06 mm from a Nd:YAG laser. The electron emission monitored with a Langmuir probe shows a clear twin-peak distribution. The first peak which is very sharp has only a small delay and it indicates prompt electron emission with energy as much as 60 5 eV. Also the prompt electron emission shows a temporal profile with a width that is same as that for the laser pulse whereas the second peak is broader, covers several microseconds, and represents the low-energy electrons (2 0:5 eV) associated with the laser-induced silver plasma as revealed by time-of-flight measurements. It has been found that prompt electrons ejected from the target collisionally excite and ionize ambient gas molecules. Clearly resolved rotational structure is observed in the emission spectra of ambient nitrogen molecules. Combined with time-resolved spectroscopy, the prompt electrons can be used as excitation sources for various collisional excitation–relaxation experiments. The electron density corresponding to the first peak is estimated to be of the order of 1017 cm?--3 and it is found that the density increases as a function of distance away from the target. Dependence of probe current on laser intensity shows plasma shielding at high laser intensities.

Twin peak distribution of electron emission profile and impact ionization of ambient molecules during laser ablation of silver target

Laser-induced plasma generated from a silver target under partial vacuum conditions using the fundamental output of nanosecond duration from a pulsed Nd:yttrium aluminum garnet laser is studied using a Langmuir probe. The time of flight measurements show a clear twin peak distribution in the temporal profile of electron emission. The first peak has almost the same duration as the laser pulse while the second lasts for several microseconds. The prompt electrons are energetic enough ('60 eV) to ionize the ambient gas molecules or atoms. The use of prompt electron pulses as sources for electron impact excitation is demonstrated by taking nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and argon as ambient gases.

Dietary intakes and food sources of phytoestrogens in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) 24-hour dietary recall cohort

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Phytoestrogens are estradiol-like natural compounds found in plants that have been associated with protective effects against chronic diseases, including some cancers, cardiovascular diseases and osteoporosis. The purpose of this study was to estimate the dietary intake of phytoestrogens, identify their food sources and their association with lifestyle factors in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Single 24-hour dietary recalls were collected from 36 037 individuals from 10 European countries, aged 35–74 years using a standardized computerized interview programe (EPIC-Soft). An ad hoc food composition database on phytoestrogens (isoflavones, lignans, coumestans, enterolignans and equol) was compiled using data from available databases, in order to obtain and describe phytoestrogen intakes and their food sources across 27 redefined EPIC centres. RESULTS: Mean total phytoestrogen intake was the highest in the UK health-conscious group (24.9 mg/day in men and 21.1 mg/day in women) whereas lowest in Greece (1.3 mg/day) in men and Spain-Granada (1.0 mg/day) in women. Northern European countries had higher intakes than southern countries. The main phytoestrogen contributors were isoflavones in both UK centres and lignans in the other EPIC cohorts. Age, body mass index, educational level, smoking status and physical activity were related to increased intakes of lignans, enterolignans and equol, but not to total phytoestrogen, isoflavone or coumestan intakes. In the UK cohorts, the major food sources of phytoestrogens were soy products. In the other EPIC cohorts the dietary sources were more distributed, among fruits, vegetables, soy products, cereal products, non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages. CONCLUSIONS: There was a high variability in the dietary intake of total and phytoestrogen subclasses and their food sources across European regions.

The Natural History of Slapton Ley Nature Reserve XVIII: nitrogen and phosphorus losses from the catchment - an export coefficient modelling approach

Nitrogen and phosphorus losses from the catchment of Slapton Ley, a small coastal lake in SW England, were calculated using an adaptation of a model developed by Jorgensen (1980). A detailed survey of the catchment revealed that its land use is dominated by both permanent and temporary grassland (respectively 38 and 32% of its total area), and that the remainder is made up of the cultivation of cereals and field vegetables, and market gardening. Livestock numbers in the catchment constitute ca. 6600 head of cattle, 10,000 sheep, 590 pigs, 1700 poultry and 58 horses. The permanent human population of the area is ca. 2000, served by two small gravity-fed sewage treatment works (STWs). Inputs to, and losses from, farmland in the catchment were computed using Jorgensen’s model, and coefficients derived from the data of Cooke (1976), Gostick (1982), Rast and Lee (1983) and Vollenweider (1968). Allowing for outputs from STWs, the total annual external load of N and P upon Slapton Ley is 160 t (35 kg ha-1) a-1 N, and 4.8 t (1.05 kg ha-1) a-1 P. Accordingly to Vollenweider (1968, 1975), such loadings exceed OECD permissible level by a factor of ca. 50 in the case of N, and ca. 5 in that of P. In order to reduce nutrient loads, attention would need to be paid to both STW and agricultural sources.

Influence of shape and absorbing surface: a numerical study of railway noise barriers

Results are presented of a study of a performance of various track-side railway noise barriers, determined by using a two- dimensional numerical boundary element model. The basic model uses monopole sources and has been adapted to allow the sources to exhibit dipole-type radiation characteristics. A comparison of boundary element predictions of the performance of simple barriers and vehicle shapes is made with results obtained by using the standard U.K. prediction method. The results obtained from the numerical model indicate that modifying the source to exhibit dipole characteristics becomes more significant as the height of the barrier increases, and suggest that for any particular shape, absorbent barriers provide much better screening efficiency than the rigid equivalent. The cross-section of the rolling stock significantly affects the performance of rigid barriers. If the position of the upper edge is fixed, the results suggest that simple absorptive barriers provide more effective screening than tilted barriers. The addition of multiple edges to a barrier provides additional insertion loss without any increase in barrier height.

Analysis and risk estimates to workers of Brazilian granitic industries and sandblasters exposed to respirable crystalline silica and natural radionuclides

Occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica and to radiation emitted by natural radionuclides present both in rocks and sands was studied in the Brazilian extractive process and granite product manufacture. Respirable airborne dust samples were collected in working environments, where workers perform different tasks with distinct commercial granites types, and also in places where sandblasters work with sands from different origins. The free crystalline silica contents were determined using X-ray diffraction of the respirable particulate fraction of each sample. Dust samples from granite cutting and sandblasting ambient had the natural radionuclides concentrations measured by gamma spectrometry. Dust concentrations in the workplaces were quite variable, reaching values up to 10 times higher than the respirable particle mass threshold limit value (TLV) set by the American Conference for Governmental Industrial Hygienists of 3 mg m(-3). Also the free crystalline silica concentrations were high. reaching values up to 48 times the TLV of 0.025 mg m(-3). Additionally, our results suggest that the risk of radiation-induced cancer in the granite or marble industries is negligible. However, the combined exposure to dust, gamma radiation, and radon daughter products could result in the enhancement of lung cancer risks associated to sandblasting activities. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.