Flood risk mapping at European scale.

The aim of this article is to illustrate a framework for flood risk mapping at pan-European scale produced by the Weather-Driven Natural Hazards (WDNH) action of the EC-JRC-IES. Early results are presented in the form of flood risk index maps. We assess several flood risk factors that contribute to the occurrence of flood disasters. Among the causal factors of a flood disaster one is triggering a natural event in the form of extreme precipitation and consequently extreme river discharge and extreme flood water levels. The threatening natural event represents the hazard component in our assessment. Furthermore exposure and vulnerability are anthropogenic factors that contribute also to flood risk. In the proposed approach, flood risk is considered on the light of exposure, vulnerability and hazard. We use a methodology with a marked territorial approach for the assessment of the flood risk. Hence, based on mathematical calculations, risk is the product of hazard, exposure and vulnerability. Improvements on datasets availability and spatial scale are foreseen in the next phases of this study. This study is also a contribution to the discussion about the need for communication tools between the natural hazard scientific community and the political and decision making players in this field.     

Inhibition of oxygen evolution by zaluzanin C

The inhibition of ATP synthesis, proton uptake, and electron transport (basal, phosphorylating, and uncoupled) from water to methylviologen by zaluzanin C indicates that it acts as an electron transport inhibitor. Uncoupled photosystem I electron transport rate was not affected by zaluzanin C; however, uncoupled photosystem II electron flow from water to 2,3,5,6-tetramethyl phenylenediamine and from water to silicomolybdate was inhibited, but electron transport from diphenylcarbazide to silicomolybdate was not affected. We conclude that the site of inhibition by zaluzanin C is located at the oxygen evolution level.     

Delineation of ECT images using global constraints and dynamic programming

A model-based delineation algorithm is presented. It is a flexible model fitting algorithm, approaching contour detection as an optimization problem. An objective function is introduced, which depends not only on local contour features, but also on a global shape constraint. The latter is implemented as the similarity to the instance of a parametric shape model. The algorithm optimizes both the contour points and the parameters of the model. As a result, both global and local characteristics of the contour are determined as a compromise between photometric data and prior knowledge. The method was applied to myocardial perfusion SPECT images, to delineate the entire left ventricle (endocardium and epicardium), including possible regions of reduced perfusion. By adapting the balance between the image data and the shape model, images with different characteristics can be processed, including Thallium-201 and MIBI scans.     

Application of probabilistic and fuzzy cognitive approaches in semantic web framework for medical decision support

This study aimed to focus on medical knowledge representation and reasoning using the probabilistic and fuzzy influence processes, implemented in the semantic web, for decision support tasks. Bayesian belief networks (BBNs) and fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs), as dynamic influence graphs, were applied to handle the task of medical knowledge formalization for decision support. In order to perform reasoning on these knowledge models, a general purpose reasoning engine, EYE, with the necessary plug-ins was developed in the semantic web. The two formal approaches constitute the proposed decision support system (DSS) aiming to recognize the appropriate guidelines of a medical problem, and to propose easily understandable course of actions to guide the practitioners. The urinary tract infection (UTI) problem was selected as the proof-of-concept example to examine the proposed formalization techniques implemented in the semantic web. The medical guidelines for UTI treatment were formalized into BBN and FCM knowledge models. To assess the formal models’ performance, 55 patient cases were extracted from a database and analyzed. The results showed that the suggested approaches formalized medical knowledge efficiently in the semantic web, and gave a front-end decision on antibiotics’ suggestion for UTI.     

An ultrafast wide-band millimeter-wave (MMW) polarimetric radar for remote sensing applications

With the advent of high-frequency radio frequency (RF) circuits and components technology, millimeter-wave (MMW) radars are being proposed for a large number of military and civilian applications. Accurate and high-resolution characterization of the polarimetric radar backscatter responses of both clutter and man-made targets at MMW frequencies is essential for the development of radar systems and optimal detection and tracking algorithms. Toward this end, a new design is developed for ultrafast, wide-band, polarimetric, instrumentation radars that operate at 35 and 95 GHz. With this new design, the complete scattering matrix of a target (magnitude and phase) can be measured over a bandwidth of 500 MHz in less than 2 /spl mu/s. In this paper, the design concepts and procedures for the construction and calibration of these radars are described. In addition, the signal processing algorithm and data-acquisition procedure used with the new radars are presented. To demonstrate the accuracy and applicability of the new radars, backscatter measurements of certain points and distributed targets are compared with their analytical radar cross section (RCS) and previously measured /spl sigma//spl deg/ values, respectively, and good agreements are shown. These systems, which can be mounted on a precision gimbal assembly that facilitates their application as high-resolution imaging radar systems, are used to determine the MMW two-way propagation loss of a corn field for different plant moisture conditions.     

A Direct Approach to Organic/Inorganic Semiconductor Hybrid Particles via Functionalized Polyfluorene Ligands

Controlled Suzuki–Miyaura coupling polymerization of 7′‐bromo‐9′,9′‐dioctyl‐fluoren‐2′‐yl‐4,4,5,5‐tetramethyl‐[1,3,2]dioxaborolane initiated by bromo(4‐tert‐butoxycarbonylamino‐phenyl)(tri‐tert‐butylphosphine)palladium ( 1 ) or bromo(4‐diethoxyphosphoryl‐phenyl)(tri‐tert‐butylphosphine)palladium ( 2 ) yields functionalized polyfluorenes (M_n = 4 × 10³ g mol^?1, M_w/M_n < 1.2) with a single amine or phosphonic acid, respectively, end‐group. High temperature synthesis of cadmium selenide quantum dots with these functionalized polyfluorenes as stabilizing ligands yields hybrid particles consisting of good quality (e.g. emission full width at half maximum of 30 nm; size distribution σ < 10%) inorganic nanocrystals with polyfluorene attached to the surface, as corroborated by transmission electron microscopy analysis and analytical ultracentrifugation. Sedimentation studies on particle dispersions show that a substantial portion (ca. half) of the phosphonic acid terminated polyfluorene ligands is bound to the inorganic nanocrystals, versus ca. 5% for the amino‐functionalized polyfluorene ligands. Single particle micro‐photoluminescence spectroscopy shows an efficient and complete energy transfer from the polyfluorene layer to the inorganic quantum dot.     

Extra-cellular volume estimation by electrical impedance--phase measurement or curve fitting: a comparative study

The intestinal polyamine transporters have not yet been identified. Our aim was to characterize specific polyamine binding sites in rabbit intestinal brush-border membranes (IBBM) as a starting step for identification of polyamine transporters. This was investigated at 4 degrees and at low membrane concentration. Saturation isotherms for [3H]putrescine (PUT) binding indicated a single population of sites (puT) with a dissociation equilibrium constant Kd of 3.8 microM and a density of sites Bmax of 58 pmol/mg of protein. [3H]spermidine (SPD) binding also involved only one class of sites (spD), albeit with a lower affinity (Kd = 106 microM) and higher abundance (Bmax = 1240 pmol/mg of protein) than puT. On the contrary, [14C]spermine (SPM) bound two classes of sites (spM1 and spM2) differing in their affinity (Kd = 2.5 and 31.4 microM) and abundance (Bmax = 467 and 1617 pmol/mg of protein, respectively). Membrane association of SPM at 4 degrees was much faster than that of SPD and PUT, both of which proceeded at a similar rate. In contrast to PUT and SPD dissociation, SPM dissociation at 23 degrees did not follow a first-order reaction. Specifically bound [3H]PUT, unlike [3H]SPD and [14C]SPM, dissociated at 23 degrees independently of the addition of nonradioactive polyamine. Methylglyoxal-bis-(guanylhydrazone) was an extremely potent inhibitor of PUT binding (Ki = 3.2 +/- 1.5 nM), but as with PUT and cadaverine (CAD), it did not alter [3H]SPD and [14C]SPM binding substantially. The intestinal brush-border membrane may contain at least three sites specific for polyamine binding and exhibiting different ligand selectivity. Site puT might be associated with the transport system already described for intestinal uptake of PUT.     

Comments on “Bistatic specular scattering from roughdielectric surfaces” [and reply]

The author comments on the paper of De Roo and F. T. Ulaby (see ibid., vol.42, no.2, p. 220-231, 1994) which described experimental work on scattering by dielectric rough surfaces, and investigated the shift of the Brewster angle when a plane interface becomes randomly modulated. As mentioned by the authors, the numerical evidence of the phenomenon has been given where rigorous computations have shown that the minimum of the reflected intensity is shifted toward lower incidence angles. This conclusion, concerning one-dimensional surfaces under p polarization, is in agreement with the aforementioned experimental work. Later, with the help of the perturbation methods, a more detailed study has been achieved by several authors for both one-dimensional surfaces and two-dimensional surfaces. The main point is that although the theories are not the same, they all lead to the same conclusion and confirm the previous results. Therefore, the author was very surprised to read in the introduction that a shift toward grazing angles was predicted. The DE Roo and Ulaby reply that the theoretical and numerical calculations predict that the Brewster angle shifts in the direction of normal incidence (negative shift) as the surface roughness increases, and their experimental results indeed support the prediction. They have no disagreement with this comment and are in fact pleased that their data confirms the theory     

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a Living Shoreline in a Confined,Non‐Tidal Waterway Subject to Heavy Shipping Traffic

River bank erosion is a point of concern along navigable waterways because it increases the likelihood of bank failure. In non‐tidal and restricted fetch waterways, bank failure is mainly the result of extreme weather events and ship wave action. To counteract progressive bank erosion, nature‐friendly bank protection (a ‘living’ shoreline) has been installed in a stretch of the Lys (Belgium). It consists of off‐bank timber piling, which separates the fairway from the shallow water riverine environment, and a reed belt, planted at the base of the vertical cut bank. To evaluate its effectiveness, short‐term and long‐term field studies were carried out. The long‐term topographic survey did not reveal a clear difference in bank erosion rates between the surveyed nature‐friendly protected and naturally eroding embayments. Horizontal bank retreat could however not be linked directly to occasional flooding events and frequent ship wave action, although the latter's influence was inferred qualitatively. Based on velocity and turbidity measurements, the short‐term study pointed out the importance of an individual ship's wave action on bed and bank erosion behind the off‐bank timber piling. All ships were able to resuspend sandy bed sediments; yet, only a significant higher sediment volume was transported because of shipping traffic of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) classes IV and Va. If ship wave energy exceeded 45 Jm^?2, silty bank particles were dislodged from the river bank. Although validation of the results by longer term assessments may complete the physical insight in river bank erosion, the study indicated that this particular bank protecting configuration does not provide sufficient protection against ship wave action and does not adequately prevent further bank erosion. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.