Light interception, use-efficiency and energy yield of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) grown in a short season area

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) has been identified as a potential biomass crop in North America. A two-year study was conducted to characterize leaf area development and estimate radiation-use efficiency (RUE) of switchgrass in eastern Canada. Three cultivars, Cave-in-Rock (CIR), Pathfinder (PF) and Sunburst (SB) were grown in solid stands in a randomized complete block design. Dry matter (DM) yield, leaf area development and light interception were monitored bi-weekly throughout the growing season. Herbage subsamples were hand separated into leaf and sheath-stem fractions. Mean seasonal maximum leaf area indices (LAI) were 6.1, 5.3 and 5.1 for CIR, PF and SB, respectively. By early July of each season the canopies were intercepting about 90% of the incoming light. End of season DM yields were 12.2, 11.5 and 10.6 Mg ha⁻¹ for CIR, PF and SB, respectively. The stem plus leaf sheaths constituted the major component of DM and its accumulation trend parallelled that of total DM. End of season stem-sheath components averaged 764, 714 and 691 of the total g kg⁻¹ DM for CIR, PF and SB, respectively. Energy contents of the switchgrasses averaged 17.4 MJ g⁻¹ DM and did not vary among cultivars or during the season. This translated into total energy yields ha⁻¹ of 216 GJ for CIR, 197 for PF and 186 for SB. Radiation-use efficiencies computed using total incoming solar radiation, for the near linear growth phases, averaged 1.07 g DM MJ⁻¹ for CIR, 0.90 for PF and 0.89 for SB. The respective values based on photosynthetically active radiation were 2.20, 2.00 and 1.96 g DM MJ⁻¹. Changes in LAI, relationships between LAI and light interception and DM yield could all be described by predictive regression equations. These results indicate the potential of switchgrass as a biomass crop in short season areas.     

New Solution‐Processable Electron Transport Materials for Highly Efficient Blue Phosphorescent OLEDs

Several new solution‐processable organic semiconductors based on dendritic oligoquinolines were synthesized and were used as electron‐transport and hole‐blocking materials to realize highly efficient blue phosphorescent organic light‐emitting diodes (PhOLEDs). Various substitutions on the quinoline rings while keeping the central meta‐linked tris(quinolin‐2‐yl)benzene gave electron transport materials that combined wide energy gap (>3.3 eV), moderate electron affinity (2.55‐2.8 eV), and deep HOMO energy level (<‐6.08 eV) with electron mobility as high as 3.3 × 10^?3 cm² V^?1 s^?1. Polymer‐based PhOLEDs with iridium (III) bis(4,6‐(di‐fluorophenyl)pyridinato‐N,C^2′)picolinate (FIrpic) blue triplet emitter and solution‐processed oligoquinolines as the electron‐transport layers (ETLs) gave luminous efficiency of 30.5 cd A^?1 at a brightness of 4130 cd m^?2 with an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 16.0%. Blue PhOLEDs incorporating solution‐deposited ETLs were over two‐fold more efficient than those containing vacuum‐deposited ETLs. Atomic force microscopy imaging shows that the solution‐deposited oligoquinoline ETLs formed vertically oriented nanopillars and rough surfaces that enable good ETL/cathode contacts, eliminating the need for cathode interfacial materials (LiF, CsF). These solution‐processed blue PhOLEDs have the highest performance observed to date in polymer‐based blue PhOLEDs.     

A New Flexible Filter Bank for Low Complexity Spectrum Sensing in Cognitive Radios

Conventional filter bank-based spectrum sensing methods employ uniform discrete Fourier transform filter bank (DFTFB). In this paper, we propose a multi-stage coefficient decimation filter bank (MS-CDFB) for wideband spectrum sensing in cognitive radios. From an initial fixed-coefficient modal filter, a filter bank that has multiple passbands of either uniform or different passband widths can be obtained using coefficient decimation. Design examples show that proposed MS-CDFB offers a complexity reduction of about 30% over the DFTFB while giving a superior sensing accuracy than the latter. The complexity reduction of MS-CDFB over the DFTFB is 85%, if both the spectrum sensors are designed to produce identical sensing accuracies.     

Modeling of steel and concrete strains between primary cracks for the prediction of cover-controlled cracking in RC-beams

After cracking, the intact concrete between two consecutive primary cracks remains elastic and the maximum concrete stress is less than the tensile strength of concrete. However, under increasing loading, cover-controlled cracks occur at the steel-concrete interface causing a loss of bond and hence a loss of tension stiffness. The cover-controlled cracks are internal concrete cracks that initiate at steel rib location and are contained within the concrete cover. In this paper, steel and concrete strain distribution between two consecutive primary cracks are modeled based on a linear assumed distribution of the bond stress at the steel-concrete interface. The accurate calculation of the tensile concrete strain allows introducing new criteria for cover-control cracking initiation based on a peak value of steel stress calculated at crack location.     

The functional anatomy of sound intensity discrimination

The human neuroanatomical substrate of sound intensity discrimination was investigated by combining psychoacoustics and functional neuroimaging. Seven normal subjects were trained to detect deviant sounds presented with a slightly higher intensity than a standard harmonic sound, using a Go/No Go paradigm. Individual psychometric curves were carefully assessed using a three-step psychoacoustic procedure. Subjects were scanned while passively listening to the standard sound and while discriminating changes in sound intensity at four different performance levels (d' = 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, and 4.5). Analysis of regional cerebral blood flow data outlined activation, during the discrimination conditions, of a right hemispheric frontoparietal network already reported in other studies of selective or sustained attention to sensory input, and in which activity appeared inversely proportional to intensity discriminability. Conversely, a right posterior temporal region included in secondary auditory cortex was activated during discrimination of sound intensity independently of performance level. These findings suggest that discrimination of sound intensity involves two different cortical networks: a supramodal right frontoparietal network responsible for allocation of sensory attentional resources, and a region of secondary auditory cortex specifically involved in sensory computation of sound intensity differences.     

Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in a case of cerebral venous thrombosis

BACKGROUND: Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) is the most sensitive MR sequence in acute arterial ischemic stroke but has not yet been evaluated in venous cerebral ischemia. We describe a patient with DWI performed at the acute phase of a venous ischemic stroke. CASE DESCRIPTION: A rapid cerebral MRI including DWI and fast fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) sequences was performed at the acute phase of a venous stroke confirmed by conventional angiography. DWI showed a slight decrease in apparent diffusion coefficient values 3 hours after onset (0.53+/-0.07x10(-3) mm2/s) and was normal 48 hours later (0.064+/-0.15x10(-3) mm2/s). Fast FLAIR sequences showed large left frontoparietal hyperintensities. The lack of a clear decrease in apparent diffusion coefficient values associated with marked FLAIR abnormalities may suggest prominent or early associated vasogenic edema. Physiopathological differences between arterial and venous ischemia may explain the different type of DWI FLAIR abnormalities during the acute phase as well as the better recovery of neurological deficit in venous stroke than in arterial ischemic stroke. CONCLUSIONS: In the context of an acute stroke, the contrast between marked FLAIR and subtle DWI abnormalities on MRI may reflect the venous mechanism of cerebral ischemia.     

A four-year experience with laparoscopy in the management of appendicitis

BACKGROUND: The study was conducted to determine the influences of laparoscopy in the management and outcome of patients with appendicitis. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 154 consecutive patients who were treated for suspected appendicitis. The pre-operative diagnosis included appendicitis, right lower quadrant pain of unknown etiology, and generalized peritonitis. RESULTS: Laparoscopy was used in 108 patients, including 70 laparoscopic appendectomies (LA) and 31 LAs converted to open appendectomy (OA). Forty-six patients had OA. The average operating time for LA was 74.3 minutes and 48.8 minutes with OA. Postoperative complications for LA (7%) included 1 trochar wound hemorrhage, 2 wound infections, and 2 intra-abdominal sepsis; and for OA (9%) were 1 post-operative intra-abdominal hemorrhage, 4 wound infections, 1 wound dehiscence, and 1 intra-abdominal sepsis. Post-operative stay for LA averaged 2.5 days and for OA averaged 4.5 days (P = .0049). LA patients had a considerably faster return to work and/or normal activity than OA patients (P = .00065). CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopy influenced the management of 29% of patients presenting with suspected appendicitis. LA resulted in shorter hospitalization and a more rapid return to work and/or normal activity than OA.     

Osteoid osteoma and osteoblastoma with clonal chromosome changes

The i-STAT hand-held analyzer assays ten tests including electrolytes, gases, urea, glucose, ionized calcium, and hematocrit. Eight different cartridges assay one to eight tests. We have previously confirmed or demonstrated that accuracy and precision for blood assays are comparable to accepted laboratory methods. We now report similar results for hemodialysis dialysate and peritoneal dialysis effluent. The i-STAT analyzer is simple to use, and dialysis nurses produced accurate results with 20 min training. The results are viewed digitally on the analyzer and automatically on a small attachable printer. i-STAT blood analysis is most valuable when results are desired immediately, anywhere, including before, during and after dialysis in hemodialysis units. Hemodialysate analysis using i-STAT can be most valuable for rapidly checking dialysis machine function such as dialysate mixing and conductivity and ramping results and dialysate concentrations prepared in the unit. Peritoneal effluent analysis is useful for rapid evaluation of membrane function.     

Recognizing plankton images from the shadow image particle profiling evaluation recorder

We present a system to recognize underwater plankton images from the shadow image particle profiling evaluation recorder (SIPPER). The challenge of the SIPPER image set is that many images do not have clear contours. To address that, shape features that do not heavily depend on contour information were developed. A soft margin support vector machine (SVM) was used as the classifier. We developed a way to assign probability after multiclass SVM classification. Our approach achieved approximately 90% accuracy on a collection of plankton images. On another larger image set containing manually unidentifiable particles, it also provided 75.6% overall accuracy. The proposed approach was statistically significantly more accurate on the two data sets than a C4.5 decision tree and a cascade correlation neural network. The single SVM significantly outperformed ensembles of decision trees created by bagging and random forests on the smaller data set and was slightly better on the other data set. The 15-feature subset produced by our feature selection approach provided slightly better accuracy than using all 29 features. Our probability model gave us a reasonable rejection curve on the larger data set.