Towards deterministic downscaling of SMOS soil moisture using MODIS derived soil evaporative efficiency

A deterministic approach for downscaling ～ 40 km resolution Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) observations is developed from 1 km resolution MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data. To account for the lower soil moisture sensitivity of MODIS surface temperature compared to that of L-band brightness temperature, the disaggregation scale is fixed to 10 times the spatial resolution of MODIS thermal data (10 km). Four different analytic downscaling relationships are derived from MODIS and physically-based model predictions of soil evaporative efficiency. The four downscaling algorithms differ with regards to i) the assumed relationship (linear or nonlinear) between soil evaporative efficiency and near-surface soil moisture, and ii) the scale at which soil parameters are available (40 km or 10 km). The 1 km resolution airborne L-band brightness temperature from the National Airborne Field Experiment 2006 (NAFE'06) are used to generate a time series of eleven clear sky 40 km by 60 km near-surface soil moisture observations to represent SMOS pixels across the three-week experiment. The overall root mean square difference between downscaled and observed soil moisture varies between 1.4% v/v and 1.8% v/v depending on the downscaling algorithm used, with soil moisture values ranging from 0 to 15% v/v. The accuracy and robustness of the downscaling algorithms are discussed in terms of their assumptions and applicability to SMOS.     

The hot blow forming of AZ31 Mg sheet: Formability assessment and application development

The hot blow forming of magnesium sheet offers significant opportunity for forming complex, lightweight parts for automotive applications. This paper characterizes the elevated-temperature formability of AZ31 magnesium sheet materials and the effect of processing conditions on the performance of these materials. In addition, magnesium sheet application development at General Motors Corporation is reviewed.     

Simulation of Strength Distribution in Ground Ceramics by Incorporating Residual Stress Effect

Strength of ground ceramics may be affected by residual stress as well as surface flaws induced by grinding. Strength prediction for ground ceramics is convenient for mechanical design of ceramic components. In this article, a numerical procedure based on fracture mechanics was proposed to estimate strength distribution of ground ceramics by considering grinding-induced residual stress. Bending strength and residual stress of ground ceramics were measured for three grinding-conditions. By comparison of simulated results with experimental ones, it was revealed that strength characteristics in experiments were well simulated by using the proposed procedure.     

A 0.9 V 92 dB Double-Sampled Switched-RC Delta-Sigma Audio ADC

A 0.9 V third-order double-sampled delta-sigma audio ADC is presented. A new method using a combination of a switched-RC technique and a floating switched-capacitor double-sampling configuration enabled low-voltage operation without clock boosting or bootstrapping. A three-level quantizer with simple dynamic element matching was used to improve linearity. The prototype IC implemented in a 0.13 CMOS process achieves 92 dB DR, 91 dB SNR and 89 dB SNDR in a 24 kHz audio signal bandwidth, while consuming 1.5 mW from a 0.9 V supply. The prototype operates from 0.65 V to 1.5 V supply with minimal performance degradation.     

Modification of platinum surfaces by spontaneous deposition: Methanol oxidation electrocatalysis

The presence of a second metal on platinum surfaces affects the performance of methanol oxidation. However, most of the electrocatalytic reactions are studied by using electrochemically deposited platinum alloys, but in the case of spontaneous deposition the situation is not so clear since the surface distribution, stability and morphology are usually not well documented. The formation of surface decorated samples on mono- and poly-crystalline platinum is followed by electrochemical and spectroscopic techniques and analysis of their performance towards methanol adsorption and oxidation compared with that on pure platinum. Pt/Sn and Pt/Ru are of special interest because of their well-known performance in methanol fuel cells. Methanol oxidation on Pt(111)/Ru, Pt(111)/Sn and Pt(111) shows that ruthenium is the only one able to promote the reaction since the simultaneous dissolution of tin occurs and competes with the process of interest. The in situ infrared spectroscopy is used to compare methanol oxidation on Pt(111)/Ru and Pt(111) in acid media using p-polarized light. The formation of bridge bound carbon monoxide is inhibited in the presence of ruthenium ad-species, whereas on Pt(111) the three adsorption configurations are observed. Linear sweep polarization curves and Tafel slopes (calculated from steady state potentiostatic plots) for methanol oxidation are compared on polycrystalline surfaces modified by tin or ruthenium at different coverages. There is almost no change in the Tafel slopes due to the presence of the foreign metal except for Pt/Ru, where a 0.09 V decade⁻¹ slope was calculated below 0.55 V due to hydroxyl adsorbates on ruthenium islands. The anodic stripping of methanol residues on the three surfaces indicates a lower amount of carbon monoxide-type adsorbates on Pt/Ru, and the simultaneous tin dissolution process leading to residues oxidation on Pt/Sn electrodes.     

Influence of inhibitor addition on the corrosion protection performance of sol–gel coatings on AA2024

Sol–gel films are actively investigated during the last decade as possible candidates for environmentally friendly pre-treatments. However, the important drawback in this case is the lack of active corrosion protection and self-healing ability.     

Addition of pectolytic enzymes: an enological practice which improves the chromaticity and stability of red wines

Summary The effect of the addition of four commercial pectolytic preparations on the visual characteristics (colour and turbidity) of red wines has been evaluated. The effect of both clarifying and colour extracting enzymes and the effect of different doses used, were evaluated and compared. All the red wines treated enzymatically, independent of the type of enzyme and dose, present chromatic characteristics which can be considered better than those of the control wines. Also, those wines treated with enzymes had greater stability during 2 years storage in bottles, in particular the turbidity was better than untreated wines.     

Adaptive user modelling in intelligent telephone and email assistants

With the burgeoning complexity and capabilities of modern information appliances and services, user modelling is becoming an increasingly important research area. Simple user profiles already personalise many software products and consumer goods such as digital TV recorders and mobile phones. A user model should be easy to initialise, and it must adapt in the light of interaction with the user. In many cases, a large amount of training data is needed to generate a user model, and adaptation is equivalent to retraining the system. This paper briefly outlines the user modelling problem and work done at BTexact on an intelligent personal assistant (IPA) which incorporates a user profile. We go on to describe FILUM, a more flexible method of user modelling, and show its application to the telephone assistant and email assistant components of the IPA, with tests to illustrate its usefulness.     

Epidemiology of Trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Mexico.

Prevalence rates of trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were estimated from a probability sample of 2,509 adults from 4 cities in Mexico. PTSD was assessed according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) criteria using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI; WHO, 1997). Lifetime prevalence of exposure and PTSD were 76% and 11.2%, respectively. Risk for PTSD was highest in Oaxaca (the poorest city), persons of lower socioeconomic status, and women. Conditional risk for PTSD was highest following sexual violence, but nonsexual violence and traumatic bereavement had greater overall impact because of their frequency. Of lifetime cases, 62% became chronic; only 42% received medical or professional care. The research demonstrates the importance of expanding the epidemiologic research base on trauma to include developing countries around the world. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)