Demonstrating the effect of vertical and directional shear for resource mapping of wind power

The use of wind energy is growing around the world, and its growth is set to continue into the foreseeable future. Estimates of the wind speed and power are helpful to assess the potential of new sites for development and to facilitate electric grid integration studies. In the present paper, wind speed and power resource mapping analyses are performed. These resource mappings are produced on a 13 km, hourly model grid over the entire continental USA for the years of 2006–2014. The effects of the rotor equivalent wind speed (REWS) along with directional shear are investigated. The total dataset (wind speed and power) contains ≈152,000 model grid points, with each location containing ≈78,000 hourly time steps. The resource mapping and dataset are created from analysis fields, which are output from an advanced weather assimilation model. Two different methods were used to estimate the wind speed over the rotor swept area (with rotor diameter of 100 m). First, using a single wind speed at hub height (80 m) and, second, the REWS with directional shear. The demonstration study shows that in most locations the incorporation of the REWS reduces the average available wind power. In addition, the REWS technique estimates more wind power production at night and less production in the day compared with the hub height technique; potentially critical for siting new wind turbines and plants. However, the wind power estimate differences are dependent on seasonality, diurnal cycle and geographic location. More research is warranted into these effects to determine the level at which these features are observed at actual wind plants.© 2015 The Authors. Wind Energy published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Differential retention of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in grassland soil profiles with long-term manure application

Liquid hog manure (LHM) is a valuable source of nutrients for farm production. Long-term experimental plots that had received LHM applications of 0, 50, and 100 m³ ha^?1 annually for 20 years were analyzed for total soil C, N and P storage. Applications increased total soil N and P by 1,200 kg N ha^?1 and 850 kg P ha^?1 at 100 m^?3 LHM year^?1, compared to the control treatment. However, C storage did not increase with LHM rates and was lower in the 50 m³ ha^?1 LHM treatment (86 Mg C ha^?1) than in the 0 or 100 m³ ha^?1 treatments (100 Mg C ha^?1). In addition to the limited quantities and high decomposability of the C supplied by LHM, it is hypothesized that LHM stimulated the mineralization of both native soil C and fresh root-derived material. This priming effect was particularly apparent in deeper soil horizons where the decomposability of native C may be limited by the supply of fresh C. This study indicates that while LHM can be a significant source of crop nutrients, it has limited capacity for maintaining or increasing soil C.     

A cross‐cultural colour‐naming study. Part III—A colour‐naming model

A colour‐naming model was developed to categorize volumes for each of the 11 basic names in CIELAB colour space. This was tested with three different sets of data for two languages (English and Mandarin), derived from extensive colour categorization experiments. The performance of the model in predicting colour names was satisfactory, with an average prediction error of 8.3%. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Col Res Appl, 26, 270–277, 2001     

A computer simulation approach to evaluating bowl versus inverted bowl assembly line arrangement with variable operation times

A computer simulation model was used to evaluate a bowl versus inverted bowl assembly line arrangement for normal and exponential distributions and variances equal to 1 and 16. The model was developed on the basis of a realistic case problem and applied to a six-station assembly line. The results show that the inverted bowl is superior to the bowl arrangement for a normal distribution in terms of the total elapsed time evaluation criterion; however, with an exponential distribution, the bowl was found better than the inverted bowl for the same criterion. On the basis of the average percentage of working time and the average time in the system evaluation criteria, the bowl was found superior to the inverted bowl for a normal distribution. Similar results were obtained for an exponential distribution with a variance equal to 1, but no definitive inference could be made with a variance equal to 16.     

Verbal working memory and language production: Common approaches to the serial ordering of verbal information.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 136(3) of Psychological Bulletin (see record 2010-07936-010). In the article “Verbal Working Memory and Language Production: Common Approaches to the Serial Ordering of Verbal Information” by Daniel J. Acheson and Maryellen C. MacDonald (Psychological Bulletin, 2009, Vol. 135, No. 1, pp. 50–68), the initial sentence of the text of the article (p. 50) contains an error. The first name of the researcher Andrew W. Ellis was listed incorrectly. The sentence should read as follows: Nearly 30 years ago, Andrew W. Ellis (1980) observed that errors on tests of verbal working memory (WM) paralleled those that occur naturally in speech production.] Verbal working memory (WM) tasks typically involve the language production architecture for recall; however, language production processes have had a minimal role in theorizing about WM. A framework for understanding verbal WM results is presented here. In this framework, domain-specific mechanisms for serial ordering in verbal WM are provided by the language production architecture, in which positional, lexical, and phonological similarity constraints are highly similar to those identified in the WM literature. These behavioral similarities are paralleled in computational modeling of serial ordering in both fields. The role of long-term learning in serial ordering performance is emphasized, in contrast to some models of verbal WM. Classic WM findings are discussed in terms of the language production architecture. The integration of principles from both fields illuminates the maintenance and ordering mechanisms for verbal information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rating formats and rater training redux: A context-specific approach for enhancing the effectiveness of performance management.

In this paper, we critically examine previous research on rating formats and rater training in the context of performance appraisal. Historically, the goal of this body of research has been to search for ways of maximizing the psychometric quality of performance evaluation data. Our central thesis is that there are a number of avenues for broadening this research. Accordingly, we propose a conceptual model that hopefully serves as a conceptual framework for future work in these 2 traditional performance appraisal research streams. For example, both rating formats and rater training research may be useful for facilitating and improving the feedback and employee development process, as well as reducing the potential existence of rater biases. In addition, format and training research may focus upon ways of enhancing both rater and ratee reactions to the appraisal system. A key feature of our model is the integration of national culture as a moderator of the relations between specific formats, training programs, and various outcomes. We consider both the national culture of raters and ratees, and focus specifically on comparisons between Western and East Asian cultures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The use of visual search for knowledge gathering in image decision support

This paper presents a new method of knowledge gathering for decision support in image understanding based on information extracted from the dynamics of saccadic eye movements. The framework involves the construction of a generic image feature extraction library, from which the feature extractors that are most relevant to the visual assessment by domain experts are determined automatically through factor analysis. The dynamics of the visual search are analyzed by using the Markov model for providing training information to novices on how and where to look for image features. The validity of the framework has been evaluated in a clinical scenario whereby the pulmonary vascular distribution on Computed Tomography images was assessed by experienced radiologists as a potential indicator of heart failure. The performance of the system has been demonstrated by training four novices to follow the visual assessment behavior of two experienced observers. In all cases, the accuracy of the students improved from near random decision making (33%) to accuracies ranging from 50% to 68%.