Riparian Vegetation Mapping for Hydraulic Roughness Estimation Using Very High Resolution Remote Sensing Data Fusion

For detailed hydraulic modeling, accurate spatial information of riparian vegetation patterns needs to be derived in automatic fashion. We propose a supervised classification for heterogeneous riparian corridors with a low number of spectrally separate classes using data fusion of a Quickbird image and LIDAR data. The approach considers nine land cover classes including three woody riparian species, brush, cultivated areas, grassland, urban infrastructures, bare soil and water. The classical “stacked vector” approach is adopted for data fusion, while the nonparametric weighted feature-extraction method and the pixel-oriented maximum likelihood algorithm are used for feature-reduction and classification purposes, respectively. We test the approach over a 14-km stretch of the Sieve River (Tuscany Region, Italy). A one-dimensional river modeling is applied over the study reach comparing the results of a classification-derived hydraulic roughness map and a traditional ground-based approach. Despite the complex study reach, the classification method produced encouraging accuracies (OKS = 0.77) and represents a useful tool to delineate application domains of flow resistance models suited to different hydrodynamic patterns (e.g., stiff/flexible vegetation). Hydraulic modeling results showed that the remotely derived floodplain roughness parameterization captures the equivalent Manning coefficient over 20 test cross sections with uncertainty distributions described by low mean and standard deviation values.     

Advanced oxidation and adsorption technologies for organic micropollutant removal from lake water used as drinking-water supply

The goal of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of innovative drinking-water treatments designed to remove toxic and mutagenic organic micropollutants from lake waters used for human consumption. The widely used adsorption on granular activated carbon (GAC) filter technique was compared with the more innovative resin column techniques (XAD4 and Ambersorb-563) and with the advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) with UV/O3 and UV/O3/ H2O2. The water samples, collected from lake Como, treated with these techniques were analysed for mutagenic activity using Ames assay, toxicity using bioluminescent bacteria and organic compound were characterized using the GC-MS technique. The results found a decrease of the mutagenic and toxic activities of the lake water after adsorption on GAC and resins, while the AOP process generally increased these parameters. The absence of mutagenic activity was found only when a GAC adsorption step was performed in addition to the AOP process. Similar results were obtained by the toxicological and chemical analyses. In addition, the GC-MS analysis identified some possible mutagenic agents.     

Kinetostatic modeling of the clearance‐affected prismatic pair

The presence of clearance in the kinematic pairs of mechanisms has a strong influence on the mechanism performances. Where positioning tasks are concerned, clearance can be considered as one of the most relevant error sources, since it affects both accuracy and repeatability. The development of predictive models then becomes relevant, suitable for assessing in advance the influence of clearance and for correcting unacceptable effects. Several deterministic techniques assessing the accuracy of clearance‐affected mechanisms have been proposed in the literature; these techniques require the development of kinetostatic models for clearance‐affected pairs. This paper presents a modeling for clearance‐affected prismatic pairs. Such a model determines the three‐dimensional displacement between the pairing elements in the prismatic pair, and relates it to the load acting on the pair. Since the displacement depends strongly on the actual pair design, the model is described in detail for a particular pair geometry; in principle, however, this approach could be used for any geometry. The proposed model may be implemented in kinematic, kinetostatic, or dynamic analyses as well, with the purpose of computing the influence of clearance on the position and orientation error of any link of a mechanism. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

An integrated tactile-thermal robot sensor with capacitive tactilearray

A capacitive tactile sensor and a thermal sensor that can be combined into one compact device with both modalities are illustrated. The tactile sensing portion is composed of an 8 × 8 array of capacitive cells. By using as thermoresistors the rows' traces of the matrix of the capacitive tactile array sensor thermal sensing is obtained. This allows the detection of the gradient of the temperature. A prototype of the new sensor, which has been developed, is briefly illustrated and the so-obtained results are shortly discussed. On account of the simplicity and cheapness of the integrated sensor as well as its high linearity and sensitivity, it appears to be useful for the robots of future generations     

Olive oil and modulation of cell signaling in disease prevention

Epidemiological studies show that populations consuming a predominantly plant-based Mediterranean-style diet exhibit lower incidences of chronic diseases than those eating a northern European or North American diet. This observation has been attributed to the greater consumption of fruits and vegetables and the lower consumption of animal products, particularly fat. Although total fat intake in Mediterranean populations can be higher than in other regions (ca. 40% of calories), the greater proportion is derived from olive oil and not animals. Increased olive oil consumption is implicated in a reduction in cardiovascular disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and, to a lesser extent, a variety of cancers. Olive oil intake also has been shown to modulate immune function, particularly the inflammatory processes associated with the immune system. Olive oil is a nonoxidative dietary component, and the attenuation of the in-flammatory process it elicits could explain its beneficial effects on disease risk since oxidative and inflammatory stresses appear to be underlying factors in the etiology of these diseases in man. The antioxidant effects of olive oil are probably due to a combination of its high oleic acid content (low oxidation potential compared with linoleic acid) and its content of a variety of plant antioxidants, particularly oleuropein, hydroxytyrosol, and tyrosol. It is also possible that the high oleic acid content and a proportionate reduction in linoleic acid intake would allow a greater conversion of α-linolenic acid (18∶3n−3) to longer-chain n−3 PUFA, which have characteristic health benefits. Adoption of a Mediterranean diet could confer health benefits in high-risk populations.     

Algorithm for the retrieval of columnar water vapor from hyperspectral remotely sensed data

A new algorithm for the retrieval of columnar water vapor content is presented. The proposed procedure computes the area of the H2O absorption centered about 940 nm to allow its integrated columnar abundance as well as its density at ground level to be assessed. The procedure utilizes the HITRAN 2000 database as the source of H2O cross-section spectra. Experimental results were derived from radiometrically calibrated hyperspectral images collected by the Airborne Visible-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) sensor over the Cuprite mining district in Nevada. Numerical simulations based on the MODTRAN 4 radiative transfer code were also employed for investigating the algorithm's performance. An additional empirical H2O retrieval procedure was tested by use of data gathered by the VIRS-200 imaging spectrometer.     

Polymerization in magnetic field: XVIII. Influence of surfactant nature on the synthesis and thermal properties of poly(methyl methacrylate) and poly[(methyl methacrylate)‐co‐(epoxypropyl methacrylate)]

BACKGROUND: The possibility to use β‐cyclodextrin as biodegradable tensioactive and an electromagnetic field in order to improve the kinetic parameters of radical emulsion polymerization is of interest. Thus, the influence of different surfactants—sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and β‐cyclodextrin (CD)—on the pathway of emulsion polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and emulsion copolymerization of MMA with 2,3‐epoxypropyl methacrylate (GMA) performed with or without the presence of a continuous electromagnetic field (MF) was studied. RESULTS: The presence of the MF leads to a considerable increase of the conversion during the first part of the reaction if the classic surfactant (SLS) is used. The reactions performed without MF and with CD exhibit a decrease of the conversion and of the polymerization rate as compared with the variants using SLS. The swelling rate and the maximum degree of swelling vary with the surfactant nature and with the reaction conditions and MF presence. Data from thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry evidence the dependences between the polymer characteristics and the preparation conditions. CONCLUSION: This research underlines the coupling possibilities of the influence of a MF—growth of the reaction rate and conversion explained through radical pairs mechanism—with a combination of the ‘cage’ effect and ‘conformational control’ afforded by CD. The presence of MF and CD during the syntheses leads to an increase of T_g and an increase of PMMA and P(MMA‐co‐GMA) thermal stability. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry     

Discrete-time battery models for system-level low-power design

For portable applications, long battery lifetime is the ultimate design goal. Therefore, the availability of battery and voltage converter models providing accurate estimates of battery lifetime is key for system-level low-power design frameworks. In this paper, we introduce a discrete-time model for the complete power supply subsystem that closely approximates the behavior of its circuit-level continuous-time counterpart. The model is abstract and efficient enough to enable event-driven simulation of digital systems described at a very high level of abstraction and that includes, among their components, also the power supply. The model gives the designer the possibility of estimating battery lifetime during system-level design exploration, as shown by the results we have collected on meaningful case studies. In addition, it is flexible and it can thus be employed for different battery chemistries     

A Maternal High Fat Diet Has Long‐Lasting Effects on Skeletal Muscle Lipid and PLIN Protein Content in Rat Offspring at Young Adulthood

A maternal high fat diet (HFD) can have adverse effects on skeletal muscle development. Skeletal muscle PLIN proteins (PLIN2, 3 and 5) are thought to play critical roles in lipid metabolism, however effects of HFD on PLIN and lipases (HSL, ATGL, CGI‐58) in mothers as well as their offspring have yet to be investigated. The primary objective of this study was to determine whether maternal HFD would influence skeletal muscle lipase and PLIN protein content in offspring at weaning (19d) and young adulthood (3mo). Female rats (28d old, n = 9/group) were fed control (CON, AIN93G, 7 % soybean oil) or HFD (AIN93G, 20 % lard) for 10 weeks prior to mating and throughout pregnancy and lactation. All offspring were weaned to CON [n = 18/group, 1 female and 1 male pup per litter were studied at weaning (19d) and 3mo of age]. There was no effect of sex for the main outcomes measured in plantaris, therefore male and female data was combined. Maternal HFD resulted in higher triacylglycerol content in pups at 3mo (p < 0.05), as well as in the dams (p = 0.015). Maternal HFD resulted in higher PLIN5 content in pups at weaning and 3mo (p = 0.05). PLIN2 and PLIN5 content decreased at 3mo versus weaning (p < 0.001). HFD dams had a higher PLIN3 content (p = 0.016). Diet had no effect on ATGL, CGI‐58, or HSL content. In conclusion, exposure to a maternal HFD resulted in higher skeletal muscle lipid and PLIN5 content in plantaris of offspring through to young adulthood.     

Synthesis and Antiplasmodial Activity of Novel Chloroquine Analogues with Bulky Basic Side Chains

Chloroquine is commonly used in the treatment and prevention of malaria, but Plasmodium falciparum, the main species responsible for malaria‐related deaths, has developed resistance against this drug. Twenty‐seven novel chloroquine (CQ) analogues characterized by a side chain terminated with a bulky basic head group, i.e., octahydro‐2H‐quinolizine and 1,2,3,4,5,6‐hexahydro‐1,5‐methano‐8H‐pyrido[1,2‐a][1,5]diazocin‐8‐one, were synthesized and tested for activity against D‐10 (CQ‐susceptible) and W‐2 (CQ‐resistant) strains of P. falciparum. Most compounds were found to be active against both strains with nanomolar or sub‐micromolar IC₅₀ values. Eleven compounds were found to be 2.7‐ to 13.4‐fold more potent than CQ against the W‐2 strain; among them, four cytisine derivatives appear to be of particular interest, as they combine high potency with low cytotoxicity against two human cell lines (HMEC‐1 and HepG2) along with easier synthetic accessibility. Replacement of the 4‐NH group with a sulfur bridge maintained antiplasmodial activity at a lower level, but produced an improvement in the resistance factor. These compounds warrant further investigation as potential drugs for use in the fight against malaria.