A Framework for Simulation and Testing of UAVs in Cooperative Scenarios

Today, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have deeply modified the concepts of surveillance, Search&Rescue, aerial photogrammetry, mapping, etc. The kinds of missions grow continuously; missions are in most cases performed by a fleet of cooperating autonomous and heterogeneous vehicles. These systems are really complex and it becomes fundamental to simulate any mission stage to exploit benefits of simulations like repeatability, modularity and low cost. In this paper a framework for simulation and testing of UAVs in cooperative scenarios is presented. The framework, based on modularity and stratification in different specialized layers, allows an easy switching from simulated to real environments, thus reducing testing and debugging times, especially in a training context. Results obtained using the proposed framework on some test cases are also reported.     

Electroantennogram activity from antennae ofCeratitis capitata (Wied.) to fresh orange airborne volatiles

Twenty-six compounds have been identified from fresh orange airborne volatiles, the most abundant being limonene and alloaromadendrene. Ethyl- and butylhexanoates were found in middle concentrations, whereas the other compounds occur at low levels. Electroantennograms recorded fromCeratitis capitata Wied. (males and females) revealed limonene. butyl hexanoate, dihydrocarvone, and limonene oxide to be most active. In the case of dihydrocarvone, 4-ethyl acetophenone, and carvone, female antennae give greater responses than antennae of males. Limonene oxide was more active for males than females. Total airborne volatiles recovered from oranges elicited high EAGs, with females being more sensitive than males.     

Impact of open access on citation of scholarly publications in the field of civil engineering

The development of science is accompanied by growth of scholarly publications, primarily in the form of articles in peer-reviewed journals. Scientific work is often evaluated through the number of scientific publications in international journals and their citations. This article discusses the impact of open access (OA) on the number of citations for an institution from the field of civil engineering. We analyzed articles, published in 2007 in 14 international journals with impact factor, which are included in the Journal Citation Reports subject category “Civil Engineering”. The influence of open access on the number of citations was analyzed. The aim of our research was to determine if open access articles from the field of civil engineering receive more citations than non-open access articles. Based on the value of impact factor and ranking in quartiles, we also looked at the influence of the rank of journals on the number of citations, separately for OA and Non OA articles, in databases Web of Science (WOS), Scopus and Google Scholar. For 2,026 studied articles we found out that 22 % of them were published as OA articles. They received 29 % of all citations in the observed period. We can conclude by the significance level 5 % or less that in the databases WOS and Scopus the articles from top ranked journals (first quartile) achieved more citations than Non OA articles. This argument can be confirmed for some other journals from second quartile as well, while for the journals ranked into the third quartile it can’t be confirmed. This could be confirmed only partly for journals from the second quartile, and would not be confirmed for journals ranked into the third quartile. This shows that open access is not a sufficient condition for citation, but increases the number of citations for articles published in journals with high impact.     

Recovery of N applied as 15N-manure or 15N-gliricidia biomass by maize,cotton and cowpea

Proper management of N applied in fertilizers is important to optimize crop production and to avoid negative environmental impacts. The best way to study N dynamics in the soil plant system is to use fertilizers labeled with ¹⁵N. Recoveries of nitrogen following fertilization with ¹⁵N-labeled goat (Capra hircus L.) manure and gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium Jacq. Walp) biomass were evaluated in a greenhouse experiment with three successive planting cycles of three crops: maize (Zea mays L.), cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.), and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.). Each 1 kg soil pot received 8 g (equivalent to 20 Mg ha^?1) of either manure (12.3 mg g^?1 of N) or gliricidia (37.8 mg g^?1 of N). Plants were harvested 50 days after germination and real (¹⁵N) and apparent recoveries of the applied N were determined. Biomass and N amounts in the cotton and maize crops in all three cycles were higher with gliricidia application than with manure, except for cotton in the first cycle. The biomass of cowpea was also higher with gliricídia in the first and second cycles but the amount of N was significantly higher only in the second cycle. In the first cycle, the largest recoveries of ¹⁵N were obtained with gliricidia, for all three crops, but in the second and third cycles recoveries were greater with manure, so that the real recoveries of gliricidia and manure were similar (cotton, 35 and 37 %; maize, 27 and 26 %; and cowpea, 41 and 38 % of the applied N, respectively). Estimates of apparent recoveries were different from the real ones and therefore inadequate for cotton and cowpea. The fast release of N from gliricidia prunings and, on the other hand, the strong residual effect of goat manure-N to subsequent cropping cycles should be considered by farmers in their fertilization strategies.     

An indirect boundary-element method for slow viscous flow in a bounded region containing air bubbles

This paper presents a novel formulation of the completed indirect boundary-element method to study the shrinkage of air bubbles on a slow viscous flow in a bounded region subject to surface tension. The formulation has application to viscous sintering, a process for manufacturing high-quality glass by means of sol-gel processing. The theoretical background is explained in detail, including mathematical proofs of existence and uniqueness of solutions. Numerical results are included and compared to analytical and previous numerical solutions.     

Psychological adjustment in breast cancer: Processes of emotional distress.

The process of psychological adjustment to breast cancer was examined at diagnosis and at 3- and 6-month follow-ups in a sample of 80 women with Stage I–Stage IV breast cancer. At diagnosis, symptoms of anxiety/depression were predicted by low dispositional optimism, and this path was partially mediated by use of emotion-focused disengagement coping. Younger age also was predictive of anxiety/depression symptoms at time of diagnosis and this relationship was fully mediated by magnitude of intrusive thoughts. At 3 months, changes in anxiety/depression symptoms were predicted only by intrusive thoughts. At 6 months, low dispositional optimism reemerged as a significant predictor of changes in anxiety/depression and again was partially mediated by the use of emotion-focused disengagement coping. Independent effects for problem-focused engagement and disengagement and emotion-focused engagement coping were also found at 6 months. Implications of these data for psychosocial interventions with breast cancer patients are highlighted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An aversion-desensitization treatment for alcoholism.

Gave to 21 30-58 yr. old male alcoholic patient volunteers in a state hospital a mean of 11 hr. in 1 of 3 treatments: (a) interpersonal aversion (in which S watched his own audiovideo-recorded drinking "confessions" while being systematically derogated by 2 therapists), followed immediately by systematic desensitization to drinking-related anxieties; (b) interpersonal aversion, followed by a control procedure consisting of friendly interaction; or (c) group discussion. Ss were given the Alcadd Test and MacAndrews' Alcoholism scale (derived from the MMPI) before, after, and 6-9 mo. following treatment. Follow-up interview data show that 5 of the 7 traceable Ss given the interpersonal aversion-systematic desensitization treatment reported abstinence, compared with only 1 of 7 treated by the interpersonal aversion-control procedure. This significant difference was supported by changes on the Alcadd Test but not on the Alcoholism scale. Difficulties in contacting Ss for follow-up precluded complete comparisons with the group-discussion Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modelling of Cr(VI) removal from polluted groundwaters by ion exchange

This work reports the viability and modelling of the removal of Cr(VI) from polluted groundwaters by means of ion exchange using the resin Lewatit MP‐64. Feed groundwaters that contained Cr(VI) at an average concentration of 2431 mg dm^?3 and 1187 mg dm^?3 of chloride and 1735 mg dm^?3 of sulfate as main anions were acidified to a pH of 2.0 prior to the removal process. Dynamic experiments were carried out in a fixed bed column with feed waters at flow rates in the range of 2.78 × 10^?7 m³ s^?1 to 5.55 × 10^?7 m³ s^?1. Regeneration was achieved with NaOH (2 mol dm^?3). From the experimental results, the equilibrium of the ion exchange reaction was successfully modelled, obtaining an equilibrium constant (K′_AB) = 44.90. Finally, a mass balance that included mass transfer resistances in the liquid and solid phases was developed and from the comparison between simulated and experimental data the value of the effective intraparticle diffusivity (D_s) was determined as 1.43 × 10^?12 m² s^?1. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry