Ice sheet survey over Antarctica using satellite altimetry: ERS-2, Envisat,SARAL/AltiKa,the key importance of continuous observations along the same repeat orbit

From September 2002 to October 2010, the Envisat radar altimeter surveyed Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets on a 35 day repeat orbit, providing a unique data set for ice sheet mass balance studies. Up to 85 repeat cycles are available and the whole Envisat data set may be along-track processed in order to provide height variability and trend with a good spatial resolution for the objectives of ice sheet survey.

Soon, a joint Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales/Indian Space Research Organisation mission, SARAL (Satellite with Argos and AltiKa), with the AltiKa payload on board, will be launched on exactly the same orbit (less than 1 km of the nomimal orbit in the across-track direction). This will allow an extension of previous European Remote Sensing (ERS) satellite, ERS-1 and ERS-2, and Envisat missions of the European Space Agency (ESA), in particular from the point of view of ice altimetry. However, AltiKa operates in the Ka band (36.8 GHz), a higher frequency than the classical Ku band (13.6 GHz), leading to important modifications and potential improvements in the interactions between radar wave and snow-pack.

In this paper, a synthesis is presented of all available information relevant to ice altimetry scientific purposes as derived from the Envisat mission: mean and temporal derivatives of the height ? but also of the backscatter and of the two waveform parameters ? snow-pack change corrections, across-track surface slope at 1 km scale, etc. The spatial and temporal variability of ice sheet surface elevation is investigated with the help of the high-resolution Envisat along-track observations. We show that at least 50 repeat cycles are needed to reach the required accuracy for the elevation trend. It is thus advocated as potentially highly beneficial for SARAL/AltiKa as a follow-on mission. Moreover, the novel characteristics of SARAL/AltiKa are promising in improving our understanding of snow penetration impact.     

Abietoid seed fatty acid composition—A review of the genera Abies, Cedrus, Hesperopeuce, Keteleeria, Pseudolarix, and Tsuga and preliminary inferences on the taxonomy of Pinaceae

The seed fatty acid (FA) compositions of Abietoids (Abies, Cedrus, Hesperopeuce, Keteleeria, Pseudolarix, and Tsuga) are reviewed in the present study in conclusion to our survey of Pinaceae seed FA compositions. Many unpublished data are given. Abietoids and Pinoids (Pinus, Larix, Ficea, and Pseudotsuga)—constituting the family Pinaceae—are united by the presence of several Δ5-olefinic acids, taxoleic (5,9–18∶2), pinolenic (5,9,12–18∶3) coniferonic (5,9,12,15–18∶4), keteleeronic (5,11–20∶2), and sciadonic (5,11,14–20∶3) acids, and of 14-methyl hexadecanoic (anteiso-17∶0) acid. These acids seldom occur in angiosperm seeds. The proportions of individual Δ5-olefinic acids, however, differ between Pinoids and Abietoids. In the first group, pinolenic acid is much greater than taxoleic acid, whereas in the second group, pinolenic acid is greater than or equal to taxoleic acid. Moreover, taxoleic acid in Abietoids is much greater than taxoleic acid in Pinoids, an apparent limit between the two subfamilies being about 4.5% of that acid relative to total FA. Tsuga spp. appear to be a major exception, as their seed FA compositions are much like those of species from the Pinoid group. In this respect, Hesperopeuce mertensiana, also known as Tsuga mertensiana, has little in common with Abietoids and fits the general FA pattern of Pinoids well. Tsuga spp. and H. mertensiana, from their seed FA compositions, should perhaps be separated from the Abietoid group and their taxonomic position revised. It is suggested that a “Tsugoid” subfamily be created, with seed FA in compliance with the Pinoid pattern and other botanical and immunological criteria of the Abietoid type. All Pinaceae genera, with the exception of Pinus, are quite homogeneous when considering their overall seed FA compositions, including Δ5-olefinic acids. In all cases but one (Pinus), variations from one species to another inside a given genus are of small amplitude. Pinus spp., on the other hand, have highly variable levels of Δ5-olefinic acids in their FA compositions, particularly when sections (e.g., Cembroides vs. Pinus sections) or subsections (e.g., Flexiles and Cembrae subsections from the section Strobus) are compared, although they show qualitatively the same FA patterns characteristic of Pinoids. Multicomponent analysis of Abietoid seed FA allowed grouping of individual species into genera that coincide with the same genera otherwise characterized by more classical botanical criteria. Our studies exemplify how seed FA compositions, particularly owing to the presence of Δ5-olefinic acids, may be useful in sustaining and adding some precision to existing taxonomy of the major family of gymnosperms, Pinaceae.     

Silicon neuron: digital hardware implementation of the quartic model

This paper presents an FPGA implementation of the quartic neuron model. This approach uses digital computation to emulate individual neuron behavior. We implemented the neuron model using fixed-point arithmetic operation. The neuron model’s computations are performed in arithmetic pipelines. It was designed in VHDL language and simulated prior to mapping in the FPGA. We show that the proposed FPGA implementation of the quartic neuron model can emulate the electrophysiological activities in various types of cortical neurons and is capable of producing a variety of different behaviors, with diversity similar to that of neuronal cells. The neuron family of this digital neuron can be modified by appropriately adjusting the neuron model’s parameters.     

On Efficiency of Multi-job Grid Allocation Based on Statistical Trace Data

The ever growing number of computation-intensive applications calls for utilizing large-scale, potentially interoperable distributed infrastructures. Nowadays, such distributed systems enable the management of heterogeneous scientific workflows of considerable sizes, where job scheduling and resource management is a crucial issue. In this paper we focus on the challenges of scheduling parameter sweep applications, a specific and commonly used type of workflows where ordering of job executions is irrelevant. A parameter sweep has a large set of independent job instances, called a multi-job, submitted for execution in a single step. In order to cope with the high uncertainty and unpredictable load of resources, and the simultaneous submissions of multi-job instances, we propose a statistics-based brokering approach for allocating jobs to resources so that the makespan is minimised. Earlier studies claim that users’ predictions on job runtime are inaccurate and unusable for scheduling. Our aim is to examine, whether statistical trace data for the same purpose is efficient compared to randomized allocation.     

Chaotic fluid mixing by alternating microparticle topologies to enhance biochemical reactions

We report experimental results on chaotic mass transport induced by alternating topological changes of magnetic particle chains actuated by a rotating magnetic field. Results on the induced fluid flows, through particle tracing experiments and mixing experiments, are obtained for (1) the regime of rigid chain rotation and (2) the regime wherein chains periodically fragment and reform. In the case of rigid rotating chains, the overall tracer particle trajectories are steady, slightly modulated circles around the center of the microparticle chains. In the regime of periodic chain breaking and reformation, the tracer particle trajectories become chaotic. The level of mixing is measured by using a mixing index (M) in a water–dye system, i.e., in a perfectly mixed system M = 0, while in an unmixed system M = 1. When particle chains periodically break and reform, we observe that the mixing index M decreases from 1 to 0.1 within 15 rotational cycles. For rigid rotating chains, M reaches a minimum of only 0.5. We also report the effect of the different actuation regimes on a biological binding reaction in the solution and indeed found that the reaction product (at equal actuation time) is significantly enhanced (3 times) by the dynamic chain regime as compared to the rigid chain regime. We conclude that the alternating topological change of microparticle chains—with repetitive chain breakup and chain reformation—is an effective mechanism to achieve chaotic mixing and thereby promote and homogenize reactions in lab-on-a-chip systems.     

An economic and sensitive method for extracting chromium speciation in airborne inhalable dust,using a green sample treatment coupled with electrothermal atomic absorption

ABSTRACT

A new approach of cloud point extraction CPE procedure is optimized for hexavalent chromium determination in airborne dusts. Triton X-114 is used as a surfactant and 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol as a specific complexing agent for the trivalent chromium’s removal from the aqueous phase to isolate hexavalent chromium compounds. The parameters influencing the extraction protocol (pH, surfactant concentration, and temperature are optimized. The obtained detection and quantification limits are 0.1 and 0.4 μg/L, respectively. The linearity is verified, with a regression coefficient close to 0.999 and the extraction recovery exceeds 99%. The method was successfully applied to analyze airborne samples collected from workplaces.     

聚电解质复合物研究现状及应用前景

介绍了聚电解质复全物的制务及研究方法，对影响聚电解质复合物形成及其结构的结果进行了阐述，简要介绍了其性能并对应用前景作了展望。     

Pore Propagation Directions in P+ Porous Silicon

A comparative study is presented on the pore propagation directions of porous silicon layers (PSL) formed on p⁺-type substrates of different orientations. PSLs were formed on plain (0 0 1) and (1 1 1) silicon wafers as well as on structured (0 0 1) wafers containing facets of various orientations. During anodization, regular pores follow the 0 0 1 direction on the (0 0 1) planes. While on the (1 1 1) planes fewer regular pores develop and seemingly propagate closely to the 1 1 1 direction. These results indicate that the pores propagate perpendicular to the surface i.e. along the field lines when the surface orientation is either (0 0 1) or (1 1 1).When the silicon surface provided (1 1 0) orientation (Chuang, Collins, and Smith, 1989), or its position is in between the (0 0 1) and (1 1 1) planes then the pores do not propagate perpendicular to the surface but along the 0 0 1 direction.All the phenomena exhibited might be explained by presuming that during formation, the pores propagate along the 1 0 0 directions, and that those 1 0 0 directions are preferred which are closely to the field lines. In PSLs formed on (0 0 1) surfaces the field lines and the 0 0 1 crystallographic direction are coincident. However, in the (1 1 1) oriented wafer where three equally probable 1 0 0 directions exist around the field lines, more irregular structure of PSLs will develop.     

Degradation of HDPE and LLDPE in closed mixing chamber: a comparison

Summary Degradation of linear high density polyethylene (HDPE) and butyl branched linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) was studied during moulding in a closed mixing chamber. At the beginning of the process the rate of oxidative degradation was found faster for LLDPE than for HDPE but later this relation reversed. The degradation mechanism was the same for both types of polyethylenes but the rate of elementary steps depended on the chemical structure of the polymer chain. The differences were attributed to the structural differences in the original materials and the products formed during degradation.     

Conceptualization,measurement, and application of semantic transparency in visual notations

Numerous visual notations are present in technical and business domains. Notations have to be cognitively effective to ease the planning, documentation, and communication of the domains’ concepts. Semantic transparency (ST) is one of the elementary principles that influence notations’ cognitive effectiveness. However, the principle is criticized for not being well defined and challenges arise in the evaluations and applications of ST. Accordingly, this research’s objectives were to answer how the ST principle is defined, operationalized, and evaluated in present notations as well as applied in the design of new notations in ICT and related areas. To meet these objectives, a systematic literature review was conducted with 94 studies passing the selection process criteria. The results reject one of the three aspects, which define semantic transparency, namely “ST is achieved with the use of icons.” Besides, taxonomies of related concepts and research methods, evaluation metrics, and other findings from this study can help to conduct verifiable ST-related experiments and applications, consequently improving the visual vocabularies of notations and effectiveness of the resulting diagrams.