Estimating flood characteristics using geomorphologic flood index with regards to rainfall intensity-duration-frequency-area curves and CADDIES-2D model in three Iranian basins

This is the final version. Available on open access from MDPI via the DOI in this recordThere is not enough data and computational power for conventional flood mapping methods in many parts of the world, thus fast and low-data-demanding methods are very useful in facing the disaster. This paper presents an innovative procedure for estimating flood extent and depth using only DEM SRTM 30 m and the Geomorphic Flood Index (GFI). The Geomorphologic Flood Assessment (GFA) tool which is the corresponding application of the GFI in QGIS is implemented to achieved the results in three basins in Iran. Moreover, the novel concept of Intensity-Duration-Frequency-Area (IDFA) curves is introduced to modify the GFI model by imposing a constraint on the maximum hydrologically contributing area of a basin. The GFA model implements the linear binary classification algorithm to classify a watershed into flooded and non-flooded areas using an optimized GFI threshold that minimizes the errors with a standard flood map of a small region in the study area. The standard hydraulic model envisaged for this study is the Cellular Automata Dual-DraInagE Simulation (CADDIES) 2D model which employs simple transition rules and a weight-based system rather than complex shallow water equations allowing fast flood modelling for large-scale problems. The results revealed that the floodplains generated by the GFI has a good agreement with the standard maps, especially in the fluvial rivers. However, the performance of the GFI decreases in the less steep and alluvial rivers. With some overestimation, the GFI model is also able to capture the general trend of water depth variations in comparison with the CADDIES-2D flood depth map. The modifications made in the GFI model, to confine the maximum precipitable area through implementing the IDFAs, improved the classification of flooded area and estimation of water depth in all study areas. Finally, the calibrated GFI thresholds were used to achieve the complete 100-year floodplain maps of the study areas.University of BasilicataCNR-IMAAOpenet TechnologiesRoyal Academy of Engineering (RAE

A Nonabelian Yang-Mills Analogue of Classical Electromagnetic Duality

The classic question of a nonabelian Yang-Mills analogue to electromagnetic duality is here examined in a minimalist fashion at the strictly 4-dimensional, classical field and point charge level. A generalisation of the abelian Hodge star duality is found which, though not yet known to give dual symmetry, reproduces analogues to many dual properties of the abelian theory. For example, there is a dual potential, but it is a 2-indexed tensor $T_{\mu\nu}$ of the Freedman-Townsend type. Though not itself functioning as such, $T_{\mu\nu}$ gives rise to a dual parallel transport, $\tilde{A}_\mu$, for the phase of the wave function of the colour magnetic charge, this last being a monopole of the Yang-Mills field but a source of the dual field. The standard colour (electric) charge itself is found to be a monopole of $\tilde{A}_\mu$. At the same time, the gauge symmetry is found doubled from say $SU(N)$ to $SU(N) \times SU(N)$. A novel feature is that all equations of motion, including the standard Yang-Mills and Wong equations, are here derived from a `universal' principle, namely the Wu-Yang (1976) criterion for monopoles, where interactions arise purely as a consequence of the topological definition of the monopole charge. The technique used is the loop space formulation of Polyakov (1980).Comment: We regret that, due to a technical hitch, parts of the reference list were mixed up. This is the corrected version. We apologize to the authors whose papers were misquote

Estimation of soil moisture from UAS platforms using RGB and thermal imaging sensors in arid and semi-arid regions

Soil moisture (SM) is a connective hydrological variable between the Earth’s surface and atmosphere and affects various climatological processes. Surface soil moisture (SSM) is a key component for addressing energy and water exchanges and can be estimated using different techniques, such as in situ and remote sensing (RS) measurements. Discrete, costly and prolonged, in situ measurements are rarely capable in demonstration of moisture fluctuations. On the other hand, current high spatial resolution satellite sensors lack the spectral resolution required for many quantitative RS applications, which is critical for heterogeneous covers. RS-based unmanned aerial systems (UASs) represent an option to fill the gap between these techniques, providing low-cost approaches to meet the critical requirements of spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions. In the present study, SM was estimated through a UAS equipped with a thermal imaging sensor. To this aim, in October 2018, two airborne campaigns during day and night were carried out with the thermal sensor for the estimation of the apparent thermal inertia (ATI) over an agricultural field in Iran. Simultaneously, SM measurements were obtained in 40 sample points in the different parts of the study area. Results showed a good correlation (R2=0.81) between the estimated and observed SM in the field. This study demonstrates the potential of UASs in providing high-resolution thermal imagery with the aim to monitor SM over bare and scarcely vegetated soils. A case study based in a wide agricultural field in Iran was considered, where SM monitoring is even more critical due to the arid and semi-arid climate, the lack of adequate SM measuring stations, and the poor quality of the available data

Leptogenesis in Theories with Large Extra Dimensions

We study the scenario of baryogenesis through leptogenesis in higher-dimensional theories, in which the scale of quantum gravity is many orders of magnitude smaller than the usual Planck mass. The minimal realization of these theories includes an isosinglet neutrino which feels the presence of large compact dimensions, whereas all the SM particles are localized on a $(1+3)$-dimensional subspace. In the formulation of minimal leptogenesis models, we pay particular attention to the existence of Majorana spinors in higher dimensions. After compactification of the extra dimensions, we obtain a tower of Majorana Kaluza-Klein excitations which act as an infinite series of CP-violating resonators, and derive the necessary conditions for their constructive interference. Based on this CP-violating mechanism, we find that the decays of the heavy Majorana excitations can produce a leptonic asymmetry which is reprocessed into the observed baryonic asymmetry of the Universe by means of out-of-equilibrium sphaleron interactions, provided the reheat temperature is above 5 GeV.Comment: 34 pages, minor rewordings, to appear in Physical Review

Models of Neutrino Masses and Baryogenesis

Majorana masses of the neutrino implies lepton number violation and is intimately related to the lepton asymmetry of the universe, which gets related to the baryon asymmetry of the universe in the presence of the sphalerons during the electroweak phase transition. Assuming that the baryon asymmetry of the universe is generated before the electroweak phase transition, it is possible to dicriminate different classes of models of neutrino masses. While see-saw mechanism and the triplet higgs mechanism are preferred, the Zee-type radiative models and the R-parity breaking models requires additional inputs to generate baryon asymmetry of the universe during the electroweak phase transition.Comment: 27 pages including 5 figures; Review article for Pramana: the Indian Journal of Physic

Thermal leptogenesis in a model with mass varying neutrinos

In this paper we consider the possibility of neutrino mass varying during the evolution of the Universe and study its implications on leptogenesis. Specifically, we take the minimal seesaw model of neutrino masses and introduce a coupling between the right-handed neutrinos and the dark energy scalar field, the Quintessence. In our model, the right-handed neutrino masses change as the Quintessence scalar evolves. We then examine in detail the parameter space of this model allowed by the observed baryon number asymmetry. Our results show that it is possible to lower the reheating temperature in this scenario in comparison with the case that the neutrino masses are unchanged, which helps solve the gravitino problem. Furthermore, a degenerate neutrino mass patten with $m_i$ larger than the upper limit given in the minimal leptogenesis scenario is permitted.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, version to appear in PR

Detecting small low emission radiating sources

The article addresses the possibility of robust detection of geometrically small, low emission sources on a significantly stronger background. This problem is important for homeland security. A technique of detecting such sources using Compton type cameras is developed, which is shown on numerical examples to have high sensitivity and specificity and also allows to assign confidence probabilities of the detection. 2D case is considered in detail

Species-selective killing of bacteria by antimicrobial peptide-PNAs

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, CC BY 4.0 which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Broad-spectrum antimicrobials kill indiscriminately, a property that can lead to negative clinical consequences and an increase in the incidence of resistance. Species-specific antimicrobials that could selectively kill pathogenic bacteria without targeting other species in the microbiome could limit these problems. The pathogen genome presents an excellent target for the development of such antimicrobials. In this study we report the design and evaluation of species-selective peptide nucleic acid (PNA) antibacterials. Selective growth inhibition of B. subtilis, E. coli, K. pnuemoniae and S. enterica serovar Typhimurium in axenic or mixed culture could be achieved with PNAs that exploit species differences in the translation initiation region of essential genes. An S. Typhimurium-specific PNA targeting ftsZ resulted in elongated cells that were not observed in E. coli, providing phenotypic evidence of the selectivity of PNA-based antimicrobials. Analysis of the genomes of E. coli and S. Typhimurium gave a conservative estimate of >150 PNA targets that could potentially discriminate between these two closely related species. This work provides a basis for the development of a new class of antimicrobial with a tuneable spectrum of activity.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio