Development and Application of a Statistically-Based Quality Control for Crowdsourced Air Temperature Data

In urban areas, dense atmospheric observational networks with high-quality data are still a challenge due to high costs for installation and maintenance over time. Citizen weather stations (CWS) could be one answer to that issue. Since more and more owners of CWS share their measurement data publicly, crowdsourcing, i.e., the automated collection of large amounts of data from an undefined crowd of citizens, opens new pathways for atmospheric research. However, the most critical issue is found to be the quality of data from such networks. In this study, a statistically-based quality control (QC) is developed to identify suspicious air temperature (T) measurements from crowdsourced data sets. The newly developed QC exploits the combined knowledge of the dense network of CWS to statistically identify implausible measurements, independent of external reference data. The evaluation of the QC is performed using data from Netatmo CWS in Toulouse, France, and Berlin, Germany, over a 1-year period (July 2016 to June 2017), comparing the quality-controlled data with data from two networks of reference stations. The new QC efficiently identifies erroneous data due to solar exposition and siting issues, which are common error sources of CWS. Estimation of T is improved when averaging data from a group of stations within a restricted area rather than relying on data of individual CWS. However, a positive deviation in CWS data compared to reference data is identified, particularly for daily minimum T. To illustrate the transferability of the newly developed QC and the applicability of CWS data, a mapping of T is performed over the city of Paris, France, where spatial density of CWS is especially high.DFG, 322579844, Hitzewellen in Berlin, Deutschland - StadtklimamodifkationenBMBF, 01LP1602A, Verbundprojekt Stadtklima: Evaluierung von Stadtklimamodellen (Modul B), 3DO Teilprojekt 1: Dreidimensionales Monitoring atmosphärischer Prozesse in Berli

An Algebra of Pieces of Space -- Hermann Grassmann to Gian Carlo Rota

We sketch the outlines of Gian Carlo Rota's interaction with the ideas that Hermann Grassmann developed in his Ausdehnungslehre of 1844 and 1862, as adapted and explained by Giuseppe Peano in 1888. This leads us past what Rota variously called 'Grassmann-Cayley algebra', or 'Peano spaces', to the Whitney algebra of a matroid, and finally to a resolution of the question "What, really, was Grassmann's regressive product?". This final question is the subject of ongoing joint work with Andrea Brini, Francesco Regonati, and William Schmitt. The present paper was presented at the conference "The Digital Footprint of Gian-Carlo Rota: Marbles, Boxes and Philosophy" in Milano on 17 Feb 2009. It will appear in proceedings of that conference, to be published by Springer Verlag.Comment: 28 page

Pierwszy raport z badań piwnic pałacu Branickich

Artykuł stanowi podsumowanie badań historycznych, architektonicznych i archeologicznych, przeprowadzonych przez Atelier Zetta w piwnicach pałacu Branickich w Białymstoku w 2011 r. Zespół badaczy tworzyli: mgr inż. arch. Zenon Zabagło, dr inż. arch. Marek Barański, mgr inż. arch. Paweł Kinsner, mgr inż. arch. Leszek Dobrowolski, mgr archeologii Stanisław Petrykowski, mgr historii Wiesław Wróbel oraz mgr inż. arch. Karolina Porowska

Prognostische Validität mathematikdidaktischen Wissens angehender Erzieher/-innen – Studiendesign und Datengrundlage

Erzieher/-innen sollen auch Lernprozesse im Bereich der Mathematik begleiten (van Oers, 2009), da diese von Bedeutung für das aktuelle und spätere Mathematiklernen der Kinder sind (Krajewski & Schneider, 2009). Welche Kompetenzen die Erzieher/-innen hierfür benötigen, ob sie diese im Rahmen ihrer Ausbildung erwerben und wie sich diese entwickeln ist bislang kaum Gegenstand der Forschung (Fried & Roux, 2009; National Advisory Panel, 2008). An dieser Stelle setzt das Projekt KomMa an, das vom BMBF im Rahmen der Förderinitiative KoKoHs gefördert wird und Kompetenzstruktur, -niveau und -entwicklung angehender frühpädagogischer Fachkräfte untersucht

Atomic Force Microscopy-Based Screening of Drug-Excipient Miscibility and Stability of Solid Dispersions

ABSTRACT: Purpose: Development of a method to assess the drug/polymer miscibility and stability of solid dispersions using a melt-based mixing method. Methods: Amorphous fractured films are prepared and characterized with Raman Microscopy in combination with Atomic Force Microscopy to discriminate between homogenously and heterogeneously mixed drug/polymer combinations. The homogenous combinations are analyzed further for physical stability under stress conditions, such as increased humidity or temperature. Results: Combinations that have the potential to form a molecular disperse mixture are identified. Their potential to phase separate is determined through imaging at molecular length scales, which results in short observation time. De-mixing is quantified by phase separation analysis, and the drug/polymer combinations are ranked to identify the most stable combinations. Conclusions: The presented results demonstrate that drug/polymer miscibility and stability of solid dispersions, with many mechanistic details, can be analyzed with Atomic Force Microscopy. The assay allows to identify well-miscible and stable combinations within hours or a few day

Corrigendum: Reduced mu power in response to unusual actions is context-dependent in 1-year-olds

During social interactions infants predict and evaluate other people’s actions. Previous behavioral research found that infants’ imitation of others’ actions depends on these evaluations and is context-dependent: 1-year-olds predominantly imitated an unusual action (turning on a lamp with one’s forehead) when the model’s hands were free compared to when the model’s hands were occupied or restrained. In the present study, we adapted this behavioral paradigm to a neurophysiological study measuring infants’ brain activity while observing usual and unusual actions via electroencephalography. In particular, we measured differences in mu power (6 – 8 Hz) associated with motor activation. In a between-subjects design, 12- to 14-month-old infants watched videos of adult models demonstrating that their hands were either free or restrained. Subsequent test frames showed the models turning on a lamp or a soundbox by using their head or their hand. Results in the hands-free condition revealed that 12- to 14-month-olds displayed a reduction of mu power in frontal regions in response to unusual and thus unexpected actions (head touch) compared to usual and expected actions (hand touch). This may be explained by increased motor activation required for updating prior action predictions in response to unusual actions though alternative explanations in terms of general attention or cognitive control processes may also be considered. In the hands-restrained condition, responses in mu frequency band did not differ between action outcomes. This implies that unusual head-touch actions compared to hand-touch actions do not necessarily evoke a reduction of mu power. Thus, we conclude that reduction of mu frequency power is context-dependent during infants’ action perception. Our results are interpreted in terms of motor system activity measured via changes in mu frequency band as being one important neural mechanism involved in action prediction and evaluation from early on

Solar Biomass Pyrolysis with the Linear Mirror II

A simple and innovative prototype for biomass pyrolysis is presented, together with some experimental results. The setup uses only the thermal solar energy provided by a system of reflecting mirrors (Linear Mirror II) to heat a selected agro-waste biomass, such as wheat straw. At the end of the pyrolysis process, solar carbon with a high energy density (around 24 - 28 MJ/kg) is produced from a biomass with an energy density of 16.9 MJ/kg. The perspectives for a future industrial application of this setup are also discussed

Studies of Prototype CsI(Tl) Crystal Scintillators for Low-Energy Neutrino Experiments

Crystal scintillators provide potential merits for the pursuit of low-energy low-background experiments. A CsI(Tl) scintillating crystal detector is being constructed to study low-energy neutrino physics at a nuclear reactor, while projects are underway to adopt this technique for dark matter searches. The choice of the geometrical parameters of the crystal modules, as well as the optimization of the read-out scheme, are the results of an R&D program. Crystals with 40 cm in length were developed. The detector requirements and the achieved performance of the prototypes are presented. Future prospects for this technique are discussed.Comment: 32 pages, 14 figure