Oxygenated compounds in aged biomass burning plumes over the Eastern Mediterranean: evidence for strong secondary production of methanol and acetone

International audienceAirborne measurements of acetone, methanol, PAN, acetonitrile (by Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometry), and CO (by Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy) have been performed during the Mediterranean Intensive Oxidants Study (MINOS August 2001). We have identified ten biomass burning plumes from strongly elevated acetonitrile mixing ratios. The characteristic biomass burning signatures obtained from these plumes reveal secondary production of acetone and methanol, while CO photochemically declines in the plumes. Mean excess mixing ratios - normalized to CO - of 1.8%, 0.20%, 3.8%, and 0.65% for acetone, acetonitrile, methanol, and PAN, respectively, were found. By scaling to an assumed global annual source of 663-807Tg CO, biomass burning emissions of 25-31 and 29-35 Tg/yr for acetone and methanol are estimated, respectively. Our measurements suggest that the present biomass burning contributions of acetone and methanol are significantly underestimated due to the neglect of secondary formation within the plume. Median acetonitrile mixing ratios throughout the troposphere were around 150pmol/mol, in accord with current biomass burning inventories and an atmospheric lifetime of ~6 months

Extreme 13C depletion of CCl2F2 in firn air samples from NEEM, Greenland

A series of 12 high volume air samples collected from the S2 firn core during the North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling (NEEM) 2009 campaign have been measured for mixing ratio and stable carbon isotope composition of the chlorofluorocarbon CFC-12 (CCl2F2). While the mixing ratio measurements compare favorably to other firn air studies, the isotope results show extreme 13C depletion at the deepest measurable depth (65 m), to values lower than d13C = -80‰ vs. VPDB (the international stable carbon isotope scale), compared to present day surface tropospheric measurements near -40‰. Firn air modeling was used to interpret these measurements. Reconstructed atmospheric time series indicate even larger depletions (to -120‰) near 1950 AD, with subsequent rapid enrichment of the atmospheric reservoir of the compound to the present day value. Mass-balance calculations show that this change is likely to have been caused by a large change in the isotopic composition of anthropogenic CFC-12 emissions, probably due to technological advances in the CFC production process over the last 80 yr, though direct evidence is lacking

Reachability Subspace Exploration Using Continuation Methods

Reachability manifold computation suffers from the curse of dimensionality and for large state spaces is computationally intractable. This paper examines the use of continuation methods to address this issue by formulating the reachability sub-space manifold calculation into a number of initial valued problems. As a result of computing the reachability manifold for a subspace of interest, an exponential improvement in computational cost occurs. This concept is applied to a position subspace reachability problem of a spacecraft in a Keplerian orbit under maximum thrust constraints. Future work includes a comparison of the proposed method with computing reachability manifolds using viscosity solutions of the Hamilton Jacobi Bellman partial differential equation

Optimal Control Applications in Space Situational Awareness

There are currently more than 19,000 trackable objects in Earth orbit, 1,300 of which are active. With so many objects populating the space object catalog and new objects being added at an ever increasing rate, ensuring continued access to space is quickly becoming a cornerstone of national security policies. Space Situational Awareness (SSA) supports space operations, space flight safety, implementing international treaties and agreements, protecting of space capabilities, and protecting of national interests. With respect to objects in orbit, this entails determining their location, orientation, size, shape, status, purpose, current tasking, and future tasking. For active spacecraft capable of propulsion, the problem of determining these characteristics becomes significantly more difficult. Optimal control techniques can be applied to object correlation, maneuver detection, maneuver/spacecraft characterization, fuel usage estimation, operator priority inference, intercept capability characterization, and fuel-constrained range set determination. A detailed mapping between optimal control applications and SSA object characterization support is reviewed and related literature visited. Each SSA application will be addressed starting from first principles using optimal control techniques. For each application, several examples of potential utility are given and discussed

HACIA EL EEES: CAMBIOS EN METODOLOGÍA Y EVALUACIÓN EN LA ASIGNATURA ALEMÁN COMO SEGUNDA LENGUA EN LA UNIVERSITAT DE VALÈNCIA (ESPAÑA)

El presente trabajo analiza los cambios en metodología y evaluación introducidos en la asignatura Alemán como segunda lengua con el fin de adaptar la enseñanza universitaria al futuro Espacio Europeo de Enseñanza Superior (EEES). Los cambios en metodología se basan en un enfoque más práctico y participativo de la asignatura. Este cambio metodológico está estrechamente relacionado con un cambio en el sistema de evaluación. Se optó por la evaluación continua, que consistía en una serie de pruebas escritas, trabajos, ejercicios, redacciones y un proyecto. Para llevar a cabo dichos cambios nos apoyábamos en las TIC. El éxito de las innovaciones se refleja tanto en las opiniones favorables de los estudiantes recogidas en un cuestionario como en las cifras estadísticas relativas al rendimiento académico de la asignatura.[ES] El presente trabajo analiza los cambios en metodología y evaluación introducidos en la asignatura Alemán como segunda lengua con el fin de adaptar la enseñanza universitaria al futuro Espacio Europeo de Enseñanza Superior (EEES). Los cambios en metodología se basan en un enfoque más práctico y participativo de la asignatura. Este cambio metodológico está estrechamente relacionado con un cambio en el sistema de evaluación. Se optó por la evaluación continua, que consistía en una serie de pruebas escritas, trabajos, ejercicios, redacciones y un proyecto. Para llevar a cabo dichos cambios nos apoyábamos en las TIC. El éxito de las innovaciones se refleja tanto en las opiniones favorables de los estudiantes recogidas en un cuestionario como en las cifras estadísticas relativas al rendimiento académico de la asignatura.Holzinger, HJ. (2006). HACIA EL EEES: CAMBIOS EN METODOLOGÍA Y EVALUACIÓN EN LA ASIGNATURA ALEMÁN COMO SEGUNDA LENGUA EN LA UNIVERSITAT DE VALÈNCIA (ESPAÑA). Revista de Lingüística y Lenguas Aplicadas. 1. doi:10.4995/rlyla.2006.682.SWORD1Bartolomé Pina, A. (2004). "Blended learning. Conceptos básicos." Revista Pixel Bit 23. Documento en: http://www.sav.us.es/pixelbit/articulos/n23/n23art/art2301.htm [fecha acceso 07.03.2006].De Miguel Díaz, M. (2005). "Cambio de paradigma metodológico en la Educación Superior. Exigencias que conlleva." Cuadernos de Integración Europea #2, Septiembre de2005, 16-27. Documento en: http://cuadernosie.info/files/2005-02-16.pdf [fecha acceso 07.03.2006].Godwin-Jones, R. (2005). "Emerging Technologies. Skype and Podcasting: Disruptive Technologies for Language Learning." Language Learning & Technology9/3, 9-12. Documento en: http://llt.msu.edu/vol9num3/emerging/ [fecha acceso 07.03.2006].Grüner, M.T. Hassert (2000). Computer im Deutschunterricht. München: Goethe-Institut.Heyd, G. (1997). Aufbauwissen für den Fremdsprachenunterricht (DaF). Ein Arbeitsbuch.Tübingen: NarrPincas, A. (2003). "Gradual and Simple Changes to incorporate ICT into the Classroom." elearningeuropea.info. Documento en: http://www.elearningeuropa.info/doc.php?lng=4&id=4519&doclng=1&sid=afc84088c986a1e2b2ba961f559e39a2&p1=1&p4=1 [fecha acceso 07.03.2006].Pfeiffer, H. (2005). Das Internet im Fremdsprachenunterricht: Bestandsaufnahme - Vergleiche - Analysen. Wien: Infothek.Quist, V. B. (2003). "Weblog-Projekt": Documento en: http://www.daf-portal.de/weblog/index.php [fecha acceso 07.03.2006].Sangrà, (2003). "¿Y por qué el blended learning?" Documento en: http://www.educaweb.com/esp/servicios/monografico/formacionvirtual/ 1181097.asp#[fecha acceso 07.03.2006]

New insights in the global cycle of acetonitrile: release from the ocean and acetonitrile: release from the ocean and Venezuela

International audienceCUsing the proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) technique, acetonitrile was measured during the wet season in a Venezuelan woodland savanna. The site was located downwind of the Caribbean Sea and no biomass burning events were observed in the region. High boundary layer concentrations of 211 ±36 pmol/mol (median, ± standard deviation) were observed during daytime in the well mixed boundary layer, which is about 60 pmol/mol above background concentrations recently measured over the Mediterranean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Most likely acetonitrile is released from the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea thereby enhancing mixing ratios over Venezuela. Acetonitrile concentrations will probably still be much higher in biomass burning plumes, however, the general suitability of acetonitrile as a biomass burning marker should be treated with care. During nights, acetonitrile dropped to levels typically around 120 pmol/mol, which is consistent with a dry deposition velocity of ~0.14 cm/s when a nocturnal boundary layer height of 100 m is assumed

On the challenges and opportunities in visualization for machine learning and knowledge extraction: A research agenda

We describe a selection of challenges at the intersection of machine learning and data visualization and outline a subjective research agenda based on professional and personal experience. The unprecedented increase in the amount, variety and the value of data has been significantly transforming the way that scientific research is carried out and businesses operate. Within data science, which has emerged as a practice to enable this data-intensive innovation by gathering together and advancing the knowledge from fields such as statistics, machine learning, knowledge extraction, data management, and visualization, visualization plays a unique and maybe the ultimate role as an approach to facilitate the human and computer cooperation, and to particularly enable the analysis of diverse and heterogeneous data using complex computational methods where algorithmic results are challenging to interpret and operationalize. Whilst algorithm development is surely at the center of the whole pipeline in disciplines such as Machine Learning and Knowledge Discovery, it is visualization which ultimately makes the results accessible to the end user. Visualization thus can be seen as a mapping from arbitrarily high-dimensional abstract spaces to the lower dimensions and plays a central and critical role in interacting with machine learning algorithms, and particularly in interactive machine learning (iML) with including the human-in-the-loop. The central goal of the CD-MAKE VIS workshop is to spark discussions at this intersection of visualization, machine learning and knowledge discovery and bring together experts from these disciplines. This paper discusses a perspective on the challenges and opportunities in this integration of these discipline and presents a number of directions and strategies for further research

Interaction Design of Augmented Education Environments - Augmented and Mixed Reality for performance and training support of Aviation / Automotive Technicians.

"Augmented reality (AR),Mixed Reality (MR) and their mix and combination with other disruptive technologies offer an enormous potential for supporting instructors and trainees in modern education and working environments such as of aircraft maintenance technicians or automotive service technicians. In this paper we investigate and show some examples on how the performance and training of such instructors and trainees can be actively supported. Furthermore we will discuss the new challenges for training designers. The augmentation of the physical world with interactive, context-aware information (e.g. 2D and 3D content) provides multifaceted possibilities, on various ubiquitous and pervasive computing environments. While there is still the broad opinion that these concepts are just situated in the world of science fiction (SciFi) and SciFi movies, we will relate these techniques to existing technologies and prototypes in research. Terms like outernet, print + or 2.0, augmented goggles, wearable technology are not just remaining pure buzzwords anymore. We will demonstrate how different prototypes applying low cost rapid prototyping methods can be applied as powerful performance assistance and training support instruments, whereby discussing the requirements and user-needs analysis phases as well as human–computer interaction and interaction design issues, user modelling, usability engineering, prototyping and evaluation issues. Different scenarios are possible and provide the basis to generate storyboards. One of the key factors is hereby to analyse typical tasks and activities of users and utilize familiar user interaction paradigms for accessing information, such as using a book or assisting the work with task sheets. For example by augmenting the material that is printed in the book with additional graphical 3D interactive information which can be viewed and manipulated by the instructor and/or trainee, one can provide a link between traditional learning and technology-enhanced learning. Basing on theoretical and empirical research it is possible then to design via first moodboards and scribbles relevant prototypes. A qualitative and quantitative analysis can be used to define a basic design process for such new environments and settings. Moreover, MR and AR along with Mobile Tagging (MT) combined with Pervasive Computing provide the possibility to realize a Physical World Connection (PWC) between Reality and Virtuality. In the field of aviation and automotive industry, this offers manifold possibilities for maintenance and service personnel to get access to assistive technologies in a very intuitive way to enhance their operation, work, training, and knowledge. Assistance for the large variety of job tasks can be provided to a certain extent by offering augmentation of the different senses like vision and audition, providing a media-rich interface. Although the roots of Mixed Reality and Augmented Reality are based on prototype applications in the aircraft industry in the early 1990s, the impact of these emerging technologies on special target groups has not yet been investigated and validated by many research groups. With a specific focus on these user communities, applications are considerably more influenced by both usefulness and usability of technology. Consequently, it is argued that key issues in developing such applications are the tracking methodology, the display technology, interaction (devices and framework) and most of all ensuring good usability. In this paper, a concrete example in a aviation and automotive environment will be presented as a case study for investigating and validating these key issues. Preliminary results of semi-structured interviews and observations in real training and work settings indicate a lack of information concerning existence of such technologies and environments, but show big interest and potential for such educational and workplace innovations, while concrete visions or user requirements for future augmented education environments remain open and are subject of our further research steps

Родовище високомінералізованої борної гідрокарбонатної натрієвої мінеральної води Пасіка на Закарпатті та особливості її біологічної дії

Дана характеристика месторождений и биологических свойств борных гидрокарбонатных натриевых вод Закарпатья.It is done the characteristics of layers and biological properties of high mineralized boric hydrocarbonate sodium mineral waters on Zakarpattya