713 research outputs found
Satellite-based model detection of recent climate-driven changes in northern high-latitude vegetation productivity
We applied a satellite remote sensing based production efficiency model (PEM) using an integrated AVHRR and MODIS FPAR/LAI time series with a regionally corrected NCEP/NCAR reanalysis daily surface meteorology and NASA/GEWEX Surface Radiation Budget shortwave solar radiation inputs to assess annual terrestrial net primary productivity (NPP) for the pan-Arctic basin and Alaska from 1983 to 2005. Our results show that low temperature constraints on Boreal-Arctic NPP are decreasing by 0.43% per year (P \u3c 0.001), whereas a positive trend in vegetation moisture constraints of 0.49% per year (P = 0.04) are offsetting the potential benefits of longer growing seasons and contributing to recent disturbances in NPP. The PEM simulations of NPP seasonality, annual anomalies and trends are similar to stand inventory network measurements of boreal aspen stem growth (r = 0.56; P = 0.007) and atmospheric CO2 measurement based estimates of the timing of growing season onset (r = 0.78; P \u3c 0.001). Our results indicate that summer drought led to marked NPP decreases in much of the boreal forest region after the late-1990s. However, seasonal low temperatures are still a dominant limitation on regional NPP. Despite recent drought events, mean annual NPP for the pan-Arctic region showed a positive growth trend of 0.34% per year (20.27 TgC/a; P = 0.002) from 1983 to 2005. Drought induced NPP decreases may become more frequent and widespread as regional ecosystems adjust to a warmer, drier atmosphere, though the occurrence and severity of drought events will depend on future patterns of plant-available moisture
Palliative care needs in patients hospitalized with heart failure (PCHF) study: rationale and design
Abstract Aims The primary aim of this study is to provide data to inform the design of a randomized controlled clinical trial (RCT) of a palliative care (PC) intervention in heart failure (HF). We will identify an appropriate study population with a high prevalence of PC needs defined using quantifiable measures. We will also identify which components a specific and targeted PC intervention in HF should include and attempt to define the most relevant trial outcomes. Methods An unselected, prospective, near-consecutive, cohort of patients admitted to hospital with acute decompensated HF will be enrolled over a 2-year period. All potential participants will be screened using B-type natriuretic peptide and echocardiography, and all those enrolled will be extensively characterized in terms of their HF status, comorbidity, and PC needs. Quantitative assessment of PC needs will include evaluation of general and disease-specific quality of life, mood, symptom burden, caregiver burden, and end of life care. Inpatient assessments will be performed and after discharge outpatient assessments will be carried out every 4 months for up to 2.5 years. Participants will be followed up for a minimum of 1 year for hospital admissions, and place and cause of death. Methods for identifying patients with HF with PC needs will be evaluated, and estimates of healthcare utilisation performed. Conclusion By assessing the prevalence of these needs, describing how these needs change over time, and evaluating how best PC needs can be identified, we will provide the foundation for designing an RCT of a PC intervention in HF
Mid-Infrared Evidence for Accelerated Evolution in Compact Group Galaxies
We find evidence for accelerated evolution in compact group galaxies from the
distribution in mid-infrared colorspace of 42 galaxies from 12 Hickson Compact
Groups (HCGs) compared to the the distributions of several other samples
including the LVL+SINGS galaxies, interacting galaxies, and galaxies from the
Coma Cluster. We find that the HCG galaxies are not uniformly distributed in
colorspace, as well as quantitative evidence for a gap. Galaxies in the infall
region of the Coma cluster also exhibit a non-uniform distribution and a less
well defined gap, which may reflect a similarity with the compact group
environment. Neither the Coma Center or interacting samples show evidence of a
gap, leading us to speculate that the gap is unique to the environment of high
galaxy density where gas has not been fully processed or stripped.Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of the Galaxy Wars: Stellar Populations
and Star Formation in Interacting Galaxies Conferenc
Spatially Resolved PAH Emission Features in Nearby, Low Metallicity, Star-Forming Galaxies
Low-resolution, mid-infrared Spitzer/IRS spectral maps are presented for
three nearby, low-metallicity dwarf galaxies (NGC 55, NGC 3109 and IC 5152) for
the purpose of examining the spatial distribution and variation of polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission. The sample straddles a metallicity of
12+log(O/H)~8.0, a transition point below which PAH intensity empirically drops
and the character of the interstellar medium changes. We derive quantitative
radiances of PAH features and atomic lines on both global and
spatially-resolved scales. The Spitzer spectra, combined with extensive
ancillary data from the UV through the mid-infrared, allow us to examine
changes in the physical environments and in PAH feature radiances down to a
physical scale of 50 pc. We discuss correlations between various PAH emission
feature and atomic line radiances. The (6.2 micron)/(11.3 micron), (7.7
micron)/(11.3 micron), (8.6 micron)/(11.3 micron), (7.7 micron)/(6.2 micron),
and (8.6 micron)/(6.2 micron) PAH radiance ratios are found to be independent
of position across all three galaxies, although the ratios do vary from galaxy
to galaxy. As seen in other galaxies, we find no variation in the grain size
distribution as a function of local radiation field strength. Absolute PAH
feature intensities as measured by a ratio of PAH/(24 micron) radiances are
seen to vary both positionally within a given galaxy, and from one galaxy to
another when integrated over the full observed extent of each system. We
examine direct comparisons of CC mode PAH ratios (7.7 micron)/(6.2 micron) and
(8.6 micron)/(6.2 micron) to the mixed (CC/CH) mode PAH ratio (7.7
micron)/(11.3 micron). We find little variation in either mode, and no
difference in trends between modes. While the local conditions change markedly
over the observed regions of these galaxies, the properties of PAH emission
show a remarkable degree of uniformity.Comment: Astrophysical Journal, in pres
Digital Bridges Across Disciplinary, Practical and Pedagogical Divides: An Online Professional Master’s Program in Heritage Resource Management
Growth and diversification in heritage resource management (HRM) archaeology since the 1960s have created new demands for training the next generations of HRM leaders and for addressing persistent and counterproductive divisions between academic and applied archaeologies. The Simon Fraser University Department of Archaeology (SFU) has responded to these demands with an all-new, cohort-based, thesis-focused graduate program created by and for HRM professionals. The program’s target audience is HRM practitioners who hold Bachelor’s credentials, have initiated promising careers in HRM, and desire advanced, research-focused degrees to enable their professional capacity and upward mobility. The SFU program is structured and focused to provide intensive, predominantly online training in the four essential dimensions of HRM: law and policy, ethics and practice, business management, and research design and methods. The program has been successful through initial cohort cycles and in attracting HRM industry interest in collaboration. Industry-academic partnerships in cognate disciplines have proved effective in comparable circumstances but remain underdeveloped as bases for planning and delivering state-of-the-art training in applied archaeology and the broader field of HRM. Critical next steps in program development entail the identification of attributes of HRM futures desired by all or most HRM stakeholders and the collaborative pursuit of those desired futures
Embodied conversations: Performance and the design of a robotic dancing partner
This paper reports insights gained from an exploration of performance-based techniques to improve the design of relationships between people and responsive machines. It draws on the Emergent Objects project and specifically addresses notions of embodiment as employed in the field of performance as a means to prototype and develop a robotic agent, SpiderCrab, designed to promote expressive interaction of device and human dancer, in order to achieve ‘performative merging’.
The significance of the work is to bring further knowledge of embodiment to bear on the development of human-technological interaction in general. In doing so, it draws on discursive and interpretive methods of research widely used in the field of performance but not yet obviously aligned with some orthodox paradigms and practices within design research. It also posits the design outcome as an ‘objectile’ in the sense that a continuous and potentially divergent iteration of prototypes is envisaged, rather than a singular final product. The focus on performative merging draws in notions of complexity and user experience.
Keywords:
Embodiment; Performance; Tacit Knowledge; Practice-As-Research; Habitus.</p
Model- and calibration-independent test of cosmic acceleration
We present a calibration-independent test of the accelerated expansion of the
universe using supernova type Ia data. The test is also model-independent in
the sense that no assumptions about the content of the universe or about the
parameterization of the deceleration parameter are made and that it does not
assume any dynamical equations of motion. Yet, the test assumes the universe
and the distribution of supernovae to be statistically homogeneous and
isotropic. A significant reduction of systematic effects, as compared to our
previous, calibration-dependent test, is achieved. Accelerated expansion is
detected at significant level (4.3 sigma in the 2007 Gold sample, 7.2 sigma in
the 2008 Union sample) if the universe is spatially flat. This result depends,
however, crucially on supernovae with a redshift smaller than 0.1, for which
the assumption of statistical isotropy and homogeneity is less well
established.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, major change
Pathology of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Assessed by a Combination of Microcomputed Tomography, Histology, and Immunohistochemistry
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a fibrotic disease showing the histology of usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP). While the pathologist's visual inspection is central in histological assessments, three-dimensional microCT assessment may complement pathologist's scoring. This study examined associations between the histopathological features of UIP/IPF in explanted lungs and quantitative microCT measurements including alveolar surface density, total lung volume taken up by tissue (tissue%), and terminal bronchiolar number. Sixty frozen samples from 10 air-inflated explanted lungs with severe IPF and 36 samples from 6 donor control lungs were scanned with microCT and processed for histology. An experienced pathologist scored 3 major UIP criteria (patchy fibrosis, honeycomb, and fibroblastic foci), 5 additional pathological changes such as emphysema, and immunohistochemical staining for CD68, CD4, CD8, and CD79a positive cells, graded on a 0-3+ scale. The alveolar surface density and terminal bronchiolar number decreased and the tissue% increased in IPF compared to controls. In lungs with IPF, lower alveolar surface density and higher tissue% were correlated with greater scores of patchy fibrosis, fibroblastic foci, honeycomb, CD79a-positive cells, and lymphoid follicles. A decreased number of terminal bronchioles was correlated with honeycomb score, but not with the other scores. The three-dimensional microCT measurements reflect the pathological UIP/IPF criteria and further suggest that the reduction in the terminal bronchioles may be associated with honeycomb cyst formation
A Detailed Model Atmosphere Analysis of Cool White Dwarfs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
We present optical spectroscopy and near-infrared photometry of 126 cool
white dwarfs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Our sample includes high
proper motion targets selected using the SDSS and USNO-B astrometry and a dozen
previously known ultracool white dwarf candidates. Our optical spectroscopic
observations demonstrate that a clean selection of large samples of cool white
dwarfs in the SDSS (and the SkyMapper, Pan-STARRS, and the Large Synoptic
Survey Telescope datasets) is possible using a reduced proper motion diagram
and a tangential velocity cut-off (depending on the proper motion accuracy) of
30 km/s. Our near-infrared observations reveal eight new stars with significant
absorption. We use the optical and near-infrared photometry to perform a
detailed model atmosphere analysis. More than 80% of the stars in our sample
are consistent with either pure hydrogen or pure helium atmospheres. However,
the eight stars with significant infrared absorption and the majority of the
previously known ultracool white dwarf candidates are best explained with mixed
hydrogen and helium atmosphere models. The age distribution of our sample is
consistent with a Galactic disk age of 8 Gyr. A few ultracool white dwarfs may
be as old as 12-13 Gyr, but our models have problems matching the spectral
energy distributions of these objects. There are only two halo white dwarf
candidates in our sample. However, trigonometric parallax observations are
required for accurate mass and age determinations and to confirm their
membership in the halo.Comment: ApJ Supplements, in pres
- …