Classification and modelling of urban micro-climates using multisensoral and multitemporal remote sensing data

Remote sensing has widely been used in urban climatology since it has the advantage of a simultaneous synoptic view of the full urban surface. Methods include the analysis of surface temperature patterns, spatial (biophysical) indicators for urban heat island modelling, and flux measurements. Another approach is the automated classification of urban morphologies or structural types. In this study it was tested, whether Local Climate Zones (a new typology of thermally 'rather' homogenous urban morphologies) can be automatically classified from multisensor and multitemporal earth observation data. Therefore, a large number of parameters were derived from different datasets, including multitemporal Landsat data and morphological profiles as well as windowed multiband signatures from an airborne IFSAR-DHM. The results for Hamburg, Germany, show that different datasets have high potential for the differentiation of urban morphologies. Multitemporal thermal data performed very well with up to 96.3 % overall classification accuracy with a neuronal network classifier. The multispectral data reached 95.1 % and the morphological profiles 83.2 %.The multisensor feature sets reached up to 97.4 % with 100 selected features, but also small multisensoral feature sets reached good results. This shows that microclimatic meaningful urban structures can be classified from different remote sensing datasets. Further, the potential of the parameters for spatiotemporal modelling of the mean urban heat island was tested. Therefore, a comprehensive mobile measurement campaign with GPS loggers and temperature sensors on public buses was conducted in order to gain in situ data in high spatial and temporal resolution

Design and testing of a co-rotating vibration excitation system

A vibration excitation system (VES) in a form of an active coupling is proposed, designed and manufactured. The system is equipped with a set of piezoelectric stack actuators uniformly distributed around the rotor axis and positioned parallel to each other. The actuator arrangement allows an axial displacement of the coupling halves as well as their rotation about any transverse axis. Through the application of the VES an aimed vibration excitation is realised in a co-rotating coordinate system, which enables a non-invasive and precise modal analysis of rotating components. As an example, the VES is applied for the characterisation of the structural dynamic behaviour of a generic steel rotor at different rotational speeds. The first results are promising for both stationary and rotating conditions

An in vitro approach to study effects of prebiotics and probiotics on the faecal microbiota and selected immune parameters relevant to the elderly

The aging process leads to alterations of gut microbiota and modifications to the immune response, such changes may be associated with increased disease risk. Prebiotics and probiotics can modulate microbiome changes induced by aging; however, their effects have not been directly compared. The aim of this study was to use anaerobic batch culture fermenters to assess the impact of various fermentable carbohydrates and microorganisms on the gut microbiota and selected immune markers. Elderly volunteers were used as donors for these experiments to enable relevance to an aging population. The impact of fermentation supernatants on immune markers relevant to the elderly were assessed in vitro. Levels of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10 and TNF-α in peripheral blood mononuclear cell culture supernatants were measured using flow cytometry. Trans-galactooligosaccharides (B-GOS) and inulin both stimulated bifidobacteria compared to other treatments (p<0.05). Fermentation supernatants taken from faecal batch cultures supplemented with B-GOS, inulin, B. bifidum, L. acidophilus and Ba. coagulans inhibited LPS induced TNF-α (p<0.05). IL-10 production, induced by LPS, was enhanced by fermentation supernatants from faecal batch cultures supplemented with B-GOS, inulin, B. bifidum, L. acidophilus, Ba. coagulans and Bac. thetaiotaomicron (p<0.05). To conclude, prebiotics and probiotics could lead to potentially beneficial effects to host health by targeting specific bacterial groups, increasing saccharolytic fermentation and decreasing inflammation associated with aging. Compared to probiotics, prebiotics led to greater microbiota modulation at the genus level within the fermenters

Effect of heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccination on invasive pneumococcal disease in preterm born infants

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Evidence for protection of preterm born infants from invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) by 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccination (PCV7) is relatively sparse. Data from randomized trials is based on relatively small numbers of preterm born children.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We report data from active prospective surveillance of IPD in children in Germany. The cohorts of preterm born children in 2000 and 2007 and the respective whole birth cohorts are compared regarding occurrence of IPD.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After introduction of PCV7 we observed a reduction in the rate of IPD in preterm born infants comparing the 2000 and 2007 birth cohort. The rate of IPD among the whole birth cohorts was reduced from 15.0 to 8.5 notifications per 100,000 (<it>P </it>< .001). The impact among the preterm birth cohort was comparable: A reduction in notification rate from 26.1 to 16.7 per 100,000 comparing the 2000 with the 2007 preterm birth cohort (<it>P </it>= .39). Preterm born infants with IPD were either unvaccinated or vaccinated delayed or incomplete.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This adds to evidence that PCV7 also protects preterm born infants effectively from IPD. Preterm born infants should receive pneumococcal vaccination according to their chronological age.</p

Characteristics of undernourished older medical patients and the identification of predictors for undernutrition status

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Undernutrition among older people is a continuing source of concern, particularly among acutely hospitalized patients. The purpose of the current study is to compare malnourished elderly patients with those at nutritional risk and identify factors contributing to the variability between the groups.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study was carried out at the Soroka University Medical Center in the south of Israel. From September 2003 through December 2004, all patients 65 years-of-age or older admitted to any of the internal medicine departments, were screened within 72 hours of admission to determine nutritional status using the short version of the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA-SF). Patients at nutritional risk were entered the study and were divided into malnourished or 'at risk' based on the full version of the MNA. Data regarding medical, nutritional, functional, and emotional status were obtained by trained interviewers.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Two hundred fifty-nine elderly patients, 43.6% men, participated in the study; 18.5% were identified as malnourished and 81.5% were at risk for malnutrition according to the MNA. The malnourished group was less educated, had a higher depression score and lower cognitive and physical functioning. Higher prevalence of chewing problems, nausea, and vomiting was detected among malnourished patients. There was no difference between the groups in health status indicators except for subjective health evaluation which was poorer among the malnourished group. Lower dietary score indicating lower intake of vegetables fruits and fluid, poor appetite and difficulties in eating distinguished between malnourished and at-risk populations with the highest sensitivity and specificity as compare with the anthropometric, global, and self-assessment of nutritional status parts of the MNA. In a multivariate analysis, lower cognitive function, education <12 years and chewing problems were all risk factors for malnutrition.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our study indicates that low food consumption as well as poor appetite and chewing problems are associated with the development of malnutrition. Given the critical importance of nutritional status in the hospitalized elderly, further intervention trials are required to determine the best intervention strategies to overcome these problems.</p

Klimawandel und Klimamodellierung – Eine Einführung in die computergestützte Analyse des Klimawandels.

This writting describes about interaction between one trader to other trader. In the interaction, both of them have unique relation. In the fact, the relation among them is based on personal trust. This study use descriptive methode in qualitative approach. The result of study is the key to the success of a cooperation is strongly influenced by mutual trust that is raised by all parties involved. The sustainability of a cooperation is strongly influenced by the size of the degree of confidence (radius of trust) that is established among the parties involved. Cooperation will be easy to do and can last long if it builds a high value/norm of trust. Conversely cooperation will be easily destroyed even not formed at all if in it has a value/norm of trust is low. Thus the high level of cooperation is very inhern with how much value/norm of trust formed between the parties involved in cooperation

Influence of the compiler on multi-CPU performance of WRFv3

The Weather Research and Forecasting system version 3 (WRFv3) is an open source and state of the art numerical Regional Climate Model used in climate related sciences. These years the model has been successfully optimized on a wide variety of clustered compute nodes connected with high speed interconnects. This is currently the most used hardware architecture for high-performance computing (Shainer et al., 2009). As such, understanding the influence of hardware like the CPU, its interconnects, or the software on WRFs performance is crucial for saving computing time. This is important because computing time in general is rare, resource intensive, and hence very expensive. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; This paper evaluates the influence of different compilers on WRFs performance, which was found to differ up to 26 %. The paper also evaluates the performance of different Message Passing Interface library versions, a software which is needed for multi CPU runs, and of different WRF versions. Both showed no significant influence on the performance for this test case on the used High Performance Cluster (HPC) hardware. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; Emphasis is also laid on the applied non-standard method of performance measuring, which was required because of performance fluctuations between identical runs on the used HPC. Those are caused by contention for network resources, a phenomenon examined for many HPCs (Wright et al., 2009)