Performance Accuracy of Real-Time GPS Asset Tracking Systems for Timber Haulage Trucks Travelling on Both Internal Forest Road and Public Road Networks

The GPSTRACK project has arisen as a result of a recommendation in the Forest Industry Transport Group (FITG) Code of Practice for Timber Haulage, which was to “Encourage closer co-operation between consignors and hauliers to plan routes in a manner which optimizes the economic returns within a legal framework.” The project involved the installation of Bluetree global positioning systems (GPS) asset tracking systems onto two timber haulage trucks: an articulated Iveco Stralis 530 6*2 tractor unit with tri-axle road friendly air suspension flatbed trailer with a design gross vehicle weight (dgvw) equal to 44 t and a Scania 124 (400) with a rigid (3 axle) + trailer (3 axle) + crane combination with an equivalent dgvw of 44 t. This paper discusses the background and use of real-time asset tracking devices in the context of timber haulage in Ireland. Real-time location information is a relatively new concept for Irish applications (less than 5 years), but there is an increasing deployment of the technology into the truck transport sector in Ireland. The goal of this study was to test the accuracy of the recorded GPS locations relative to the underlying travelled route network based on the criteria of: 1) a fixed GPS receiver location, 2) a truck travelling on public routes, and 3) comparing accuracy of public routes to the accuracy of the truck travelling in a more demanding environment such as the internal forest road network. The results analysis calculated the horizontal root mean square (HRMS) 63 percent GPS accuracy of both trucks tracklog on both the public road network and the internal forest road network over a period of 4 weeks which totalled approximately 15,000 GPS data points. The HRMS accuracy values ranged from 2.55 to 2.47 m for the public roads, while the forest road accuracy were approximately 27 m and 41 m for Iveco and Scania, respectively

Nutrient Restoration of a Large, Impounded, Ultra-Oligotrophic Western River to Recover Declining Native Fishes

Declines in many fish populations in large, western rivers have been primarily attributed to the anthropogenic reduction of nutrient inputs and subsequent impacts to the food web. The largest known river fertilization program was implemented starting in 2005 on the Kootenai River in northern Idaho to restore resident fisheries. Annual electrofishing surveys were conducted at multiple sites in Idaho and Montana before and during nutrient addition to evaluate assemblage and population-level responses. Although few responses in fish assemblage structure were observed, the addition of liquid ammonium polyphosphate fertilizer (3 μg/L) to the Kootenai River increased fish abundance and biomass over the 20-km stretch of river downstream of the treatment site. Increases were most notable in Largescale Suckers Catostomus macrocheilus, Mountain Whitefish Prosopium williamsoni, and Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss populations, although increases in catch and biomass were detected for nearly all fish species. The Kootenai River is approximately 30 times larger in discharge than other rivers that have been experimentally fertilized and provides compelling evidence that the mitigation of nutrient declines in rivers of similar size can result in positive influences on the fish populations where primary and secondary production are limiting growth, survival, and recruitment. However, results from our study also highlight the importance of completing evaluations across varying levels of biological organization (e.g., assemblage and population) and over biologically relevant timeframes

Temporal dynamics of catchment transit times from stable isotope data

Time variant catchment transit time distributions are fundamental descriptors of catchment function but yet not fully understood, characterized, and modeled. Here we present a new approach for use with standard runoff and tracer data sets that is based on tracking of tracer and age information and time variant catchment mixing. Our new approach is able to deal with nonstationarity of flow paths and catchment mixing, and an irregular shape of the transit time distribution. The approach extracts information on catchment mixing from the stable isotope time series instead of prior assumptions of mixing or the shape of transit time distribution. We first demonstrate proof of concept of the approach with artificial data; the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiencies in tracer and instantaneous transit times were >0.9. The model provides very accurate estimates of time variant transit times when the boundary conditions and fluxes are fully known. We then tested the model with real rainfall-runoff flow and isotope tracer time series from the H.J. Andrews Watershed 10 (WS10) in Oregon. Model efficiencies were 0.37 for the 18O modeling for a 2 year time series; the efficiencies increased to 0.86 for the second year underlying the need of long time tracer time series with a long overlap of tracer input and output. The approach was able to determine time variant transit time of WS10 with field data and showed how it follows the storage dynamics and related changes in flow paths where wet periods with high flows resulted in clearly shorter transit times compared to dry low flow periods. Key Points: Approach for time variant catchment transit time Modeling irregular shape of transit time distributions by time variant mixing Modeling catchment transit time in WS10 of HJA Fores

Endovascular aneurysm repair increases aortic arterial stiffness when compared to open repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms

Objectives: The initial survival advantage seen with endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) over open repair does not persist in the long term. Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a measure of arterial stiffness, and increased PWV is an independent risk factor for increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. This prospective comparative pilot study examined the effect of implantation of an aortic graft on PWV in patients undergoing open or endovascular aortic aneurysm repair. Patients and Methods: Thirty-four patients (15 open and 19 EVAR) were recruited. Patient demographics were similar in both the groups. Pulse wave velocity was calculated for all patients preoperatively and postoperatively using a standardized technique on a Philips IU22 Vascular Ultrasound machine and the results compared. Results: An increase in mean PWV following EVAR was demonstrated. The mean post-procedure PWV of 9.7 (+ 4.5) cm/sec detected in the open group was significantly lower than the elevated 12.2 (+ 4.5) cm/ sec detected in the EVAR group. The surgical group also demonstrated a mean decrease of 0.2 (+ 4.9) cm/sec in PWV following open repair compared to a mean increase of 3.3 (+ 3.7) cm/sec in the EVAR group. Conclusion: EVAR patients have a significantly higher postoperative PWV measurement than those undergoing open abdominal aortic aneurysm repair. Patients who have undergone EVAR may be at a higher risk of cardiovascular morbidity in the long term. A larger scale study with a longer prospective follow-up is required

Biosecurity on poultry farms from on-farm fluidized bed combustion and energy recovery from poultry litter

peer-reviewedThe spreading of poultry litter in recent years has led to a serious increase in levels of eutrophication, nitrate leaching, high Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), ammonia toxicity, high chlorine concentrations and pathogen contamination. The review presented here details the optimum standards that should be met when storing litter for On-Farm Fluidized Bed Combustion. Storage conditions are paramount to a fuel combusting to its highest possible potential. Safety measures such as the prevention of leaching and spontaneous combustion must be adhered to, so too should the prevention and containment of possible diseases and pathogens to minimize the effects of contamination

Screening for peripheral arterial disease and carotid artery disease in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm

Screening for concomitant atherosclerotic disease is important in cardiovascular risk reduction. This study assessed the prevalence of carotid artery disease (CAD) and peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in patients with known abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs). All patients with AAA attending the vascular laboratory between the January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2009, were eligible for a carotid ultrasound and measurement of ankle brachial indices. A total of 389 (305 males) patients were identified on the AAA surveillance program with a mean (±standard deviation) age of 76 (±8) years. The mean age of the males was 75.4 (±7.8) years, and the mean age of the females was 77 (±11) years. A total of 332 patients were assessed for CAD, and 101 (30.4%) of those were found to have significant disease. A total of 289 patients were assessed for PAD of which 131 (45.3%) were found to have PAD at rest, and 289 patients were assessed for both and 59 (20.4%) patients had significant CAD + PAD. Patients with AAAs are at high risk of other atherosclerotic disorders, and, therefore, they should receive intensive medical optimization

Antibacterial Activity of Polymer Coated Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles

Cerium oxide nanoparticles have found numerous applications in the biomedical industry due to their strong antioxidant properties. In the current study, we report the influence of nine different physical and chemical parameters: pH, aeration and, concentrations of MgSO4, CaCl2, KCl, natural organic matter, fructose, nanoparticles and Escherichia coli, on the antibacterial activity of dextran coated cerium oxide nanoparticles. A least-squares quadratic regression model was developed to understand the collective influence of the tested parameters on the anti-bacterial activity and subsequently a computer-based, interactive visualization tool was developed. The visualization allows us to elucidate the effect of each of the parameters in combination with other parameters, on the antibacterial activity of nanoparticles. The results indicate that the toxicity of CeO2 NPs depend on the physical and chemical environment; and in a majority of the possible combinations of the nine parameters, non-lethal to the bacteria. In fact, the cerium oxide nanoparticles can decrease the anti-bacterial activity exerted by magnesium and potassium salts

Antibacterial Activity of Polymer Coated Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles

Cerium oxide nanoparticles have found numerous applications in the biomedical industry due to their strong antioxidant properties. In the current study, we report the influence of nine different physical and chemical parameters: pH, aeration and, concentrations of MgSO4, CaCl2, KCl, natural organic matter, fructose, nanoparticles and Escherichia coli, on the antibacterial activity of dextran coated cerium oxide nanoparticles. A least-squares quadratic regression model was developed to understand the collective influence of the tested parameters on the anti-bacterial activity and subsequently a computer-based, interactive visualization tool was developed. The visualization allows us to elucidate the effect of each of the parameters in combination with other parameters, on the antibacterial activity of nanoparticles. The results indicate that the toxicity of CeO2 NPs depend on the physical and chemical environment; and in a majority of the possible combinations of the nine parameters, non-lethal to the bacteria. In fact, the cerium oxide nanoparticles can decrease the anti-bacterial activity exerted by magnesium and potassium salts

Comparison of threshold hydrologic response across northern catchments

Funded by Leverhulme Trust. Grant Number: F/00 152/AGPeer reviewedPostprin

Heterozygote advantage at HLA class I and II loci and reduced risk of colorectal cancer

Objective: Reduced diversity at Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) loci may adversely affect the host's ability to recognize tumor neoantigens and subsequently increase disease burden. We hypothesized that increased heterozygosity at HLA loci is associated with a reduced risk of developing colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods: We imputed HLA class I and II four-digit alleles using genotype data from a population-based study of 5,406 cases and 4,635 controls from the Molecular Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer Study (MECC). Heterozygosity at each HLA locus and the number of heterozygous genotypes at HLA class -I (A, B, and C) and HLA class -II loci (DQB1, DRB1, and DPB1) were quantified. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the risk of CRC associated with HLA heterozygosity. Individuals with homozygous genotypes for all loci served as the reference category, and the analyses were adjusted for sex, age, genotyping platform, and ancestry. Further, we investigated associations between HLA diversity and tumor-associated T cell repertoire features, as measured by tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs; N=2,839) and immunosequencing (N=2,357). Results: Individuals with all heterozygous genotypes at all three class I genes had a reduced odds of CRC (OR: 0.74; 95% CI: 0.56-0.97, p= 0.031). A similar association was observed for class II loci, with an OR of 0.75 (95% CI: 0.60-0.95, p= 0.016). For class-I and class-II combined, individuals with all heterozygous genotypes had significantly lower odds of developing CRC (OR: 0.66, 95% CI: 0.49-0.87, p= 0.004) than those with 0 or one heterozygous genotype. HLA class I and/or II diversity was associated with higher T cell receptor (TCR) abundance and lower TCR clonality, but results were not statistically significant. Conclusion: Our findings support a heterozygote advantage for the HLA class-I and -II loci, indicating an important role for HLA genetic variability in the etiology of CRC