Propagation velocity measurement : Autocorrelation technique applied to the electromyogram

Muscle fibre conduction velocity is an important measurement in electrophysiology, both in the research laboratory and in clinical practice. It is usually measured by placing electrodes spaced at known distances and estimating the transit time of the action potential. The problem, common to all methods, is the estimation of this time delay. Several measurement procedures, in the time and frequency domains, have been proposed. Time-domain strategies usually require two acquisition channels, whereas some frequency-domain methods can be implemented using a single one. The method described operates in the time domain, making use of the autocorrelation function of the difference signal obtained from two needle electrodes and only one acquisition channel. Experimental results were obtained from the electromyogram of two biceps muscles (two adult male subjects, nine records each) under voluntary contraction, yielding an average of 3.58 m s−1 (SD=0.04 m s−1) and 3.37 m s−1 (SD=0.03 m s−1), respectively. Several tests showed that the proposed method works properly with electromyogram records as short as 0.3 s.Instituto de Investigaciones en Electrónica, Control y Procesamiento de Señale

Propagation velocity measurement : Autocorrelation technique applied to the electromyogram

Muscle fibre conduction velocity is an important measurement in electrophysiology, both in the research laboratory and in clinical practice. It is usually measured by placing electrodes spaced at known distances and estimating the transit time of the action potential. The problem, common to all methods, is the estimation of this time delay. Several measurement procedures, in the time and frequency domains, have been proposed. Time-domain strategies usually require two acquisition channels, whereas some frequency-domain methods can be implemented using a single one. The method described operates in the time domain, making use of the autocorrelation function of the difference signal obtained from two needle electrodes and only one acquisition channel. Experimental results were obtained from the electromyogram of two biceps muscles (two adult male subjects, nine records each) under voluntary contraction, yielding an average of 3.58 m s−1 (SD=0.04 m s−1) and 3.37 m s−1 (SD=0.03 m s−1), respectively. Several tests showed that the proposed method works properly with electromyogram records as short as 0.3 s.Instituto de Investigaciones en Electrónica, Control y Procesamiento de Señale

Imagining a Safe Water Space for Danube’s Future: Engaging stakeholders for the co-creation of a Safe Operating Space for the Danube basin

On the 23 November 2023, the SOS-Water project held the first stakeholder workshop for the Danube Basin case study. As water challenges increase worldwide, exacerbated by climate change, the SOS-Water project aims to establish a Safe Operating Space (SOS) for water resources, to ensure an adequate, sustainable and clean water supply for both human activities and natural ecosystems. Funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe Framework Programme, the project uses an integrated approach that combines modeling, monitoring, and stakeholder engagement, applied to four different case studies in Europe and beyond. The Danube River basin, known for its ecological and socio-economic diversity, is one of the selected case studies. The workshop convened key stakeholders from various freshwater-related institutions, promoting dialogue and collaboration to address the complex challenges that the basin is facing. During a day of interactive activities, stakeholders collectively identified values, objectives, and priorities essential for sustainable water management in both the entire Danube basin and the Danube Delta. Discussions underscored the need for integrated approaches that balance environmental conservation, socio-economic development, and climate adaptation. Key outcomes include the refinement of objective hierarchy maps that reflect the stakeholder input and priorities collected during the workshop. The next steps will be the development of specific indicators for the objectives. This is followed by the weighting of goals (i.e., objectives) to be achieved through further stakeholder engagement activities and workshops, towards a co-development of the Safe Operating Space for the Danube River basin

Exploring the key drivers of riparian woodland successional pathways across three European river reaches

"This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Muñoz-Mas, R., V. Garófano-Gómez, I. Andrés-Doménech, D. Corenblit, G. Egger, F. Francés, M.T. Ferreira, et al. 2017. ¿Exploring the Key Drivers of Riparian Woodland Successional Pathways across Three European River Reaches.¿ Ecohydrology 10 (8). Wiley: e1888. doi:10.1002/eco.1888, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.1888. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving."[EN] Climate change and river regulation are negatively impacting riparian vegetation. To evaluate these impacts, process-based models are preferred over data-driven approaches. However, they require extensive knowledge about ecohydrological processes. To facilitate the implementation of such process-based models, the key drivers of riparian woodland successional pathways across three river reaches, in Austria, Portugal, and Spain, were explored, employing two complementary approaches. The principal component analyses highlighted the importance of the physical gradients determining the placement of the succession phases within the riparian and floodplain zones. The generalized additive models revealed that the initial and pioneer succession phases, characteristic of the colonization stage, appeared in areas highly morphodynamic, close in height and distance to the water table, and with coarse substrate, whereas elder phases within the transitional and mature stages showed incremental differences, occupying less dynamic areas with finer substrate. The Austrian site fitted well the current successional theory (elder phases appearing sequentially further up and distant), but at the Portuguese site, the tolerance of the riparian species to drought and flash flood events governed their placement. Finally, at the Spanish site, the patchy distribution of the elder phases was the remnants of formative events that reshaped the river channel. These results highlight the complex relationships between flow regime, channel morphology, and riparian vegetation. The use of succession phases, which rely on the sequential evolution of riparian vegetation as a response to different drivers, may be potentially better reproducible, within numerical process-based models, and transferable to other geographical regions.This work was supported by the IWRM Era-NET Funding Initiative through the RIPFLOW project (references ERACCT-2005-026025, ERA-IWRM/0001/2008, CGL2008-03076-E/BTE), http://www.old.iwrm-net.eu/spip.php, by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the project SCARCE (Consolider¿Ingenio 2010 CSD2009-00065), and by the project ¿Natural and anthropogenic changes in Mediterranean river drainage basins: historical impacts on rivers morphology, sedimentary flows and vegetation¿ of the Spanish MINECO (CGL2013-44917-R). Virginia Garófano-Gómez received a postdoctoral grant from the Université Blaise Pascal (now: Université Clermont Auvergne). Rui Rivaes benefited from a PhD grant (SFRH/BD/52515/2014) sponsored by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) under the FCT PhD programme FLUVIO¿River Restoration and Management. Patricia María Rodríguez González was funded by FCT through an SFRH/BPD/47140/2008 postdoctoral fellowship and through an FCT Investigator Programme grant (IF/00059/2015). The authors also thank all the colleagues and master students who contributed enthusiastically to the field campaigns of this study.Muñoz Mas, R.; Garófano-Gómez, V.; Andrés Doménech, I.; Corenblit, D.; Egger, G.; Francés, F.; Ferreira, M.... (2017). Exploring the key drivers of riparian woodland successional pathways across three European river reaches. Ecohydrology. 10(8):1-19. https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.1888S11910