978 research outputs found
Investigation of correlation of the variations in land subsidence (detected by continuous GPS measurements) and methodological data in the surrounding areas of Lake Urmia
Lake Urmia, a salt lake in the north-west of Iran, plays a valuable role in the environment, wildlife and economy of Iran and the region, but now faces great challenges for survival. The Lake is in immediate and great danger and is rapidly going to become barren desert. As a result, the increasing demands upon groundwater resources due to expanding metropolitan and agricultural areas are a serious challenge in the surrounding regions of Lake Urmia. The continuous GPS measurements around the lake illustrate significant subsidence rate between 2005 and 2009. The objective of this study was to detect and specify the non-linear correlation of land subsidence and temperature activities in the region from 2005 to 2009. For this purpose, the cross wavelet transform (XWT) was carried out between the two types of time series, namely vertical components of GPS measurements and daily temperature time series. The significant common patterns are illustrated in the high period bands from 180–218 days band (~6–7 months) from September 2007 to February 2009. Consequently, the satellite altimetry data confirmed that the maximum rate of linear trend of water variation in the lake from 2005 to 2009, is associated with time interval from September 2007 to February 2009. This event was detected by XWT as a critical interval to be holding the strong correlation between the land subsidence phenomena and surface temperature. Eventually the analysis can be used for modeling and prediction purposes and probably stave off the damage from subsidence phenomena
Energy conditions in f(R) gravity and Brans-Dicke theories
The equivalence between f(R) gravity and scalar-tensor theories is invoked to
study the null, strong, weak and dominant energy conditions in Brans-Dicke
theory. We consider the validity of the energy conditions in Brans-Dicke theory
by invoking the energy conditions derived from a generic f(R) theory. The
parameters involved are shown to be consistent with an accelerated expanding
universe.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure, to appear in IJMP
Insider trading and future stock returns in firms with concentrated ownership levels
Peer reviewedPostprin
A Practical Load Disaggregation Approach for Monitoring Industrial Users Demand with Limited Data Availability
The emergence of smart sensors has had a significant impact on the utility industry. In particular, it has made the planning and implementation of demand-side management (DSM) programmes easier. Nevertheless, for various reasons, some users may not implement smart meters for load monitoring. This paper addresses such cases, particularly large-scale industrial users, which, despite heavy electrical loads coming from many different processes, implement only simple energy measuring equipment for billing purposes. This necessitates the utilisation of novel methodologies for load disaggregation, often referred to as nonintrusive load monitoring (NILM). The availability of such tools can create multifold benefits for industrial park management, utility service providers, regulators, and policymakers. Here, we introduce an optimisation algorithm for nonintrusive load disaggregation that is low-cost, speedy, and acceptably accurate. As a case study, we used real network data of three industrial sectors: food processing, stonecutting, and glassmaking. For all cases, the optimisation framework developed a desegregated profile and estimated the load with an error of less than 5%. For non-workdays, given the higher uncertainty for the continuity of different processes, the estimation error was higher but still in an acceptable range of around 3.63–15.09% with an average of 8.10%.</jats:p
Predictors of quality of life in HIV-infected rural women: Psychometric test of the Chronic Illness Quality of Life Ladder
The Chronic Illness Quality of Life Ladder (CIQOLL) underwent psychometric testing in a sample of 278 women with HIV disease. The CIQOLL, a self-anchoring striving scale based on Cantril’s Ladder, measures seven domains (physical , emotional, financial, family and friends, spiritual well-being, peace of mind, and overall life satisfaction) across four time periods (present, past, future, life without a diagnosis of HIV). The domains were derived from focus groups with persons with HIV disease. Women with a diagnosis of HIV Infection, age 18 or older, residing in rural areas in the southeastern United States, completed questionnaires that measured physical functioning, HIV related symptom frequency and distress, depressive symptoms, social support, and quality of life. Procedures used to assess reliability included item–item, item–total, and subscale–subscale correlations, and Chronbach’s coefficient a. Criterion-related (concurrent) validity was assessed by correlating the CIQOLL with HIV symptoms, functional status and social support. Construct validity was estimated using factor analysis and predictive modeling. Results provide preliminary evidence that the CIQOLL is a reliable and valid scale that may provide meaningful information about persons living with a chronic illness, such as HIV disease, especially low literacy and unacculturated populations. Additional research is needed to weight the domains, test the sensitivity of the scale to changes over time, and explore the usefulness of discrepancy scores
Interacting 3-form dark energy models: distinguishing interactions and avoiding the Little Sibling of the Big Rip
In this paper we consider 3-form dark energy (DE) models with interactions in
the dark sector. We aim to distinguish the phenomenological interactions that
are defined through the dark matter (DM) and the DE energy densities. We do our
analysis mainly in two stages. In the first stage, we identify the
non-interacting 3-form DE model which generically leads to an abrupt late-time
cosmological event which is known as the little sibling of the Big Rip (LSBR).
We classify the interactions which can possibly avoid this late-time abrupt
event. We also study the parameter space of the model that is consistent with
the interaction between DM and DE energy densities at present as indicated by
recent studies based on BAO and SDSS data. In the later stage, we
observationally distinguish those interactions using the statefinder hierarchy parameters {S3(1),S4 (1)},{S3 (1),S5 (1)} . We also compute the growth factor parameter ε(z) for the various interactions we consider herein and use the composite null diagnostic (CND) {S3(1), ε(z)} as a tool to characterise those interactions by measuring their departures from the concordance model. In addition, we make a preliminary analysis of our model in light of the recently released data by SDSS~III on the measurement of the linear growth rate of structure.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
New multi-proxy record shows potential impacts of precipitation on the rise and ebb of Bronze Age and imperial Persian societies in southeastern Iran
The Achaemenids and Sasanian ‘Persian’ Empires were significant political, economic, and social forces in the Late Bronze Age and Late Antiquity Eurasia, respectively, which have left marks on the heritage of the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern world. While attention is often focused on military and political conditions when discussing the prosperity and decline of these imperial powers, their realms, which crossed a variety of environmental settings, were highly dependent on the predictability of rainfall that drove agriculture and effective provisioning. Here, we present a multi-proxy sedimentological, geochemical, and palynological record from a 2.5-m long peat deposit near the excavation site in Konar Sandal near Jiroft in southeastern Iran, covering 4000-850 cal yr BP. Around 3950 cal yr BP a wet period prevailed based on elemental ratios, stable C isotope, pollen, and diagnostic lipids. Between 3900 and 3300 cal yr BP, wet/semi-wet conditions developed with the appearance of Cerealia-type pollen. Dry and windy conditions followed (ca. 3300-2900 cal yr BP), which coincided with the Siberian anticyclones and climatic shifts developing in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Consequently, the Bronze Age settlements around Jiroft, dependent on agriculture, underwent a steady decline. A prolonged wet period followed (ca. 2900-2300 cal yr BP) with the abundance of Sparganium-type pollen and the aquatic lipid proxy (Paq). This change coincided with intensive agricultural practices and the flourishing of the powerful Median and Achaemenid empires. The shift to high Ti/Al ratios coeval with the lowest δ13COM values suggests an increase in aeolian activity and dry conditions ca. 2100-1650 cal yr BP. The Jiroft valley again experienced wet conditions between 1550 and 1300 cal yr BP, which overlapped with the economic prosperity of the middle to late Sasanian empire. The paleoenvironmental reconstruction indicates that wet periods and intensive agriculture coincide with the Persian empires' zenith, political influence, and economic affluence. Therefore, contextualized and detailed paleoenvironmental records are desirable to explore the interplay of political and climatic factors in the development and fragmentation of the ancient settlements and imperial powers in Eurasian history.1. Introduction 2. Geographical setting 3. Materials and methods 3.1. Sampling, magnetic susceptibility, and grain size analysis 3.2. Radiocarbon analyses 3.3. Elemental and mineralogical analyses 3.4. C/N and stable isotope analyses 3.4.1. Lipid extraction 3.5. Pollen analysis 4. Results 4.1. Age-depth model and chronology 4.2. Units 4.2.1. Unit 1 (U 1; 250-189 cm; ca. 4000-3550 cal yr BP) 4.2.2. Unit 2 (U 2; 189-164 cm; ca. 3550-3300 cal yr BP) 4.2.3. Unit 3 (U 3; 164-134 cm; ca. 3300-2900 cal yr BP) 4.2.4. Unit 4 (U 4; 134-106 cm; ca. 2900-2300 cal yr BP) 4.2.5. Unit 5 (U 5; 106-61 cm; ca. 2300-1550 cal yr BP) 4.2.6. Unit 6 (U 6; 61-10 cm; ca. 1550-850 cal yr BP) 5. Discussion 5.1. Paleoclimate preceding the decline of the Jiroft civilization 5.2. The Late Bronze Age decline in Jiroft 5.3. Rise and fall of the Persian Empire 5.3.1. The pre-Islamic period and recent times 6. Conclusion
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