Assess the effect of different degrees of urbanization on land surface temperature using remote sensing images

AbstractUrbanization is a human-dominated process and has greatly impacted biodiversity, ecosystem processes, and regional climate. In this study we assess the effect of different degrees of urbanization on land surface temperature using remote sensing images. Landsat TM images were used for land surface temperature retrieval using the algorithm proposed by Artis and Carnahan. ALOS multispectral images were used for landcover classification using classification trees in three study areas, namely Xicheng district(A), Haidian district(B), Shijingshan district(C), of different degrees of urbanization in Beijing. Landcover-specific surface temperatures were estimated through an inversion alorithm. At the different degrees of urbanization, reducing the within-pixel coverage ratio of vegetations will result in an land surface temperature rise. Quantitative assessment of the relationship between different degrees of urbanization and land surface temperature was simulated by an urbanization index which integrates the coverage ratio of built-up landcover type and the cell-average NDVI. Urbanization indices of the Xicheng district, Haidian district, Shijingshan district were calculated to be 0.91, 0.72, and, 0.55 respectively. Such results are consistent with the trend of evaluation using quantitative estimation land surface temperature

Multigluon tree amplitudes with a pair of massive fermions

We consider the calculation of n-point multigluon tree amplitudes with a pair of massive fermions in QCD. We give the explicit transformation rules of this kind of massive fermion-pair amplitudes with respect to different reference momenta and check the correctness of them by SUSY Ward identities. Using these rules and onshell BCFW recursion relation, we calculate the analytic results of several n-point multigluon amplitudes.Comment: 15page

SVtL: System Verification through Logic: tool support for verifying sliced hierarchical statecharts

SVtL is the core of a slicing-based verification environment for UML statechart models. We present an overview of the SVtL software architecture. Special attention is paid to the slicing approach. Slicing reduces the complexity of the verification approach, based on removing pieces of the model that are not of interest during verification. In [18] a slicing algorithm has been proposed for statecharts, but it was not able to handle orthogonal regions efficiently. We optimize this algorithm by removing false dependencies, relying on the broadcasting mechanism between different parts of the statechart model

Duodenal ulcer is a multifactorial disorder the role of pepsinogen I

Serum pepsinogen I (PGI) levels were measured in 231 duodenal ulcer (DU) patients and 100 sex and age-comparable healthy controls. Significantly higher mean serum PGI levels were found in DU patients than in controls (124,7 ± 3,4 ng/ml v. 92,9 ± 2,3 ng/ml; P < 0,001) (mean ± SE). These levels were higher in male DU patients than in female DU patients (128,5 ± 3,9 ng/IDl v. 107,4 ± 6,4 ng/ml; P < 0,05). Smoking was associated with elevated serum PGI levels in DU patients (145,3 ± 5,1 ng/ml v. 109,0 ± 4,2 ngl/ml; P < 0,001). Healed DUs were associated with lower mean serum PGI levels than active ulcers (110,9 ± 7,6 ng/ml v. 129,4 ± 3,8 ng/ml, P < 0,05). Whether patients were positive or negative for Helicobacter pylori, infection did not affect mean serum PGI levels. All the risk factors for DU may not affect serum PGI levels and DU may therefore be considered a multifactorial disease

A Statistical Study on Photospheric Magnetic Nonpotentiality of Active Regions and Its Relationship with Flares during Solar Cycles 22-23

A statistical study is carried out on the photospheric magnetic nonpotentiality in solar active regions and its relationship with associated flares. We select 2173 photospheric vector magnetograms from 1106 active regions observed by the Solar Magnetic Field Telescope at Huairou Solar Observing Station, National Astronomical Observatories of China, in the period of 1988-2008, which covers most of the 22nd and 23rd solar cycles. We have computed the mean planar magnetic shear angle (\bar{\Delta\phi}), mean shear angle of the vector magnetic field (\bar{\Delta\psi}), mean absolute vertical current density (\bar{|J_{z}|}), mean absolute current helicity density (\bar{|h_{c}|}), absolute twist parameter (|\alpha_{av}|), mean free magnetic energy density (\bar{\rho_{free}}), effective distance of the longitudinal magnetic field (d_{E}), and modified effective distance (d_{Em}) of each photospheric vector magnetogram. Parameters \bar{|h_{c}|}, \bar{\rho_{free}}, and d_{Em} show higher correlation with the evolution of the solar cycle. The Pearson linear correlation coefficients between these three parameters and the yearly mean sunspot number are all larger than 0.59. Parameters \bar{\Delta\phi}, \bar{\Delta\psi}, \bar{|J_{z}|}, |\alpha_{av}|, and d_{E} show only weak correlations with the solar cycle, though the nonpotentiality and the complexity of active regions are greater in the activity maximum periods than in the minimum periods. All of the eight parameters show positive correlations with the flare productivity of active regions, and the combination of different nonpotentiality parameters may be effective in predicting the flaring probability of active regions.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication in Solar Physic

Isoproterenol and 8-bromo-cyclic adenosine monophosphate stimulate the expression of the angiotensinogen gene in opossum kidney cells

Isoproterenol and 8-bromo-cyclic adenosine monophosphate stimulate the expression of the angiotensinogen gene in opossum kidney cells. To investigate whether the expression of the renal angiotensinogen (ANG) gene is regulated by β-adrenoceptors and the cAMP-dependent protein kinase A pathway, we introduced stably the fusion gene containing the 5′-flanking regulatory sequence of the ANG gene with a human growth hormone (hGH) gene as a reporter, pOGH (ANG N-1498/+18), into opossum kidney (OK) cells. We successfully obtained several stable transformants with a high expression of the pOGH (ANG N-1498/+18) fusion gene. One stable transformant (OK 27) that is able to maintain the expression of pOGH (ANG N-1498/+18) in culture for more than a year was used in the present study. The level of expression of the pOGH (ANG N-1498/+18) in OK 27 was evaluated by the amount of immunoreactive-hGH (IR-hGH) secreted into the culture medium. The addition of isoproterenol (10-11 M to 10-9 M) stimulated the expression of pOGH (ANG N-1498/+18) and increased the accumulation of intracellular cAMP. Higher concentrations of isoproterenol (that is, greater than 10-9 M) had low or minimal effect. In contrast, the addition of 8-bromo-cAMP (8-Br-cAMP) and forskolin stimulated the expression of pOGH (ANG N-1498/+18) in a dose-dependent manner. The stimulatory effect of isoproterenol was blocked by the presence of propranolol, atenolol and ICI 118,551. The addition of ICI 118,551, however, was less effective than atenolol. Furthermore, the stimulatory effect of isoproterenol and 8-Br-cAMP on the expression of the pOGH (ANG N-1498/+18) was inhibited by the presence of Rp-cAMP (an inhibitor of cAMP-dependent protein kinase AI and II). These studies demonstrated that the expression of the pOGH (ANG N-1498/+18) in OK cells is stimulated by β-adrenoceptors and the cAMP-dependent protein kinase A pathway. Our data indicate that OK 27 cells provide a useful model to study the regulation of expression of the ANG gene in vitro

Entangling power and operator entanglement in qudit systems

We establish the entangling power of a unitary operator on a general finite-dimensional bipartite quantum system with and without ancillas, and give relations between the entangling power based on the von Neumann entropy and the entangling power based on the linear entropy. Significantly, we demonstrate that the entangling power of a general controlled unitary operator acting on two equal-dimensional qudits is proportional to the corresponding operator entanglement if linear entropy is adopted as the quantity representing the degree of entanglement. We discuss the entangling power and operator entanglement of three representative quantum gates on qudits: the SUM, double SUM, and SWAP gates.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure. Version 3: Figure was improved and the MS was a bit shortene

Thermodynamic and Tunneling Density of States of the Integer Quantum Hall Critical State

We examine the long wave length limit of the self-consistent Hartree-Fock approximation irreducible static density-density response function by evaluating the charge induced by an external charge. Our results are consistent with the compressibility sum rule and inconsistent with earlier work that did not account for consistency between the exchange-local-field and the disorder potential. We conclude that the thermodynamic density of states is finite, in spite of the vanishing tunneling density of states at the critical energy of the integer quantum Hall transition.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, minor revisions, published versio

Current Helicity and Twist as Two Indicators of The Mirror Asymmetry of solar Magnetic Fields

A comparison between the two tracers of magnetic field mirror asymmetry in solar active regions, twist and current helicity, is presented. It is shown that for individual active regions these tracers do not possess visible similarity while averaging by time over the solar cycle, or by latitude, reveals similarities in their behaviour. The main property of the dataset is anti-symmetry over the solar equator. Considering the evolution of helical properties over the solar cycle we find signatures of a possible sign change at the beginning of the cycle, though more systematic observational data are required for a definite confirmation. We discuss the role of both tracers in the context of the solar dynamo theory.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure