Quantifying the uncertainties in life cycle greenhouse gas emissions for UK wheat ethanol

This is the final version of the article. Available from IOP Publishing via the DOI in this record.Biofuels are increasingly promoted worldwide as a means for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transport. However, current regulatory frameworks and most academic life cycle analyses adopt a deterministic approach in determining the GHG intensities of biofuels and thus ignore the inherent risk associated with biofuel production. This study aims to develop a transparent stochastic method for evaluating UK biofuels that determines both the magnitude and uncertainty of GHG intensity on the basis of current industry practices. Using wheat ethanol as a case study, we show that the GHG intensity could span a range of 40-110 gCO2e MJ-1 when land use change (LUC) emissions and various sources of uncertainty are taken into account, as compared with a regulatory default value of 44 gCO2e MJ-1. This suggests that the current deterministic regulatory framework underestimates wheat ethanol GHG intensity and thus may not be effective in evaluating transport fuels. Uncertainties in determining the GHG intensity of UK wheat ethanol include limitations of available data at a localized scale, and significant scientific uncertainty of parameters such as soil N2O and LUC emissions. Biofuel polices should be robust enough to incorporate the currently irreducible uncertainties and flexible enough to be readily revised when better science is available. © 2013 IOP Publishing Ltd

L-Visibility Drawings of IC-planar Graphs

An IC-plane graph is a topological graph where every edge is crossed at most once and no two crossed edges share a vertex. We show that every IC-plane graph has a visibility drawing where every vertex is an L-shape, and every edge is either a horizontal or vertical segment. As a byproduct of our drawing technique, we prove that an IC-plane graph has a RAC drawing in quadratic area with at most two bends per edge

Electronic measurement and control of spin transport in Silicon

The electron spin lifetime and diffusion length are transport parameters that define the scale of coherence in spintronic devices and circuits. Since these parameters are many orders of magnitude larger in semiconductors than in metals, semiconductors could be the most suitable for spintronics. Thus far, spin transport has only been measured in direct-bandgap semiconductors or in combination with magnetic semiconductors, excluding a wide range of non-magnetic semiconductors with indirect bandgaps. Most notable in this group is silicon (Si), which (in addition to its market entrenchment in electronics) has long been predicted a superior semiconductor for spintronics with enhanced lifetime and diffusion length due to low spin-orbit scattering and lattice inversion symmetry. Despite its exciting promise, a demonstration of coherent spin transport in Si has remained elusive, because most experiments focused on magnetoresistive devices; these methods fail because of universal impedance mismatch obstacles, and are obscured by Lorentz magnetoresistance and Hall effects. Here we demonstrate conduction band spin transport across 10 microns undoped Si, by using spin-dependent ballistic hot-electron filtering through ferromagnetic thin films for both spin-injection and detection. Not based on magnetoresistance, the hot electron spin-injection and detection avoids impedance mismatch issues and prevents interference from parasitic effects. The clean collector current thus shows independent magnetic and electrical control of spin precession and confirms spin coherent drift in the conduction band of silicon.Comment: Single PDF file with 4 Figure

Seeking Optimum System Settings for Physical Activity Recognition on Smartwatches

Physical activity recognition (PAR) using wearable devices can provide valued information regarding an individual's degree of functional ability and lifestyle. In this regards, smartphone-based physical activity recognition is a well-studied area. Research on smartwatch-based PAR, on the other hand, is still in its infancy. Through a large-scale exploratory study, this work aims to investigate the smartwatch-based PAR domain. A detailed analysis of various feature banks and classification methods are carried out to find the optimum system settings for the best performance of any smartwatch-based PAR system for both personal and impersonal models. To further validate our hypothesis for both personal (The classifier is built using the data only from one specific user) and impersonal (The classifier is built using the data from every user except the one under study) models, we tested single subject validation process for smartwatch-based activity recognition.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures, Accepted in CVC'1

A biogenic amine and a neuropeptide act identically: tyramine signals through calcium in drosophila tubule stellate cells

Insect osmoregulation is subject to highly sophisticated endocrine control. In Drosophila, both Drosophila kinin and tyramine act on the Malpighian (renal) tubule stellate cell to activate chloride shunt conductance, and so increase the fluid production rate. Drosophila kinin is known to act through intracellular calcium, but the mode of action of tyramine is not known. Here, we used a transgenically encoded GFP::apoaequorin translational fusion, targeted to either principal or stellate cells under GAL4/UAS control, to demonstrate that tyramine indeed acts to raise calcium in stellate, but not principal cells. Furthermore, the EC(50) tyramine concentration for half-maximal activation of the intracellular calcium signal is the same as that calculated from previously published data on tyramine-induced increase in chloride flux. In addition, tyramine signalling to calcium is markedly reduced in mutants of NorpA (a phospholipase C) and itpr, the inositol trisphosphate receptor gene, which we have previously shown to be necessary for Drosophila kinin signalling. Therefore, tyramine and Drosophila kinin signals converge on phospholipase C, and thence on intracellular calcium; and both act to increase chloride shunt conductance by signalling through itpr. To test this model, we co-applied tyramine and Drosophila kinin, and showed that the calcium signals were neither additive nor synergistic. The two signalling pathways thus represent parallel, independent mechanisms for distinct tissues (nervous and epithelial) to control the same aspect of renal function

Glycotope structures and intramolecular affinity factors of plant lectins for Tn/T antigens

B

Incidence, risk factors and psychosomatic symptoms for traditional bullying and cyberbullying in Chinese adolescents

Introduction: The objectives were to determine the prevalence and risk factors of traditional bullying and cyberbullying in Chinese middle school children, and to explore the association between bullying and psychosomatic symptoms. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in urban and rural areas in Chongqing, Henan and Zhejiang provinces in 2018. A self-completion questionnaire was completed by students in the classroom setting. Results: There were 3774 completed questionnaires: the mean age of respondents was 13.58 (SD 0.87). For traditional bullying, 1332 (35.6%) identified as victims, and 341 (9.5%) as perpetrators. For cyberbullying, 1170 (31.4%) identified as victims, and 622 (16.6%) as perpetrators. After controlling for confounders, risks for traditional victimization were being male, attending boarding school, low academic performance, and a poor relationship with parents. Traditional perpetrators were more likely to be male, and have a poor relationship with parents. Risks for being a victim or perpetrator of cyberbullying were the same: male sex, attending boarding school, and having a poor relationship with parents. Compared to non-victims, traditional victims and cyber victims were at least 1.5 times more likely to report headache and sleep problems; traditional victims were 1.3 times more likely, and cyber victims 1.4 times more likely to report abdominal pain. Conclusions: Schools must take measures to raise awareness of bullying, to identify bullies and victims, and especially to protect the most vulnerable adolescents

Mantle melting and intraplate volcanism due to self‐buoyant hydrous upwellings from the stagnant slab that are conveyed by small‐scale convection

The mechanisms sustaining basaltic continental intraplate volcanism remain controversial. Continental intraplate volcanism is often geographically associated with slab stagnation in the mantle transition zone (MTZ), for example, in eastern Asia, central Europe, and western North America. Using 2‐D geodynamic models, we here explore the role of the stagnation of a slab and an associated hydrous layer in the MTZ on the formation and evolution of intraplate volcanism. Due to the intrinsic buoyancy of the hydrous layer atop the stagnant slab, upwellings develop within a few million years and rise to ~410‐km depth. At these depths, they partly lose their intrinsic buoyancy due to dehydration and stall intermittently. However, they are readily entrained by sublithospheric small‐scale convection to reach the base of lithosphere, sustaining mantle melting and intraplate volcanism. Water contents of >0.3 wt.‐% in a ≥ 60‐km‐thick layer atop the slab are sufficient for an early (<~20 Myr) onset of melting to account for volcanism, for example, in NE China. Thus, significant amounts of hydrous materials are not expected to remain stable in the MTZ for geological timescales, consistent with geophysical estimates. To explain the geochemical signatures of the Cenozoic basaltic volcanism in northern China, a mixed composition of the hydrous layer, including an enriched mantle‐type and a hybrid depleted mid‐ocean ridge basalts mantle/high μ‐type component, is required

Quantum Computing with Very Noisy Devices

In theory, quantum computers can efficiently simulate quantum physics, factor large numbers and estimate integrals, thus solving otherwise intractable computational problems. In practice, quantum computers must operate with noisy devices called ``gates'' that tend to destroy the fragile quantum states needed for computation. The goal of fault-tolerant quantum computing is to compute accurately even when gates have a high probability of error each time they are used. Here we give evidence that accurate quantum computing is possible with error probabilities above 3% per gate, which is significantly higher than what was previously thought possible. However, the resources required for computing at such high error probabilities are excessive. Fortunately, they decrease rapidly with decreasing error probabilities. If we had quantum resources comparable to the considerable resources available in today's digital computers, we could implement non-trivial quantum computations at error probabilities as high as 1% per gate.Comment: 47 page

Examination of the Relationship between In-Store Environmental Factors and Fruit and Vegetable Purchasing among Hispanics.

Retail food environments have received attention for their influence on dietary behaviors and for their nutrition intervention potential. To improve diet-related behaviors, such as fruit and vegetable (FV) purchasing, it is important to examine its relationship with in-store environmental characteristics. This study used baseline data from the "El Valor de Nuestra Salud" study to examine how in-store environmental characteristics, such as product availability, placement and promotion, were associated with FV purchasing among Hispanic customers in San Diego County. Mixed linear regression models indicated that greater availability of fresh FVs was associated with a $0.36 increase in FV purchasing (p = 0.01). Placement variables, specifically each additional square foot of display space dedicated to FVs (p = 0.01) and each additional fresh FV display (p = 0.01), were associated with a$0.02 increase and $0.29 decrease, respectively, in FV purchasing. Introducing FV promotions in the final model was not related to FV purchasing. Exploratory analyses indicated that men reported spending$3.69 fewer dollars on FVs compared to women, controlling for covariates (p = 0.02). These results can help inform interventions targeting in-store environmental characteristics to encourage FV purchasing among Hispanics