The Improvement of Land Cover Classification by Thermal Remote Sensing

Land cover classification has been widely investigated in remote sensing for agricultural, ecological and hydrological applications. Landsat images with multispectral bands are commonly used to study the numerous classification methods in order to improve the classification accuracy. Thermal remote sensing provides valuable information to investigate the effectiveness of the thermal bands in extracting land cover patterns. k-NN and Random Forest algorithms were applied to both the single Landsat 8 image and the time series Landsat 4/5 images for the Attert catchment in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, trained and validated by the ground-truth reference data considering the three level classification scheme from COoRdination of INformation on the Environment (CORINE) using the 10-fold cross validation method. The accuracy assessment showed that compared to the visible and near infrared (VIS/NIR) bands, the time series of thermal images alone can produce comparatively reliable land cover maps with the best overall accuracy of 98.7% to 99.1% for Level 1 classification and 93.9% to 96.3% for the Level 2 classification. In addition, the combination with the thermal band improves the overall accuracy by 5% and 6% for the single Landsat 8 image in Level 2 and Level 3 category and provides the best classified results with all seven bands for the time series of Landsat TM images

The Improvement of Land Cover Classification by Thermal Remote Sensing

Land cover classification has been widely investigated in remote sensing for agricultural, ecological and hydrological applications. Landsat images with multispectral bands are commonly used to study the numerous classification methods in order to improve the classification accuracy. Thermal remote sensing provides valuable information to investigate the effectiveness of the thermal bands in extracting land cover patterns. k-NN and Random Forest algorithms were applied to both the single Landsat 8 image and the time series Landsat 4/5 images for the Attert catchment in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, trained and validated by the ground-truth reference data considering the three level classification scheme from COoRdination of INformation on the Environment (CORINE) using the 10-fold cross validation method. The accuracy assessment showed that compared to the visible and near infrared (VIS/NIR) bands, the time series of thermal images alone can produce comparatively reliable land cover maps with the best overall accuracy of 98.7% to 99.1% for Level 1 classification and 93.9% to 96.3% for the Level 2 classification. In addition, the combination with the thermal band improves the overall accuracy by 5% and 6% for the single Landsat 8 image in Level 2 and Level 3 category and provides the best classified results with all seven bands for the time series of Landsat TM images

Basic biochemical characterization of cytosolic enzymes in thymidine nucleotide synthesis in adult rat tissues: implications for tissue specific mitochondrial DNA depletion and deoxynucleoside-based therapy for TK2-deficiency

Background: Deficiency in thymidine kinase 2 (TK2) or p53 inducible ribonucleotide reductase small subunit (p53R2) is associated with tissue specific mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) depletion. To understand the mechanisms of the tissue specific mtDNA depletion we systematically studied key enzymes in dTMP synthesis in mitochondrial and cytosolic extracts prepared from adult rat tissues. Results: In addition to mitochondrial TK2 a cytosolic isoform of TK2 was characterized, which showed similar substrate specificity to the mitochondrial TK2. Total TK activity was highest in spleen and lowest in skeletal muscle. Thymidylate synthase (TS) was detected in cytosols and its activity was high in spleen but low in other tissues. TS protein levels were high in heart, brain and skeletal muscle, which deviated from TS activity levels. The p53R2 proteins were at similar levels in all tissues except liver where it was similar to 6-fold lower. Our results strongly indicate that mitochondria in most tissues are capable of producing enough dTTP for mtDNA replication via mitochondrial TK2, but skeletal muscle mitochondria do not and are most likely dependent on both the salvage and de novo synthesis pathways. Conclusion: These results provide important information concerning mechanisms for the tissue dependent variation of dTTP synthesis and explained why deficiency in TK2 or p53R2 leads to skeletal muscle dysfunctions. Furthermore, the presence of a putative cytosolic TK2-like enzyme may provide basic knowledge for the understanding of deoxynucleoside-based therapy for mitochondrial disorders

Experimental Study for Optimizing Pedestrian Flows at Bottlenecks of Subway Stations

In subway stations, bottlenecks are the narrowed areas that reduce pedestrian flows in channels. Because pedestrians at bottlenecks are forced to dense together, bottlenecks decrease flow efficiency and pedestrians’ transfer comfort and may trigger serious crowd disasters such as trampling. This study used pedestrian experiments to investigate the methods of optimizing pedestrian traffic at bottlenecks of subway stations. Three optimization measures were proposed and evaluated by analyzing the characteristics of pedestrian flows, including efficiency, smoothness, and security. In this paper, setting the rear sides of the bottleneck entrance as straight and surface funnel shapes is called straight funnel shape and surface funnel shape, respectively. Setting a column at a bottleneck is called the column obstacle. The results showed that when efficiency or security come first, a column on the left is recommended; when comfort comes first, a concave funnel is recommended; when comprehensiveness is prioritized, a column on the left is recommended. Moreover, the larger the volume, the optimization is more obvious. Although many  bottlenecks cannot be prevented when subway stations are constructed, the proposed optimization measures may help ease their adverse effects by improving facility efficiency, smoothness, and security, and by providing recommendations for designing and managing subway stations.</p

Facile synthesis of Cd-substituted zeolitic-imidazolate framework Cd-ZIF-8 and mixed-metal CdZn-ZIF-8

scientific paperZeolitic-imidazole framework ZIF-8 has attracted tremendous interests for the highresolution kinetic separation of propylene/propane mixture due to its effective aperture size in between the sizes of propylene and propane molecules. It is of great interest to fine-tune the effective aperture size of ZIF-8 either to improve its propylene/propane separation performances or to extend its use to the separation of other gas mixtures. It has been shown that substituting Zn with other metal nodes (e.g. Co) is a potential means to fine-tune the effective aperture size of ZIF-8. Here, we attempt to introduce another metal center, Cd, into ZIF-8 in a facile and scalable manner. Phase-pure Cd-ZIF-8 was successfully synthesized in methanol using a conventional solvothermal method, although it showed a narrow synthesis window. The presence of an organic base (triethylamine, TEA) was found critical not only for the facile synthesis of phase-pure Cd- ZIF-8 but also for the suppression of its phase transformation. A battery of characterizations including single-crystal X-ray structure solutions confirmed that the effective aperture size of Cd-ZIF-8 is the largest among its iso-structures (Zn-ZIF-8 and Co-ZIF-8). Finally, for the first time, mixed-metal CdZn-ZIF-8 crystals with various Cd/Zn ratios were solvothermally synthesized, demonstrating a further opportunity for varying the effective aperture sizes of ZIF-8 and its iso-structures.National Science Foundation Qatar National Research Fund Texas A&M Engineering Experimental Station

Adaptability Analysis of Service Facilities in Transfer Subway Stations

Service capability and matching degree of transfer facilities are directly related to the operational efficiency and safety of a subway station. Owing to differences in planning and construction, the transfer subway stations in developing countries have some defects in facility size and serviceability, which cause a decline in service performance, operation efficiency, and security level. In order to solve the problems, traffic investigations were conducted on the form, size, and operation status of several typical transfer subway facilities. The service facilities were classified within a subway station in this research by considering service objects, service forms, service functions, and several other features. In addition, pedestrian behavior and pedestrian flow characteristics in different service facilities were analyzed in detail. The research results are deemed meaningful for the optimization of service facilities in subway stations and for the development of urban pedestrian transportation systems

Catalytic Ozone Oxidation of Petrochemical Secondary Effluent: Mechanism, Application and Future Development

Petrochemical secondary effluent contains toxic and refractory organic compounds, which are difficult to be further treated by traditional biological process. In China, most of the advanced treatment units have been built recently by catalytic ozone oxidation process to achieve the high-quality effluent. In this chapter, the mechanism and reaction process of catalytic ozone oxidation of petrochemical secondary effluent will be introduced in detail. With the operation of the catalytic ozone oxidation tank, a series of problems which are not taken into account at the beginning of the design have arisen. The chapter will talk about the problems concerning the biological flocs, colloidal macromolecule organic compounds, ozone mass transfer, and catalysts based on practical applications. In the last part of the chapter, the development trends of catalytic ozone oxidation of petrochemical secondary effluent will also be discussed