Observations and Laboratory Simulations of Tornadoes in Complex Topographical Regions

Aerial photos taken along the damage paths of the Joplin, MO, and Tuscaloosa-Birmingham, AL, tornadoes of 2011 captured and preserved several unique patterns of damage. In particular, a few distinct tree-fall patterns were noted along the Tuscaloosa-Birmingham tornado track that appeared highly influenced by the underlying topography. One such region was the focus of a damage survey and motivated laboratory vortex simulations with a 3-D foam representation of the underlying topography, in addition to simulations performed with idealized 2D topographic features, using Iowa State University\u27s tornado simulator. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore various aspects related to the interaction of a tornado or a tornado-like vortex with its underlying topography. Three topics are examined: 1) Analysis of tornado-induced tree-fall using aerial photography from the Joplin, MO, and Tuscaloosa-Birmingham, AL, tornadoes of 2011, 2) Laboratory investigation of topographical influences on a simulated tornado-like vortex, and 3) On the use of non-standard EF-scale damage indicators to categorize tornadoes

CASAM: Collaborative Human-machine Annotation of Multimedia.

The CASAM multimedia annotation system implements a model of cooperative annotation between a human annotator and automated components. The aim is that they work asynchronously but together. The system focuses upon the areas where automated recognition and reasoning are most effective and the user is able to work in the areas where their unique skills are required. The system’s reasoning is influenced by the annotations provided by the user and, similarly, the user can see the system’s work and modify and, implicitly, direct it. The CASAM system interacts with the user by providing a window onto the current state of annotation, and by generating requests for information which are important for the final annotation or to constrain its reasoning. The user can modify the annotation, respond to requests and also add their own annotations. The objective is that the human annotator’s time is used more effectively and that the result is an annotation that is both of higher quality and produced more quickly. This can be especially important in circumstances where the annotator has a very restricted amount of time in which to annotate the document. In this paper we describe our prototype system. We expand upon the techniques used for automatically analysing the multimedia document, for reasoning over the annotations generated and for the generation of an effective interaction with the end-user. We also present the results of evaluations undertaken with media professionals in order to validate the approach and gain feedback to drive further research

Технологии нанесения изоляционных покрытий при капитальном ремонте магистрального нефтепровода «Александровское-Анжеро-Судженск»

Объектом исследования является (ются) магистральный нефтепровод «Александров-ское – Анжеро – Судженск» км 440 – 441. Цель работы – Выявление оптимальных технологий нанесения изоляционных покрытий в трассовых условиях, участка линейной части магистрального нефтепровода «Александров-ское - Анжеро – Судженск» км 440 – 441, проложенного по заболоченной местности. В процессе исследования проводились Анализ переходного сопративления нефтепро-вода, расчет срока службы остаточного ресурсThe object of this study is (are) the main oil pipeline "Alexandrov - Anzhero - Sudzhensk" km 440 - 441. Objective - Identify optimal insulation coating technologies in the field conditions, the linear portion of the main oil pipeline "Alexandrov - Anzhero - Sudzhensk" km 440 - 441, laid on marshland The study carried out analysis of the transition soprativleniya pipeline calculation lifetime residual life of the insulating coating of the pipeline operated. The problems of insulation coating technologies. Presents measures for health and safety of the work, environmental protection, technical and economic part. The study was carried out a comparative analysis of transition soprativleniya pipeline in time. Based on these results, it was found that the use of insulation. "Transkor" Litkor - Tax Code has a number of advantages, one of which is to increase the life of the pipeline. The basic constructive, technological and technical and operational characteristics: Technology and organization of works and preparatory works, earthworks, insulating - styling work. Degree of implementation: On osnovonaii studies it was concluded that the needed overhaul with the replacement of the insulation portion of the current main oil pipeline "Alexandrov - Anzhero - Sudzhensk» 440-441 km. Scope: Main oil pipeline "Alexandrov - Anzhero - Sudzhensk 440-441 km, Tomsk region. Cost-effectiveness / value of the work effort with insulation coating during overhaul of the pipeline mechanized method is less than with manual application

The prognosis of oncologic patients in the pediatric intensive care unit

Objective: To evaluate the predicted mortality rate of oncologic patients in the PICU using the PRISM score and factors that might influence short-term outcomes. Design: Retrospective study. Setting: Pedriatic ICU in a university hospital. Patients and Methods: The medical charts of all oncologic patients admitted to the PICU during the period from January 1983 to December 1992 were reviewed. Main Results: Over a period of 10 years, 51 oncologic patients were admitted on 57 occasions to the PICU. The mortality was 32%. This is significantly higher than the overall mortality in the PICU (8%). Comparison of observed and predicted mortality, derived from the PRISM score, using chi square goodness-of-fit tests showed a significantly higher observed mortality (χ2(5) = 20.1, P < 0.01). Patients admitted for circulatory failure had the highest mortality (47%), followed by those with respiratory failure due to tachypnea/cyanosis (36%), central nervous system deterioration (27%), respiratory failure due to airway obstruction (25%), and metabolic disorders (20%). Of the 31 patients who needed mechanical ventilation, 17 died (55%), and when they needed inotropic support as well, the mortality increased to 69%. The mortality rose to 100% when the patient was admitted with a septic shock, necessitating mechanical ventilation and inotropic support. The median PRISM score was 5 in the survivor group and 18.5 in the non-survivor group; this difference was found to be significant using the Wilcoxon test (P = 0.01). However, some patients with high scores were found in the survivor group, as well as some with low scores in the non-survivor group. Conclusion: The decision to treat oncologic patients in a PICU remains difficult and has to be considered on an individual basis. However, oncologic patients do benefit from admission to the PICU. The PRISM score is not suitable for oncologic patients in the PICU, because it underestimates the observed mortality. Other factors like neutropenia, septic shock, the need for mechanical ventilation, and inotropic support should be taken into consideration

Atmospheric transport and chemistry of trace gases in LMDz5B: evaluation and implications for inverse modelling

Representation of atmospheric transport is a major source of error in the estimation of greenhouse gas sources and sinks by inverse modelling. Here we assess the impact on trace gas mole fractions of the new physical parameterizations recently implemented in the atmospheric global climate model LMDz to improve vertical diffusion, mesoscale mixing by thermal plumes in the planetary boundary layer (PBL), and deep convection in the troposphere. At the same time, the horizontal and vertical resolution of the model used in the inverse system has been increased. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of these developments on the representation of trace gas transport and chemistry, and to anticipate the implications for inversions of greenhouse gas emissions using such an updated model. Comparison of a one-dimensional version of LMDz with large eddy simulations shows that the thermal scheme simulates shallow convective tracer transport in the PBL over land very efficiently, and much better than previous versions of the model. This result is confirmed in three-dimensional simulations, by a much improved reproduction of the radon-222 diurnal cycle. However, the enhanced dynamics of tracer concentrations induces a stronger sensitivity of the new LMDz configuration to external meteorological forcings. At larger scales, the inter-hemispheric exchange is slightly slower when using the new version of the model, bringing them closer to observations. The increase in the vertical resolution (from 19 to 39 layers) significantly improves the representation of stratosphere/troposphere exchange. Furthermore, changes in atmospheric thermodynamic variables, such as temperature, due to changes in the PBL mixing modify chemical reaction rates, which perturb chemical equilibriums of reactive trace gases. One implication of LMDz model developments for future inversions of greenhouse gas emissions is the ability of the updated system to assimilate a larger amount of high-frequency data sampled at high-variability stations. Others implications are discussed at the end of the paper

Imaging zero-offset 3D P-cable data with CRS method

Standard seismic acquisition and processing require appropriate source-receiver offsets. P-cable technology represents the opposite, namely, very short source-receiver offsets at the price of increased spatial and lateral resolution with a high-frequency source. To use this advantage, a processing flow excluding offset information is required. This aim can be achieved with a processing tuned to diffractions because point diffractions scatter the same information in offset and midpoint direction. Usually, diffractions are small amplitude events and a careful diffraction separation is required as a first step. We suggest the strategy to use a multiparameter stacking operator, e.g, common-reflection surface, and stack along the midpoint direction. The obtained kinematic wavefront attributes are used to calculate time-migration velocities. A diffractivity map serves as filter to refine the velocities. This strategy is applied to a 3D P-cable data set to obtain a time-migrated image

The regional aerosol-climate model REMO-HAM

REMO-HAM is a new regional aerosol-climate model. It is based on the REMO regional climate model and includes most of the major aerosol processes. The structure for aerosol is similar to the global aerosol-climate model ECHAM5-HAM, for example the aerosol module HAM is coupled with a two-moment stratiform cloud scheme. On the other hand, REMO-HAM does not include an online coupled aerosol-radiation nor a secondary organic aerosol module. In this work, we evaluate the model and compare the results against ECHAM5-HAM and measurements. Four different measurement sites were chosen for the comparison of total number concentrations, size distributions and gas phase sulfur dioxide concentrations: Hyytiälä in Finland, Melpitz in Germany, Mace Head in Ireland and Jungfraujoch in Switzerland. REMO-HAM is run with two different resolutions: 50 × 50 km2 and 10 × 10 km2. Based on our simulations, REMO-HAM is in reasonable agreement with the measured values. The differences in the total number concentrations between REMO-HAM and ECHAM5-HAM can be mainly explained by the difference in the nucleation mode. Since we did not use activation nor kinetic nucleation for the boundary layer, the total number concentrations are somewhat underestimated. From the meteorological point of view, REMO-HAM represents the precipitation fields and 2 m temperature profile very well compared to measurement. Overall, we show that REMO-HAM is a functional aerosol-climate model, which will be used in further studies