Catalogue Of Features Research Articles

Developing and Testing a Touch-Path Model for Hand Hygiene and Pathogen Risk

Researchers explored 48 fast-food restaurant and coffee shop restrooms for factors that influence hand hygiene and the spread of disease. Using a naturalistic-observation approach, a catalogue of restroom design features requiring a hand touch were tabulated. Restroom data provided the basis for a conceptual framework for modeling pathogen risk, as defined by the number of hand touches to operate a restroom facility. The touch-path model tested whether men’s and women’s “perceptions of risk” and “intent to hand wash” were influenced by restroom use of commodes, urinals, design innovations, and other design configurations. Results showed that men’s and women’s perceptions of risk and intent to hand wash decreased as a function of design innovations. Women, as compared with men, reported greater perceptions of risk and intent to hand wash. In addition to the social-norm and self-awareness theory, this research supported the approach of understanding design-behavior interactions with respect to hand hygiene.

Analysis of deformation structures in Pliocene and Quaternary deposits of the Hyblean Plateaux (south-eastern Sicily)

A singular association of deformation structures that have disturbed terrains up to Quaternary age, has been detected along the rocky coast of Vendicari (south-eastern Sicily). These structures are soft sediment deformations consisting of autoclastic breccias, diapyr-like injections and thixotropic wedges, as well as fractures, generally opened and filled by sediments. Both soft and brittle deformations can be due either to trigger mechanisms internal to the sedimentary environment or to external causes. In order to define the deformation mechanisms affecting the deposits, the local paleo-environmental reconstruction and detailed deformation structure investigations have been performed. Moreover, fractures have been analysed by a mesostructural study and the examination of the microscopic features of the filling materials, to highlight possible relationships with the stress field induced by regional tectonics. The multi-theme analysis allowed us to discard internal trigger mechanisms as responsible of the deformations and to reasonably infer these deformation structures as being seismically induced. This interpretation is also supported by similarities with structures studied in other areas worldwide and commonly interpreted as seismites. The link between these records of seismic activity and the eastern Sicily seismicity is set into evidence by the analysis of the historical accounts which report the occurrence of structures similar to those detected at Vendicari, in several sites close to the study area. A major result of the present study is to improve the catalogue of deformation features, recorded in sedimentary units, attributed to earthquakes.

The Mouse Genome Database (MGD): premier model organism resource for mammalian genomics and genetics

The Mouse Genome Database (MGD) is the community model organism database for the laboratory mouse and the authoritative source for phenotype and functional annotations of mouse genes. MGD includes a complete catalog of mouse genes and genome features with integrated access to genetic, genomic and phenotypic information, all serving to further the use of the mouse as a model system for studying human biology and disease. MGD is a major component of the Mouse Genome Informatics (MGI, http://www.informatics.jax.org/) resource. MGD contains standardized descriptions of mouse phenotypes, associations between mouse models and human genetic diseases, extensive integration of DNA and protein sequence data, normalized representation of genome and genome variant information. Data are obtained and integrated via manual curation of the biomedical literature, direct contributions from individual investigators and downloads from major informatics resource centers. MGD collaborates with the bioinformatics community on the development and use of biomedical ontologies such as the Gene Ontology (GO) and the Mammalian Phenotype (MP) Ontology. Major improvements to the Mouse Genome Database include comprehensive update of genetic maps, implementation of new classification terms for genome features, development of a recombinase (cre) portal and inclusion of all alleles generated by the International Knockout Mouse Consortium (IKMC).

Representation of solar features in 3D for creating visual solar catalogues

In this study a method for 3D representation of active regions and sunspots that are detected from Solar and Heliospheric Observatory/Michelson Doppler Imager magnetogram and continuum images is provided. This is our first attempt to create a visual solar catalogue. Because of the difficulty of providing a full description of data in text based catalogues, it can be more accurate and effective for scientist to search 3D solar feature models and descriptions at the same time in such a visual solar catalogue. This catalogue would improve interpretation of solar images, since it would allow us to extract data embedded in various solar images and visualize it at the same time. In this work, active regions that are detected from magnetogram images and sunspots that are detected from continuum images are represented in 3D coordinates. Also their properties extracted from text based catalogues are represented at the same time in 3D environment. This is the first step for creating a 3D solar feature catalogue where automatically detected solar features will be presented visually together with their properties.

Morphological analysis of H i features - III. Metric space technique revisited

This is the third paper on the morphological analysis of H i features. As in the first paper, we use the mathematical formalism of the metric space technique, developed by F. C. Adams and J. Wiseman, to quantify the complexity of 21-cm interstellar maps. This method compares the one-dimensional ‘output functions' of the maps, which characterize specific morphological and kinematical aspects of the maps. The H i feature catalogue, from our first paper, is increased from 28 to 51 features of known origin, such as star formation regions, the environment of Wolf–Rayet (WR) stars and supernova remnants. The maps come from the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey (CGPS), and have a resolution of 1 cos δ arcmin. Also, significant improvements are applied to the metric space technique. We present a new data reduction technique, new and improved ‘output functions' and a better characterization of the noise propagation and uncertainties in functions. We again look for correlations between the complexity of the H i features and other intrinsic aspects such as age, excitation parameter u, wind velocity, |z| and distance. Many interesting correlations are measured, for example: (i) more complex H i is associated with intense flux emission from star formation regions; (ii) the higher the wind velocity of the WR star, the more complex the H i topology; (iii) the higher the H i feature above the Galactic plane, the less complex its topology.

F, G, K, M SPECTRAL STANDARDS IN THEYBAND (0.95-1.11 μm)

We take advantage of good atmospheric transparency and the availability of high quality instrumentation in the 1 um near-infrared atmospheric window to present a grid of F, G, K, and M spectral standards observed at high spectral resolution (R ~ 25,000). In addition to a spectral atlas, we present a catalog of atomic line absorption features in the 0.95-1.11 um range. The catalog includes a wide range of line excitation potentials, from 0-13 eV, arising from neutral and singly ionized species, most frequently those of Fe I and Ti I at low excitation, Cr I, Fe I, and Si I at moderate excitation, and C I, S I, and Si I having relatively high excitation. The spectra also include several prominent molecular bands from CN and FeH. For the atomic species, we analyze trends in the excitation potential, line depth, and equivalent width across the grid of spectroscopic standards to identify temperature and surface gravity diagnostics near 1 um. We identify the line ratios that appear especially useful for spectral typing as those involving Ti I and C I or S I, which are temperature sensitive in opposite directions, and Sr II, which is gravity sensitive at all spectral types. Ascii versions of all spectra are available to download with the electronic version of the journal.

Statistical properties of [formula omitted] flares in relation to sunspots and active regions in the cycle 23

The statistical properties of H α flare occurrences compared with those of sunspot and active region areas in the cycle 23. The flare numbers in the cycle 23 of all significances and locations were obtained from the Solar Geophysical Data (SGD) and the other data were taken from the automated Solar Feature Catalogues (SFC, http://solar.inf.brad.ac.uk). The average monthly flare occurrences during the whole cycle correlate closely with the total and cumulative areas of active regions and sunspots. The cumulative distribution of solar flare occurrences at different latitudes in the northern and southern hemispheres versus the time reveal a strong asymmetry with a domination of one or other hemispheres similar to the cumulative distributions of sunspots and active regions. Although the sunspot area asymmetry lags the flare occurrence asymmetry by about a few months at the ascending phase of the cycle and up to 12 months in the descending one. The latitudinal distribution of flare occurrences in the whole period reveals a well defined maximum at 18 ∘ in the northern and two maxima at 14 ∘ and 20 ∘ in the southern hemisphere. The longitudinal distributions of flare occurrence residuals of the running values and those averaged with a one year filter reveal a set of persistent longitudes in the opposite hemispheres lasting for about 1.0–1.5 years and changing quickly a few times over the cycle phases.

Melt-producing versus melt-consuming reactions in pelitic xenoliths and migmatites

Melt-producing reactions have operated both in pelitic xenoliths and in pelitic migmatites, but melt-consuming reactions, related to in situ melt crystallization, are largely restricted to migmatites. Hence, xenolith reaction textures may provide clues on the relative roles of both reaction types in migmatites. A comparison of xenoliths and migmatites results in a catalogue of textural and chemical features, some of which are argued to be diagnostic. The results have implications for the identification of restite in igneous rocks and for the relative importance of prograde and retrograde processes in different domains of layered migmatites.

Thermal imaging of sedimentary features on alluvial fans

Aerial thermal imaging is used to study grain-size distributions and induration on a wide variety of alluvial fans in the desert southwest of the United States. High-resolution aerial thermal images reveal evidence of sedimentary processes that rework and build alluvial fans, as preserved in the grain-size distributions and surface induration those processes leave behind. A catalog of constituent sedimentary features that can be identified using aerial thermal and visible imaging is provided. These features include clast-rich and clast-poor debris flows, incised channel deposits, headward-eroding gullies, sheetflood, lag surfaces, active/inactive lobes, distal sand-skirts and basin-related salt pans. Ground-based field observations of surface grain-size distributions, as well as morphologic, cross-cutting and topographic relationships were used to confirm the identifications of these feature types in remotely acquired thermal and visible images. Thermal images can also reveal trends in grain sizes between neighboring alluvial fans on a regional scale. Although inferences can be made using thermal images alone, the results from this study demonstrate that a more thorough geological interpretation of sedimentary features on an alluvial fan can be made using a combination of thermal and visible images. The results of this study have potential applications for Mars, where orbital thermal imaging might be used as a tool for evaluating constituent sedimentary processes on proposed alluvial fans.

Minimum Data Collection Dimensions in Topographic Information Systems

An overview is presented of the main subjects connected with topographic information systems, such as feature objects, object generalisation, acquisition criteria and minimum dimension. The ISO 19110 standard and INSPIRE initiative are explained in relation to minimum dimensions and data collection. The main section of the article refers to experiences in criteria acquisition within ATKIS and STOKIS. These are shown in mutual comparison and in comparison with solutions in classical cartography. The problem of minimum collecting dimensions of buildings is given special treatment. Adequate solutions to this problem are offered on the basis of research conducted. Experiences in treating linear and area features and how to select minimum collecting dimensions for the purpose of achieving optimal results are also presented. The research results are applicable in countries attempting to create their own topographic information system, or wanting to produce a new edition of their feature catalogue, as is the case in Croatia.

Automated techniques for the analysis of magnetic field inversion in filaments with the Solar Feature Catalogue

We present an automated comparison of magnetic field inversion line maps from SOHO/MDI magnetograms with solar filament data from the Solar Feature Catalogue created as part of the European Grid of Solar Observations project. The Euclidean distance transform and connected component labelling are used to identify nearest neighbour filament skeletons and inversion lines. Several filament-inversion line characteristics are defined and used to automate the decision whether a particular filament/inversion line pair is suitable for quantitative comparison of orientation and separation. The technique is tested on a total of 207 filaments from four H α images, and the distributions of angles and distances between filament skeletons and LOS magnetic inversion lines are presented for six degrees of magnetic field smoothing. The results show the approach is robust and can be applied for a statistical analysis of magnetic field in filaments.

Fingierte Mündlichkeit – inszenierte Interaktion. Die Novelle als Erzählmodell

Abstract The reflection of the genre of the “Novelle” (short novel) offers one way for a productive interpenetration of scientific literary and linguistic discussions about the phenomenon of textuality. It is the genre of the “Novelle” whose characterization has always been very dissatisfying according to traditional genre definitions within the scientific discourse. Typical formal and structural features are often too unspecific and mostly remain on the surface, if their function for the (con)text is not reflected adequately. Furthermore all the different catalogues of typical features mostly appear as static schemes that cannot do justice equally well to all the various manifestations of the “Novelle” as to the historical change of the genre itself. Due to these facts the article by Christine Lubkoll tries to define the genre of the “Novelle” and its specific textual manifestations with regard to its historically changing contextual conditions. The thesis of the article is that the narration of short novels itself reflects the social and cultural changes and the changes of media within the process of narration as a cultural practice. This becomes evident through textual markers as well as through dynamically developing textual features; both, the textual markers and the textual features of the genre have led to a strong genre-intertextuality; a dialogue of different texts and different époques. The first part of the article by Christine Lubkoll illustrates the history of the genre of the “Novelle” and its specific social and cultural relevance within different literary époques. It is then followed by the second part, an analysis of Goethes “Unterhaltungen deutscher Ausgewanderten” and Musils “Die Amsel”.

Automatic Detection and Classification of Coronal Holes and Filaments Based on EUV and Magnetogram Observations of the Solar Disk

A new method for the automated detection of coronal holes and filaments on the solar disk is presented. The starting point is coronal images taken by the Extreme Ultraviolet Telescope on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO/EIT) in the Fe ix/x 171 A, Fe xii 195 A, and He ii 304 A extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lines and the corresponding full-disk magnetograms from the Michelson Doppler Imager (SOHO/MDI) from different phases of the solar cycle. The images are processed to enhance their contrast and to enable the automatic detection of the two candidate features, which are visually indistinguishable in these images. Comparisons are made with existing databases, such as the He i 10830 A NSO/Kitt Peak coronal-hole maps and the Solar Feature Catalog (SFC) from the European Grid of Solar Observations (EGSO), to discriminate between the two features. By mapping the features onto the corresponding magnetograms, distinct magnetic signatures are then derived. Coronal holes are found to have a skewed distribution of magnetic-field intensities, with values often reaching 100 – 200 gauss, and a relative magnetic-flux imbalance. Filaments, in contrast, have a symmetric distribution of field intensity values around zero, have smaller magnetic-field intensity than coronal holes, and lie along a magnetic-field reversal line. The identification of candidate features from the processed images and the determination of their distinct magnetic signatures are then combined to achieve the automated detection of coronal holes and filaments from EUV images of the solar disk. Application of this technique to all three wavelengths does not yield identical results. Furthermore, the best agreement among all three wavelengths and NSO/Kitt Peak coronal-hole maps occurs during the declining phase of solar activity. The He ii data mostly fail to yield the location of filaments at solar minimum and provide only a subset at the declining phase or peak of the solar cycle. However, the Fe ix/x 171 A and Fe xii 195 A data yield a larger number of filaments than the Hα data of the SFC.

Can Feature Catalogues Improve the Display and Use of Spatial Data?

It is often difficult to convey information in a way that ensures a common understanding of a concept; this is particularly true in the representation of real-world features in geospatial data and products. In this paper, how the use of standardized feature catalogues can help ensure that the richness of information in the data that is captured is available for interpretation and use by the end-user is examined.

SplicePort--An interactive splice-site analysis tool

SplicePort is a web-based tool for splice-site analysis that allows the user to make splice-site predictions for submitted sequences. In addition, the user can also browse the rich catalog of features that underlies these predictions, and which we have found capable of providing high classification accuracy on human splice sites. Feature selection is optimized for human splice sites, but the selected features are likely to be predictive for other mammals as well. With our interactive feature browsing and visualization tool, the user can view and explore subsets of features used in splice-site prediction (either the features that account for the classification of a specific input sequence or the complete collection of features). Selected feature sets can be searched, ranked or displayed easily. The user can group features into clusters and frequency plot WebLogos can be generated for each cluster. The user can browse the identified clusters and their contributing elements, looking for new interesting signals, or can validate previously observed signals. The SplicePort web server can be accessed at http://www.cs.umd.edu/projects/SplicePort and http://www.spliceport.org.

Time distance study of isolated sunspots

AbstractWe present a comparative seismic study of conditions around and beneath isolated sunspots. Using the European Grid of Solar Observations' Solar Feature Catalogue of sunspots derived from SOHO/MDI continuum and magnetogram data, 1996–2005, we identify a set of isolated sunspots by checking that within a Carrington Rotation there were no other spots detected in the vicinity. We then use level‐2 tracked MDI Dopplergrams available from SOHO website to investigate wave‐speed perturbations of such sunspots using time‐distance helioseismology. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Active Region Detection and Verification With the Solar Feature Catalogue

We describe the automated extraction of active regions (ARs) or plages from the European Grid of Solar Observations (EGSO) Solar Feature Catalogue using a region-growing technique. In this work, Hα and Ca ii K3 solar images from the Meudon Observatory and EUV solar images from the SOHO/EIT instrument were used. For better detection accuracy, the statistical properties of each quarter of a full disk solar image are used to define local intensity thresholds for an initial segmentation that helps to define AR seeds. Median filtering and morphological operations are applied to the resulting binary image in order to remove noise and to merge broken regions. The centroids of each labelled region are used as seeds, from which a region-growing procedure starts. Statistics-based local thresholding is also applied to compute upper- and lower- threshold intensity values defining the spatial extents of the regions. The detection results obtained with the resulting automated thresholding and region-growing (ATRG) procedure are compared day-by-day with the synoptic maps manually generated by the Meudon Observatory and NOAA for 2 months in 2002 and more coarsely over a 5-year period. The moderate correlation found between our detection results and those produced manually on the other data sets reveals a need for a unified active region definition. As an application of the SFC for ARs we present the tracking of the active region AR NOAA 10484 during its appearance on the solar disk from 19–26 October 2003 and compare its intensity variations for Hα and Fe xii 195 A wavelengths.

A New Way to look at Observations with EGSO

The European Grid of Solar Observations (EGSO) is a Solar virtual observatory (see Hill et al., 2002). It has been funded through the 5th Framework Program of the European Community. A dozen of laboratories, mixing Solar Physics and Information Technology, in Great Britain, France, Italy and Swiss have been involved in this project during 3 years. A grid accessing several dozens of databases and archives scattered all around the world has been developped as well as a Solar Event Catalogue and a Solar Feature Catalogue. The original aspect of this work consists in the possibility not only to search through the characteristics of observations, but also search for available data corresponding to specific kinds of events. So it is now very important to be able to follow the Sun 24 hours a day in order to enrich the events database for future queries. More informations on EGSO, catalogues and user interface can be accessd through the web site: http://www.egso.org/

Feature-based Interoperability between Design and Analysis Processes

Nowadays, not only the production but also the design of industrial products is subject to severe constraints in terms of time, quality and delay. In order to satisfy these constraints, it is necessary to efficiently integrate the most recurrent tasks of the design process. For a large majority of mechanical products, the integration of mechanical analysis into the design process is one of the most obvious and crucial requirements, particularly during the early stages of design. This article presents an original model of design and analysis process interoperability, based on the concept of mechanical analysis features and a semantically rich product model. It is intended to support a variety of typical analysis tasks that are frequently required during the mechanical design process. The authors firstly present a brief survey of CAD/analysis integration approaches in order to position their contribution within this domain. Then, a general structure of analysis features is justified by means of experimental results. In order to highlight the modes of interoperability between design and analysis, the authors detail the main characteristics of the product model upon which the design activity is based. This delineation is followed by a formal description of the analysis features, and a proposition for their organisation in feature catalogues. The authors then consider the implementation aspect for these models, and present a scenario illustrating the benefits and current limitations of their approach. The evaluation of the approach is discussed in the conclusion.

Statistical analysis of the sunspot area and magnetic flux variations in 1996–2005 extracted from the Solar Feature Catalogue

This research presents some statistical properties of sunspots and their magnetic fields extracted in from May 1996 to May 2005 from the SOHO/MDI full disk whitelight images and magnetograms for the searchable Solar Feature Catalogue (SFC) using the automated pattern recognition techniques. A comparison of the total sunspot areas on a given day from the SFC with the daily sunspot areas available from US AF SOON data for 2000–2004 reveal a very good correlation of the datasets with the correlation coefficient of ∼93%. The total sunspot areas in the Northern and Southern hemispheres measured from a single solar image and their cumulative areas during the whole cycle are shown to have a strong North-South asymmetry with the Northern hemisphere prevailing around and after the maximum while the Southern one Schatten taking over towards the coming solar minimum. The similar N-S asymmetry is observed in a total and resulting, or excess, magnetic fluxes. The former is found to follow closely the N-S asymmetry in the sunspot areas while the latter shows a very significant flux separation in the opposite hemispheres. The excess flux is negative in the Southern hemisphere and positive in the Northern one during a long period from 1997 until 2004. During the solar minimum in 1996, the signs of total excess fluxes in the hemispheres are changed to the opposite and a similar change appears in 2003–2004 towards the approaching solar minimum. Since the magnetic field in sunspots is those of the leading polarity, so the excess magnetic flux evolution is believed to show a change of the magnetic field leading polarity during the solar cycle minima, while the asymmetry of the total magnetic flux, possibly, reflects the asymmetry of a poloidal magnetic field, as it is predicted by the oscillatory dynamo models.