Divergence Center Research Articles

Sensor Management with Dynamic Clustering for Bearings-Only Multi-Target Tracking via Swarm Intelligence Optimization

Sensor management is a crucial research subject for multi-sensor multi-target tracking in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) with limited resources. Bearings-only tracking produces further challenges related to high nonlinearity and poor observability. Moreover, energy efficiency and energy balancing should be considered for sensor management in WSNs, which involves networking and transmission. This paper formulates the sensor management problem in the partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP) framework and uses the cardinality-balanced multi-target multi-Bernoulli (CBMeMBer) filter for tracking. A threshold control method is presented to reduce the impact on tracking accuracy when using bearings-only measurements for sequential update. Moreover, a Cauchy–Schwarz divergence center is defined to construct a new objective function for efficiently finding the optimal sensor subset via swarm intelligence optimization. This is also conducive to dynamic clustering for the energy efficiency and energy balancing of the network. The simulation results illustrate that the proposed solution can achieve good tracking performance with less energy, and especially that it can effectively balance network energy consumption and prolong network lifetime.

Global phylogeographical distribution of Gloeoporus dichrous.

Phylogeographic analyses are efficient in ecological and evolutionary studies to discover the origin of a lineage, its dispersal routes, and the divergence of ancestral traits. Studies on widespread wood-decay fungi have revealed the phylogenetic division of several polypores based on geographical distribution. In this study, specimens of Gloeoporus dichrous, a cosmopolitan polypore species, were collected globally and analyzed for their geographic distribution. Multi-marker Bayesian molecular clock and haplotype analyses revealed a clear division of G. dichrous populations by continent. The species diverged from its neighboring clades 10.3 (16.0-5.6) million years ago, with Asian and North American populations at the center of divergence. Possible dispersal mechanisms and pathways are predicted and discussed based on the evaluated transfer routes. The biogeography of G. dichrous analyzed in this study represents a fraction of the polypore evolution and may advance the understanding of the overall evolution of wood-decay fungi.

High-resolution imaging of solar pores

Context. Light bridges are bright, long, and narrow features that are typically connected to the formation or decay processes of sunspots and pores. Aims. The interaction of magnetic fields and plasma flows is investigated in the trailing part of an active region, where pores and magnetic knots evolve into a complex sunspot. The goal is to identify the photospheric and chromospheric processes, which transform the mainly vertical magnetic fields of pores into a sunspot with multiple umbral cores, light bridges, and rudimentary penumbrae. Methods. Conducting observations with a broad variety of telescopes and instruments provides access to different atmospheric layers and the changing morphology of features connected to strong magnetic fields. While the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) of the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) provides full-disk continuum images and line-of-sight magnetograms, the fine structure and flows around a pore can be deduced from high-resolution observations in various wavelengths as provided by the Goode Solar Telescope (GST) at the Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO). Horizontal proper motions are evaluated applying local correlation tracking (LCT) to the available time series, whereas the connectivity of sunspot features can be established using the background-subtracted activity maps (BaSAMs). Results. Photospheric flow maps indicate radial outflows, where the light bridge connects to the surrounding granulation, whereas inflows are present at the border of the pores. In contrast, the chromospheric flow maps show strong radial outflows at superpenumbral scales, even in the absence of a penumbra in the photosphere. The region in between the two polarities is characterized by expanding granules creating strong divergence centers. Variations in BaSAMs follow locations of significant and persistent changes in and around pores. The resulting maps indicate low variations along the light bridge, as well as thin hairlines connecting the light bridge to the pores and strong variations at the border of pores. Various BaSAMs demonstrate the interaction of pores with the surrounding supergranular cell. The Hα line-of-sight velocity maps provide further insights into the flow structure, with twisted motions along some of the radial filaments around the pore with the light bridge. Furthermore, flows along filaments connecting the two polarities of the active region are pronounced in the line-of-sight velocity maps. Conclusions. The present observations reveal that even small-scale changes of plasma motions in and around pores are conducive to transform pores into sunspots. In addition, chromospheric counterparts of penumbral filaments appear much earlier than the penumbral filaments in the photosphere. Penumbra formation is aided by a stable magnetic feature that anchors the advection of magnetic flux and provides a connection to the surrounding supergranular cell, whereas continuously emerging flux and strong light bridges are counteragents that affect the appearance and complexity of sunspots and their penumbrae.

Synoptic-Scale Effects of Atmospheric Heat Source over Key Areas of the Tibetan Plateau on Its Downstream Rainfall in Summer

Abstract This study demonstrates the synoptic-scale relationship between the atmospheric heat source over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) (TP<Q1>) and summer rainfall in eastern China. The results show that the summer TP<Q1> has three key areas [eastern, western, and northeastern TP (TPE, TPW, TPNE, respectively)] and 3–8-day dominant oscillation periods on the synoptic time scale for each subregion. Analogously, on the synoptic scale, the downstream rainfall of the TP in China has six sensitive regions (zone I to zone VI), each with 3–8-day dominant periods. The TPE<Q1>, TPW<Q1>, and TPNE<Q1> lead rainfall by 4 days with a southeastward propagation pathway, by 5 days with both southeastward and northeastward propagation routes, and by 4 days with an eastward route, respectively. Mechanistically, when TP<Q1> lies in the positive-to-negative transition phase, the rainfall moves off the TP and reaches the maximum in its most inactive phase; the jet cores embedded in the subtropical westerly jet band and the trough from the region of the TP<Q1> lead the eastward movement of the rainfall by the propagation of the divergence center and generalized moist potential vorticity. Besides, the southwest vortex and northwest vortex generated at the southeastern and northeastern flank of the TP are the main cause for the southeastward and northeastward or eastward movement of the precipitation. Further internal atmospheric dynamic structures indicate that both the horizontal moisture advection and generalized moist potential vorticity advection act on the entire propagation processes of the synoptic-scale signals for each TP<Q1> key area. In conclusion, the study has obvious theoretical significance and application value for the development of plateau synoptics.

The impact of persistent anomalous precipitation in Southwest China caused by low-frequency atmospheric disturbances in different latitudes and altitudes

Previous studies have pointed out that persistent abnormal precipitation is closely related to atmospheric low-frequency oscillation, and Southwest China can be affected by low-frequency oscillation in different latitudes and altitudes. Therefore, it is necessary to study the relationship between persistent abnormal precipitation in Southwest China and low-frequency oscillation. In this study, the characteristics of atmospheric low-frequency oscillation in different latitudes and altitudes affecting persistent extreme precipitation in Southwest China were discussed by synthetic analysis and Butterworth filtering with precipitation data from meteorological stations and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data, and the configuration relationship of low-frequency systems in three-dimensional space was shown. The results showed the following: 1) in the low-frequency circulation field, the Ural Mountains, east of Lake Baikal, the Sea of Okhotsk (Japan), the Western Pacific subtropical high control area, the South China Sea, the Indian Peninsula, and the Bay of Bengal were the key areas affecting precipitation; 2) oscillation could better reflect the original circulation characteristics at all latitudes of each layer, and on a period of oscillation of 15–30 days, it will affect precipitation at all altitudes and latitudes; and 3) at the lower level, different low-frequency cyclones and anticyclones moved to the mid-latitude and converged in different forms in the precipitation area. In the middle layer, the low-frequency high-pressure and low-pressure centers in the middle and high latitudes moved southward, finally forming a circulation situation of the high west and low east. At the upper level, the rainy area was controlled by low-frequency anticyclones and divergence centers from different regions, forming a high-altitude divergence field. The results can provide a theoretical basis for forecasting the extended period of persistent heavy rain in Southwest China.

The Concept of Anxiety in Ontological Security Studies

Abstract The growing literature on ontological security theory (OST) in international relations, ontological security studies (OSS), is characterized by great internal diversity. This internal pluralism is one of its greatest strengths, but it is also potentially confusing, for example, when different works using an ontological security lens arrive at contradictory conclusions without it being obvious why. In order to make sense of this diversity, this article traces two interrelated conceptual divergences related to the notion of anxiety. The first one concerns the observation that anxiety is seemingly both debilitating and an impediment to action, as well as a call to action, inspiring adaptation and change. The second divergence centers on whether ontological security is at all attainable, which is largely a matter of whether anxiety is best understood as an extraordinary and temporally limited condition or as an ever-present and normal part of life. This article argues that the divergent answers to these questions, and the problems they give rise to, are primarily the result of ambiguity with regard to the key concept of anxiety. The malleable nature of the concept of anxiety engenders deviating interpretations and applications among scholars. While awareness of these issues already goes a long way toward making sense of some of the diversity within OSS, this article further suggests ways to increase the conceptual clarity of anxiety and to address the two issues of change and attainability. Doing so increases our conceptual understanding of OST.

Quantitative Physical Ergonomics Assessment of Teleoperation Interfaces

Human factors and ergonomics are the essential constituents of teleoperation interfaces, which can significantly affect the human operator’s performance. Thus, a quantitative evaluation of these elements and the ability to establish reliable comparison bases for different teleoperation interfaces are the keys to select the most suitable one for a particular application. However, most of the works on teleoperation have so far focused on the stability analysis and the transparency improvement of these systems and do not cover the important usability aspects. In this article, we propose a foundation to build a general framework for the analysis of human factors and ergonomics in employing diverse teleoperation interfaces. The proposed framework will go beyond the traditional subjective analyses of usability by complementing it with online measurements of human body configurations. As a result, multiple quantitative metrics, such as joints’ usage, range of motion comfort, center of mass divergence, and posture comfort, are introduced. To demonstrate the potential of the proposed framework, two different teleoperation interfaces are considered, and real-world experiments with 11 participants performing a simulated industrial remote pick-and-place task are conducted. The quantitative results of this analysis are provided, and compared with subjective questionnaires, illustrating the effectiveness of the proposed framework.

A divergence center interpretation of general symmetric Kubo-Ando means, and related weighted multivariate operator means

It is well known that special Kubo-Ando operator means admit divergence center interpretations, moreover, they are also mean squared error estimators for certain metrics on positive definite operators. In this paper we give a divergence center interpretation for every symmetric Kubo-Ando mean. This characterization of the symmetric means naturally leads to a definition of weighted and multivariate versions of a large class of symmetric Kubo-Ando means. We study elementary properties of these weighted multivariate means, and note in particular that in the special case of the geometric mean we recover the weighted A#H-mean introduced by Kim, Lawson, and Lim [9].

Impact of Dynamic and Thermal Forcing on the Intensity Evolution of the Vortices over the Tibetan Plateau in Boreal Summer

The Tibetan Plateau Vortex (TPV) is one of the main weather systems causing heavy rainfall over the Tibetan Plateau in boreal summer. Based on the second Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA-2) reanalysis datasets provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), 8 cases of TPV over the Tibetan Plateau generated in June-August with a lifetime of 42 hours are composited and analyzed to reveal the impact of dynamic and thermal forcing on the intensity evolution of TPVs. The results are as follows. (1) The TPVs appear obviously at 500 hPa and the TPVs intensity (TPVI) shows an obvious diurnal variation with the strongest at 00LT and the weakest at 12LT (LT=UTC+6h). (2) A strong South Asia High at 200 hPa as well as a shrunken Western Pacific Subtropical High at 500 hPa provide favorable conditions for the TPVI increasing. (3) The vorticity budget reveals that the divergence is indicative of the variation of the TPVI. The TPVI decreases when the convergence center at 500 hPa and the divergence center at 200 hPa lie in the east of the TPVs center and increases when both centers coincide with the TPVs center. (4) Potential vorticity (PV) increases with the enhancement of the TPVI. The PV budget shows that the variation of the TPVI is closely related to the diabatic heating over the Tibetan Plateau. The increased sensible heating and radiative heating in the boundary layer intensify the ascent and latent heating release. When the diabatic heating center rises to 400 hPa, it facilitates the development of the TPVs.

Comparison of the movement and vertical structures of two types of the southwest vortex

Based on regional model simulations of two distinct cases of the southwest vortex (SWV), this study compares their thermal and dynamic features and the differences in the evolution between a steady SWV and an eastwardly propagating SWV. The main results are as follows: (1) the rainfall period and area are determined by the location and movement of the SWV. The pathway of SWV movement is largely controlled by large-scale circulation, especially the subtropical high, which may have a blocking effect on the SWV. Generally, a stable subtropical high extending to the west has a blocking effect that leads to a steady SWV without much movement, while the eastward and southward retreat of the subtropical high favors the eastward propagation of the SWV; (2) both of the SWV types exhibit a vertical structure of convergence, positive vorticity, vertical motion maxima and a divergence center sequentially from the lower to the upper atmosphere. The localized thermal conditions are more important in steady SWV than in the eastwardly propagating SWV, while dynamic effects dominate in the eastwardly propagating SWV; (3) the strength of the convective activity of the eastwardly propagating SWV is significantly greater than that of the steady SWV due to the increased atmospheric instability. The vertical velocity, vorticity, divergence and surrounding wind speed are much greater for the eastwardly propagating SWV than the steady SWV, which favors the increased strength and high-level development of the eastwardly propagating SWV.

Excessive short-latency stretch reflexes in the calf muscles do not cause postural instability in patients with hereditary spastic paraplegia

ObjectiveTo identify the role of hyperexcitable short-latency stretch reflexes (SLRs) on balance control in people with hereditary spastic paraplegia (PwHSP). MethodsSixteen PwHSP with triceps surae spasticity and 9 healthy control subjects were subjected to toes-up support-surface perturbations. EMG data were recorded from gastrocnemius, soleus and tibialis anterior. Furthermore, center-of-mass trajectories were recorded. ResultsPwHSP were less able to withstand the perturbations. Triceps surae SLRs (40–80 ms post perturbation) in PwHSP were increased compared to healthy subjects. Furthermore, a sustained triceps surae EMG activity at 220–320 ms post perturbation was observed in PwHSP, whereas control subjects demonstrated suppression of triceps surae activity. Center of mass trajectories started to diverge between PwHSP and controls only after ∼500 ms, with greater excursions being observed in the PwHSP. ConclusionsThe present results confirm that balance control is impaired in PwHSP. However, the late instant of center of mass divergence argues against a direct, causative role of hyperexcitable SLRs in the triceps surae. SignificanceWe postulate that enhanced short-latency stretch reflexes of the triceps surae do not underlie poor balance control in PwHSP. Instead, we suggest the lack of suppression of later triceps surae activity to be the main cause.

Why is there a tilted cloud vertical structure associated with the northward advance of the East Asian summer monsoon

AbstractThe cloud fraction demonstrates an obvious northward‐tilting structure associated with the northward advance of the East Asian summer monsoon. As a follow‐up study, this study explores the physical explanation of the tilted structure based on ERA‐Interim data. The lower convergence center is located on the northern side of the convective center, and the upper divergence center is located on the southern side of the convective center. This specific atmospheric circulation promotes the formation of the tilted cloud vertical structure. Further study shows that the convective instability layer is thinner, and the convective available potential energy is smaller on the northern side of the convective center, favoring the formation of cumulus and altocumulus clouds in the lower troposphere. Condensation from cumulus convection releases latent heat, enhancing convective activity and generating an abundance of deep convective clouds. As the cloud anvils after deep convective clouds collapse, high clouds accumulate in the upper troposphere and are transported to the southern side of the convective center. Therefore, the observed clouds demonstrate a tilted structure. This study can be used to validate cloud vertical structure simulated by climate and weather models.

A PMIP3 narrative of modulation of ENSO teleconnections to the Indian summer monsoon by background changes in the Last Millennium

Using nine model simulations from the PMIP3, we study simulated mean Indian summer (June–September) climate and its variability during the Last Millennium (LM; CE0850-1849) with emphasis on the Medieval Warm Period (MWP; CE1000-1199) and Little Ice Age (LIA; CE1550-1749), after validation of the simulated ‘current day (CE1850-2005)’ climate and trends. We find that the simulated above (below) mean-LM summer temperatures during the MWP (LIA) are associated with relatively higher (lower) moisture, and relatively higher (lower) number of concurrent El Ninos (La Ninas). Importantly, the models simulate higher (lower) Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR) during the MWP (LIA) compared to the LM-mean, notwithstanding a strong simulated negative correlation between NINO3.4 index and the area-averaged ISMR. Interestingly, the percentage of the simulated strong El Ninos (La Ninas) associated with negative (positive) ISMR anomalies is higher (lower) in the LIA (MWP). This nonlinearity is explained by the simulated background climate changes, as follows. Distribution of simulated anomalous 850 hPa boreal summer velocity potential during MWP in models indicates, relative to the mean LM conditions, a zone of anomalous convergence in the central tropical Pacific flanked by two zones of divergence, i.e. a westward shift in the Walker circulation. The anomalous divergence centre in the west during the MWP also extends into the equatorial eastern Indian Ocean, triggering in an anomalous convergence zone over India and relatively higher moisture transport therein and therefore excess rainfall during the MWP as compared to the LM-mean, and hence an apparent weakening in the El Nino impact.

Genetic variation and phylogeography of the Triatoma dimidiata complex evidence a potential center of origin and recent divergence of haplogroups having differential Trypanosoma cruzi and DTU infections.

The population genetics of Triatoma dimidiata haplogroups was analyzed at landscape and sub-regional scales in Chiapas and regional level across the Mexican Neotropics, and phylogeography of the complex was re-analyzed across its complete geographic range. Two contiguous fragments of the ND4 gene were analyzed due to bias from differential haplogroup specificity using a previously designed sequence. At both landscape (anthropic modification gradient) and regional (demographic, fragmentation, biogeographic, climate) scales, lowest T. dimidiata genetic diversity occurs where there is greatest historical anthropic modification, and where T. cruzi infection prevalence is significantly highest. Trypanosoma cruzi prevalence was significantly higher than expected in haplogroups 1 and 3, while lower than expected in haplogroup 2. There was also a significant difference of DTUI and DTUVI infection frequencies in both haplogroups 1 and 3, while no difference of either in haplogroup 2. All haplogroups from the Mexican Neotropics had moderate to high haplotype diversity, while greatest genetic differentiation was between haplogroups 1 and 3 (above FST = 0.868, p < 0.0001). Divergence of the complex from the MRCA was estimated between 0.97 MYA (95% HPD interval = 0.55–1.53 MYA) and 0.85 MYA (95% HPD interval = 0.42–1.5 MYA) for ND4A and both concatenated fragments, respectively, with primary divergence from the MRCA of haplogroups 2 and 3. Effective population size for Mexican haplogroups 1 and 2 increased between 0.02 and 0.03 MYA. This study supports previous ecological niche evidence for the complex´s origin surrounding the Tehuantepec Isthmus, and provides evidence for recent divergence of three primary dimidiata haplogroups, with differential T. cruzi infection frequency and DTU specificity, important components of vector capacity.

Joint Impacts of SSTA in Tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans on Variations of the WPSH

Using the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis and HadISST sea surface temperature (SST) data, the joint effects of the tropi-cal Indian Ocean and Pacific on variations of area of the summertime western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH) for period 1980–2016 are investigated. It is demonstrated that the central tropical Indian Ocean (CTI) and central equatorial Pacific (CEP) are two key oceanic regions that affect the summertime WPSH. During autumn and winter, warm SST anomalies (SSTAs) in CEP force the Walker circulation to change anomalously, resulting in divergence anomalies over the western Pacific and Maritime Continent (MC). Due to the Gill-type response, the abnormal anticyclonic circulation is generated over the western Pacific and South China Sea (SCS). In the subsequent spring, the warm SSTAs in CEP weaken, while the SST over CTI demonstrates a lagged response to Pacific SSTA. The warm CTI-SSTA and CEP-SSTA cooperate with the eastward propagation of cold Kelvin waves in the western Pacific, leading to the eastward shift of the abnormal divergence center that originally locates at the western Pacific and MC. The anticyclone forced by this divergence subsequently moves eastward, leading to the intensification of the negative vorticity there. Meanwhile, warm SSTA in CTI triggers eastward propagating Kelvin waves, which lead to easterly anomalies over the equatorial Indian Ocean and Indonesia, being favorable for maintenance and intensification of the anticyclone over the SCS and western Pacific. The monsoonal meridional–vertical circulation strengthens, which is favorable for the intensification of the WPSH. Using SSTA over the two key oceanic regions as predictors, a multiple regression model is successfully constructed for prediction of WPSH area. These results are useful for our better understanding the variation mechanisms of WPSH and better predicting summer climate in East Asia.

The southwestern origin and eastward dispersal of pear (Pyrus pyrifolia) in East Asia revealed by comprehensive genetic structure analysis with SSR markers

Pyrus pyrifolia is considered one of the most important cultivated Pyrus species. Hundreds of landraces and bred cultivars have been developed through the natural and artificial hybridizations necessary due to self-incompatibility. In this study, the genetic diversity of 478 Pyrus accessions, including Chinese landraces, bred cultivars, and wild samples, as well as introduced pear cultivars from Japan and Korea, was investigated with a set of 17 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers distributed across all 17 linkage groups of the pear genome. A total of 121 alleles were detected, including 4 rare alleles with a frequency lower than 5%. Diversity statistics indicated a high level of genetic variation as quantified by the average values of the observed heterozygosity, the expected heterozygosity, and Wright’s fixation index, at 0.76, 0.78, and 0.02, respectively. Population structure and discriminant analysis of principal component analysis implied extensive genetic communication between sand pears in China and revealed four contiguous geographical clusters with overlapping geographical regions. The diversity of the four clusters and approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) indicated that sand pear spread from west to east along the Pearl River and Yangtze River valleys. High diversity and polyphyletic genetic components of cultivars in southwestern China further support southwestern China as the probable center of divergence for Pyrus species. A core collection of 80 out of 470 cultivars was selected, accounting for about 17% of accessions, and capturing 91% of all alleles, including all rare alleles. Our research provides a comprehensive understanding of sand pear germplasm in East Asia and constructs a preliminary core collection, which will be useful for association genetics studies, germplasm conservation, and breeding programs.

The spring Yellow Sea fog: synoptic and air–sea characteristics associated with different airflow paths

The fog occurs frequently over the Yellow Sea in spring (April–May), a climatical period of Asian monsoon transition. A comprehensive survey of the characteristic weather pattern and the air-sea condition is provided associated with the fog for the period of 1960–2006. The sea fog is categorized by airflow pathways of backward trajectory cluster analysis with the surface observations derived from international comprehensive oceanatmosphere dataset (I_COADS) I_COADS datasets and contemporaneous wind fields from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) reanalysis. On the basis of the airflow paths, the large-scale lower-tropospheric circulation patterns and the associated surface divergence, the distribution of a vertical humidity, the horizontal water vapor transportation and the air-sea temperature difference are investigated and the major findings are summarized as follows. (1) Four primary clusters of the airflow paths that lead to spring sea fog formation are identified. They are originated from the northwest, east, southeast and southwest of the Yellow Sea, respectively. (2) Springtime Yellow Sea fog occurs under two typical weather patterns: the Yellow Sea high (YSH) and cyclone and anticyclone couplet (CAC). Each pattern appears by about equal chance in April but the YSH occurrence drops to around one third and the CAC rises to around two third of chance in May. (3) The common feature in the two types of synoptic conditions is that surface divergence center is located over the Yellow Sea. (4) For the YSH type of fog, water vapor comes mainly from local evaporation with a well-defined dry layer present in the lower atmosphere; for the CAC type of fog, however, water vapor comes mainly from areas outside the Yellow Sea with a thick surface layer of high humidity. (5) With the differences in weather patterns and its associated vertical distribution of the humidity and the transportation of water vapor, there are two types of sea fogs. Most fogs of the CAC types are “warm” fog, while fogs of YSH type have nearly equal chance to be “warm” and “cold” fog.

Initialization of active contours for segmentation of breast cancer via fusion of ultrasound, Doppler, and elasticity images

Active contours (snakes) are an efficient method for segmentation of ultrasound (US) images of breast cancer. However, the method produces inaccurate results if the seeds are initialized improperly (far from the true boundaries and close to the false boundaries). Therefore, we propose a novel initialization method based on the fusion of a conventional US image with elasticity and Doppler images. The proposed fusion method (FM) has been tested against four state-of-the-art initialization methods on 90 ultrasound images from a database collected by the Thammasat University Hospital of Thailand. The ground truth was hand-drawn by three leading radiologists of the hospital. The reference methods are: center of divergence (CoD), force field segmentation (FFS), Poisson Inverse Gradient Vector Flow (PIG), and quasi-automated initialization (QAI).A variety of numerical tests proves the advantages of the FM. For the raw US images, the percentage of correctly initialized contours is: FM-94.2%, CoD-0%, FFS-0%, PIG-26.7%, QAI-42.2%. The percentage of correctly segmented tumors is FM-84.4%, CoD-0%, FFS-0%, PIG-16.67%, QAI-22.44%. For reduced field of view US images, the percentage of correctly initialized contours is: FM-94.2%, CoD-0%, FFS-0%, PIG-65.6%, QAI-67.8%. The correctly segmented tumors are FM-88.9%, CoD-0%, FFS-0%, PIG-48.9%, QAI-44.5%. The accuracy, in terms of the average Hausdorff distance, is respectively 2.29 pixels, 33.81, 34.71, 7.7, and 8.4, whereas in terms of the Jaccard index, it is 0.9, 0.18, 0.19, 0.63, and 0.48.

Evaluation of atmospheric thermodynamics and dynamics during heavy-rainfall and no-rainfall events in the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Local prediction of thunderstorms is one of the most challenging tasks in weather forecasting due to their high spatiotemporal variability. An improved understanding of such meteorological phenomena, therefore, requires high-frequency measurements along the vertical profile of the atmosphere of interest. In this context, the evaluation of thermodynamic and dynamic parameters obtained from radiosondes to identify atmospheric conditions favorable to thunderstorm and heavy-rainfall development emerges as a valuable tool for investigations of thunderstorms. In this context, four radiosondes were launched to collect a data set for the area of interest at the sub-daily scale (12 UTC, 16 UTC, 18 UTC, and 00 UTC). The collection period encompassed two dates—November 29 and December 12, 2016—chosen specifically due to the existence of heavy-rainfall warnings in the forecast for the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (“MARJ”) for those days. However, heavy rainfall was registered only for December 12 and not for November 29 (which led us to explore this contrast with the announced rainfall forecasts). Sub-daily radiosonde data showed a clear decrease in atmospheric instability in the early afternoon on November 29. On the other hand, an opposite scenario occurred on December 12, which saw an expressive increase in thermodynamic instability during the day. The meteorological modeling approach used also revealed that the vertical coupling of low-level moisture flux convergence centers and upper-level mass flux divergence centers worked as a dynamic trigger for the thunderstorm and heavy-rainfall developments that took place on December 12, 2016.

Seven varieties of Arli: Skopje as a center of convergence and divergence of Romani dialects

Before the 1963 earthquake, Skopje was home to Romani dialects representing three major groups: South Vlax (Džambaz), Balkan II (Kovač or Burgudži), and South Balkan I (Arli). According to local tradition, there were seven Arli dialects spoken in Skopje: Topaanli, Barutči, Madžur, Konopar, Prištevač, Gilanli, and Gavutno. The author’s research confirmed this. The article selects phonological, morphological, and lexical features based on words and features that speakers themselves find emblematic in an attempt to tease out the differences among these dialects. What emerges is a clear divide between Topaanli, the oldest urban dialect, and Gavutno, the most recently arrived village dialect. The other dialects show a range of features between these two, with Barutči, the earliest arrival, closest to Topaanli. The other four show sets of commonalities and differences associated with contact languages, dialect contact, and separate developments. The urban–rural divide emerges as particularly significant, but the picture that emerges is best described in terms of a wave model rather than a branching model.