Wide-ranging Environments Research Articles

Nanodiamond surface as a photoluminescent pH sensor

A systematic spectroscopic characterization of highly homogeneous water suspensions of ‘buckydiamonds’ comprising sp3 cubic nanodiamond (ND) core covered with disordered sp2 shell densely decorated with oxygen-containing groups demonstrates the excitation-wavelength-dependent photoluminescence (PL) given by at least four types of specific structures on the ND surface (hydroxyl, C=O containing ketones, carboxylic anhydrides, and carboxyl groups). PL properties of NDs suspensions possess concentration-dependent behavior revealing tendency of NDs to agglomerate. PL of NDs has been found to be strongly sensitive to pH of the environment in wide range of pH values, i.e. 2–11. We disclosed the mechanisms of pH sensitivity of the ‘buckydiamond’ and proved that it can serve as all-optical sensor of tiny pH variations suitable for further exploitation for pH sensing locally in the area where NDs have been delivered for any purpose, e.g. bioimaging or therapeutic needs.

UAV-Assisted Wide Area Multi-Camera Space Alignment Based on Spatiotemporal Feature Map

In this paper, we investigate the problem of aligning multiple deployed camera into one united coordinate system for cross-camera information sharing and intercommunication. However, the difficulty is greatly increased when faced with large-scale scene under chaotic camera deployment. To address this problem, we propose a UAV-assisted wide area multi-camera space alignment approach based on spatiotemporal feature map. It employs the great global perception of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to meet the challenge from wide-range environment. Concretely, we first present a novel spatiotemporal feature map construction approach to represent the input aerial and ground monitoring data. In this way, the motion consistency across view is well mined to overcome the great perspective gap between the UAV and ground cameras. To obtain the corresponding relationship between their pixels, we propose a cross-view spatiotemporal matching strategy. Through solving relative relationship with the above air-to-ground point correspondences, all ground cameras can be aligned into one surveillance space. The proposed approach was evaluated in both simulation and real environments qualitatively and quantitatively. Extensive experimental results demonstrate that our system can successfully align all ground cameras with very small pixel error. Additionally, the comparisons with other works on different test situations also verify its superior performance.

Real-world risk exposure in older drivers with cognitive and visual dysfunction

Objective: This study addresses the need to measure and monitor objective, real-world driver safety behavior in at-risk drivers with age-related dysfunction. Older drivers are at risk for age-related cognitive and visual dysfunction, which may reduce mobility and increase errors that lead to crashes. Understanding patterns of real-world behavior, exposure, and cognitive–perceptual processes underlying risk in environmental context and in older drivers requires new approaches.Methods: We assessed patterns of objective, real-world driver risk exposure and vehicle control related to steering, braking, and accelerating in older adults with a range of cognitive and visual functional abilities. Real-world driver behavior was collected from passive-monitoring systems installed in 77 drivers’ vehicles and analyzed across 242,153 km (150,467 miles) driven. Driver behavior was assessed cross-sectionally in relationship to driver functional abilities and safety-critical environmental contexts (roadway type and visibility condition).Results: Results suggest that cognitive dysfunction impairs vehicle control across wide-ranging environments. Drivers with greater cognitive dysfunction showed more erratic braking and accelerating during daytime commercial and interstate driving. Drivers with less cognitive dysfunction showed more erratic braking and accelerating on residential roadways regardless of visibility condition. Greater cognitive dysfunction predicted more erratic steering on commercial and interstate roadways and less erratic steering on residential roadways. Greater visual dysfunction impaired braking and accelerating during nighttime and interstate driving, but not on residential or commercial roadways. Steering behavior was unaffected by visual abilities. Drivers with greater cognitive dysfunction did not appear to reduce driving frequency in higher-risk environments. Visually impaired drivers drove more on residential roadways and less on commercial roadways, but did not reduce driving on interstates, where they showed the greatest risk per mile driven.Conclusions: Results successfully mapped driver cognitive and visual profiles onto contemporaneous, real-world behavior and risk loci. Results link age-related dysfunction to real-world vehicle control and show that drivers may not sufficiently reduce exposure to higher-risk driving environments. Employing naturalistic observation to monitor and measure patterns of driver behavior can inform methods for early detection of age-related risk, fitness-to-drive assessments, and interventions to preserve safety, mobility, and quality of life in aging or other at-risk populations.

The enhancement of humidity sensing performance based on Eu-doped ZnO

In this work, a high performance impedance-type humidity sensor based on Europium-doped ZnO with abundant surface oxygen vacancy defects was synthesized by sol-gel method. Response of the Eu-doped ZnO with different molar ratio were investigated by exposing them to humidity environments in wide range of 11–95% RH at room temperature. The Eu-doped ZnO (2 mol%) exhibits a three orders impedance change, along with short response/recovery time (5 s/19 s), low hysteresis and best linearity. Complex impedance spectra indicates that dopant Eu can enhance humidity sensing performance of ZnO, which is resulted from the introduction of Eu3+ ions into ZnO structure to produce more defects of surface oxygen vacancy and more active sites on the surface of ZnO. The results show that this is a feasible method to achieve high humidity sensing performance by Eu doped ZnO, which make it a promising candidate for humidity sensing materials and broaden the use of ZnO materials.

Epidemiology of civilian blast injuries inflicted by terrorist bombings from 1970-2016

Abstract An upsurge of terrorist activity has occurred in the past two decades. As part of this, explosive devices continue to be extensively deployed against civilians in wide-ranging environments. Bombings remain the leading worldwide cause of civilian fatalities due to terrorism. This demands an understanding of modern terrorist bombing trends to inform mitigation strategy. The objective of this study was to identify the occurrence and severity of bombings against civilian targets in diverse attack settings, and to establish corresponding blast injury profiles. Data was obtained from analysis of the Global Terrorism Database (GTD) and a meta-analysis of blast injury data derived from the PubMed database. Closed environment explosions were associated with significantly greater (p

Occurrence of plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance genes in Escherichia coli and Klebsiella spp. recovered from Corvus brachyrhynchos and Corvus corax roosting in Canada.

This study examined large corvids as possible vector species for the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance in indicator and pathogenic bacteria as a means to assess the anthropogenic dissemination of plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) genes. Although rare, PMQR genes were found among corvid populations across Canada. The clinically important Escherichia coli strain ST131 containing aac(6')-Ib-cr gene along with a four-class phenotypic antimicrobial resistance (AMR) pattern as well as one Klebsiella pneumoniae strain containing a qnrB19 gene were identified in one geographical location. Corvids are a viable vector for the circulation of PMQR genes and clinically important clones in wide-ranging environments.

Synthesis of non-toxic, biocompatible, and colloidal stable silver nanoparticle using egg-white protein as capping and reducing agents for sustainable antibacterial application.

For nearly a decade, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been the most prevalent commercial nanomaterials products widely used in different biomedical applications due to their broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity. However, their poor long-term stability in different environments, namely, pH, ionic strength, and temperature, and cytotoxicity toward mammalian cells has restricted their more extensive applications. Hence, there is urgent need to develop highly biocompatible, non-toxic, and stable silver nanoparticles for wide-ranging environments and applications. In the present study, a simple, sustainable, cost-effective and green method has been developed to prepare highly stable aqueous colloidal silver nanoparticles (AgNPs-EW) using the ovalbumin, ovotransferrin, and ovomucoid of egg-white as reducing and capping agents accomplished under the irradiation of direct sunlight. Then, we evaluated the effects of freezing–drying (lyophilization) and freeze–thaw cycles on the stability of AgNPs-EW in aqueous solution under visual inspection, transmission electron microscopy, and absorbance spectroscopy. In addition, we studied the antibacterial activity against Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli, carried out biocompatibility studies on chicken blood, and tested acute, chronic toxicity in Drosophila melanogaster. The results suggest that AgNPs-EW did not aggregate upon freeze-thawing and lyophilization, thus exhibiting remarkable stability. The antibacterial activity results showed that the AgNPs-EW had the highest antibacterial activity, and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of AgNPs-EW for E. Coli and S. typhimurium were 4 and 6 μg ml−1, respectively. The biocompatibility study revealed that the AgNPs-EW did not induce any hemolytic effect or structural damage to the cell membranes of chicken erythrocytes up to a concentration of 12 μg ml−1. Similarly, no acute and chronic toxicity was observed on melanization, fecundity, hatchability, viability, and the duration of development in the 1st generation of Drosophila melanogaster at the concentration range of 10 mg L−1 to 100 mg L−1 of AgNPs-EW, and all the flies completed their full developmental cycle. Therefore, the present study successfully demonstrated the green and sustainable preparation of non-toxic AgNPs-EW having good biocompatibility, enhanced colloidal stability, and antibacterial activity. Hence, the synthesized AgNPs-EW could be used for the development of an antimicrobial formulation for controlling microbial infection.

A data-driven spline model designed to predict paleoclimate using paleosol geochemistry

Paleosols (fossil soils) are abundant in the sedimentary record and reflect, at least in part, regional paleoclimate. Paleopedology thus offers a great potential for elucidating high resolution, deep-time paleoclimate records. However, many fossil soils did not equilibrate with climate prior to burial and instead dominantly express physical and chemical features reflective of other soil forming factors. Current models that use elemental oxides for climate reconstruction bypass the issue of soil-climate equilibration by restricting datasets to narrow ranges of soil properties, soil-forming environments and mean annual precipitation (MAP) and mean annual temperature (MAT). Here we evaluate a data-driven paleosol-paleoclimate model (PPM1.0) that uses subsoil geochemistry to test the ability of soils from wide-ranging environments to predict MAP and MAT as a joint response with few initial assumptions. The PPM1.0 was developed using a combined partial least squares regression (PLSR) and a nonlinear spline on 685 mineral soil B horizons currently forming under MAP ranging from 130 to 6900 mm and MAT ranging from 0 to 27 °C. The PLSR results on 11 major and minor oxides show that four linear combinations of these oxides (Regressors 1-4), akin to classic oxide ratios, have potential for predicting climate. Regressor 1 correlates with increasing MAP and MAT through Fe oxidation, desilication, base loss and residual enrichment. Regressor 2 correlates with MAT through temperature-dependent dissolution of Na- and K-bearing minerals. Regressor 3 correlates with increasing MAP through decalcification and retention of Si. Regressor 4 correlates with increasing MAP through Mg retention in mafic-rich parent material. The nonlinear spline model fit on Regressors 1 to 4 results in a Root Mean Squared Error (RMSEMAP) of 228 mm and RMSEMAT of 2.46 °C. PPM1.0 model simulations result in Root Mean Squared Predictive Error (RMSPEMAP) of 512 mm and RMSPEMAT of 3.98 °C. The RMSE values are lower than some preexisting MAT models and show that subsoil weathering processes operating under a wide range of soil forming factors possess climate prediction potential, which agrees with the state-factor model of soil formation. The nonlinear, multivariate model space of PPM1.0 more accurately reflects the complex and nonlinear nature of many weathering processes as climate varies. This approach is still limited as it was built using data primarily from the conterminous USA and does not account for effects of diagenesis. Yet, because it is calibrated over a broader range of climatic variable space than previous work, it should have the widest array of potential applications. Furthermore, because it is not dependent on properties that may be poorly preserved in buried paleosols, the PPM1.0 model is preferable for reconstructing deep time climate transitions. In fact, previous studies may have grossly underestimated paleo-MAP for some paleosols.

One pot synthesis of mesoporous ZnO–SiO 2 nanocomposite as high performance humidity sensor

Abstract In this work, we report a facile synthesis of ZnO loaded mesoporous silica nanocomposite for detecting relative humidity (RH) at room temperature. ZnO was loaded into mesoporous silica using ex situ and in situ loading processes. Response of the nanocomposite sensors synthesized using different loading process were investigated by exposing them to humid environments in wide range of 11–98%RH at 25 °C. The sensor utilizing in situ loading process exhibits a ∼5 orders impedance change along with excellent linearity, quick response time, rapid recovery time, negligible hysteresis, good repeatability and stability. AC nyquist plots of the sensor at different RHs were analyzed to understand the humidity-sensing mechanism. Our study can open a new way for realizing ZnO–SiO 2 hybrid nanocomposite for fabrication of high performance RH sensors.

Nano titania loaded mesoporous silica: Preparation and application as high performance humidity sensor

Relative humidity (RH) sensing response was evaluated using TiO2 supported mesoporous SBA-15 at room temperature in the 11–98 RH% range. The TiO2/SBA-15 hybrid nanocomposites were prepared by wet impregnation and direct loading of titanium species in mesoporous silica, SBA-15 under extreme acidic conditions. Humidity response of the nanocomposite sensor, including linearity, hysteresis, response/recovery time and stability, were investigated by exposing sensors to humid environments in wide range of 11–98 RH% at 25°C. It was found that 10wt% TiO2 loaded in SBA-15 nanocomposite produced by direct synthesis method exhibits improved sensing response toward RH change, along with excellent linearity, fast response/recovery time, excellent repeatability, negligible hysteresis and outstanding stability. The complex impedance spectra of the sensor at different RHs were analyzed to explore the humidity sensing mechanism. The investigation of humidity sensing characteristics of TiO2/SBA-15 nanocomposite indicates that the direct synthesis of mesoporous hybrid material can be used for the fabrication of high performance RH sensors.

光ファイバー内蔵型ケルビンプローブの開発 —バンドダイアグラム測定装置の開発—

We developed the optical fiber built-in type Kelvin probe, which was combined with the previously developed system. This system can be applied to measure band diagram included fermi level of organic/inorganic semiconductor, and photovoltage. This system is also applied to the wide range environment from ultra-high vacuum to the atmosphere. We demonstrated photovoltage measurement of polycrystalline Si solar cell. Obtained photovoltage was increasing with increasing photon power. As photovoltage is associated with open-circuit voltage, the obtained results are consistent with its trend. This system has a very wide range of applications ranging from band gap science and solar cell evaluation.

Crowdsourcing to Create National Repositories of Microbial Genetic Resources: Fungi as a Model

To address the challenging task of identifying, obtaining and cataloging the different microbes in a country with wide-ranging environments and habitats, we present a crowdsourcing model. With fungi as the prototype, we discuss approaches for rapid collection and identification of strains from environments and habitats that might lead to novel genes of industrial importance. Also, we expect the use of easy culture preservation methods to promote colleges as mini culture-collection centres and serve as the initial focal point in a national research initiative. Our model envisions the concerted involvement of undergraduate students, faculty, industries, national laboratories and culture- collection repositories to rapidly build a large assemblage of rare fungal strains and enhance the biodiversity resource of a country.

Stability, across environments, of grain and alcohol yield, in soft wheat varieties grown for grain distilling or bioethanol production

Soft-milling wheat has potential use for both grain whisky distilling and bioethanol production. Varietal comparisons over wide-ranging environments would permit assessment of both grain and alcohol yield potential and also permit the stability across environments, for these parameters, to be compared. For 12 varieties, analysis of variance showed highly significant effects of variety, site, season and fertiliser application on grain and alcohol yield. There were also significant interactions between these factors and, consequently, varieties varied in stability across environments as well as in mean values for the parameters assessed. Alcohol production per hectare was affected more strongly by variation in grain yield than alcohol yield, but increasing grain protein content reduced alcohol yield and, therefore, utility for grain distilling. To maximise energy production, the best varieties for bioethanol would combine high and stable grain yield with slower reduction of alcohol yield as grain protein increases. For grain distilling, where the energy balance is less important, high alcohol yield will remain the key factor. Data derived using near infrared spectroscopy can be valuable in assessing stability of quality traits across environments.

ЗНОСОСТІЙКІ КОМПОЗИЦІЙНІ ПОКРИТТЯ НА ОСНОВІ SiCAl2O3 ДЛЯ ВІДНОВЛЕННЯ ТА ЗМІЦНЕННЯ ДЕТАЛЕЙ АВІАЦІЙНОЇ НАЗЕМНОЇ ТЕХНІКИ

Досліджено структуру покривів з композиційного матеріалу, що містить зносостійку складову SiC-Al2O3 і металеву зв’язку Ni-Al, отриманих методом високошвидкісного повітряно-паливного нанесення на середньо-вуглецевих сталях. Вивчено триботехнічні характеристики отриманих покривів в умовах тертя без мастильних матеріалів на повітрі, визначено особливості та закономірності механізмів їх зношування.

Isolation and Resistance Analysis of Algae of Alkali Spot Soil

Algae can survive in a very wide range environment and have high adaptability for a variety of adversity. In present study, we selected alkali spot soil in Anda City, Heilongjiang Province as the algae research plots. In addition, we selected garden nursery soil in Northeast Forestry University as the control. With streak plating method, we isolated 30 algae species eventually, 29 of which had been purified. After resistance screening of 29 algae species by NaCl stress and NaHCO 3 stress, we found their growth conditions were different from each other at different stress or different stress concentration gradient. Algae species of soda soil showed stronger resistance than those of nursery soil. Moreover, some algae were strongly inhibited by lower concentration of sodium bicarbonate, but some were promoted.

1P1-I08 ネット状近接覚センサを用いた全方向移動台車の開発(車輪型/クローラ型移動ロボット)

In this paper, we propose an omni-directional mobile robot that can assist to transport a baggage in the crowded situations. It is necessary to possess a high-speed and wide-ranging environments recognition and high motion mechanisms so that the robot may work more effectively, for instance under situations such as airports and the hospitals. So, we developed the robot which has omni-directional net proximity sensor, which can detect the center position of current distribution and relative distance from an object to the sensor within 1 ms, and it has also omni-directional driving mechanism using Omni-Ball which consists of two hemispherical wheels. In addition, the performance of the prototype robot system is verified through experiments.

The Measurement and Health Impact of Endotoxin Contamination in Organic Dusts from Multiple Sources: Focus on the Cotton Industry

Endotoxin is derived from Gram-negative bacterial membranes, and its inflammatory effects following inhalation are well characterized. The significance of this fact becomes apparent when the wide-ranging environments containing high levels of this microbial product are considered. Endotoxin is present in numerous industrial environments, especially where organic fibers are processed. Microbial contamination of these fibers mainly occurs at the agricultural stage. Materials such as flax and hemp are affected in this way, but the most important product in this context is cotton, from which chronic dust inhalation causes the disease byssinosis. Despite the fact that endotoxin constitutes a significant threat to public health, there are currently no occupational exposure limits for this toxicant. This communication describes the toxicology of endotoxin, and its role in inhalation-induced disease, focusing on measurement of airborne endotoxin in the occupational and domestic environments using the Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) enzyme assay. Following the success of the LAL assay for measuring endotoxin in dusts, our laboratory has examined its application to aqueous washes from cotton fibers. Reproducibility of the results was high, and data are presented displaying levels of endotoxin contamination in fibers from different cotton producing countries. Hence, worldwide comparison of industrial endotoxin concentrations can be readily made using this test. It would be highly desirable if the performance of the LAL assay facilitated introduction of industrial endotoxin safety limits, and in spite of minor surmountable shortcomings, the test is accurate, reliable, and well field-tested, so its continued widespread use may achieve this goal.

GaAs Detectors for Radiation Monitoring

The possibility of employment of GaAs solid state radiation detectors for γ ray monitoring has been investigated. The detectors were fabricated in the form of semi-insulating GaAs-based Shottky diodes with the barrier contact area from 1×1 mm 2 to 10×10 mm 2 . The devices were tested with 241 Am, 137 Cs, 60 Co γ radiation sources. Discrete γ ray sensitivity and its dose rate dependence were measured. The results show the feasibility of these GaAs detectors for radiation monitoring of the nuclear industrial environment in wide range of dose rates.

Panoramic-Environmental Description as Robots' Visual Short-Term Memory.

In this paper, we propose an environmental description for robots to memorize temporality and spatiality of wide-range environment. The description is region-based and the environment is described as a mosaic of regions. The description consists of three components: Panoramic Labelled Image that is a segmented color panoramic innage, Region Database that has spatial and temporal information about each region, and Regions Relation Network that describes adjacency state between regions. The description is constantly updated in the background of other visual processing. The description enables robots to detect changes in the environment, to grasp their characteristics, and to memorize them. The description corresponds to human visual short-term memory which is called working memory or visuospatial sketch pad in cognitive psychology. Moreover, we implement the environmental description on the humanoid robot Saika and show how it expands the robot's behavior.