Spatial Intensity Variations Research Articles

Spatial Analysis of Noise in Kufa University (Kufa River Campus) using GIS

Noise refers to unwanted sound, which causes great discomfort to the ears, and is usually measured in decibels. Very high levels of sound above 100 dB cause permanent hearing loss. This study deals with effect of noise in the academic areas, University of Kufa, Kufa river campus (Faculty of Urban Planning, Faculty of Law, Faculty of Archeology). Kufa river campus area is exposed to several external noise types. Noise field data have been measured and collected for 98 station points. The noise intensity ratio was measured using the Sound Level Meter at three different times during the working hours in the morning hours (8.30-10.30), at noon (10.30-12.30), and in the afternoon from (12.30-2.30). The data were analyzed using the Excel program (percentile method) to obtain a noise level values at 10%, 50%, and 90% of data after arranging it ascendingly. The equivalent noise level (Leq) is calculate as well. The equivalent noise level data converts to GIS program form mapping and studying the spatial variation of noise intensity using a Spline interpolation method. The results showed that the effect of external noise is much greater than the effect of internal noise. The highest noise intensity at the points near the fence reached 94 decibels, and the lowest noise ratio was in the center of the faculty of Physical Planning, and the points near the green trees reached 45.1 db.

Temporal and spatial variations of water resources constraint intensity on urbanization in the Shiyang River Basin, China

The Shiyang River Basin is located in the essential zone of Hexi Corridor in China, where the shortage of water resources has intensely impeded the development of the cities there for a long time. Based on the data related to water resources and urbanization system from 2005 to 2017, the paper regarded each county of Wuwei and Jinchang as the minimum research unit, and calculated their water resources constraint intensity (WRCI) every year through comprehensive measurement model, with the conclusion that: (1) In the past 13 years, the WRCI of all counties in the Shiyang River Basin had declined, among which Minqin had the most obvious decline, from an extreme constraint in 2005 to a strong constraint in 2017. The WRCI of Jinchuan was the most stable, fluctuating at a low level, while the decline of other counties was between the two. (2) The overall WRCI of the Shiyang River Basin decreased by about 0.2, from intense constraint to strong constraint, but still was under great pressure of water resources. (3) The WRCI in the Shiyang River Basin had always been "higher in the north than the south, and higher in the downstream area than upstream area". The WRCI of the counties in the upstream area such as Gulang and Tianzhu were relatively low, while WRCI of the counties in the downstream area such as Minqin and Yongchang were at a high level, reflecting the unbalanced spatial development of the basin, but the gap was gradually narrowing. In the future, all counties in the Shiyang River Basin still need to make efforts to tap the potential of utilization of water resources and improve urbanization level in economic and social aspects, so as to realize the goal of regional coordination and sustainable development.

Arctic precipitation and surface wind speed associated with cyclones in a changing climate

This study assesses Arctic cyclone characteristics and associated precipitation and surface wind speeds using an ensemble of regional climate model (GEMCLIM) simulations at 0.5° resolution for the 1981–2099 period following the RCP8.5 scenario. Comparison of GEMCLIM simulation with observations for current climate (1981–2010) suggests that GEMCLIM realistically reproduces the spatial and seasonal variation of Arctic cyclone frequency and intensity, and associated precipitation, for winter and summer. Clear added-value is found for several regions, compared to the driving data. The pressure-wind speed relationships for each region are reasonably reproduced and more extreme winds associated with increasing cyclone intensity are realistically simulated. In addition, the spatial and temporal variations of observed extreme cyclones are well captured. In future climate (2070–2099), the winter cyclone intensity and frequency, and associated precipitation, are projected to increase and decrease over the Aleutian and Icelandic Low regions, respectively. For summer, the projected changes are relatively smaller than those for winter and vary with region. Interestingly, significant decreases in cyclone contribution to total precipitation are found for northern Canada and Eurasia regions, despite increases in cyclone-related precipitation amount. This suggests stronger influence of mesoscale systems on precipitation compared to synoptic-scale systems. Enhanced pressure-wind speed relationships are projected for Arctic Canada and the Chukchi and East Siberian Seas. The increase of extreme cyclones during autumn is primarily related to sea ice loss during summer, while for winter, large-scale circulation changes (i.e. Arctic dipole) are mostly responsible due to strong sea ice loss in the central Arctic during autumn. This study demonstrates the added-value of dynamic downscaling with respect to Arctic cyclone characteristics and associated surface variables and provides useful insights regarding their future projections for use in risk assessment studies.

Analysis of driving forces of water demand in Jing-Jin-Ji district in recent years based on water demand field theory

In recent years, urbanization has accelerated and the gap between urban water supply and demand has become more significant. This phenomenon has led to greater demands on urban water resource management. Thus, analyses of the forces that drive urban water demand growth can help efficient management of urban water resources. “Jing-Jin-Ji” refers to the district composed of Beijing and Tianjin, municipality as well as Hebei Province, which is among the political and economic centers of China. The traditional analysis of driving force for water resources often consider cities as independent individuals and ignores the interaction between them. Such method cannot describe the spatial distribution of regional water demand. In this study, the water demand field theory is used to construct water demand and social development fields for the Jing-Jin-Ji district with relevant indicators. The distribution trends of the two fields, and the correlation of their intensities, are then analyzed. Principal component analysis is used to specifically determine the forces that drive water demand at different stages of development. Results indicate that the water demand field theory can accurately describe spatial variations in water demand intensity in the study area. The main driving force for water demand in the Jing-Jin-Ji district from 2000 to 2014 is the growth of urban population. However, in 2015 and 2016, “GDP of the tertiary industry” overtook it. The results of this study can serve as a basis for regional water demand forecasting, with large potential to be applied to urban water resource management.

The Lazarus Effect and the Labour Market: Evidence from At-Scale Antiretroviral Therapy in Zambia

Abstract Between 2000 and 2015, access to life-saving antiretroviral therapy (ART) in sub-Saharan Africa increased from virtually 0% to approximately 40% coverage. Despite the promise of ART to improve health, a variety of supply- and demand-side factors suggest at-scale ART may not improve employment outcomes. To measure the causal effect of ART on employment outcomes, I use triple-difference regression analysis, exploiting spatial, temporal and demographic variation in intensity of ART exposure during scale-up in Zambia. My results suggest that local ART introduction increased employment of likely HIV+ adults by eight percentage points, or approximately 15% relative to the sample mean. Cash employment and employment for no pay—the first and second largest employment categories in Zambia, respectively—each comprised roughly one-half of the employment gains. Temporal and spatial heterogeneity analyses support a causal interpretation of the results. These findings appear to be the first at-scale quasi-experimental evidence suggesting that ART, the single largest item in many countries’ foreign health aid budgets, can improve employment outcomes among the targeted.

Spatial variations of rain intensity over a short length propagation for 5G links based on a rain gauge network

Millimeter-wave (mm-wave) frequency range is among operating bands designated for terrestrial 5G networks. A critical challenge of link-budgeting in mm-wave 5G networks is the precise estimation of rain attenuation for short-path links. The difficulties are further amplified in tropical and subtropical regions where the rainfall rate has a higher intensity. Different models have been proposed to predict rain attenuation. The distance factor is an important parameter in predicting total attenuation from specific rain attenuation. This study investigates the distance factor based on rain gauge networks and measured rain attenuation at 26 GHz for a 300 m link in Malaysia. Considerable discrepancies between available models were observed especially when applied for shorter path links. Also, significant variability of rain intensity is observed from the rain gauge network. This study recommends further investigation of the distance factor for a shorter link. Hence, a measurement campaign incorporating rain gauge networks was established to examine spatial variations of rain intensity over a less than 1 km link. The motivation is to develop a suitable distance factor model for 5G mm-wave propagation.

Historic Environmental Vulnerability Evaluation of Traditional Villages Under Geological Hazards and Influencing Factors of Adaptive Capacity: A District-Level Analysis of Lishui, China

The historic environmental vulnerability of traditional villages (HEVTVs) is distinctly differentiated; however, the priority of relevant emergency management practices still lacks appropriate evaluation. This study proposes a new assessment system to quantify HEVTVs at the district level and an extended analysis of the influencing factors of adaptive capacity. This provides a basis to classify the emergency management of villages under geological hazard risks. Based on the coupled human–environment system, this research designed the assessment with three criteria, six factors, and 13 indexes from the perspective of HEVTVs. Furthermore, a demonstration test was conducted of 148 traditional villages in Lishui, China. The results showed that 64.19% of HEVTVs in Lishui were moderate or above, and that villages with very high vulnerability were mainly distributed at mid-elevation of mountains with strongly sloping terrain. In contrast, low-vulnerability villages were generally on plains at low altitudes. Furthermore, three high-vulnerability clustering groups were identified as critical improvement targets for which special zoning strategies should be proposed. Five influencing factors were found to be strongly related to the adaptive capacity, indicating a spatial variation of the impact intensity. This could be applied to streamline vulnerability optimization strategies according to local conditions.

The hourly precipitation intensity and frequency in the Yarlung Zangbo river basin in China during last decade

The analysis of precipitation intensity and frequency should be conducted on data with high temporal resolution, such as hourly precipitation data. This study focuses on the spatial distribution and temporal variation of precipitation intensity and frequency in the Yarlung Zangbo River basin during 2008–2017, based on a merged hourly precipitation dataset with 0.1° of latitude/longitude spatial resolution. The hourly precipitation intensity is represented as the mean accumulated amount in each observation hour and the precipitation frequency is the proportion of precipitation hours in this study. The multi-year mean values and temporal changes of precipitation intensity and frequency are compared at annual time scale, during the warm season (from May to October) and cold season (from November to the next April), as well as among the upper, middle and lower basins. For the whole stream region, the mean hourly precipitation intensity is 0.92 mm/h during the warm season, larger than 0.69 mm/h during the cold season. The mean precipitation frequency is about 7.79% during the warm season, larger than 4.40% during the cold season. For the sub-region, the mean hourly precipitation intensity and frequency are largest for the lower basin during the warm season (1.10 mm/h and 10.62%), whereas largest for the upper basin during the cold season (0.86 mm/h and 4.26%). The hourly precipitation intensity increases during the warm season but decreases during the cold season. The precipitation frequency continuously decreases with larger tendency during the warm season than that during the cold season.

Non-condensed shell beds in hiatal successions: instantaneous cementation associated with nutrient-rich bottom currents and high bivalve production

Pelagic carbonate deposits formed by the thin-shelled, epifaunal, originally bimineralic bivalve Bositra buchi were geographically widely distributed in the Tethyan basins during the Middle Jurassic. Here, to evaluate conditions that allowed the formation of peculiar, metre-scale, densely-packed shell beds primarily formed by Bositra, we assess size distributions and preservation of this bivalve in thin sections at ten sites in the Pieniny Klippen Belt and Peri-Klippen units (Western Carpathians), representing a bathymetric transect from pelagic-platform tops with shell beds up to slope environments where small filaments occur with spicules and radiolarians. Although Bositra shell beds are modulated by transport and winnowing, three types of evidence indicate that they primarily reflect high bivalve productivity. First, we find that size distributions of this species form a bathymetric gradient, from the dominance of remains smaller than 0.5 mm in low- energy slope environments, to 0.5-2 mm on muddy platform edges, up to lensoid shell beds with large valves (~2-15 mm) occurring on platform tops exposed to bottom currents. Although sediment winnowing from shell beds contributed to the rarity of small-sized specimens in platform-top environments, the bathymetric shift in the shape of size distributions is not purely driven by fragmentation and by size-selective transport of small specimens into slope environments because the average valve thickness declines with depth and thick fragments do not occur in slope environments. High abundances of suspension-feeding Bositra preferentially associated with indicators of bottom currents at oligophotic or aphotic depths indicate that plankton productivity was probably sourced by nutrient-rich internal waves that intersected platform tops, leading to low juvenile mortality in Bositra populations. In contrast, populations in deeper environments with the limited input of particulate organic matter failed to achieve maturity. Second, the inner, originally nacreous shell layer of Bositra is now represented by neomorphic calcite that is luminescent, enriched in Mn and depleted in Mg, indicating that this layer was not dissolved in the taphonomic active zone. Third, fibrous- acicular low-Mg calcite cements that characteristically coat Bositra in shell beds show blotchy luminescence and highly irregular Mg distribution, indicating that they were precipitated as high-Mg calcite cements. Fibrous-acicular cements in shell beds do not coat upward- facing sides of valves covered by a first phase of micrite whereas they fully coat elevated portions of the same valves. Therefore, they were precipitated at very high rates concurrently with micrite deposition in shelters. Nutrient-rich bottom currents thus simultaneously increased (1) Bositra survivorship by enhancing primary productivity and (2) cementation rate by renewal of saturation of pore waters in the taphonomic active zone at platform tops. In spite of the association of Bositra shell beds with major hiatal surfaces, (1) the rapid precipitation of fibrous-acicular cements, (2) the rarity of iron-stained Bositra valves in shell beds, and (3) the significantly smaller concentrations of iron in shell-rich muds than in shell-poor muds indicate that shell beds do not represent long-term hiatal or lag concentrations. They rather represent composite shell beds that record high population densities of these bivalves at ecological time scales. Spatial variation in intensity of bottom currents and in sea- floor topography generated by faulted blocks resulted (1) in hiatal surfaces with mineralized hardgrounds at high-energy current-swept sites and (2) in preservation of up to 1 m-thick lensoid shell beds at sites with less intense but persistent currents. Bositra shell beds thus ultimately have patchy horizontal and stratigraphic distribution.

Striation phenomena in a low temperature atmospheric pressure neon plasma jet by optical emission spectroscopy

Striation phenomena in a plasma flare produced by an atmospheric pressure plasma jet had been observed. In this study, we measured the striation structure in a neon plasma flare by optical emission spectroscopy. As a result, it shows that the emission from the plasma flare is synchronized with the plasma current. We discuss the temperature estimated from the Boltzmann plot using the two emission lines of Ne I at 692.9 and 724.5 nm whose upper levels are Ne [3p (2p6)] and Ne [3p (2p10)], respectively. This temperature has peaks with a spatial interval of about 0.5 mm, and the peak positions correspond to the spatial variation of the emission intensity. We also discuss the mechanism of the striation phenomena with the estimated temperature, and collisional relaxation between excited and neutral atoms.

Data Rate Enhancement in Optical Camera Communications Using an Artificial Neural Network Equaliser

In optical camera communication (OCC) systems leverage on the use of commercial off-the-shelf image sensors to perceive the spatial and temporal variation of light intensity to enable data transmission. However, the transmission data rate is mainly limited by the exposure time and the frame rate of the camera. In addition, the camera's sampling will introduce intersymbol interference (ISI), which will degrade the system performance. In this paper, an artificial neural network (ANN)-based equaliser with the adaptive algorithm is employed for the first time in the field of OCC to mitigate ISI and therefore increase the data rate. Unlike other communication systems, training of the ANN network in OCC is done only once in a lifetime for a range of different exposure time and the network can be stored with a look-up table. The proposed system is theoretically investigated and experimentally evaluated. The results record the highest bit rate for OCC using a single LED source and the Manchester line code (MLC) non-return to zero (NRZ) encoded signal. It also demonstrates 2 to 9 times improved bandwidth depending on the exposure times where the system's bit error rate is below the forward error correction limit.

Application of Storm Erosion Index (SEI) to parameterize spatial storm intensity and impacts from Hurricane Michael

Hurricane Michael made landfall as a Category 5 Hurricane on 10 October 2018 between Mexico Beach, Florida and Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City Beach, Florida causing damages totaling $25 billion (Beven et al. 2019). While damages were caused by both wind and surge, this paper is solely concerned with the surge induced damages which were observed predominantly within 50 km (27 nmi) of the hurricane’s path. Generally, regions to the east of Hurricane Michael’s landfall sustained the most severe damages and appear consistent with the spatial gradient in peak water levels. This gradient was marked; with surge induced damage concentrated in the immediate vicinity of Mexico Beach and attenuating significantly over distances as little as 37 km (20 nmi) to the west in Panama City Beach and east in Port Saint Joe (Kennedy, in review). The gradient in erosion was also pronounced, with Panama City Beach experiencing an average erosion rate of 0.4 m3/m (3.9 cy/ft) while Mexico Beach and Cape San Blas experienced rates approximately three (1.1 m3/m or 11.5 cy/ft) and five (1.7 m3/m or 18.5 cy/ft) times that. For inherent reasons, the pronounced gradient in surge damages and erosion values are of primary interest to coastal researchers and managers. Storm Erosion Index (SEI), developed by Miller and Livermont (2008) combines the three primary drivers of coastal erosion (wave height, total water level, and storm duration) into a physically meaningful form to evaluate storms based on their erosion potential. Here, SEI is applied to explore these spatial variations at seven distinct regions within the Florida Panhandle and are compared to the observed impacts for both erosion and structural damages. These regions include: (west to east) Panama City Beach, Tyndall Air Force Base (AFB), Mexico Beach, Cape San Blas, Port St. Joe, St. Vincent Island, and St. George Island. Empirically, the cumulative SEI relates well with the observed beach erosion; while the Peak Erosion Intensity (PEI) was found to better capture the trends in structural damages. By capturing the spatial variation of the storm intensity, SEI and PEI are therefore proposed as a viable engineering demand parameter with potential applications in community scale fragility curves.

A systematic study of Galactic infrared bubbles along the Galactic plane with AKARI and Herschel. II. Spatial distributions of dust components around the bubbles

Abstract Galactic infrared (IR) bubbles, which can be seen as shell-like structures at mid-IR wavelengths, are known to possess massive stars within their shell boundaries. In our previous study (Hanaoka, 2019, PASJ, 71, 6), we expanded the research area to the whole Galactic plane ($0^{\circ } \le l \le 360^{\circ }$, $|b| \le 5^{\circ }$) and studied systematic differences in the shell morphology and the IR luminosity of the IR bubbles between inner and outer Galactic regions. In this study, utilizing high spatial-resolution data of AKARI and WISE in the mid-IR and Herschel in the far-IR, we investigate the spatial distributions of dust components around each IR bubble to discuss the relation between the star-formation activity and the dust properties of the IR bubbles. For the 247 IR bubbles studied in Hanaoka (2019, PASJ, 71, 6), 165 IR bubbles are investigated in this study, which have the Herschel data ($|b|\le 1^{\circ }$) and known distances. We created their spectral energy distributions on a pixel-by-pixel basis around each IR bubble, and decomposed them with a dust model consisting of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), hot dust, warm dust and cold dust. As a result, we find that the offsets of dust heating sources from the shell centers in inner Galactic regions are systematically larger than those in outer Galactic regions. Many of the broken bubbles in inner Galactic regions show large angles between the offset and the direction of the broken shell from the center. Moreover, the spatial variations of the PAH intensity and cold dust emissivity around the IR bubbles in inner Galactic regions are larger than those in outer Galactic regions. We discuss these results in light of the interstellar environments and the formation mechanism of the massive stars associated with the IR bubbles.

Spatial and Temporal Variations in Precipitation Amount, Frequency, Intensity, and Persistence in China, 1973–2016

Abstract In this paper, we examined the spatial and temporal variations in precipitation amount, frequency, and intensity in China based on daily precipitation data from 2050 weather stations from 1973 to 2016. We used two Markov chain parameters to quantify the wet persistence and dry persistence that characterizes the temporal pattern of wet and dry days, respectively. We found that China’s annual precipitation changed little from 1973 to 2016, but varied dramatically from 524 to 688 mm yr−1, with an average of 592 mm yr−1, during this period. China’s precipitation frequency, the number of days with effective precipitation (>0.1 mm day−1) in a year, significantly decreased at a rate of 0.9 days decade−1 from 1973 to 2016, but precipitation intensity significantly increased at a rate of 0.12 mm day−1 decade−1 during the same period. Of the changes in China’s total precipitation amount, precipitation intensity played a dominant role, contributing 70.8%, while precipitation frequency contributed the remaining 29.2%. Little change was found in the wet persistence in China over the period of 1973–2016, but the dry persistence significantly increased with an average increasing trend of 1.62 × 10−3 probability per decade during the same period, and no significant correlations were found between these two variables. China’s precipitation also changed nonuniformly in space, with increasing trends in precipitation amount, frequency, intensity, and wet persistence in western and northeastern China but decreasing trends in the Sichuan basin, northeast of Inner Mongolia, and the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region.

Explaining Spatial Variations in Residential Energy Usage Intensity in Chicago: The Role of Urban Form and Geomorphometry

Understanding the spatial pattern of energy consumption within buildings is essential to urban energy planning and management. This study explores the spatial complexity of residential energy usage intensity, with a focus on urban form and geomorphometry attributes. Using spatial regression models, we find that while vegetation and isolation have more local impact on energy intensity, urban porosity and roughness length have consistent spillover effects on building electricity usage intensity in Chicago. In addition, these relationships are seasonally varied. The results highlight the importance of spatially explicit policies and clear urban design and form frameworks for improving urban energy efficiency.

Bayesian artificial intelligence for geologic prediction: Fracture case study, Horn River Basin

AbstractA Bayesian Belief Network (BN) has been developed to predict fractures in the subsurface during the early stages of oil and gas exploration. The probability of fractures provides a first-order proxy for spatial variations in fracture intensity at a regional scale. Nodes in the BN, representing geologic variables, were linked in a directed acyclic graph to capture key parameters influencing fracture generation over geologic time. The states of the nodes were defined by expert judgment and conditioned by available datasets. Using regional maps with public data from the Horn River Basin in British Columbia, Canada, predictions for spatial variations in the probability of fractures were generated for the Devonian Muskwa shale. The resulting BN analysis was linked to map-based predictions via a geographic information system. The automated process captures human reasoning and improves this through conditional probability calculations for a complex array of geologic influences. A comparison between inferred high fracture intensities and the locations of wells with high production rates suggests a close correspondence. While several factors could account for variations in production rates from the Muskwa shale, higher fracture densities are a likely influence. The process of constructing and cross-validating the BN supports a consistent approach to predict fracture intensities early in exploration and to prioritize data needed to improve the prediction. As such, BNs provide a mechanism to support alignment within exploration groups. As exploration proceeds, the BN can be used to rapidly update predictions. While the BN does not currently represent time-dependent processes and cannot be applied without adjustment to other regions, it offers a fast and flexible approach for fracture prediction in situations characterized by sparse data.

The wildfire problem in areas contaminated by the Chernobyl disaster

This paper examines the issue of radionuclide resuspension from wildland fires in areas contaminated by the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant explosion in 1986. This work originated from a scientific exchange among scientists from the USDA Forest Service, Ukraine and Belarus that was organized to assess science and technology gaps related to wildfire risk management. A wildfire risk modeling system was developed to predict likely hotspots for large fires and where wildfire ignitions will most likely result in significant radionuclide (Cesium, 137Cs) resuspension. The system was also designed to examine the effect of fuel breaks in terms of reducing both burn probability and resuspension. Results showed substantial spatial variation in fire likelihood, size, intensity, and potential resuspension within the contaminated areas. The potential for a large wildfire and resuspension was highest in the Belorussian Polesie Reserve, but the likelihood of such an event was higher in the Ukrainian Chernobyl Exclusion Zone due to a higher predicted probability of ignition. Fuel breaks were most effective in terms of reducing potential resuspension when located near areas that had both high ignition probability and high levels of 137Cs contamination. Simulation outputs highlighted how human activities shape the fire regime and likelihood of a large fire in the contaminated areas. We discuss how the results can be used to develop a fire management strategy that integrates ignition prevention, detection, effective suppression response, and fuel breaks. Specifically, the modeling system can now be used to explore a wide range of fire management scenarios for the contaminated areas and contribute to a comprehensive fire management strategy that targets specific drivers of fire by leveraging multiple tools including fire prevention and long-term fuel management. Wildfire-caused emissions of radionuclides in Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia are a socio-ecological problem that will require defragmenting existing risk management systems and leveraging multiple short- and long-term mitigation measures.

ON THE NATURE OF COHERENTS IN THE SYSTEM OF OSCILLATORS

The paper presents the transition to the regime of induced radiation of a system of oscillators in the classical and the quantum cases. This transition occurs due to synchronization by the integral field of the phases of a small part of oscillator-emitters. In the quantum analogue of this model, it is shown that the formation of an induced (and, therefore, coherent, as noted by Ch. Towns) pulse of the field is due to the interference of nutation of population inversion in different regions of the system of oscillators. The law of spatial variation of the field intensity is deter-mined by the dispersion characteristics of the system and the level of absorption or output of the radiation energy. Only a small fraction of oscillators provide induced radiation: 8% in the classical case and half as much in the case of a quantum system, where a change in the sign of population inversion in the regions of the highest field values significantly affects the limitation of the radiation intensity.

Two-photon images reveal unique texture features for label-free identification of ovarian cancer peritoneal metastases.

For cancer patients, treatment selection fundamentally relies on staging, with "under-staging" considered a common problem. Imaging modalities that can complement conventional white-light laparoscopy are needed to detect more accurately small metastatic lesions in patients undergoing operative cancer care. Biopsies from healthy parietal peritoneum and ovarian peritoneal metastases obtained from 8 patients were imaged employing a two-photon laser scanning microscope to generate collagen-second harmonic generation (SHG) and fluorescence images at 755 nm and 900 nm excitation and 460 ± 20 nm and 525 ± 25 nm emission. Forty-one images were analyzed by automated image processing algorithms and statistical textural analysis techniques, namely gray level co-occurrence matrices. Two textural features (contrast and correlation) were employed to describe the spatial intensity variations within the captured images and outcomes were used for discriminant analysis. We found that healthy tissues displayed large variations in contrast and correlation features as a function of distance, corresponding to repetitive, increased local intensity fluctuations. Metastatic tissue images exhibited decreased contrast and correlation related values, representing more uniform intensity patterns and smaller fibers, indicating the destruction of the healthy stroma by the cancerous infiltration. The textural outcomes resulted in high classification accuracy as evaluated quantitatively by discriminant analysis.

Spatial and dynamic perspectives on surface urban heat island and their relationships with vegetation activity in Beijing, China, based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer data

ABSTRACTSystematically investigating the spatial and dynamic variations in surface urban heat island (SUHI) and their relationships with vegetation is needed in the context of sustainable urban development. In this study, the regional differences in the spatial and temporal variations in SUHI intensity (SUHII) were quantified, and their correlations with vegetation activity were analyzed in Beijing during 2001–2013, based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer land cover/land use, land surface temperature, normalized difference vegetation index and digital elevation model. The results show that the 13-year averaged daytime SUHII presenting obvious seasonal variations was the highest (2.61°C) in urban core area and the lowest (−2.09°C) in rural area. The night-time SUHII was relatively stable in season, showing the highest SUHII (2.47°C) in urban core area and the lowest SUHII (−1.25°C) in rural area. The annual daytime SUHII decreased apparently in urban core (−0.28°C), urban (−0.10°C) and rural (−0.58°C) areas. The annual night-time SUHII increased weakly in urban core (0.20°C), urban (0.02°C) and suburban (0.08°C) areas. Correlation analyses indicate that the SUHII was negatively and significantly correlated with vegetation activity except in winter days. In addition, the significant negative correlations between daytime SUHII change and vegetation change were observed except in winter. In contrast, the correlation between night-time SUHII change and vegetation change was not observed.