Search results for "Variability"
showing 10 items of 904 documents
The influence of roughness geometry and shields parameter on flow resistance in gravel-bed channels
1997
The spatial variability of bed particles of a gravel-bed channel is analysed and treated experimentally in order to simulate the effects of the arrangement of coarse bed elements on the flow resistance law. For the studied bed patterns, characterized by the concentration Γ of coarser elements arranged on the bed layer, a particle arrangement parameter α is proposed. The α parameter is useful for estimating the intercept b0 of the semi-logarithmic flow resistance law deduced by flume measurements carried out for the hydraulic condition of large-scale and transition roughness. The differences between the experimental friction factor parameter values and the ones calculated by the proposed sem…
Using the simplified falling head technique to detect temporal changes in field-saturated hydraulic conductivity at the surface of a sandy loam soil
2007
Abstract Determining temporal changes in field-saturated hydraulic conductivity ( K fs ) is important for understanding and modeling hydrological phenomena at the field scale. Little is known about temporal variability of K fs values measured at permanent sampling points. In this investigation, the simplified falling head (SFH) technique was used for an approximately 2-year period to determine temporal changes in K fs at 11 permanent sampling points established at the surface of a sandy loam soil. Additional K fs measurements were obtained by the single-ring pressure infiltrometer (PI) technique to also compare the SFH and PI techniques. The lowest mean values of K fs , M ( K fs ), were det…
PPG embedded system for blood pressure monitoring
2014
In this work, we have designed and implemented a microcontroller-based embedded system for blood pressure monitoring through a PhotoPlethysmoGraphic (PPG) technique. In our system, it is possible to perform PPG measurements via reflectance mode. Hardware novelty of our system consists in the adoption of Silicon PhotoMultiplier detectors. The signal received from the photodetector is used to calculate the instantaneous heart rate and therefore the heart rate variability. The obtained results show that, by using our system, it is possible to easily extract both the PPG and the breath signal. These signals can be used to monitor the patients during the convalescence both in hospital and at hom…
Nonlinear effects of respiration on the crosstalk between cardiovascular and cerebrovascular control systems.
2016
Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular regulatory systems are vital control mechanisms responsible for guaranteeing homeostasis and are affected by respiration. This work proposes the investigation of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular control systems and the nonlinear influences of respiration on both regulations through joint symbolic analysis (JSA), conditioned or unconditioned on respiration. Interactions between cardiovascular and cerebrovascular regulatory systems were evaluated as well by performing correlation analysis between JSA indexes describing the two control systems. Heart period, systolic and mean arterial pressure, mean cerebral blood flow velocity and respiration were acquired…
Cancer Clonal Evolution and Intra-tumor Heterogeneity
2017
Despite recent advances in understanding cancer onset mechanisms and development of new therapeutic approaches, however, the resistance of tumor cells to different therapies represents the main obstacle to the successful treatment, resulting in poor prognosis and tumor recurrence. Currently, understanding the causes underlying this resistance is the main objective of oncology research in recent years. Tumors are not uniform diseases but heterogeneous entities consisting of cell populations called clones, with different genetic and molecular characteristics. Indeed, most of cancers shows usually a single clonal origin at the early stages of the disease, but, in advanced stages, tumors may in…
Northern Hemisphere atmospheric pattern enhancing Eastern Mediterranean Transient-type events during the past 1000 years
2021
High-resolution climate model simulations for the last millennium were used to elucidate the main winter Northern Hemisphere atmospheric pattern during enhanced Eastern Mediterranean Transient (EMT-type) events, a situation in which an additional overturning cell is detected in the Mediterranean at the Aegean Sea. The differential upward heat flux between the Aegean Basin and the Gulf of Lion was taken as a proxy of EMT-type events and correlated with winter mean geopotential height at 500 mbar in the Northern Hemisphere (20–90∘ N and 100∘ W–80∘ E). Correlations revealed a pattern similar to the East Atlantic/Western Russian (EA/WR) mode as the main driver of EMT-type events, with the past …
Holocene climate variability of the Western Mediterranean: Surface water dynamics inferred from calcareous plankton assemblages
2020
A high-resolution study (centennial scale) has been performed on the calcareous plankton assemblage of the Holocene portion of the Ocean Drilling Program Site 976 (Alboran Sea) with the aim to identify the main changes in the surface water dynamic. The dataset also provided a seasonal foraminiferal sea surface water temperatures (SSTs), estimated using the modern analog technique SIMMAX 28, and it was compared with available geochemical and pollen data at the site. Three main climate shifts were identified as (1) the increase in abundance of Syracosphaera spp. and Turborotalita quinqueloba marks the early Holocene humid phase, during maximum summer insolation and enhanced river runoff. It i…
Patterns of variability in early life traits of a Mediterranean coastal fish
2013
Spawning dates and pelagic larval duration (PLD) are early life traits (ELT) crucial for understanding life cycles, properly assessing patterns of connectivity and gathering indications about patchiness or homogeneity of larval pools. Considering that little attention has been paid to spatial variability in these traits, we investigated variability of ELT from the analysis of otolith microstructure in the common two-banded sea bream Diplodus vulgaris. In the southwestern Adriatic Sea, along ~200 km of coast (∼1° in latitude, 41.2° to 40.2°N), variability of ELT was assessed at multiple spatial scales. Overall, PLD (ranging from 25 to 61 d) and spawning dates (October 2009 to February 2010) …
Surface Temperature trends in the Mediterranean Sea from MODIS data during years 2003–2019
2022
Abstract Sea Surface Temperature is a variable recognized as an Essential Climate Variable (ECV) by the Global Climate Observation System (GCOS), due to its determinant influence on climate dynamics, from micro scale to global levels The aim of this paper is to estimate Sea Surface Temperature trends in the Mediterranean Sea during years 2003–2019 by using the MODIS Level 3 SST Thermal IR 8 Day 4km V2019.0. Results show an SST increase of 0.040 ± 0.001 °C/yr. The seasonal maximum trend is associated to summer 0.070 ± 0.001 °C/yr, followed by winter, (0.040 ± 0.001) °C/yr, autumn 0.030 ± 0.001 °C/yr and spring, 0.020 ± 0.001 °C/yr. The total period analyzed has been divided into ten-year tim…
Geographical patterns of genetic variation in rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) in the Mediterranean basin
2013
Climate changes during the Quaternary had important effects on the evolution of European plant species. The distribution of genetic variability in rosemary, a strictly Mediterranean species of reputed Plio-Quaternary origin for which the diversification centre is hypothesized to be located in the western part of the Mediterranean basin, was investigated across the species range by using plastid microsatellites (plastid simple sequence repeat (cpSSR)) markers. Seven out of the 17 primer pairs screened were polymorphic, with up to four alleles, yielding a total of 17 size variants combined into ten haplotypes. A permutation test to investigate for geographical structure showed no significant …