Search results for "feature"
showing 10 items of 4091 documents
Relationships between earthworm communities and burrow numbers under different land use systems
2010
International audience; This study addresses the influence of three different land use systems (continuous maize, pasture/maize rotation, permanent pasture) on the relationships between earthworm populations and the number of earthworm burrows quantified in a soil profile. Quantified burrows were limited to those observable by the naked eye (i.e. >2 mm in diameter) and enumerated earthworms were limited to those which could have created the observable burrows (i.e. >0.3 g). The results were combined with data from the literature coming from different geographical regions. This study showed that earthworm abundance decreased with the increasing land management intensity (maize crop vs. pastu…
Spatial Distribution of Soil Hydrological Properties in the Kilombero Floodplain, Tanzania
2017
Analysis and interpretation of soil properties dynamics is a keystone in understanding the hydrologic responses and yield potential of floodplain wetlands. This study characterizes the distribution and spatial trends of selected soil physical properties in the Kilombero floodplain, Tanzania. A total of 76 composite soil samples were taken from 0 to 20 cm and 20 to 40 cm depth in a regular grid design across three hydrological zones, related to flooding intensity defined as fringe, middle, and riparian during the rainy season of 2015. The samples were analyzed for soil texture, bulk density, organic carbon, and saturated hydraulic conductivity. Seasonal soil moisture content was monitored at…
Short-term changes in soil Munsell colour value, organic matter content and soil water repellency after a spring grassland fire in Lithuania
2014
Abstract. Fire is a natural phenomenon with important implications on soil properties. The degree of this impact depends upon fire severity, the ecosystem affected, topography of the burned area and post-fire meteorological conditions. The study of fire effects on soil properties is fundamental to understand the impacts of this disturbance on ecosystems. The aim of this work was to study the short-term effects immediately after the fire (IAF), 2, 5, 7 and 9 months after a low-severity spring boreal grassland fire on soil colour value (assessed with the Munsell colour chart), soil organic matter content (SOM) and soil water repellency (SWR) in Lithuania. Four days after the fire a 400 m2 plo…
Continental degassing of helium in an active tectonic setting (northern Italy): the role of seismicity
2020
AbstractIn order to investigate the variability of helium degassing in continental regions, its release from rocks and emission into the atmosphere, here we studied the degassing of volatiles in a seismically active region of northern Italy (MwMAX = 6) at the Nirano-Regnano mud volcanic system. The emitted gases in the study area are CH4–dominated and it is the carrier for helium (He) transfer through the crust. Carbon and He isotopes unequivocally indicate that crustal-derived fluids dominate these systems. An high-resolution 3-dimensional reconstruction of the gas reservoirs feeding the observed gas emissions at the surface permits to estimate the amount of He stored in the natural reserv…
European Association for the Study of the Liver Hepatocellular Carcinoma summit 2014: old questions, new (or few) answers?
2014
, the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) organized the 2014 EASL HCC Summit in Geneva, Switzerland from 13 to 16 February 2014. A number of interesting issues on the management of hepatocellular carci-noma (HCC) have been addressed during this meeting. However, our feeling is that only few answers have been given to those questions, mainly because of the still poor knowledge of the molecular basis and the natural history of HCC.HCC is a complex disease, associated in the wide majority of cases with under -lying cirrhosis. In addition, HCC pre-sents with high heterogeneity
Solid-phase extraction based on ground methacrylate monolith modified with gold nanoparticles for isolation of proteins
2015
In this study, a novel polymeric material functionalized with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) was prepared as solid-phase extraction (SPE) sorbent for isolation of proteins. The sorbent was synthesized from a powdered poly(glycidyl-co-ethylene dimethacrylate) monolith, and modified with ammonia, followed by immobilization of AuNPs on the pore surface of the material. To evaluate the performance of this SPE support, proteins were selected as test solutes, being the extraction conditions and other parameters (loading capacity and regenerative ability of sorbent) established. The results indicated that this sorbent could be employed to selectively capture proteins according to their pI, on the basi…
Automatic screening of cardiac disorders using wavelet analysis of heart sound
2017
Body auscultation is a dominant method for physical examination of human heart using conventional stethoscope. This clinical method is non invasive and efficient but it requires a medical expert to interpret the heart sound for assessment of cardiac disorders. This paper presents analysis of heart sounds in wavelet domain for automated screening of cardiac disorders. Heart sound signal is transformed in wavelet domain to find out discrimination between heart sounds recorded from healthy and anomalous patients. Discriminatory features extracted from wavelet coefficients of heart sound are subjected to machine learning for screening of cardiac disorders automatically. The proposed method for …
Innovative Tools for Sound Sketching Combining Vocalizations and Gestures
2016
International audience; Designers are used to produce a variety of physical and digital representations at different stages of the design process. These intermediary objects (IOs) do support the externalization of ideas and the mediation with the different stakeholders. In the same manner, sound designers deliver several intermediate sounds to their clients, through iteration and refinement. In fact, these preliminary sounds are sound sketches representing the intermediate steps of an evolving creation. In this paper we reflect on the method of sketching sounds through vocalizations and gestures, and how a technological support, grounded in the understanding of the design practice, can fost…
Microphones’ Directivity for the Localization of Sound Sources
2011
In a recent paper [P. Rizzo, G. Bordoni, A. Marzani, and J. Vipperman, "Localization of Sound Sources by Means of Unidirectional Microphones, Meas. Sci. Tech., 20, 055202 (12pp), 2009] the proof-of-concept of an approach for the localization of acoustic sources was presented. The method relies on the use of unidirectional microphones and amplitude-based signals' features to extract information about the direction of the incoming sound. By intersecting the directions identified by a pair of microphones, the position of the emitting source can be identified. In this paper we expand the work presented previously by assessing the effectiveness of the approach for the localization of an acoustic…
Modeling temporal and spatial colony‐site dynamics in a long‐lived seabird
2003
We studied the determinants of colony site dynamics in Audouin's gull, Larus audouinii, breeding in a small archipelago of the western Mediterranean. Data on island occupation were available for a series of 25 years, since first colonization of the archipelago in 1973. Group behavior was studied in relation to the components of dispersal: permanence or abandonment (extinction) on an island previously occupied and permanence or occupation (colonization) of another island. Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMMs) were used to identify the relative contribution of each explanatory variable to the probability of colony abandonment. Gulls showed a low probability (3%) of abandoning one of the isl…