The effect of global climate change on vegetation growth is variable.Timely and effective monitoring of vegetation drought is crucial for understanding its dynamics and mitigation,and even regional protection of ecolo...The effect of global climate change on vegetation growth is variable.Timely and effective monitoring of vegetation drought is crucial for understanding its dynamics and mitigation,and even regional protection of ecological environments.In this study,we constructed a new drought index(i.e.,Vegetation Drought Condition Index(VDCI))based on precipitation,potential evapotranspiration,soil moisture and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI)data,to monitor vegetation drought in the nine major river basins(including the Songhua River and Liaohe River Basin,Haihe River Basin,Yellow River Basin,Huaihe River Basin,Yangtze River Basin,Southeast River Basin,Pearl River Basin,Southwest River Basin and Continental River Basin)in China at 1-month–12-month(T1–T12)time scales.We used the Pearson's correlation coefficients to assess the relationships between the drought indices(the developed VDCI and traditional drought indices including the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index(SPEI),Standardized Soil Moisture Index(SSMI)and Self-calibrating Palmer Drought Severity Index(scPDSI))and the NDVI at T1–T12 time scales,and to estimate and compare the lag times of vegetation response to drought among different drought indices.The results showed that precipitation and potential evapotranspiration have positive and major influences on vegetation in the nine major river basins at T1–T6 time scales.Soil moisture shows a lower degree of negative influence on vegetation in different river basins at multiple time scales.Potential evapotranspiration shows a higher degree of positive influence on vegetation,and it acts as the primary influencing factor with higher area proportion at multiple time scales in different river basins.The VDCI has a stronger relationship with the NDVI in the Songhua River and Liaohe River Basin,Haihe River Basin,Yellow River Basin,Huaihe River Basin and Yangtze River Basin at T1–T4 time scales.In general,the VDCI is more sensitive(with shorter lag time of vegetation response to drought)than the traditional drought indices(SPEI,scPDSI and SSMI)in monitoring vegetation drought,and thus it could be applied to monitor short-term vegetation drought.The VDCI developed in the study can reveal the law of unclear mechanisms between vegetation and climate,and can be applied in other fields of vegetation drought monitoring with complex mechanisms.展开更多
Pavement management systems(PMS)are used by transportation government agencies to promote sustainable development and to keep road pavement conditions above the minimum performance levels at a reasonable cost.To accom...Pavement management systems(PMS)are used by transportation government agencies to promote sustainable development and to keep road pavement conditions above the minimum performance levels at a reasonable cost.To accomplish this objective,the pavement condition is monitored to predict deterioration and determine the need for maintenance or rehabilitation at the appropriate time.The pavement condition index(PCI)is a commonly usedmetric to evaluate the pavement's performance.This research aims to create and evaluate prediction models for PCI values using multiple linear regression(MLR),artificial neural networks(ANN),and fuzzy logic inference(FIS)models for flexible pavement sections.The authors collected field data spans for 2018 and 2021.Eight pavement distress factors were considered inputs for predicting PCI values,such as rutting,fatigue cracking,block cracking,longitudinal cracking,transverse cracking,patching,potholes,and delamination.This study evaluates the performance of the three techniques based on the coefficient of determination,root mean squared error(RMSE),and mean absolute error(MAE).The results show that the R2 values of the ANN models increased by 51.32%,2.02%,36.55%,and 3.02%compared toMLR and FIS(2018 and 2021).The error in the PCI values predicted by the ANNmodel was significantly lower than the errors in the prediction by the FIS and MLR models.展开更多
The population parameters of blood cockles,Tegillarca granosa in the intertidal zone of Marudu Bay,Sabah,Malaysia were investigated based on monthly length-weight frequency data(July 2017 to June 2018).A total of 279 ...The population parameters of blood cockles,Tegillarca granosa in the intertidal zone of Marudu Bay,Sabah,Malaysia were investigated based on monthly length-weight frequency data(July 2017 to June 2018).A total of 279 cockle individuals with shell length and weight ranging from 27.7 mm to 82.2 mm and 13.11 g to 192.7 g were subjected to analysis.T.granosa in Marudu Bay showed a consistent moderately high condition index 4.98±0.86 throughout the year.The exponent b of the length-weight relationship was 2.6 demonstrating negative allometric growth.The estimated asymptotic length(L_(∞)),growth coefficient(K)and growth performance(Ф)of the T.granosa population in Marudu Bay were estimated at 86.68 mm,0.98 a^(-1) and 3.87,respectively.The observed maximum shell length was 82.55 mm and the predicted maximum shell length was 84.44 mm with estimated maximum life span(t_(max))of 3.06 years.The estimated mean lengths at the end of 2,4,6,8,10 and 12 months of age were 21.31 mm,31.16 mm,39.53 mm,46.63 mm,52.67 mm and 57.79 mm.Total,natural,and fishing mortalities were estimated at 2.39 a^(-1),1.32 a^(-1) and 1.07 a^(-1).The exploitation level(E)was 0.45.Results of the current study also demonstrated that T.granosa in the Marudu Bay has two major recruitment peaks;one in March and another in October.The exploitation level revealed that natural stock of T.granosa in the Marudu Bay was approaching the maximum exploitation level.If such trend continues or demand for T.granosa is increasing,coupled with no effective fisheries management in place,possibility of the T.granosa population in the Marudu Bay to collapse is likely to elevate.展开更多
Pavement infrastructure is vital in providing services and links between various sectors of society. Therefore, thepreservation and maintenance of these roads are critical to attaining a pavement network in good condi...Pavement infrastructure is vital in providing services and links between various sectors of society. Therefore, thepreservation and maintenance of these roads are critical to attaining a pavement network in good conditionthroughout its service life. Various performance indicators like the international roughness index (IRI), pavementcondition index (PCI), and present serviceability rating (PSR) have been used by the state department of transportation (DOT) and highway agencies for evaluating pavement surface conditions and planning future maintenance strategies. Limited data availability, multiple distresses depending on region, lack of correlation of thesecondition indices to maintenance strategies, and data collection limitations pose a challenge for applying theseindices to local conditions. This paper compares condition indices of different states for rigid pavements. Further,using a specific condition index for local conditions is also highlighted. For this purpose, five states and theircorresponding condition indices were evaluated and compared to the Michigan DOT distress index (DI). Thesestates include Virginia, Minnesota, North Dakota, Louisiana, and Oregon. The corresponding distresses of eachcondition index were converted to make them compatible with the MDOT DI. This study used the MDOT'spavement management system (PMS) database to evaluate each condition index for 433 rigid pavement sections.Each distress index was plotted against MDOT DI and compared using a paired t-test. Results show that thecondition indices of Virginia and Minnesota are comparable to DI in terms of the Spearman correlation value. Thet-test results show that except for Virgina, condition indices from other states statistically differ from DI.Therefore, one can't use those directly for local conditions in Michigan. This paper presents the evaluation anddata requirements for each condition index and its impact on selecting a maintenance treatment.展开更多
The normalized difference vegetation index （NDVI） has proven to be typically employed to assess terrestrial vegetation conditions. However, one limitation of NDVI for drought monitoring is the apparent time lag betw...The normalized difference vegetation index （NDVI） has proven to be typically employed to assess terrestrial vegetation conditions. However, one limitation of NDVI for drought monitoring is the apparent time lag between rainfall deficit and NDVI response. To better understand this relationship, time series NDVI （2000-2010） during the growing season in Sichuan Province and Chongqing City were analyzed. The vegetation condition index （VCI） was used to construct a new drought index, time-integrated vegetation condition index （TIVCI）, and was then compared with meteorological drought indices-standardized precipitation index （SPI）, a multiple-time scale meteorological-drought index based on precipitation, to examine the sensitivity on droughts. Our research findings indicate the followings： （1） farmland NDVI sensitivity to precipitation in study area has a time lag of 16-24 d, and it maximally responds to the temperature with a lag of about 16 d. （2） We applied the approach to Sichuan Province and Chongqing City for extreme drought monitoring in 2006 and 2003, and the results show that the monitoring results from TIVCI are closer to the published China agricultural statistical data than VCI. Compared to VCI, the best results from TIVCI3 were found with the relative errors of -4.5 and 6.36% in 2006 for drought affected area and drought disaster area respectively, and 5.11 and -5.95% in 2003. （3） Compared to VCI, TIVCI has better correlation with the SPI, which indicates the lag and cumulative effects of precipitation on vegetation. Our finding proved that TIVCI is an effective indicator of drought detection when the time lag effects between NDVI and climate factors are taken into consideration.展开更多
In this paper,we apply adaptive coded modulation (ACM) schemes to a wireless networked control system (WNCS) to improve the energy efficiency and increase the data rate over a fading channel.To capture the characteris...In this paper,we apply adaptive coded modulation (ACM) schemes to a wireless networked control system (WNCS) to improve the energy efficiency and increase the data rate over a fading channel.To capture the characteristics of varying rate, interference,and routing in wireless transmission channels,the concepts of equivalent delay (ED) and networked condition index (NCI) are introduced.Also,the analytic lower and upper bounds of EDs are obtained.Furthermore,we model the WNCS as a multicontroller switched system (MSS) under consideration of EDs and loss index in the wireless transmission.Sufficient stability condition of the closed-loop WNCS and corresponding dynamic state feedback controllers are derived in terms of linear matrix inequality (LMI). Numerical results show the validity and advantage of our proposed control strategies.展开更多
Based on the De.Morgan laws and Boolean simplification, a recursive decomposition method is introduced in this paper to identify the main exclusive safe paths and failed paths of a network. The reliability or the reli...Based on the De.Morgan laws and Boolean simplification, a recursive decomposition method is introduced in this paper to identify the main exclusive safe paths and failed paths of a network. The reliability or the reliability bound of a network can be conveniently expressed as the summation of the joint probabilities of these paths. Under the multivariate normal distribution assumption, a conditioned reliability index method is developed to evaluate joint probabilities of various exclusive safe paths and failed paths, and, finally, the seismic reliability or the reliability bound of an electric power system. Examples given in the paper show that the method is very simple and provides accurate results in the seismic reliability analysis.展开更多
MODIS-EVI time series data from 2000 to 2009 in Chongqing were selected for this study.By the use of best index slope extraction （BISE） method for cloud elimination,analysis on the change vector of EVI time series d...MODIS-EVI time series data from 2000 to 2009 in Chongqing were selected for this study.By the use of best index slope extraction （BISE） method for cloud elimination,analysis on the change vector of EVI time series data were conducted to investigate the EVI response on drought; then,four typical regions were selected to study the relationship between precipitation,temperature and EVI when the sever drought occurred in 2006; finally,based on the time series of vegetation condition index （VCI） and precipitation abnormity percentage,the temporal and spatial distributions of drought were studied.The results showed that,the EVI value of the summer in 2006 was significantly lower than the average EVI at the corresponding period of the other years in Chongqing.In addition,summer drought occurred mainly during the hot and dry weather.Except the southeast area,most of the other regions in Chongqing were all under severe drought.展开更多
The effects of salinities between 10 and 30 psu on the growth of blue mussels, Mytilus edulis, were studied in laboratory feeding experiments and compared to the growth of mussels suspended in net-bags in the brackish...The effects of salinities between 10 and 30 psu on the growth of blue mussels, Mytilus edulis, were studied in laboratory feeding experiments and compared to the growth of mussels suspended in net-bags in the brackish water Great Belt, Denmark. In the laboratory, 3 series of growth experiments were conducted: in Series #1, groups of mussels were exposed to 10, 15, 25 and 30 psu, in Series #2, two groups of mussels were exposed to 10 and 30 psu, respectively, for 15 days (first period) where upon the mussels were exposed to the reversed salinities for another 15 days (second period). In Series #3, two groups of mussels were initially exposed to 15 and 25 psu for 22 days whereupon the mussel groups were exposed to the reversed salinities for another 17 days. In the laboratory experiments there was a tendency towards reduced growth with decreasing salinity, reflected as reduced shell growth rate and decreasing weight specific growth rate with falling salinity. The shell growth rate was relatively low in the first feeding period compared to the second period, and mussels that were initially exposed to 10 psu, where the growth was low, exhibited fast growth when subsequently exposed to 30 psu, and reversed when 30 psu mussels were exposed to 10 psu. The study showed that mussels are able to adjust growth at changing salinities, and the observed effect of salinity could partly be explained by a temporary shell valve closure after a sudden change in salinity. The specific growth rate of mussels measured in laboratory experiments at salinities between 15 to 25 psu (4.2% to 4.8% d–1) were comparable to the growth of mussels in the field experiment (3.2% to 4.0% d–1) where the salinity varied between 24 and 13 psu during the growth period.展开更多
Because the U.S.is a major player in the international oil market,it is interesting to study whether aggregate and state-level economic conditions can predict the subse-quent realized volatility of oil price returns.T...Because the U.S.is a major player in the international oil market,it is interesting to study whether aggregate and state-level economic conditions can predict the subse-quent realized volatility of oil price returns.To address this research question,we frame our analysis in terms of variants of the popular heterogeneous autoregressive realized volatility(HAR-RV)model.To estimate the models,we use quantile-regression and quantile machine learning(Lasso)estimators.Our estimation results highlights the dif-ferential effects of economic conditions on the quantiles of the conditional distribution of realized volatility.Using weekly data for the period April 1987 to December 2021,we document evidence of predictability at a biweekly and monthly horizon.展开更多
This paper reports a practical pavement overlay design method based on PCI (Pavement Condition Index). Current pavement investigation method (JTJ 073 96) is compared to the ASTM D 5340, which is the standard test met...This paper reports a practical pavement overlay design method based on PCI (Pavement Condition Index). Current pavement investigation method (JTJ 073 96) is compared to the ASTM D 5340, which is the standard test method for airport pavement condition evaluation initially developed for US Air Force. The deficiency in the calculation of PCI based on field data in JTJ 073 is discussed. The proposed design method is compared to AASHTO overlay design method with good agreement. The paper concludes with an example illustrating how the existing pavement structural capacity is related to pavement distress survey results. The presented design method can be used in the design for overlay rehabilitation of pavements of highways, urban streets and airports.展开更多
-Air-conditioning （AC） systems are the major energy consumption units in residential and commercial buildings. In the context of smart grid, optimizing AC operations leads to substantial saving in energy consumption...-Air-conditioning （AC） systems are the major energy consumption units in residential and commercial buildings. In the context of smart grid, optimizing AC operations leads to substantial saving in energy consumption, reducing the consumer＇s bill and contributing to the environment by minimizing carbon emissions from generating stations. This paper presents a distributed AC energy management system for buildings by using networked master-slaves controller architecture. The proposed system was designed, simulated, and experimentally tested by using real AC units in a students＇ residence hall. Based on the students＇ class schedules, several operational scenarios were implemented and tested. The proposed system implementation leads to a 40% to 60% saving of the consumed energy by the tested units. The same energy management scheme can be applied and implemented in other commercial and residential buildings.展开更多
The pavement strength is very important for the evaluation of backlog maintenance. The current trend in many developing countries used pavement conditions index-PCI in estimating maintenance costs. The PCI can only ju...The pavement strength is very important for the evaluation of backlog maintenance. The current trend in many developing countries used pavement conditions index-PCI in estimating maintenance costs. The PCI can only justify periodic and routine recurrent maintenance. The condition strength is rarely determined in a flexible pavement creating an opportunity for back long maintenance. This paper reports the study conducted to develop and improve the algorithm for estimating the adjusted structure number to estimate the remaining thickness of the flexible pavement. The analysis of eight ways of computing structure numbers from FWD data ware analyzed and found that the improvement of the HDM 3 - 4 models can influence the usefulness of data collected from road asset management in Tanzania. The algorithm for estimating structural numbers from CBR was improved to compute adjusted structural numbers finally used to estimate the remaining life of the flexible pavement. The analysis of the network of about 6900 km including ST and AM was found that 64.72% were very good, 12% were Good, 10% were fair and 7.84% were poor and 5.4% were very poor.展开更多
The study was undergone on the distribution of abundance of Patella rustica Linnaeus, 1758, with the objective of evaluating of its abundance along the rocky shores of the coast and located sites with high density. A ...The study was undergone on the distribution of abundance of Patella rustica Linnaeus, 1758, with the objective of evaluating of its abundance along the rocky shores of the coast and located sites with high density. A total of twelve sampling sites were selected along the gulf of Skikda. Each station was sampled using quadrats of 25 cm^2. In the present study, two environmental parameters were measured ＂in situ＂ in the water column at each sampling station （water surface temperature, pH）. Biotic communities of the rocky shores are considered to be generally controlled by physical factors such as temperature and desiccation. Therefore, three measurements were made for each abiotic parameter during this survey and mean values were used for statistical analysis. Consequently, the data of abundance （expressed in frequency） of species were calculated based on the distributed individuals along the quadrat. P. rustica is distributed mainly in the East more than in the West particularly from SI to S5. The condition index calculated at 12 stations revealed important seasonal variations, with the maximum during summer season highlighting three stations （S2, S11 and S 12）. This index is also very important in S3 and S4. The factors of pollution at these points had not affected the abundance and index condition.展开更多
We compared spring-summer activity of adult female Agassiz’s Desert Tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) among three consecutive years (1997, 1998, and 1999) that differed dramatically in winter rainfall and annual plant p...We compared spring-summer activity of adult female Agassiz’s Desert Tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) among three consecutive years (1997, 1998, and 1999) that differed dramatically in winter rainfall and annual plant production at a wind energy facility in the Sonoran Desert of southern California. Winter rainfall was approximately 71%, 190%, and 17% of the long-term average (October-March = 114 mm) for this area in water years (WY) 1997, 1998, and 1999, respectively. The substantial precipitation caused by an El Ni?o Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event in WY 1998 produced a generous annual food plant supply (138.2 g dry biomass/ m2) in the spring. Primary production of winter annuals during below average rainfall years (WY 1997 and WY 1999) was reduced to 98.3 and 0.2 g/m2, respectively. Mean rates of movement and mean body condition indices (mass/length) did not differ significantly among the years. The drought year following ENSO (WY 1999) was statistically similar to ENSO in every other measured value, while WY 1997 (end of a two year drought) was statistically different from ENSO using activity area, minimum number of burrows used, and percentage of non-movements. Our data suggest that female G. agassizii activity can be influenced by environmental conditions in previous years.展开更多
Assuring the accuracy and reliability of pavement condition data is crucial for effective decision-making in pavement management.Despite existing data collection protocols,concerns persist regarding data quality.This ...Assuring the accuracy and reliability of pavement condition data is crucial for effective decision-making in pavement management.Despite existing data collection protocols,concerns persist regarding data quality.This paper introduces SMART,a systematic statis-tical method designed to analyze the quality of pavement condition data from field surveys for pavement management applications.SMART employs a structured procedure that expands traditional descriptive statistics by applying interrater reliability statistics com-bined with bootstrapping methods and Modified-Blant Altman diagrams to evaluate data quality.A comparative analysis of interrater statistics,including Cohen’s Kappa(CK),Interclass Correlation(IC),Krippendorff’s Alpha(KA),Percent Agreement(PA),and Weighted Cohen’s Kappa(WCK),is conducted in the research study.As a result,the adop-tion of KA and Modified Bland-Altman diagrams for data analysis is recommended.KA demonstrates versatility across diverse data types,accommodating nominal,ordinal,inter-val,and ratio-level data,while Modified Bland-Altman diagrams facilitate data dispersion analysis to visualize possible bias trends for the condition ratings.A case study is presented to demonstrate the applicability of SMART to analyzing Pavement Condition Index(PCI)data provided by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission(MTC)in California.This methodological approach aims to enhance pavement management decisions by ensuring the reliability of condition field survey data through the implementation of robust analytical quality control procedures.展开更多
The average values of the seasonal flesh biochemical composition(%)of the pearl oyster Pinctada imbricata radiata originated form 2 sampling sites,the gulfs of Evoikos(E)and Saronikos(S)in the Western Aegean Sea,showe...The average values of the seasonal flesh biochemical composition(%)of the pearl oyster Pinctada imbricata radiata originated form 2 sampling sites,the gulfs of Evoikos(E)and Saronikos(S)in the Western Aegean Sea,showed that is rich in proteins(64.00±1.86-(E),64.67±2.95-(S))with low fat content(10.96±1.04-(E),11.86±1.13-(S))and carbohydrates(13.29±2.48-(E),9.94±4.32(S)).The condition index ranged from 26.16%±5.04 in the autumn in(E),to 44.73%±7.50 in the summer in(S).The meat yield varied from 20.49%±3.20%in the summer in(E)to 30.73%±3.47%in the summer in(S).Both results demonstrate the high nutritional profile of the pearl oyster,supporting its suitability as a potential new Mediterranean seafood source for human consumption.展开更多
How can we fit different monetary transmission channels together to understand the effect of China＇s monetary policy？ This paper focuses on China＇s monetary conditions and aggregate demand in terms of the monetary ...How can we fit different monetary transmission channels together to understand the effect of China＇s monetary policy？ This paper focuses on China＇s monetary conditions and aggregate demand in terms of the monetary conditions index （MCI）, which has been widely used as an important indicator for central banks, financial institutions, and scholars. To construct an MCI in the context of China over 1987Q1-2010Q2, we consider three channels through which monetary conditions might influence aggregate demand： the primary lending rate, the real effective exchange rate, and the bank credit. The weights of the component variables are obtained by estimating both the IS equation and the vector autoregressive model （VAR）, which yield somewhat similar results. Further empirical tests show that the MCIs we derived contain useful information about future output growth and inflation in China over the short and medium term. From a historical perspective, the MCI we derived is more informative than individual monetary variables for the understanding of the development of China＇s monetary conditions between 1987 and 2010.展开更多
The present research is an attempt to screen five perennial indigenous grass species for their biochemical constituents seasonally for one year in order to determine the exact season for the harvest of the target spec...The present research is an attempt to screen five perennial indigenous grass species for their biochemical constituents seasonally for one year in order to determine the exact season for the harvest of the target species which will be used as feed ingredient.Among them,Cynodon dactylon has shown better result compared to other grass species and was hence incorporated as micronutrient in the formulated feed.Macrobrachium rosenbergii culture was carried out by feeding conventional and formulated feed(prepared from grass species)in tanks and ponds filled with spring water for 180 days in 2020 in the Eastern Ghats region of Koraput district,Odisha,India.Two treatments namely T_(1)and T_(2)having four replications each were supplied with commercial feed and formulated feed.Feeds were applied as per the body weight of prawns at 20%for the 1st month,15%for the 2nd month,10%for the 3rd and the 4th month,5%for the 5th month and 2%till the end of the experiment.The water temperature,pH,dissolved oxygen,transparency,nitrate,phosphate,silicate,Chl a in the culture tanks and ponds were monitored fortnightly.ANOVA results between all the water parameters for both culture tanks and ponds showed significant variation(P<0.05).The survival rate(77.0%±0.89%),daily growth rate(0.233±0.05)g/day,specific growth rate(4.657%±1.04%)per day and condition index(2.638±0.05)were found to be highest in prawns fed formulated feed.The feed conversion ratio varied from(2.03±0.05)to(2.68±0.04).Benefit cost ratio of field culture were 1.46 with yield of 702 kg/ha in conventional feed and 1.75 with yield of 950 kg/ha in formulated feed respectively.The study proved grass extracts to be efficient micronutrients for prawn feed which can be easily adopted in prawn production.展开更多
Crassostrea(Magallana)saidii has been commercially ranched in Malaysia and consumed for more than 160 years,but it was only recently identified as a new species to science.This study was conducted to evaluate the repr...Crassostrea(Magallana)saidii has been commercially ranched in Malaysia and consumed for more than 160 years,but it was only recently identified as a new species to science.This study was conducted to evaluate the reproductive phenology of C.(M.)saidii.Samples of 30 individual oysters were taken monthly for 15 months from the sole population at Sungai Muar estuary in Johor,Malaysia.The sex ratio was 1:1.64(male:female)for all examined specimens,with female numbers significantly higher.Hermaphrodism was detected in 1.56%of all samples.Spawning peaks in April(2019)and November(2018 and 2019),and were positively associated with the increased rainfall upstream.Gametogenesis occurred throughout the research period with temporal variations.The highest values of maturity index(MI)were recorded in March,August and October 2019,when most oysters were in matured and maturing stages.Condition index(CI)ranged from 31.90±1.25(April 2019)to 70.03±3.23(October 2019),exhibiting two peaks(March and October 2019)and subsequently reduced in CI indicating spawning consistency with histological observations.Anthropogenic stressors such as heavy sedimentation and inland development are threatening the survival of this species.The understanding of their reproductive biology is essential to ensure the survival and sustainability of C.(M.)saidii fishery.展开更多
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(52179015,42301024)the Key Technologies Research&Development and Promotion Program of Henan(232102110025)the Cultivation Plan of Innovative Scientific and Technological Team of Water Conservancy Engineering Discipline of North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power(CXTDPY-9).
文摘The effect of global climate change on vegetation growth is variable.Timely and effective monitoring of vegetation drought is crucial for understanding its dynamics and mitigation,and even regional protection of ecological environments.In this study,we constructed a new drought index(i.e.,Vegetation Drought Condition Index(VDCI))based on precipitation,potential evapotranspiration,soil moisture and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI)data,to monitor vegetation drought in the nine major river basins(including the Songhua River and Liaohe River Basin,Haihe River Basin,Yellow River Basin,Huaihe River Basin,Yangtze River Basin,Southeast River Basin,Pearl River Basin,Southwest River Basin and Continental River Basin)in China at 1-month–12-month(T1–T12)time scales.We used the Pearson's correlation coefficients to assess the relationships between the drought indices(the developed VDCI and traditional drought indices including the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index(SPEI),Standardized Soil Moisture Index(SSMI)and Self-calibrating Palmer Drought Severity Index(scPDSI))and the NDVI at T1–T12 time scales,and to estimate and compare the lag times of vegetation response to drought among different drought indices.The results showed that precipitation and potential evapotranspiration have positive and major influences on vegetation in the nine major river basins at T1–T6 time scales.Soil moisture shows a lower degree of negative influence on vegetation in different river basins at multiple time scales.Potential evapotranspiration shows a higher degree of positive influence on vegetation,and it acts as the primary influencing factor with higher area proportion at multiple time scales in different river basins.The VDCI has a stronger relationship with the NDVI in the Songhua River and Liaohe River Basin,Haihe River Basin,Yellow River Basin,Huaihe River Basin and Yangtze River Basin at T1–T4 time scales.In general,the VDCI is more sensitive(with shorter lag time of vegetation response to drought)than the traditional drought indices(SPEI,scPDSI and SSMI)in monitoring vegetation drought,and thus it could be applied to monitor short-term vegetation drought.The VDCI developed in the study can reveal the law of unclear mechanisms between vegetation and climate,and can be applied in other fields of vegetation drought monitoring with complex mechanisms.
文摘Pavement management systems(PMS)are used by transportation government agencies to promote sustainable development and to keep road pavement conditions above the minimum performance levels at a reasonable cost.To accomplish this objective,the pavement condition is monitored to predict deterioration and determine the need for maintenance or rehabilitation at the appropriate time.The pavement condition index(PCI)is a commonly usedmetric to evaluate the pavement's performance.This research aims to create and evaluate prediction models for PCI values using multiple linear regression(MLR),artificial neural networks(ANN),and fuzzy logic inference(FIS)models for flexible pavement sections.The authors collected field data spans for 2018 and 2021.Eight pavement distress factors were considered inputs for predicting PCI values,such as rutting,fatigue cracking,block cracking,longitudinal cracking,transverse cracking,patching,potholes,and delamination.This study evaluates the performance of the three techniques based on the coefficient of determination,root mean squared error(RMSE),and mean absolute error(MAE).The results show that the R2 values of the ANN models increased by 51.32%,2.02%,36.55%,and 3.02%compared toMLR and FIS(2018 and 2021).The error in the PCI values predicted by the ANNmodel was significantly lower than the errors in the prediction by the FIS and MLR models.
基金The Fundamental Research Grant Scheme from the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia under contract No.FRG0467-2017。
文摘The population parameters of blood cockles,Tegillarca granosa in the intertidal zone of Marudu Bay,Sabah,Malaysia were investigated based on monthly length-weight frequency data(July 2017 to June 2018).A total of 279 cockle individuals with shell length and weight ranging from 27.7 mm to 82.2 mm and 13.11 g to 192.7 g were subjected to analysis.T.granosa in Marudu Bay showed a consistent moderately high condition index 4.98±0.86 throughout the year.The exponent b of the length-weight relationship was 2.6 demonstrating negative allometric growth.The estimated asymptotic length(L_(∞)),growth coefficient(K)and growth performance(Ф)of the T.granosa population in Marudu Bay were estimated at 86.68 mm,0.98 a^(-1) and 3.87,respectively.The observed maximum shell length was 82.55 mm and the predicted maximum shell length was 84.44 mm with estimated maximum life span(t_(max))of 3.06 years.The estimated mean lengths at the end of 2,4,6,8,10 and 12 months of age were 21.31 mm,31.16 mm,39.53 mm,46.63 mm,52.67 mm and 57.79 mm.Total,natural,and fishing mortalities were estimated at 2.39 a^(-1),1.32 a^(-1) and 1.07 a^(-1).The exploitation level(E)was 0.45.Results of the current study also demonstrated that T.granosa in the Marudu Bay has two major recruitment peaks;one in March and another in October.The exploitation level revealed that natural stock of T.granosa in the Marudu Bay was approaching the maximum exploitation level.If such trend continues or demand for T.granosa is increasing,coupled with no effective fisheries management in place,possibility of the T.granosa population in the Marudu Bay to collapse is likely to elevate.
文摘Pavement infrastructure is vital in providing services and links between various sectors of society. Therefore, thepreservation and maintenance of these roads are critical to attaining a pavement network in good conditionthroughout its service life. Various performance indicators like the international roughness index (IRI), pavementcondition index (PCI), and present serviceability rating (PSR) have been used by the state department of transportation (DOT) and highway agencies for evaluating pavement surface conditions and planning future maintenance strategies. Limited data availability, multiple distresses depending on region, lack of correlation of thesecondition indices to maintenance strategies, and data collection limitations pose a challenge for applying theseindices to local conditions. This paper compares condition indices of different states for rigid pavements. Further,using a specific condition index for local conditions is also highlighted. For this purpose, five states and theircorresponding condition indices were evaluated and compared to the Michigan DOT distress index (DI). Thesestates include Virginia, Minnesota, North Dakota, Louisiana, and Oregon. The corresponding distresses of eachcondition index were converted to make them compatible with the MDOT DI. This study used the MDOT'spavement management system (PMS) database to evaluate each condition index for 433 rigid pavement sections.Each distress index was plotted against MDOT DI and compared using a paired t-test. Results show that thecondition indices of Virginia and Minnesota are comparable to DI in terms of the Spearman correlation value. Thet-test results show that except for Virgina, condition indices from other states statistically differ from DI.Therefore, one can't use those directly for local conditions in Michigan. This paper presents the evaluation anddata requirements for each condition index and its impact on selecting a maintenance treatment.
基金supported by the National Key Technologies R&D Program of China (2011BAD32B01)the Ph D Programs Foundation of Ministry of Education of China (20100101110035)
文摘The normalized difference vegetation index （NDVI） has proven to be typically employed to assess terrestrial vegetation conditions. However, one limitation of NDVI for drought monitoring is the apparent time lag between rainfall deficit and NDVI response. To better understand this relationship, time series NDVI （2000-2010） during the growing season in Sichuan Province and Chongqing City were analyzed. The vegetation condition index （VCI） was used to construct a new drought index, time-integrated vegetation condition index （TIVCI）, and was then compared with meteorological drought indices-standardized precipitation index （SPI）, a multiple-time scale meteorological-drought index based on precipitation, to examine the sensitivity on droughts. Our research findings indicate the followings： （1） farmland NDVI sensitivity to precipitation in study area has a time lag of 16-24 d, and it maximally responds to the temperature with a lag of about 16 d. （2） We applied the approach to Sichuan Province and Chongqing City for extreme drought monitoring in 2006 and 2003, and the results show that the monitoring results from TIVCI are closer to the published China agricultural statistical data than VCI. Compared to VCI, the best results from TIVCI3 were found with the relative errors of -4.5 and 6.36% in 2006 for drought affected area and drought disaster area respectively, and 5.11 and -5.95% in 2003. （3） Compared to VCI, TIVCI has better correlation with the SPI, which indicates the lag and cumulative effects of precipitation on vegetation. Our finding proved that TIVCI is an effective indicator of drought detection when the time lag effects between NDVI and climate factors are taken into consideration.
基金National Outstanding Youth Founda-tion (No.60525303)National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.60404022,60704009)Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province (No.F2005000390,F2006000270).
文摘In this paper,we apply adaptive coded modulation (ACM) schemes to a wireless networked control system (WNCS) to improve the energy efficiency and increase the data rate over a fading channel.To capture the characteristics of varying rate, interference,and routing in wireless transmission channels,the concepts of equivalent delay (ED) and networked condition index (NCI) are introduced.Also,the analytic lower and upper bounds of EDs are obtained.Furthermore,we model the WNCS as a multicontroller switched system (MSS) under consideration of EDs and loss index in the wireless transmission.Sufficient stability condition of the closed-loop WNCS and corresponding dynamic state feedback controllers are derived in terms of linear matrix inequality (LMI). Numerical results show the validity and advantage of our proposed control strategies.
基金National Outstanding Youth Science Foundation of China Under Grant No.598251005
文摘Based on the De.Morgan laws and Boolean simplification, a recursive decomposition method is introduced in this paper to identify the main exclusive safe paths and failed paths of a network. The reliability or the reliability bound of a network can be conveniently expressed as the summation of the joint probabilities of these paths. Under the multivariate normal distribution assumption, a conditioned reliability index method is developed to evaluate joint probabilities of various exclusive safe paths and failed paths, and, finally, the seismic reliability or the reliability bound of an electric power system. Examples given in the paper show that the method is very simple and provides accurate results in the seismic reliability analysis.
基金Supported by Foundation for Science and Technology Research Project of Chongqing (2009AC0125)Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing (2008BB1379)The Major Project of Ministry of Science and Technology," Science and Technology Action for Western Development" (2005BA901A01)~~
文摘MODIS-EVI time series data from 2000 to 2009 in Chongqing were selected for this study.By the use of best index slope extraction （BISE） method for cloud elimination,analysis on the change vector of EVI time series data were conducted to investigate the EVI response on drought; then,four typical regions were selected to study the relationship between precipitation,temperature and EVI when the sever drought occurred in 2006; finally,based on the time series of vegetation condition index （VCI） and precipitation abnormity percentage,the temporal and spatial distributions of drought were studied.The results showed that,the EVI value of the summer in 2006 was significantly lower than the average EVI at the corresponding period of the other years in Chongqing.In addition,summer drought occurred mainly during the hot and dry weather.Except the southeast area,most of the other regions in Chongqing were all under severe drought.
基金formed part of the MarBioShell project supported by the Danish Agency for Science,Technology and Innovation for the period January 2008 to December 2012.
文摘The effects of salinities between 10 and 30 psu on the growth of blue mussels, Mytilus edulis, were studied in laboratory feeding experiments and compared to the growth of mussels suspended in net-bags in the brackish water Great Belt, Denmark. In the laboratory, 3 series of growth experiments were conducted: in Series #1, groups of mussels were exposed to 10, 15, 25 and 30 psu, in Series #2, two groups of mussels were exposed to 10 and 30 psu, respectively, for 15 days (first period) where upon the mussels were exposed to the reversed salinities for another 15 days (second period). In Series #3, two groups of mussels were initially exposed to 15 and 25 psu for 22 days whereupon the mussel groups were exposed to the reversed salinities for another 17 days. In the laboratory experiments there was a tendency towards reduced growth with decreasing salinity, reflected as reduced shell growth rate and decreasing weight specific growth rate with falling salinity. The shell growth rate was relatively low in the first feeding period compared to the second period, and mussels that were initially exposed to 10 psu, where the growth was low, exhibited fast growth when subsequently exposed to 30 psu, and reversed when 30 psu mussels were exposed to 10 psu. The study showed that mussels are able to adjust growth at changing salinities, and the observed effect of salinity could partly be explained by a temporary shell valve closure after a sudden change in salinity. The specific growth rate of mussels measured in laboratory experiments at salinities between 15 to 25 psu (4.2% to 4.8% d–1) were comparable to the growth of mussels in the field experiment (3.2% to 4.0% d–1) where the salinity varied between 24 and 13 psu during the growth period.
文摘Because the U.S.is a major player in the international oil market,it is interesting to study whether aggregate and state-level economic conditions can predict the subse-quent realized volatility of oil price returns.To address this research question,we frame our analysis in terms of variants of the popular heterogeneous autoregressive realized volatility(HAR-RV)model.To estimate the models,we use quantile-regression and quantile machine learning(Lasso)estimators.Our estimation results highlights the dif-ferential effects of economic conditions on the quantiles of the conditional distribution of realized volatility.Using weekly data for the period April 1987 to December 2021,we document evidence of predictability at a biweekly and monthly horizon.
文摘This paper reports a practical pavement overlay design method based on PCI (Pavement Condition Index). Current pavement investigation method (JTJ 073 96) is compared to the ASTM D 5340, which is the standard test method for airport pavement condition evaluation initially developed for US Air Force. The deficiency in the calculation of PCI based on field data in JTJ 073 is discussed. The proposed design method is compared to AASHTO overlay design method with good agreement. The paper concludes with an example illustrating how the existing pavement structural capacity is related to pavement distress survey results. The presented design method can be used in the design for overlay rehabilitation of pavements of highways, urban streets and airports.
基金supported by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Students’ Affair-Residential Dormitories Department, American University of Sharjah, UAE
文摘-Air-conditioning （AC） systems are the major energy consumption units in residential and commercial buildings. In the context of smart grid, optimizing AC operations leads to substantial saving in energy consumption, reducing the consumer＇s bill and contributing to the environment by minimizing carbon emissions from generating stations. This paper presents a distributed AC energy management system for buildings by using networked master-slaves controller architecture. The proposed system was designed, simulated, and experimentally tested by using real AC units in a students＇ residence hall. Based on the students＇ class schedules, several operational scenarios were implemented and tested. The proposed system implementation leads to a 40% to 60% saving of the consumed energy by the tested units. The same energy management scheme can be applied and implemented in other commercial and residential buildings.
文摘The pavement strength is very important for the evaluation of backlog maintenance. The current trend in many developing countries used pavement conditions index-PCI in estimating maintenance costs. The PCI can only justify periodic and routine recurrent maintenance. The condition strength is rarely determined in a flexible pavement creating an opportunity for back long maintenance. This paper reports the study conducted to develop and improve the algorithm for estimating the adjusted structure number to estimate the remaining thickness of the flexible pavement. The analysis of eight ways of computing structure numbers from FWD data ware analyzed and found that the improvement of the HDM 3 - 4 models can influence the usefulness of data collected from road asset management in Tanzania. The algorithm for estimating structural numbers from CBR was improved to compute adjusted structural numbers finally used to estimate the remaining life of the flexible pavement. The analysis of the network of about 6900 km including ST and AM was found that 64.72% were very good, 12% were Good, 10% were fair and 7.84% were poor and 5.4% were very poor.
文摘The study was undergone on the distribution of abundance of Patella rustica Linnaeus, 1758, with the objective of evaluating of its abundance along the rocky shores of the coast and located sites with high density. A total of twelve sampling sites were selected along the gulf of Skikda. Each station was sampled using quadrats of 25 cm^2. In the present study, two environmental parameters were measured ＂in situ＂ in the water column at each sampling station （water surface temperature, pH）. Biotic communities of the rocky shores are considered to be generally controlled by physical factors such as temperature and desiccation. Therefore, three measurements were made for each abiotic parameter during this survey and mean values were used for statistical analysis. Consequently, the data of abundance （expressed in frequency） of species were calculated based on the distributed individuals along the quadrat. P. rustica is distributed mainly in the East more than in the West particularly from SI to S5. The condition index calculated at 12 stations revealed important seasonal variations, with the maximum during summer season highlighting three stations （S2, S11 and S 12）. This index is also very important in S3 and S4. The factors of pollution at these points had not affected the abundance and index condition.
基金supported in part by the US Geological Survey,Western Ecological Research Center,Joshua Tree National Park,and the Bureau of Land Management,California Desert DistrictAnalysis and manuscript preparation was supported by the California Energy Commission,Research Development and Demonstration Division,Public Interest Energy Research program(contract#500-09-020)
文摘We compared spring-summer activity of adult female Agassiz’s Desert Tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) among three consecutive years (1997, 1998, and 1999) that differed dramatically in winter rainfall and annual plant production at a wind energy facility in the Sonoran Desert of southern California. Winter rainfall was approximately 71%, 190%, and 17% of the long-term average (October-March = 114 mm) for this area in water years (WY) 1997, 1998, and 1999, respectively. The substantial precipitation caused by an El Ni?o Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event in WY 1998 produced a generous annual food plant supply (138.2 g dry biomass/ m2) in the spring. Primary production of winter annuals during below average rainfall years (WY 1997 and WY 1999) was reduced to 98.3 and 0.2 g/m2, respectively. Mean rates of movement and mean body condition indices (mass/length) did not differ significantly among the years. The drought year following ENSO (WY 1999) was statistically similar to ENSO in every other measured value, while WY 1997 (end of a two year drought) was statistically different from ENSO using activity area, minimum number of burrows used, and percentage of non-movements. Our data suggest that female G. agassizii activity can be influenced by environmental conditions in previous years.
文摘Assuring the accuracy and reliability of pavement condition data is crucial for effective decision-making in pavement management.Despite existing data collection protocols,concerns persist regarding data quality.This paper introduces SMART,a systematic statis-tical method designed to analyze the quality of pavement condition data from field surveys for pavement management applications.SMART employs a structured procedure that expands traditional descriptive statistics by applying interrater reliability statistics com-bined with bootstrapping methods and Modified-Blant Altman diagrams to evaluate data quality.A comparative analysis of interrater statistics,including Cohen’s Kappa(CK),Interclass Correlation(IC),Krippendorff’s Alpha(KA),Percent Agreement(PA),and Weighted Cohen’s Kappa(WCK),is conducted in the research study.As a result,the adop-tion of KA and Modified Bland-Altman diagrams for data analysis is recommended.KA demonstrates versatility across diverse data types,accommodating nominal,ordinal,inter-val,and ratio-level data,while Modified Bland-Altman diagrams facilitate data dispersion analysis to visualize possible bias trends for the condition ratings.A case study is presented to demonstrate the applicability of SMART to analyzing Pavement Condition Index(PCI)data provided by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission(MTC)in California.This methodological approach aims to enhance pavement management decisions by ensuring the reliability of condition field survey data through the implementation of robust analytical quality control procedures.
基金the project“Commercial exploitation of the pearl oyster Pinctada imbricata radiata by adding value through the development of processed products(Code MIS:5010850)the“Innovation in Fisheries”EU-Greece Operational Program of Fisheries,EPAL 2014-2020.
文摘The average values of the seasonal flesh biochemical composition(%)of the pearl oyster Pinctada imbricata radiata originated form 2 sampling sites,the gulfs of Evoikos(E)and Saronikos(S)in the Western Aegean Sea,showed that is rich in proteins(64.00±1.86-(E),64.67±2.95-(S))with low fat content(10.96±1.04-(E),11.86±1.13-(S))and carbohydrates(13.29±2.48-(E),9.94±4.32(S)).The condition index ranged from 26.16%±5.04 in the autumn in(E),to 44.73%±7.50 in the summer in(S).The meat yield varied from 20.49%±3.20%in the summer in(E)to 30.73%±3.47%in the summer in(S).Both results demonstrate the high nutritional profile of the pearl oyster,supporting its suitability as a potential new Mediterranean seafood source for human consumption.
文摘How can we fit different monetary transmission channels together to understand the effect of China＇s monetary policy？ This paper focuses on China＇s monetary conditions and aggregate demand in terms of the monetary conditions index （MCI）, which has been widely used as an important indicator for central banks, financial institutions, and scholars. To construct an MCI in the context of China over 1987Q1-2010Q2, we consider three channels through which monetary conditions might influence aggregate demand： the primary lending rate, the real effective exchange rate, and the bank credit. The weights of the component variables are obtained by estimating both the IS equation and the vector autoregressive model （VAR）, which yield somewhat similar results. Further empirical tests show that the MCIs we derived contain useful information about future output growth and inflation in China over the short and medium term. From a historical perspective, the MCI we derived is more informative than individual monetary variables for the understanding of the development of China＇s monetary conditions between 1987 and 2010.
基金the University Grants Commission(UGC),Ministry of Education,Govt.of India for providing NON-NET fellowship(Ref.No.:CUO/ACA/NNF-PHD/135 dated 22.04.2021)grateful to Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship(Award Letter No.F1-17.1/2014-15/RGNF-2014-15-SC-ORI-73313/SA-Ⅲ/(Website),February 2015).
文摘The present research is an attempt to screen five perennial indigenous grass species for their biochemical constituents seasonally for one year in order to determine the exact season for the harvest of the target species which will be used as feed ingredient.Among them,Cynodon dactylon has shown better result compared to other grass species and was hence incorporated as micronutrient in the formulated feed.Macrobrachium rosenbergii culture was carried out by feeding conventional and formulated feed(prepared from grass species)in tanks and ponds filled with spring water for 180 days in 2020 in the Eastern Ghats region of Koraput district,Odisha,India.Two treatments namely T_(1)and T_(2)having four replications each were supplied with commercial feed and formulated feed.Feeds were applied as per the body weight of prawns at 20%for the 1st month,15%for the 2nd month,10%for the 3rd and the 4th month,5%for the 5th month and 2%till the end of the experiment.The water temperature,pH,dissolved oxygen,transparency,nitrate,phosphate,silicate,Chl a in the culture tanks and ponds were monitored fortnightly.ANOVA results between all the water parameters for both culture tanks and ponds showed significant variation(P<0.05).The survival rate(77.0%±0.89%),daily growth rate(0.233±0.05)g/day,specific growth rate(4.657%±1.04%)per day and condition index(2.638±0.05)were found to be highest in prawns fed formulated feed.The feed conversion ratio varied from(2.03±0.05)to(2.68±0.04).Benefit cost ratio of field culture were 1.46 with yield of 702 kg/ha in conventional feed and 1.75 with yield of 950 kg/ha in formulated feed respectively.The study proved grass extracts to be efficient micronutrients for prawn feed which can be easily adopted in prawn production.
文摘Crassostrea(Magallana)saidii has been commercially ranched in Malaysia and consumed for more than 160 years,but it was only recently identified as a new species to science.This study was conducted to evaluate the reproductive phenology of C.(M.)saidii.Samples of 30 individual oysters were taken monthly for 15 months from the sole population at Sungai Muar estuary in Johor,Malaysia.The sex ratio was 1:1.64(male:female)for all examined specimens,with female numbers significantly higher.Hermaphrodism was detected in 1.56%of all samples.Spawning peaks in April(2019)and November(2018 and 2019),and were positively associated with the increased rainfall upstream.Gametogenesis occurred throughout the research period with temporal variations.The highest values of maturity index(MI)were recorded in March,August and October 2019,when most oysters were in matured and maturing stages.Condition index(CI)ranged from 31.90±1.25(April 2019)to 70.03±3.23(October 2019),exhibiting two peaks(March and October 2019)and subsequently reduced in CI indicating spawning consistency with histological observations.Anthropogenic stressors such as heavy sedimentation and inland development are threatening the survival of this species.The understanding of their reproductive biology is essential to ensure the survival and sustainability of C.(M.)saidii fishery.
