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Numerical simulations have been widely used to study the failure and mechanical behavior of high performance fiber-reinforced concretes (HPFRCs) in the past decades. According to different algorithms principles of these numerical modeling methods, this paper categorized these methods into mesh-based, particle-based, and lattice-based approaches. The main benefits and limitations of each method were introduced and analyzed with a particular focus on their application to HPFRCs. A comprehensive overview of the numerical modeling methods and their applications at macro-, meso-, and multiscale levels to study the failure of HPFRCs is presented. The paper discusses current trends and challenges in further research on numerical modeling methods for HPFRC failure, exploring novel approaches such as machine learning or AI within the context of numerical modeling. The aim of this paper is to provide scientific guidance and practical tools for studying the failure of HPFRCs through numerical simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Viscosity in the momentum equation is needed for numerical stability, as well as to arrest the direct cascade of enstrophy at grid scales. However, a viscous momentum closure tends to over‐dissipate eddy kinetic energy. To return excessively dissipated energy to the system, the viscous closure is equipped with what is called dynamic kinetic energy backscatter. The amplitude of backscatter is based on the amount of unresolved kinetic energy (UKE). This energy is tracked through space and time via a prognostic equation. Our study proposes to add advection of UKE by the resolved flow to that equation to explicitly consider the effects of nonlocality on the subgrid energy budget. UKE can consequently be advected by the resolved flow before it is reinjected via backscatter. Furthermore, we suggest incorporating a stochastic element into the UKE equation to account for missing small‐scale variability, which is not present in the purely deterministic approach. The implementations are tested on two intermediate complexity setups of the global ocean model FESOM2: an idealized channel setup and a double‐gyre setup. The impacts of these additional terms are analyzed, highlighting increased eddy activity and improved flow characteristics when advection and carefully tuned, stochastic sources are incorporated into the UKE budget. Additionally, we provide diagnostics to gain further insights into the effects of scale separation between the viscous dissipation operator and the backscatter operator responsible for the energy injection. Plain Language Summary: Oceanic swirls or "eddies" have a typical size of 10–100 km, which is close to the smallest scales that global ocean models commonly resolve. For physical and numerical reasons, these models require the addition of artificial terms that influence the flow near its smallest scales. Common approaches have the drawback of introducing systematic loss of kinetic energy contained in the eddies, which leads to errors that also affect the oceanic circulation on global scales. In our research, we compensate for this error by returning some of the missing energy back into the simulation, using a so‐called kinetic energy backscatter scheme. In this work, we continue the development of an already existing and successful backscatter scheme, adding certain improvements to the way energy is budgeted and returned to the flow: we ensure that the local energy budget is attached to each fluid parcel as it is transported by the large‐scale flow, and we also add a random forcing term that mimics unknown sources of such energy to bring its statistical properties closer to reality. We demonstrate that these modifications effectively improve the characteristics of the simulated flow. Key Points: Extension of the subgrid energy equation of the kinetic energy backscatter parameterization by adding advection and a stochastic termBoth additional terms improve several flow characteristics in two idealized test cases, a channel and a double‐gyreScale analysis reveals the necessity of sufficient scale separation between viscous energy dissipation and energy injection via backscatter [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The water vapor transport associated with latent heat flux (LE) in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) is critical for the atmospheric hydrological cycle, radiation balance, and cloud formation. The spatiotemporal variability of LE and water vapor mixing ratio (rv) are poorly understood due to the scale‐dependent and nonlinear atmospheric transport responses to land surface heterogeneity. Here, airborne in situ measurements with the wavelet technique are utilized to investigate scale‐dependent relationships among LE, vertical velocity (w) variance (σw2 ${\sigma }_{w}^{2}$), and rv variance (σH2O2 ${\sigma }_{\mathrm{H}2\mathrm{O}}^{2}$) over a heterogeneous surface during the Chequamegon Heterogeneous Ecosystem Energy‐balance Study Enabled by a High‐density Extensive Array of Detectors 2019 (CHEESEHEAD19) field campaign. Our findings reveal distinct scale distributions of LE, σw2 ${\sigma }_{w}^{2}$, and σH2O2 ${\sigma }_{\mathrm{H}2\mathrm{O}}^{2}$ at 100 m height, with a majority scale range of 120 m–4 km in LE, 32 m–2 km in σw2 ${\sigma }_{w}^{2}$, and 200 m–8 km in σH2O2 ${\sigma }_{\mathrm{H}2\mathrm{O}}^{2}$. The scales are classified into three scale ranges, the turbulent scale (8–200 m), large‐eddy scale (200 m–2 km), and mesoscale (2–8 km) to evaluate scale‐resolved LE contributed by σw2 ${\sigma }_{w}^{2}$ and σH2O2 ${\sigma }_{\mathrm{H}2\mathrm{O}}^{2}$. The large‐eddy scale in PBL contributes over 70% of the monthly mean total LE with equal parts (50%) of contributions from σw2 ${\sigma }_{w}^{2}$ and σH2O2 ${\sigma }_{\mathrm{H}2\mathrm{O}}^{2}$. The monthly temporal variations mainly come from the first two major contributing classified scales in LE, σw2 ${\sigma }_{w}^{2}$, and σH2O2 ${\sigma }_{\mathrm{H}2\mathrm{O}}^{2}$. These results confirm the dominant role of the large‐eddy scale in the PBL in the vertical moisture transport from the surface to the PBL, while the mesoscale is shown to contribute an additional ∼20%. This analysis complements published scale‐dependent LE variations, which lack detailed scale‐dependent vertical velocity and moisture information. Plain Language Summary: The vertical water vapor transport in the planetary boundary layer (PBL), and the associated latent heat flux (LE), are critical for the atmospheric hydrological cycle, radiation balance, and cloud formation. However, the vertical moisture transport varies nonlinearly at multiple scales due to the land surface heterogeneity across multiple properties. This study investigates the scale‐resolved impact of water vapor and vertical velocity on LE, using data collected aboard an atmospheric research aircraft flying low above the surface in summer over northern Wisconsin during the CHEESEHEAD19 campaign. This study finds that LE and water vapor variance is largest at the large‐eddy scale in PBL and at the mesoscale. In contrast, vertical velocity variance is primarily present in turbulent and large‐eddy scales in PBL. This study confirms the significant role of the large‐eddy scale in PBL in contributing to the majority of the vertical moisture transport from the surface to the PBL top. These findings provide better insight into the factors influencing LE at different scales. Key Points: The scale‐dependent distribution of latent heat flux, vertical velocity variance, and water vapor variance at 100 m over a heterogeneous surface is describedIn the large‐eddy scale, 70% of total latent heat flux is contributed by 50% of total vertical velocity variance and 50% of total water vapor varianceThe large‐eddy scale contributes most of the vertical moisture transport from the surface to the Planetary Boundary Layer [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the Climate Precipitation Center Morphing (CMORPH) precipitation data and the fifth-generation ECMWF reanalysis (ERA5) data, moist static energy (MSE) diagnosis for 14 cases of southerly warm-sector heavy rainfall with warm shear (WSWR) along the Yangtze-Huaihe coastal area (YHCA) was conducted. The results indicate that the vertically integrated MSE tendency peaks before the precipitation reaches its maximum. This suggests a rapid MSE accumulation leading up to precipitation onset, with moist enthalpy advection dominantly influencing this increase. The vertical advection of MSE is negative, suggesting that upward motions and rainfall play a crucial role in consuming MSE. Vertical integrated MSE budget analysis for the nine cases of nocturnal rain shows that moist enthalpy advection was the primary contributor, driven mainly by meridional latent energy advection. Scale analysis shows that the combination of meridional disturbance wind and the mean specific humidity field results in pronounced meridional latent energy advection. For the five cases of non-nocturnal rain, the net energy flux was dominant before the onset of precipitation, primarily driven by clear-sky net shortwave radiation (SWCS). The meridional internal energy advection also makes a substantial contribution. The scale analysis indicates that the combined effects of the meridional disturbance wind and the average temperature field lead to significant meridional internal energy advection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports an analytical, numerical and scale analysis study of free convective heat and mass transfer flows coupled with thermal diffusion effect in a slender vertical porous cavity subjected to cooperating lateral temperature and concentration gradients. The top and bottom walls of the cavity are assumed to be adiabatic and impermeable to mass transfer. This study aims to analyze the different hydrodynamic, thermal and solutal behaviors developed in laminar boundary layer flow regime reached at high Rayleigh numbers. Based on the parallel flow approximation, an analytical solution of the problem is derived in the extreme case of heat-driven (N « 1) free convection. The obtained analytical results are validated numerically by generating the solutions of the full governing differential equations by means of finite-difference method (FDM). To estimate the order of magnitudes involved in the boundary layer regime, a scale analysis of the conservation equations is performed. The order of magnitudes of boundary layer thickness, Nusselt and Sherwood numbers are derived in this study. For all these quantities, the trends predicted by the scaling law theory are found to be in good agreement with those of the parallel flow approach. The combined effects of Rayleigh and Soret numbers on the boundary layer thickness, flow intensity and heat and mass transfers are illustrated graphically for representative values of N, Le and Ar, and the main results are highlighted and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the Final Operational Global Analysis (FNL) data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction and the ERA5 reanalysis data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, the all-sky brightness temperatures of the Geostationary Interferometric Infrared Sounder (GIIRS) onboard the Fengyun-4A satellite (FY-4A) are simulated, which are then used to investigate Typhoon In-Fa (2021). The results show that the all-sky simulations based on ERA5 and FNL for FY-4A GIIRS channels 27 (716.25 cm−1), 90 (755.625 cm−1), and 417 (960 cm−1) can reproduce well the structure and intensity of Typhoon In-Fa. But the FNL simulations overestimate the typhoon intensity with more high ice clouds around the typhoon center. Fourier analysis of Typhoon In-Fa at severe tropical storm (STS) and typhoon (TY) stages is conducted. The results reveal that the dominant features of Typhoon In-Fa are primarily large-scale, with a relatively small proportion of observations and simulations dedicated to small-scale features at the STS stage. However, the proportion of large-scale features decreases while the amount of small-scale information increases during the TY stage. The purpose of this study is to assess the performance of FY-4A GIIRS all-sky simulations based on the ERA5 and FNL data, as well as to prepare for future all-sky data assimilations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate science involves various functional relations and needs to investigate the dominance or relative importance of the variables in their relation. In our previous studies, we examined several problems in which causal relations are established, showing how the dependent quantity is affected by two or more independent variables. With linear fitting, the relative contributions of the variables to the variation of the quantity are compared. In this study, we examine constraint relation, which is a simultaneous multivariate relation, with all variables in the relation being equal in position. The relation can generally be nonlinear. To be convenient for examining the dominance, plane equation fitting can be used to linearize the relation. The equation of state for ideal dry air is investigated as a simple case of the relation. For this special case, a linearized relation can be obtained from both the fitting and the derivation. The scale analysis tool used in dynamic meteorology is applied here for the dominance analysis. Through comparing the scales of the terms, we can simplify the equation. The simplified relations correspond, respectively, to Charle's law, Boyle's law, and Gay-Lussac's law. The geographical preferences of the different dominance patterns are exhibited. In addition, when considering the change of the variable that is smallest in scale, we can identify which factor is the dominator. The ideal gas law is intentionally chosen as the example, since the relation is simple in form, and the results of dominance can be deduced analytically. A comparison demonstrates that the methods used here for the dominance analysis are reliable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fourier spectra are powerful tools to analyze the scale behavior of turbulent flows. While such spectra are mathematically based on regular periodic data, some state‐of‐the‐art ocean and climate models use unstructured triangular meshes. Observational data is often also available only in an unstructured fashion. In this study, scale analysis specifically for the output of models with triangular meshes is discussed and the representable wavenumbers for Fourier analysis are derived. Aside from using different interpolation methods and oversampling prior to the computation of Fourier spectra, we also consider an alternative scale analysis based on the Walsh–Rademacher basis, that is, indicator functions. It does not require interpolation and can be extended to general unstructured meshes. A third approach based on smoothing filters which focus on grid scales is also discussed. We compare these methods in the context of kinetic energy and dissipation power of a turbulent channel flow simulated with the sea ice‐ocean model FESOM2. One simulation uses a classical viscous closure, another a new backscatter closure. The latter is dissipative on small scales, but anti‐dissipative on large scales leading to more realistic flow representation. All three methods clearly highlight the differences between the simulations as concerns the distribution of dissipation power and kinetic energy over scales. However, the analysis based on Fourier transformation is highly sensitive to the interpolation method in case of dissipation power, potentially leading to inaccurate representations of dissipation at different scales. This highlights the necessity to be cautious when choosing a scale analysis method on unstructured grids. Plain Language Summary: To better understand the physical processes that drive and define the circulation in our oceans, it is necessary to analyze the temporal and spatial scales on which these processes act. The classical method to investigate the spatial scale behavior is Fourier analysis which splits any given data into waves of different amplitudes and wavelengths. Mathematically this requires data on an equidistantly spaced grid. However, many ocean models apply triangular or other irregular grids for their computations of oceanic flows. In this study, we describe the advantages and disadvantages of applying Fourier analysis for models that use triangular meshes, with prior interpolation of data to regularly spaced rectangular meshes. We also introduce two other methods that can analyze the distribution of kinetic energy and kinetic energy dissipation across scales without interpolation. The results show that one needs to be very careful when choosing a specific scale analysis and, potentially, an interpolation method for triangular grids, especially when it comes to analyzing the process of kinetic energy dissipation. Key Points: Three different scale analysis methods for unstructured triangular grids are presented and discussedFourier spectra after interpolation of fields should be applied with caution especially for dissipation power spectraScale analysis via indicator functions does not rely on interpolation and can be applied to non‐smooth, unstructured data [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a qualitative account of Vietnamese language maintenance in Manchester. Through ethnographic observations of distinctly Vietnamese locations, Vietnamese language practices are shown to create spaces in which Vietnamese is the dominant language, and in which Vietnamese norms and expectations, or scales, are able to influence and contest other behavioural norms. These scales are viewed as social practices, and they are derived from interviews with Vietnamese speakers and observations of Vietnamese spaces, and special focus is given to the linguistic resources used to conduct them. The analysis reveals ideas of language competence and politeness which compete and interact with norms from outside the spaces, and non-linguistic behavioural norms which contribute to language maintenance. Vietnamese is shown to be maintained through micro-interactions which make the heritage language the norm, and business and religious practices are found to promote heritage language use by requiring heritage language practices to participate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A mathematical model for a co-current moving bed heat exchanger (MBHE) is presented. The bed is diluted and composed of spheres of uniform radius which are transported by a dragging fluid in plug flow. The gas-solid mixture is heated indirectly by a flue gas, which flows in a jacket around the MBHE. Intraparticle temperature gradients and thermal losses to the external environment are considered. The model is solved analytically by the Self-Adjoint Operator method (SAO) and numerically by a combination of the Finite Analytical (FA) and the Finite Difference (FD) method. The results show excellent agreement and the comparison with experimental data validates the model, enabling its use in the design and analysis of MBHEs for which thermal losses are a relevant factor. MBHE effectiveness is defined, and it is shown - for a selected case - that the addition of 5.0 cm thick glass wool raises it by 25.5%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Convective activities play an important role in tropical weather systems. To investigate the characteristic scales of convection, a method combining a principal component (PC) analysis with Fourier decomposition is applied to brightness temperature observations from Advanced Himawari-8 Imager (AHI). Characteristic scales of different modes in tropical convective systems are obtained. The explained variance reduces rapidly from the first to the 60th PC mode by two magnitudes; the horizontal scale decreases from over 2000 km to about 100 km, and the timescale changes from more than 4 days to around 5 h. By a detailed comparison of the first, 20th, 40th, and 60th PC modes, it is found that large-scale (over 2000 km in wavelength) convective activities usually have significant nocturnal enhancement, whereas meso-scale (about 100 km in wavelength) convective activities feature short period and fast change with more intense development in regions of active large-scale convection. This study may be of some importance for the choice of AHI data assimilation cycling interval, the horizontal resolution as well as data thinning for geostationary satellite observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time reversal of waves is an intriguing wave property that underpins a breadth of applications in physics and engineering. Waves contain information about their sources and the media through which they propagate. Thus, time reversal of measured wave signals has the potential of localizing and characterizing wave sources and of inferring the properties of the medium. Herein, we experimentally demonstrate the time reversibility of acoustic waves propagating in water-filled viscoelastic high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes. Evidently, the two mechanisms that restrict time reversal are the stability of wave paths to perturbations and damping. Perturbations, however, are found to grow slowly in time (∼t1/2) and are not critical for the time reversal of waves. To evaluate the effect of damping, we perform an order of magnitude analysis on the non-reversible terms of the coupled waveguide momentum equations and derive a dimensionless time reversal parameter TR showing that damping develops linearly with time (i.e. TR ∼ t). Subsequently, we apply the TR parameter to our experiments and relevant experimental proofs from the literature to find that the time reversal of waves only holds for TR ∼ 1 or less; hence providing a criterion to estimate the range over which time reversal-based wave techniques and methodologies are valid. Finally, we discuss the various existing applications of time reversal in hydro-environmental research and engineering and anticipate that the presented work will stimulate further development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Invasive pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) has been present in variable, but low, numbers in Norwegian waters since c. 1960, but beginning in 2017 their numbers have exploded in rivers in northern Norway, with considerable numbers also recorded in rivers in southern Norway and other countries bordering the North Atlantic. Analysis of pink salmon scales from two rivers draining to the western Barents Sea showed declining growth during the first weeks after entering the sea, and some individuals even showed a pronounced growth arrest, based on detailed scale circulus analyses. This was followed by a period of growth increase and stability during late summer and autumn, which may reflect a transition to better food sources, as the fish migrate from coastal waters to the open ocean, and as they grow larger and can eat larger and more energy efficient food items. Growth declined to a minimum during winter. Fish body size at spawning was positively correlated with the distance from scale focus to the last winter circulus, as well as with the number of circuli. When dividing scale growth into three periods, better growth during the first period at sea was related to increased fish body length at spawning, but this early growth explained only a minor part (6%) of the variation in final body length. The reason for this may be large individual variation in growth combined with large mortality during the first weeks at sea. If mortality is selective, removing fish with poor growth may reduce a correlation between early growth and body size at spawning. Scale growth during late summer and early autumn explained more of the variation in fish length at spawning (27%). Hence, late summer and early autumn was likely an important period for marine growth and survival in the invasive pink salmon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyzed the scale features of satellite infrared (IR) water vapor (WV) brightness temperature observations of tropical cyclones (TCs). This is to characterize the storm information at dominate scales in all‐sky radiance assimilation for TC numerical weather prediction. This paper presents the results from the study of Hurricane Patricia (2015). Our study shows that IR WV brightness temperatures have the ability to observe multiscale structures of TCs, ranging from a size of above 1,000 km that covers the entire storm and its surrounding areas to a scale resolving individual convective clouds embedded in the TC. The atmospheric moisture for TC development is mainly represented by large scales covering the storm and surrounding areas while the storm structures are characterized basically by all scales. The large‐scale moisture and small‐scale convection demonstrate strong correlation and are closely related to the TC development, suggesting the need for all‐sky radiance assimilation at multiple scales. Plain Language Summary: Scale analyses of infrared water vapor brightness temperature observations of tropical cyclones from geostationary satellites show that the moisture (and hence the moist energy) available for tropical cyclone development is mainly represented by the large scales that cover both the region near the tropical cyclone and the surrounding areas. The tropical cyclone structures, however, are characterized basically by all scales from the entire tropical cyclone to individual convection embedded in the tropical cyclone inner core and outer rainbands. The large‐scale moisture and small‐scale convection are also strongly correlated, and are closely related to the tropical cyclone development during the storm lifetime. These findings indicate the need to assimilate the brightness temperature at multiple scales covering the complete spectrum of the tropical cyclone features; ranging from larger scales covering the entire storm and surrounding areas, to scales that resolves structure of the tropical cyclone eye, eyewall, and embedded convection. Key Points: Satellite brightness temperatures of tropical cyclones were analyzed to characterize the scales that dominate the storm developmentThe moisture for tropical cyclone development is represented by large scales while the storm structures are characterized by all scalesThe large‐scale moisture and small‐scale convection look correlated and closely related to the tropical cyclone development [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A scale analysis has been performed to investigate the film boiling heat transfer associated with cooling of a horizontal flat plate through water jet impinging. The forced convection film boiling of water is treated by classifying a wide spectrum of subcooling regime by two extreme situations of low and high subcooling dominated by mass evaporation and sensible heating respectively. A simple expression of heat ratio is derived for executing the classification. The ratio is derived by considering the heat and mass transport phenomena and vaporization effect. The radiation heat effect is considered, while obtaining the scale of wall Nusselt number for convective and total heat transfer under both low and high subcooling cases. The comparison of the developed correlations, based on scaling, are made for the wall superheat between 290 and 1100 °C and jet velocity of water between 0.4–3.2 m/s along with the variation of water subcooling between 5 and 45 °C. The proper coefficient of the scaling is developed by making overall comparison of the data from the analysis with experimental data to predict the heat transfer. The effect of liquid to vapor viscosity ratio indicates a substantially higher Nusselt number for the jet impingement of plate under film boiling condition. The density ratio influences the heat transfer only at low subcooling condition. A lower Jakob superheat number, higher Jakob liquid subcooling number, and higher jet Reynolds number increases Nusselt number. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate QRS detection is crucial for reliable ECG signal analysis and the development of automatic diagnosis tools. In this paper, we propose a simple yet efficient new algorithm for QRS detection using the Stationary Wavelet Transform (SWT). The wavelet transform has been extensively exploited for QRS detection and proved to be an efficient mathematical tool for scale analysis; it provides good frequency components estimation for the input signal and has good localization capability. The proposed procedure exploits solely the first level approximation coefficients of the wavelet transform applied to the bandpass-filtered ECG signal. Therefore, it resulted in a reduced complexity algorithm compared to the existing methods which use many decomposition levels. Thresholding has been implemented using the Pan-Tompkins procedure which is known to be very powerful. Our approach has been assessed over the MIT/BIH benchmark database, the MIT noise stress test database for noise robustness evaluation and the European ST-T database. The obtained results show competitive performance with state-of-the-art algorithms. The proposed scheme achieved a sensitivity of 99.83%, a positive predictivity of 99.94% and a detection error rate of 0.228% using Lead I MIT-BIH Database, this performance is one of the best results over this benchmark, and 99.35% of sensitivity, 99.76% of positive predictivity and detection error rate of 0.9% using the European ST-T Database, hence, our algorithm achieved high performance on Holter environment. Using the MIT noise stress test database, our algorithm achieved 98.77% of sensitivity, 91.01% of positive predictivity, and 10.12% of DER. Thus, our algorithm is robust and outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms on noisy recordings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) boundary layer flow of an upper-convected Maxwell (UCM) fluid passing through the shrinking sheet is considered. With the impact of thermal slip, thermal radiation and heat source-sink conditions, the UCM fluid model is integrated. The method of the Lie scaling group is used to transform the strongly nonlinear governing partial differential equations (PDEs) into the ordinary differential equations (ODEs). The transformed ODEs are numerically solved using NDSolve command of MATHEMATICA and graphically presented with their results. The Deborah number's influence on the velocity profile f ′ (η) is studied for different values and different behavior observed. The Hartmann number M and the mass transfer parameter S have decreased the boundary layer thickness. The Prandtl number has increased the temperature profile θ (η) . In contrast, the thermal boundary layer thickness was decreased by the heat source-sink parameter Q , the radiation parameter R and the thermal slip parameter L. Table 1 shows the verification of the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the tortuosity and the permeability of a porous medium whose geometry is idealized according to two Euclidean spatial dimensions is studied. Unit porous media solid matrices are taken as iterations toward the 2D Sierpinski carpet fractal geometry. Investigated porous media unit arrangements are either fully periodic (FP), or that of a periodic channel (PC), in which unit porous media geometries are infinitely stacked on both orthogonal directions or only in the flow direction inside a walled channel, respectively. A third case called adjusted fully periodic was also proposed as a counterpoint to the formation of the single preferential flow path of the FP case. The flow regime of interest is the Stokes (or creeping) one, and the numerical approach is done using the lattice Boltzmann method on a porous medium unit domain with a preset pressure drop. Moreover, the scale analysis technique is applied to obtain theoretical correlations for the permeability as a function of porous medium properties for the three cases. Good agreement is found between the correlations obtained herein with results available in the literature. A finding is that whenever the channel walls are removed, the PC case correlation recovers the one for FP. Finally, the results suggest a limit value for the iteration of the carpet beyond which the tortuosity and the permeability of the porous channel and the infinitely periodic (unwalled) porous media are equal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the area of traffic sign detection (TSD) methods, deep learning has been implemented and achieves outstanding performance. The detection of a traffic sign, as it has a dual function in monitoring and directing the driver, is a big concern for driver support systems. A core feature of autonomous vehicle systems is the identification of the traffic sign. This article focuses on the prohibitive sign. The objective is to detect in real-time and reduce processing time considerably. In this study, we implement the spatial pyramid pooling (SPP) principle to boost Yolo V3's backbone network for the extraction of functionality. Our work uses SPP for more comprehensive learning of multiscale object features. Then, perform a comparative investigation of Yolo V3 and Yolo V3 SPP across various scales to recognize the prohibitory sign. Comparisons with Yolo V3 SPP models reveal that their mean average precision (mAP) is higher than Yolo V3. Furthermore, the test accuracy findings indicate that the Yolo V3 SPP model performs better than Yolo V3 for different sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mokken scale analysis is a popular method to evaluate the psychometric quality of clinical and personality questionnaires and their individual items. Although many empirical papers report on the extent to which sets of items form Mokken scales, there is less attention for the effect of violations of commonly used rules of thumb. In this study, the authors investigated the practical consequences of retaining or removing items with psychometric properties that do not comply with these rules of thumb. Using simulated data, they concluded that items with low scalability had some influence on the reliability of test scores, person ordering and selection, and criterion-related validity estimates. Removing the misfitting items from the scale had, in general, a small effect on the outcomes. Although important outcome variables were fairly robust against scale violations in some conditions, authors conclude that researchers should not rely exclusively on algorithms allowing automatic selection of items. In particular, content validity must be taken into account to build sensible psychometric instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of tank orientation on heat transfer of a typical roof-top water storage tank is examined in this paper. The theoretical study is based on scale analysis of the governing equation that is used to evaluate the comfort time of both vertical and horizontal water storage tanks. The scale analysis is validated numerically by solving the resulting energy equation using an explicit numerical technique based on two programs written in the MATLAB software for each tank orientation. Different water tank capacities are examined for both horizontal and vertical orientations. Data for commercially available water storage tanks are used in the calculations. Three parameters play an important role in the evaluation process of the comfort time ratio. These are (1) the tank capacity, (2) the tank characteristic length, and (3) the tank surface area. It is shown that the heat transfer coefficient associated with water inside the tank is much higher than the outside air heat transfer coefficient around the body of the tank. The simplicity of the proposed method will allow the user in quick decision making as to which water storage tank orientation would provide longer comfort time. For example, in a vertical tank with a capacity of 1000 L, the water will heat up slowly and from 11:00 AM onwards, it will approximately need 3.7 h to reach the temperature of the environment. On the other hand, in a horizontal tank of the same capacity, the water will heat up much quickly and it will take only about 0.9 h for water to reach the surrounding environment temperature. Eventually, this work will contribute to less water evaporation from these tanks, thus saving water that is essential to water starved desert climates such as in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The surface regression of burning solid fuels facing a forced flow has been observed and measured by several authors, because of its connection with mass burning rate and heat transfer between flame and fuel. The pyrolysis region of non-spreading flames is not uniform in space and changes in shape with time. On the contrary, for moving flames experiments showed that the competition between surface regression and spread rate causes the pyrolysis region to assume a steady-state geometry. In particular, the declination of the pyrolysis surface is constant for given burning conditions, although it is highly influenced by their variations. The geometry of the pyrolysis region is characterised by the surface declination angle, called burn angle, which can be used to study the relation between mass burning rates and flame spread rates. Despite the amount of experimental work in literature, a theoretical description of the burn angle and its dependence on burning parameters such as flow velocity is still missing. The scale analysis in this work shows an alternative approach to predict the qualitative behaviour of the burn angle and therefore of the average mass burning rate, qualitatively describing its dependence on burning conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatially distributed nitrate reactivity was estimated for the alluvial aquifer system within the Ruamāhanga catchment in New Zealand, according to the groundwater redox status, integrating machine learning and physically based modelling approaches. Redox classification was carried out for sampled groundwater, and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) was used to spatially discriminate between three redox classes across the catchment, using mappable physical parameters as predictive variables. The LDA model predictive uncertainty was used to quantify the spatially distributed geochemical uncertainty of the denitrification potential. Nitrate reduction was simulated as first order irreversible reaction using MT3DMS. Using a Monte Carlo approach, where random redox status realizations were aggregated to various model spatial discretization scales and each transport model realization was re-calibrated, we assessed the relationship between lower order nitrate reduction parameter statistics and aggregation scale. Our results indicate that both the average nitrate reduction parameter values and their standard deviations increase with increased spatial scale. This suggests that the parameters used to model denitrification as first-order reduction in geochemically heterogeneous environments, depend on the geochemical heterogeneity scale. This can have implications when knowledge gained at local scales needs to be applied for basin-scale assessment of effects. Similar were our findings with regards to the parameter-scale dependency on the model predictive uncertainty. Even though the average nitrate reduction across the model domain did not vary with redox scale, the standard deviation around the average almost doubled between the 250 and 5000 m scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the dynamics of tropical cyclone (TC) development in a TC scale framework. It is shown that this TC-scale dynamics contains the maximum potential intensity (MPI) limit as an asymptotically stable point for which the Coriolis force and the tropospheric stratification are two key parameters responsible for the bifurcation of TC development. In particular, it is found that the Coriolis force breaks the symmetry of the TC development and results in a larger basin of attraction toward the cyclonic (anticyclonic) stable point in the Northern (Southern) Hemisphere. Despite the sensitive dependence of intensity bifurcation on these two parameters, the structurally stable property of the MPI critical point is maintained for a wide range of parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the behaviour of glass reinforced epoxy tubes subjected to repeated indentation loads at two non-coincident indentations 180° apart.Design/methodology/approach Four geometrically scaled specimens ranging from 100 to 400 mm diameter were used in repeated indentation tests. Force, displacement and damage growth were recorded for loading and unloading until the indenter returned to its original starting point.Findings Similar scaled trends were observed between the non-coincidental loadings. Unlike reported response form coincidental loadings, the responses from non-coincidental loadings yield lower values for bending stiffness and peak load.Research limitations/implications The differences in behaviour of the specimen between non-coincident loadings were attributed to reductions in fracture toughness and circumferential modulus.Practical implications Distant non-interacting damage and delamination around the circumference does reduce the structural performance.Originality/value Behaviour of composite tubes under different loading conditions, for example low speed impact or quasi static indentation, is widely studied, however little attention has been given to the repeated loading incidents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to predict the flammability limit of thin materials in microgravity environments without conducting microgravity experiments, we developed a simplified model for flame spread in an opposed flow by introducing two non-dimensional parameters which represent radiative quenching and blow-off extinction. Thin PMMA sheet and NOMEX HT90-40 fabric were used as the sample. For predicting the blow-off limiting curve, the pre-exponential factor and the activation energy are required, however, these properties are hardly available in the literature. Hence, we proposed a novel blow-off test in a forced flow to obtain empirical parameters which reproduce the actual blow-off phenomena correctly. Although the properties of NOMEX are unknown, the limiting curves of NOMEX with these empirical parameters well agreed with the results of the parabolic flights, and the obtained minimum oxygen concentration was also close to the experimental value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart grids are new complex systems used for the optimal delivery of electricity. Their study and design require a better understanding of the interactions between their topological structure and performance. It is proved that the structure of power systems is self-similar and can be characterized by the spectral dimension. The effects of scale invariance on the frequency response of the networks are shown at intermediate frequencies. Impacts on the wideband dynamic equivalent modeling are finally explored. Two IEEE test cases are used for the numerical verifications of the results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper is concerned with the morphological analysis of Beijing old city's dynamics from 1966 to 2015. This area has been continuously submitted to internal transformations since the opening of China to a market economy. In particular, districts of small traditional houses are being replaced by large buildings, entailing a fast reorganization of the inner city. To monitor this phenomenon, we propose to characterize urban patterns with very-high-resolution images using texture analysis. To this end, dedicated urban descriptors at various scales (based on local variance, cooccurrence matrices, and wavelets) are evaluated and selected to highlight informations related to different urban patterns. These features, whose scales are essential for a reliable description, are used to highlight changes in the city of Beijing in 21 images from 1969 to 2015. The experimental results show good performances and are in accordance with expert knowledge issued from Beijing urban planning studies. About 50% of the old urban pattern has been destroyed and most of these changes occurred before 2001. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Applied Mathematics & Mechanics (1000-0887) is the property of Applied Mathematics & Mechanics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Research consistently demonstrates that positive student-teacher relationships are fundamental to the healthy development of all students. However, we lack a Portuguese-validated measure of student-teacher relationships. In this article we present the adaptation procedures and the psychometric properties of a Portuguese version of the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale - Short Form (Pianta, 1992). Five hundred and thirty five teachers from 127 schools completed the STRS-SF. The results demonstrate that this adapted version of the STRS-SF has good psychometric properties, namely high reliability (α = .84 to .87) and expected construct validity, which were tested through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (χ2/df = 1.65, CFI = .96, GFI = .93, RMSEA = 0.05). This study also showed that the correlations of studentteacher relationship with students' demographic variables are consistent with the evidence in the literature about this construct. Finally, the study indicated that female teachers reported more closeness, t(530) = 4.06, p < .001 and better overall student-teacher relationships, t(530) = 4.90, p < .001. In the discussion, we analyze the implications of these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The evaluation of the possible climate change influence on extreme precipitation is very interesting in the Mediterranean area due to the usual and characteristic high intensities of its rainfall pattern. This analysis is also very important in urban zones, especially those densely populated with complex sewer systems, generally vulnerable to torrential rainfall. In this work, a total of 114 simulated daily rainfall series, 84 for the period 2000-2099 and 30 for the control period 1951-1999, have been analysed. These series were obtained for six thermo-pluviometric stations located in the metropolitan area of Barcelona using the information provided by five general circulation models under four future climate scenarios of greenhouse gas emissions and applying statistical downscaling methods. The potential changes in the intensity-duration-frequency relationships due to climate change have been investigated. For the last third of the 21st century, under A1B, A2 and B2 climate scenarios, an increase of at least 4% has been found on the expected daily rainfall with return period longer than 20 years. Using a temporal downscaling based on scaling properties of rainfall, future hourly extreme rainfall has been estimated. For almost all the scenarios and periods considered, the increase on the expected hourly rainfall has resulted slightly higher than the corresponding daily rainfall. The greatest differences between the future hourly and daily rainfall estimated have been found in the second third of the century under scenarios A1B (8%) and A2 (9%). © 2013 Royal Meteorological Society [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Juvenile steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss from a northern California Central Valley population were reared in a controlled laboratory experiment. Significantly different rates of growth were observed among fish reared under two ration treatments and three temperature treatments (8, 14 and 20° C). Wider circulus spacing and faster deposition was associated with faster growth. For the same growth rate, however, circulus spacing was two-fold wider and deposited 36% less frequently in the cold compared to the hot temperature treatment. In a multiple linear regression, median circulus spacing and water temperature accounted for 68% of the variation in observed O. mykiss growth. These results corroborate previous research on scale characteristics and growth, while providing novel evidence that highlights the importance of water temperature in these relationships. Thus, this study establishes the utility of using scale analysis as a relatively non-invasive method for inferring growth in salmonids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Karstic watersheds are highly complex hydrogeological systems that are characterized by a multiscale behaviour corresponding to the different pathways of water in these systems. The main issue of karstic spring discharge fluctuations consists in the presence and the identification of characteristic time scales in the discharge time series. To identify and characterize these dynamics, we acquired, for many years at the outlet of two karstic watersheds in South of France, discharge data at 3-mn, 30-mn and daily sampling rate. These hydrological records constitute to our knowledge the longest uninterrupted discharge time series available at these sampling rates. The analysis of the hydrological records at different levels of detail leads to a natural scale analysis of these time series in a multifractal framework. From a universal class of multifractal models based on cascade multiplicative processes, the time series first highlights two cut-off scales around 1 and 16 h that correspond to distinct responses of the aquifer drainage system. Then we provide estimates of the multifractal parameters α and C1 and the moment of divergence qD corresponding to the behaviour of karstic systems. These results constitute the first estimates of the multifractal characteristics of karstic spingflows based on 10 years of high-resolution discharge time series and should lead to several improvements in rainfall-karstic springflow simulation models. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observing revealing criteria regarding the difficulties faced by economic entities show a great diversity of situations and exceptions that occur both at the level of "bankrupt" firms and of those viable. In economic theory, interest exists to develop methods for bankruptcy risk prediction starting from rates correlated with the state of "health" or "weakness" of those economic entities. Score appears as a linear function of several variables (rates) characterized by average coefficients, which are determined, most often, using the least squares method applied to observations associated to representative units grouped from the beginning as "non- bankrupt" and "bankrupt". The Score Function is very sensitive to all the significant changes of the economic situation and draws an alarm signal on its economic and financial state offering also a higher quality ability to make a forecast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of flame–flame interactions on the behavior of the diffusion of the methane/air microflame have been examined by changing the burners' distance based on experimentally obtained chemiluminescence images and numerically obtained flow field and oxygen distribution. The behavior of microflames is discussed in the three stages of interactions, where the inclining separated flames, the merging flames, and a merged flame are observed. The present scale analysis has shown that two different scales need to be considered on the transport process in the microflame: one is a fuel-jet scale and the other is a buoyancy scale. Interactions that occurred outside the flame are of significance because they bring the early partial merging of the microflame and the early disappearance of the flame base in between. They need to be considered in the buoyancy scale, and there the buoyancy-driven flow needs to be taken into consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this essay I argue that the effects of federal policy can be examined through a scale analysis that helps deconstruct the effect of the current widespread accountability movement in the US educational system. I first discuss the concept of scale, including its thus-far limited use in educational research. I define scales not only as hierarchical, nested physical spaces but also as the social relations and activities that constitute, and are constitutive of, spaces and places of interaction like the classroom. I draw on my own ethnographic data and current research to provide descriptions of each scale and the ways social relations are shaped by, and also shape, scales. I show how certain scales have been routinely elided from broader discussions about assessment under programmes like the No Child Left Behind Act (2002) and discuss who has the ability to make decisions and enforce policies in this context. I end with some implications of this analysis for educational policy and literacy research, including potential ways to redistribute power amongst actors. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Research on Public Service Motivation (PSM) has increased enormously in the last 20 years. Besides the analysis of the antecedents of PSM and its impact on organizations and individuals, many open questions about the nature of PSM itself still remain. This article argues that the theoretical construct of PSM should be contextualized by integrating the political and administrative contexts of public servants when investigating their specific attitudes towards working in a public environment. It also challenges the efficacy of the classic four-dimensional structure of PSM when it is applied to a specific context. The findings of a confirmatory factor analysis from a dataset of 3754 employees of 279 Swiss municipalities support the appropriateness of contextualizing parts of the PSM construct. They also support the addition of an extra dimension called, according to previous research, Swiss democratic governance. With regard to our results, there is a need for further PSM research to set a definite measure of PSM, particularly in regard to the international diffusion of empirical research on PSM.Points for practitionersThis study shows that public service motivation is a relevant construct for practitioners and may be used to better assess whether public agents are motivated by values or not. Nevertheless, it stresses also that the measurement of PSM must be adapted to the institutional context as well. Public managers interested in understanding better the degree to which their employees are motivated by public values must be aware that the measurement of this PSM construct has to be contextualized. In other words, PSM is also a function of the institutional environment in which organizations operate. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We used multiple regression and path analysis to examine the effects of regional and larger spatial scales of climatic/oceanic conditions on the growth, survival, and population dynamics of Hokkaido chum salmon ( Oncorhynchus keta). Variability in the growth of chum salmon at ages 1 to 4 was estimated from scale analysis and the back-calculation method using scales of 4-year-old adults returning to the Ishikari River in Hokkaido, Japan, during 1943-2005. Growth of chum salmon at age 1 was less during the period from the 1940s to the mid-1970s compared to the period from the mid-1980s to the present. On the other hand, growth of chum salmon at ages 2, 3, and 4 has declined since the 1980s. Path analysis indicated that growth at age 1 in the Okhotsk Sea was directly affected by warmer sea surface temperatures associated with global warming. The increased growth at age 1 led directly to higher survival rates and indirectly to larger population sizes. Subsequently, in the Bering Sea, the larger population size was directly associated with decreased growth at age 3 and indirectly associated with shorter adult fork lengths despite the lack of relationships among sea surface temperature, zooplankton biomass, and growth at ages 2 to 4. Therefore, higher growth at age 1 related to global warming positively affected the survival rate of juvenile chum salmon in the Okhotsk Sea. The higher survival rates in turn appear to be causing a population density-dependent effect on growth at ages 2 to 4 and maturation in the Bering Sea due to limited carrying capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper formulates the methodology of transient thermal network modeling (TTNM) for the study of unsteady heat transfer in systems where the presence of multiple length and time scales prevents the analysis by means of current computational or experimental techniques. The TTNM is based on reduced order models (ROMs) and it is established under the essential premise that a transient heat transfer process can be modeled by its division in a succession of stationary states and the division of the geometry in isothermal elements, according to the characteristic time and length scales obtained by scale analysis. The methodology is subsequently validated with canonical examples and considerations are given for the application to practical problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All other things being equal, the lifetime reproductive success (LRS) of iteroparous and semelparous individuals should scale with the number of breeding seasons. Deviations from this relationship may occur for many reasons, including age- or size-related fecundity or life history trade-offs, which may differ between sexes. We used 19 brood years of DNA parentage analysis in a small ( N = 4–143 year−1) wild, unexploited population of steelhead trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss) to compare the LRS of individuals that spawned only once [“one time spawners” (OTS), N = 355 male, 371 female] to those spawning twice [“repeat spawners” (RPS), N = 13 male, 49 female]. Female RPS had nearly twice the LRS of female OTS (1.17 offspring per female vs 0.91 offspring per female), whereas male RPS had nearly three times the LRS of male OTS (1.54 offspring per male vs 0.57 offspring per male). Female RPS produced slightly more adult offspring during their second breeding season than their first (0.78 vs 0.82 offspring per female); however, male RPS produced all of their adult offspring in their second breeding season (0 vs 1.54 offspring per male). The additional growth in body size of males between breeding seasons may give them an advantage in their second breeding season, but the lack of offspring produced in their first season suggests a trade-off between survival and future reproduction that was not expressed in females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatiotemporal changes in growth patterns of chum salmon Oncorhynchus keta that returned to the Ishikari (Japan) and Namdae (Korea) rivers in 1984–1998 were investigated using scale analysis. Juvenile chum salmon from both populations left coastal marine areas after spring at a size of over 8 cm fork length (FL). In summer, juvenile salmon from the Namdae River entered the Okhotsk Sea at a larger FL than did Ishikari River juveniles. There were no significant differences in annual growth between populations of 1-, 2-, and 4-year-old fish. For 3-year-old fish, however, Namdae River salmon had significantly higher synchronous and sympatric growth than did Ishikari River salmon. Mean FL of adults was also larger in Namdae River salmon than in Ishikari River salmon. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) results showed (1) negative linear relations between FL and catch, (2) homogeneous slopes of those relations at regional and species levels, and (3) nonhomogeneous slopes at the population level, indicating that density-dependent effects on growth were most significant at this level. We concluded that growth of chum salmon was concurrently influenced by stronger effects of intrapopulation competition and weaker effects of inter- and intraspecific interactions in the Bering Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research particle trajectory in a bidirectional vortex flow has been numerically predicted and the results experimentally validated. Scale analyses of forces show their order of magnitudes and give a criterion to recognize the order of magnitude of exerting forces on the particle. The particle has been assumed to be a rigid sphere. Initial velocity, diameter, density, and position of entering particle are assumed to be known. If the particle length scale is considered not to be comparable with the chamber length and if particle number density is low, then influence of particle on the flow field is negligible and a one-way solution is applicable. The governing equation is converted to a set of nonlinear, coupled, second-order ODE and solved by a numerical scheme. Results show that higher density, larger diameter, and higher initial axial velocity tend to move the particles further in the axial direction. Also, the maximum axial movement of the particle occurs when the initial radial velocity is zero and there is an optimum entrance position that provides a maximum traveling trajectory for particles. Increasing initial z-direction velocity component and density will result in increasing traveling trajectory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The knowledge of the ground thermal properties, and in particular the ground thermal conductivity is fundamental for the correct sizing of the Ground Coupled Heat Pump (GCHP) plant. The Thermal Response Test (TRT) is the most used experimental technique for estimating the ground thermal conductivity. This paper presents an experimental setup aimed to realise a suitable scale prototype of the real borehole heat exchanger (BHE) and the surrounding ground for reduced scale TRT experiments. The scaled ground volume is realised with a slate block. Numerical analyses were carried out to correctly determine suitable geometric and operational parameters for the present setup. The scaled heat exchanger, inserted into the block, is created with additive technology (3D printer) and equipped with a central electrical heater along its entire depth and with temperature sensors at different radial distances and depths. Present measurements highlight the possibility to reliably perform a TRT experiment and to estimate the slate/ground thermal conductivity with an agreement of about +12% with respect to measurements provided by a standard commercial conductivity meter on proper cylindrical samples of the same material and onto 10 different portions of the slate block. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Conservation Biology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The bocachico, Prochilodus nigricans, is a commercially important fish distributed throughout the central and western Amazon. Age and growth of this species in eastern Ecuador were determined by otolith and scale increment analyses. For otolith analyses, we used thin sections of the astericus, and clear visualization of annuli required the use transmitted polarized light. Accuracy and precision of age estimation were compared to select the best ageing structure. Precision indices showed that otoliths are more reliable than scales to determine the age of bocachicos. Based on marginal increments analysis, we found that annulus formation in both structures occurs once a year between August and December. Seasonal changes in growth were associated with hydrological cycle of the river. The Ecuadorian Prochilodus at the juvenile-adult stage grew faster (i.e., K = 0.29 for ages 2 and older) than conspecific populations from Bolivia and Brazil ( K = 0.5). In addition, annual mortality rate ( A = 0. 56) was lower than reported for Prochilodus populations elsewhere in the Amazon. We conclude that this population is presently not overexploited, but conservation and management schemes for this population will need to consider that it is an international, trans-boundary migrant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A set of microphysics equations is scaled based on the convective length and velocity scales. Comparisons are made among the dynamical transport and various microphysical processes. From the scaling analysis, it becomes apparent which parameterized microphysical processes present off-scaled influences in the integration of the set of microphysics equations. The variabilities of the parameterized microphysical processes are also studied using the approach of a controlled parameter space. Given macroscopic dynamic and thermodynamic conditions in different regions of convective storms, it is possible to analyze and compare vertical profiles of these processes. Bulk diabatic heating profiles for a cumulus convective updraft and downdraft are also derived from this analysis. From the two different angles, the scale analysis and the controlled-parameter space approach can both provide an insight into and an understanding of microphysics parameterizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three-dimensional laser scanning technology has been more mature, and its application fields are expanding. It is being used in key projects and important work such as ancient building recording, restoration and reconstruction. In this paper, the technology is applied to the 3D scanning, data splicing and model simplification of Heping temple building complex in Beijing. After innovative research on ancient architecture, it is found that the group layout, single form and local components of Heping temple building complex in Beijing show symmetry everywhere, vividly reflecting the extensive and profound ancient architectural culture and order. This points out a new direction for the development and application of 3D laser scanning technology and opens up a new path for the in-depth study of the protection of ancient buildings in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proportion of Atlantic salmon escaped from fish farms and caught in the Faroese salmon fishery was estimated using scale analysis. Samples were obtained of fish landed in the commercial fishery from 1980/1981 to 1990/1991 fishing seasons and from research catches in the 1991/1992 to 1995/1996 seasons. The material collected was in some years limited to only part of the fishing season. The estimated proportion of farmed salmon in the fishery was relatively low from 1980/1981 to 1986/1987, but increased considerably thereafter, and reached a peak in the 1989/1990 fishing season when more than 40% of the catch was estimated to be of farmed origin. Later, the proportion declined, and in recent seasons the proportions of farmed salmon were estimated to be around 20%. These estimates were used to split the Faroese catch into wild and farmed components. It is concluded that if farmed components in salmon catches are not accounted for, catches of wild salmon will be overestimated and assessments of fisheries and stocks of wild salmon confounded. Furthermore, the increase observed in catch per unit of effort (c.p.u.e.) in the 1980s and early 1990s might have been caused by an increasing abundance of farmed salmon. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]