| 1. |
- Lembrechts, Jonas J., et al.
(författare)
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SoilTemp : A global database of near-surface temperature
- 2020
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Ingår i: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 26:11, s. 6616-6629
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Current analyses and predictions of spatially explicit patterns and processes in ecology most often rely on climate data interpolated from standardized weather stations. This interpolated climate data represents long-term average thermal conditions at coarse spatial resolutions only. Hence, many climate-forcing factors that operate at fine spatiotemporal resolutions are overlooked. This is particularly important in relation to effects of observation height (e.g. vegetation, snow and soil characteristics) and in habitats varying in their exposure to radiation, moisture and wind (e.g. topography, radiative forcing or cold-air pooling). Since organisms living close to the ground relate more strongly to these microclimatic conditions than to free-air temperatures, microclimatic ground and near-surface data are needed to provide realistic forecasts of the fate of such organisms under anthropogenic climate change, as well as of the functioning of the ecosystems they live in. To fill this critical gap, we highlight a call for temperature time series submissions to SoilTemp, a geospatial database initiative compiling soil and near-surface temperature data from all over the world. Currently, this database contains time series from 7,538 temperature sensors from 51 countries across all key biomes. The database will pave the way toward an improved global understanding of microclimate and bridge the gap between the available climate data and the climate at fine spatiotemporal resolutions relevant to most organisms and ecosystem processes.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Kordaß, B., et al.
(författare)
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The virtual articulator in dentistry : concept and development
- 2002
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Ingår i: Dental Clinics of North America. - 1558-0512. ; 46:3, s. 493-506
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Virtual Reality (VR) technology is one of the most important innovations for research, development, and industrial production. In dentistry, VR technology will be useful in providing better education through simulation and in enhancing working procedures that are conventionally limited, e.g., the mechanical articulator. It is the purpose of this article to present concepts and strategies for a future replacement of the mechanical articulator by a virtual one.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Aslani, Mohammad, et al.
(författare)
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Traffic signal optimization through discrete and continuous reinforcement learning with robustness analysis in downtown Tehran
- 2018
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Ingår i: Advanced Engineering Informatics. - : Elsevier BV. - 1474-0346 .- 1873-5320. ; 38, s. 639-655
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Traffic signal control plays a pivotal role in reducing traffic congestion. Traffic signals cannot be adequately controlled with conventional methods due to the high variations and complexity in traffic environments. In recent years, reinforcement learning (RL) has shown great potential for traffic signal control because of its high adaptability, flexibility, and scalability. However, designing RL-embedded traffic signal controllers (RLTSCs) for traffic systems with a high degree of realism is faced with several challenges, among others system disturbances and large state-action spaces are considered in this research.The contribution of the present work is founded on three features: (a) evaluating the robustness of different RLTSCs against system disturbances including incidents, jaywalking, and sensor noise, (b) handling a high-dimensional state-action space by both employing different continuous state RL algorithms and reducing the state-action space in order to improve the performance and learning speed of the system, and (c) presenting a detailed empirical study of traffic signals control of downtown Tehran through seven RL algorithms: discrete state Q-learning(λ" role="presentation">), SARSA(λ" role="presentation">), actor-critic(λ" role="presentation">), continuous state Q-learning(λ" role="presentation">), SARSA(λ" role="presentation">), actor-critic(λ" role="presentation">), and residual actor-critic(λ" role="presentation">).In this research, first a real-world microscopic traffic simulation of downtown Tehran is carried out, then four experiments are performed in order to find the best RLTSC with convincing robustness and strong performance. The results reveal that the RLTSC based on continuous state actor-critic(λ" role="presentation">) has the best performance. In addition, it is found that the best RLTSC leads to saving average travel time by 22% (at the presence of high system disturbances) when it is compared with an optimized fixed-time controller.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Kueffer, Christoph, et al.
(författare)
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Plant invasions into mountain protected areas : assessment, prevention and control at multiple spatial scales
- 2013
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Ingår i: Plant invasions in protected areas. - Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands. - 9789400777491 ; , s. 89-113
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mountains are of great significance for people and biodiversity. Although often considered to be at low risk from alien plants, recent studies suggest that mountain ecosystems are not inherently more resistant to invasion than other types of ecosystems. Future invasion risks are likely to increase greatly, in particular due to climate warming and increased human land use (e.g. intensification of human activities, human population growth, and expansion of tourism). However, these risks can be reduced by minimising anthropogenic disturbance in and around protected areas, and by preventing the introduction of potentially invasive alien plants into these areas, particularly at high elevations. Sharing information and experiences gained in different mountainous areas is important for devising effective management strategies. We review current knowledge about plant invasions into mountains, assembling evidence from all continents and across different climate zones, and describe experiences at local to global scales in preventing and managing plant invasions into mountain protected areas. Our findings and recommendations are also relevant for managing native species that expand to higher elevations.
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| 8. |
- Lim, Nancy Joy, 1980-
(författare)
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Modelling, mapping and visualisation of flood inundation uncertainties
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Flood maps showing extents of predicted flooding for a given extreme event have wide usage in all types of spatial planning tasks, as well as serving as information material for the public. However, the production processes that these maps undergo (including the different data, methods, models and decisions from the persons generating them), which include both Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and hydraulic modelling, affect the map’s content, and will be reflected in the final map. A crisp flood boundary, which is a common way of representing the boundary in flood maps, may therefore not be the best representation to be used. They provide a false implication that these maps are correct and that the flood extents are absolute, despite the effects of the entire modelling in the prediction output. Hence, this research attempts to determine how flood prediction outputs can be affected by uncertainties in the modelling process. In addition, it tries to evaluate how users understand, utilise and perceive flood uncertainty information. Three main methods were employed in the entire research: uncertainty modelling and analyses; map and geovisualisation development; and user assessment. The studies in this work showed that flood extents produced were influenced by the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) resolution and the Manning’s used. This effect was further increased by the topographic characteristic of the floodplain. However, the performance measure used, which quantify how well a model produces result in relation to a reference floor boundary, had also biases in quantifying outputs. Determining the optimal model output, therefore, depended on outcomes of the goodness-of-fit measures used. In this research, several ways were suggested on how uncertainties can be visualised based on the data derived from the uncertainty assessment and by characterising the uncertainty information. These can be through: dual-ended maps; flood probability maps; sequential maps either highlighting the degrees of certainty (certainty map) or degrees of uncertainty (uncertainty map) in the data; binary maps; overlain flood boundaries from different calibration results; and performance bars. Different mapping techniques and visual variables were used for their representation. These mapping techniques employed, as well as the design of graphical representation, helped facilitate understanding the information by the users, especially when tested during the evaluations. Note though that there were visualisations, which the user found easier to comprehend depending on the task given. Each of these visualisations had also its advantages and disadvantages in communicating flood uncertainty information, as shown in the assessments conducted. Another important aspect that came out in the study was how the users’ background influence decision-making when using these maps. Users’ willingness to take risks depended not only on the map, but their perceptions on the risk itself. However, overall, users found the uncertainty maps to be useful to be incorporated in planning tasks.
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| 9. |
- Noice, L., et al.
(författare)
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Above room-temperature ferromagnetism in GaN powders by calcinations with CuO
- 2006
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Ingår i: Mater Res Soc Symp Proc. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1558998985 - 9781558998988 ; , s. 62-67
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Gallium nitride powders were calcined with copper oxide in either air or N2 and analyzed by means of powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution parallel illumination (HRTEM) and scanning probe transmission electron microscopy (STEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS), and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) in order to address the structural and electronic effects of Cu-incorporation into GaN. Gallium oxide and multiple copper oxide phases corresponding to the calcination environment were detected. Significant changes in the lattice parameters and electronic structure of the N2-processed GaN indicate incorporation of both copper and oxygen into the GaN lattice as well as changes in the chemical bonding due to the calcinations process. SQUID magnetometer measurements at 300 K demonstrated ferromagnetism in selected samples.
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| 10. |
- Pettersson, L W, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of layer partitioning in collaborative 3D visualizations
- 2006
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Ingår i: Advances in Visual Computing. - Berlin, Heidelberg : Springer. - 3540486283 ; , s. 180-190
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Display technologies that support multiple independent views of the same co-located 3D visualization volume make new forms of collaboration possible. In this field of research, until now most efforts have focused on technical solutions and their applications. The main contribution of this paper is the results from a study comparing integral and partitioned 3D content in a head coupled stereoscopic environment through independent views of a shared 3D visualization.In our study we used a geospatial task that was solved by ten pairs of collaborating individuals (dyads). We measured task performance by time and error rate for the dyads in two main conditions: a) an integral visualization that presented a map in the display surface and four layers at different depths below the display surface to each of the observers, and b) a partitioned visualization, where two mutually exclusive subsets of the layers were presented to each of the observers together with the map in the display surface.The results from the study showed significant differences in regard to performance times between the two conditions. Task performance was significantly better in the condition with layer partitioning. Partitioned visualizations can thus, at least in some cases, improve performance in tasks requiring collaboration between users.
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