| 1. |
- Alves, Ronaldo Adriano, et al.
(författare)
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Flood vulnerability mapping in an urban area with high levels of impermeable coverage in southern Brazil
- 2024
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Ingår i: Regional Environmental Change. - 1436-3798. ; 24:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Flooding is one of the main social impacts in urban areas, especially in larger, densely impermeable cities. Therefore, developing studies capable of identifying areas that are vulnerable to this type of event is crucial to provide early warning and a quick and effective response to reduce damages. Thus, this study sought to identify areas vulnerable to flood in the Igapó Lake Basin, a densely urbanized area in Lodrina city, southern Brazil. The methodology was based on four main steps: (1) basin characterization, (2) elaboration of the conditioning factors of the flooding by using the analysis hierarchical process (AHP), (3) vulnerability analysis in the GIS environment, (4) and model sensitivity analysis. The parameters considered in this study were as follows: flow concentration, land use, slope, distance from the discharge channel, and altimetry. The proposed methodology has proven to be robust in identifying flood-vulnerable areas. The results revealed that approximately 3.1 km2 (10.3%) of the basin are considered areas of high or very high vulnerability to flood events, affecting many residential buildings, the most abundant land use class in the investigated area. In conclusion, this study sheds light on the intricate interplay between vulnerability to flooding, land use changes, urban development patterns, and resilience measures, offering valuable insights for policymakers and urban planners striving to mitigate the impacts of extreme weather events.
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| 2. |
- Beal, Jacob, et al.
(författare)
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Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density
- 2020
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Ingår i: Communications Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2399-3642. ; 3:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data.
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| 3. |
- Dinkel, Holly, et al.
(författare)
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Multi-Agent 3D Map Reconstruction and Change Detection in Microgravity with Free-Flying Robots
- 2023
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC. - 0074-1795. ; 2023-October
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Assistive free-flyer robots autonomously caring for future crewed outposts-such as NASA's Astrobee robots on the International Space Station (ISS)-must be able to detect day-to-day interior changes to track inventory, detect and diagnose faults, and monitor the outpost status. This work presents a framework for multi-agent cooperative mapping and change detection to enable robotic maintenance of space outposts. One agent is used to reconstruct a 3D model of the environment from sequences of images and corresponding depth information. Another agent is used to periodically scan the environment for inconsistencies against the 3D model. Change detection is validated after completing the surveys using real image and pose data collected by Astrobee robots in a ground testing environment and from microgravity aboard the ISS. This work outlines the objectives, requirements, and algorithmic modules for the multi-agent reconstruction system, including recommendations for its use by assistive free-flyers aboard future microgravity outposts
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| 4. |
- Fujita, Thais, et al.
(författare)
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Simulating Discharge in a Non-Dammed River of Southeastern South America Using SWAT Model
- 2022
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Ingår i: Water. - : MDPI AG. - 2073-4441. ; 14:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Within a single region, it is possible to identify opposite changes in flow production. This proved to be the case for several basins in southeastern South America. It remains challenging to the causes this behavior and whether changes in streamflow will continue at current levels or decline in the coming decades. In this study, we used the Soil Water Assessment Tool to simulate monthly river discharge in the Ivaí River Basin, an unregulated medium-sized catchment and tributary of the Upper Paraná River Basin. After calibration, the simulated flow regime for the five streamflow stations based on the Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency index (NSE) rated four of the streamflow stations Very Good (NSE between 0.86 and 0.89) and only one in the Good index (0.70). The overall flow behavior was well represented, although an underestimation was identified in four monitoring stations. Through assessment of its functionality and limitations in terms of specific flow duration curves percentages, the calibrated model could provide (to managers) the reliability needed for a realistic intervention. The results of this study may assist managers and support public policies for the use of water resources at the Ivaí River basin.
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| 5. |
- Nguyen, Thanh N, et al.
(författare)
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Global Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Stroke Volumes and Cerebrovascular Events: A 1-Year Follow-up.
- 2023
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Ingår i: Neurology. - 1526-632X. ; 100:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Declines in stroke admission, IV thrombolysis (IVT), and mechanical thrombectomy volumes were reported during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a paucity of data on the longer-term effect of the pandemic on stroke volumes over the course of a year and through the second wave of the pandemic. We sought to measure the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the volumes of stroke admissions, intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), IVT, and mechanical thrombectomy over a 1-year period at the onset of the pandemic (March 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021) compared with the immediately preceding year (March 1, 2019, to February 29, 2020).We conducted a longitudinal retrospective study across 6 continents, 56 countries, and 275 stroke centers. We collected volume data for COVID-19 admissions and 4 stroke metrics: ischemic stroke admissions, ICH admissions, IVT treatments, and mechanical thrombectomy procedures. Diagnoses were identified by their ICD-10 codes or classifications in stroke databases.There were 148,895 stroke admissions in the 1 year immediately before compared with 138,453 admissions during the 1-year pandemic, representing a 7% decline (95% CI [95% CI 7.1-6.9]; p < 0.0001). ICH volumes declined from 29,585 to 28,156 (4.8% [5.1-4.6]; p < 0.0001) and IVT volume from 24,584 to 23,077 (6.1% [6.4-5.8]; p < 0.0001). Larger declines were observed at high-volume compared with low-volume centers (all p < 0.0001). There was no significant change in mechanical thrombectomy volumes (0.7% [0.6-0.9]; p = 0.49). Stroke was diagnosed in 1.3% [1.31-1.38] of 406,792 COVID-19 hospitalizations. SARS-CoV-2 infection was present in 2.9% ([2.82-2.97], 5,656/195,539) of all stroke hospitalizations.There was a global decline and shift to lower-volume centers of stroke admission volumes, ICH volumes, and IVT volumes during the 1st year of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the prior year. Mechanical thrombectomy volumes were preserved. These results suggest preservation in the stroke care of higher severity of disease through the first pandemic year.This study is registered under NCT04934020.
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| 6. |
- Pedras, Susana, et al.
(författare)
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Stability and Change in Portuguese Adolescents’ Affective Profiles over a 2-Year and a 6-Year Period
- 2023
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Ingår i: The Affective Profiles Model - 20 Years of Research and Beyond. - Cham : Springer. ; , s. 287-312
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The affective profiles model, operationalized as the combination of individuals’ high/low positive/negative affective experience, is a well-established method for providing insights into adolescents’ affective functioning and self-regulation: self-fulfilling (high positive affect, low negative affect), high affective (high positive affect, high negative affect), low affective (low positive affect, low negative affect), and self-destructive (low positive affect, high negative affect). However, there is lack of longitudinal studies investigating profile stability and change during adolescence. Objective: We aimed to investigate if having a specific affective profile at one point in time predicted adolescents’ affective profile 2 and 6 years later. Methods: Two cohorts of adolescents (Nwave 1 = 4054), each one assessed over a 2-year period (Nwave 2 = 2646), participated in our study by responding to the Portuguese version of the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Cohort 1 included adolescents who were at their 7th grade in the first wave and in their 8th grade in the second wave. The adolescents in cohort 2 were at their 10th grade in wave 1 and in their 11th grade in wave 2. Finally, a subsample from cohort 1 (n = 677) were also tested about 6 years later (i.e., at the 7th grade and at the 12th grade). Results: For adolescents in both cohorts, the affective profiles assessed at the beginning of the study predicted the affective profiles assessed about 2 years later. Specifically, self-reporting a self-fulfilling profile in wave 1 increased the odds of having a self-fulfilling profile in wave 2. Conversely, reporting any other type of affective profile in wave 1 increased the odds of having either a high affective or a self-destructive profile in wave 2. Adolescents with a low affective profile had the most fluctuations between profiles. This trend was also found among adolescents who were assessed 6 years later. Conclusion: At a general level, the results suggest that having a self-fulfilling profile at the 7th grade might protect well-being through adolescence. Moreover, the fact that individuals with certain profiles are at more risk of keeping low levels of positive emotions or high levels of negative emotions has important implications for the promotion of adaptive and functional affective regulation during adolescence. Knowing when and which students are at risk of maintaining or changing to a dysfunctional and non-adaptive profile, from one year to the next, may allow the implementation of interventions that meet the emotional and affective characteristics of each adolescent.
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| 7. |
- Penha, Frederico M., et al.
(författare)
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In Situ Observation of Epitaxial Growth during Evaporative Simultaneous Crystallization from Aqueous Electrolytes in Droplets
- 2021
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Ingår i: Crystals. - : MDPI AG. - 2073-4352. ; 11:9, s. 1122-1122
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this study, crystallization phenomena were investigated by real-time in situ observation of seeded droplets under evaporation using a self-developed hot-stage platform. Ternary solutions at eutonic conditions at 25 °C were investigated for the following systems: NaCl–KCl–H2O, NaCl–CaSO4–H2O, and NaCl–Na2SO4–H2O. Evidence of epitaxial growth was found for aqueous NaCl–KCl and aqueous NaCl–Na2SO4. Sodium chloride nucleated and grew epitaxially upon the other substrates in a larger proportion compared with the inverse. This observation could be related to the higher solubility, and consequently higher residual supersaturation of NaCl regarding the other components. Hopper-like NaCl crystals developed in almost all systems. The results may help devise strategies to control particle morphologies and purity in industrial crystallization from complex systems.
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| 8. |
- Peters, Anne-Kathrin, et al.
(författare)
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Sustainability in Computing Education: A Systematic Literature Review
- 2024
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Ingår i: ACM Transactions on Computing Education. - : ASSOC COMPUTING MACHINERY. - 1946-6226. ; 24:1
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Research shows that the global society as organized today, with our current technological and economic system, is impossible to sustain. We are living in an era in which human activities in highly industrialized countries are responsible for overshooting several planetary boundaries, with poorer communities contributing the least to the problems but being impacted the most. At the same time, technical and economic gains fail to provide society at large with equal opportunities and improved quality of life. This article describes approaches taken in computing education to address the issue of sustainability. It presents results of a systematic review of the literature on sustainability in computing education. From a set of 572 publications extracted from six large digital libraries plus snowballing, we distilled and analyzed 89 relevant primary studies. Using an inductive and deductive thematic analysis, we study (i) conceptions of sustainability, computing, and education; (ii) implementations of sustainability in computing education; and (iii) research on sustainability in computing education. We present a framework capturing learning objectives and outcomes as well as pedagogical methods for sustainability in computing education. These results can be mapped to existing standards and curricula in future work. We find that only a few of the articles engage with the challenges as calling for drastic systemic change, along with radically new understandings of computing and education. We suggest that future work should connect to the substantial body of critical theory, such as feminist theories of science and technology. Existing research on sustainability in computing education may be considered rather immature, as the majority of articles are experience reports with limited empirical research.
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| 9. |
- Santos, Jamie, et al.
(författare)
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Unsupervised Change Detection for Space Habitats Using 3D Point Clouds
- 2024
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Ingår i: AIAA SciTech Forum and Exposition, 2024.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This work presents an algorithm for scene change detection from point clouds to enable autonomous robotic caretaking in future space habitats. Autonomous robotic systems will help maintain future deep-space habitats, such as the Gateway space station, which will beuncre wed for extended periods. Existing scene analysis software used on the International Space Station (ISS) relies on manually-labeled images for detecting changes. In contrast, the algorithm presented in this work uses unlabeled point clouds as inputs. The algorithm first applies modified Expectation-Maximization Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) clustering to two input point clouds. It then performs change detection by comparing the GMMs using the Earth Mover’s Distance. The algorithm is validated quantitatively and qualitatively using a test dataset collected by an A strobee robot in the NASA Ames Granite Lab comprising single frame depth images taken directly by Astrobee and full-scene reconstructed maps built with RGB-Dand pose data from Astrobee. The runtimes of the approach are also analyzed in depth. The source code is publicly released to promote further development.
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