Schulz, Bethany K.; Bechtold, William A.; Zarnoch, Stanley J. 2009. Sampling and estimation procedures for the vegetation diversity and structure indicator. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-781. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 53 p. The Vegetation Diversity and Structure Indicator (VEG) is an extensive inventory of vascular plants in the ...

Graph-based representations of images have recently acquired an important role for classification purposes within the context of machine learning approaches. The underlying idea is to consider that relevant information of an image is implicitly encoded into the relationships between more basic entities that compose by themselves the whole image. The classification problem is then reformulated i...

A model for creep threshold stresses in alloys strengthened by coherent, misfitting precipitates is developed for the case where the precipitate is not sheared, and where there are elastic interactions between a dislocation and the precipitate over which it climbs. Calculations of the particle stress field due to a positive stiffness and lattice parameter mismatch between precipitate and matrix...

The presented study demonstrates the benefits of using modified vertical photometry methods for rapid, reliable and accurate soil organic carbon determination in agricultural soils. For tests we selected and analysed 25 arable (Ap horizon) topsoil (Cambisol) samples, so that the determined values cover as wide a range as possible. In the proposed method soil organic carbon is determined using 0...

In this paper, we address the problem of guidance and control of a small-scaled helicopter (Benzin Acrobatic from Vario with a 1.8 m diameter rotor) equipped with only lowcost sensors. These sensors are an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), a GPS, and a barometer, which represent a total cost of USD 3000 including one PC board and one micro-controller). By contrast to other experiments reported i...

The Yoga Empowers Seniors Study (YESS) was an intervention development study (IDS) that used biomechanical investigation (high-speed cameras, force platforms, and musculoskeletal modeling) to quantify the physical demands of yoga performance by older adults. Secondarily, the YESS used physical-performance testing, muscle-performance testing , and flexibility and balance assessments to quantify ...

A universal pH indicator is used to fabricate a fiber optic ammonia sensor. The advantage of this pH indicator is that it exhibits sensitivity to ammonia over a broad wavelength range. This provides a differential response, with a valley around 500 nm and a peak around 650 nm, which allows us to perform ratiometric measurements. The ratiometric measurements provide not only an enhanced signal, ...

Background. Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is associated with a 22% recurrence rate. However, few studies have focused on multiple recurrences. In order to evaluate the potential of new treatment options targeting specifically recurrences, we assessed the burden of recurrent Clostridium difficile infections (rCDI). Methods. A retrospective cohort of all adults diagnosed with CDI between ...

This paper presents the design and performance evaluation of a terrain following controller for modelscale helicopters. The methodology used to develop the tracking controller amounts to augmenting the discrete state space model of the plant with terrain preview data. The terrain information is obtained by applying a 2D reconstruction technique to the measurements taken by a forward looking las...

Despite considerable investment, some UK bathing waters fail to comply with mandatory standards as defined by the EU Bathing Water Directive (76/160/EEC). Continued non-compliance has been associated with diffuse sources of faecal indicator organism (FIO) contamination, in particular those deriving from agricultural land. This paper examines concentrations of FIOs in surface, subsurface and ins...