The evolution and accumulation of snow cover are among the most important characteristics influencing Antarctica's climate and biotopes. The changes in Antarctica are also substantially impacting ...global climate change. Therefore, detailed monitoring of snow evolution is key to understanding such changes. One way to conduct this monitoring is by installing trail cameras in a particular region and then processing the captured information. This option is affordable, but has some drawbacks, such as the fully automatic solution for the extraction of snow height from these images is not feasible. Therefore, it still requires human intervention, manually correcting the inaccurately extracted information. In this paper, we present Antarstick, a tool for visual guidance of the user to potentially wrong values extracted from poor‐quality images and support for their interactive correction. This tool allows for much quicker and semi‐automated processing of snow height from time‐lapse photography.
The influence on the bond between the steel fiber and the matrix of the anticorrosive treatments of steel used for concrete reinforcement is not yet fully understood. The topic of steel fiber ...treatment was not also studied clearly in terms of brass removal before. This paper deals with how the brass on the surface of steel fibers behaves in the UHPC matrix and how it affects its properties. The steel fibers were firstly modified with a number of surface treatments to remove brass on their surface. Some of the treatments have never been tried before for this purpose. Secondly, the surface of the fibers was analyzed by SEM, EDS, XRF, and stereomicroscopy. Lastly, the properties of the composites were analyzed. It was found out that the majority of brass on the surface of the fibers could be removed by mixture of NH
and H
O
with a ratio of 3:1 (
/
). It was also found out that the surface treatment slightly affects the mechanical properties, but it does that only by mechanical interlocking between the fiber and the matrix. No dissolution of the surface treatment was observed under the given conditions. According to the results, steel fibers without surface treatment should be used in UHPC if available.
Intracellular calcium signals are studied by laser-scanning confocal fluorescence microscopy. The required spatio-temporal resolution makes description of calcium signals difficult because of the low ...signal-to-noise ratio. We designed a new procedure of calcium spike analysis based on their fitting with a model. The accuracy and precision of calcium spike description were tested on synthetic datasets generated either with randomly varied spike parameters and Gaussian noise of constant amplitude, or with constant spike parameters and Gaussian noise of various amplitudes. Statistical analysis was used to evaluate the performance of spike fitting algorithms. The procedure was optimized for reliable estimation of calcium spike parameters and for dismissal of false events. A new algorithm was introduced that corrects the acquisition time of pixels in line-scan images that is in error due to sequential acquisition of individual pixels along the space coordinate. New software was developed in Matlab and provided for general use. It allows interactive dissection of temporal profiles of calcium spikes from x-t images, their fitting with predefined function(s) and acceptance of results on statistical grounds, thus allowing efficient analysis and reliable description of calcium signaling in cardiac myocytes down to the in situ function of ryanodine receptors.
This article provides an overview and results of the pilot national ecosystem services assessment in Slovakia. It follows the MAES process and past ecosystem services (ES) research in Slovakia and is ...based on original research methodology using spatial and statistical data. The initial step of national ES assessment resulted in the selection of significant ES for the evaluation process, where 18 ES in three groups were selected (five provisioning, 10 regulatory/maintenance and three cultural ES). An original assessment model provided the theoretical and methodological framework for national ES evaluation. The principal result is an assessment of the national landscape’s capacity for ES provision, based on evaluation of the landscape units and selected properties and indicators at the ecosystem level. These inputs included habitat types and watersheds, administrative units, natural topology, geology, soils, climate, water and biota. The ES capacity models were created and evaluated for each ES, for the main groups and, finally, for overall ES provision. The highest capacity to provide ES in Slovakia comes from natural and semi-natural ecosystems, mainly deciduous, mixed and coniferous forests which cover over 38% of Slovak territory. The water ecosystems and wetlands are also significant, followed by grasslands and permanent crops. The research highlights the crucial importance of the mountainous and sub-mountainous areas in Slovakia and confirms the significant contribution of the natural and semi-natural ecosystems for ensuring ES provision.
Introduction: The authors report their experiences with laparoscopic resection for colorectal cancer. They assess the type of peroperative and early postoperative surgical complications. Material and ...methods: From 1st January 2002 to 31th December 2005, the team of authors operated 457 patients with colorectal cancer. In 350 patients, the laparoscopic resection was completed. Patients who had undergone an open procedure and patients who had undergone colostomy, or a by-pass procedure, were excluded from the study group. Results: In 32 (9.2%) patients (of the total 350 laparoscopic resections), the laparoscopic procedure was converted. The rate of perioperative complications was 4.0% (14 patients) and the rate of early postoperative surgical complications was 13.1% (46 patients). Five patients in our study group exited before the postoperative day 30. Two of these cases were directly related to surgical postoperative complications. Conclusion: Laparoscopic resection is a method which could be safely use in patients with colorectal cancer. This approach does not have any bigger incidence of peroperative and early surgical postoperative complications than open resection.
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