Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2010-03"
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- EditorialPublication . Bartolo, Paulo; Chua, C. K.Welcome to a brand new year of 2010! In this editorial, we bring you the latest update concerning rapid prototyping technologies,which of coursemany of you are aware, include many terminologies such as layer manufacturing and solid freeform fabrication, amongst others. The longstanding need to standardize the terminologies within the rapid prototyping andmanufacturing industry has nowbeenmetwith a new ASTMInternational standard, ASTMF2792, Terminology for Additive Manufacturing Technologies. The new document is the first approved standard under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee F42 on Additive Manufacturing Technologies, which was formed in 2009.
- A deconvolution method to remove distortion caused by antenna radiation pattern from measurementPublication . Cui, Huajian; Caldeirinha, Rafael; Richter, JuergenThe influence of vegetation on radiowave signals has become an important aspect of the design of wireless communication links. In recent years the theory of Radiative Energy Transfer has been adopted as a reliable tool to predict the radiowave propagation through and near vegetation. However one major factor influencing accuracy of the measurement is the radiation pattern of the receiver antenna. The measured pattern will be the convolution product of the antenna radiation pattern and the phase function of the vegetation medium. The measured pattern therefore needs to undergo a deconvolution process before enable to provide reliable information. This paper presents a deconvolution method developed using optimum compensation filtering to remove the distortion caused by the receiver antenna radiation pattern. A pre-filtering technique using auto/cross-correlation is utilised to improve the deconvolution results, as well as an error function is deployed to determine the optimal parameter in the iterative filter.
- Disentangling drought-induced variation in ecosystem and soil respiration using stable carbon isotopesPublication . Unger, Stephan; Máguas, Cristina; Pereira, João S.; Aires, Luis M.; David, Teresa S.; Werner, ChristianeCombining C flux measurements with information on their isotopic composition can yield a process-based understanding of ecosystem C dynamics. We studied the variations in both respiratory fluxes and their stable C isotopic compositions (δ13C) for all major components (trees, understory, roots and soil microorganisms) in a Mediterranean oak savannah during a period with increasing drought. We found large drought-induced and diurnal dynamics in isotopic compositions of soil, root and foliage respiration (δ13Cres). Soil respiration was the largest contributor to ecosystem respiration (Reco), exhibiting a depleted isotopic signature and no marked variations with increasing drought, similar to ecosystem respired δ13CO2, providing evidence for a stable C-source and minor influence of recent photosynthate from plants. Short-term and diurnal variations in δ13Cres of foliage and roots (up to 8 and 4‰, respectively) were in agreement with: (1) recent hypotheses on post-photosynthetic fractionation processes, (2) substrate changes with decreasing assimilation rates in combination with increased respiratory demand, and (3) decreased phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase activity in drying roots, while altered photosynthetic discrimination was not responsible for the observed changes in δ13Cres. We applied a flux-based and an isotopic flux-based mass balance, yielding good agreement at the soil scale, while the isotopic mass balance at the ecosystem scale was not conserved. This was mainly caused by uncertainties in Keeling plot intercepts at the ecosystem scale due to small CO2 gradients and large differences in δ13Cres of the different component fluxes. Overall, stable isotopes provided valuable new insights into the drought-related variations of ecosystem C dynamics, encouraging future studies but also highlighting the need of improved methodology to disentangle short-term dynamics of isotopic composition of Reco.
- Contact center: information systems designPublication . Rijo, Rui; Varajão, João; Gonçalves, RamiroThe economic sector of contact centers is growing by more than 8% a year. It is a multidisciplinary area in which information systems are decisive to organizations' success. Contact Centers' Information Systems deal with real time requisites and critical business information. A theorybuilding research shows a framework with 12 key design factors to consider, which managers might use to develop projects and researchers may adopt for further investigation in the area of Contact Center design. This work intends to provide a valuable link between the research community and practitioners in industry.