Дисертації з теми "Mode field spatial distribution"

Modified scheme of Bragg reflection waveguide with additional layers between the hollow core and cladding is considered. Dispersion diagrams are calculated on the base of dispersion equations solutions for ordinary and modified Bragg waveguides. Slow-wave regimes are considered for both kinds of structure. Electric field spatial distributions for localized slowwave modes of Bragg reflection waveguide are obtained. It is shown that modified scheme of Bragg waveguide provides the enhanced localization of the surface modes field in the hollow core. Therefore modified Bragg waveguide is the promising electrodynamic system not only for laser-driven accelerators but also for the vacuum electron devices where usual slow-wave structures are unconvenient.

Bragg waveguide with additional layers between hollow core and periodic cladding is considered. On the base of dispersion equation solutions dispersion diagrams are obtained. The transversal spatial distributions of the electric field intensity are shown. The characteristics of Bragg waveguide respect to additional layer thickness and permittivity are considered. It is shown that increase of additional layers thickness results in increase of slow-waves number. Also field intensity decay in channel is reduced. Number of slow-waves increases respect to additional layers permittivity too. But distribution of the electric field intensity in the channel changes insignificantly. So one can tune additional layers parameters to get expected Bragg waveguide characteristics.

Thesis (M.E.E.)--University of Delaware, 2006.
Principal faculty advisors: Kenneth E. Barner, Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering; and Mohsen Badiey, Dept. of Marine and Earth Studies. Includes bibliographical references.

Abstract I have made a detailed study of the fundamental properties of the solar photospheric magnetic field, which helps in better understanding the Sun’s radiative and particle outputs that affect the Earth’s near-space environment, as well as the entire heliosphere. Photospheric magnetic field is an essential parameter for space weather and space climate. The photospheric magnetic field includes a wide range of large-scale and small-scale structures, but the contribution of weak, small-scale fields to the total flux on the solar surface is dominant. This thesis discusses the spatial-temporal structure and long-term evolution of the solar photospheric magnetic field. Particularly, the thesis presents, for the first time, the spatial distribution of the asymmetry of weak field values and its evolution in solar cycles 21–24. I found that the asymmetry (also called shift) of the distribution of positive and negative weak-field values is a real physical phenomenon. I also found that the shifts are most effectively produced at the supergranulation scale. I studied the asymmetry of the distribution of weak field values separately in the two solar hemispheres. My results show that the shifts of weak-field field distributions in the two solar hemispheres have always the same sign as the new polarity of the polar field in the respective hemisphere and solar cycle. I also found that the hemispheric shifts change their sign in the late ascending to maximum phase of the solar cycle and attain their maximum in the early to mid-declining phase. This evolution of the hemispheric weak-field gives a new signal of the solar magnetic cycle. We also studied the long-term spatial-temporal evolution of the weak-field shift and skewness of the distribution of photospheric magnetic field values during solar cycles 21–24 in order to clarify the role and relation of the weak field values to the overall magnetic field evolution. Our results give evidence for the preference of even the weakest field elements toward the prevailing magnetic polarity since the emergence of an active region, and for a systematic coalescence of stronger magnetic fields of opposite to produce weak fields during the poleward drift of the surge
Original papers Original papers are not included in the electronic version of the dissertation. Getachew, T., Virtanen, I., & Mursula, K. (2017). Structure of the Photospheric Magnetic Field During Sector Crossings of the Heliospheric Magnetic Field. Solar Physics, 292(11). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-017-1198-9 http://jultika.oulu.fi/Record/nbnfi-fe201802083259 Getachew, T., Virtanen, I., & Mursula, K. (2019). Asymmetric Distribution of Weak Photospheric Magnetic Field Values. The Astrophysical Journal, 874(2), 116. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab0749 http://jultika.oulu.fi/Record/nbnfi-fe2019061320447 Getachew, T., Virtanen, I., & Mursula, K. (2019). A New Signal of the Solar Magnetic Cycle: Opposite Shifts of Weak Magnetic Field Distributions in the Two Hemispheres. Geophysical Research Letters, 46(16), 9327–9333. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019gl083339 Mursula, K., Getachew, T., & Virtanen, I. (2019). Spatial-temporal evolution of photospheric weak-field shifts in solar cycles 21-24. Astron. Astrophys., submitted

Numerous studies have shown that cardiac diastolic dysfunction and diastolic filling play a critical role in dictating overall cardiac health and demonstrated that the filling wave propagation speed is a significant index of the severity of diastolic dysfunction. However, the governing flow physics underlying the relationship between propagation speed and diastolic dysfunction are poorly understood. More importantly, currently there is no reliable metric to allow clinicians the ability to diagnose cardiac dysfunction. There is a greater need than ever for more accurate and robust diagnostic tools with the increasing number of deaths caused by this disease. Color M-mode (CMM) echocardiography is a technique that is commonly used in the diagnosis of Left Ventricular Diastolic Dysfunction (LVDD) and is used as the image modality in this work. The motivation for the current work is a hypothesized change in the mechanism driving early diastolic filling. The early filling wave of a healthy patient is driven by a rapid early diastolic relaxation creating a pressure difference within the left ventricle despite the fact the left ventricular volume is increasing. As diastolic dysfunction progresses, the left ventricular relaxation declines and it is hypothesized that the left atrial pressure rises to create the favorable pressure difference needed to drive early diastole. This changes the mechanism driving early diastolic filling from a pulling mechanism primary driven by left ventricular relaxation to a pushing mechanism primarily driven by high left atrial pressure. Within this study, CMM echocardiography images from 125 patients spanning healthy and the three stages of LVDD are analyzed using a newly developed automated algorithm. For the first time, a series of isovelocity contours is utilized to estimate the conventional propagation velocity. A critical point within the early filling wave is quantified as the point of early filling velocity deceleration. The clinically used propagation velocity is compared to a novel critical point propagation velocity calculated as a weighted average of the propagation velocities before and after the critical point showing an increase in the correlation between decreasing diastolic dysfunction stage and decreasing propagation velocity. For the first time the spatial pressure distributions calculated as the pressure relative to the mitral valve pressure at each location from the mitral valve to the ventricular apex, are quantified and analyzed at the instant of peak mitral to apical pressure difference for patients with varying stages of LVDD. The analysis of the spatial pressure distribution revealed three filling regions present in all patients. The pressure filling regions were used to calculate a useful filling efficiency with healthy patients having a useful filling efficiency of 64.8 ± 12.7% and severely diseased filling patients having an efficiency of 37.1 ± 12.1%. The newly introduced parameters and analysis of the CMM echocardiography data supports the hypothesis of a change in the mechanism driving early diastolic efficiency by displaying a decline in the early diastolic propagation velocity earlier into the left ventricle for severely diseased patients than for healthy filling patients and a premature breakup of the progressive pressure gradient fueling early diastolic filling in severely diseased patients.
Master of Science

This study examined the stratigraphic architecture, depositional and diagenetic histories, and resulting reservoir characteristics that have influenced the occurrence, distribution, and quality of flow units in the Diamond M field, Scurry County, Texas. The study area is located in the Midland Basin. The field has production from the Canyon (Pennsylvanian) Horseshoe Atoll carbonate buildup. Recent drilling in the Diamond M field was done to evaluate ways to improve recovery by water flooding. Classification of depositional texture based on detailed petrologic and petrographic studies on three cores was done. Subsequent genetic classification of pore types by thin section petrography revealed three dominant pore types: intramatrix, moldic, and vuggy. The reservoir was zoned according to dominant pore type and log signatures to evaluate correlations at field scale by using neutron logs. Equations determined from core analyses provided equations used for estimating porosity and permeability, which were used to develop a ranking scheme for reservoir quality based on good, intermediate, and poor flow units at field scale. Ultimately slice maps of reservoir quality at a 10 ft interval for a 150 ft section of the Canyon Reef reservoir were developed. These reservoir quality maps will provide a useful tool for the design and implementation of accurate and profitable development programs.

Ultrasound (the frequency range above 20 KHz) at intensities of 0-3.0 Wcm-2 is used in physical medicine to treat a variety of conditions (joint contractures, fibrosis and scarring and severe pain due to disorders such as frozen shoulder and capsulitis). It is believed to produce a reduction in pain and swelling and increase movement of joints affected by diseases such as arthritis. It is also used to generate hyperthermia for the treatment of neoplastic tumours. The technique involves irradiating tissues with either continuous or pulsed mode ultrasound, using either the field from a single or multielement transducer. Geometrically similar ultrasound transducers even from the same batch can have significantly different efficiencies and the resulting field distributions can also vary. There are several pieces of information required to characterize an ultrasound source. They are frequency, power output, spatial average and spatial peak intensity and details of ultrasonic field distribution. This application of ultrasound requires an experimental method to define the intensity distribution generated by a transducer or array of transducers. A number of different techniques have been used to record intensity distribution. These include sheets of liquid crystal on an absorbing surface, detection of signals using hydrophone probes, thermocouple probes, thermistor probes and the Schlieren technique. The dye/paper method and Starch iodine plate have been developed for the observation of the ultrasonic fields and evaluation of the source pattern.

Laser beam control is important in many applications. Phase modulating spatial light modulators (SLMs) can be used to electronically alter the phase distribution of an optical wave-front and thus change the direction and shape of a laser beam. Physical constraints set limitations to the SLM and an ideal phase distribution can usually not be realised. In order to understand how such components can be used for non-mechanical beam control three nematic liquid crystal (NLC) SLMs have been thoroughly characterised and modelled.

The pixel structure and phase quantisation give a discrepancy between ideal and realised phase distributions. The impact on beam steering capability was examined by measurements and simulations of the intensity distribution in the far-field.

In two of the studied SLMs the pixel period was shorter than the thickness of the LC layer giving the optical phase shift. This results in a so-called “fringing field”, which was shown to degrade the phase modulation and couple light between polarisation modes. The deformation of the LC was simulated and a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) algorithm was used to calculate how polarised light propagates through the optically anisotropic SLM.

Non-mechanical beam steering and tracking in an optical free-space communication link were demonstrated. Continual optimisation of the steering angle was achieved by feedback from a video camera.

The optical properties of the SLM in the time period right after a voltage update were studied. It was shown how light is redistributed between orders during the switching from one blazed grating to another. By appropriate choice of the blazed gratings the effects on the diffraction efficiency can be minimised.

The detailed knowledge of the SLM structure and its response to electronic control makes it possible to predict and optimise the device performance in future systems.

The potential of different field boundary types in lowland farmland to contribute to arthropod biodiversity and sustainable agriculture was investigated. Field boundaries, categorised according to nationally applicable definitions, were found to represent ecologically differing habitats based on their woody abundance and the frequency of young and mature emergent trees. These habitat characteristics were determining factors in the community structure and composition of overwintering epigeal arthropods. Hedgerows supported the most species rich carabid and staphylinid assemblage. Degraded hedgerow boundaries supported the most equitable carabid community, and provided a refuge for carabid species with poor dispersal power to a greater extent that hedgerows or post and wire fences. The grassy and natural regeneration vegetation associated with post and wire boundaries supported high densities of all taxa particularly overwintering carabid and staphylinid polyphagous predators. A subset of all field boundary types was required for complete species representation, indicating that maximising the heterogeneity of field boundary habitats represented at the farm-scale will enhance arthropod biodiversity in farmland. Carabidae and Staphylinidae actively selected overwintering sites and the physiological condition of polyphagous predators was generally high. It was concluded that heterogeneous distributions in field boundaries were more likely to be the result of differential microhabitat selection rather than differential survival overwinter. This indicated that favourable overwintering microhabitats occurred in all field boundary types. Generally, overwintering survival did not appear to be a regulating factor in the population dynamics of polyphagous predators. Margins adjacent to pre-existing boundaries may contribute to enhanced densities and physiological condition of some polyphagous predators, both over winter and in early spring. The results were discussed in relation to field boundary management and agri-environment policy.

My doctoral research dissertation focuses on two aspects of functional data analysis (FDA): FDA under spatial interdependence and FDA for multi-level data. The first part of my thesis focuses on developing modeling and inference procedure for functional data under spatial dependence. The methodology introduced in this part is motivated by a research study on inequities in accessibility to financial services. The first research problem in this part is concerned with a novel model-based method for clustering random time functions which are spatially interdependent. A cluster consists of time functions which are similar in shape. The time functions are decomposed into spatial global and time-dependent cluster effects using a semi-parametric model. We also assume that the clustering membership is a realization from a Markov random field. Under these model assumptions, we borrow information across curves from nearby locations resulting in enhanced estimation accuracy of the cluster effects and of the cluster membership. In a simulation study, we assess the estimation accuracy of our clustering algorithm under a series of settings: small number of time points, high noise level and varying dependence structures. Over all simulation settings, the spatial-functional clustering method outperforms existing model-based clustering methods. In the case study presented in this project, we focus on estimates and classifies service accessibility patterns varying over a large geographic area (California and Georgia) and over a period of 15 years. The focus of this study is on financial services but it generally applies to any other service operation. The second research project of this part studies an association analysis of space-time varying processes, which is rigorous, computational feasible and implementable with standard software. We introduce general measures to model different aspects of the temporal and spatial association between processes varying in space and time. Using a nonparametric spatiotemporal model, we show that the proposed association estimators are asymptotically unbiased and consistent. We complement the point association estimates with simultaneous confidence bands to assess the uncertainty in the point estimates. In a simulation study, we evaluate the accuracy of the association estimates with respect to the sample size as well as the coverage of the confidence bands. In the case study in this project, we investigate the association between service accessibility and income level. The primary objective of this association analysis is to assess whether there are significant changes in the income-driven equity of financial service accessibility over time and to identify potential under-served markets. The second part of the thesis discusses novel statistical methodology for analyzing multilevel functional data including a clustering method based on a functional ANOVA model and a spatio-temporal model for functional data with a nested hierarchical structure. In this part, I introduce and compare a series of clustering approaches for multilevel functional data. For brevity, I present the clustering methods for two-level data: multiple samples of random functions, each sample corresponding to a case and each random function within a sample/case corresponding to a measurement type. A cluster consists of cases which have similar within-case means (level-1 clustering) or similar between-case means (level-2 clustering). Our primary focus is to evaluate a model-based clustering to more straightforward hard clustering methods. The clustering model is based on a multilevel functional principal component analysis. In a simulation study, we assess the estimation accuracy of our clustering algorithm under a series of settings: small vs. moderate number of time points, high noise level and small number of measurement types. We demonstrate the applicability of the clustering analysis to a real data set consisting of time-varying sales for multiple products sold by a large retailer in the U.S. My ongoing research work in multilevel functional data analysis is developing a statistical model for estimating temporal and spatial associations of a series of time-varying variables with an intrinsic nested hierarchical structure. This work has a great potential in many real applications where the data are areal data collected from different data sources and over geographic regions of different spatial resolution.

L'évolution des réseaux électriques d'une transmission de puissance unidirectionnelle classique vers un réseau diversifié avec, une grande variété de consommateurs et producteurs d'électricité, requiert le développement des technologies de mesure et de communication avancés et/ou nouvelles. Dans le cadre du projet SOGRID, une méthode innovante de mesure de courant a été développée pour enrichir la gamme existante des capteurs de courant et pour faciliter l’installation dans le réseau électrique. En effet, le capteur innovant développé ici est non seulement non-intrusif, mais peut également être déporté du câble.Dans les réseaux électriques, l'obstacle principal pour une mesure précise du courant est la nature triphasée de transmission de puissance. Un capteur de courant qui doit être utilisé dans le réseau électrique doit donc fournir une sélectivité géométrique entre les différentes phases. Les solutions commerciales existantes sont dites non-intrusives, mais nécessitent tout de même de venir entourer le conducteur d'intérêt pour mesurer le champ le long d'un chemin fermé. Ces solutions comprennent des bobines de Rogowski et les mesures en boucle fermée avec des capteurs de champs comme les magnétorésistances, les capteurs à effet Hall ou les fluxgates. Toutefois, un placement autour du conducteur limite la miniaturisation requise par le développement des réseaux intelligents : des capteurs miniatures peuvent être intégrés avec d'autres unités de mesure et de transmission de données pour permettre le suivi et le contrôle des réseaux intelligents modernes avec une maille plus dense.Afin de rependre à ces exigences, et pour améliorer la sélectivité géométrique des conducteurs, une méthode de mesure de courant basée sur la décomposition du champ en harmoniques spatiales a été développée dans cette thèse.Cette décomposition est basée sur le développement du champ magnétique à l'intérieur d'une région défini avec une série de fonctions périodiques angulaires, une loi d’évolution radiale particulière et des coefficients de développement correspondants, de sorte que la somme des ordres (théoriquement infini) de développement reconstruit le champ avec précision. Si ce développement est effectué pour une région sans sources, qui est donc entouré des sources de champ, il est défini comme une décomposition interne, qui utilise des fonctions croissantes du rayon, à partir du centre de décomposition en direction de la source de champ. Le procédé de mesure de courant est basé sur la détermination des coefficients de développement pour les différents ordres, dans lequel les ordres supérieurs présentent une dépendance réduite aux sources de perturbation (plus éloignes du conducteur d’intérêt). La relation entre ces coefficients et le courant d'intérêt est linéaire et défini par des facteurs de transfert.Afin d'exploiter la sélectivité géométrique accrue des ordres supérieurs, il est nécessaire d'effectuer un nombre suffisant de mesures du champ magnétique sur la limite d'une région appropriée afin de déduire les coefficients de développement à partir de la résolution d'un problème inverse. La taille et le positionnement de ce réseau de capteurs jouent des rôles essentiels dans la détectabilité des contributions d'ordre supérieur. Des prototypes appropriés pour une décomposition en 2D (pour les conducteurs rectilignes) et en 3D (pour les conducteurs avec des chemins arbitraires) ont été conçus, mis en œuvre et ensuite testés en laboratoire au cours de cette thèse.D'autres développements se concentrent sur la détermination des facteurs de transfert caractéristiques. En effet, tandis que ceux-ci peuvent être facilement déterminés si un courant contrôlé connu est introduit dans le conducteur, une méthode qui permet de les retrouver dans des conditions d'opération réelles doit être développée pour des applications industrielles. Afin de répondre à ce besoin, une méthode de calibration appropriée est aussi présentée dans cette thèse
The evolution of electrical grids from conventional unidirectional power transmission to diverse networks with a large variety of electricity consumers and producers requires the development of advanced and/or novel measurement and communication technologies, in order to create smart grids. As a part of the SOGRID project, an innovative current measurement method was developed to supplement the existing range of current sensors and to facilitate the installation, since the sensor is not only non-intrusive but can also be located at a distance from the cable.The primary obstacle for precise current measurement in power grids is the three-phase nature of power transmission. A current sensor that is to be employed in the electrical grid must therefore provide geometrical selectivity between the individual phases. Existing commercial current sensors are non-intrusive but require placement around the conductor of interest, e.g. to measure the field along a closed path. Solutions include Rogowski coils, magnetoresistors, Hall effect or fluxgate sensors as well as magneto-optical solutions. However, a placement around the conductor limits the miniaturization required by smart grid development: miniature sensors can be integrated with other measurement and data transmission units, thus enabling the densely meshed monitoring and control of modern smart grids. In order to avoid these restrictions and to improve geometrical selectivity, a current measurement method based on the decomposition of the field into spatial harmonics has been developed in this thesis. The measurement principle allows for the fabrication of innovative current sensors that can be installed besides the conductor.The decomposition of the magnetic field into spatial harmonics is based on the development of the magnetic field within a defined area/volume in a series of products of periodic functions, a radial dependence and corresponding development coefficients, so that the sum of the (in theory infinite number of) development orders reconstructs the field accurately. If this development is performed for a source-free region besides the source of the field, it is defined as an internal decomposition, which uses functions that increase from the center of decomposition toward the field source. The current measurement process is based on the determination of the development coefficients for the various orders, wherein higher orders exhibit a reduced dependence on perturbing sources (as long as the field measurements are performed closer to the conductor of interest than to the perturbing conductor). The relation between these coefficients and the current of interest is linear and defined by transfer factors.In order to exploit the increased geometrical selectivity of higher orders, it is necessary to perform a sufficient number of magnetic field measurements on the boundary of a suitable area/volume in order to derive the development coefficients from the solution of an inverse problem. The size and positioning of this sensor array also plays a vital role in the detectability of higher order contributions to the field. Suitable 2D (for straight conductors) and 3D (for arbitrary conductor paths) prototypes were designed, implemented and subsequently tested in the laboratory during this thesis.Further developments focus on determining the characteristic transfer factors. While these can be easily determined if a known controlled current is induced in the conductor, a method that allows for their determination under real operating conditions must be developed for industrial applications. A suitable calibration method is presented in this thesis

Invasive alien plants have widespread ecological and socioeconomic impacts throughout many parts of the world, including Swaziland where the government declared them a national disaster. Control of these species requires knowledge on the invasion ecology of each species including how they interact with the invaded environment. Species distribution models are vital for providing solutions to such problems including the prediction of their niche and distribution. Various modelling approaches are used for species distribution modelling albeit with limitations resulting from statistical assumptions, implementation and interpretation of outputs. This study explores the usefulness of Bayesian networks (BNs) due their ability to model stochastic, nonlinear inter-causal relationships and uncertainty. Data-driven BNs were used to explore patterns and processes influencing the spatial distribution of 16 priority invasive alien plants in Swaziland. Various BN structure learning algorithms were applied within the Weka software to build models from a set of 170 variables incorporating climatic, anthropogenic, topo-edaphic and landscape factors. While all the BN models produced accurate predictions of alien plant invasion, the globally scored networks, particularly the hill climbing algorithms, performed relatively well. However, when considering the probabilistic outputs, the constraint-based Inferred Causation algorithm which attempts to generate a causal BN structure, performed relatively better. The learned BNs reveal that the main pathways of alien plants into new areas are ruderal areas such as road verges and riverbanks whilst humans and human activity are key driving factors and the main dispersal mechanism. However, the distribution of most of the species is constrained by climate particularly tolerance to very low temperatures and precipitation seasonality. Biotic interactions and/or associations among the species are also prevalent. The findings suggest that most of the species will proliferate by extending their range resulting in the whole country being at risk of further invasion. The ability of BNs to express uncertain, rather complex conditional and probabilistic dependencies and to combine multisource data makes them an attractive technique for species distribution modeling, especially as joint invasive species distribution models (JiSDM). Suggestions for further research are provided including the need for rigorous invasive species monitoring, data stewardship and testing more BN learning algorithms.
Environmental Sciences
D. Phil. (Environmental Science)

碩士
國立屏東科技大學
環境工程與科學系所
102
The groundwater has higher concentration of arsenic due to geological background of Chianan Plain. Here we aim to understand the relation between geological conditions and As contribution through the investigation of soil properties, and further visualize the spatial distribution of As in a paddy field along with irrigation through the approach of geographic information system (GIS). This study found that total As concentration positivelyand significantly (p<0.05) correlated with the soil properties including Fed, Mnd, Feo, Mno, cation capacity exchange, and clay content. The sequential extraction of soil As showed that As was mainly fixed by both amorphous and crystalline Fe/Mn oxides, which may be ascribable to that As has a high affinity for Fe/Mn oxides under reduction regime of groundwater. As a consequence, As probably would become soluble due to the usage of groundwater and the change of redox regime. Besides, alternating wet and dry could also solubilize As bound to Fe/Mn oxides. Because of the coarse texture of study soil, the flow way of irrigation water, and the gravity impact, the soil arsenic was concentrated on the surface soil, gradually decreased with soil depth, and showed a fan-shaped spatial distribution since the inlet as fan top. . Therefore, total As in subsoils was lower than topsoil because As was adsorbed and accumulated by abundant Fe/Mn oxides in surface soil after irrigation. High pH of subsoils may lead to the dissolution and leaching of As from soil particles so that the concentration of As in subsoils was lower in comparison with topsoils.

碩士
國立中興大學
昆蟲學系
90
Tsudai stick insect, Megacrania tsudai Shiraki, is one of the conservative insects in Taiwan. They feed on screwpines, Pandanus odoratissimus L. f.. Our researches focus on spatial distribution, life history and feeding behaviors of them in the field. The spatial distribution was approached by using the catography for the distributions of Tsudai stick insects and their host plants, screwpines along with the coastline of Taiwan during 11 days in July, 2001. The screwpines distribute in 82% and Tsudai stick insects distribute in 5% of total 39 grids. Tsudai stick insects mainly distributed in Ken-Ting National Park and its adjacent area of southern Taiwan. And 86% of Tsudai stick insects’ habitats are closed to the mouth of rivers. We also found them in Lutao and Lanyu, but not in Peng-Hu, Shiau-Liou-Chiou and Turtle Island. The distribution of Tsudai stick insects within a screwpine plant shown that larger ones appeared in the outer layers and the smaller ones in the inner layers. We surveyed the life history of Tsudai stick insects by using body length structure and found that it is clearly to show a complete cycle of life history between March, 2001 and April, 2002. The correlation equation of the body length by the length of front femur for nymphs of Tsudai stick insects are y=3.855x-2.170 (for early instar),. y=3.760x+0.064 (for middle instar) and y=3.923x+1.607 (for final instar). It is convenient and time saving work and good for measuring insect size in the study of life history in the field. The feeding behavior of Tsudai stick insects was recorded by using the nightshot video at night time. After the analyses, we found that the major duration of feeding time of the Tsudai stick insects are at 04:00-06:00 and 18:00-20:00, respectively.

Τα παραγόμενα πρωτογενή ηλεκτρόνια εντός του φωτοαγώγιμου υλικού ενός μαστογραφικού ανιχνευτή ενεργού μήτρας άμεσης μετατροπής κατά την ακτινοβόληση, αποτελούν το πρωτογενές σήμα το οποίο προχωρώντας σχηματίζει το τελικό σήμα (εικόνα). Έτσι, η ποιότητα της μαστογραφικής εικόνας εξαρτάται άμεσα από τα χαρακτηριστικά των πρωτογενών ηλεκτρονίων. Ερευνώνται οι διαδικασίες σχηματισμού του πρωτογενούς σήματος και τα χαρακτηριστικά των πρωτογενών ηλεκτρονίων σε κατάλληλα φωτοαγώγιμα υλικά, όπως τα a-Se, a-As2Se3, GaSe, GaAs, Ge, CdTe, CdZnTe, Cd0.8Zn0.2Te, ZnTe, PbO, TlBr, PbI2 και HgI2, με την ανάπτυξη μοντέλου προσομοίωσης με τεχνικές Monte Carlo της παραγωγής των πρωτογενών ηλεκτρονίων για διάφορα φάσματα ακτίνων Χ στο μαστογραφικό εύρος ενεργειών. Το μοντέλο προσομοιώνει την αλληλεπίδραση φωτονίων-ύλης και την ατομική αποδιέγερση. Επιπρόσθετα, ειδικότερα για το a-Se, πραγματοποιείται μία προκαταρτική μελέτη της συσχέτισης των χαρακτηριστικών αρχικού και τελικού σήματος, με επίλυση των εξισώσεων του Νεύτωνα για την ολίσθηση των πρωτογενών ηλεκτρονίων στο κενό υπό την επίδραση ενός απλού ηλεκτρικού πεδίου. Για το ίδιο υλικό, αναπτύσσεται αφενός μεν αλγόριθμος υπολογισμού της κατανομής του ηλεκτρικού δυναμικού εντός του ανιχνευτή με χρήση υπάρχουσας αναλυτικής λύσης αφετέρου δε ένα πρωταρχικό μοντέλο Monte Carlo για τις ηλεκτρονιακές αλληλεπιδράσεις. Τα σημαντικότερα ευρήματα είναι: (i) το ποσοστό των πρωτογενών ηλεκτρονίων που εκπέμπονται εμπρόσθια είναι περίπου 60 % με την πιθανότερη πολική γωνία εκπομπής μεταξύ 50ο και 70ο, (ii) τα ηλεκτρόνια εκπέμπονται σε δύο λοβούς γύρω από τις αζιμουθιακές γωνίες φ=0 και π, (iii) περίπου το 80 % των πρωτογενών ηλεκτρονίων παράγεται στο σημείο πρόσπτωσης των ακτίνων Χ ενώ η πλειονότητά τους παράγεται εντός των πρώτων 300 μm από την επιφάνεια του ανιχνευτή, (iv) οι χωρικές κατανομές των ηλεκτρονίων στα a-Se, a-As2Se3, GaSe, GaAs, Ge, PbO και TlBr είναι σχεδόν ανεξάρτητες του μαστογραφικού φάσματος ενώ στα υπόλοιπα υλικά παρουσιάζουν φασματική εξάρτηση, (v) για το πρακτικό μαστογραφικό εύρος (15-40 keV) και στο πρωταρχικό στάδιο της δημιουργίας του σήματος τα a-Se, a-As2Se3 και Ge έχουν την ελάχιστη αζιμουθιακή ομοιομορφία κατά την εκπομπή των ηλεκτρονίων ενώ τα CdZnTe, Cd0.8Zn0.2Te και CdTe τη μέγιστη, το a-Se παρουσιάζει την καλύτερη ενδογενή χωρική διακριτική ικανότητα αλλά το μικρότερο παραγόμενο αριθμό ηλεκτρονίων, το PbO παρουσιάζει το ελάχιστο χώρο παραγωγής πρωτογενών ηλεκτρονίων (ακτίνας R=200 μm, βάθους Dmax=320 μm), ενώ το CdTe το μέγιστο (R=500 μm, Dmax=660 μm), (vi) τέλος, υπάρχουν σημαντικές ενδείξεις ότι τα PbI2 και HgI2 αποτελούν τις καλύτερες επιλογές φωτοαγώγιμου υλικού.
The x-ray induced primary electrons inside the photoconductor of direct conversion digital flat panel mammographic detectors, comprise the primary signal which propagates in the material and forms the final signal (image). Consequently, the quality of the mammographic image strongly depends on the characteristics of primary electrons. An investigation is made concerning the primary signal formation and the characteristics of primary electrons inside a-Se, a-As2Se3, GaSe, GaAs, Ge, CdTe, CdZnTe, Cd0.8Zn0.2Te, ZnTe, PbO, TlBr, PbI2 and HgI2, which are suitable photoconductors for direct detectors. A Monte Carlo model has been developed that simulates the primary electron production inside the materials mentioned for various x-ray spectra in the mammographic energy range. The model simulates the photon interactions and the atomic deexcitations. Furthermore, particularly for a-Se, a preliminary study is made concerning the correlation between the characteristics of primary and final signal, solving Newton’s equations of electron drifting in vacuum under the influence of a simple electric field. For the same material, an algorithm that calculates the electric potential distribution inside the detector from an existing analytical solution has been developed as well as a primitive Monte Carlo model for electron interactions. The most important findings are: (i) the percentage of primary electrons being forwards ejected is approximately 60 % with the most probable polar angles ranging from 50o to 70o, (ii) the electrons prefer to be emitted at two lobes around azimuthal angles φ=0 and π, (iii) approximately 80% of primary electrons are produced at the point of x-ray incidence whereas their majority is produced within the first 300 μm from detector’s surface, (iv) the electron spatial distributions for a-Se, a-As2Se3, GaSe, GaAs, Ge, PbO and TlBr are almost spectral independent while for the rest of materials there is a spectral dependence, (v) at the practical mammographic energies (15-40 keV) and at the primitive stage of signal formation a-Se, a-As2Se3 and Ge have the minimum azimuthal uniformity in electron emission whereas CdZnTe, Cd0.8Zn0.2Te and CdTe the maximum one, a-Se has the best inherent spatial resolution but the minimum number of primary electrons, PbO has the minimum bulk space in which electrons can be produced (radius R=200 μm, depth Dmax=320 μm) whereas CdTe has the maximum one (R=500 μm, Dmax=660 μm), (vi) finally, there is strong evidence indicating that PbI2 and HgI2 could be the best choices for this kind of applications.

The Wadden Sea off the coast of the southern North Sea is the largest coherent area of tidal flats worldwide. As a highly productive ecosystem it is of global importance, e.g. as nursery for fish and as a feeding and resting area for 10 – 12 million migratory birds following the East Atlantic Flyway. The outstanding ecological significance of this region corresponds to a high level of protection by EU directives and national law and by inscription as UNESCO World Heritage Site, all of which requires regular monitoring and assessment. Apart from the ecological aspects, the Wadden Sea is also of great importance for coastal protection. To survey the extensive, often inaccessible tidal area, remote sensing is essential and while mainly airborne techniques have been carried out for decades, now high-resolution satellite-borne sensors open up new possibilities relevant for monitoring and long-term ecological research. Especially satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors offer a high availability of acquisitions as they operate largely independently of daylight and weather. The aim of the studies presented here was to explore the use of data from the TerraSAR-X satellite to record geomorphological structures and habitats for Wadden Sea Monitoring. More than 100 TerraSAR-X acquisitions from 2009 to 2016 were analyzed to distinguish various and variable surface types continuously influenced by tidal dynamics in the main study area, the tidal flats near the island of Norderney. Visual image interpretation supported by extensive in-situ verification proved to be a suitable and unsophisticated approach which is unspecific enough to identify mussel beds, fields of shell-detritus, gully structures, mud fields, and intertidal bedforms in the upper flats of the East Frisian Islands. The method proved to be robust against changes in geometry of acquisition and environmental influences. Several time series of TerraSAR-X data enabled to follow inter-annual and seasonal dynamics as well as event effects (Adolph et al. 2018). The high-frequency TerraSAR-X data revealed novel evidence of an intertidal bedform shift in an easterly direction during the study period. To this aim, an unsupervised ISODATA classification of textural parameters was developed to vectorize and compare the bedforms positions in a GIS (Adolph et al. 2017a). The same intertidal bedform area was chosen as test-site for comparison of different remote sensing methods, namely airborne lidar, satellite-based radar (TerraSAR-X) and electro-optical sensors (RapidEye) (Adolph et al. 2017b). High-resolution SAR data offer a relevant component for Wadden Sea Monitoring and Research, as they provide reliable, regular data with a high repetition rate. In particular, habitats with noticeable surface roughness, specific structures and textures are well reflected. Geomorphic Structures and their dynamics can be observed indirectly via detection of residual water trapped within. A comprehensive concept for Wadden Sea Monitoring however, requires automatized classifications and an integrative, multi-sensor approach (SAR, LIDAR, multi-spectral data, drones) in which different and complementary information, coverage and resolutions (spatial and temporal) contribute to an overall picture. The studies were carried out as part of the joint research project “Scientific monitoring concepts for the German Bight” (WIMO), jointly funded by the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Protection (NMU) and the Ministry of Science and Culture (NMWK) of the Federal State of Lower Saxony. The findings have been published in Geo-Marine Letters 37/2 (2017) and in Remote Sensing 10/7 (2018).