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For paired binary data, the hybrid method and the score method are often recommended for use to calculate the confidence interval for risk difference. These asymptotic intervals do not control the coverage probability. We propose to develop a new score interval with continuity correction to further improve the performance of the existing intervals. The traditional correction value may be too large which leads to a wide interval. For that reason, we propose three different correction values to identify the optimal correction interval with balanced coverage probability and interval width. From simulation studies, we find that a small correction value for the score interval has good performance. In addition, we derive the non-iterative solutions for the developed continuity correction score intervals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Normal log lengths in Norway are 3-6 m (NL), but occasionally there is a demand for short timber with a 2.5 m log length (ST). There are concerns that ST could reduce the forwarders' productivity. Six type stands were created based on harvester data. Different assortment distributions, conditions, and forwarders were simulated in each type stand. It was found that an additional ST assortment almost always decreased productivity (from -15.5 to +4%). Increased forwarding distance (m), more difficult driving conditions, and increased log concentration [m3.(100 m strip road)-1] decreased the productivity difference between sites with ST and NL and sites with only NL. Increased forwarder size increased the productivity difference between sites with ST and NL and sites with only NL. It is possible to load two stacks of ST on some forwarders. Such loading was more productive than loading one stack on longer forwarding distances, while the opposite was the case on short distances. However, loading two stacks of ST can lead to overloading.

Normal log lengths in Norway are 3-6 m (NL), but occasionally there is a demand for short timber with a 2.5 m log length (ST). There are concerns that ST could reduce the forwarders' productivity. Six type stands were created based on harvester data. Different assortment distributions, conditions, and forwarders were simulated in each type stand. It was found that an additional ST assortment almost always decreased productivity (from -15.5 to +4%). Increased forwarding distance (m), more difficult driving conditions, and increased log concentration [m³·(100 m strip road)-1] decreased the productivity difference between sites with ST and NL and sites with only NL. Increased forwarder size increased the productivity difference between sites with ST and NL and sites with only NL. It is possible to load two stacks of ST on some forwarders. Such loading was more productive than loading one stack on longer forwarding distances, while the opposite was the case on short distances. However, loading two stacks of ST can lead to overloading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotional speech synthesis aims to synthesize human voices with various emotional effects. The current studies are mostly focused on imitating an averaged style belonging to a specific emotion type. In this paper, we seek to generate speech with a mixture of emotions at run-time. We propose a novel formulation that measures the relative difference between the speech samples of different emotions. We then incorporate our formulation into a sequence-to-sequence emotional text-to-speech framework. During the training, the framework does not only explicitly characterize emotion styles but also explores the ordinal nature of emotions by quantifying the differences with other emotions. At run-time, we control the model to produce the desired emotion mixture by manually defining an emotion attribute vector. The objective and subjective evaluations have validated the effectiveness of the proposed framework. To our best knowledge, this research is the first study on modelling, synthesizing, and evaluating mixed emotions in speech. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Burning of fossil fuels in the form of coal or gasoline in thermal power plants, industries, and automobiles is a prime source of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a major air pollutant causing health problems. In this paper, spatio-temporal unevenness of NO2 concentrations via both spaceborne Sentinel-5P and ground-based in situ data have been studied for the period of 2017–2021. Annual and seasonal distribution of TROPOMI-NO2 depict consistency over the Jharkhand region, highlighting six hotspot regions. As compared to 2019, a notable dip of 11% in the spatial annual average TROPOMI-NO2 was achieved in 2020, which were elevated again by 22% in 2021 as the lockdown gradually goes out of the picture. Among eight ground-monitoring stations, Tata and Golmuri stations always displayed a higher level of TROPOMI-NO2 ranges up to 15.2 ×1015molecules.cm−2 and 16.9 ×1015molecules.cm−2 respectively, as being located in the highly industrialised district of Jamshedpur. A big percentage reduction of up to 30% in TROPOMI-NO2 has been reported in Jharia and Bastacola stations in Dhanbad in the lockdown phase of 2020 compared to 2019. Good agreement between TROPOMI-NO2 and surface-NO2 has been achieved with R = 0.8 and R = 0.71 during winter and post-monsoon respectively. Among four meteorological parameters, TROPOMI-NO2 was majorly found to be influenced by precipitation, having R = 0.6–0.8 for almost all stations. More advanced satellite algorithms and ground-based data may be used to estimate NO2 in places where monitoring facilities are limited and thus can help in air pollution control policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When comparing social science phenomena through a time perspective, absolute and relative difference (RD) are the two typical presentation formats used to communicate interpretations to the audience, while time distance (TD) is the least frequently used of such formats. This article argues that the chosen presentation format is extremely important because the various formats suggest different substantive interpretations. To elaborate upon this issue, researchers from the National Statistical Office, National Health Institute, and general academia were invited to participate in an experiment with alternative presentation formats that describe changes in certain social science phenomena over time. The results revealed a prevailing tendency of respondents to rely on interpretations related to absolute differences, which was additionally reinforced with graphical presentation formats. Therefore, whenever RD or TD is more proper for substantive interpretations, the corresponding presentation format must be designed with special attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participants' emotional reactions are strongly influenced by several factors such as personality traits, intellectual abilities, and gender. Several studies have examined the baseline reduction approach for emotion recognition using electroencephalogram signal patterns containing external and internal interferences, which prevented it from representing participants’ neutral state. Therefore, this study proposes two solutions to overcome this problem. Firstly, it offers a modified weighted mean filter method to eliminate the interference of the electroencephalogram baseline signal. Secondly, it determines an appropriate baseline reduction method to characterize emotional reactions after the smoothing process. Data collected from four scenarios conducted on three datasets was used to reduce the interference and amplitude of the electroencephalogram signals. The result showed that the smoothing process can eliminate interference and lower the signal's amplitude. Based on the three baseline reduction methods, the Relative Difference method is appropriate for characterizing emotional reactions in different electroencephalogram signal patterns and has higher accuracy. Based on testing on the DEAP dataset, these proposed methods achieved accuracies of 97.14, 99.70, and 96.70% for the four categories of emotions, the two categories of arousal, and the two categories of valence, respectively. Furthermore, on the DREAMER dataset, these proposed methods achieved accuracies of 89.71, 97.63, and 96.58% for the four categories of emotions, the two categories of arousal, and the two categories of valence, respectively. Finally, on the AMIGOS dataset, these proposed methods achieved accuracies of 99.59, 98.20, and 99.96% for the four categories of emotions, the two categories of arousal, and the two categories of valence, respectively. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2022-06-06-03 Full Text: PDF

Numerous multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) methods exist, each aiming to improve decision-making in complex scenarios involving multiple criteria. However, challenges remain, particularly in integrating both quantitative and qualitative evaluations and addressing issues related to attribute weighting and normalization. This study introduces a novel MADM method called the CARD method, designed to address these challenges. The CARD method offers a unified framework that combines direct and pairwise evaluations using logarithmic relative difference measures to compare alternatives in terms of relative superiority. Key innovations of the CARD method include: 1) developing a new utility function; 2) proposing a new closeness coefficient measure; 3) the ability to handle joint quantitative and qualitative inputs; and 4) introducing a new criterion satisfaction coefficient, the so-called strictness degree. These features enable the CARD method to effectively solve MADM problems involving mixed criteria. To demonstrate its applicability, we apply the CARD method to a case study on renewable energy source selection in Spain. The results confirm that wind energy is the optimal renewable energy source for Spain, highlighting its economic, engineering, and sustainable advantages. This study underscores the potential of the CARD method to enhance decision-making processes and provide valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Online surveys have triggered a heated debate regarding their scientific validity. Many authors have adopted weighting methods to enhance the quality of online survey findings, while others did not find an advantage for this method. This work aims to compare weighted and unweighted association measures after adjustment over potential confounding, taking into account dataset properties such as the initial gap between the population and the selected sample, the sample size, and the variable types. Methods This study assessed seven datasets collected between 2019 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic through online cross-sectional surveys using the snowball sampling technique. Weighting methods were applied to adjust the online sample over sociodemographic features of the target population. Results Despite varying age and gender gaps between weighted and unweighted samples, strong similarities were found for dependent and independent variables. When applied on the same datasets, the regression analysis results showed a high relative difference between methods for some variables, while a low difference was found for others. In terms of absolute impact, the highest impact on the association measure was related to the sample size, followed by the age gap, the gender gap, and finally, the significance of the association between weighted age and the dependent variable. Conclusion The results of this analysis of online surveys indicate that weighting methods should be used cautiously, as weighting did not affect the results in some databases, while it did in others. Further research is necessary to define situations in which weighting would be beneficial.

Background: Online surveys have triggered a heated debate regarding their scientific validity. Many authors have adopted weighting methods to enhance the quality of online survey findings, while others did not find an advantage for this method. This work aims to compare weighted and unweighted association measures after adjustment over potential confounding, taking into account dataset properties such as the initial gap between the population and the selected sample, the sample size, and the variable types. Methods: This study assessed seven datasets collected between 2019 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic through online cross-sectional surveys using the snowball sampling technique. Weighting methods were applied to adjust the online sample over sociodemographic features of the target population. Results: Despite varying age and gender gaps between weighted and unweighted samples, strong similarities were found for dependent and independent variables. When applied on the same datasets, the regression analysis results showed a high relative difference between methods for some variables, while a low difference was found for others. In terms of absolute impact, the highest impact on the association measure was related to the sample size, followed by the age gap, the gender gap, and finally, the significance of the association between weighted age and the dependent variable. Conclusion: The results of this analysis of online surveys indicate that weighting methods should be used cautiously, as weighting did not affect the results in some databases, while it did in others. Further research is necessary to define situations in which weighting would be beneficial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper theoretical derivation of steady state groundwater well pumping from leaky aquifers with infiite and fiite radius of inflence are presented. Based on the extensive literature review following mainly Jacob and Hantush work equations were derived from the cylindrical Bessel partial differential equation and results expressed in the combination of modifid Bessel functions of zero order of the fist and the second kind (I0, K0). We have shown that equation for steady state well pumping in the infiite aquifer is infiite limit of Hantush integral. Mathematical characteristics of solutions for infiite and fiite radius of well inflence were combined in the way that they can be represented as relative and absolute differences of drawdowns of each model. In the case when available data do not allow us to make a decision on the type of the radius of inflence of the pumping well, they can help us in the interpretation of various errors due to application of different analytical models of pumping test.

There have been many researches concerning the motion errors of hydrostatic guideways because they directly affect the accuracy of machined parts. Actually, each paired guide rail has its own profile feature, and the position error also cannot be zero, so the relative difference between guide rails should not be neglected. In this paper, a typical closed hydrostatic guideway with four pads is taken as the sample, and the quasi-static analysis model is directly developed by incorporating the concept of pose, which is then employed to study the effect of relative difference on motion accuracy in the field of hydrostatic guideways. The numerical results demonstrate that, the greater the amplitude deviation, the larger the motion errors, while the influence of the wavelength deviation on motion accuracy exhibits regularity only within some intervals, the phase deviation mainly affects the angular but not the linear motion error, the influence from the parallelism error is not significant. Moreover, it is figured out that the fluctuation of the difference between the average film thicknesses of two adjacent pads does result in the variation of the motion errors, the greater the fluctuation, the larger the motion errors. The revealed mechanisms are expected to be valuable for designers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To increase power or reduce the number of patients needed in trials studying treatments for psychiatric or mental disorders with a high placebo response rate, we may consider use of the sequential parallel comparison design proposed elsewhere. Because statistical significance does not necessarily imply that the difference between treatment and placebo is of clinical importance, it is always of importance to quantify the treatment effect in clinical trials. When the patient responses are dichotomous, the treatment and other covariates effects are not likely additive. Thus, using a weighted average of the risk differences over two phases may not be a meaningful summary index to measure the treatment effect. To alleviate this concern, we consider use of the relative difference or relative risk reduction to measure the treatment effect. We derive both point and interval estimators for the relative difference by use of the weighted-least-squares estimator and Mantel-Haenszel type estimator. We employ Monte Carlo simulation to evaluate the finite-sample performance of these estimators in a variety of situations. We also include a procedure for testing the homogeneity of the relative difference between phases under the sequential parallel comparison design. We use the placebo-controlled study to assess the efficacy of a low dose of aripiprazole adjunctive to antidepressant therapy in the treatment of patients with major depressive disorder to illustrate the use of estimators developed here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In view of the disadvantage that the absolute difference of time-lapse seismic (the difference between monitoring data and base data) is not only related to the change of oil saturation, but also closely related to the thickness of reservoir, a time-lapse seismic "relative difference method" (the ratio of monitoring data to base data) not affected by the thickness of reservoir but only related to the change of fluid saturation, is proposed through seismic forward modeling after fluid displacement simulation. Given the same change of fluid saturation, the absolute difference of time-lapse seismic conforms to the law of "tuning effect" and seismic reflection of "thin bed", and the remaining oil prediction method based on absolute difference of time-lapse seismic is only applicable to the reservoirs with uniform thickness smaller than the tuning thickness or with thickness greater than the tuning thickness. The relative difference of time-lapse seismic is not affected by reservoir thickness, but only related to the change of fluid saturation. It is applicable to all the deep-sea unconsolidated sandstone reservoirs which can exclude the effect of pressure, temperature, pore type and porosity on seismic. Therefore, the relation between the relative difference of time-lapse seismic and the change of fluid saturation, which is obtained from seismic forward modeling after Gassmann fluid displacement simulation, can be used to quantitatively predict the change of reservoir water saturation and then the distribution of the remaining oil. The application of this method in deep sea Zeta oil field in west Africa shows that it is reasonable and effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper theoretical derivation of steady state groundwater well pumping from leaky aquifers with infinite and finite radius of influence are presented. Based on the extensive literature review following mainly Jacob and Hantush work equations were derived from the cylindrical Bessel partial differential equation and results expressed in the combination of modified Bessel functions of zero order of the first and the second kind (I0, K0). We have shown that equation for steady state well pumping in the infinite aquifer is infinite limit of Hantush integral. Mathematical characteristics of solutions for infinite and finite radius of well influence were combined in the way that they can be represented as relative and absolute differences of drawdowns of each model. In the case when available data do not allow us to make a decision on the type of the radius of influence of the pumping well, they can help us in the interpretation of various errors due to application of different analytical models of pumping test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determining the ordered weighted averaging (OWA) operator weights is important in decision making applications. Several approaches have been proposed in the literature to obtain the associated weights. This paper provides two newdisparity models to obtain the associated weights, which is determined by considering the absolute deviation and relative deviation of any distinct pairs of weights. The proposed mathematical models improve the existing minimize disparity approach and chi-square method, which is suggested by Amin and Emrouzenjad (2006, 2010) andWang (2007). A numerical example and an application in search engines prove the usefulness of the generated OWA operator weights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temporal stability of soil water storage (TSSWS) is of considerable interest in estimating the mean soil water storage (SWS) across the study area for validating the remote sensing products and reducing the observation efforts. However, the general mean relative difference index usually balances the positive and negative relative difference values. Thus, it may find the weakly representative site for mean SWS estimation. Revised mean relative difference, i.e., the absolute value of general relative difference, was used in two deposited soil farmlands (DFs) to analyze the TSSWS. The soil water contents were measured at 18 sites of each DF in 1.5 years. The results showed that revised mean relative difference index was more accurate than normal one in finding the best location to represent mean SWS in the DFs. This can be applicable to sites where SWS is not consistently higher or less than the average value. The SWS in the location which was near to the middle DF showed the strongest temporal stability and behaved the best location to estimate the mean SWS. Revised mean relative difference may be a better criterion for the application of temporal stability tool in soil water field observation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of the gray gases number in the weighted sum in the gray gases model on the calculation of the radiative heat transfer is discussed in the paper. A computer code which solved the set of equations of the mathematical model describing the reactive two-phase turbulent flow with radiative heat exchange and with thermal equilibrium between phases inside the pulverized coal-fired furnace was used. Gas-phase radiative properties were determined by the simple gray gas model and two combinations of the weighted sum of the gray gases models: one gray gas plus a clear gas and two gray gases plus a clear gas. Investigation was carried out for two values of the total extinction coefficient of the dispersed phase, for the clean furnace walls and furnace walls covered by an ash layer deposit, and for three levels of the approximation accuracy of the weighting coefficients. The influence of the number of gray gases was analyzed through the relative differences of the wall fluxes, wall temperatures, medium temperatures, and heat transfer rate through all furnace walls. The investigation showed that there were conditions of the numerical investigations for which the relative differences of the variables describing the radiative heat exchange decrease with the increase in the number of gray gases. The results of this investigation show that if the weighted sum of the gray gases model is used, the complexity of the computer code and calculation time can be reduced by optimizing the gray gases number. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ancillary geodata can supply information to enhance classification accuracy for a variety of remote-sensing applications. To understand the integration of different data into a knowledge-based multisource classification process, this paper evaluates the significance of geodata for the classification accuracy of a very high spatial resolution satellite image for the identification of forest types in Germany. The approach utilizes a fuzzy-logic classifier for the integration of a knowledge base, which combines spectral information with ancillary data layers. The results of the classification were used to test a method for evaluating the influence of the integration of single geodata, the effects on different classes, and the impacts of the applied rules. A microarray significance analysis (MSA) was used to evaluate the significance of the classification results, whereas an ISODATA clustering was utilized for visualizing. A sequence of 50 accuracy assessments of classifications with possible combinations of geodata and rules for the identified classes was derived. The resulting microarray of accuracy percentages of single classes and the overall classification was used for further investigation. The MSA supplies the measure of significance, called relative difference d(i). The MSA identified 11 classifications of positive significance (d(i) greater than 1.44) and three classifications of negative significance (d(i) lower than -2.87). In particular, classifications that contain all rules were rated as positive significant. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Empirical studies within social sciences face an important decision about how to express key findings to the target audience. Simplicity is an important selection criterion here, because the findings need to be conveyed in an efficient manner (i.e., briefly and concisely), but also because stakeholders (e.g., policy makers, the media, general public) are heterogeneous in their methodological backgrounds. The corresponding ways of measuring thus need to be not only exhaustive and message-delivering but also simple and intuitively understandable. This is particularly important when dynamics in time are discussed. There, most typically, either absolute or relative differences are used. This review paper critically elaborates these two popular measures and, in addition, discusses the alternatives of time distance and time step. The paper demonstrates that even in simple linear examples, the results of these four types of measures may sharply contradict. The empirical example of the digital divide is also elaborated, which illustrates many tempting possibilities for biased, one-sided interpretations that match the needs of certain stakeholders. Finally, the paper alerts users about possible misleading conclusions and suggests comprehensive treatments, using several measures simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Conservation of soil water and restoration of vegetation have long been major subjects of concern on the northern Loess Plateau. Revegetation with species such as Korshinsk peashrub (KOP) and purple alfalfa (ALF), as well as with natural revegetation of fallow areas (NAF) have been used extensively. This paper examines the temporal stability of soil water storage (SWS) under these different revegetation types, including under millet (MIL) crops for comparison, grown in adjacent plots on a hillslope intending to provide information relevant to the strategic guidance of revegetation and soil water management practices. SWS was measured at 10-cm intervals in the soil profile to a depth of one meter using a neutron probe on 11 occasions between 2010 and 2011. The results indicated that: (1) time-averaged SWS relative to MIL decreased in the order of KOP (49.4mm), ALF (32.4mm) and NAF (14.9mm) implying that shortages of soil water were induced largely by revegetation and were affected by the plant species. (2) Frequency distributions showed that points with probabilities of 0.5 were not stable between extreme soil water conditions; however, this result might be mitigated or avoided by increasing the sampling density and/or conducting measurement over a longer period. (3) Based on relative difference analysis, the most stable data points underestimated the mean SWS of the plots but were still valuable for precisely estimating the mean SWS of the experimental plot; in addition, among methods for estimating the plot average using representative points, directly using the value of relative difference or their standard deviation, or an index of temporal stability or the mean absolute bias error, no one method consistently performed better than another. (4) ALF presented the most temporally stable patterns among all types of revegetation tested, and vegetation cover and aboveground biomass were the main factors affecting SWS temporal stability. (5) Temporally stable points were located at the mid-slope of the plots. In conclusion, when temporal stability theory was applied to sloping lands mid-slope sampling is likely to give the best results but vegetation characteristics, and in particular vegetation cover should be highlighted. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

For paired binary data, the hybrid method and the score method are often recommended for use to calculate the confidence interval for risk difference. These asymptotic intervals do not control the coverage probability. We propose to develop a new score interval with continuity correction to further improve the performance of the existing intervals. The traditional correction value may be too large which leads to a wide interval. For that reason, we propose three different correction values to identify the optimal correction interval with balanced coverage probability and interval width. From simulation studies, we find that a small correction value for the score interval has good performance. In addition, we derive the non-iterative solutions for the developed continuity correction score intervals., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s)., (© 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.)

The resource status of a device in a wireless grid is affected by several factors such as the number of applications in execution, amount of data communication, device mobility, battery power, signal strength, etc. The grid scheduler schedules user applications based on current resource status of a device stored in the grid information server (GIS). Thus, it is very much essential to maintain the correct updated status information at GIS for proper scheduling. This paper proposes an efficient method for sharing of resource status with GIS using software agents to facilitate the execution of compute intensive tasks that depend more on processor than on memory or bandwidth. At each device, it employs a device agency with three agents called as Status Monitoring Agent, Status Representation Agent, and Status Communication Agent. These agents monitor the changes in resource status, store status information in compact manner, and share the changed status with GIS efficiently so that status accuracy is achieved as well as the bandwidth and memory consumption is reduced. The proposed work is simulated to evaluate the performance parameters such as memory and bandwidth requirements, memory reduction rate and redundancy. It is observed that the proposed work achieved resource status accuracy by sharing relevant status changes in timely manner and reduced bandwidth and memory requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The knowledge of soil water storage (SWS) of soil profiles is crucial for the adoption of vegetation restoration practices. With the aim of identifying representative sites to obtain the mean SWS of a watershed, a time stability analysis of neutron probe evaluations of SWS was performed by the means of relative differences and Spearman rank correlation coefficients. At the same time, the effects of different neutron probe calibration procedures were explored on time stability analysis, mean SWS estimation, and preservation of the spatial variability of SWS. The selected watershed, with deep gullies and undulating slopes which cover an area of 20 ha, is characterized by an Ust-Sandiic Entisol and an Aeolian sandy soil. The dominant vegetation species are bunge needlegrass (Stipa bungeana Trin.) and korshinsk peashrub (Caragana Korshinskii kom.). From June 11, 2007 to July 23, 2008, SWS of the top1 m soil layer was evaluated for 20 dates, based on neutron probe data of 12 sampling sites. Three calibration procedures were employed: type I, most complete, with each site having its own linear calibration equation (TrE); type II, with TrE equations extended over the whole field; and type III, with one single linear calibration curve for the whole field (UnE) and also correcting its intercept based on site specific relative difference analysis (RdE) and on linear fitting of data (RcE), both maintaining the same slope. A strong time stability of SWS estimated by TrE equations was identified. Soil particle size and soil organic matter content were recognized as the influencing factors for spatial variability of SWS. Land use influenced neither the spatial variability nor the time stability of SWS. Time stability analysis identified one site to represent the mean SWS of the whole watershed with mean absolute percentage errors of less than 10%, therefore, this site can be used as a predictor for the mean SWS of the watershed. Some equations of type II were found to be unsatisfactory to yield reliable mean SWS values or in preserving the associated soil spatial variability. Hence, it is recommended to be cautious in extending calibration equations to other sites since they might not consider the field variability. For the equations with corrected intercept (type III) , which consider the spatial variability of calibration in a different way in relation to TrE, it was found that they can yield satisfactory means and standard deviation of SWS, except for the RdE equations, which largely leveled off the SWS values in the watershed. Correlation analysis showed that the neutron probe calibration was linked to soil bulk density and to organic matter content. Therefore, spatial variability of soil properties should be taken into account during the process of neutron probe calibration. This study provides useful information on the mean SWS observation with a time stable site and on distinct neutron probe calibration procedures, and it should be extended to soil water management studies with neutron probes, e.g., the process of vegetation restoration in wider area and soil types of the Loess Plateau in China. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Gynecological disorders can have adverse effects on a woman's quality of life. Most hysterectomies are thus performed to enhance women's quality of life rather than to save life. This study aims at evaluating the long-term impact of hysterectomy on this outcome variable.Methods: The quality of life in 111 women undergoing hysterectomy for benign reasons was tested before, and six and twelve months after, the operation. A control-group of non-hysterectomized women from the normal population was tested once. Ferrans & Powers' Quality of Life Index, consisting of four life domains, was used. This index has a pre-set highest possible obtainable score. For the subjects with a high pre-test score, there was little scope for further measurable improvement after hysterectomy, which gives a false stability in the material. A method for calculating the relative differences was introduced.Results: The health and functioning domain of the quality of life among women awaiting hysterectomy is significantly lower compared to that of the control-group (p<.01) Both six and twelve months after the hysterectomy, the patients have reached the same level of their health and functioning as the control-group. Using the relative difference-form, it is demonstrated that the subjects have obtained significantly higher levels in all the domains of quality of life after hysterectomy.Conclusions: The results of this study show that hysterectomy is associated with a positive long-term impact on a woman's quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are increasing in frequency, magnitude, and duration around the world. Prymnesium parvum is a HAB species known to cause massive fish kills, but the toxin(s) it produces contributing to this acute toxicity to fish have not been confirmed. In the present study, a 2 × 2 factorial design was employed to examine influences of salinity (2.4 or 5 ppt) and nutrient limitation (f/2 or f/8) on P. parvum acute toxicity to fish and produced molecules. Acute toxicity (LC 50) of these cultures, following a 48-h mortality assay, ranged from 10,213 to 96,816 cells mL−1. Non-targeted analysis was performed using liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) to investigate compounds contributing to the differential toxicological responses. When P. parvum elicited toxicity to fish, suspect screening confirmed the presence of several prymnesins, and the peak area of PRM-A (3 Cl; prymnesin2 aglycone) was significantly (p < 0.05) and positively related to acute toxicity. In addition, a non-targeted approach to highlighting peaks that differ between two chemical fingerprints was developed, termed a relative difference plot, and used to search for peaks co-varying with P. parvum induced acute toxicity to fish. Several peaks were highlighted along with the prymnesins identified through suspect screening when acute toxicity to fish was observed. Unlabelled Image • Prymnesium parvum causes major fish kills but the toxins have not been confirmed. • Nutrients and salinity altered P. parvum growth and acute toxicity to fish. • Cultures were analyzed with LC-HRMS and screened for known prymnesins. • Identified prymnesins were significantly related to the magnitude of acute toxicity. • Novel relative difference plots using LC-HRMS heatmaps highlighted additional peaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]