Cities inadvertently create warmer and drier urban climate conditions than their surrounding areas through urbanization that replaces natural surfaces with impervious materials. These changes cause heat-related health problems many studies suggest microclimatic design (MUD) as an approach to address these problems. In MUD-related research, although terrestrial radiation plays important role in ...

We investigated the long-term photochemical and microbial decomposition of biologically recalcitrant humiclike dissolved organic matter (DOM) leached from a vascular wetland plant, the common rush (Juncus effusus). Although the leachate would have been characterized as biologically recalcitrant by short-term (,14 d) bioassays, microbes decomposed 51% of its organic carbon in 898 d with a first-...

To monitor the stage in turbid reservoirs with a sloping bank, it has been proposed to install a near-infrared Lidar on the bank and to orient it so that it points at the water surface with a large incidence angle (between ≈ 30◦ and 70◦). The technique assumes that the Lidar can detect suspended particles that are slightly below the water surface. Some laboratory results and the first long-term...

Europe is currently transitioning to digital terrestrial television and is aimed to replace all analog infrastructures by 2012. Besides replacing all broadcasting networks in Europe, the transition requires updating household televisions and antennas. As with any major change, public administrations must keep citizens informed and provide support, especially when dealing with a communication me...

Digital television (DTV) provides pedagogical and technological advantages to education. DTV is presented as a novelty for the audience and involves the convergence of education, telecommunications, and internet in a unique environment. This technology will allow for the development of interactive educational platforms known as t-learning platforms. Currently, there are relatively few models wh...

Data transmission technologies changes rapidly these days due to increased requirements in bandwidth and reliability. NICAM standard (which stands for Near Instantaneous Companded Audio Multiplex ) was designed to be a digital audio transmission standard and later it was used by the BBC to convey digital stereo sound for TV. It was obvious that allowing data transmission would be, if not a must...

Deep mid–infrared (MIR) observations could reveal a population of faint, high–redshift (z > 3) dusty starburst galaxies that are the progenitors of present–day spheroids or bulges, and are beyond the reach of current instruments. We utilize a semi–analytic galaxy formation scheme to find an extreme model for the MIR galaxy counts, designed to maximize the number of detectable sources down to a ...