North Carolina State University

About: North Carolina State University is a education organization based out in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Thin film. The organization has 44161 authors who have published 101744 publications receiving 3456774 citations. The organization is also known as: NCSU & North Carolina State University at Raleigh.

New 'phantom' dinoflagellate is the causative agent of major estuarine fish kills

Abstract: A worldwide increase in toxic phytoplankton blooms over the past 20 years has coincided with increasing reports of fish diseases and deaths of unknown cause. Among estuaries that have been repeatedly associated with unexplained fish kills on the western Atlantic Coast are the Pamlico and Neuse Estuaries of the southeastern United States. Here we describe a new toxic dinoflagellate with 'phantom-like' behaviour that has been identified as the causative agent of a significant portion of the fish kills in these estuaries, and which may also be active in other geographic regions. The alga requires live finfish or their fresh excreta for excystment and release of a potent toxin. Low cell densities cause neurotoxic signs and fish death, followed by rapid algal encystment and dormancy unless live fish are added. This dinoflagellate was abundant in the water during major fish kills in local estuaries, but only while fish were dying; within several hours of death where carcasses were still present, the flagellated vegetative algal population had encysted and settled back to the sediments. Isolates from each event were highly lethal to finfish and shellfish in laboratory bioassays. Given its broad temperature and salinity tolerance, and its stimulation by phosphate enrichment, this toxic phytoplankter may be a widespread but undetected source of fish mortality in nutrient-enriched estuaries.

Measurement and Analysis of Object Reflectance Spectra

Abstract: Recent algorithms developed in the field of color vision make assumptions based on the spectral reflectance curves of Munsell chips and natural materials Some of them rely on data collected many years ago which is partially incomplete in the visible spectrum or contains many occurrences of the same material in it In this article we present a set of new measurements of different materials In particular we measured the spectral reflectance of Munsell chips, paints and various natural materials in the 390–730-nm range In addition, we have analyzed through principal-component analysis, the possibility of representing the data collected with a set of basis functions We show the implications of varying the number of principal components used (from 7 down to 3) on the errors introduced using this method

Model-Free Feature Screening for Ultrahigh-Dimensional Data

Abstract: With the recent explosion of scientific data of unprecedented size and complexity, feature ranking and screening are playing an increasingly important role in many scientific studies. In this article, we propose a novel feature screening procedure under a unified model framework, which covers a wide variety of commonly used parametric and semiparametric models. The new method does not require imposing a specific model structure on regression functions, and thus is particularly appealing to ultrahigh-dimensional regressions, where there are a huge number of candidate predictors but little information about the actual model forms. We demonstrate that, with the number of predictors growing at an exponential rate of the sample size, the proposed procedure possesses consistency in ranking, which is both useful in its own right and can lead to consistency in selection. The new procedure is computationally efficient and simple, and exhibits a competent empirical performance in our intensive simulations and real ...

Nanomaterial-Enabled Wearable Sensors for Healthcare.

Abstract: Highly sensitive wearable sensors that can be conformably attached to human skin or integrated with textiles to monitor the physiological parameters of human body or the surrounding environment have garnered tremendous interest. Owing to the large surface area and outstanding material properties, nanomaterials are promising building blocks for wearable sensors. Recent advances in the nanomaterial-enabled wearable sensors including temperature, electrophysiological, strain, tactile, electrochemical, and environmental sensors are presented in this review. Integration of multiple sensors for multimodal sensing and integration with other components into wearable systems are summarized. Representative applications of nanomaterial-enabled wearable sensors for healthcare, including continuous health monitoring, daily and sports activity tracking, and multifunctional electronic skin are highlighted. Finally, challenges, opportunities, and future perspectives in the field of nanomaterial-enabled wearable sensors are discussed.

Optimum Size and Location of Shunt Capacitors for Reduction of Losses on Distribution Feeders

Abstract: New generalized procedures are developed for optimizing the net savings associated with reduction of power and energy losses through shunt capacitor placement on primary distribution feeders. These procedures are applied to realistic problems to facilitate their immediate use by the electric utility distribution system designer. It is shown that a basic principle, called here "The Equal Area Criterion", offers significant computational and physical insight into numerous problems outside the bounds of studies previously reported and widely accepted in industry