scholarly journals Crowdsourcing triggers rapid, reliable earthquake locations

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. eaau9824 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Steed ◽  
Amaya Fuenzalida ◽  
Rémy Bossu ◽  
István Bondár ◽  
Andres Heinloo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Data ◽  
Seismic Activity ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Cost Approach ◽  
Earthquake Locations ◽  
Seismic Location

In many cases, it takes several minutes after an earthquake to publish online a seismic location with confidence. Via monitoring for specific types of increased website, app, or Twitter usage, crowdsourced detection of seismic activity can be used to “seed” the search in the seismic data for an earthquake and reduce the risk of false detections, thereby accelerating the publication of locations for felt earthquakes. We demonstrate that this low-cost approach can work at the global scale to produce reliable and rapid results. The system was retroactively tested on a set of real crowdsourced detections of earthquakes made during 2016 and 2017, with 50% of successful locations found within 103 s, 76 s faster than GEOFON and 271 s faster than the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre’s publication times, and 90% of successful locations found within 54 km of the final accepted epicenter.

scholarly journals Engineering and characterization of gymnosperm sapwood toward enabling the design of water filtration devices

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Krithika Ramchander ◽  
Megha Hegde ◽  
Anish Paul Antony ◽  
Luda Wang ◽  
Kendra Leith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Shelf Life ◽  
Social Acceptance ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Coliform Bacteria ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Water Filter ◽  
Synthetic Test ◽  
Xylem Tissue ◽  
Filtration Material

AbstractNaturally-occurring membranes in the xylem tissue of gymnosperm sapwood enable its use as an abundantly-available material to construct filters, with potential to facilitate access to safe drinking water in resource-constrained settings. However, the material’s behavior as a filter is poorly understood, and challenges such as short shelf life have not been addressed. Here, we characterize the operational attributes of xylem filters and show that the material exhibits a highly non-linear dependence of flow resistance on thickness upon drying, and a tendency for self-blocking. We develop guidelines for the design and fabrication of xylem filters, demonstrate gravity-operated filters with shelf life >2 years, and show that the filters can provide >3 log removal of E. coli, MS-2 phage, and rotavirus from synthetic test waters and coliform bacteria from contaminated spring, tap, and ground waters. Through interviews and workshops in India, we use a user-centric approach to design a prototype filtration device with daily- to weekly-replaceable xylem filters, and uncover indicators of social acceptance of xylem as a natural water filter. Our work enhances the understanding of xylem as a filtration material, and opens opportunities for engineering a diverse range of low-cost, biodegradable xylem-based filtration products on a global scale.

A simplified low-cost approach to antibiotic resistance profiling for faecal source tracking

2004 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 185-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.E. Ebdon ◽  
J.L. Wallis ◽  
H.D. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Binary Data ◽  
Human Error ◽  
Function Analysis ◽  
Average Rate ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Source Tracking ◽  
Source Discrimination ◽  
Cost Approach ◽  
Faecal Bacteria

Antibiotic resistance profiling (ARP) is a potentially useful method for distinguishing faecal bacteria according to host source. This phenotypic approach has cost benefits over genotypic methods, but existing protocols are time-consuming and manual data handling is open to human error. A simplified, low-cost approach to the ARP technique was developed that used automated data recording techniques combined with simple statistical analyses to compare isolates of the genus Enterococcus from various faecal sources. An initial battery of 21 antibiotics (at up to four concentrations) was chosen for source discrimination. Images of growth or non-growth in microplate wells were stored as bitmaps and converted to binary data to form a database of known antibiotic resistance profiles. Discriminant function analysis (DFA) showed that the average rate of isolates correctly classified by the database (wastewater vs non-wastewater) was 86%. Once the more discriminating antibiotics and their concentrations had been identified, it was possible to reduce the number of tests from 80 to 18 whilst increasing the number of correctly classified human isolates. ARP could offer a low-cost and rapid means of identifying sources of faecal pollution. As such, the technique may be of particular benefit to developing countries, where water quality may have a significant impact on health and where cost is a major factor when choosing environmental management technology.

scholarly journals Multiscale additive manufacturing of polymers using 3D photo-printable self-assembling ionic liquid monomers

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 580-585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bineh G. Ndefru ◽  
Bryan S. Ringstrand ◽  
Sokhna I.-Y. Diouf ◽  
Sönke Seifert ◽  
Juan H. Leal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ionic Liquid ◽  
Additive Manufacturing ◽  
Self Assembly ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Low Resolution ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Cost Approach ◽  
Self Assembling ◽  
Nanoscale Features

Combining bottom-up self-assembly with top-down 3D photoprinting affords a low cost approach for the introduction of nanoscale features into a build with low resolution features.

Substrate-Integrated Cavity-Backed Patch Arrays: A Low-Cost Approach for Bandwidth Enhancement

2011 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 1155-1163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed H. Awida ◽  
Shady H. Suleiman ◽  
Aly E. Fathy
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Bandwidth Enhancement ◽  
Cost Approach
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