Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Contribution of ALOS PALSAR Multipolarization and Polarimetric Data to Crop Classification

Mapping and monitoring changes in the distribution of cropland provide information that aids sustainable approaches to agriculture and supports early warning of threats to global and regional food security. This paper tested the capability of Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) (PALSAR) multipolarization and polarimetric data for crop classification. L-band results were compared with those achieved with a C-band SAR data set (ASAR and RADARSAT-1), an integrated C- and L-band data set, and a multitemporal optical data set. Using all L-band linear polarizations, corn, soybeans, cereals, and hay-pasture were classified to an overall accuracy of 70%. A more temporally rich C-band data set provided an accuracy of 80%. Larger biomass crops were well classified using the PALSAR data. C-band data were needed to accurately classify low biomass crops. With a multifrequency data set, an overall accuracy of 88.7% was reached, and many individual crops were classified to accuracies better than 90%. These results were competitive with the overall accuracy achieved using three Landsat images (88.0%). L-band parameters derived from three decomposition approaches (Cloude-Pottier, Freeman-Durden, and Krogager) produced superior crop classification accuracies relative to those achieved using the linear polarizations. Using the Krogager decomposition parameters from all three PALSAR acquisitions, an overall accuracy of 77.2% was achieved. The results reported in this paper emphasize the value of polarimetric, as well as multifrequency SAR, data for crop classification. With such a diverse capability, a SAR-only approach to crop classification becomes increasingly viable.
Phenology of marine phytoplankton from satellite ocean color measurements

Climate change is expected to affect the timing and magnitude of numerous environmental conditions, including temperature, wind, and precipitation. Amongst other repercussions, such alterations will engender a response in marine ecosystem productivity manifested by changes in the timing and magnitude of phytoplankton biomass and primary productivity. Several investigations have examined the change in magnitude in chlorophyll concentration in relation to changing environmental conditions, but little has been done to examine the change in the timing of the annual cycle of phytoplankton biomass. In order to establish a baseline from which to assess any future changes in the phenology of phytoplankton biomass, we constructed nine‐year climatologies of phytoplankton bloom onset, maturity, start of bloom decay, and termination in the central North Atlantic. This was accomplished by extracting annual values of these phenological markers from Generalized Linear Models fit to pentad (five‐day) estimates of SeaWiFS chlorophyll concentrations dating from 1998 to 2006. This novel modeling approach, which produced results consistent with known patterns of phytoplankton bloom dynamics in this region, provides a statistically robust approach to detect and account for changes in the annual cycle of phytoplankton biomass.
Risk of artificial lake 'Zavoj' to processes of erosion: Methodological, knowing and protecting aspect

In this paper land erosion has been investigated from its temporal and spatial variability point of view. The aim of the application of contemporary soft wares and satellite observations was to create an adequate data base which allows faster and more adequate possibility for monitoring the intensity of erosive processes, as well as meaningful decision for application of different ways of anti erosive techniques of the most dangerous areas. Geomorphologic mapping of erosive processes using plane and satellite images has allowed rational planning of field observations and, at the other side very detailed establishing of the intensity of previous erosion. A new approach applied in this paper during data processing of all relevant parameters influencing erosion is based on using of software Geomedia 5.2 (Intergraph).
Pricing Models for On-Demand Computing

On-demand computing provides a new way for companies to manage and use their ITinfrastructure. This model of corporate computing radically changes the way companies pay for theirIT infrastructure, basing it on "pay per use" rather than on the fixed infrastructure investments suchcompanies are accustomed to. A clear theoretical understanding of pricing on-demand computingis thus central to the viability and growth of this nascent industry. We contribute towards such anunderstanding in this paper by modeling the optimal pricing of on-demand computing while takingfour critical factors into account: the costs of deploying IT in-house, the business value of this IT,the scale of the providerâs on-demand computing infrastructure, and the variable costs of providingon-demand computing. Three distinct pricing models emerge as optimal among all possible pricingfunctions for on-demand computing. These models describe when volume discounting, free usageand demand caps should be used to manage demand appropriately and profitably. We also outlinea likely path that the transformation towards on-demand computing will follow â" under which low-usagecustomers are targeted initially, followed by a broadening of the market, and finally, a focus onprofiting from inducing adoption by high-usage customers â" and prescribe how the associated pricingmodels should evolve appropriately.
Genetic diagnosis for chemosensitivity with drug-resistance genes in epithelial ovarian cancer

We conducted the present study to investigate whether and how chemosensitivity can be determined by means of genetic diagnosis using drug-resistance genes in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. A total of 75 patients who had epithelial ovarian cancer with measurable lesions were entered into this study. Thirty-three patients received first-line chemotherapy, consisting of paclitaxel and carboplatin (TJ). Forty-two patients received second-line chemotherapy, 22 received EP therapy consisting of etoposide and cisplatin (CDDP), and 20 received irinotecan (CPT-11) and CDDP (CPT-11/CDDP) therapy. Tumor samples were obtained before chemotherapy. MessengerRNA expressions of the multidrug-resistance (MDR)-1 gene, MDR-associated protein-1 (MRP-1), topoisomerase (topo) I, and topo IIα were measured by real-time reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction. The cutoff values of each gene were determined by the receiver operating characteristic curve. MDR-1 expression was significantly higher in patients who did not respond to TJ therapy. The expression of topo IIα was significantly higher in patients who did respond to EP therapy. The expression of topo I was significantly higher in patients who did respond to CPT-11/CDDP. MRP-1 expression did not differ between responders and nonresponders in all regimens. The cutoff value was 80 for MDR-1, 90 for topo IIα, and 200 for topo I. Next, to evaluate genetic diagnosis, 31 patients were newly added. The accuracy of this genetic diagnosis for chemosensitivity was 85.7% for TJ, 77.8% for EP, and 100.0% for CPT-11/CDDP therapy. The present study suggests that genetic diagnosis may be useful to determine chemosensitivity in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer
Association Analysis of Stem Rust Resistance in U.S. Winter Wheat

Stem rust has become a renewed threat to global wheat production after the emergence and spread of race TTKSK (also known as Ug99) and related races from Africa. To elucidate U.S. winter wheat resistance genes to stem rust, association mapping was conducted using a panel of 137 lines from cooperative U.S. winter wheat nurseries from 2008 and simple sequence repeat (SSR) and sequence tagged site (STS) markers across the wheat genome. Seedling infection types were evaluated in a greenhouse experiment using six U.S. stem rust races (QFCSC, QTHJC, RCRSC, RKQQC, TPMKC and TTTTF) and TTKSK, and adult plant responses to bulked U.S. races were evaluated in a field experiment. A linearization algorithm was used to convert the qualitative Stakman scale seedling infection types for quantitative analysis. Association mapping successfully detected six known stem rust seedling resistance genes in U.S. winter wheat lines with frequencies: Sr6 (12%), Sr24 (9%), Sr31 (15%), Sr36 (9%), Sr38 (19%), and Sr1RSAmigo (8%). Adult plant resistance gene Sr2 was present in 4% of lines. SrTmp was postulated to be present in several hard winter wheat lines, but the frequency could not be accurately determined. Sr38 was the most prevalent Sr gene in both hard and soft winter wheat and was the most effective Sr gene in the adult plant field test. Resistance to TTKSK was associated with nine markers on chromosome 2B that were in linkage disequilibrium and all of the resistance was attributed to the Triticum timopheevii chromosome segment carrying Sr36. Potential novel rust resistance alleles were associated with markers Xwmc326-203 on 3BL, Xgwm160-195 and Xwmc313-225 on 4AL near Sr7, Xgwm495-182 on 4BL, Xwmc622-147 and Xgwm624-146 on 4DL, and Xgwm334-123 on 6AS near Sr8. Xwmc326-203 was associated with adult plant resistance to bulked U.S. races and Xgwm495-182 was associated with seedling resistance to TTKSK.
Origin and time evolution of subduction polarity reversal from plate kinematics of Southeast Asia

We present a regional model of plate geometry and kinematics of Southeast Asia since the Late Cretaceous, embedded in a global plate model. The model involves subduction polarity reversals and sheds new light on the origin of the subduction polarity reversal currently observed in Taiwan. We show that this subduction zone reversal is inherited from subduction of the proto–South China Sea plate and owes its current location to triple junction migration and slab rollback. This analysis sheds new light on the plate tectonic context of the Taiwan orogeny and questions the hypothesis that northern Taiwan can be considered an older, more mature equivalent of southern Taiwan.
Bayesian analysis of gene essentiality based on sequencing of transposon insertion libraries

MOTIVATION Next-generation sequencing affords an efficient analysis of transposon insertion libraries, which can be used to identify essential genes in bacteria. To analyse this high-resolution data, we present a formal Bayesian framework for estimating the posterior probability of essentiality for each gene, using the extreme-value distribution to characterize the statistical significance of the longest region lacking insertions within a gene. We describe a sampling procedure based on the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm to calculate posterior probabilities of essentiality while simultaneously integrating over unknown internal parameters. RESULTS Using a sequence dataset from a transposon library for Mycobacterium tuberculosis, we show that this Bayesian approach predicts essential genes that correspond well with genes shown to be essential in previous studies. Furthermore, we show that by using the extreme-value distribution to characterize genomic regions lacking transposon insertions, this method is capable of identifying essential domains within genes. This approach can be used for analysing transposon libraries in other organisms and augmenting essentiality predictions with statistical confidence scores.
Metatherian Mammals from the Naashoibito Member, Kirtland Formation, San Juan Basin, New Mexico and Their Biochronologic and Paleobiogeographic Significance

Abstract Isolated teeth representing several taxa of metatherian mammals were recovered from NMMNH locality L-4005 in the Naashoibito Member, Kirtland Formation, San Juan Basin, northwestern New Mexico. These include fragments of upper and lower molars and a fragmentary premolar that are referred to indeterminate “pediomyids,” an isolated p2 or p3 that is referred to an indeterminate peradectid, and two lower molars, an m1 or m2 and an m4 that are referable to the hatcheriforme metatherian Glasbius cf. G. intricatus. Two upper molar fragments are also tentatively referred to Glasbius. These taxa are part of the Alamo Wash local fauna. Glasbius has been proposed as a potential first appearance datum for the Lancian North American Land Mammal ‘age’ (NALMA). The presence of both Glasbius and the multituberculate Essonodon within the Naashoibito Member support an age correlative with other formations producing Lancian faunas. A Lancian age for the Naashoibito Member suggests that there is a significant disconformity between the top of the late Campanian De-na-zin Member, which is constrained by radiometric dates to be about 73 Ma, and the base of the Naashoibito Member. Terrestrial faunas of Lancian age show differences that have been attributed to provinciality. The widespread distribution of mammalian index taxa indicates some degree of faunal homogeneity during this interval, but the refined stratigraphic correlation of the Alamo Wash local fauna allows us to recognize other taxa as geographically restricted, as opposed to asynchronous.
One or Two Doses of Quadrivalent Meningococcal Serogroups A, C, W-135 and Y Tetanus Toxoid Conjugate Vaccine Is Immunogenic in 9- to 12-Month-Old Children

Background: The incidence of invasive meningococcal disease is highest in infants. A quadrivalent meningococcal serogroups A, C, W-135 and Y tetanus toxoid conjugate vaccine (MenACWY-TT) was evaluated in children 9–12 months of age. Methods: We randomized infants (1:1) to receive 1 dose of MenACWY-TT at 12 months of age (ACWY-1 group) or 2 doses at 9 and 12 months (ACWY-2). We measured immunogenicity after each dose and 1 year after completing vaccination using human serum bactericidal antibody (hSBA) assays according to prespecified criteria of ≥1:8. Local and general symptoms were solicited for 8 days after vaccination. Adverse events were recorded for 6 months after the last dose. Results: We enrolled and vaccinated 349 subjects, of whom 248 reenrolled at Year 1 for evaluation of antibody persistence. Percentages of subjects with postvaccination hSBA ≥1:8 in the ACWY-1 group were 79.5%, 94.6%, 50.8% and 56.1% and in the 2-dose group (ACWY-2) were 88.4%, 100%, 99.3% and 99.3% postdose 2 for serogroups A, C, W-135 and Y, respectively. At Year 1, 80.0–99.1% in each group had hSBA ≥1:8, except for serogroup A, for which 20.6% (ACWY-1) and 25.9% (ACWY-2) retained hSBA ≥1:8. Both schedules were well-tolerated, with no observed increase in reactogenicity after the second dose. Conclusions: MenACWY-TT was immunogenic when administered as a single dose at 12 months of age, or as 2 doses at 9 and 12 months, and had a clinically acceptable safety profile. Good antibody persistence was observed through 12 months postvaccination after both treatment schedules for serogroups C, W-135, Y.
Clouds at the tropical tropopause: A case study during the APE‐THESEO campaign over the western Indian Ocean

In this paper, we report a detailed description of a thin cirrus at the tropopause above a cumulonimbus (Cb) convective cluster observed during the Airborne Platform for Earth Observation–Third European Stratospheric Experiment for Ozone (APE-THESEO) campaign in February–March 1999 in the western Indian Ocean. The thin cirrus (Ci) has an optical depth at 532 nm below 0.1, with extended subvisible stretches, and is located directly below the tropopause, which was supersaturated with respect to ice. A direct comparison between the optical depth retrieved by Meteosat and that obtained by means of the hygrometers installed on the M55-Geophysica aircraft is discussed showing discrepancies ranging from 10 to 20%. Combining satellite and aircraft data, we show that the observed Ci is not due to cirrus outflow from Cb anvils. In the absence of any deeply convective clouds reaching altitudes above 15 km, we propose a possible mechanism of Ci formation based on a net mesoscale transport of water vapor from altitudes above 16 km to the tropopause region around 18 km. This transport could be driven by the critical layer and turbulence induced by gravity waves that could have been generated by lower level Cb cluster activity. The proposed mechanism for high-altitude Ci formation corroborates the new paradigm of a tropical tropopause layer (TTL) or “substratosphere,” several kilometers thick, which is decoupled from the convection-dominated lower troposphere.
Developing a map of geologically defined site-condition categories for California

Consideration of site conditions is a vital step in analyzing and predicting earthquake ground motion. The importance of amplification by soil conditions has long been recognized, but though many seismic-instrument sites have been characterized by their geologic conditions, there has been no consistent, simple classification applied to all sites. As classification of sites by shear-wave velocity has become more common, the need to go back and provide a simple uniform classification for all stations has become apparent. Within the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center’s Next Generation Attenuation equation project, developers of attenuation equations recognized the need to consider site conditions and asked that the California Geological Survey provide site conditions information for all stations that have recorded earthquake ground motion in California. To provide these estimates, we sorted the available shear-wave velocity data by geologic unit, generalized the geologic units, and prepared a map so that we could use the extent of the map units to transfer the velocity characteristics from the sites where they were measured to sites on the same or similar materials. This new map is different from the California Geological Survey “preliminary site-conditions map of California” in that 19 geologically defined categories are used, rather than National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program categories. Although this map does not yet cover all of California, when completed it may provide a basis for more precise consideration of site conditions in ground-motion calculations.
Nitrogen Placement Evaluation for Winter Wheat in Three Fallow Tillage Systems

Increased soil water storage with increasing amounts of surface residue in winter wheat (. L.)—fallow cropping systems has not consistently resulted in higher grain yields in the Great Plains. Earlier results had suggested increased amounts of surface residue may increase N immobilization and limit N availability, thereby reducing potential for use of the additional stored soil water. This study was conducted to determine if N placement below the zone of organic matter or surface residue accumulation would reduce N immobilization and increase yields. The effects of N placement were evaluated by surface broadcasting and injecting below the soil surface N depleted NHNO at 45 kg ha in no-till, stubble mulch, and plow fallow method systems on an Alliance silt loam (fine-silty, mixed mesic Aridic Argiustolls) in a long-term study in western Nebraska. Dry matter and grain yield, N concentration, N uptake, N concentration, N uptake, and fertilizer recovery in plant tissue were determined for fallow method and N placement during the 1985, 1986, and 1987 growing seasons. Dry matter and grain yield, N concentration, N uptake, N uptake, and fertilizer recovery were all significantly affected by fallow method during all 3 yr of the study, being highest in plow and lowest in no-till with stubble mulch values intermediate. Nitrogen placement, however, had no effect on any of the variables in any of the tillage systems. In this environment, N immobilization does not appear to be a factor limiting use of additional stored soil water in reduced tillage systems because fertilizer recovery was equal for both placement methods in all three tillage systems.
Motor Cortical Networks for Skilled Movements Have Dynamic Properties That Are Related to Accurate Reaching

Neurons in the Primary Motor Cortex (MI) are known to form functional ensembles with one another in order to produce voluntary movement. Neural network changes during skill learning are thought to be involved in improved fluency and accuracy of motor tasks. Unforced errors during skilled tasks provide an avenue to study network connections related to motor learning. In order to investigate network activity in MI, microwires were implanted in the MI of cats trained to perform a reaching task. Spike trains from eight groups of simultaneously recorded cells (95 neurons in total) were acquired. A point process generalized linear model (GLM) was developed to assess simultaneously recorded cells for functional connectivity during reaching attempts where unforced errors or no errors were made. Whilst the same groups of neurons were often functionally connected regardless of trial success, functional connectivity between neurons was significantly different at fine time scales when the outcome of task performance changed. Furthermore, connections were shown to be significantly more robust across multiple latencies during successful trials of task performance. The results of this study indicate that reach-related neurons in MI form dynamic spiking dependencies whose temporal features are highly sensitive to unforced movement errors.
Influence of the impact assessment method on the conclusions of a LCA study. Application to the case of a part made with virgin and recycled HDPE

Recent legislation has stressed the need to decide the best end-of-life (EoL) option for post-consumer products considering their full life-cycle and the corresponding overall environmental impacts. The life cycle assessment (LCA) technique has become a common tool to evaluate those impacts. The present study aimed to contribute to the better understanding of the application of this technique, by evaluating the influence of the selection of the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) method in its results and conclusions. A specific case study was chosen, using previous information related to an anti-glare lamellae (AGL) for highway use, made with virgin and recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE). Five distinct LCIA methods were used: Eco-indicator 99, CML 2 (2000), EPS 2000, Eco-indicator 95 and EDIP 97. Consistent results between these methods were obtained for the Climate change, Ozone layer depletion, Acidification and Eutrophication environmental indicators. Conversely, the Summer smog indicator showed large discrepancies between impact assessment methods. The work sheds light on the advantages inherent in using various LCIA methods when doing the LCA study of a specific product, thus evidencing complementary analysis perspectives.
Estimating design quality of digital systems via machine learning

Although the term design quality of digital systems can be assessed from many aspects, the distribution and density of bugs are two decisive factors. This paper presents the application of machine learning techniques to model the relationship between specified metrics of high-level design and its associated bug information. By employing the project repository (i.e., high level design and bug repository), the resultant models can be used to estimate the quality of associated designs, which is very beneficial for design, verification and even maintenance processes of digital systems. A real industrial microprocessor is employed to validate our approach. We hope that our work can shed some light on the application of software techniques to help improve the reliability of various digital designs.