Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spatial and Temporal Changes of Tidal Inlet Using Object-Based Image Analysis of Multibeam Echosounder Measurements: A Case from the Lagoon of Venice, Italy

Scientific exploration of seabed substrata has significantly progressed in the last few years. Hydroacoustic methods of seafloor investigation, including multibeam echosounder measurements, allow us to map large areas of the seabed with unprecedented precision. Through time-series of hydroacoustic measurements, it was possible to determine areas with distinct characteristics in the inlets of the Lagoon of Venice, Italy. Their temporal variability was investigated. Monitoring the changes was particularly relevant, considering the presence at the channel inlets of mobile barriers of the Experimental Electromechanical Module (MoSE) project installed to protect the historical city of Venice from flooding. The detection of temporal and spatial changes was performed by comparing seafloor maps created using object-based image analysis and supervised classifiers. The analysis included extraction of 25 multibeam echosounder bathymetry and backscatter features. Their importance was estimated using an objective approach with two feature selection methods. Moreover, the study investigated how the accuracy of classification could be affected by the scale of object-based segmentation. The application of the classification method at the proper scale allowed us to observe habitat changes in the tidal inlet of the Venice Lagoon, showing that the sediment substrates located in the Chioggia inlet were subjected to very dynamic changes. In general, during the study period, the area was enriched in mixed and muddy sediments and was depleted in sandy deposits. This study presents a unique methodological approach to predictive seabed sediment composition mapping and change detection in a very shallow marine environment. A consistent, repeatable, logical site-specific workflow was designed, whose main assumptions could be applied to other seabed mapping case studies in both shallow and deep marine environments, all over the world.
Concentrations of airborne bacteria and fungi in a livestock building with caged laying hens

This paper describes the concentrations of airborne bacteria and fungi in a cage housed laying hens facility, during a production year. Levels of airborne bacteria established in the air of the poultry house ranged from 1.02×10 4 CFU/m 3 measured in April, to 7.72×10 4 CFU/m 3 measured in December. Mean values of the total number of fungi ranged from 0.075×10 4 CFU/m 3
Pathogenic and genetic characterization of Algerian isolates of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lentis by RAPD and AFLP analysis

Thirty-two isolates of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lentis were isolated from wilted lentil plants collected from different lentil growing areas in north-west Algeria. A pathogenicity test was performed for all isolates. Results indicated that the Fol isolates represent a single race but differ in their aggressiveness on the susceptible lines. The amount of genetic variation was evaluated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification with a set of 6 RAPD primers and 3 AFLP selective nucleotide primer pairs. All amplifications revealed scorable polymorphisms among the isolates, and a total of 8 polymorphic fragments were scored for the RAPD primers and 93 for the AFLP primers. Genetic similarity between each of the isolates was calculated by using the Jaccard similarity coefficient and cluster analysis was used to generate a dendrogram showing relationship between them. The isolates could be grouped into two subpopulations based on RAPD and AFLP analysis. Results obtained indicate that there is little genetic variability among a subpopulation of Fol as identified by RAPD and AFLP markers and that there is no apparent correlation with geographical origin or aggressiveness of isolates. Also, the data suggest that Fol isolates are derived from two genetically distinct clonal lineages. Key Words: Lens culinaris , Fusarium wilt, molecular markers, pathogenicity. African Journal of Biotechnology Vol.3(1) 2004: 25-31
정보손실이 적은 ART2 기반 퍼지 이진화 방법

이진 영상은 모양, 위치, 수, 정보 등 원본 영상의 정보를 최대한 보존하면서 인식이나 분할에 적합하게 변화된 단순한 흑백영상이다. 영상의 이진화 처리는 영상처리 분야에서 문자인식, 영상분석 등과 같은 다양한 응용에서 배경과 물체를 구분하는 영상분할을 위한 일반적인 도구로 사용된다. 퍼지 이진화는 영상에 대한 임계값을 원본 영상의 가장 밝은 픽셀과 가장 어두운 픽셀의 평균값으로 설정하고 이를 삼각형 타입의 소속 함수에 적용하여 영상을 이진화 한다. 그러나 퍼지 이진화는 영상의 배경과 물체의 밝기 차이가 큰 경우에는 이진화가 효과적이지만 차이가 크지 않은 경우에는 소속 함수 구간을 효율적으로 설정할 수 없어 이진화를 효과적으로 할 수 없다. 따라서 본 논문에서는 이러한 문제점을 개선하기 위해 ART2 알고리즘을 적용하여 각 클러스터의 중심 값을 구한다. 그리고 각 클러스터의 중심 값에 해당하는 명암도를 이용하여 평균값을 구한 후, 이 평균값을 퍼지 이진화 방법에서 소속 함수 구간의 중간값으로 설정하여 영상을 이진화 한다. 다양한 영상에 제안된 방법과 기존의 퍼지 이진화 방법을 적용한 결과, 기존의 퍼지 이진화 방법보다 정보 손실이 적은 것을 확인하였다.
Status of nesting loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta at Bald Head Island (North Carolina, USA) after 24 years of intensive monitoring and conservation

A 24-year set of data from monitoring of a nesting beach at Bald Head Island, North Carolina, USA, was analysed in parallel with limited data from nearby rookeries to investigate trends in loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta nesting numbers. There was no statistical evidence of an increasing or decreasing trend in numbers of clutches laid per year, although a significant decrease in the number of turtles nesting and number of clutches laid per year was found from 1991. Remigrating turtles were larger and had larger annual clutch frequencies than neophyte turtles. Annual levels of nesting at beaches within the Cape Fear area were significantly correlated. The stable trend in number of clutches laid across more than two decades is discussed in relation to other factors affecting marine turtles in North American waters.
Isolation and Characterization of Antibiotic Production from Soil Isolates by Fermentation

In screening of new antibiotics, several actinomycetes were isolated from soil samples. Crowded plate technique was used for the isolation of actinomycetes. The morphological and cultural characterization of A-4 strain was performed. In medium formulation study for A-4 and A-4 mutant, various carbon and nitrogen sources were tested for maximum antibiotic production using zone of inhibition and packed cell volume (%) as parameters. Various fermentation conditions like pH, temperature and DO2 were also optimized for the maximal production of antibiotic from both A-4 and A-4 mutant. All medium formulation as well as bioprocess parameters for A-4 and A-4 mutant strains was compared. Some actinomycetes strains, showed promising antimicrobial scores against different strains of bacteria and fungi. From the six strains selected, one strain designated as A-4 showed maximum antimicrobial property against gram positive and gram negative strains as well as various fungi. Morphological and cultural studies showed that A-4 is belongs to actinomycete genus. The strain A-4 and A-4 mutant was found to be having better antimicrobial activity in comparison with other soil isolates of actinomycetes.
The incidence of parasitism in Trichilogaster acaciaelongifoliae (Froggatt) (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae), a gall-forming biological control agent of Acacia longifolia (Andr.) Willd. (Fabaceae) in South Africa.

Native parasitoid species became associated with the galls of Trichilogaster acaciaelongifoliae (Froggatt) within two years of its deliberate introduction into South Africa during 1982 for biological control of Acacia longifolia (Andr.) Willd. , a perennial, leguminous shrubby weed from Australia. Emergence of adult parasitoids from galls collected during the 1994 austral summer indicated that levels of parasitism were low (0.6 %) and had not increased from previous years. Inspections of immature T. acaciaelongifoliae within galls showed that the incidence of parasitism was much higher (8.6 %) than was deduced from adult emergence. Levels of parasitism varied from 0 % to 21.3 % at four different localities. Most parasitoids were found in chambers located close to the surface of the gall, irrespective of gall size or the numbers of chambers per gaU, and only a small proportion of the occupants of deep-seated chambers were parasitized. There were no parasitoids in the galls until late-November, by which time adult emergence of T. acaciaelongifoliae was well advanced. Consequently, T. acaciaelongifoliae is protected, both by its physical position and by its asynchronized phenology, from the generalist parasitoids it has acquired, and the wasp persists as an important biological control agent of A. longifolia in South Africa.
A New Method of De-Aliasing Large-Scale High-Frequency Barotropic Signals in the Mediterranean Sea

With the development of satellite observation technology, higher resolution and shorter return cycle have also placed higher demands on satellite data processing. The non-tide high-frequency barotropic oscillation in the marginal sea produces large aliasing errors in satellite altimeter observations. In previous studies, the satellite altimeter aliasing correction generally relied on a few bottom pressure data or the model data. Here, we employed the high-frequency tide gauge data to extract the altimeter non-tide aliasing correction in the west Mediterranean Sea. The spatial average method and EOF analysis method were adopted to track the high-frequency oscillation signals from 15 tide gauge records (TGs), and then were used to correct the aliasing errors in the Jason-1 and Envisat observations. The results showed that the EOF analysis method is better than the spatial average method in the altimeter data correction. After EOF correction, 90% of correlation (COR) between TG and sea level of Jason-1 has increased ~5%, and ~3% increase for the Envisat sea level; for the spatial average correction method, only ~70% of Jason-1 and Envisat data at the TGs location has about 2% increase in correlation. The EOF correction reduced the average percentage of error variance (PEL) by ~30%, while the spatial average correction increased the average percentage of PEL by ~20%. After correction by the EOF method, the altimeter observations are more consistent with the distribution of strong currents and eddies in the west Mediterranean Sea. The results prove that the proposed EOF method is more effective and accurate for the non-tide aliasing correction.
Seventeen new exon‐primed intron‐crossing polymerase chain reaction amplifiable introns in fish

We used exon-primed, intron-crossing polymerase chain reaction (EPIC-PCR) amplification to assay variation in nuclear loci in some teleost fishes (Carangidae, Centropomidae, Chaetodontidae, Clupeidae, Holocentridae, Moronidae, Mullidae, Pomacentridae, Scombridae, Siganidae). We designed primers in the conserved regions flanking splice sites of consecutive exons of different genes, allowing the amplification of 17 putative introns. Among the satisfactory amplified systems, 14 showed length polymorphism with 2–14 alleles.
A Space-Interconnection Algorithm for Satellite Constellation Based on Spatial Grid Model

With the rapid development of large-scale satellite constellations and the increasing demand for rapid communication and emergency rescue using global satellite-based Internet, there have been new requirements for efficient algorithms for inter-communication between satellites. As the constellations of low-orbit satellites become larger, the complexities of real-time inter-satellite calculation and path planning are becoming more complicated and are increasing geometrically. To address the bottlenecks in large-scale node space computing, we introduced a global space grid. Based on this grid, an efficient calculation method of spatial inter-connection between satellite constellations is proposed, according to the concept of “storage for computing” and the high computational efficiency of the spatial grid model. This strategy includes the following parts: (1) the introduction of the GeoSOT-3D global grid model into aerospace and the construction of the aerospace grid indexing BigTable; (2) a set of algorithms for satellite visibility analysis according to the visible grid look-up table and the secondary grid index; and (3) planning inter-satellite routing by querying the grid’s inherent visibility. The idea at the basis of this method is to employ the “space for time” concept to convert the high-dimensional floating operations into one-dimensional matching operations by querying the inherent “visible” attribute of the grid. In our study, we simulated thousands of satellites, discretized their trajectories into grids, and pre-calculated the visibility between grid cells to plan the routing path for the ground data transmission. The theoretical analysis and experimental verification show that the algorithm is feasible and efficient, and it can significantly improve the computational efficiency of inter-satellite connection. We hope that the method can be used in emergency communications, disaster warning, and maritime rescue, and can contribute to the next generation of satellite internet and “satellite-ground” integrated networks.
Investigating the Effects of Land Use and Land Cover on the Relationship between Moisture and Reflectance Using Landsat Time Series

To better understand the Earth system, it is important to investigate the interactions between precipitation, land use/land cover (LULC), and the land surface, especially vegetation. An improved understanding of these land-atmosphere interactions can aid understanding of the climate system and modeling of time series satellite data. Here, we investigate the effect of precipitation and LULC on the reflectance of the land surface in the northern U.S. Great Plains. We utilize time series satellite data from the 45 year Landsat archive. The length of the Landsat record allows for analysis of multiple periods of drought and wet conditions (reflecting climate, as well as weather), such that the precipitation-reflectance relationship can be investigated robustly for every individual pixel in the study area. The high spatial resolution of Landsat (30 m) allows for investigation of spatial patterns in weather (i.e., precipitation extremes) interactions with land surface reflectance at the scale of individual fields. Weather history is represented by a drought index that describes effective moisture availability, the Standardized Precipitation and Evaporation Index (SPEI). We find that effective moisture has a robust and consistent effect on reflectance over many types of land cover, with ∼90% of all pixels having significantly ( p < 0.01 ) higher visible reflectance during dry periods than during wet, occurring in nearly all regional, temporal, and LULC categories investigated. In grassland, the relationship is especially strong; there is an average reflectance increase of more than a third between very wet and very dry conditions (red band), and ∼99% of pixels have a significant relationship. In cropland, the effective moisture-reflectance relationship is more variable, suggesting that management decisions are an important factor in cropland-reflectance relationships.
GENETIC AND CONCHOLOGICAL COMPARISON OF SNAILS (HELIX ASPERSA) DIFFERING IN SHELL DEPOSITION OF LEAD

Populations of snails inhabiting areas with different histories of Pb contamination differed in their deposition of Pb in shell relative to soft tissues. Genetic variation, measured using isozymes, was not related to Pb history nor geographic distance between populations. Shell characteristic* were significantly different among sites; shell dry weight was strongly related to soil calcium levels. Shells of snails from areas with long histories of Pb contamination were significantly more robust (greater shell width/shell height ratio) than snails from other locations. H. aspena adaptation to Pb contamination may involve significant changes in shell characteristics but these do not correlate with genetic traits assessed with allozymes
Assessment of genomic variability through DNA fingerprinting within and between chicken lines divergently selected for residual food consumption

Summary DNA fingerprints obtained by multi-locus probes have been shown to be convenient tools to assess genetic variability and genetic distances in animal populations. This method has been applied in the present study to two Rhode Island Red lines of chickens divergently selected for residual food consumption (RFC) for 16 generations (R-: low RFC; R+: high RFC). Within each line, individuals were sampled from each tail of the phenotypic distribution of RFC for males and for females. The three probes used were two minisatellite probes, R18-1 and 33-6, and the endogenous avian retroviral element probe. Altogether, 101 bands were scored. Band-sharing levels obtained from analysis of pooled DNA were extremely high within-Line (> 0.9) and still high between the lines (0.82 to 0.86). When band frequencies were compared, correlation coefficients were lower between lines than between extreme groups within lines regardless of the performance level. Although the selected lines differed widely in the selected trait RFC and a few correlated traits, it was concluded that they are probably different by only a low proportion of their genome.
Tratamentos para acelerar a germinação e reduzir a deterioração das sementes de Ormosia nitida Vog

The experiment was carried out at the Seed Laboratory of the Agronomy Center of the Federal University of Espirito Santo, in order to attain acceleration of germination and reduce seed deterioration in Ormosia nitida Vog. A completely randomized experimental design with four replications was used. In experiment I, with paper substratum, the treatments were intact seeds (control); mechanical scarification and sulfuric acid soaking for 10 minutes. In experiment II, in Petri dishes, the treatments were intacts seeds (control); mechanical scarification; mechanical scarification + soaking in water at 35oC for 24 hours; imbibition of germination substratum with H2O2; sulphuric acid soaking for 1; 5; 10; 15; 20; 25 and 30 minutes. The results showed higher synchronization and speed germination in treatments with mechanical scarification, sulphuric acid for 10 minutes and H2O2 in the substratum.
Novel strategies to improve recombinant membrane protein production in yeast

Approximately 60% of pharmaceuticals target membrane proteins; 30% of the human genome codes for membrane proteins yet they represent less than 1% of known unique crystal structures deposited in the Protein Data Bank (PDB), with 50% of structures derived from recombinant membrane proteins having been synthesized in yeasts. G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are an important class of membrane proteins that are not naturally abundant in their native membranes. Unfortunately their recombinant synthesis often suffers from low yields; moreover, function may be lost during extraction and purification from cell membranes, impeding research aimed at structural and functional determination. We therefore devised two novel strategies to improve functional yields of recombinant membrane proteins in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We used human adenosine A2A receptor (hA2AR) as a model GPRC since it is functionally and structurally well characterised.In the first strategy, we investigated whether it is possible to provide yeast cells with a selective advantage (SA) in producing the fusion protein hA2AR-Ura3p when grown in medium lacking uracil; Ura3p is a decarboxylase that catalyzes the sixth enzymatic step in the de novo biosynthesis of pyrimidines, generating uridine monophosphate. The first transformant (H1) selected using the SA strategy gave high total yields of hA2AR-Ura3p, but low functional yields as determined by radio-ligand binding, leading to the discovery that the majority of the hA2AR-Ura3p had been internalized to the vacuole. The yeast deletion strain spt3Δ is thought to have slower translation rates and improved folding capabilities compared to wild-type cells and was therefore utilised for the SA strategy to generate a second transformant, SU1, which gave higher functional yields than H1. Subsequently hA2AR-Ura3p from H1 was solubilised with n-dodecyl-β-D-maltoside and cholesteryl hemisuccinate, which yielded functional hA2AR-Ura3p at the highest yield of all approaches used. The second strategy involved using knowledge of translational processes to improve recombinant protein synthesis to increase functional yield. Modification of existing expression vectors with an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) inserted into the 5ˊ untranslated region (UTR) of the gene encoding hA2AR was employed to circumvent regulatory controls on recombinant synthesis in the yeast host cell. The mechanisms involved were investigated through the use of yeast deletion strains and drugs that cause translation inhibition, which is known to improve protein folding and yield. The data highlight the potential to use deletion strains to increase IRES-mediated expression of recombinant hA2AR. Overall, the data presented in this thesis provide mechanistic insights into two novel strategies that can increase functional membrane protein yields in the eukaryotic microbe, S. cerevisiae.
Stress Detection in New Zealand Kauri Canopies with WorldView-2 Satellite and LiDAR Data

New Zealand kauri trees are threatened by the kauri dieback disease (Phytophthora agathidicida (PA)). In this study, we investigate the use of pan-sharpened WorldView-2 (WV2) satellite and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data for detecting stress symptoms in the canopy of kauri trees. A total of 1089 reference crowns were located in the Waitakere Ranges west of Auckland and assessed by fieldwork and the interpretation of aerial images. Canopy stress symptoms were graded based on five basic stress levels and further refined for the first symptom stages. The crown polygons were manually edited on a LiDAR crown height model. Crowns with a mean diameter smaller than 4 m caused most outliers with the 1.8 m pixel size of the WV2 multispectral bands, especially at the more advanced stress levels of dying and dead trees. The exclusion of crowns with a diameter smaller than 4 m increased the correlation in an object-based random forest regression from 0.85 to 0.89 with only WV2 attributes (root mean squared error (RMSE) of 0.48, mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.34). Additional LiDAR attributes increased the correlation to 0.92 (RMSE of 0.43, MAE of 0.31). A red/near-infrared (NIR) normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) and a ratio of the red and green bands were the most important indices for an assessment of the full range of stress symptoms. For detection of the first stress symptoms, an NDVI on the red-edge and green bands increased the performance. This study is the first to analyse the use of spaceborne images for monitoring canopy stress symptoms in native New Zealand kauri forest. The method presented shows promising results for a cost-efficient stress monitoring of kauri crowns over large areas. It will be tested in a full processing chain with automatic kauri identification and crown segmentation.