Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bathymetry Estimation using Multispectral Imagery over an Inland Water Body – Vembanad Lake, Kerala, India

ABSTRACT Rupam, K. ; Ferrer, V.A. , and Ramachandran, K.K. , 2020. Bathymetry estimation using multispectral imagery over an inland water body – Vembanad Lake, Kerala, India. In: Sheela Nair, L. ; Prakash, T.N. ; Padmalal, D. , and Kumar Seelam, J. (eds.), Oceanic and Coastal Processes of the Indian Seas. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 89, pp. 126-131. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. The biological and biophysical characteristics of the nearshore and inland (estuarine) water bodies are mainly dependent on their bathymetry which also drives the coastal/estuarine hydrodynamics and other nearshore processes. The study of bathymetry in inland navigational backwaters of the coastal regions gain further importance due to the periodical dredging activities undertaken to maintain the required draft for navigation. The carrying capacity of the lakes gets affected due to sedimentation from the river inflow gradually altering the bathymetry. Conventional bathymetric soundings are highly time consuming and man power intensive which can be successfully augmented and made faster through remote sensing (RS) methods. The RS method can provide better spatial data compared to point-based measurements and also have the advantage of capturing temporal information. The present study explores the feasibility of retrieving bathymetry using satellite based remote sensing techniques for an inland coastal water body, aiming to provide synoptic inexpensive method for estimating and updating bathymetry data making it handy for coastal research and management. The study has been attempted in Vembanad Lake in Kerala, southwest coast of India. The ratio of the blue (450 - 515 nm) to the green (525 - 605 nm) wavelength of the Landsat satellite images as proposed by Stumpf was applied to generate the linear relationship between the reflectance and field measured depth information. The Kochi to Alappuzha National Waterway No. 3 bathymetry chart of the year 2005 is used as the in situ information for generating a site specific linear regression model which yielded a significant correlation coefficient of 0.753 (N = 707). The regression equation has been applied to generate the Satellite optical reflectance derived bathymetry map for the southern part of Vembanad Lake. The bathymetry obtained through this model has been validated with a set of independent depth sounding values (r2 = 0.92; N = 66). By and large the Stumpf model has been found helpful in recreating water depth using multispectral images in clear waters that permit proper light penetration. However, the present study has shown the potential of its application even in the inland water bodies where the light penetration is affected by a high concentration of suspended sediments and floating vegetation (water hyacinth).
Prey vulnerability to a gape-size limited predator: behavioural and morphological impacts on northern pike piscivory

The northern pike (Esox lucius) is a selective and important predator in lake ecosystems. Prey size in pike is limited by pike gape size, which is a linear function of pike body length. Here we show that the absolute gape-size limit in pike is greater than previously considered, and that maximum ingestible prey size is limited by prey body depth. Further, we experimentally show that pike prefer shallow-bodied roach before deeper-bodied common bream, and small prey sizes within each prey species. Handling time in pike increases with prey body depth, and since common bream are deeper-bodied than roach, handling time is longer for bream than for roach of the same length, but equal considering body depth. Prey handling time is suggested to be a major cost to the pike, since it increases the risk of losing the prey, as well as exposure to predation, kleptoparasitism and cannibalism. Consequently, prey vulnerability is determined by risk of predation and intraspecific interactions, and behavioural preferences in the pike, and not by pike gape-size limits. The consequences for natural populations is evaluated by analysing size structures of predator and prey fish populations in a eutrophic lake.
Effects of ration, temperature and body size on the body composition, energy content and condition of the minnow, Phoxinus phoxinus (L.)

The effects of ration and temperature on the body composition, energy content and indices of condition of the minnow. Phoxinus phoxinus (L.) (Cyprinidae). were studied experimentally. Five ration levels over the range starvation to ad libitum and five temperatures over the range 5–15°C were used. The fish weighed 1-5-4 g. At each temperature, the relative dry matter content, lipid content and energy content increased with increased ration. The response of the protein content to ration was temperature-dependent. Temperature had a significant effect on body composition and energy content, but this effect was irregular. The Fulton condition factor was less sensitive to ration than the wet or dry liver-somatic index. Temperature had a significant effect on the condition factor and liver indices. Significant, positive correlations were found between growth rate, lipid content and the indices of condition. The liver indices were better predictors of growth rate than the condition factor or lipid content and may provide useful information on the physiological condition offish in field studies.
Neck-band retention for Canada geese in the Mississippi flyway

We used capture, harvest, and observation histories of Canada geese (Branta canadensis) banded in the Mississippi flyway, 1974-88, to examine the problem of neck-band retention. Methods for the analysis of survival data were used to estimate rates of neck-band retention and to evaluate factors associated with neck-band loss. Sex, age of bird at banding, rivet use, and neck-band type significantly influenced neck-band retention. For most of the resulting cohorts (e.g., sex, age, rivet, and neck-band type categories), neck-band retention rates decreased through time. We caution against using small samples or data collected during short-term studies to determine retention waves. We suggest that observation data be used in neck-band retention studies to increase the efficiency of estimating retention time
Patterns of allozyme variation in western Eurasian Fagus

Fagus sylvatica L. is one of the most widespread broad-leaved trees in the temperate forests of the northern hemisphere. In addition to two subspecies, F. sylvatica ssp. sylvatica in Europe and F. sylvatica ssp. orientalis in south-western Asia, two further taxa were described: F. moesiaca (Maly) Czeczott in the south-western Balkans and F. taurica Popl. in Crimea. The opinions about the number and ranks of taxa within this complex are highly controversial. To assess the degree of genetic differentiation among them, and to reveal geographical patterns of genetic diversity and their relationships to history and biogeography of beech populations, genetic variation at 12 allozyme loci was studied in 279 populations in western Eurasia. A Bayesian analysis of population structure revealed the existence of two clusters, which fairly well coincided with F. sylvatica ssp. sylvatica and F. sylvatica ssp. orientalis, whereby the populations from the south-western Balkans and Crimea contained a mixture of these two gene pools. On the other hand, a neighbour-joining tree based on pairwise FST failed to separate the subspecies into well-defined distinct clades. Populations of F. sylvatica ssp. orientalis proved to be incomparably more differentiated than ssp. sylvatica (FST = 0.157 and 0.032, respectively). Asian populations also showed higher levels of allelic richness both on population and taxon levels than the European ones (the number of alleles after rarefaction was 3.40 and 4.27 in F. sylvatica ssp. sylvatica and ssp. orientalis, respectively). This indicates that the gene pool of F. sylvatica ssp. orientalis has not been depleted by reduced population sizes during the Pleistocene glaciations, as is the case of F. sylvatica ssp. sylvatica. Genetic similarities between isolated regional populations are explained by shared ancestral polymorphisms and/or range overlaps with subsequent hybridization in the past. © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2007, 154, 165–174.
A Low‐Cost System For Circulating Nutrient Solutions In Pot Studies1

A simple, inexpensive nutrient solution circulation system was developed which could be duplicated in developing countries. The airlift perfusion principle was employed to continuously recirculate nutrient solution within individual pots containing porous medium. The system has proven to be very satisfactory for N studies including a 15 N experiment and an evaluation of the transfer of legume-fixed N to a grass growing in a separate pot. Additional index words. Perfusion system, N transfer.
DETERMINATION OF BENZOIC AND SORBIC ACID IN TURKISH FOOD USING HIGH‐PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY

Benzoic and sorbic acid levels in different brands of jam, candied chestnut, carbonated drink, pickle, black table olive, green table olive, wholemeal/brown bread and white bread, which are available on the Turkish market, were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detector (235–254 nm). Chromatographic separation was achieved with a C18 column and acetate buffer (pH 4.74)–methanol mixture (70:30) as a mobile phase. The levels of benzoic and sorbic acid in the analyzed samples were in the range of not detected to 662 mg/kg or L, and not detected to 432 mg/kg or L, respectively. Only one sample (jam) presented a preservative although not permitted by the legislation enforced in Turkey. The levels of preservative in the other samples were determined in legal limitations. According to the results, the utilization of benzoic and sorbic acid is lower than the certain legal limitations permitted by legislation to be used. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS The amount of the sorbic and benzoic acid used as preservatives during food processing is important for consumer health. Determination of the amounts of the preservatives mentioned above will be possible in a short period of time (11 min) with the methods used in this study (high-performance liquid chromatography). According to the results obtained from study and data about food consumption, daily intake amount of these preservatives (benzoic and sorbic acid) will be able to be defined in Turkey, separately.
Expansive Learning in Teacher Education's Hybrid Spaces: The Challenges and Possibilities in and Beyond Learning Studios

This article uses the concept of expansive learning from activity theory as a lens to understand learning in and beyond hybrid or third spaces in teacher education. In so-called “Learning Studios,” student teachers, experienced teachers and teacher educators learned through exploratory activities, leading to new insights, “familiarized knowledge” and expanded practices. However, while learning in Learning Studios was supposed to affect schools and universities (as activity systems), labeled as “snowballing,” this only occurred sporadically. Using expansive learning theory and its prominent role of contradictions, we developed a better understanding of—and explanation for—the lack of snowballing. We developed suggestions for snowballing in schools and universities based on the successful characteristics of learning in Learning Studios.
Social Science Sequestered

Greenhouse gas removal (GGR) raises many cultural, ethical, legal, social, and political issues, yet in the growing area of GGR research, humanities and social sciences (HASS) research is often marginalized, constrained and depoliticised. This global dynamic is illustrated by an analysis of the UK GGR research programme. This dynamic matters for the knowledge produced and for its users. Without HASS contributions, too narrow a range of perspectives, futures and issues will be considered, undermining or overpromising the prospects for the responsible development of GGR (and threatening worse side-effects), and limiting our understanding of why and how policy demands GGR solutions in the first place. In response, we present policy principles for bringing HASS fully into GGR research, organized around three themes: (1) HASS-led GGR research, (2) Opening up GGR futures, and (3) The politics of GGR futures.
What are the Key Characteristics of a ‘Good’ Psychotherapy? Calling for Ethical Patient Involvement

Objective The evidence-based practice movement clearly defines the relevant components of a good treatment. In the present article, we elaborate on how the active involvement of patients within psychotherapy can and should be increased in order to respect ethical considerations. Our arguments complement the requirements of evidence-based practice, and are independent of the actual psychotherapeutic treatment approach being used. Method Theoretical and ethical analysis. Results In order to respect patient autonomy, psychotherapy needs to be transparent and honest when it comes to disclosing the relevant factors for promoting therapeutic change. It has been argued that ethical informed consent needs to include empirically supported patient information. In this paper we go one step further: we outline that fully respecting ethical considerations in psychotherapeutic treatment, necessarily calls for acknowledging and strengthening the active role of patients in the course of psychotherapy. Accordingly, patients need not only to be informed openly and transparently about the planned treatment, the treatment rationale, and the expected prognosis of improvement in the course of psychotherapy, but they also need to be actively involved in the decision-making process and during the entire process of psychotherapeutic treatment. Conclusions Our arguments support the tendency that can be observed in health care in recent years towards more active patient involvement across different health-care domains, but also in clinical research. This article offers an ethical perspective on the question what defines a ‘good psychotherapy', which, hopefully, will help to leave behind some of the ongoing psychotherapy debates and move the field forward.
The Effect of Wire Pens, Floor Pens and Cages on Bone Characteristics of Laying Hens

Abstract SEVERAL factors which may lead to osteoporosis or bone fragility include a deficiency of sex hormones, calcium deficiency, malnutrition, or a lack of normal stimulation due to stress and/or strain such as encountered by prolonged recumbency, plaster casts, etc. (Jackson, 1967). It has been well established by Trueta (1968) that immobilization, bed rest, and lack of muscular activity are all factors contributing to osteoporosis in humans. It was also demonstrated that bone rarefaction occurred in rabbits whose feet and legs were immobilized by plaster casts. It has been demonstrated (Rowland et al., 1968) that hens maintained in cages had a lower bone breaking strength and a lower tibia ash than those kept in floor pens. It is possible that hens kept in cages develop osteoporosis or bone fragility more rapidly than floor birds due to a lack of exercise. Therefore, these studies were conducted to determine if exercise could be…
Interaction of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium on Evapotranspiration Rate and Growth of Kentucky Bluegrass

Research is limited concerning the interactive effects of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium on turfgrass evapotranspiration (ET) rate. Previous research has emphasized the influence of N on growth and ET. In this study, a central composite experimental design was used to investigate the interactive effects of N, P, and K on Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L. 'Majestic') water use and growth under field conditions. Five treatment levels for each nutrient were used; N treatment levels ranged from 49 to 588 kg ha -1 yr -1 , P from 0 to 86 kg ha -1 yr -1 , and K from 0 to 348 kg ha -1 yr -1 . Clipping yield and ET (measured in 25-cm diam. bucket-type lysimeters) were recorded on a weekly basis. A field study conducted in 1988 evaluated N, P, and K applied alone while in a 1989 field study N, P, and K combinations and interactions were evaluated. Applied alone, P and K had no effect on ET or shoot growth independent of the rate applied. Unless a high level of N was applied (588 kg ha -1 yr -1 ), N had no affect on shoot growth or ET. Shoot growth (clipping yield) and ET were highly correlated (r = 0.79, P < 0.001) in the single nutrient study. There was an interaction between N, P, and K on shoot growth and ET. Shoot growth response was highly correlated with ET response when fertilized in the normal range of P for the soil type evaluated (0,21.5,43kg P ha -1 yr -1 ). Evapotranspiration rate response to N, P, and K applied in combination were distinctly different from nutrients applied alone. At medium to high levels of N and P (294 kg N and 43 kg P ha -1 yr - 1 and higher), water use increased in response to increasing K applied. Conversely, at N and P levels routinely applied to this species and soil type (147 kg N and 21.5 kg P ha -1 yr -1 and lower), increasing K levels minimized water use. Further research is needed to study specific interactions.
Activity of the tuatara and its relationships to weather conditions on Stephens Island, Cook Strait, with observations on geckos and invertebrates

Abstract The effects of weather on the aboveground, largely nocturnal activity of the tuatara, Sphenodon punctatus, on Stephens Island were investigated between May 1974 and April 1975. The nocturnal geckos Hoplodactylus maculatus and H. stephensi and conspicuous invertebrates were studied at the same time, though in less detail. As expected for an ectotherm, the tuatara is primarily influenced by environmental temperature, although other weather variables have an effect. There is a complex interplay of current and recent past weather conditions, habitat, season, the occurrence of seabirds, and the age and sex of the animals observed. The effects of climate can be masked by other factors. The patterns of nocturnal emergence of the tuatara appear to be well adapted to those of its primary prey (large invertebrates), and extraordinarily similar also to those of the geckos, though these behave differently. Contrary to popular opinion, the tuatara does not hibernate.
Extractability of Carotenoid Pigments from Non-photosynthetic Bacteria with Solvents and Detergents: Implications for the Location and Binding of the Pigments

The extractability of carotenoid pigments from whole cells by sequential extraction at room temperature with polar and non-polar organic solvents, Triton X-100 and sodium dodecyl sulphate was studied in 40 pigmented, non-photosynthetic bacteria from 15 genera. The bacteria segregated into four groups according to the extractability of their pigments with detergent and methyl alcohol. There was no correlation between extractability and taxonomic status. Solvent and detergent extractions were effective with only 50% and 35% of the bacteria, respectively. Lyophilization of cells prior to extraction did not enhance extract-ability with solvents. Complete removal of the pigments from selected organisms with diethyl ether (following pretreatment with acetone) and with Triton X-100 could be obtained from cell wall and membrane fragments after disruption of the cells. A single extraction of wall and membrane fragments with methyl alcohol was effective in all but one case. The evidence indicates that the pigments are probably associated with protein and that the cell wall or intact membrane is the barrier to their extraction from whole cells.
Garbage collection using a finite liveness domain

Functional languages manage heap data through garbage collection. Since static analysis of heap data is difficult, garbage collectors conservatively approximate the liveness of heap objects by reachability i.e. every object that is reachable from the root set is considered live. Consequently, a large amount of memory that is reachable but not used further during execution is left uncollected by the collector. Earlier attempts at liveness-based garbage collection for languages supporting structured types were based on analyses that considered arbitrary liveness values, i.e. they assumed that any substructure of the data could be potentially live. This made the analyses complex and unscalable. However, functional programs traverse structured data like lists in identifiable patterns. We identify a set of eight usage patterns that we use as liveness values. The liveness analysis that accompanies our garbage collector is based on this set; liveness arising out of other patterns of traversal are conservatively approximated by this set. This restriction to a small set of liveness values reaps several benefits -- it results in a simple liveness analysis which scales to much larger programs with minimal loss of precision, enables the use of a faster collection technique, and is extendable to higher-order programs. Our experiments with a purely functional subset of Scheme show a reduction in the analysis time by orders of magnitude. In addition, the minimum heap size required to run programs is comparable with a liveness-based collector with unrestricted liveness values, and in situations where memory is limited, the garbage collection time is lower than its reachability counterpart.
Towards the Automation of Grading Textual Student Submissions to Open-ended Questions

Growing student numbers at universities worldwide pose new challenges for instructors. Providing feedback to textual exercises is a challenge in large courses while being important for student's learning success. Exercise submissions and their grading are a primary and individual communication channel between instructors and students. The pure amount of submissions makes it impossible for a single instructor to provide regular feedback to large student bodies. Employing tutors in the process introduces new challenges. Feedback should be consistent and fair for all students. Additionally, interactive teaching models strive for real-time feedback and multiple submissions. We propose a support system for grading textual exercises using an automatic segment-based assessment concept. The system aims at providing suggestions to instructors by reusing previous comments as well as scores. The goal is to reduce the workload for instructors, while at the same time creating timely and consistent feedback to the students. We present the design and a prototypical implementation of an algorithm using topic modeling for segmenting the submissions into smaller blocks. Thereby, the system derives smaller units for assessment and allowing the creation of reusable and structured feedback. We have evaluated the algorithm qualitatively by comparing automatically produced segments with manually produced segments created by humans. The results show that the system can produce topically coherent segments. The segmentation algorithm based on topic modeling is superior to approaches purely based on syntax and punctuation.