bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Building Extraction in Very High Resolution Imagery by Dense-Attention Networks
Authors: Yang Hui , Wu Penghai , Yao Xuedong , Wu Yanlan , Wang Biao , Xu Yongyang
Published: November 2018

Building extraction from very high resolution (VHR) imagery plays an important role in urban planning, disaster management, navigation, updating geographic databases, and several other geospatial applications. Compared with the traditional building extraction approaches, deep learning networks have recently shown outstanding performance in this task by using both high-level and low-level feature maps. However, it is difficult to utilize different level features rationally with the present deep learning networks. To tackle this problem, a novel network based on DenseNets and the attention mechanism was proposed, called the dense-attention network (DAN). The DAN contains an encoder part and a decoder part which are separately composed of lightweight DenseNets and a spatial attention fusion module. The proposed encoder–decoder architecture can strengthen feature propagation and effectively bring higher-level feature information to suppress the low-level feature and noises. Experimental results based on public international society for photogrammetry and remote sensing (ISPRS) datasets with only red–green–blue (RGB) images demonstrated that the proposed DAN achieved a higher score (96.16% overall accuracy (OA), 92.56% F1 score, 90.56% mean intersection over union (MIOU), less training and response time and higher-quality value) when compared with other deep learning methods.
Multi-Functional Soft Strain Sensors for Wearable Physiological Monitoring
Authors: Hughes Josie , Iida Fumiya
Published: November 2018

Wearable devices which monitor physiological measurements are of significant research interest for a wide number of applications including medicine, entertainment, and wellness monitoring. However, many wearable sensing systems are highly rigid and thus restrict the movement of the wearer, and are not modular or customizable for a specific application. Typically, one sensor is designed to model one physiological indicator which is not a scalable approach. This work aims to address these limitations, by developing soft sensors and including conductive particles into a silicone matrix which allows sheets of soft strain sensors to be developed rapidly using a rapid manufacturing process. By varying the morphology of the sensor sheets and electrode placement the response can be varied. To demonstrate the versatility and range of sensitivity of this base sensing material, two wearable sensors have been developed which show the detection of different physiological parameters. These include a pressure-sensitive insole sensor which can detect ground reaction forces and a strain sensor which can be worn over clothes to allow the measurements of heart rate, breathing rate, and gait.
Public Key-Based Authentication and En-Route Filtering Scheme in Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Yi Chuanjun , Yang Geng , Dai Hua , Liu Liang , Li Ning
Published: November 2018

The existing public key-based en-route filtering schemes are vulnerable to report disruption attacks or selective forwarding attacks, and they fail to consider any measure to detect and punish the malicious nodes. The authors propose a series of public key-based security mechanisms for wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in this paper, including a mechanism for verifying the partial signatures, a substitution mechanism, an effective report forwarding protocol, and a trust value-based mechanism to identify and punish the malicious nodes. Finally, the authors develop a public key-based authentication and en-route filtering scheme (PKAEF), which can resist false data injection attacks, report disruption attacks and selective forwarding attacks, and can mitigate the impact of malicious nodes. Detailed performance analysis and evaluation show that, in most cases, PKAEF outperforms previous works in terms of safety, filtering efficiency, and data availability.
Precipitable Water Vapour Retrieval from GPS Precise Point Positioning and NCEP CFSv2 Dataset during Typhoon Events
Authors: Tang Xu , Hancock Craig Matthew , Xiang Zhiyong , Kong Yang , Ligt Huib de , Shi Hongkai , Quaye-Ballard Jonathan Arthur
Published: November 2018

Radiosonde is extensively used for understanding meteorological parameters in the vertical direction. Four typhoon events, including three landfalls (MERANTI, NEPARTAK, and MEGI) and one non-landfall (MALAKAS), were chosen in analysing the precipitable water vapour (PWV) characteristics in this study. The spatial distribution of the three radiosonde stations in Zhejiang province does not meet the requirement in analysing changes in PWV during typhoon event. Global position system (GPS) observations are an alternative method for deriving the PWV. This enables improvements in the temporal–spatial resolution of PWV computed by the radiosonde measurements. The National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) re-analysed data were employed for interpolating temperature and atmosphere pressure at the GPS antennas height. The PWV computed from GPS observations and NCEP re-analysed data were then compared with the true PWV. The maximum difference of radiosonde and GPS PWV was not more than 30 mm at Taiz station. The Root-Mean-Square (RMS) of PWV differences between radiosonde and GPS was not more than 5 mm in January, February, March, November, and December. It was slightly greater than 5 mm in April. High RMS in May, June, July, August, September, and October implies that differences in GPS and radiosonde PWVs are evident in these months. Correlation coefficients of GPS and radiosonde PWVs were more than 0.9, indicating that the changes in GPS and radiosonde PWVs are similar. Radiosonde calculated PWVs were used for GPS PWV calibration for understanding the PWV changes during the period of a typhoon event. The results from three landfall typhoons show that the average PWV over Zhejiang province is increasing and approaching China mainland. In contrast, MALAKAS did not make landfall and shows a decreasing PWV trend, although it was heading to China mainland. Generally, the PWV change can be used to predict whether the typhoon will make landfall in these cases. PWV spatial distribution of MERANTI shows that PWV peaks change along the typhoon epicenter over Zhejiang province.
An Ultra-Rapid Biosensory Point-of-Care (POC) Assay for Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) Detection in Human Serum
Authors: Mavrikou Sophie , Moschopoulou Georgia , Zafeirakis Athanasios , Kalogeropoulou Konstantina , Giannakos Georgios , Skevis Athanasios , Kintzios Spyridon
Published: November 2018

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is the established routine screening tool for the detection of early-stage prostate cancer. Given the laboratory-centric nature of the process, the development of a portable, ultra rapid high-throughput system for PSA screening is highly desirable. In this study, an advancedpoint-of-care system for PSA detection in human serum was developed based on a cellular biosensor where the cell membrane was modified by electroinserting a specific antibody against PSA. Thirty nine human serum samples were used for validation of this biosensory system for PSA detection. Samples were analyzed in parallel with a standard immunoradiometric assay (IRMA) and an established electrochemical immunoassay was used for comparison purposes. They were classified in three different PSA concentration ranges (0, <4 and ≥4 ng/mL). Cells membrane-engineered with 0.25 μg/mL anti-PSA antibody demonstrated a statistically lower response against the upper (≥4 ng/mL) PSA concentration range. In addition, the cell-based biosensor performed better than the immunosensor in terms of sensitivity and resolution against positive samples containing <4 ng/mL PSA. In spite of its preliminary, proof-of-concept stage of development, the cell-based biosensor could be used as aninitiative for the development of a fast, low-cost, and high-throughput POC screening system for PSA.
CoAR: Congestion-Aware Routing Protocol for Low Power and Lossy Networks for IoT Applications
Authors: Bhandari Khadak Singh , Hosen A. S. M. Sanwar , Cho Gi Hwan
Published: November 2018

The IPv6 routing protocol for low power and lossy networks (RPL) was designed to satisfy the requirements of a wide range of Internet of Things (IoT) applications, including industrial and environmental monitoring. In most scenarios, different from an ordinary environment, the industrial monitoring system under emergency scenarios needs to not only periodically collect the information from the sensing region, but also respond rapidly to some unusual situations. In the monitoring system, particularly when an event occurs in the sensing region, a surge of data generated by the sensors may lead to congestion at parent node as data packets converge towards the root. Congestion problem degrades the network performance that has an impact on quality of service. To resolve this problem, we propose a congestion-aware routing protocol (CoAR) which utilizes the selection of an alternative parent to alleviate the congestion in the network. The proposed mechanism uses a multi-criteria decision-making approach to select the best alternative parent node within the congestion by combining the multiple routing metrics. Moreover, the neighborhood index is used as the tie-breaking metric during the parent selection process when the routing score is equal. In order to determine the congestion, CoAR adopts the adaptive congestion detection mechanism based on the current queue occupancy and observation of present and past traffic trends. The proposed protocol has been tested and evaluated in different scenarios in comparison with ECRM and RPL. The simulation results show that CoAR is capable of dealing successfully with congestion in LLNs while preserving the required characteristics of the IoT applications.
The Location of Death and Dying Across Canada: A Study Illustrating the Socio-Political Context of Death and Dying
Authors: Wilson Donna M. , Shen Ye , Errasti-Ibarrondo Begoña , Birch Stephen
Published: November 2018

Background: Concern has existed for many years about the extensive use of hospitals by dying persons. In recent years, however, a potential shift out of hospital has been noticed in a number of developed countries, including Canada. In Canada, where high hospital occupancy rates and corresponding long waits and waitlists for hospital care are major socio-political issues, it is important to know if this shift has continued or if hospitalized death and dying remains predominant across Canada. Methods: Recent individual-anonymous population-level inpatient Canadian hospital data were analyzed to answer two questions: (1) what proportion of deaths in provinces and territories across Canada are occurring in hospital now? and (2) who is dying in hospital now? Results: In 2014–2015, 43.9% of all deaths in Canada (excluding Quebec) occurred in hospital. However, considerable cross-Canada differences in end-of-life hospital utilization were found. Some cross-Canada differences in hospital decedents were also noted, although most were older, male, and they died during a relatively short hospital stay after being admitted from their homes and through the emergency department after arriving by ambulance. Conclusion: Over half of all deaths in Canada are occurring outside of hospital now. Cross-Canada hospital utilization and inpatient decedent differences highlight opportunities for enhanced end-of-life care service planning and policy advancements.
Black and Minority Ethnic Boys and Custody in England and Wales: Understanding Subjective Experiences through an Analysis of Official Data
Authors: Barn Ravinder , Feilzer Martina , Hardwick Nick
Published: November 2018

Recent years have seen a dramatic shift in youth justice outcomes and a fall in the number of children drawn into the youth justice system in England and Wales. However, it appears that children from some backgrounds have not benefited as much as others from this change. There is a wealth of academic literature on processes of criminalisation, policies, and practices of youth justice and the experiences of children, particularly boys, in custody. However, there is little detailed understanding of how these processes, policies, and practices affect children from different backgrounds. This paper examines the most intrusive aspect of youth justice, namely, custodial sentences. Through an examination of the Inspectorate of Prisons’ reports and associated surveys, this paper seeks to explore black and minority ethnic boys’ perceptions of their experiences of custody.
Salt Content of Dairy Farm Effluents as an Indicator of Salinization Risk to Soils
Authors: Rivas Lucero Bertha A. , Gutiérrez Mélida , Magaña Magaña J. Eduardo , Márquez Salcido Francisco , Márquez Fierro Walter
Published: November 2018

Water used for irrigation is a leading source of induced salinity in semiarid areas. Within the Irrigation District 005 in northern Mexico, there are more than 100 dairy farms housing over 72,000 dairy cows, 74% of which are concentrated in approximately 30 intensive-operation farms. Dairy farm effluents (DFE) and manure are collected and stored temporarily until they are applied to the land to fertilize pasture and other crops. DFE vary in salt content, depending on specific farm operations. The risk of soil salinization by DFE was estimated by measuring electrical conductivity (EC) of both well water and DFE, and comparing these values with 2.0 mS cm−1, a Mexican guideline for wastewater used in agriculture. Half of the effluents exceeded the EC limit, with values as high as 12.4 mS cm−1, whereas a few exceeded the EC limit in both well and effluent water. The generation of salt and its passing into soils expose a potential for soil salinization, if preventive measures are not taken. A salt load map was created that depicted the areas at higher risk of salinization. The simple technique utilized here can be applied in estimating salinization potential in areas where monitoring of soils, irrigation drains, and shallow groundwater is infrequent.
A New Signal Processing Approach for Discrimination of EEG Recordings
Authors: Hassani Hossein , Yeganegi Mohammad Reza , Silva Emmanuel Sirimal
Published: November 2018

Classifying brain activities based on electroencephalogram (EEG) signals is one of the important applications of time series discriminant analysis for diagnosing brain disorders. In this paper, we introduce a new method based on the Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA) technique for classifying brain activity based on EEG signals via an application into a benchmark dataset for epileptic study with five categories, consisting of 100 EEG recordings per category. The results from the SSA based approach are compared with those from discrete wavelet transform before proposing a hybrid SSA and principal component analysis based approach for improving accuracy levels further.
Issuances of Automotive Vehicles and the Impacts on Air Quality in the Largest City in the Brazilian Amazon
Authors: Cartaxo Elizabeth , Valois Ilsa , Miranda Vladimiro , Costa Marcia
Published: November 2018

Manaus, a city of more than two million people, suffers problems arising from strong sunlight and aggravated by several factors, such as traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions generated by evaporation and burning of fuel. The present study examined Carbon Monoxide (CO) and Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) emissions in an urban area of the city using different methodologies. CO and NO2 were measured using automated and passive analyzers, respectively. Meanwhile, direct monitoring of these pollutants was performed in vehicular sources in the vicinity of sampling locations. Results showed that levels of carbon monoxide vary over time, being higher during peak movement of vehicles. NO2 values have exceeded the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), and monitoring at source showed high levels of CO and NO2 emissions to the atmosphere.
Sustainable Enterprise Excellence: Attribute-Based Assessment Protocol
Authors: Hussain Tajammal , Edgeman Rick , Eskildsen Jacob , Shoukry Alaa Mohamed , Gani Showkat
Published: November 2018

This paper is intended to design and provide a reliable and valid measurement instrument to aid organizations that wish to self-assess their performance and positioning relative to sustainable enterprise excellence. Recent research trends in performance excellence, quality management, and organizational sustainability have been directed towards integrated management systems (IMS). Sustainable Enterprise Excellence (SEE) is among these integrated management systems. SEE is undergoing ongoing development and its measurement scale is rudimentary, hence it lacks the more sophisticated sorts of measurement scales often used for organizational self-assessment purposes. A scientific approach is used herein to devise a more comprehensive SEE-oriented organizational assessment against six proposed performance results-oriented domains or constructs: governance and strategy, process implementation, sustainability performance, financial performance, innovation performance, and human capital performance. Each organizational performance construct is to be measured by ten attributes-based items. Maturity scale ratings that range from 0 to 10 reflect organizational performance relative to the associated item and the sum of item ratings across a construct reflects performance within the specific domain, the summation of the six construct scores then yields a measure of the overall organizational performance with respect to SEE. The assessment areas against which organization performance compares poorly suggest opportunities for improvement of associated business processes, the achievement of which will contribute to a sustainable future.
Climate Change and Transport Infrastructures: State of the Art
Authors: Moretti Laura , Loprencipe Giuseppe
Published: November 2018

Transport infrastructures are lifelines: They provide transportation of people and goods, in ordinary and emergency conditions, thus they should be resilient to increasing natural disasters and hazards. This work presents several technologies adopted around the world to adapt and defend transport infrastructures against effects of climate change. Three main climate change challenges have been examined: Air temperatures variability and extremization, water bombs, and sea level rise. For each type of the examined phenomena the paper presents engineered, and architectural solutions adopted to prevent disasters and protect citizens. In all cases, the countermeasures require deeper prediction of weather and climate conditions during the service life of the infrastructure. The experience gained supports the fact that strategies adopted or designed to contrast the effects of climate change on transport infrastructures pursue three main goals: To prevent the damages, protect the structures, and monitor and communicate to users the current conditions. Indeed, the analyses show that the ongoing climate change will increase its impact on transport infrastructures, exposing people to unacceptable risks. Therefore, prevention and protection measures shall be adopted more frequently in the interest of collective safety.
Creating a Novel Multi-Layered Integrative Climate Change Adaptation Planning Approach Using a Systematic Literature Review
Authors: Hafezi Mehdi , Sahin Oz , Stewart Rodney , Mackey Brendan
Published: November 2018

Climate change adaptation planning requires the integration of disciplines, stakeholders, different modelling approaches, treatment options, and scales of analysis. An integrated stepwise planning approach is a critical requirement for effective climate change adaptation in the context of small island developing states and coastal communities. To address this need, this paper reports on a systematic review of 116 research papers from an initial set of around 650 academic peer-reviewed papers. These papers were assessed and categorised based on their planning framework or the approach utilised, measured climate change impacts, employed methods and tools, and recommended adaptation strategies or options. This study identified three important dimensions of a fully integrated climate change adaptation planning process, namely, integration in assessment, integration in modelling, and integration in adaptive responses. Moreover, it resulted in the formulation of a novel multi-layered integrative climate change adaptation planning approach. Adopting this holistic and integrative approach is more likely to yield better climate change adaptation in planning outcomes over the long term.
Comparison of AHP and a Utility-Based Theory Method for Selected Vertical and Horizontal Forest Structure Indicators in the Sustainability Assessment of Forest Management in the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park, Madrid Region
Authors: Martín-Fernández Susana , Gómez-Serrano Adrián , Martínez-Falero Eugenio , Pascual Cristina
Published: November 2018

This paper compares two pairwise comparison methods, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and a utility theory based method (UTB method), for sustainability assessment in forest management at the local level. Six alternatives were ranked, corresponding to six different types of forest management in the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park in the Madrid Region in Spain. The methods were tested by postgraduate students enrolled in a “Decision Support Systems” course at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. Three sustainability indicators were considered: structural diversity, timber yield, and amount of biomass. The utility theory based method was the first to be compared, which is implemented in the computer program SILVANET. For each pair of alternatives, the students were asked which one they considered to be more sustainable. In the case of the Analytic Hierarchy Process, the students compared the indicators and the alternatives for each indicator. The Spearman’s correlation coefficient indicated that there was no correlation between the rankings for most of the students. The results revealed that the convergence in opinion in the AHP method was higher than in the utility based method for a low number of participants, and distinguished the differences between the alternatives more accurately. However in the case of the UTB method, the participants considered sustainability as a whole and made a more context-based comparison.
Revising Yield and Equivalence Factors of Ecological Footprints Based on Land-Use Conversion
Authors: Li Jincheng , Zhang Xinyue , Chang Xuexiu , Gao Wei
Published: November 2018

In the current ecological footprint (EF) calculations, the parameters of built-up land are set as equal to those of cropland, based on the assumption that built-up land is totally converted from cropland. However, built-up land may be derived from other types of land use. With the expansion of built-up area as a result of urbanization, the yield and equivalence factors of built-up land are becoming increasingly important in the EF calculation. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of this assumption on EF calculation. In this study, the proportions of different land types converted into built-up land were evaluated based on actual land-use conversion in two urbanized areas of Yunnan Province and Kunming City from 1980 to 2010 in the ArcGIS platform. Then, the parameters of built-up land were calculated by an area-weighting approach with the proportions. The results showed the following: (1) In both cases, the EF of Yunnan Province and Kunming City were greater than their biocapacities (BC), indicating that they were in unsustainable states. (2) The EF and BC of the two studied cases were reduced to varying degrees because the yield and equivalence factors of built-up land from land-use conversion are less than cropland factors. As the proportion of the built-up land area in Kunming City was larger than that in Yunnan Province, the reduced proportion of the EF and BC of Kunming City is greater than that of Yunnan Province. (3) The proportion of built-up land converted from cropland has a significantly positive correlation with EF and BC. Therefore, it is of great significance to revise the yield and equivalence factors of built-up land using actual land-use conversions in highly urbanized areas.
Promoting the Sustainability of Organizations: Contribution of Transformational Leadership to Job Engagement
Authors: Vila-Vázquez Guadalupe , Castro-Casal Carmen , Álvarez-Pérez Dolores , Del Río-Araújo Luisa
Published: November 2018

The psychology of sustainability highlights the importance of building organizational environments promoting the employees’ well-being, and leaders play an important role in it. Drawing from Kahn’s theory, the purpose of this study is to simultaneously examine the mediating role of task significance, perceived organizational support (POS) and employees’ core self-evaluations (CSE) in the relationship between supervisors’ transformational leadership and job engagement. In order to test the proposed model, a structural equation modelling was performed using the bootstrapping technique in IBM SPSS Amos 23 for Windows. The sample consisted of 320 employees from emergent high-tech and knowledge-based SMEs in Spain. The results supported all the hypotheses posited. By helping employees to find the meaning and significance of their work, making them feel supported by the organization and strengthening their sense of worth and competence, transformational leaders boost job engagement, a key aspect of the human dimension of organizational sustainability. This paper contributes to the psychology of sustainability by advancing knowledge of the mechanisms through which supervisors’ transformational leadership influences employees’ well-being in terms of job engagement.
Neutrosophic Triplet Non-Associative Semihypergroups with Application
Authors: Gulistan Muhammad , Nawaz Shah , Hassan Nasruddin
Published: November 2018

In this paper, we extended the idea of a neutrosophic triplet set to non-associative semihypergroups and define neutrosophic triplet LA-semihypergroup. We discuss some basic results and properties. At the end, we provide an application of the proposed structure in Football.
Supersymmetric and Conformal Features of Hadron Physics
Authors: Brodsky Stanley J.
Published: November 2018

The QCD Lagrangian is based on quark and gluonic fields—not squarks nor gluinos. However, one can show that its hadronic eigensolutions conform to a representation of superconformal algebra, reflecting the underlying conformal symmetry of chiral QCD. The eigensolutions of superconformal algebra provide a unified Regge spectroscopy of meson, baryon, and tetraquarks of the same parity and twist as equal-mass members of the same 4-plet representation with a universal Regge slope. The predictions from light-front holography and superconformal algebra can also be extended to mesons, baryons, and tetraquarks with strange, charm and bottom quarks. The pion q q ¯ eigenstate has zero mass for m q = 0 . A key tool is the remarkable observation of de Alfaro, Fubini, and Furlan (dAFF) which shows how a mass scale can appear in the Hamiltonian and the equations of motion while retaining the conformal symmetry of the action. When one applies the dAFF procedure to chiral QCD, a mass scale κ appears which determines universal Regge slopes, hadron masses in the absence of the Higgs coupling. One also predicts the form of the nonperturbative QCD running coupling: α s ( Q 2 ) ∝ e − Q 2 / 4 κ 2 , in agreement with the effective charge determined from measurements of the Bjorken sum rule. One also obtains viable predictions for spacelike and timelike hadronic form factors, structure functions, distribution amplitudes, and transverse momentum distributions. The combination of conformal symmetry, light-front dynamics, its holographic mapping to AdS 5 space, and the dAFF procedure thus provide new insights, not only into the physics underlying color confinement, but also the nonperturbative QCD coupling and the QCD mass scale.
Treatment Efficiency of Diffuse Agricultural Pollution in a Constructed Wetland Impacted by Groundwater Seepage
Authors: Kill Keit , Pärn Jaan , Lust Rauno , Mander Ülo , Kasak Kuno
Published: November 2018

Diffuse agricultural pollution degrades water quality and is one of the main causes of eutrophication; therefore, it is important to reduce it. Constructed wetlands (CW) can be used as an effective measure for water quality improvement. There are two possible ways to establish surface flow CWs, in-stream and off-stream. We studied treatment efficiency of the in-stream free surface flow (FSW) Vända CW in southern Estonia from March 2017 until July 2018. The CW consists of two shallow-water parts planted with cattail (Typha latifolia). According to our analyses, the CW reduced total phosphorus (TP) and phosphate (PO4-P) by 20.5% and 16.3%, respectively, however, in summer, phosphorus removal was twice as high. We saw significant logarithmic correlation between flow rates and log TP and log PO4-P removal efficiency (rs = 0.53, rs = 0.63, p < 0.01 respectively). Yearly reduction of total organic carbon was 12.4% while total inorganic carbon increased by 9.7% due to groundwater seepage. Groundwater inflow also increased the concentration of total nitrogen in the outlet by 27.7% and nitrate concentration by 31.6%. In-stream FWS CWs are a promising measure to reduce diffuse pollution from agriculture; however, our experience and literature data prove that there are several factors that can influence CWs’ treatment efficiency.
Evaluation of Various Probability Distributions for Deriving Design Flood Featuring Right-Tail Events in Pakistan
Authors: Rizwan Muhammad , Guo Shenglian , Xiong Feng , Yin Jiabo
Published: November 2018

Design flood estimation is very important for hydraulic structure design, reservoir operation, and water resources management. During the last few decades, severe flash floods have caused substantial human, agricultural, and economic damages in Pakistan during the Monsoon seasons. However, despite phenomenal losses, the flood characteristics are rarely investigated. In this paper, flood frequency analysis (FFA) on four major rivers over Pakistan is performed to probe probability distributions (PDs)at the right-tail flood events. For this purpose, (i) we employed ten different probability distributions associating with an L-moments method for constructing FFA models across Pakistan; (ii) we evaluated the best-fit distribution by using goodness-of-fit test and statistical criteria; and finally; (iii) we devised a Monte Carlo simulation to systematically evaluate the robustness of a selected distribution’s fitting performance by using a synthetic data series of different sizes. Our results indicated that generalized Pareto and Weibull emerged as the most viable options for quantifying hydrological quantiles for most of the river basins in Pakistan. Our main findings would provide rich information as references for flood risk assessment and water resource management in Pakistan.
Multi-Model Approaches for Improving Seasonal Ensemble Streamflow Prediction Scheme with Various Statistical Post-Processing Techniques in the Canadian Prairie Region
Authors: Muhammad Ameer , Stadnyk Tricia A. , Unduche Fisaha , Coulibaly Paulin
Published: November 2018

Hydrologic models are an approximation of reality, and thus, are not able to perfectly simulate observed streamflow because of various sources of uncertainty. On the other hand, skillful operational hydrologic forecasts are vital in water resources engineering and management for preparedness against flooding and extreme events. Multi-model techniques can be used to help represent and quantify various uncertainties in forecasting. In this paper, we assess the performance of a Multi-model Seasonal Ensemble Streamflow Prediction (MSESP) scheme coupled with statistical post-processing techniques to issue operational uncertainty for the Manitoba Hydrologic Forecasting Centre (HFC). The Ensemble Streamflow Predictions (ESPs) from WATFLOOD and SWAT hydrologic models were used along with four statistical post-processing techniques: Linear Regression (LR), Quantile Mapping (QM), Quantile Model Averaging (QMA), and Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA)]. The quality of MSESP was investigated from April to July with a lead time of three months for the Upper Assiniboine River Basin (UARB) at Kamsack, Canada. While multi-model ESPs coupled with post-processing techniques improve predictability (in general), results suggest that additional avenues for improving the skill and value of seasonal streamflow prediction. Next steps towards an operational ESP system include adding more operationally used models, improving models calibration methods to reduce model bias, increasing ESP sample size, and testing ESP schemes at multiple lead times, which, once developed, will not only help HFCs in Canada but would also help Centers South of the Border.
Spatial Prediction of Erosion Risk of a Small Mountainous Watershed Using RUSLE: A Case-Study of the Palar Sub-Watershed in Kodaikanal, South India
Authors: Sujatha Evangelin Ramani , Sridhar Venkataramana
Published: November 2018

An erosion model using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) equation derived from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Global Digital Elevation Model (ASTER G-DEM) and LANDSAT 8 is presented in the study. This model can be a cost-effective, quick and less labor-intensive tool for assessing erosion in small watersheds. It can also act as a vital input for the primary assessment of environmental degradation in the region, and can aid the formulation of watershed development planning strategies. The Palar River, which drains into Shanmukha Nadi, is a small mountain watershed. The town of Kodaikanal, a popular tourist attraction in Tamilnadu, forms part of this sub-watershed. This quaint, hill-town has been subjected to intense urbanization and exhaustive changes in its land use practices for the past decade. The consequence of this change is manifested in the intense environmental degradation of the region, which results in problems such as increased numbers of landslides, intense soil erosion, forest fires and land degradation. The nature of the terrain, high precipitation, and intense agriculture exponentially increase the rate of soil erosion. Spatial prediction of soil erosion is thereby a valuable and mandatory tool for sustainable land use practices and economic development of the region. A comprehensive methodology is employed to predict the spatial variation of soil erosion using the revised soil loss equation in a geographic information system (GIS) platform. The soil erosion susceptibility map shows a maximum annual soil loss of 3345 Mg·ha−1·y−1, which correlates with scrub forests, degraded forests, steep slopes, high drainage density and shifting cultivation practices. The erosion map shows that the central region is subjected to intense erosion while the inhabited southern part is less prone to erosion. A small patch of severe soil loss is also visible on the eastern part of the northern fringe. About 4% of the sub-watershed is severely affected by soil erosion and 18% falls within a moderate erosion zone. The growing demand for land and infrastructure development forces the shift of urbanization and agriculture to these less-managed spaces. In light of this scenario, the spatial distribution of erosion combined with terrain and hydro-morphometry can aid in sustainable development and promote healthy land use practices in the region.
Exploring Cancer Centres for Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Support for Breast Cancer Survivors
Authors: Fong A.J. , Jones J.M. , Faulkner G. , Sabiston C.M.
Published: November 2018

Background: Up to 90% of breast cancer survivors report low levels of physical activity (PA) and spend approximately 70% of the day in sedentary behaviour. Survivors might not be receiving information about the health benefits of PA and the consequences of sedentary behaviour in the context of their cancer. The primary purpose of the present study was to evaluate cancer centres for PA and sedentary behaviour information and infrastructure. A secondary aim was to evaluate the quality of the information that is accessible to breast cancer survivors in cancer centres. Methods: A built-environment scan of the 14 regional cancer centres in Ontario and an evaluation of the text materials about PA available at the cancer centres were completed. Data analyses included descriptive statistics, proportions, and inter-rater reliability. Results: The infrastructure of the cancer centres provided few opportunities for dissemination of information related to PA through signs and printed notices. Televisions were present in all waiting rooms, which could provide a unique opportunity for dissemination of information about PA and sedentary behaviour. Text materials were rated as trustworthy, used some behaviour change techniques (for example, information about the consequences of lack of PA, barrier identification, and setting graded tasks), and were aesthetically pleasing. These findings represent areas for knowledge dissemination both for the centre and for resources that could be further improved.
Access to care and outcomes for neuroendocrine tumours: does socioeconomic status matter?
Authors: Hallet J. , Coburn N. G. , Singh S. , Beyfuss K. , Koujanian S. , Liu N. , Law C. H.L.
Published: November 2018

Introduction Neuroendocrine tumours (nets) are a poorly understood malignancy lacking standardized care. Differences in socioeconomic status (ses) might worsen the effect of non-standardized care. We examined the effect of ses on net peri-diagnostic care patterns and outcomes.Methods In this population-based cohort study, net cases identified from a provincial cancer registry (1994–2009) were divided into low (1st and 2nd income quintiles) and high (3rd, 4th, and 5th quintiles) ses groups. We compared peri-diagnostic health care utilization (–2 years to +6 months), metastatic recurrence, and overall survival (os) between the groups.Results Of 4966 net patients, 38.3% had a low ses. Neither the primary net sites (p = 0.15), nor the metastatic presentation (p = 0.31) differed. Patients with low ses had a higher mean number of physician visits (20.1 ± 19.9 vs. 18.1 ± 16.5, p = 0.001) and imaging studies (56 ± 50 vs. 52 ± 44, p = 0.009) leading to the net diagnosis. Rates of primary tumour resection (p = 0.14), hepatectomy (p = 0.45), systemic therapy (p = 0.38), and liver embolization (p = 0.13) did not differ with ses. In the low-ses group, metastatic recurrence was more likely (41.1% vs. 37.6%, p = 0.01) during a median follow-up of 61.7 months, and the 10-year os was inferior (47.1% vs. 52.2%, p < 0.01). Low ses was associated with worse os (hazard ratio: 1.16; 95% confidence interval: 1.06 to 1.26) after adjustment for age, sex, comorbidity burden, primary net site, and rural living.ConclusionsLow ses was associated with more physician visits and imaging before a net diagnosis, but not with more advanced stage at presentation nor with an effect on the pattern of therapy. Long-term outcomes were inferior in the low-ses group. These data can help to inform the design of health care delivery for nets.
Survival Outcome Differences Based on Treatments Used and Knowledge of the Primary Tumour Site for Patients with Cancer of Unknown and Known Primary in Ontario
Authors: Kim C.S. , Hannouf M.B. , Sarma S. , Rodrigues G.B. , Rogan P.K. , Mahmud S.M. , Winquist E. , Brackstone M. , Zaric G.S.
Published: November 2018

Introduction: Patients with cancer of unknown primary (CUP) have pathologically confirmed metastatic tumours with unidentifiable primary tumours. Currently, very little is known about the relationship between the treatment of patients with CUP and their survival outcomes. Thus, we compared oncologic treatment and survival outcomes for patients in Ontario with CUP against those for a cohort of patients with metastatic cancer of known primary site. Methods: Using the Ontario Cancer Registry and the Same-Day Surgery and Discharge Abstract databases maintained by the Canadian Institute for Health Information, we identified all Ontario patients diagnosed with metastatic cancer between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2005. Ontario Health Insurance Plan treatment records were linked to identify codes for surgery, chemotherapy, or therapeutic radiation related to oncology. Multivariable Cox regression models were constructed, adjusting for histology, age, sex, and comorbidities. Results: In 45,347 patients (96.3%), the primary tumour site was identifiable, and in 1743 patients (3.7%), CUP was diagnosed. Among the main tumour sites, CUP ranked as the 6th largest. The mean Charlson score was significantly higher (p < 0.0001) in patients with CUP (1.88) than in those with a known primary (1.42). Overall median survival was 1.9 months for patients with CUP compared with 11.9 months for all patients with a known-primary cancer. Receipt of treatment was more likely for patients with a known primary site (n = 35,012, 77.2%) than for those with CUP (n = 891, 51.1%). Among patients with a known primary site, median survival was significantly higher for treated than for untreated patients (19.0 months vs. 2.2 months, p < 0.0001). Among patients with CUP, median survival was also higher for treated than for untreated patients (3.6 months vs. 1.1 months, p < 0.0001). Conclusions: In Ontario, patients with CUP experience significantly lower survival than do patients with metastatic cancer of a known primary site. Treatment is associated with significantly increased survival both for patients with CUP and for those with metastatic cancer of a known primary site.
Only If You View It through a Different Lens
Authors: Abusanad Atlal
Published: November 2018

Once, I was invited to give a lecture to undergraduate medical students during their cancer biology course. [...]
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION AND CREATIVITY: HOW IT ADVANCES IN RIGID STRUCTURES?
Authors: Smaliukienė Rasa , Survilas Antanas
Published: November 2018

A growing number of research papers present systematic investigations of creative behaviour in complex social systems rather than emphasise individual creativity; however, surprisingly little has been done to investigate communication at the workplace in which such creativity is revealed. It should also be noted that communication that takes place in rigid organizational structures and simultaneously activates creativity is phenomenon that has not yet been analysed. This article discusses organizational communication and its impact on creativity by analysing corporate, team and leadership communication levels, taking military as a research context. Thus, this research addresses the following two questions: (i) how is organizational communication related to creativity? and (ii) how communication on different levels contribute to organizational creativity in rigid structures? To answer these questions a theoretical multi-factor model was created and empirically tested using AMOS Software. On the basis of empirical findings, a three-level model of organizational communication for creativity in rigid organizational structures was proposed. Santrauka Vis daugiau mokslininkų kūrybišką elgesį analizuoja sudėtingose socialinėse sistemose ir atsisako siauro požiūrio į individo kūrybiškumą; kartu kūrybiškumas darbo vietoje, t. y. aplinkoje, kurioje jis gimsta, yra mažai nagrinėjamas. Kūrybiškumas, kaip organizacijos fenomenas, uždarose organizacinėse struktūrose nėra tiriamas apskritai. Kad būtų užpildyta ši mokslo žinių spraga, organizacinis kūrybiškumas šiame straipsnyje analizuojamas kariuomenės kontekste. Straipsnyje tiriama organizacinė komunikacija ir jos poveikis kūrybiškumui. Organizacinė komunikacija tyrime išskaidoma į tris lygmenis: korporacinį, komandos ir vadovo-pavaldinio. Straipsnyje nagrinėjami du klausimai: 1) kaip komunikacija yra susijusi su kūrybiškumu; 2) kaip komunikacija skirtingais lygmenimis prisideda prie organizacinio kūrybiškumo uždarose hierarchinėse struktūrose. Atsakant į šiuos klausimus buvo sukurtas teorinis daugiafaktoris modelis, kuris empiriškai patikrintas naudojant AMOS programą. Remiantis empiriniais duomenimis, buvo pasiūlytas trijų lygių organizacinės komunikacijos modelis, skirtas kūrybiškumui skatinti uždarose organizacinėse struktūrose.
New records of Agromyzidae (Diptera) from Switzerland and an updated checklist
Authors: Černý Miloš , Bächli Gerhard
Published: November 2018

Here, we investigate about 5500 previously unidentified specimens from the collection of Gerhard Bächli. A total of 108 agromyzid species were added to the fauna of Switzerland. Consequently, the species richness of the Swiss agromyzids was increased to 395 species. The checklist of Agromyzidae of Switzerland was updated, and the complete list presented in appendix.
Karyotypic description of the stingless bee Melipona quinquefasciata Lepeletier, 1836 (Hymenoptera, Meliponini) with emphasis on the presence of B chromosomes
Authors: Silva Alexandra Avelar , Rocha Marla Piumbini , Pompolo Silvia das Graças , Campos Lucio Antonio de Oliveira , Tavares Mara Garcia
Published: November 2018

Stingless bees are distributed widely in the tropics, where they are major pollinators of several plant species. In this study, the karyotype ofMeliponaquinquefasciataLepeletier, 1836 was analysed, with emphasis on the presence of B chromosomes. Post-defecating larvae were analysed using Giemsa staining, the C-banding technique, sequential staining with fluorochromes, and FISH. The chromosome number ranged from 2n = 18 to 22 (females) and from n = 9 to 13 (males) due to the presence of 0–4 B chromosomes. This result demonstrates thatM.quinquefasciatahas the same chromosomal number as otherMeliponaIlliger, 1806 species. Considering the A complement, heterochromatin was located only in the pericentromeric region of pair 1. Staining with chromomycin A3(CMA3) and labelling with rDNA probe, indicated that this region corresponded to the nucleolus organising region. The B chromosomes ofM.quinquefasciatacould be found in individuals from different localities, they were completely heterochromatic (C-banding) and uniformly stained by 4’,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI). Variations in the number of B chromosomes were detected between cells of the same individual, between individuals of the same colony, and between colonies from different localities.
Matching social-ecological systems by understanding the spatial scale of environmental attitudes
Authors: Andreassen Harry P. , Gangaas Kristin E. , Kaltenborn Bjørn P.
Published: November 2018

Mismatching in the spatial scales of social structures and ecological processes complicates the management of natural resources. Here we suggest the use of variance components to determine at which spatial scale variation in feelings, environmental attitudes and value orientation is largest and hence most exposed to conflicts. We estimated the variance components of the feeling of fear for large carnivores, environmental attitudes towards large carnivores and environmental value orientation at 3 scales (municipality, county and country) in Norway and Sweden. The feeling of fear for specific carnivores had the highest variance components at the municipality level, we found no specific scale that best explained the variance in attitudes towards carnivores in general, while attitudes based on environmental value orientation showed the highest variance components at the country level. To match the social-ecological systems, we conclude that management units have to be designed as the best possible trade-off between the social and ecological scales; i.e. largest possible to maintain ecological sustainability, but small enough to maintain a low degree of social conflicts.