bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evaluating financial education initiatives in South Africa: The importance of multiple evaluation approaches
Authors: Massey Emily , Wyatt Alyna , Smit Caitlin
Published: June 2016

Background: Given the low levels of financial literacy in South Africa, financial education projects have a significant role to play in reducing some of the demand side barriers to financial inclusion. Measuring the impact of a financial education project is important to assess whether the project achieves its ultimate objectives, for justifying scaling up and for policy design. However, impact evaluations alone are not sufficient in describing the success or failure of a project.Objectives: This study aims to show that, particularly in a South African context, where investment in financial education interventions is mandated by the Financial Sector Codes, impact should not be the only criterion assessed when evaluating financial education projects.Research method and design: This study was informed by a literature review, a synthesis of team experience on a range of financial education projects in South Africa and the development of case studies.Results: Describing the success or failure of a project needs to go beyond impact and explore factors such as project relevance, design and quality. In order to verify these other factors, different types of evaluations are necessary at the various stages of the project’s life-cycle.Conclusion: Expanding the learning objective beyond the exclusive identification of whether financial behaviour was achieved is particularly important where financial education projects, and the monitoring and evaluation thereof, is mandated. In the African context, where resources are scarce, money for monitoring and evaluation should be selectively channelled into determining project relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and then only impact.
The prevalence of poor ocular motilities in a mainstream school compared to two learning-disabled schools in Johannesburg
Authors: Metsing Ingrid T. , Ferreira Jannie T.
Published: June 2016

Background: Ocular motilities play a major role when reading for the continuous acquisition and updating of visually presented information. Accurate oculomotor control is required to be able to learn how to read and to efficiently read to learn. This process requires accurate decoding accomplished by precise oculomotor control.Aim: A comparison of the prevalence of poor ocular motilities between mainstream and learning-disabled schools were explored from three different schools; one mainstream and two disabled schools. One hundred and ninety-two children, age range 8–13 years (mean = 10.30, s.d.: ± 0.999) in grades 3 and 4, with 112 children from the two learning-disabled schools and 80 children from the mainstream school participated in the study.Method: The standardised direct observation test, using the Northeastern State University College of Optometry scoring criteria, was used to evaluate saccadic and pursuit eye movements. Fixation maintenance was evaluated using the Southern California College of Optometry scoring criteria. The Gulden fixation stick with a 6/24 letter E was used as a fixation target.Results: The results showed that children from the learning-disabled schools appeared to have a higher incidence of poor saccadic accuracy compared with children from the mainstream school. No significant associations in both the mainstream and the learning-disabled children were found for head movements, pursuits and fixation ability. However, the results suggest a statistically significant association between poor saccadic accuracy and children from the learning-disabled schools. Conclusion: This study provides further evidence for a link between poor saccadic accuracy and children from the school of the learning disabled. Keywords: Ocular motor dysfunction, saccadics, pursuits, learning disability, schools, fixation ability, visual attention
Feeding holy bodies: A study on the social meanings of a vegetarian diet to Seventh-day Adventist church pioneers
Authors: Sánchez Ruben , Gelabert Ramon , Badilla Yasna , Del Valle Carlos
Published: June 2016

Ten years ago National Geographic magazine reported that the Loma Linda Seventh-day Adventist population is one of the communities in the world that lives longer and with a higher quality of life thanks in part to the biological benefits of a vegetarian diet. Along with National Geographic, other media outlets have reported since then that the Adventist religious community considers a plant-based diet a very important factor for a healthy lifestyle. Adventists have been promoting this type of diet worldwide for more than 150 years. This article is an attempt to understand from a social-scientific perspective the origin of the importance they lend to diet and see whether this helps explain why approximately 150 years after the founding of the church, diet remains crucial for Adventists around the world. The conclusion proposed is that Adventists understood the adoption of a plant-based diet as a special divine instruction in order to nourish their new identity as a special people differentiated from the rest of society. This was possible through a desecularisation of diet that placed food in the moral category of the Adventist belief system.Keywords: Seventh-day Adventist Church; vegetarian diet; religion; health; desecularisation; identity
Marriage and family in view of the doctrine of the covenant
Authors: Vorster Jakobus M.
Published: June 2016

New emerging paradigms in Western culture have produced a new ethic. Not only social ethics in general but the ethics of marriage and family life are changing rapidly. This new ethic has inter alia a strong bearing on marriage and family life, relationships explained by traditional Christian ethics. The traditional idea of heterosexual official marriages is challenged by new forms of civil relationships such as cohabitation, temporary relationships and civil unions between gay couples. Scholars even speak of the postmodernist marriage that, according to them, differs entirely from the traditional Christian idea of marriage. This article focuses on the concepts of marriage and family life against the background of the emerging postmodern and post-secular ethic and its consequences for the traditional view of marriage as a biblical institution. The central theoretical argument is that the concept of marriage in the biblical testimony should be defined and developed within the doctrine of the covenant and that such as view, with certain modifications, can still provide ethical directives and new perspectives on marital life for Christians today.Keywords: Marriage; Covenant; Post Modernism: Secular; Family
Synthesis and analysis CdSe Quantum dot with a Microfluidic Reactor Using a Combinatorial Synthesis System
Authors: Hong Myung Hwan , Lee Duk-Hee , Kang Lee-Seung , Lee Chan Gi , Kim Bum-Sung , Kim Nam-Hoon
Published: June 2016

A microfluidic reactor with computer-controlled programmable isocratic pumps and online detectors is employed as a combinatorial synthesis system to synthesize and analyze materials for fabricating CdSe quantum dots for various applications. Four reaction condition parameters, namely, the reaction temperature, reaction time, Cd/Se compositional ratio, and precursor concentration, are combined in synthesis condition sets, and the size of the synthesized CdSe quantum dots is determined for each condition. The average time corresponding to each reaction condition for obtaining the ultraviolet–visible absorbance and photoluminescence spectra is approximately 10 min. Using the data from the combinatorial synthesis system, the effects of the reaction conditions on the synthesized CdSe quantum dots are determined. Further, the data is used to determine the relationships between the reaction conditions and the CdSe particle size. This method should aid in determining and selecting the optimal conditions for synthesizing nanoparticles for diverse applications.
Optical Characteristics of CdSe/ZnS Quantum Dot with Precursor Flow Rate Synthesized by using Microreactor
Authors: Park Ji Young , Jeong Da-Woon , Ju Won , Seo Han Wook , Choa Yong-Ho , Kim Bum Sung
Published: June 2016

High-quality colloidal CdSe/ZnS (core/shell) is synthesized using a continuous microreactor. The particle size of the synthesized quantum dots (QDs) is a function of the precursor flow rate; as the precursor flow rate increases, the size of the QDs decreases and the band gap energy increases. The photoluminescence properties are found to depend strongly on the flow rate of the CdSe precursor owing to the change in the core size. In addition, a gradual shift in the maximum luminescent wave (λmax) to shorter wavelengths (blue shift) is found owing to the decrease in the QD size in accordance with the quantum confinement effect. The ZnS shell decreases the surface defect concentration of CdSe. It also lowers the thermal energy dissipation by increasing the concentration of recombination. Thus, a relatively high emission and quantum yield occur because of an increase in the optical energy emitted at equal concentration. In addition, the maximum quantum yield is derived for process conditions of 0.35 ml/min and is related to the optimum thickness of the shell material.
Hurricane Sandy’s impact on the predisaster homeless and homeless shelter services in New Jersey
Authors: Settembrino, PhD Marc R.
Published: June 2016

Presently, there is little research on how people experiencing homelessness prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. Existing emergency management literature does not provide an understanding of how disasters affect homeless shelter services. The present study seeks to fill these gaps by examining how Hurricane Sandy impacted homeless shelters and their guests in New Jersey. Presenting findings from ethnographic research in Atlantic City and Hoboken, this study identifies several areas in which homeless shelters and their guests may be able to assist in emergency response and disaster recovery such as preparing meals for victims, sorting and processing donated items, and assisting victims in filing for emergency assistance.
Major accident prevention through applying safety knowledge management approach
Authors: Kalatpour, MSc, PhD Omid
Published: June 2016

Objective: Many scattered resources of knowledge are available to use for chemical accident prevention purposes. The common approach to management process safety, including using databases and referring to the available knowledge has some drawbacks. The main goal of this article was to devise a new emerged knowledge base (KB) for the chemical accident prevention domain.Design: The scattered sources of safety knowledge were identified and scanned. Then, the collected knowledge was formalized through a computerized program. The Protégé software was used to formalize and represent the stored safety knowledge.Results: The domain knowledge retrieved as well as data and information. This optimized approach improved safety and health knowledge management (KM) process and resolved some typical problems in the KM process.Conclusion: Upgrading the traditional resources of safety databases into the KBs can improve the interaction between the users and knowledge repository.
Derivation of physical and optical properties of mid-latitude cirrus ice crystals for a size-resolved cloud microphysics model
Authors: Fridlind Ann M. , Atlas Rachel , van Diedenhoven Bastiaan , Um Junshik , McFarquhar Greg M. , Ackerman Andrew S. , Moyer Elisabeth J. , Lawson R. Paul
Published: June 2016

Abstract. Single-crystal images collected in mid-latitude cirrus are analyzed to provide internally consistent ice physical and optical properties for a size-resolved cloud microphysics model, including single-particle mass, projected area, fall speed, capacitance, single-scattering albedo, and asymmetry parameter. Using measurements gathered during two flights through a widespread synoptic cirrus shield, bullet rosettes are found to be the dominant identifiable habit among ice crystals with maximum dimension (Dmax) greater than 100 µm. Properties are therefore first derived for bullet rosettes based on measurements of arm lengths and widths, then for aggregates of bullet rosettes and for unclassified (irregular) crystals. Derived bullet rosette masses are substantially greater than reported in existing literature, whereas measured projected areas are similar or lesser, resulting in factors of 1.5–2 greater fall speeds, and, in the limit of large Dmax, near-infrared single-scattering albedo and asymmetry parameter (g) greater by  ∼  0.2 and 0.05, respectively. A model that includes commonly imaged side plane growth on bullet rosettes exhibits relatively little difference in microphysical and optical properties aside from  ∼ 0.05 increase in mid-visible g primarily attributable to plate aspect ratio. In parcel simulations, ice size distribution, and g are sensitive to assumed ice properties.
Interpreting space-based trends in carbon monoxide with multiple models
Authors: Strode Sarah A. , Worden Helen M. , Damon Megan , Douglass Anne R. , Duncan Bryan N. , Emmons Louisa K. , Lamarque Jean-Francois , Manyin Michael , Oman Luke D. , Rodriguez Jose M. , Strahan Susan E. , Tilmes Simone
Published: June 2016

Abstract. We use a series of chemical transport model and chemistry climate model simulations to investigate the observed negative trends in MOPITT CO over several regions of the world, and to examine the consistency of time-dependent emission inventories with observations. We find that simulations driven by the MACCity inventory, used for the Chemistry Climate Modeling Initiative (CCMI), reproduce the negative trends in the CO column observed by MOPITT for 2000–2010 over the eastern United States and Europe. However, the simulations have positive trends over eastern China, in contrast to the negative trends observed by MOPITT. The model bias in CO, after applying MOPITT averaging kernels, contributes to the model–observation discrepancy in the trend over eastern China. This demonstrates that biases in a model's average concentrations can influence the interpretation of the temporal trend compared to satellite observations. The total ozone column plays a role in determining the simulated tropospheric CO trends. A large positive anomaly in the simulated total ozone column in 2010 leads to a negative anomaly in OH and hence a positive anomaly in CO, contributing to the positive trend in simulated CO. These results demonstrate that accurately simulating variability in the ozone column is important for simulating and interpreting trends in CO.
HIERARCHICAL HIGHER ORDER CRF FOR THE CLASSIFICATION OF AIRBORNE LIDAR POINT CLOUDS IN URBAN AREAS
Authors: Niemeyer J. , Rottensteiner F. , Soergel U. , Heipke C.
Published: June 2016

Abstract. We propose a novel hierarchical approach for the classification of airborne 3D lidar points. Spatial and semantic context is incorporated via a two-layer Conditional Random Field (CRF). The first layer operates on a point level and utilises higher order cliques. Segments are generated from the labelling obtained in this way. They are the entities of the second layer, which incorporates larger scale context. The classification result of the segments is introduced as an energy term for the next iteration of the point-based layer. This framework iterates and mutually propagates context to improve the classification results. Potentially wrong decisions can be revised at later stages. The output is a labelled point cloud as well as segments roughly corresponding to object instances. Moreover, we present two new contextual features for the segment classification: the distance and the orientation of a segment with respect to the closest road. It is shown that the classification benefits from these features. In our experiments the hierarchical framework improve the overall accuracies by 2.3% on a point-based level and by 3.0% on a segment-based level, respectively, compared to a purely point-based classification.
CLASSIFICATION OF PHOTOGRAMMETRIC POINT CLOUDS OF SCAFFOLDS FOR CONSTRUCTION SITE MONITORING USING SUBSPACE CLUSTERING AND PCA
Authors: Xu Y. , Tuttas S. , Heogner L. , Stilla U.
Published: June 2016

Abstract. This paper presents an approach for the classification of photogrammetric point clouds of scaffolding components in a construction site, aiming at making a preparation for the automatic monitoring of construction site by reconstructing an as-built Building Information Model (as-built BIM). The points belonging to tubes and toeboards of scaffolds will be distinguished via subspace clustering process and principal components analysis (PCA) algorithm. The overall workflow includes four essential processing steps. Initially, the spherical support region of each point is selected. In the second step, the normalized cut algorithm based on spectral clustering theory is introduced for the subspace clustering, so as to select suitable subspace clusters of points and avoid outliers. Then, in the third step, the feature of each point is calculated by measuring distances between points and the plane of local reference frame defined by PCA in cluster. Finally, the types of points are distinguished and labelled through a supervised classification method, with random forest algorithm used. The effectiveness and applicability of the proposed steps are investigated in both simulated test data and real scenario. The results obtained by the two experiments reveal that the proposed approaches are qualified to the classification of points belonging to linear shape objects having different shapes of sections. For the tests using synthetic point cloud, the classification accuracy can reach 80%, with the condition contaminated by noise and outliers. For the application in real scenario, our method can also achieve a classification accuracy of better than 63%, without using any information about the normal vector of local surface.
New Approach for forest inventory estimation and timber harvesting planning in mountain areas: the SLOPE project
Authors: Prandi F. , Magliocchetti D. , Poveda A. , De Amicis R. , Andreolli M. , Devigili F.
Published: June 2016

Abstract. Forests represent an important economic resource for mountainous areas being for a few region and mountain communities the main form of income. However, wood chain management in these contexts differs from the traditional schemes due to the limits imposed by terrain morphology, both for the operation planning aspects and the hardware requirements. In fact, forest organizational and technical problems require a wider strategic and detailed level of planning to reach the level of productivity of forest operation techniques applied on flatlands. In particular, a perfect knowledge of forest inventories improves long-term management sustainability and efficiency allowing a better understanding of forest ecosystems. However, this knowledge is usually based on historical parcel information with only few cases of remote sensing information from satellite imageries. This is not enough to fully exploit the benefit of the mountain areas forest stocks where the economic and ecological value of each single parcel depends on singletree characteristics. The work presented in this paper, based on the results of the SLOPE (Integrated proceSsing and controL systems fOr sustainable forest Production in mountain arEas) project, investigates the capability to generate, manage and visualize detailed virtual forest models using geospatial information, combining data acquired from traditional on-the-field laser scanning surveys technologies with new aerial survey through UAV systems. These models are then combined with interactive 3D virtual globes for continuous assessment of resource characteristics, harvesting planning and real-time monitoring of the whole production.
CORRECTION OF AIRBORNE PUSHBROOM IMAGES ORIENTATION USING BUNDLE ADJUSTMENT OF FRAME IMAGES
Authors: Barbieux K. , Constantin D. , Merminod B.
Published: June 2016

Abstract. To compute hyperspectral orthophotos of an area, one may proceed like for standard RGB orthophotos : equip an aircraft or a drone with the appropriate camera, a GPS and an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). The position and attitude data from the navigation sensors, together with the collected images, can be input to a bundle adjustment which refines the estimation of the parameters and allows to create 3D models or orthophotos of the scene. But most of the hyperspectral cameras are pushbrooms sensors : they acquire lines of pixels. The bundle adjustment identifies tie points (using their 2D neighbourhoods) between different images to stitch them together. This is impossible when the input images are lines. To get around this problem, we propose a method that can be used when both a frame RGB camera and a hyperspectral pushbroom camera are used during the same flight. We first use the bundle adjustment theory to obtain corrected navigation parameters for the RGB camera. Then, assuming a small boresight between the RGB camera and the navigation sensors, we can estimate this boresight as well as the corrected position and attitude parameters for the navigation sensors. Finally, supposing that the boresight between these sensors and the pushbroom camera is constant during the flight, we can retrieve it by matching manually corresponding pairs of points between the current projection and a reference. Comparison between the direct georeferencing and the georeferencing with our method on three flights performed during the Leman-Baikal project shows great improvement of the ground accuracy.
DETECTING LINEAR FEATURES BY SPATIAL POINT PROCESSES
Authors: Chai Dengfeng , Schmidt Alena , Heipke Christian
Published: June 2016

Abstract. This paper proposes a novel approach for linear feature detection. The contribution is twofold: a novel model for spatial point processes and a new method for linear feature detection. It describes a linear feature as a string of points, represents all features in an image as a configuration of a spatial point process, and formulates feature detection as finding the optimal configuration of a spatial point process. Further, a prior term is proposed to favor straight linear configurations, and a data term is constructed to superpose the points on linear features. The proposed approach extracts straight linear features in a global framework. The paper reports ongoing work. As demonstrated in preliminary experiments, globally optimal linear features can be detected.
SPATIAL-TEMPORAL PATTERN OF VEGETATION INDEX CHANGE AND THE RELATIONSHIP TO LAND SURFACE TEMPERATURE IN ZOIGE
Authors: Chen Z. , Jiang W. G. , Tang Z. H. , Jia K.
Published: June 2016

Abstract. The Zoige wetland is the largest alpine peat wetland in China, and it has been degrading since 1960s. MODIS Enhance Vegetation Index (EVI) and Land Surface Temperature (LST) products in late august from 2000 to 2014 were employed to explore vegetation index and land surface temperature change tendency and to perform Temperature Vegetation Dryness Index (TVDI). The correlation between the annual mean of EVI and annual mean of LST was also calculated at pixel scale. The main purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between wetland degradation and climate change. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) Average EVI in Zoige plateau tended to be decreasing from 2000 to 2014, especially after 2007. In wetland areas, the annual mean of EVI were negative, while the slope were positive. It showed that the water storage of wetlands in Zoige plateau had been decreasing in the past 15 years and will keep decreasing in the future. (2) Overall, LST in the whole Zoige plateau had been increasing since 2000. While the minimum TVDI increased from 2000 to 2008 and then decreased. The change of TVDI suggested that drought should be a main factor that lead to wetland degradation in Zoige. (3) The uneven distribution of the correlation between EVI and LST suggested that LST is also one of the main reasons of wetland degradation.
MACHINE LEARNING BASED ROAD DETECTION FROM HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGERY
Authors: Lv Ye , Wang Guofeng , Hu Xiangyun
Published: June 2016

Abstract. At present, remote sensing technology is the best weapon to get information from the earth surface, and it is very useful in geo- information updating and related applications. Extracting road from remote sensing images is one of the biggest demand of rapid city development, therefore, it becomes a hot issue. Roads in high-resolution images are more complex, patterns of roads vary a lot, which becomes obstacles for road extraction. In this paper, a machine learning based strategy is presented. The strategy overall uses the geometry features, radiation features, topology features and texture features. In high resolution remote sensing images, the images cover a great scale of landscape, thus, the speed of extracting roads is slow. So, roads’ ROIs are firstly detected by using Houghline detection and buffering method to narrow down the detecting area. As roads in high resolution images are normally in ribbon shape, mean-shift and watershed segmentation methods are used to extract road segments. Then, Real Adaboost supervised machine learning algorithm is used to pick out segments that contain roads’ pattern. At last, geometric shape analysis and morphology methods are used to prune and restore the whole roads’ area and to detect the centerline of roads.
ADVANCED EXTRACTION OF SPATIAL INFORMATION FROM HIGH RESOLUTION SATELLITE DATA
Authors: Pour T. , Burian J. , Miřijovský J.
Published: June 2016

Abstract. In this paper authors processed five satellite image of five different Middle-European cities taken by five different sensors. The aim of the paper was to find methods and approaches leading to evaluation and spatial data extraction from areas of interest. For this reason, data were firstly pre-processed using image fusion, mosaicking and segmentation processes. Results going into the next step were two polygon layers; first one representing single objects and the second one representing city blocks. In the second step, polygon layers were classified and exported into Esri shapefile format. Classification was partly hierarchical expert based and partly based on the tool SEaTH used for separability distinction and thresholding. Final results along with visual previews were attached to the original thesis. Results are evaluated visually and statistically in the last part of the paper. In the discussion author described difficulties of working with data of large size, taken by different sensors and different also thematically.
IMAGE LABELING FOR LIDAR INTENSITY IMAGE USING K-NN OF FEATURE OBTAINED BY CONVOLUTIONAL NEURAL NETWORK
Authors: Umemura Masaki , Hotta Kazuhiro , Nonaka Hideki , Oda Kazuo
Published: June 2016

Abstract. We propose an image labeling method for LIDAR intensity image obtained by Mobile Mapping System (MMS) using K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) of feature obtained by Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). Image labeling assigns labels (e.g., road, cross-walk and road shoulder) to semantic regions in an image. Since CNN is effective for various image recognition tasks, we try to use the feature of CNN (Caffenet) pre-trained by ImageNet. We use 4,096-dimensional feature at fc7 layer in the Caffenet as the descriptor of a region because the feature at fc7 layer has effective information for object classification. We extract the feature by the Caffenet from regions cropped from images. Since the similarity between features reflects the similarity of contents of regions, we can select top K similar regions cropped from training samples with a test region. Since regions in training images have manually-annotated ground truth labels, we vote the labels attached to top K similar regions to the test region. The class label with the maximum vote is assigned to each pixel in the test image. In experiments, we use 36 LIDAR intensity images with ground truth labels. We divide 36 images into training (28 images) and test sets (8 images). We use class average accuracy and pixel-wise accuracy as evaluation measures. Our method was able to assign the same label as human beings in 97.8% of the pixels in test LIDAR intensity images.
CONTEXTUAL LAND USE CLASSIFICATION: HOW DETAILED CAN THE CLASS STRUCTURE BE?
Authors: Albert L. , Rottensteiner F. , Heipke C.
Published: June 2016

Abstract. The goal of this paper is to investigate the maximum level of semantic resolution that can be achieved in an automated land use change detection process based on mono-temporal, multi-spectral, high-resolution aerial image data. For this purpose, we perform a step-wise refinement of the land use classes that follows the hierarchical structure of most object catalogues for land use databases. The investigation is based on our previous work for the simultaneous contextual classification of aerial imagery to determine land cover and land use. Land cover is determined at the level of small image segments. Land use classification is applied to objects from the geospatial database. Experiments are carried out on two test areas with different characteristics and are intended to evaluate the step-wise refinement of the land use classes empirically. The experiments show that a semantic resolution of ten classes still delivers acceptable results, where the accuracy of the results depends on the characteristics of the test areas used. Furthermore, we confirm that the incorporation of contextual knowledge, especially in the form of contextual features, is beneficial for land use classification.
THE USE OF MULTIPLE DATA SOURCES IN THE PROCESS OF TOPOGRAPHIC MAPS UPDATING
Authors: Cantemir A. , Visan A. , Parvulescu N. , Dogaru M.
Published: June 2016

Abstract. The methods used in the process of updating maps have evolved and become more complex, especially upon the development of the digital technology. At the same time, the development of technology has led to an abundance of available data that can be used in the updating process. The data sources came in a great variety of forms and formats from different acquisition sensors. Satellite images provided by certain satellite missions are now available on space agencies portals. Images stored in archives of satellite missions such us Sentinel, Landsat and other can be downloaded free of charge.The main advantages are represented by the large coverage area and rather good spatial resolution that enables the use of these images for the map updating at an appropriate scale. In our study we focused our research of these images on 1: 50.000 scale map. DEM that are globally available could represent an appropriate input for watershed delineation and stream network generation, that can be used as support for hydrography thematic layer update. If, in addition to remote sensing aerial photogrametry and LiDAR data are ussed, the accuracy of data sources is enhanced. Ortophotoimages and Digital Terrain Models are the main products that can be used for feature extraction and update. On the other side, the use of georeferenced analogical basemaps represent a significant addition to the process. Concerning the thematic maps, the classic representation of the terrain by contour lines derived from DTM, remains the best method of surfacing the earth on a map, nevertheless the correlation with other layers such as Hidrography are mandatory. In the context of the current national coverage of the Digital Terrain Model, one of the main concerns of the National Center of Cartography, through the Cartography and Photogrammetry Department, is represented by the exploitation of the available data in order to update the layers of the Topographic Reference Map 1:5000, known as TOPRO5 and at the same time, through the generalization and additional data sources of the Romanian 1:50 000 scale map. This paper also investigates the general perspective of DTM automatic use derived products in the process of updating the topographic maps.
COMPARISON OF OPEN SOURCE COMPRESSION ALGORITHMS ON VHR REMOTE SENSING IMAGES FOR EFFICIENT STORAGE HIERARCHY
Authors: Akoguz A. , Bozkurt S. , Gozutok A. A. , Alp G. , Turan E. G. , Bogaz M. , Kent S.
Published: June 2016

Abstract. High resolution level in satellite imagery came with its fundamental problem as big amount of telemetry data which is to be stored after the downlink operation. Moreover, later the post-processing and image enhancement steps after the image is acquired, the file sizes increase even more and then it gets a lot harder to store and consume much more time to transmit the data from one source to another; hence, it should be taken into account that to save even more space with file compression of the raw and various levels of processed data is a necessity for archiving stations to save more space. Lossless data compression algorithms that will be examined in this study aim to provide compression without any loss of data holding spectral information. Within this objective, well-known open source programs supporting related compression algorithms have been implemented on processed GeoTIFF images of Airbus Defence & Spaces SPOT 6 & 7 satellites having 1.5 m. of GSD, which were acquired and stored by ITU Center for Satellite Communications and Remote Sensing (ITU CSCRS), with the algorithms Lempel-Ziv-Welch (LZW), Lempel-Ziv-Markov chain Algorithm (LZMA & LZMA2), Lempel-Ziv-Oberhumer (LZO), Deflate & Deflate 64, Prediction by Partial Matching (PPMd or PPM2), Burrows-Wheeler Transform (BWT) in order to observe compression performances of these algorithms over sample datasets in terms of how much of the image data can be compressed by ensuring lossless compression.
USING THIRD PARTY DATA TO UPDATE A REFERENCE DATASET IN A QUALITY EVALUATION SERVICE
Authors: Xavier E. M. A. , Ariza-López F. J. , Ureña-Cámara M. A.
Published: June 2016

Abstract. Nowadays it is easy to find many data sources for various regions around the globe. In this 'data overload' scenario there are few, if any, information available about the quality of these data sources. In order to easily provide these data quality information we presented the architecture of a web service for the automation of quality control of spatial datasets running over a Web Processing Service (WPS). For quality procedures that require an external reference dataset, like positional accuracy or completeness, the architecture permits using a reference dataset. However, this reference dataset is not ageless, since it suffers the natural time degradation inherent to geospatial features. In order to mitigate this problem we propose the Time Degradation & Updating Module which intends to apply assessed data as a tool to maintain the reference database updated. The main idea is to utilize datasets sent to the quality evaluation service as a source of 'candidate data elements' for the updating of the reference database. After the evaluation, if some elements of a candidate dataset reach a determined quality level, they can be used as input data to improve the current reference database. In this work we present the first design of the Time Degradation & Updating Module. We believe that the outcomes can be applied in the search of a full-automatic on-line quality evaluation platform.
La teoría de los diferenciales de Salomon Maimon, la pregunta quid juris y la posibilidad de la metafísica como ciencia
Authors: Pringe Hernán
Published: June 2016

Este trabajo estudia la teoría de los diferenciales de Salomon Maimon como respuesta a la cuestión quid juris y a la vez como clave para la fundamentación de la posibilidad de la metafísica como ciencia. Se reconstruye primero la crítica de Maimon al tratamiento kantiano de la pregunta quid juris. Luego, se analiza la respuesta del propio Maimon a esa pregunta, para establecer finalmente cómo tal respuesta abre el camino para la explicación de la posibilidad de la metafísica como ciencia.
Una filosofía en acción: Carl Einstein y Die Fabrikation der Fiktionen
Authors: De Luelmo José María
Published: June 2016

Si Carl Einstein sigue siendo de por sí una figura marginal dentro de la cultura alemana, su obra Die Fabrikation der Fiktionen permanece desatendida incluso entre sus estudiosos pese a contener valiosísimas claves para entender el cruce entre filosofía y política que caracteriza a buena parte del pensamiento europeo del siglo XX. Así las cosas, tras una parte inicial donde se dibuja a grandes rasgos la personalidad del autor y se toma el pulso a sus últimas ideas y acciones, el artículo despliega un examen detenido de la obra, realizando en primera instancia un cotejo de las distintas interpretaciones que de ella se han venido haciendo, y llevando después a cabo una nueva lectura de sus principales ideas fuerza –el conflicto entre Realität y Wirklichkeit o el propio concepto de Fiktion– y una valoración de la empresa einsteiniana mediante su contraste con ciertas obras de pensadores coetáneos como Siegfried Kracauer y Paul Nizan.
COMPARISON OF THE STRENGTH OF NORMAL AND EDGE-CUT TENSILE SPECIMENS OF STYRENE–BUTADIENE RUBBER AND NATURAL RUBBER WITH SIMILAR CROSSLINK DENSITY
Authors: Rong G. , Hamed G. R. , Jiang J.
Published: June 2016

Edge cuts of various depths, c, were introduced into tensile specimens of similarly crosslinked (ρc ≈ 6 (10−5) moles of crosslinks/mL) gum (unfilled) natural rubber (NR) and gum styrene–butadiene rubber (SBR). When specimens contained no intentional cut (c = 0, i.e., normal tensile strength), the NR is about 10 times as strong as the SBR. This difference is due to the stereoregularity (cis-1,4-polyisoprene) of NR, enabling it to strain crystallize when deformed. On the other hand, SBR has an irregular, amorphous microstructure that renders it incapable of crystallization. However, for test pieces that contain an edge cut, the strength, σbc, of the NR relative to that of the SBR depends strongly on cut depth. When c ≈ 0.2 mm, the strength of both vulcanizates is reduced about 50%, and hence the ratio of strengths remains about an order of magnitude. But, with a further increase in c, the SBR exhibits a steady decrease in σbc, while the strength of the NR drops discontinuously by nearly a factor of four when c ≈ 1.7 mm. Now, the NR is only about two and one half times as strong as the SBR. Extrapolation of σbc to larger c results in a predicted cut depth c ≈ 4.3 mm, at which the strength of the NR and SBR would be similar. At sufficiently large cut depth, it appears that strain rate at the cut tip is high enough and breaking strain low enough that rupture occurs before significant strain crystallization commences.
The Leadership Challenge in Sudan: The Dynamics of Sustainable Failure
Authors: Elmedni Bakry
Published: June 2016

This is a theoretical contribution to the historic transformation from traditional type of leadership to modern leadership. In traditional forms of leadership, tribal and sectarian politics are the means through which one can rise to leadership position. In modern leadership forms, knowledge, expertise and education create authority and people can become leaders because of competence and knowledge. The paper is an attempt to partially explain why the latter form of leadership failed and continue to fail in Sudan as well as in other developing nations.
Calidad de plántulas de tres especies forrajeras (Moringa oleifera Lam., Leucaena leucocephala y Cajanus cajan) en condiciones de vivero
Authors: Noguera-Talavera Álvaro , Reyes-Sánchez Nadir , Membreño Juan José , Duarte-Aguilar Carlos , Mendieta-Araica Bryan
Published: June 2016

Con el objetivo de caracterizar el comportamiento inicial de Moringa oleifera y profundizar en las ventajas de esta especie, en comparación con otras forrajeras de rápido crecimiento (Leucaena leucocephala y Cajanus cajan); se realizó en el vivero de la Facultad de Recursos Naturales y del Ambiente, un ensayo en diseño completamente aleatorio con 20 repeticiones por especie. Se realizó un conteo diario de germinación por un periodo de tres semanas (21 días); mientras patrones de crecimiento fueron determinados a partir de evaluaciones semanales de diámetro basal y raíz, longitud de tallo y raíz, y número de raíces secundarias; así como producción de biomasa expresada en peso seco y peso fresco de la parte área y radicular, en muestra de ocho plantas destruidas semanalmente. La comparación en el desempeño de cada especie fue contrastada mediante el uso de índices de calidad de plantas. Los resultados muestran ventajas de la especie M. oleifera para la mayoría de variables; solo superado en el número de raíces secundarias por las dos especies en estudio. Los índices de calidad sugieren pocos problemas de establecimiento en campo para las especies M. oleifera y L. leucocephala como producto del rápido crecimiento, y aun con la desigual proporción en la relación tallo-raíz, y biomasa. Los valores de calidad registrados para cada especie pueden ser modificados a través de prácticas silviculturales en las plantas en el vivero.
Relationship between ureB Sequence Diversity, Urease Activity and Genotypic Variations of Different Helicobacter pylori Strains in Patients with Gastric Disorders
Authors: GHALEHNOEI HOSSEIN , AHMADZADEH ALIREZA , FARZI NASTARAN , ALEBOUYEH MASOUD , AGHDAEI HAMID ASADZADEH , AZIMZADEH PEDRAM , MOLAEI MAHSA , ZALI MOHAMMAD REZA
Published: June 2016

Association of the severity of Helicobacter pylori induced diseases with virulence entity of the colonized strains was proven in some studies. Urease has been demonstrated as a potent virulence factor for H. pylori. The main aim of this study was investigation of the relationships of ureB sequence diversity, urease activity and virulence genotypes of different H. pylori strains with histopathological changes of gastric tissue in infected patients suffering from different gastric disorders. Analysis of the virulence genotypes in the isolated strains indicated significant associations between the presence of severe active gastritis and cagA
+
(P = 0.039) or cagA/iceA1 genotypes (P = 0.026), and intestinal metaplasia and vacA m1 (P = 0.008) or vacA s1/m2 (P = 0.001) genotypes. Our results showed a 2.4-fold increased risk of peptic ulcer (95% CI: 0.483–11.93), compared with gastritis, in the infected patients who had dupA positive strains; however this association was not statistically significant. The results of urease activity showed a significant mean difference between the isolated strains from patients with PUD and NUD (P = 0.034). This activity was relatively higher among patients with intestinal metaplasia. Also a significant association was found between the lack of cagA and increased urease activity among the isolated strains (P = 0.036). While the greatest sequence variation of ureB was detected in a strain from a patient with intestinal metaplasia, the sole determined amino acid change in UreB sequence (Ala201Thr, 30%), showed no influence on urease activity. In conclusion, the supposed role of H. pylori urease to form peptic ulcer and advancing of intestinal metaplasia was postulated in this study. Higher urease activity in the colonizing H. pylori strains that present specific virulence factors was indicated as a risk factor for promotion of histopathological changes of gastric tissue that advance gastric malignancy.
Spontaneous hyphema and pupillary block in a patient with a left ventricular assist device
Authors: Kavoussi Shaheen C. , Liu Ji
Published: June 2016

The left ventricular assist device (LVAD) has been a standard of care for the management of patients with advanced heart failure since the 1990s. An increased risk of spontaneous bleeding related to the device has been noted, ranging from minor epistaxis to major thoracic and mediastinal hemorrhages. To our knowledge, intraocular hemorrhage has not been previously reported. We report a 72-year-old patient with an LVAD who subsequently developed a spontaneous intraocular hemorrhage that manifested as hyphema, pupillary block, and acute intraocular pressure elevation.
Retinal metastasis from unknown primary: diagnosis, management, and clinicopathologic correlation
Authors: Taubenslag Kenneth J. , Kim Stephen J. , Attia Albert , Abel Ty W. , Nickols Hilary Highfield , Ancell Kristin K. , Daniels Anthony B.
Published: June 2016

A 75-year-old man was incidentally found to have a yellow-white retinal lesion with scattered hemorrhages. He was empirically treated elsewhere for viral retinitis without resolution and later transferred to the Vanderbilt Eye Institute, where retinal biopsy with silicone oil tamponade showed retinal metastasis. He had no prior history of cancer, and multiple systemic imaging evaluations failed to identify a primary site. Histopathology and immunohistochemistry of the biopsy were consistent with non-small-cell lung carcinoma. Due to the radiation-attenuating properties of silicone oil, the patient underwent silicone oil removal prior to receiving external beam radiotherapy (EBRT). The retinal metastasis responded completely to EBRT, and at final follow-up, 18 months after initial presentation, no primary tumor has been identified.
Complication of an Ahmed glaucoma valve implant: tube exposure with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection
Authors: Pansegrau Morgan , Mengarelli Eddie , Dersu Inci Irak
Published: June 2016

Neovascular glaucoma is commonly treated surgically with implantation of glaucoma drainage devices. We report the case of a 57-year-old man who underwent an uneventful Ahmed glaucoma valve (AGV) placement for radiation-induced neovascular glaucoma but later developed early postoperative infection with tube exposure. The infection was identified 3 weeks postoperatively and antibiotic treatment was immediately initiated. However, the conjunctival melt progressed, and the AGV had to be removed. Culture of the device revealed methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). There is a potential increased risk of postoperative infection and tube exposure following glaucoma valve implantation in patients with previous radiation therapy. To our knowledge, this is the second case in the literature of MRSA causing early postoperative infection following drainage device placement that required explantation.
Spontaneous iris bleeding during cataract surgery in a patient with thrombocytopenia
Authors: Christopher Karen L. , Stafeeva Ksenia , Erlanger Michael S.
Published: June 2016

A 91-year old man with a history of senile cataract and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), with a platelet count of 75,000/μL, presented for phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation in the left eye. A paracentesis made at the beginning of the procedure caused a small but not unusual amount of anterior chamber decompression. Spontaneous bleeding subsequently occurred from multiple sights on the iris surface. The bleeding was stopped by injecting hyaluronic acid into the anterior chamber to increase intraocular pressure. The remainder of the procedure was performed without complication, and resulting visual acuity improved from 20/70 preoperatively to 20/20−2 with refraction 1 week postoperatively. In previously reported cases of intraocular bleeding during cataract surgery in thrombocytopenic patients, platelet counts were all ≤55,000/μL.