bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Impact of dust enrichment on Mediterranean plankton communities under present and future conditions of pH and temperature: an experimental overview
Authors: Gazeau Frédéric , Ridame Céline , Van Wambeke France , Alliouane Samir , Stolpe Christian , Irisson Jean-Olivier , Marro Sophie , Grisoni Jean-Michel , De Liège Guillaume , Nunige Sandra , Djaoudi Kahina , Pulido-Villena Elvira , Dinasquet Julie , Obernosterer Ingrid , Catala Philippe , Guieu Cécile
Published: August 2020

Abstract. In Low Nutrient Low Chlorophyll areas, such as the Mediterranean Sea, atmospheric fluxes represent a considerable external source of nutrients likely supporting primary production especially during stratification periods. These areas are expected to expand in the future due to lower nutrient supply from sub-surface waters caused by enhanced stratification, likely further increasing the role of atmospheric deposition as a source of new nutrients to surface waters. Yet, whether plankton communities will react differently to dust deposition in a warmer and acidified environment remains an open question. The impact of dust deposition both in present and future climate conditions was assessed through three perturbation experiments in the open Mediterranean Sea. Climate reactors (300 L) were filled with surface water collected in the Tyrrhenian Sea, Ionian Sea and in the Algerian basin during a cruise conducted in May/June 2017 in the frame of the PEACETIME project. The experimental protocol comprised two unmodified control tanks, two tanks enriched with a Saharan dust analog and two tanks enriched with the dust analog and maintained under warmer (+3 °C) and acidified (−0.3 pH unit) conditions. Samples for the analysis of an extensive number of biogeochemical parameters and processes were taken over the duration of the experiments (3–4 d). Here, we present the general setup of the experiments and the impacts of dust seeding and/or future climate change scenario on nutrients and biological stocks. Dust addition led to a rapid and maximum input of nitrate whereas phosphate release from the dust analog was much smaller. Our results showed that the impacts of Saharan dust deposition in three different basins of the open Northwestern Mediterranean Sea are at least as strong as those observed previously in coastal waters. However, interestingly, the effects of dust deposition on biological stocks were highly different between the three investigated stations and could not be attributed to differences in their degree of oligotrophy but rather to the initial metabolic state of the community. Finally, ocean acidification and warming did not drastically modify the composition of the autotrophic assemblage with all groups positively impacted by warming and acidification, suggesting an exacerbation of effects from atmospheric dust deposition in the future.
HESS Opinions: Improving the evaluation of groundwater representation in continental to global scale models
Authors: Gleeson Tom , Wagener Thorsten , Döll Petra , Zipper Samuel C. , West Charles , Wada Yoshihide , Taylor Richard , Scanlon Bridget , Rosolem Rafael , Rahman Shams , Oshinlaja Nurudeen , Maxwell Reed , Lo Min-Hui , Kim Hyungjun , Hill Mary , Hartmann Andreas , Fogg Graham , Famiglietti James S. , Ducharne Agnès , de Graaf Inge , Cuthbert Mark , Condon Laura , Bresciani Etienne , Bierkens Marc F. P.
Published: August 2020

Abstract. Continental- to global-scale hydrologic and land surface models increasingly include representations of the groundwater system, driven by crucial Earth science and sustainability problems. These models are essential for examining, communicating, and understanding the dynamic interactions between the Earth System above and below the land surface as well as the opportunities and limits of groundwater resources. A key question for this nascent and rapidly developing field is how to evaluate the realism and performance of such large-scale groundwater models given limitations in data availability and commensurability. Our objective is to provide clear recommendations for improving the evaluation of groundwater representation in continental- to global-scale models. We identify three evaluation approaches, including comparing model outputs with available observations of groundwater levels or other state or flux variables (observation-based evaluation); comparing several models with each other with or without reference to actual observations (model-based evaluation); and comparing model behavior with expert expectations of hydrologic behaviors that we expect to see in particular regions or at particular times (expert-based evaluation). Based on current and evolving practices in model evaluation as well as innovations in observations, machine learning and expert elicitation, we argue that combining observation-, model-, and expert-based model evaluation approaches may significantly improve the realism of groundwater representation in large-scale models, and thus our quantification, understanding, and prediction of crucial Earth science and sustainability problems. We encourage greater community-level communication and cooperation on these challenges, including among global hydrology and land surface modelers, local to regional hydrogeologists, and hydrologists focused on model development and evaluation.
PREFACE: THE 2020 EDITION OF THE XXIVTH ISPRS CONGRESS
Authors: Mallet C. , Lafarge F. , Poreba M. , Rupnik E. , Bahl G. , Girard N. , Garioud A. , Dowman I. , Paparoditis N.
Published: August 2020

Abstract. We report key elements and figures related to the proceedings of the 2020 edition of the XXIVth ISPRS Congress. The COVID-19 pandemic causes global travel challenges and restrictions for the full year 2020. Consequently, the Congress planned in June 2020 in Nice (France) was postponed to July 2021. Papers were already submitted and the review process was almost complete. Thus, it has been decided to achieve the publication of the proceedings of these papers under the label ”2020 Edition”. The authors of published papers have the opportunity to present their work during a Virtual Event (31 August – 2 September 2020), while the papers of the 2021 edition will be presented during the (physical) Congress in July 2021.
AREA ESTIMATION OF MULTI-TEMPORAL GLOBAL IMPERVIOUS LAND COVER BASED ON STRATIFIED RANDOM SAMPLING
Authors: Gong Y. , Xie H. , Tong X. , Jin Y. , Xv X. , Wang Q.
Published: August 2020

Abstract. Estimating area of impervious land cover is the most useful and one of the ecological assessment indexes of urban and regional environment. Global land cover maps are inevitably misclassified, which affects the quality and application of the data. Statistical approach for assessing the accuracy is critical to understand the global change information and area estimation is usually based on sample data with a probability-based estimator. However, research on evaluation of multi-temporal global impervious land cover maps has not been implemented. In this study, spatial characteristics of the data are considered to assess the thematic map accuracy with a two-stage stratified random sampling plan. The first stage of stratification is determined by the global urban ecoregion and the second one is determined by land cover classes. Additionally, sample size of both map stage and pixel stage are calculated using a probability sampling model. A response design is constructed for a per-pixel accuracy assessment and blind interpretation is implemented using sample pixels and its surrounding area. Our method is applied to the multi-temporal global impervious land cover maps between 2000 and 2010 with a time interval of 5 years and the estimated area in different epoch are listed in detail. The main contribution of our research is illustrating the details for calculating the proportion area of impervious land cover and corresponding confidence intervals based on the reference classification. The experimental results show that the increasing area of the impervious surface according to the sample unit shows good agreement with the urbanization and descriptive accuracy assessments by user’s, producer’s and overall accuracy are shown respectively.
SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS FROM SPACE: EXAMPLE OF ESTIMATING THAILAND’s SUB-DISTRICT HOUSEHOLD INCOME BASED ON REMOTELY SENSED AND GEOSPATIAL DATA
Authors: Hutasavi S. , Chen D.
Published: August 2020

Abstract. The socioeconomic data, such as household income, is an important indicator of people’s well-being. However, due to the limited resource in many developing countries such as Thailand, the data obtained from household income surveys are often incomplete. As a result, the annual household survey usually contains a gap at the municipality household level. In this study, we aim to quantify the household income with K-NN imputation models at the sub-district level using satellite imageries and geospatial data as proxies to socioeconomic indicators. We examined the role of satellite and geospatial data in household income estimation, applied the K-NN imputation methods to estimate the missing income data by using various geographical and statistical variables, and quantified how these data improved the accuracy of sub-district household income estimation. Our results illustrated a significant correlation between sub-district household income and geographical data extracted from day-night satellite data, such as night light intensity (r = 0.53), urban density (r = 0.44), residential area (r = 0.68), urban area (r = 0.64), and statistical data as well as household expenditure (r = 0.97). These can be used to improve the socioeconomic indicators’ estimation as well as household income in sub-district level. The income imputation from geographical data perform better result than purely statistical variables. Especially, the night light intensity can infer the wealth of people living in large scale areas, while day-time satellite images can be interpreted for land use and land cover also implying socioeconomic status. Such socioeconomic proxy from space provides spatially explicit information in further study.
AUTOMATIC LABEL PLACEMENT OF AREA-FEATURES USING DEEP LEARNING
Authors: Li Y. , Sakamoto M. , Shinohara T. , Satoh T.
Published: August 2020

Abstract. Label placement is one of the most essential tasks in the fields of cartography and geographic information systems. Numerous studies have been conducted on the automatic label placement for the past few decades. In this study, we focus on automatic label placement of area-feature, which has been relatively less studied than that of point-feature and line-feature. Most of the existing approaches have adopted a rule-based algorithm, and there are limitations in expressing the characteristics of label placement for area-features of various shapes utilizing handcrafted rules, criteria, objective functions, etc. Hence, we propose a novel approach for automatic label placement of area-feature based on deep learning. The aim of the proposed approach is to obtain the complex and implicit characteristics of area-feature label placement by manual operation directly and automatically from training data. First, the area-features with vector format are converted into a binary image. Then a key-point detection model, which simultaneously detect and localize specific key-points from an image, is applied to the binary image to estimate the candidate positions of labels. Finally, the final label placement positions for each area-feature are determined via simple post-process. To evaluate the proposed approach, the experiments with cadastral data were conducted. The experimental results show that the ratios of the estimation errors within 1.2 m (corresponding to one pixel of the input image) were 92.6% and 94.5% in the center and upper-left placement style, respectively. It implies that the proposed approach could place the labels for area-features automatically and accurately.
ESTIMATING BUILT-UP AREA CHANGE IN ULAANBAATAR CITY, MONGOLIA
Authors: Myagmartseren P. , Myagmarjav I. , Enkhtuya N. , Byambakhuu G. , Bazarkhand T.
Published: August 2020

Abstract. Long-term urban built-up area changes of the Ulaanbaatar city has accelerated since the 1950s and due to rapid urbanization most of the Mongolian population, or about 68%, live in urban areas. The systematic understanding of urban land expansion is a crucial clue for urban land use planning and sustainable land development. Therefore, in this paper, we used a Markov chain model and cellular automata (CA) to simulate and predict current and future built-up areas expansion is Ulaanbaatar. Landsat imageries (Landsat TM 5, Landsat ETM 7 and Landsat OLI 8) of 1988, 1998, 2008, and 2017 were used to derive main land use classes. Clark Lab’s (Clark University) Geospatial Monitoring and Model software had been used for the urban expansion prediction. The results are innovated to comparable to validate with other study results by using a different kind of methods. Built-up area expansion modeled and predicted 2028’s trends based on a historical expansion of the Ulaanbaatar city between 1988 and 2017, which are prepared according to input model requirements. The built-up area was 7282 hectares (ha) in 1988 and has expanded to 31144 ha in 2017. The built-up area growth of the Ulaanbaatar city has reached 4.3 times over the past 30 years, and from 2017 to 2028 the expansion of the built-up area will be 1.5 times. A comparison of urban expansion from 1988 to 2017 has revealed a rapid built-up invasion to the previous areas of agriculture, grassland, and forest. Simulation performance of Markov chain with the cellular automata model can be used for an improvement in the understanding of the urban expansion processes while allowing helpful for better planning of Ulaanbaatar city, as well as for other rapidly developing towns of Mongolia.
A GIS-BASED MULTI-CRITERIA ANALYSIS ON CROPLAND SUITABILITY IN BORNUUR SOUM, MONGOLIA
Authors: Natsagdorj E. , Renchin T. , De Maeyer P. , Goossens R. , Van de Voorde T. , Darkhijav B.
Published: August 2020

Abstract. Agriculture is one of the most critical sectors of the Mongolian economy. In Mongolia, land degradation is increasing in the cropland region, especially in a cultivated area. The country has challenges to identify new croplands with sufficient capacity for cultivation, especially for local decision-makers. GIS applications tremendously help science in making land assessments. This study was carried out in Bornuur soum, Mongolia. The goal of this study to estimate that best suitable area for supporting crop production in Bornuur soum, using a GIS-based multi-criteria analysis (MCA) and remote sensing. GIS-based multi-criteria analysis (MCA) has been widely used in land suitability analyses in many countries. In this research, the GIS-based spatial MCA among the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method has employed. The approach was enhanced for each criterion which as soil, topography and vegetation. The opinions of agronomist experts and a literature review helped in identifying criteria (soil data, topography, water and vegetation data) that are necessary to determine areas suitable for crops. The detailed cropland suitability maps indicate that 46.12 % is highly suitable for cropland, 34.68 % is moderate suitable, 13.64 % is marginal suitable and 5.56 % is not suitable. The MCA and AHP tools play an essential role in the multi-criteria analysis. Therefore, the results of these methods allow us to estimate an appropriate area for cultivation in Bornuur soum, Tuv province. The crop suitability method implies significant decisions on different levels and the result will be used for cropland management plan to make a decision. It is an integral role in agricultural management and land evaluation. Future research should further develop this method by including socio-economic (potential citizens for agriculture, current crop growth, water resource, etc.) and environmental variables (rainfall, vegetation types, permafrost distribution, etc.) to obtain specific results. However, it could be also be applied for a single crop type (mainly barley, wheat and potato) in Mongolia.
FRACTAL ANALYSIS FOR AKAMURA MOUNDED TOMB AND LOCATION ESTIMATE OF YAMATAI COUNTRY
Authors: Ogawa S. , Taniguchi Y.
Published: August 2020

Abstract. In 2018, the ancient tomb was discovered in Tagawa, Fukuoka. The sizes of the tomb were measured by UAV. The length is 443 m, the diameter is 152 m, and the height is 33 m: the second biggest mound in Japan. Chinese history book, Sanguozhi (Chen, 280) reads Yamatai country occupied 27 countries in Japan in the 3rd century by the queen Himiko. The location of Yamatai was 840 km south from Soul with 70000 families, and the size of Himiko’s tomb was 150 m diameters. The locations of Yamatai country and Himiko’s tomb are still unknown. From Sanguozhi, the optimum location was estimated with the direction, the distance and family numbers. Family numbers were estimated from the river watershed areas. Kyushu islands have 28 big rivers, corresponding to 28 countries described in Sanguozhi. Each river corresponded to each country, and their family number was estimated by 2.5% of the watershed area with family number / 10 a. Finally, the Chikugo river watershed was a candidate of Yamatai country. Moreover, two kinds of tombs became candidates of Himiko’s tomb.
MONITORING SPATIAL BEHAVIOR OF PASTORALIST SHEEP THROUGH GPS, LIDAR DATA AND VNIR IMAGE
Authors: Plaza J. , Palacios C. , Sánchez-García M. , Criado M. , Nieto J. , Sánchez N.
Published: August 2020

Abstract. Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), such as the Global Position System (GPS), are currently used to replace the traditional pastoralism and to remotely control the movements and location of the herds. Besides, the use of this remote monitoring can benefit the understanding of grazing resource use and livestock management. In this work we investigated the herd behaviour in a Spanish organic farm of free pastoralist sheep with a joint use of different geodata sources. The area of study comprised approximately 900 hectares with a variety of land covers dedicated to pasture.A herd of 300 head was monitored during 2009 and 2010. GPS data were acquired every 5 minutes. In addition, a comprehensive map of land uses/land covers (LU/LC) was retrieved through a supervised classification of a mosaic of orthophotographs (visible and near infrared bands, VNIR). Then, the digital elevation model (DEM) and the digital surface model (DSM) were obtained from a 2010 LiDAR (light detection and ranging) campaign, which allowed the retrieval of terrain attributes and vegetation parameters. The positioning and behaviour of the GPS-tracked sheep were analysed in terms of the retrieved topographic characteristics and land uses. The study of the most influential variables indicated that the slope and aspect were the topographic attributes that most exerted impact on the grazing activity, being the north direction the most preferable, as well as a gentle slope. Regarding the LU/LC, grassland areas were selected by the sheep, specifically in areas of short vegetation (i.e., outside shrublands and trees beyond 0.5 m high).
BIKEMI BIKE-SHARING SERVICE EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS ON MOBILITY PATTERNS
Authors: Toro J. F. , Carrion D. , Brovelli M. A. , Percoco M.
Published: August 2020

Abstract. Bike Sharing Systems (BSS) are growing worldwide for the social and environmental benefits that they can provide. Thanks to the increasing popularity of the BSS and the availability of monitoring technologies, there is a continuous production of data that can help to understand bike usage and to improve its design and management. This study aims at exploring BSS users’ mobility patterns habits and the demand for the service. To reach this scope, the available data have been preprocessed in order to allow data mining and data visualization with open source tools based on Python. The study case regards the BikeMi BSS of the City of Milan between June 2015 to December 2018. The suggested approach proceeded, first, with the categorization of the user typology based on the frequency of use of the service; at a second stage, the influence of the day typology on the use of the service has been explored; third, the spatial and temporal patterns of the BSS use among the stations has been analysed; fourth, the influence of meteorological conditions on the use of the service has been considered; at last, the clustering of the stations with similar bikes use activity through K-Means has been performed. As expected, it was observed that the service is extensively used for commuting to work-related activities. Regular users compose a large part of the BSS community making use of the service mostly during weekdays. In addition, it was noted that only 'strong' meteorological conditions can impact the use of the service. Both the identification of the demand for the service and of the external factors that can affect its use support the clustering activities, allowing for the elimination of not relevant information and facilitating the interpretation of the obtained clusters.
CITY-SCALE TAXI DEMAND PREDICTION USING MULTISOURCE URBAN GEOSPATIAL DATA
Authors: Yan J. , Xiang L. , Wu C. , Wu H.
Published: August 2020

Abstract. Real-time, accurate taxi demand prediction plays an important role in intelligent traffic system. It can help manage taxi patching and minimize the time and energy waste caused by waiting. In the era of big data, a diversity of urban data and increasingly complex traffic data have been collected and published. Traditional forecasting methods have been unable to cope with the heterogeneous massive traffic data, whereas deep learning, as a new data-oriented technique, has been widely used in the field of traffic prediction. This paper aims to utilize multisource data and deep learning techniques to improve the accuracy of taxi demand prediction. In this paper, a joint guidance residual network JG-Net is proposed for city-scale taxi demand prediction. Taxi order data and multiple urban geospatial data POI, road network and population distribution data) are integrated into the JG-Net. Regional features are considered in the prediction process by three guidance branches composed of pixel-adaptive convolutional networks, each of which applies one type of urban data. JG-Net assigns learnable weights to different branches and regions to combine the output of the branches, then further aggregates weather and time information to forecast the taxi demand. Extensive experiments and analyses are conducted, which show our method outperforms traditional methods. The mean square error of the prediction result on the testing set is 1.868, which is 12.3% lower than related models. The positive influence of combining multiple geospatial data is also validated by ablation experiments.
DESIGN OF A CROWDSOURCED 3D CADASTRAL TECHNICAL SOLUTION
Authors: Gkeli M. , Potsiou C. , Ioannidis C.
Published: August 2020

Abstract. Over the last half century, the world has witnessed rapid urbanization which is expected to increase over the near future. Use and property rights are reflected as a complex equation of overlapping interests. A fit-for-purpose approach for the initial registration of such rights is of a great importance both in formally and informally developed urban areas, as it may empower tenure security, improve property management, formalize property markets and enable poverty reduction. In this paper a more generalized framework, adjustable to the available cartographic infrastructure and funding availability in each region, for the simultaneous implementation of 2D and 3D property registration, based on a Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC) architecture, is proposed. A Database Management System (DBMS) based on the Land Administration Domain Model (LADM) standard is used for the management and storage of the collected data, while a prototype open-source mobile application for the collection of 2D and 3D crowdsourced cadastral data, the automatic 3D modelling and visualization of 3D property units as block models (LoD1) on a mobile’s phone screen in real-time is developed. A case study for a multi-storey building in an urban area of Athens, Greece, is presented. The first results seem to be interesting and promising. A Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) assessment of the proposed framework, is conducted. The main conclusions referred to the potential and the perspectives of the proposed technical crowdsourced solution for the initial registration for the implementation of a Fit-For-Purpose 3D cadastral system are presented.
WORLD HERITAGE MAPPING IN A STANDARD-BASED STRUCTURED GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM
Authors: Valese M. , Noardo F. , Pereira Roders A.
Published: August 2020

Abstract. This research aims at the study of the (dynamic) relationship between the World Heritage sites and the related human settlements development. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) can be useful to represent the involved information and to analyze such relationship. However, an effective harmonized structure and unique storage of possibly heterogeneous datasets is necessary to enable it. This initial step is the focus of this paper. First, the description of the structure of the related datasets and the assessment of the availability, quality, and consistency of the available information about the Heritage sites and properties is presented. Among those requirements, the quality of the associated spatial information is critical (e.g. kind of shape, accuracy, georeferencing). Second, considering the structure of the available datasets concerning the world heritage, together with the HERILAND research requirements, a global world heritage GIS is designed. The classification and data model to manage the WH list falls within the wider issue of structuring the cultural heritage documentation, involving both the definition of the semantic content and the geometric representation. In order to comply with the important requirement of data interoperability in science and to strengthen the outcomes of the research, some standardized data models and classifications are considered.
Cell-free DNA
Authors: Pickering Emily
Published: August 2020

Chromosomal disorders arise from errors in cell division and many are detected during prenatal development. Prenatal genomic screening techniques involve invasive methods such as chorionic villus sampling and amniocentesis. In this feature, current invasive techniques for genetic screening will be examined in relation to the development of non-invasive prenatal technology. As cell-free fetal DNA methods continue to develop and be integrated into clinical practice, there is an opportunity for improvement in the detection and reliability of the screening process. In clinic, there are disparities between clinicians and patients surrounding both understanding of the processes and the discussion on the technique limitations. Non-invasive methods are continually being improved for detecting genetic disorders through the use of cell-free fetal DNA, and with these advancements, these processes will become safe, cost-effective, and reliable for pregnant mothers when undergoing genetic screening and counselling.
Alzheimer’s disease and the genetics of neuroprotection
Authors: Johnson Tyler
Published: August 2020

As the world’s leading form of age-related dementia, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a devastating neurological disorder associated with severe emotional and economic burdens. Despite years of research, the underlying mechanism behind this disease remains unclear. The current prevailing theory relies on the deposition of toxic amyloid beta (Aβ), which promotes the formation of phosphorylated tau tangles, and together these damaging changes drive the loss of neurons. Much of AD development can be attributed to genetic influences, including pathogenic variants of β-amyloid precursor protein, presenilins 1 and 2, and the presence of apolipoprotein 4. However, there are other subtle, yet significant variations within our genome that contribute to protecting us against AD. Variants of the phospholipase Cγ2 and toll-like receptor 4 genes have been associated with reduced risk of developing AD, as well as increased longevity of patients. These neuroprotective variants can guide the development of future therapeutic interventions for AD, as current strategies have proven lackluster.
The Impact of Tourism on Economic Growth: A Panel Co-integration from the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP)
Authors: Andrade Ladson Pires , Velonjara Hassane Mahamad
Published: August 2020

This article aims to examine the impact of tourism on economic growth, a panel co-integration from a community of Portuguese-speaking countries (CPLP). Being one of the leading sectors for economic development for most of the transaction economies, which helps bring down the unemployment rate, bring more foreign currency into the local economy, etc. Therefore, tourism is indispensable for GDP growth for any country; Thus, most of the leaders want to design the best policies as possible to boost this sector. So, the CPLP countries are not left behind when coming to an incentive more and more tourism. This work employs a Fully modified ordinary least squared (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least squared (DOLS) and a co-integration technique to test whether there’s a long-term association between expenditure on tourism and growth from 2000 to 2016. The FMOLS and DOLS outcomes show that travelers’ spending exerts a great influence on development for these nations and it causes the long-running association between tourism to growth, which provides that tourism exerts a positive influence on GDP. We conclude this article with some policy recommendations.
Pinus nigra J.F. Arnold subsp. calabrica (Poir.) of the Fallistro Biogenetic Natural Reserve: state of “Giant pines” stand after 40 years of observations
Authors: Bernardini Vincenzo , Avolio Silvano , Plutino Manuela
Published: August 2020

Aim of study: (1) to assess structural parameters of Giant pines; (2) to compare three several inventories and relative parameters; (3) to assess mechanical stability of Giant pines.Area of study: Sila National Park, Calabria, Italy.Material and methods: Mechanical stability assessment and full dendrometric analysis were used.Main results: 40 years after the first measurements on the Giant pines, the most emblematic trees of the population confirmed the peculiar ecological characteristics of Calabrian pines: their posture, rapidity of growth, productivity and longevity. The pine forest containing 46 healthy monumental trees. The Ht/DBH ratio slightly decreased from first to last inventory. The decrease of the Ht/DBH ratio correspond to the increase of mechanical stability of trees.Research highlights: the importance of preserving the Fallistro Biogenetic Natural Reserve as a source of biodiversity and to maintain the high ecological stability that characterize this important Italian forest area.Keywords: Old-growth forest; Biodiversity conservation; Sustainable forestry; Calabrian pine; Forest ecology; deadwood.
Sophorolipids: A review on production and perspectives of application in agriculture
Authors: Celligoi Maria Antonia P. C. , Silveira Victória A. I. , Hipólito Amanda , Caretta Talita O. , Baldo Cristiani
Published: August 2020

Sophorolipids are bioactive molecules that have gained a lot of attention in the recent decades due to their unique functional properties of reducing surface and interfacial tension, emulsification and solubilization. They are mainly produced by the yeast Candida bombicola and are composed of a sugar moiety linked to a fatty acid chain. Sophorolipids are non-toxic, highly efficient and stable at extreme conditions and possess environmentally friendly characteristics over the chemical surfactants. This review is focused on the main characteristics of sophorolipids, fermentation processes, and their utilization in the agricultural field. In this context, sophorolipids are very suitable for use in agriculture, as enhancers of solubility and mobility of plant nutrients, which could result in increased plant biomass, root size and fruit yield. In addition, they could be used for biodegradation of oils, bioremediation of heavy metals in contaminated soils, and as potential biopesticides, to control phytopathogenic microorganisms in agriculture. The extensive use of chemical pesticides has led to widespread insecticide resistance and to hazards to human health and the environment due to their high toxicity. Thus, the introduction of a new biomolecule to control plant diseases and increase crop yield has become an interesting alternative. As a result of the demonstrated antimicrobial activity towards phytopathogenic bacteria and fungi, sophorolipids could be extensively explored in the agriculture field, as a sustainable and natural multifunctional agent for plant crops and soils.
Operating leverage and the cost of debt in European agri-food firms
Authors: Grau Alfredo , Reig Araceli
Published: August 2020

Aim of study: To analyse the effect that operating leverage exerts on the cost of debt of agri-food firms in Europe, both in isolation and indirectly through its other risk factors.Area of study: We used panel data made up of 18,360 European firms from 2009 to 2016 (146,880 observations).Material and methods: The data were extracted from the ORBIS database and EUROSTAT. The econometric approach was estimated by the Generalized Method of Moments.Main results: The results obtained confirm that operating leverage or cost structure, in addition to affecting the cost of debt, also affects the relationship between that cost and other sources of risk. More specifically, indebtedness, size, specificity and age all affect the cost of debt to a greater or lesser extent, depending on the level of operating leverage of the company.Research highlights: The main contribution was the study of the cost of external financing as a function of the cost structure, because this directly influences the competitiveness of companies in a key sector of the European economy. We also demonstrated the country effect, taking into account the different policies and practices regarding the assumption of risk by firms. The agri-food sector has been subject to special aid programs of research & development distributed unevenly across countries. If we add to this the national subsidy programs, the level of indebtedness is not a clear determinant of the cost of debt. The main determinant of that cost is the operating leverage.
The Small-Sized Premium: Is It Really Relevant? Evidence from the European Equity Market
Authors: Camodeca Renato Salvatore , Prinoth Christian , Sagliaschi Umberto
Published: August 2020

The valuation of a company reflects the expected return or equivalently, the cost of capital that investors demand in exchange for the risk assumed. Despite the ex-ante nature of the problem, the majority of empirical analysis has focused on factors explaining expected returns from an ex-post perspective. In this paper, we take a different approach and try to identify which factors are ex-ante included in discount rates, with particular attention to the so-called size premium. Starting from observed market capitalisations and company fundamentals, we obtain the implied cost of capital from the reverse engineering of a carefully designed fundamental valuation model. Panel data regressions are used to investigate the existence of a relation between the implied cost of capital and the firm’s size, including other control variables representative of the most cited asset pricing “anomalies”. Our sample comprises European non-financial stocks listed on primary markets, with half-yearly observations starting from the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis. Contrary to common wisdom, we find that the firm’s size has no tangible impact to explain the implied cost of capital.
Producer Liability for AI-Based Technologies in the European Union
Authors: Navas Susana
Published: August 2020

The manufacturer's liability for defective products has remained almost unmodified since 1985 when Directive 85/374/EEC (=PLD) was enacted. Perhaps new technology based on artificial intelligence (=AI) could bring about a turning point in the regulation if concepts such as "product" and "defect" or aspects such as "grounds of liability", the so-called "development risks defense", and the "solidarity" are reconsidered. The Group of Experts on Liability and New Technologies (=NTF), in its “Liability for AI and other emerging digital technologies” Report, recommends, inter alia, the regulation of two different civil liability regimes: strict liability and fault-based liability. Thus, it will be necessary to determine precisely the cases to which these regimes apply and how to deal with “uncertain causation”. The alleviation of the victim’s burden of proof should be considered. From the various documents being published, it appears that the producer’s strict liability will remain as the main liability rule, but it will be combined -as the NFT suggests- in the case of the breach of a duty of care with a fault-based liability rule. This approach leaves some open questions, i.e., how to properly combine both grounds of liability in the domain of products that cause damages. In my view, the liability regime suggested by the NTF is far more complicated that the regime which distinguishes three types of defects that are often stressed: the defect of design, the defect of manufacturing, and the defect of information.
Selected conditions for the functioning of local social policy based on the example of social assistance
Authors: Krzyszkowski Jerzy
Published: August 2020

This presented paper concerns local social policy and social assistance. In the first part, definitions of local social policy and theories on local social policy are presented. The second part of the paper analyses the main reforms of social policy and social assistance in Poland along with selected findings of studies on local social policy and social assistance.
Strategy for solving social problems as a tool for managing the development of the social assistance system in a county. Theoretical and methodological aspects
Authors: Klimek Marek
Published: August 2020

The obligation to develop a county (powiat) strategy for solving social problems results from the provisions of the Act of March 12, 2004 on social assistance. This article presents the role of this strategy in the process of reducing social problems: unemployment, poverty, homelessness, addictions, problems of the elderly and disabled, orphans, etc. It indicates the role of social participation in the process of developing the strategy and implementing its objectives. The cooperation of local authorities, social assistance units, NGOs and many other institutions remains a basic condition for the effective implementation of the strategy.
Foster care over a child as a task of a county
Authors: Matejek Józefa
Published: August 2020

Problems and threats that often arise in families are the reason why children are placed in foster care. In such a situation, a wide range of contexts and different conditions of foster care must be taken into account in order to provide effective assistance to children and families. Tasks related to the organisation of the system of foster custody have been assigned by the legislator to organisational units of local government at the county (powiat) level. This article presents the content concerning foster care as the tasks of the district government: the types of foster families, legal and organizational aspects of this form of care and the essence of the organization of foster care at county level are discussed.
DESASTRE COMO BARBÁRIE: O AVESSO DO HABITAR
Authors: Valencio Norma
Published: August 2020

Desastres são acontecimentos trágicos socialmente construídos, mesmo quando são associados a eventos naturais. No contexto brasileiro, esse tipo de crise está se banalizando e é uma oportunidade na qual são normalizadas práticas de barbárie contra aqueles que estão à margem do Estado. Desde uma perspectiva sociológica, esse estudo se propõe a entretecer uma reflexão sobre a dinâmica brasileira de decretação de emergências com aspectos dos desafios do habitar na escala local onde essas crises são vivenciadas como experiência de humilhação e sofrimento.
EXTENSÃO E TECNOCIÊNCIA SOLIDÁRIA: PERIFÉRICO NO DF E ENTORNO
Authors: Andrade Liza Maria Souza de , Loureiro Vânia  Raquel Teles , Lenoir Juliette Anna Fanny , Lemos Natália da Silva
Published: August 2020

Este artigo tem como objetivo apresentar um panorama geral dos projetos de assessoria técnica em arquitetura e urbanismo do Grupo de Pesquisa e Extensão “Periférico, trabalhos emergentes”, da FAU/UnB, por temas e tipologias espaciais urbanas e rurais, caracterizados como “adequação sociotécnica”, desenvolvidos no território do DF e entorno. Apresentam-se os processos participativos e códigos, os quais têm contribuído para transformar a linguagem da política cognitiva e consequentemente alcançar a “tecnociência solidária”, além das barreiras estabelecidas dentro das universidades públicas.
A ARQUITETURA NEOCOLONIAL DE RICARDO SEVERO E JOSÉ MARIANNO
Authors: Natal Caion Meneguello
Published: August 2020

O artigo analisa as reflexões de Ricardo Severo e José Marianno, intelectuais que propuseram um estilo arquitetônico nacional entre final dos anos 1910 e começo da década seguinte. A estética defendida por esses intelectuais foi denominada neocolonial, e visava restabelecer uma suposta tradição interrompida. A proposta consistia em fundar um estilo genuinamente brasileiro a partir da revitalização da arquitetura colonial portuguesa. O artigo busca mostrar como Severo e Marianno pensaram o artefato arquitetônico segundo uma concepção nacionalista.
Diurnal Corrected QT Interval and QT Dispersion Variation in Non-alcoholic Cirrhotic Patients and Healthy Control: A Case-Control Study, Iran
Authors: Amiriani Taghi , Khori Vahid , Davarian Ali , Rajabli Niloofar , Niknam Mahsa , Besharat Sima , Bahramian Shabbou , Shirafkan Ahmad
Published: August 2020

Background: Cirrhosis could lead to a long corrected QT (QTc) interval in a subgroup of patients, but there are spare data on its diurnal variation. Objectives: The present study aimed to determine the diurnal variation of QTc interval and its relationship to heart rate and blood pressure variation during 24-hour Holter-monitoring in non-alcoholic cirrhosis in comparison with the healthy controls. Methods: The study population comprised 15 patients with non-alcoholic cirrhosis and 15 healthy subjects, undergoing 24-hour electrocardiogram (ECG), heart rate, and blood pressure monitoring. The mean QT interval, mean QTc, maximum and minimum QT, QT dispersion (QT disp), heart rate, and mean arterial blood pressure were measured for each person for 24 hours. Liver stiffness measurement (LSM) was performed by FibroScan® 502 machine (EchoSense, Paris, France, 5 MHz). The results were demonstrated as percentages and mean ± SD. P value ≤ 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Mean QTc was significantly higher in cirrhosis (438 ms) than healthy controls (401.7 ms) (P = 0.03). The mean heart rate was significantly different in cirrhotic patients (79.6 ± 2.9/bpm) compared to healthy controls (72.47 ± 2.0/bpm) (P = 0.05). Conclusions: In this study, QTc was prolonged and increased with the severity of cirrhosis, and its diurnal variation in cirrhosis was different from healthy subjects.
The Multiple Dispositifs of (Early) Cinema
Authors: Kessler Frank
Published: August 2020

In recent debates regarding the effects of digitalization on cinema, the concept of dispositif is generally used to refer to a model of spectatorship that was defined in the 1970s by Jean-Louis Baudry. Consequently, when theorists affirm that there is an “explosion” of the cinematic dispositif in the twenty-first century, they partake in this monolithic conception, which does not acknowledge the fact that watching films in the twentieth century occurred in a variety of ways, both diachronically and synchronically. Critiquing such a view, this article proposes to understand the concept of dispositif from the perspective of a historical pragmatics and to use it as a heuristic tool to analyze the vast range of moving image dispositifs that have existed historically, as well as the new dispositifs that emerge in today’s digital mediascape.
Dispositif, médium, média. Pour une analyse scalaire du « cinéma éclaté » avec Pierre Schaeffer
Authors: Soulez Guillaume
Published: August 2020

Nous distinguons médium de média pour comprendre comment un média (organisation sociale de diffusion culturelle) peut agir sur un médium (composante matérielle, technique et formelle), mais il importe également de comprendre le rôle du « dispositif » au sein de cette perspective. Pour ce faire, cet article propose le réexamen de la réflexion mal connue de Pierre Schaeffer sur cette notion. Elle permet de faire le lien entre média et médium à la fois d’un point de vue opérationnel (« logique de l’emploi ») et du point de vue de l’usage par des spectateurs. Après avoir montré la force de l’usage au sein du « cinéma éclaté » contemporain, nous prenons deux cas d’étude emblématiques d’instabilité médiale (médium) et médiatique (média) pour montrer : 1. qu’un dispositif peut être envisagé comme articulation entre logiques d’usages différentes ; et 2. que la triade « dispositif, médium et média », telle que nous pouvons la redéfinir, permet d’envisager une analyse scalaire des relations intermédiales pour distinguer les simples ajustements des conflits d’échelle à l’oeuvre aujourd’hui.
Vers un cinéma neuronal. Lunettes, verres de contact, implants
Authors: Asselin Olivier
Published: August 2020

L’immersion a toujours été un programme central, tant dans la recherche et le développement des images techniques que dans la consommation. Comme l’indiquent certains développements technologiques et biotechnologiques récents (les masques, les lunettes et les interfaces faciales, les verres de contact et les interfaces cornéennes, les implants oculaires et les interfaces cristallines ou rétiniennes, les implants cérébraux et les interfaces neuronales), l’horizon de ce programme pourrait bien être la disparition de l’écran et l’incorporation de l’interface – ce que nous pourrions appeler une sorte de cinéma neuronal. Il pourrait nous obliger à mettre en question les notions mêmes de média, de médiation et d’image. Mais il convient en retour d’interroger l’utopie biotechnologique qui le sous-tend.