pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Inference reasoning on fishers' knowledge using Bayesian causal maps

International audienceScientists and managers are not the only holders of knowledge regarding environmental issues: other stakeholders such as farmers or fishers do have empirical and relevant knowledge. Thus, new approaches for knowledge representation in the case of multiple knowledge sources, but still enabling reasoning, are needed. Cognitive maps and Bayesian networks constitute some useful formalisms to address knowledge representations. Cognitive maps are powerful graphical models for knowledge gathering or displaying. If they offer an easy means to express individuals judgments, drawing inferences in cog-nitive maps remains a difficult task. Bayesian networks are widely used for decision making processes that face uncertain information or diagnosis. But they are difficult to elicitate. To take advantage of each formalism and to overcome their drawbacks, Bayesian causal maps have been developed. In this approach, cognitive maps are used to build the network and obtain conditional probability tables. We propose here a complete framework applied on a real problem. From the different views of a group of shellfish dredgers about their activity , we derive a decision facilitating tool, enabling scenarios testing for fisheries management
PICARD SOL, a new ground-based facility for long-term solar radius measurements: first results

International audiencePICARD SOL is the ground component of the PICARD mission and is operational since March 2011. A set of instruments including the replica of the space instrument and several atmospheric monitors was set up at Calern observatory in order to compare solar radius measured in space and on ground and to better understand and calibrate atmospheric effects on ground based measurements. SODISMII provides full disk images of the chromosphere and photosphere of the Sun in five narrow pass bands ranging from the near ultraviolet to the near infrared. Our preliminary results show a very good instrumental stability. After plate scale calibration using star doublet observations and corrections for atmospheric refraction, first estimates of the mean solar radius at the five wavelengths (393.37, 535.7, 607.1, 782.2, and 1025.0nm) are deduced from measurements recorded between May 2011 and December 2012
Planck 2013 results. VII. HFI time response and beams

This paper characterizes the effective beams, the effective beam window functions and the associated errors for the Planck High Frequency Instrument (HFI) detectors. The effective beam is theangular response including the effect of the optics, detectors, data processing and the scan strategy. The window function is the representation of this beam in the harmonic domain which is required to recover an unbiased measurement of the cosmic microwave background angular power spectrum. The HFI is a scanning instrument and its effective beams are the convolution of: a) the optical response of the telescope and feeds; b) the processing of the time-ordered data and deconvolution of the bolometric and electronic transfer function; and c) the merging of several surveys to produce maps. The time response transfer functions are measured using observations of Jupiter and Saturn and by minimizing survey difference residuals. The scanning beam is the post-deconvolution angular response of the instrument, and is characterized with observations of Mars. The main beam solid angles are determined to better than 0.5% at each HFI frequency band. Observations of Jupiter and Saturn limit near sidelobes (within 5°) to about 0.1% of the total solid angle. Time response residuals remain as long tails in the scanning beams, but contribute less than 0.1% of the total solid angle. The bias and uncertainty in the beam products are estimated using ensembles of simulated planet observations that include the impact of instrumental noise and known systematic effects. The correlation structure of these ensembles is well-described by five error eigenmodes that are sub-dominant to sample variance and instrumental noise in the harmonic domain. A suite of consistency tests provide confidence that the error model represents a sufficient description of the data. The total error in the effective beam window functions is below 1% at 100 GHz up to multipole l ~ 1500, and below 0.5% at 143 and 217 GHz up to l ~ 2000
Quantitative palynofacies analysis as a new tool to study transfers of fossil organic matter in recent terrestrial environments

International audienceClassical palynofacies method, which consists in an organic concentrate microscopic qualitative observation after mineral phase dissolution, is commonly used in order to study sedimentary organic matter. In the present study we develop a new quantitative palynofacies method that allows organic particles mass concentrations to be determined in studied samples. This method was developed to help quantify the input of fossil organic matter (FOM) into modern environments as a result of sedimentary rocks weathering. Studied samples were collected from different pools, like bedrocks, weathering profiles, soils and riverine particles in an experimental watershed "Le Laval". This watershed overlying Callovo-Oxfordian marls (1 km² in area) is located near Digne, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, in France. In addition to palynofacies techniques, Rock-Eval 6 pyrolysis and Al2O3 content measurements (inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry) were carried out on the samples. Obtained results show that this quantitative palynofacies method is suitable for FOM studies in modern environments, and FOM particles are quantified in the different pools. Results also give evidence that FOM alteration depends on the type of weathering, but also on the kind of organic particles. Soil formation under vegetation, resulting from the (bio)chemical weathering, lead to fossil organic particles concentration losses that do not exceed 30%. Elsewhere, mechanical weathering appears extremely fast and has no qualitative or quantitative influence on the observed FOM particles, which feeds directly into riverine stocks. FOM appears to be very resistant to weathering processes, this highlights its occurrence into supergene pools and then into carbon cycle. Quantitative palynofacies analysis is a new method adapted to a such study, but can also be applied to other palynological, paleoenvironmental or archeological studies
A part of cholinergic fibers in mouse superior cervical ganglia contain GABA or glutamate

The localizations and functions of glutamate and GABA, the major amino acid
neurotransmitters in the central nervous system, are still unclear in the peripheral
nervous system. We immunohistochemically double-stained mouse superior cervical
ganglia with antibodies for the vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAchT), GAD65, the
vesicular glutamate transporters 1-3 (VGluTs1-3), the marker of the sympathetic
preganglionic neuron (SPN), GABAergic, and glutamatergic terminals, respectively. All
GAD65-positive terminals showed VAchT-immunoreactivity, indicating that GABAergic
fibers originate from SPNs. VGluT2-immunoreactive terminals showing colocalization
with VAchT were observed, but VGluT1 and 3 immunoreactive terminals were not.
Colocalization of GAD65 and VGluT2 was rarely found. All VGluT2-immunopositive
terminals were also immunopositive for neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), a
marker for the subpopulation of the SPNs, while about half of the
GABA-immunopositive fibers were immunopositive for nNOS. The origin of these fibers
was discussed
A 2017 Horizon Scan of Emerging Issues for Global Conservation and Biological Diversity

© 2016 The Authors We present the results of our eighth annual horizon scan of emerging issues likely to affect global biological diversity, the environment, and conservation efforts in the future. The potential effects of these novel issues might not yet be fully recognized or understood by the global conservation community, and the issues can be regarded as both opportunities and risks. A diverse international team with collective expertise in horizon scanning, science communication, and conservation research, practice, and policy reviewed 100 potential issues and identified 15 that qualified as emerging, with potential substantial global effects. These issues include new developments in energy storage and fuel production, sand extraction, potential solutions to combat coral bleaching and invasive marine species, and blockchain technology
How much does emotional valence of action outcomes affect temporal binding?

Temporal binding refers to the compression of the perceived time interval between voluntary actions and their sensory consequences. Research suggests that the emotional content of an action outcome can modulate the effects of temporal binding. We attempted to conceptually replicate these findings using a time interval estimation task and different emotionally-valenced action outcomes (Experiments 1 and 2) than used in previous research. Contrary to previous findings, we found no evidence that temporal binding was affected by the emotional valence of action outcomes. After validating our stimuli for equivalence of perceived emotional valence and arousal (Experiment 3), in Experiment 4 we directly replicated Yoshie and Haggard's (2013) original experiment using sound vocalizations as action outcomes and failed to detect a significant effect of emotion on temporal binding. These studies suggest that the emotional valence of action outcomes exerts little influence on temporal binding. The potential implications of these findings are discussed
Disposable solid-contact ion-selective electrodes for environmental monitoring of lead with ppb

Solid-contact Pb2+-selective-electrodes and solid contact reference electrodes suitable for use as disposable sensing devices for environmental monitoring of lead have been prepared on screen-printed substrates. Accurate control over the fabrication procedures leads to excellent reproducibility of their calibration characteristics such as slope, offset and limit of detection. In particular, the limit of detection in the nanomolar range opens the possibility of their use for trace analysis of Pb2+ in environmental water samples. Significantly, the potentiometric measurements correlate well with data determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in a number of real samples taken from local rivers. Ways in which these sensors might be employed in autonomous platforms for monitoring water quality in-situ are discussed. The possibility of including arrays of virtually identical sensors is highlighted as a possible route to achieve long-term deployments
On the role of simplicity in science

Simple assumptions represent a decisive reason to prefer one theory to another in everyday scientific praxis.  But this praxis has little philosophical justification, since there exist many notions of simplicity, and those that can be defined precisely strongly depend on the language in which the theory is formulated.  The language dependence is a natural feature - to some extent - but it is also believed to be a fatal problem, because, according to a common general argument, the simplicity of a theory is always trivial in a suitably chosen language. But, this 'trivialization argument' is typically either applied to toy-models of scientific theories or applied with little regard for the empirical content of the theory.  This paper shows that the 'trivialization argument' fails, when one considers realistic theories and requires their empirical content to be preserved.  In fact, the concepts that enable a very simple formulation, are not necessarily measurable, in general.  Moreover, the inspection of a theory describing a chaotic billiard shows that precisely those concepts that naturally make the theory extremely simple are provably not measurable.  This suggests that - whenever a theory possesses sufficiently complex consequences - the constraint of measurability prevents too simple formulations in any language.  This explains why the scientists often regard their assessments of simplicity as largely unambiguous. In order to reveal a cultural bias in the scientists' assessment, one should explicitly identify different characterizations of simplicity of the assumptions that lead to different theory selections. General arguments are not sufficient
Photovoltaic application of O-doped Wittichenite-Cu 3 BiS 3: from microscopic properties to maximum efficiencies

The electronic properties and the low environmental impact of Cu 3 BiS 3 make this compound a promising material for low-cost thin film solar cell technology. From the first principles, the electronic properties of the isoelectronic substitution of S by O in Cu 3 BiS 3 have been obtained using two different exchange-correlation potentials. This compound has an acceptor level below the conduction band, which modifies the opto-electronic properties with respect to the host semiconductor. In order to analyze a possible efficiency increment with respect to the host semiconductor, we have calculated the maximum efficiency of this photovoltaic absorber material
Governance and enterprise restructuring - the case of Macedonia

This paper is a case study of the Republic of Macedonia (Southeast Europe), which focuses on examining governance and enterprise restructuring. 

Governance and enterprise restructuring is already defined indicator in EBRD’s studies and transition reports, measuring the effective corporate governance and corporate control exercised through domestic financial institutions and markets, fostering market-driven restructuring. As of the beginning of the transition process, governance and enterprise restructuring remains in the center, as essential pillar, that moves forward the society towards developed market economy.

The data used in this article are analyzed with an econometric regression model, which as employed in this study examines the interrelationships between governance and enterprise restructuring and set of policies that influence the governance patterns.
Lattice ellipsoidal statistical BGK model for thermal non-equilibrium flows

A thermal lattice Boltzmann model is constructed on the basis of the ellipsoidal statistical Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (ES-BGK) collision operator via the Hermite moment representation. The resulting lattice ES-BGK model uses a single distribution function and features an adjustable Prandtl number. Numerical simulations show that using a moderate discrete velocity set, this model can accurately recover steady and transient solutions of the ES-BGK equation in the slip-flow and early transition regimes in the small Mach number limit that is typical of microscale problems of practical interest. In the transition regime in particular, comparisons with numerical solutions of the ES-BGK model, direct Monte Carlo and low-variance deviational Monte Carlo simulations show good accuracy for values of the Knudsen number up to approximately 0:5. On the other hand, highly non-equilibrium phenomena characterized by high Mach numbers, such as viscous heating and force-driven Poiseuille flow for large values of the driving force, are more difficult to capture quantitatively in the transition regime using discretizations that have been chosen with computational efficiency in mind such as the one used here, although improved accuracy is observed as the number of discrete velocities is increased
Mercury pollution in Ria de Aveiro (Portugal): a review of the system assessment

The Ria de Aveiro (Portugal) is a coast al lagoon adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean and it has an inner bay (Laranjo bay) that received a highly contaminated effluent discharged by a mercury cell chlor-alkali plant from the 1950s until 1994. The aim of this study is to review in a holistic way several research studies that have been carried out in the Ria de Aveiro, in order to evaluate the remobilization of the mercury accumulated within the system and the recovery of the lagoon. The spatial distribution of the total mercury in the surrounding terrestrial environment has also been considered. Results indicate that the main mercury contamination problems in the Ria de Aveiro are confined to the Laranjo bay. Mercury export to the coastal waters and its impact on the nearshore compartments (water column, sediment and biota) are low. No direct effects of the mercury from nearby industrial activities were detected in Aveiro’s urban soils, although historical mercury contamination is still affecting soil quality in the immediate vicinity of the chlor-alkali plant, located in Estarreja. Moreover, macrophyte harvesting for human direct or indirect use and the consumption of mussels, crabs and the sea bass from the Laranjo bay may constitute a health risk. Further studies focusing on developing skills for the restoration of the ecosystem are presently underway.http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10661-008-0416-
A framework for selecting deep learning hyper-parameters

Recent research has found that deep learning architectures show significant improvements over traditional shallow algorithms when mining high dimensional datasets. When the choice of algorithm employed, hyper-parameter setting, number of hidden layers and nodes within a layer are combined, the identification of an optimal configuration can be a lengthy process. Our work provides a framework for building deep learning architectures via a stepwise approach, together with an evaluation methodology to quickly identify poorly performing architectural configurations. Using a dataset with high dimensionality, we illustrate how different architectures perform and how one algorithm configuration can provide input for fine-tuning more complex models
Generating multimedia presentations that summarize the behavior of dynamic systems using a model-based approach

This article describes a knowledge-based method for generating multimedia descriptions that summarize the behavior of dynamic systems. We designed this method for users who monitor the behavior of a dynamic system with the help of sensor networks and make decisions according to prefixed management goals. Our method generates presentations using different modes such as text in natural language, 2D graphics and 3D animations. The method uses a qualitative representation of the dynamic system based on hierarchies of components and causal influences. The method includes an abstraction generator that uses the system representation to find and aggregate relevant data at an appropriate level of abstraction. In addition, the method includes a hierarchical planner to generate a presentation using a model with dis- course patterns. Our method provides an efficient and flexible solution to generate concise and adapted multimedia presentations that summarize thousands of time series. It is general to be adapted to differ- ent dynamic systems with acceptable knowledge acquisition effort by reusing and adapting intuitive rep- resentations. We validated our method and evaluated its practical utility by developing several models for an application that worked in continuous real time operation for more than 1 year, summarizing sen- sor data of a national hydrologic information system in Spain
Unsupervised system to classify SO2 pollutant concentrations in Salamanca, Mexico

Salamanca is cataloged as one of the most polluted cities in Mexico. In order to observe the behavior and clarify the influence of wind parameters on the Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) concentrations a Self-Organizing Maps (SOM) Neural Network have been implemented at three monitoring locations for the period from January 1 to December 31, 2006. The maximum and minimum daily values of SO2 concentrations measured during the year of 2006 were correlated with the wind parameters of the same period. The main advantages of the SOM Neural Network is that it allows to integrate data from different sensors and provide readily interpretation results. Especially, it is powerful mapping and classification tool, which others information in an easier way and facilitates the task of establishing an order of priority between the distinguished groups of concentrations depending on their need for further research or remediation actions in subsequent management steps. For each monitoring location, SOM classifications were evaluated with respect to pollution levels established by Health Authorities. The classification system can help to establish a better air quality monitoring methodology that is essential for assessing the effectiveness of imposed pollution controls, strategies, and facilitate the pollutants reduction
Behavior of Ad Hoc routing protocols, analyzed for emergency and rescue scenarios, on a real urban area

A mobile Ad Hoc network (MANET) is a collection of wireless mobile nodes that can dynamically configure a network without a fixed infrastructure or central administration. This makes it ideal for emergency and rescue scenarios, where sharing information is essential and should occur as soon as possible. This article discusses which of the routing strategies for mobile MANETs: proactive, reactive or hierarchical, has a better performance in such scenarios. By selecting a real urban area for the emergency and rescue scenario, we calculated the density of nodes and the mobility model needed for the validation study of AODV, DSDV and CBRP in the routing model. The NS2 simulator has been used for our study. We also show that the hierarchical routing strategies are better suited for this type of scenarios
Constraint satisfaction problem based on flow graph to study the resilience of inland navigation networks in a climate change context

The T-Ten European program aims at optimizing the transport logistics in Europe by promoting alternative transport modes. Navigation transport offers a competitive and environmentally friendly alternative. Hence, it is foresaw an increase of the navigation transport demand that it will be necessary to accommodate. This will be very challenging particularly in a global change context where less available water resource is expected. A constraint satisfaction problem based on flow graph is proposed in this paper to study the resilience of inland navigation networks against increase of the navigation demand and extreme events. Drought and flood scenarios are simulated considering an network composed of five interconnected navigation reaches. The results show that the designed tools are adapted to the resilience study of inland navigation networks
Political instability and economic growth: Evidence from two decades of transition in CEE

This paper examines the nexus between political instability and economic growth in 10 CEE countries in transition in the period 1990-2009. Our results support the contention that political instability defined as a propensity for government change had a negative impact on growth. On the other hand, there was no causality in the opposite direction. A sensitivity analysis based on the application of a few hundred different variants of the initial econometric model confirmed the abovementioned findings only in the case where major government changes were applied to the definition of political instability.