Floodwater Depth Estimation Tool - Coastal Version (FwDET-C)

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The Floodwater Depth Estimation Tool (FwDET v2.0) for improved remote sensing analysis of coastal flooding

Remote sensing analysis is routinely used to map flooding extent either retrospectively or in near-real time. For flood emergency response, remote-sensing-based flood mapping is highly valuable as it can offer continued observational information about the flood extent over large geographical domains. Information about the floodwater depth across the inundated domain is important for damage assessment, rescue, and prioritizing of relief resource allocation, but cannot be readily estimated from remote sensing analysis. The Floodwater Depth Estimation Tool (FwDET) was developed to augment remote sensing analysis by calculating water depth based solely on an inundation map with an associated digital elevation model (DEM). The tool was shown to be accurate and was used in flood response activations by the Global Flood Partnership. Here we present a new version of the tool, FwDET v2.0, which enables water depth estimation for coastal flooding. FwDET v2.0 features a new flood boundary identification scheme which accounts for the lack of confinement of coastal flood domains at the shoreline. A new algorithm is used to calculate the local floodwater elevation for each cell, which improves the tool's runtime by a factor of 15 and alleviates inaccurate local boundary assignment across permanent water bodies. FwDET v2.0 is evaluated against physically based hydrodynamic simulations in both riverine and coastal case studies. The results show good correspondence, with an average difference of 0.18 and 0.31&thinsp;m for the coastal (using a 1&thinsp;m DEM) and riverine (using a 10&thinsp;m DEM) case studies, respectively. A FwDET v2.0 application of using remote-sensing-derived flood maps is presented for three case studies. These case studies showcase FwDET v2.0 ability to efficiently provide a synoptic assessment of floodwater. Limitations include challenges in obtaining high-resolution DEMs and increases in uncertainty when applied for highly fragmented flood inundation domains.</p

The UCSC Genome Browser database: update 2010

The University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) Genome Browser website (http://genome.ucsc.edu/) provides a large database of publicly available sequence and annotation data along with an integrated tool set for examining and comparing the genomes of organisms, aligning sequence to genomes, and displaying and sharing users’ own annotation data. As of September 2009, genomic sequence and a basic set of annotation ‘tracks’ are provided for 47 organisms, including 14 mammals, 10 non-mammal vertebrates, 3 invertebrate deuterostomes, 13 insects, 6 worms and a yeast. New data highlights this year include an updated human genome browser, a 44-species multiple sequence alignment track, improved variation and phenotype tracks and 16 new genome-wide ENCODE tracks. New features include drag-and-zoom navigation, a Wiki track for user-added annotations, new custom track formats for large datasets (bigBed and bigWig), a new multiple alignment output tool, links to variation and protein structure tools, in silico PCR utility enhancements, and improved track configuration tools

Inappropriate stereotypical inferences? An adversarial collaboration in experimental ordinary language philosophy

This paper trials new experimental methods for the analysis of natural language reasoning and the (re)development of critical ordinary language philosophy in the wake of J.L. Austin. Philosophical arguments and thought experiments are strongly shaped by default pragmatic inferences, including stereotypical inferences. Austin suggested that contextually inappropriate stereotypical inferences are at the root of some philosophical paradoxes and problems, and that these can be resolved by exposing those verbal fallacies. This paper builds on recent efforts to empirically document inappropriate stereotypical inferences that may drive philosophical arguments. We demonstrate that previously employed questionnaire-based output measures do not suffice to exclude relevant confounds. We then report an experiment that combines reading time measurements with plausibility ratings. The study seeks to provide evidence of inappropriate stereotypical inferences from appearance verbs that have been suggested to lie at the root of the influential ‘argument from illusion’. Our findings support a diagnostic reconstruction of this argument. They provide the missing component for proof of concept for an experimental implementation of critical ordinary language philosophy that is in line with the ambitions of current ‘evidential’ experimental philosophy

Genetic Diagnosis for 64 Patients with Inherited Retinal Disease

The overlapping genetic and clinical spectrum in inherited retinal degeneration (IRD) creates challenges for accurate diagnoses. The goal of this work was to determine the genetic diagnosis and clinical features for patients diagnosed with an IRD. After signing informed consent, peripheral blood or saliva was collected from 64 patients diagnosed with an IRD. Genetic testing was performed on each patient in a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA) certified laboratory. Mutations were verified with Sanger sequencing and segregation analysis when possible. Visual acuity was measured with a traditional Snellen chart and converted to a logarithm of minimal angle of resolution (logMAR). Fundus images of dilated eyes were acquired with the Optos® camera (Dunfermline, UK). Horizontal line scans were obtained with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT; Spectralis, Heidelberg, Germany). Genetic testing combined with segregation analysis resolved molecular and clinical diagnoses for 75% of patients. Ten novel mutations were found and unique genotype phenotype associations were made for the genes RP2 and CEP83. Collective knowledge is thereby expanded of the genetic basis and phenotypic correlation in IRD