Operation of LANDSAT automatic tracking system

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Finding Optimal Cayley Map Embeddings Using Genetic Algorithms

Genetic algorithms are a commonly used metaheuristic search method aimed at solving complex optimization problems in a variety of fields. These types of algorithms lend themselves to problems that can incorporate stochastic elements, which allows for a wider search across a search space. However, the nature of the genetic algorithm can often cause challenges regarding time-consumption. Although the genetic algorithm may be widely applicable to various domains, it is not guaranteed that the algorithm will outperform other traditional search methods in solving problems specific to particular domains. In this paper, we test the feasibility of genetic algorithms in solving a common optimization problem in topological graph theory. In the study of Cayley maps, one problem that arises is how one can optimally embed a Cayley map of a complete graph onto an orientable surface with the least amount of holes on the surface as possible. One useful application of this optimization problem is in the design of circuit boards since such a process involves minimizing the number of layers that are required to build the circuit while still ensuring that none of the wires will cross. In this paper, we study complete graphs of the form K_12m + 7 for positive integers m and we work on mappings with the finite cyclic group Z_n. We develop several baseline search algorithms to first gain an understanding of the search space and its complexity. Then, we employ two different approaches to building the genetic algorithm and compare their performances in finding optimal Cayley map embeddings

Effects of weed management systems on canopy-inhabiting and surface-active arthropods in Iowa soybeans

Pest management strategies involving weed suppression in agroecosystems have changed considerably in the last few years. With advances in biotechnology, soybean varieties have been developed that are resistant to some broad-spectrum herbicides. Studies were conducted from 1996 through 1998 to better understand the effects of these new varieties and their weed management systems on arthropods and to assess the economics of adopting these systems;The effects of transgenic herbicide-resistant soybean varieties and their corresponding weed management strategies on canopy insects were examined in studies at two locations in Iowa from 1997 to 1998. Usually, weed management systems that allow more weed escapes also have larger insect population densities. However, systems with fewer weeds seemingly were preferred by potato leafhoppers. Bean leaf beetles and potato leathoppers showed preferences for certain varieties, but this was attributed to soybean plant height;Surface-active arthropods were examined using pitfall traps in an Iowa soybean field from 1996 through 1998. A total of 75,078 arthropods were identified from 4,800 pitfall traps. Ground beetles comprised the majority of arthropods captured (46%) with field crickets being the second most numerous (40%). However, when comparing conventional weed management and hand weeding systems, more predators were found in the hand weeded system, with the exception of the ground beetle Scarites. Finding more predators in plots with less weeds is attributed to food preference and availability. Inconsistent results in populations densities of Phalangidae indicate that pitfall trapping may not be an adequate method for assessing phalangid populations in soybean fields;The economics of adopting these new weed management systems was evaluated by partial budgeting analysis of the different varietal yields and input costs associated with them. Yield differences were observed when comparing varieties and weed management. These data indicated that a conventional soybean variety with a conventional weed management system can yield as well and have a similar return on yield as a transgenic variety with a targeted weed management system;More than 75,000 Collembola were collected in pitfall traps from 1996 through 1998. Collembola population densities were lower in the hand weeded system compared to the other two systems. These results are attributed to more weeds and less soil disturbance occurring in the targeted and conventional systems;In general, we found that while the new soybean varieties did not seemingly have an affect on arthropods, the weed management systems did. In addition, adoption of these new weed management systems were found to be economically beneficial only when weed conditions are such that multiple conventional herbicide applications and/or cultivations are necessary

The use of the LANDSAT data collection system and imagery in reservoir management and operation

The author has identified the following significant results. An increase in the data collection system's (DCS) ability to function in the flood control mission with no additional manpower was demonstrated during the storms which struck New England during April and May of 1975 and August 1976. It was found that for this watershed, creditable flood hydrographs could be generated from DCS data. It was concluded that an ideal DCS for reservoir regulation would draw features from LANDSAT and GOES. MSS grayscale computer printout and a USGS topographic map were compared, yielding an optimum computer classification map of the wetland areas of the Merrimack River estuary. A classification accuracy of 75% was obtained for the wetlands unit, taking into account the misclassified and the unclassified pixels. The MSS band 7 grayscale printouts of the Franklin Falls reservoir showed good agreement to USGS topographic maps in total area of water depicted at the low water reservoir stage and at the maximum inundation level. Preliminary analysis of the LANDSAT digital data using the GISS computer algorithms showed that the radiance of snow cover/vegetation varied from approximately 20 mW/sq cm sr in nonvegetated areas to less than 4 mW/sq cm sr for densely covered forested area

Inventing Chinese Buddhas: Identity, Authority, and Liberation in Song-Dynasty Chan Buddhism

This dissertation explores how Chan Buddhists made the unprecedented claim to a level of religious authority on par with the historical Buddha Śākyamuni and, in the process, invented what it means to be a buddha in China. This claim helped propel the Chan tradition to dominance of elite monastic Buddhism during the Song dynasty (960-1279), licensed an outpouring of Chan literature treated as equivalent to scripture, and changed the way Chinese Buddhists understood their own capacity for religious authority in relation to the historical Buddha and the Indian homeland of Buddhism. But the claim itself was fraught with complication. After all, according to canonical Buddhist scriptures, the Buddha was easily recognizable by the “marks of the great man” that adorned his body, while the same could not be said for Chan masters in the Song. What, then, distinguished Chan masters from everyone else? What authorized their elite status and granted them the authority of buddhas? According to what normative ideals did Chan aspirants pursue liberation, and by what standards did Chan masters evaluate their students to determine who was worthy of admission into an elite Chan lineage? How, in short, could one recognize a buddha in Song-dynasty China? The Chan tradition never answered this question once and for all; instead, the question broadly animated Chan rituals, institutional norms, literary practices, and visual cultures. My dissertation takes a performative approach to the analysis of Chan hagiographies, discourse records, commentarial collections, and visual materials, mobilizing the tradition’s rich archive to measure how Chan interventions in Buddhist tradition changed the landscape of elite Chinese Buddhism and participated in the epochal changes attending China’s Tang-to-Song transition

Investigation of metal-ion binding in the four-way junction construct of the hairpin ribozyme

The hairpin ribozyme is a small catalytic RNA that cleaves a phosphodiester bond. In order for cleavage to occur, the hairpin ribozyme must properly fold into its docked conformation, in which the two loops interact to form the active site. Metal ions and the four-way junction play critical roles in the stabilization of the docked conformation. The work presented in this thesis attempts to investigate the metal-ion dependence of the docking of the four-way junction construct of the hairpin ribozyme. In addition, the activity of the hairpin ribozyme in the presence of Mn2+ was observed. Initially, a four-stranded four-way junction construct of the hairpin ribozyme and a loopless mutant were characterized by native gel electrophoresis and thermal denaturation to verify ribozyme formation. A novel interaction between the sulfur of a phosphorothioate-substituted mononucleotide, such as adenosine thiomonophosphate (AMPS) or adenosine thiotrisphoshate (ATPgS), and Cd2+ has been characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy. A feature at 208 nm was identified to be a result of sulfur-to-Cd2+ transfer. The apparent binding affinities, the apparent extinction coefficients, and the binding ratios were determined for each complex

Weight Loss and Illness Severity in Adolescents With Atypical Anorexia Nervosa.

BACKGROUND:Lower weight has historically been equated with more severe illness in anorexia nervosa (AN). Reliance on admission weight to guide clinical concern is challenged by the rise in patients with atypical anorexia nervosa (AAN) requiring hospitalization at normal weight. METHODS:We examined weight history and illness severity in 12- to 24-year-olds with AN (n = 66) and AAN (n = 50) in a randomized clinical trial, the Study of Refeeding to Optimize Inpatient Gains (www.clinicaltrials.gov; NCT02488109). Amount of weight loss was the difference between the highest historical percentage median BMI and admission; rate was the amount divided by duration (months). Unpaired t tests compared AAN and AN; multiple variable regressions examined associations between weight history variables and markers of illness severity at admission. Stepwise regression examined the explanatory value of weight and menstrual history on selected markers. RESULTS:Participants were 16.5 ± 2.6 years old, and 91% were of female sex. Groups did not differ by weight history or admission heart rate (HR). Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire global scores were higher in AAN (mean 3.80 [SD 1.66] vs mean 3.00 [SD 1.66]; P = .02). Independent of admission weight, lower HR (β = -0.492 [confidence interval (CI) -0.883 to -0.100]; P = .01) was associated with faster loss; lower serum phosphorus was associated with a greater amount (β = -0.005 [CI -0.010 to 0.000]; P = .04) and longer duration (β = -0.011 [CI -0.017 to 0.005]; P = .001). Weight and menstrual history explained 28% of the variance in HR and 36% of the variance in serum phosphorus. CONCLUSIONS:Weight history was independently associated with markers of malnutrition in inpatients with restrictive eating disorders across a range of body weights and should be considered when assessing illness severity on hospital admission

An Introduced Predator Alters Aleutian Island Plant Communities by Thwarting Nutrient Subsidies

The ramifying effects of top predators on food webs traditionally have been studied within the framework of trophic cascades. Trophic cascades are compelling because they embody powerful indirect effects of predators on primary production. Although less studied, indirect effects of predators may occur via routes that are not exclusively trophic. We quantified how the introduction of foxes onto the Aleutian Islands transformed plant communities by reducing abundant seabird populations, thereby disrupting nutrient subsidies vectored by seabirds from sea to land. We compared soil and plant fertility, plant biomass and community composition, and stable isotopes of nitrogen in soil, plants, and other organisms on nine fox-infested and nine historically fox-free islands across the Aleutians. Additionally, we experimentally augmented nutrients on a fox-infested island to test whether differences in plant productivity and composition between fox-infested and fox-free islands could have arisen from differences in nutrient inputs between island types. Islands with historical fox infestations had soils low in phosphorus and nitrogen and plants low in tissue nitrogen. Soils, plants, slugs, flies, spiders, and bird droppings on these islands had low δ15N values indicating that these organisms obtained nitrogen from internally derived sources. In contrast, soils, plants, and higher trophic level organisms on fox-free islands had elevated δ15N signatures indicating that they utilized nutrients derived from the marine environment. Furthermore, soil phosphorus (but not nitrogen) and plant tissue nitrogen were higher on fox-free than fox-infested islands. Nutrient subsidized fox-free islands supported lush, high biomass plant communities dominated by graminoids. Fox-infested islands were less graminoid dominated and had higher cover and biomass of low-lying forbs and dwarf shrubs. While δ15N profiles of soils and plants and graminoid biomass varied with island size and distance from shore, after accounting for these effects differences between fox-infested and fox-free islands still existed. Fertilization over four years caused a 24-fold increase in graminoid biomass and a shift toward a more graminoid dominated plant community typical of fox-free islands. These results indicate that apex predators can influence plant productivity and composition through complex interaction web pathways involving both top-down forcing and bottom-up nutrient exchanges across systems. Read More: http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/05-049