Polynomial modeling for time-varying systems based on a particle swarm optimization algorithm

In this paper, an effective particle swarm optimization (PSO) is proposed for polynomial models for time varying systems. The basic operations of the proposed PSO are similar to those of the classical PSO except that elements of particles represent arithmetic operations and variables of time-varying models. The performance of the proposed PSO is evaluated by polynomial modeling based on various sets of time-invariant and time-varying data. Results of polynomial modeling in time-varying systems show that the proposed PSO outperforms commonly used modeling methods which have been developed for solving dynamic optimization problems including genetic programming (GP) and dynamic GP. An analysis of the diversity of individuals of populations in the proposed PSO and GP reveals why the proposed PSO obtains better results than those obtained by GP

Altimetry for the future: Building on 25 years of progress

In 2018 we celebrated 25 years of development of radar altimetry, and the progress achieved by this methodology in the fields of global and coastal oceanography, hydrology, geodesy and cryospheric sciences. Many symbolic major events have celebrated these developments, e.g., in Venice, Italy, the 15th (2006) and 20th (2012) years of progress and more recently, in 2018, in Ponta Delgada, Portugal, 25 Years of Progress in Radar Altimetry. On this latter occasion it was decided to collect contributions of scientists, engineers and managers involved in the worldwide altimetry community to depict the state of altimetry and propose recommendations for the altimetry of the future. This paper summarizes contributions and recommendations that were collected and provides guidance for future mission design, research activities, and sustainable operational radar altimetry data exploitation. Recommendations provided are fundamental for optimizing further scientific and operational advances of oceanographic observations by altimetry, including requirements for spatial and temporal resolution of altimetric measurements, their accuracy and continuity. There are also new challenges and new openings mentioned in the paper that are particularly crucial for observations at higher latitudes, for coastal oceanography, for cryospheric studies and for hydrology. The paper starts with a general introduction followed by a section on Earth System Science including Ocean Dynamics, Sea Level, the Coastal Ocean, Hydrology, the Cryosphere and Polar Oceans and the ‘‘Green” Ocean, extending the frontier from biogeochemistry to marine ecology. Applications are described in a subsequent section, which covers Operational Oceanography, Weather, Hurricane Wave and Wind Forecasting, Climate projection. Instruments’ development and satellite missions’ evolutions are described in a fourth section. A fifth section covers the key observations that altimeters provide and their potential complements, from other Earth observation measurements to in situ data. Section 6 identifies the data and methods and provides some accuracy and resolution requirements for the wet tropospheric correction, the orbit and other geodetic requirements, the Mean Sea Surface, Geoid and Mean Dynamic Topography, Calibration and Validation, data accuracy, data access and handling (including the DUACS system). Section 7 brings a transversal view on scales, integration, artificial intelligence, and capacity building (education and training). Section 8 reviews the programmatic issues followed by a conclusion

Functional mechanisms underlying pleiotropic risk alleles at the 19p13.1 breast-ovarian cancer susceptibility locus

A locus at 19p13 is associated with breast cancer (BC) and ovarian cancer (OC) risk. Here we analyse 438 SNPs in this region in 46,451 BC and 15,438 OC cases, 15,252 BRCA1 mutation carriers and 73,444 controls and identify 13 candidate causal SNPs associated with serous OC (P=9.2 × 10-20), ER-negative BC (P=1.1 × 10-13), BRCA1-associated BC (P=7.7 × 10-16) and triple negative BC (P-diff=2 × 10-5). Genotype-gene expression associations are identified for candidate target genes ANKLE1 (P=2 × 10-3) and ABHD8 (P<2 × 10-3). Chromosome conformation capture identifies interactions between four candidate SNPs and ABHD8, and luciferase assays indicate six risk alleles increased transactivation of the ADHD8 promoter. Targeted deletion of a region containing risk SNP rs56069439 in a putative enhancer induces ANKLE1 downregulation; and mRNA stability assays indicate functional effects for an ANKLE1 3′-UTR SNP. Altogether, these data suggest that multiple SNPs at 19p13 regulate ABHD8 and perhaps ANKLE1 expression, and indicate common mechanisms underlying breast and ovarian cancer risk

Altimetry for the future: building on 25 years of progress

In 2018 we celebrated 25 years of development of radar altimetry, and the progress achieved by this methodology in the fields of global and coastal oceanography, hydrology, geodesy and cryospheric sciences. Many symbolic major events have celebrated these developments, e.g., in Venice, Italy, the 15th (2006) and 20th (2012) years of progress and more recently, in 2018, in Ponta Delgada, Portugal, 25 Years of Progress in Radar Altimetry. On this latter occasion it was decided to collect contributions of scientists, engineers and managers involved in the worldwide altimetry community to depict the state of altimetry and propose recommendations for the altimetry of the future. This paper summarizes contributions and recommendations that were collected and provides guidance for future mission design, research activities, and sustainable operational radar altimetry data exploitation. Recommendations provided are fundamental for optimizing further scientific and operational advances of oceanographic observations by altimetry, including requirements for spatial and temporal resolution of altimetric measurements, their accuracy and continuity. There are also new challenges and new openings mentioned in the paper that are particularly crucial for observations at higher latitudes, for coastal oceanography, for cryospheric studies and for hydrology. The paper starts with a general introduction followed by a section on Earth System Science including Ocean Dynamics, Sea Level, the Coastal Ocean, Hydrology, the Cryosphere and Polar Oceans and the “Green” Ocean, extending the frontier from biogeochemistry to marine ecology. Applications are described in a subsequent section, which covers Operational Oceanography, Weather, Hurricane Wave and Wind Forecasting, Climate projection. Instruments’ development and satellite missions’ evolutions are described in a fourth section. A fifth section covers the key observations that altimeters provide and their potential complements, from other Earth observation measurements to in situ data. Section 6 identifies the data and methods and provides some accuracy and resolution requirements for the wet tropospheric correction, the orbit and other geodetic requirements, the Mean Sea Surface, Geoid and Mean Dynamic Topography, Calibration and Validation, data accuracy, data access and handling (including the DUACS system). Section 7 brings a transversal view on scales, integration, artificial intelligence, and capacity building (education and training). Section 8 reviews the programmatic issues followed by a conclusion

Study of the variation of schistosomiasis risk in Lake Poyang in the People’s Republic of China using multiple space-borne sensors for the monitoring and modelling

The dynamics of the Poyang Lake in Jiangxi province, People’s Republic of China has been monitored to demonstrate the association of various variables with the distribution of schistosomiasis transmission with particular reference to the annual variation of the habitats for the Oncomelania snail, the intermediate host of Schistosoma japonicum. This was studied with multiple space-borne sensors, including the ENVISAT radar altimeter (RA-2) and MODIS/Terra radiometry data products such as the 16-day enhanced vegetation index, the 8-day sun reflectance, and the derived modified normalized difference water index. The measurements of physical properties were in good accordance with previous reports based on in situ gauge data, spectroradiometry and other optical methods, which encouraged us to build a predictive model based on reported geospatial constraints to assess the limits of potential variation of the snail habitat areas. The simulated results correspond fairly well with surveys conducted by local authorities showing a correlation coefficient of 0.82 between highpotential habitat areas and local estimates in a 9-year (2002-2010) analysis. Taken together, these data indicate that spaceborne observations and in situ measurements can be integrated and used as a first step of a monitoring system for control and analysis of the potential of schistosomiasis dissemination. Since the true range and intensity of transmission in the study region remain elusive at present, a long-term survey around the lake is warranted to build a robust, parametric mode

Checklist of marine benthic green algae (Chlorophyta) at the subtropical island of Hainan (China): A comparison between the 1930s and 1990-2009 reveals environmental changes

A complete checklist of intertidal to shallow subtidal marine green seaweeds (Chlorophyta) growing on the subtropical island of Hainan (China) is presented here for the fi rst time. It covers data from extensive recent (1990 – 2009) and historical (1933 – 1935) collections, and additional published records from various time periods. Data were analyzed by time period. We postulate that environmental changes on Hainan Island documented since the 1980s (e.g., degradation of coral reefs, development of tourism and mariculture farms) are refl ected in the green algal species complement and in the dominance or absence of specifi c algal groups during different time periods. In total, 105 green algal taxa were recorded, including 37 new to Hainan Island, and 18 new records for China. There was a clearly evident change in fl oristic composition between early and recent collections. In the 1930s, there was a dominance of Caulerpaceae, Codiaceae and Cladophoraceae. By 1990/1992, the numbers of Ulvaceae had increased 1.6-fold and numbers of Cladophoraceae 1.7-fold. Both families contain many opportunistic species that prefer nutrient-enriched or degraded environments. At the same time, species richness of Codiaceae, Caulerpaceae and Udotaceae, families with complex thallus structures, decreased considerably. The fl oristic differences between the 1990/1992 and 2008/2009 collections were minor

The diffusion behavior of a simple map with periodic quenched disorder

To explore the effect of quenched disorder on chaotic diffusion, we investigate the diffusion properties of a simple map with periodic quenched disorder. As the period T approaches infinity, the map will exhibit sublinear diffusion behavior, the same as that revealed by Radons [Phys. Rev. Lett, 77 (1996) 4748], such that the corresponding diffusion coefficient D vanishes. For T = 140, we find, the system varies with the configuration of disorder to exhibit a great diversity of diffusion behavior, including normal diffusion with diminished D (about less than two or three orders of magnitude), the crossover from large D diffusion to very small D diffusion, and the crossover from normal diffusion to completely suppressed diffusion. Based on the decomposition formalism [H.C. Tseng. H.J. Chen, Int, J. Mod. Phys. 13 (1999) 83], we find that the correlation behavior of the sequences of +1 or -1, which are determined by the kinds of disorder (represented by +1 or -1) visited by the trajectories of the may, is responsible for the different diffusion processes. We also show that the connection between the diffusion behavior and the disorder configuration is dominated by the variance and the power spectrum of the associated potential. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved