Characterizing driving behavior using automatic visual analysis

In this work, we present the problem of rash driving detection algorithm using a single wide angle camera sensor, particularly useful in the Indian context. To our knowledge this rash driving problem has not been addressed using Image processing techniques (existing works use other sensors such as accelerometer). Car Image processing literature, though rich and mature, does not address the rash driving problem. In this work-in-progress paper, we present the need to address this problem, our approach and our future plans to build a rash driving detector.Comment: 4 pages,7 figures, IBM-ICARE201

Hybrid modeling of aboveground biomass carbon using disturbance history over large areas of boreal forest in eastern Canada

Le feu joue un rôle important dans la succession de la forêt boréale du nord-est de l’Amérique et le temps depuis le dernier feu (TDF) devrait être utile pour prédire la distribution spatiale du carbone. Les deux premiers objectifs de cette thèse sont: (1) la spatialisation du TDF pour une vaste région de forêt boréale de l'est du Canada (217,000 km2) et (2) la prédiction du carbone de la biomasse aérienne (CBA) à l’aide du TDF à une échelle liée aux perturbations par le feu. Un modèle non paramétrique a d’abord été développé pour prédire le TDF à partir d’historiques de feu, des données d'inventaire et climatiques à une échelle de 2 km2. Cette échelle correspond à la superficie minimale d’un feu pour être inclus dans la base de données canadienne des grands feux. Nous avons trouvé un ajustement substantiel à l’échelle de la région d’étude et à celle de paysages régionaux, mais la précision est restée faible à l’échelle de cellules individuelles de 2 km2. Une modélisation hiérarchique a ensuite été développée pour spatialiser le CBA des placettes d’inventaire à la même échelle de 2 km2. Les proportions des classes de densité du couvert étaient les variables les plus importantes pour prédire le CBA. Le CBA co-variait également avec la vitesse de récupération du couvert au travers de laquelle le TDF intervient indirectement. Finalement, nous avons comparé des estimations de CBA obtenues par télédétection satellitaire avec celles obtenues précédemment. Les résultats indiquent que les proportions des classes de densité du couvert et des types de dépôts ainsi que le TDF pourraient servir comme variables auxiliaires pour augmenter substantiellement la précision des estimés de CBA par télédétection. Les résultats de cette étude ont montré: 1) l'importance d’allonger la profondeur temporelle des historiques de feu pour donner une meilleure perspective des changements actuels du régime de feu; 2) l'importance d'intégrer l’information sur la reprise du couvert après feu aux courbes de rendement de CBA dans les modèles de bilan de carbone; et 3) l'importance de l'historique des feux et de la récupération de la végétation pour améliorer la précision de la cartographie de la biomasse à partir de la télédétection.Fire is as a main succession driver in northeastern American boreal forests and time since last fire (TSLF) is seen as a useful covariate to infer the spatial variation of carbon. The first two objectives of this thesis are: (1) to elaborate a TSLF map over an extensive region in boreal forests of eastern Canada (217,000 km2) and (2) to predict aboveground carbon biomass (ABC) as a function of TSLF at a scale related to fire disturbances. A non-parametric model was first developed to predict TSLF using historical records of fire, forest inventory data and climate data at a 2-km2 scale. Two kilometer square is the minimum size for fires to be considered important enough and included in the Canadian large fire database. Overall, we found a substantial agreement at the scale of both the study area and landscape units, but the accuracy remained fairly low at the scale of individual 2-km2 cells. A hierarchical modeling approach is then presented for scaling-up ABC from inventory plots to the same 2 km2 scale. The proportions of cover density classes were the most important variables to predict ABC. ABC was also related to the speed of post-fire canopy recovery through which TSLF acts indirectly upon ABC. Finally, we compared remote sensing based aboveground biomass estimates with our inventory based estimates to provide insights on improving their accuracy. The results indicated again that abundances of canopy cover density classes of surficial deposits, and TSLF may serve as ancillary variables for improving substantially the accuracy of remotely sensed biomass estimates. The study results have shown: 1) the importance of lengthening the historical records of fire records to provide a better perspective of the actual changes of fire regime; 2) the importance of incorporating post-fire canopy recovery information together with ABC yield curves in carbon budget models at a spatial scale related to fire disturbances; 3) the importance of adding disturbance history and vegetation recovery trends with remote sensing reflectance data to improve accuracy for biomass mapping

Production, Marketing and Value Chain Mapping of 'Srijana' Tomato Hybrid Seed in Nepal

A tomato variety known as 'Srijana' developed by Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) has been substantially popular among Nepalese farmers and entrepreneurs. To understand the seed value chain of the Srijana hybrid tomato, a survey was conducted in 2014/15 with public research and extension institutions, private seed companies/firms, non-governmental organization and community group including individual farmers, involved in Srijana tomato seed production. The survey covered random selection of 30 agro-vets and 30 farmers in Kathmandu valley, Kavre, Nuwakot, Dolakha and Kaski districts, Nepal where production of Srijana tomato seed is mostly concentrated. A focus group discussion was also conducted with commercial tomato farmers in each of the study districts. The study showed a total production of 293 kg Srijana seed having a value of around 47 million Nepalese Rupees (US $470 thousands) in year 2013/14. Private sector was the dominant actor sharing about 85$ 3,000) profit was estimated through the production of Srijana tomato seed in 0.05 hectares (500 m2) of land. Agro-vets (private sector seed dealers) were the major actors for supplying the seed from the producers to farms and received a higher profit margins. The farmers producing and selling the seed in technical assistance of public agencies received higher producer`s share (66.6%) than farmers producing and selling seed through own group (60%), technical assistance of non-governmental organization (53.3%), and in contract with private seed companies (26.7%). Majority of commercial tomato farmers had complaints on supply of poor quality seed in the market. As a result, there was declining faith on the quality of Srijana tomato seed. Limited access to parental lines and poor availability of skilled human resources were the key constraints to produce the quality Srijana seed. Therefore, it is recommended that there should be a provision of efficient quality control mechanisms, and development of human resources including public private partnerships for maintaining the genetic purity of parental lines and also improving the capacities of seed value chain actors for sustainable Srijana seed production in Nepal

Phosphatase Activity in Animal Manure-amended Soils and Molecular Profiling of Microbial Community in Tnt-spiked Soils

This study was conducted to examine microbial communities in soil agro-ecosystems amended with organic and inorganic fertilizers and in soils contaminated with nitroaromatic 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT). Effects of fertilizer treatment on soil phosphorus concentrations and phosphatases were determined. Another soil treated with TNT at 250-5000 mg kg-1 soil, an untreated control was used. Bacterial community changes induced by treatments were tested using fingerprints of bacterial 16S rRNA genes. Beef manure application increased soil total and Mehlich-3 extractable phosphorus. Acid and alkaline phosphatase activities were significantly high at 0-10 cm soil and decreased with increasing soil depth. Phosphodiesterase and inorganic pyrophosphatase activities increased with increasing soil depths from 0-30 cm. Distinct trends among four phosphatases implied their activity in different agro-ecosystems. Soils contaminated with TNT showed presence of TNT tolerant bacteria and their potential involvement in TNT degradation needs further attention.Department of Plant and Soil Science

Rapid and Sensitive Detection of Aflatoxin in Animal Feeds and Food Grains Using Immunomagnetic Bead Based Recovery and Real-time Immuno Quantitative Pcr (Rt-iqpcr) Assay

Aflatoxins are the unavoidable natural mycotoxins encountered in food and feedstuffs potentially causing carcinogenicity and other toxicity to humans and animals. In order to be in compliance with regulatory limits of trading agricultural commodities, the food and feed industry needs highly sensitive methods for detecting and quantifying trace levels of aflatoxins. We developed and tested the hitherto unexplored use of real-time immuno quantitative PCR (RT-iqPCR) for quantification of aflatoxins in animal feeds, feed grains and foodstuffs. Findings and Conclusions:The first part of the immuno-PCR approach developed here involves magnetic bead based recovery of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) from methanol extractions of food and feed samples and sensitive quantification of AFB1 using real time PCR. Calibration curves using several dilutions of aflatoxin standards in 60% methanol were developed. Second part of the study involved demonstration of the optimized immuno-PCR approach for detection and quantification of aflatoxins extracted from complex matrices of food and feedstuffs. Methanol extractions of animal feeds, corn feed grains and yellow corn meal were compared and most of the samples tested contained total aflatoxin content of less than 20 ppb. However, an excess antigen hook effect due to high analyte concentrations beyond the detection limit of our immuno-PCR assay (0.1 to 10ppb) was noticed as common occurrence in test samples. To overcome false negative results due to excess aflatoxin contents, we demonstrated the use of dilution protocols enabling the detection of very high levels of aflatoxins in feed extractions. Testing for the reliability of the immuno-PCR assay, samples were spiked with 200 ppb of aflatoxin B1 and about 96% of the spiked aflatoxin was recovered from horse feed extracts which further demonstrated the assay performance and reliability. Considering the significance of estimating trace levels of aflatoxins and their serious implications on animal and human health, we thus developed and tested our quantitative real time immuno-PCR method that could be used as a model system for aflatoxin detection in complex matrices of food or animal feed samples.Department of Animal Scienc

Assessment of Soil Fertility under Different Land-Use Systems in Dhading District of Nepal

Unscientific land use and cropping techniques have led high soil erosion and degradation of soil quality in the mid-hills of Nepal. To understand the effects of land use systems for selected soil chemical properties in mid-hills, composite soil samples at 0 cm to 20 cm depth were collected from five different land-use systems: Grassland, forest land, upland, lowland, and vegetable farms from Dhading district of Nepal in 2017. Soil samples were analyzed for soil fertility parameters: Soil pH, organic matter (OM), total nitrogen (N), available phosphorus (P), available potassium (K) and its effect due to different land use systems were compared. Results showed that soil pH was neutral in vegetable farms (6.61), whereas the rest of the land-use systems had acidic soils. Soil OM (3.55%) and N (0.18%) content was significantly higher in forest, but the lowest soil OM (1.26%) and N (0.06%) contents were recorded from upland and lowland farms, respectively. Available P was the highest in the vegetable farm (41.07 mg kg–1) and was the lowest in grazing land (2.89 mg kg–1). The upland farm had significantly higher P levels (39.89 mg kg–1) than the lowland farm (9.02 mg kg–1). Available K was the highest in the vegetable farm (130.2 mg kg–1) and lowest in grazing land (36.8 mg kg–1). These results indicated that the land under traditional mixed cereal-based farming had poor soil health compared with adjacent vegetable, grazing, and forest lands among the study area. The variations in soil fertility parameters suggest the immediate need for improvement in soil health of traditional farmlands