Early Detection of Mountain Pine Beetle Damage in Ponderosa Pine Forests of the Black Hills Using Hyperspectral and WorldView-2 Data

A leading cause for mortality in the pine forests of western North America, the mountain pine beetle, has impacted over 400,000 acres of ponderosa pine forest in the Black Hills of South Dakota since 1996. Methods aimed at earlier detection, prior to visual manifestation of a mountain pine beetle damage in the tree crown, have not been successful because of the overlap and variability of spectral response between the initial stages of attack (green-attacked) and non-attacked tree crowns. Needle-level reflectance spectra was measured from green-attack and non-attack ponderosa pine trees in early spring following an infestation and analyzed using a multi-statistical approach to determine which spectral features best discriminate green-attack needles. Green-attack reflectance was significantly higher than non-attack from 424-717 nm and 1151-2400 nm. Bands in the shortwave-infrared had increased measures of separation between classes compared to visible and near-infrared bands. Peaks in separation related to moisture absorption features, from 1451-1540 nm and 1973-2103 nm, and pigment absorption features from 462-520 nm and 663-689 nm, were consistently observed over multiple statistical analyses. While these features show promise for operational canopy-level detection, it is unknown if they can be scaled up due to large within-class variability and spectral overlap between classes. To examine the potential for canopy-level detection, in-situ training data was collected for green-attack and non-attack trees from known locations within the Black Hills at a similar time a WorldView-2 image was acquired of the study area. Along with eight WV-2 bands, all possible normalized two-band indices were calculated to examine the suitability of WV-2 data for detecting green-attack damage. The performance of three different classifiers, logistic regression, linear discriminant analysis, Random Forest, was evaluated. Normalized two-band indices using a combination of a near-infrared band and visible band increased separation compared to single WV-2 bands. Random Forest classifiers using the eight WV-2 bands as predictors yielded an independently validated accuracy of 70.6%. Compared to non-attack, green-attack class accuracies were lower, likely due to the high within-class variance and spectral overlap between classes observed. Even with these limitations, the methods presented offer improvements over existing green-attack detection methods

Casework Treatment Procedures as a Function of Client-Diagnostic Variables: A Study of Their Relationship in the Casework Interview

The study is an exploratory examination of the relationship between the psychosocial diagnostic evaluation and the treatment procedures used by the caseworker in the interview. The psychosocial diagnosis has been defined by twenty-four selected variables assumed to be relevant indicators of the diagnostic process. The treatment procedures have been defined by the Hollis' typology of casework treatment. The variation in the use of the treatment procedures is also examined in relation to three intervening variables: (1) treatment phase; (2) casework method (supportive vs. modifying); and, (3) caseworker. The study is based upon a secondary analysis of data originally collected for the Casework Methods Project, Center for Social Casework Research, Community Service Society of New York. The clients studied are a well defined group. The sample represents motivated, lower-middle class, Negro and White clients of slightly above average general intelligence living in intact families and seeking assistance from a private family agency for difficulties in marital and/or parent-child relationships. The sample tends to represent clients who continue in service through at least the ninth assigned service interview. These are clients who have agreed to partake in a research project and to have their interviews tape recorded. The study has examined eighty-seven tape recorded interviews drawn from thirty-five clients representing twenty-two families. Individual clients are represented by a range of from one to three interviews drawn from a maximum of three phases of treatment. The interviews are representative of assigned service client interview one through fourteen and assigned service case interview one through thirty-nine. The caseworkers treating the clients assessed the clients' status and functioning on the selected diagnostic variables. The treatment procedures used by that same caseworker with each client were determined through the content analysis of tape recorded interviews with the clients. Each worker statement (clause) was classified as one of eleven possible treatment procedures. The proportionate use of each procedure was computed for each interview. Differences in proportions were examined in relation to the independent variables. Variation in the use of the treatment procedures in relation to the independent variables of treatment phase, casework method, and case- worker were examined through a series of multivariate analyses of variance tests. The associations between the twenty-four diagnostic variables and the eleven procedures were assessed through a correlational analysis. In addition the twenty-four diagnostic variables were factor analyzed. Three hypothetical components were identified. Factor scores were computed for each client on each of the three components and correlated with the treatment procedures used with the clients. Non-parametric techniques were used for supplementary analysis. The general hypothesis that the procedures are associated with the diagnostic variables is partially confirmed for nine of the eleven procedures in the sense that a larger number of significant correlations occur than attributable to chance. However, the amount of variation explained by the diagnostic indicators is generally rather small. The degree of the associations are from weak to moderate. The theoretically expected associations tend to occur although to an extent less than anticipated. The largest amount of variation in the use of the treatment procedures was explained by differences among caseworkers. Differences among treatment phases explained a significant amount of the variation in one of the procedures. The writer anticipates that control for caseworker and phase would increase the diagnostic-treatment associations. In addition to the testing of the study hypotheses the study describes the treatment process in this sample of eighty-seven tape recorded interviews

Classic Period Dune Settlement in the Eastern Lower Papaloapan Basin, Southern Veracruz, Mexico

This dissertation is an archaeological investigation into the long-term settlement change of an ecologically distinct portion of the Eastern Lower Papaloapan Basin (ELPB) of southern Veracruz, Mexico, before, during, and after the fluorescence of the Tres Zapotes polity. This project examines the changing settlement history in an area of near-coastal paleodunes and estuarine lakes in the northern ELPB, addressing the question: “What processes account for variations in the distribution of occupation on the dune landscape through time?” I argue that the answer lies at the intersection of specific environmental, economic, and political factors in the ELPB over time

A Visual Presentation of Man Prostituting Himself

This study involves the artistic presentation of the concept that: •’Man prostitutes himself and is trapped by his own prostitution. The chief problems of the thesis were the clarification of that concept and its subsequent interpretation in aesthetic form. Formulation of the basic idea demanded an examination of prostitution in its broader aspects. The use of man\u27s talents for base purposes was considered in the areas of public relations, business, corporation operation, art, education and religion. Then consideration was given to the assemblage as an aesthetic communicative device. This discussion involved the level of articulation available to the assemblage, and the emotive use of non-art objects in art work. A series of assemblages were projected to communicate the basic concept. The assemblages were first considered in view of their technical and aesthetic qualities. Their execution was then explored in detail. This exploration involved surface quality, material, the physical scale of the work, and the relation of the parts to the total work. The conclusions derived from this thesis were open-ended but indicated the potential of the assemblage as a method of aesthetic communication or concepts

Review of Explanation and Understanding in the Human Sciences by Gurpreet Mahajan Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1992. Pp. 124

Gurpreet Mahajan critically analyzes explanation and understanding in the social sciences. Her approach is consistent with those who have historically argued for a human science with methods distinct from those of the natural sciences. Four approaches to scientific explanation and understanding in the social sciences are examined. The mode associated with logical positivism, causale xplanationi,s reviewed and found to be insufficient for the social sciences. The second approach, reason-actioenx planationi,s among the oldest forms of explanation. Agreeing with common sense, it is the notion that the explanation for a human action is the reason given by the agent. Hermeneutiucn derstandinga,s originally formulated by Dilthey and subsequently proposed by Hans-Georg Gadamer and Paul Ricoeur, is contrasted with causal explanation as well as reasonaction explanation. Following W. B. Gallie, Arthur C. Danto, and William Dray, the narrative mode is discussed last. While there are several versions of the narrative mode, Dray has proposed that an event is explained when one can "trace the course of events by which it came about." Mahajan presents each of these four modes as framing the object of inquiry differently and asking qualitatively different questions. After an analysis of each of these four modes, Mahajan, taking a relativistic stance, concludes, "Since there is no theoretical grid from which we can view the world in itself and write its history, we must allow points of view that offer new insights and uncover different aspects of reality some space to exist" (p. 101)

Evidence-based practice in a social work context - the United States case

Sosiaalihuollon menetelmien arviointi (FinSoc) -projekt

Pathway of histone mRNA degradation: oligouridylation followed by bidirectional decay

Histone mRNAs are rapidly degraded at the end of S phase or when DNA replication is inhibited. Histone mRNAs end in a conserved stemloop rather than a poly(A) tail. Degradation of histone mRNAs requires the stemloop sequence, which binds the stemloop binding protein (SLBP), active translation of the histone mRNA, and the location of the stemloop close to the termination codon. In this thesis I present evidence that the initial step in histone mRNA degradation is the addition of uridines to the 3' end of the histone mRNA, both after inhibition of DNA replication and at the end of S-phase. Lsm1 is required for histone mRNA degradation and is present in a complex containing SLBP on the 3' end of histone mRNA after inhibition of DNA replication. I cloned degradation intermediates that had been partially degraded from both the 5' and the 3' end. RNA interference (RNAi) experiments demonstrate that both the exosome (3'-5') and 5' to 3' decay pathway components are functionally required for degradation. cRT-PCR experiments corroborate the findings from the functional RNAi experiments by providing direct evidence that individual histone mRNAs are degraded simultaneously 5' to 3' and 3' to 5' when DNA synthesis is inhibited. Finally, I present evidence that SLBP protein expression is required for proper regulation of histone mRNA degradation when DNA synthesis is inhibited, but that the underlying mechanism is due to nuclear retention of properly processed histone mRNA. The latter suggests that one of the critical functions of SLBP in human cells is the proper export of histone mRNA to the cytoplasm