2,559 research outputs found
Evaluation of the integrated Canadian crop yield forecaster (ICCYF) model for in-season prediction of crop yield across the Canadian agricultural landscape
Early warning information on crop yield and production are very crucial for both farmers and decision-makers. In this study, we assess the skill and the reliability of the Integrated Canadian Crop Yield Forecaster (ICCYF), a regional crop yield forecasting tool, at different temporal (i.e. 1â3 months before harvest) and spatial (i.e. census agricultural region â CAR, provincial and national) scales across Canada. A distinct feature of the ICCYF is that it generates in-season yield forecasts well before the end of the growing season and provides a probability distribution of the forecasted yields. The ICCYF integrates climate, remote sensing derived vegetation indices, soil and crop information through a physical process-based soil water budget model and statistical algorithms. The model was evaluated against yield survey data of spring wheat, barley and canola during the 1987â2012 period. Our results showed that the ICCYF performance exhibited a strong spatial pattern at both CAR and provincial scales. Model performance was better from regions with a good coverage of climate stations and a high percentage of cropped area. On average, the model coefficient of determination at CAR level was 66%, 51% and 67%, for spring wheat, barley and canola, respectively. Skilful forecasts (i.e. model efficiency index & gt; 0) were achieved in 70% of the CARs for spring wheat and canola, and 43% for barley (low values observed in CAR with small harvested area). At the provincial scale, the mean absolute percentage errors (MAPE) of the September forecasts ranged from 7% to 16%, 7% to 14%, and 6% to 14% for spring wheat, barley and canola, respectively. For forecasts at the national scale, MAPE values (i.e. 8%, 5% and 9% for the three respective crops) were considerably smaller than the corresponding historical coefficients of variation (i.e. 17%, 10% and 17% for the three crops). Overall, the ICCYF performed better for spring wheat than for canola and barley at all the three spatial scales. Skilful forecasts were achieved by mid-August, giving a lead time of about 1 month before harvest and about 3â4 months before the final release of official survey results. As such, the ICCYF could be used as a complementary tool for the traditional survey method, especially in areas where it is not practical to conduct such surveys
The Vehicle, Fall 2010
Table of ContentsPoetryFill Your Mouth with BerriesAaron Whitepage 1
RelationsJamie Van Allenpage 2
ExodusMegan Marie Olsonpage 4
Single FileRashelle McNairpage 7
The Aesthetic Value of the Moon, by CandlelightKathy Deckerpage 15
FactalsGabrielle Keigherpage 16
Day 5David Jacksonpage 17
Esta LloviendoHeather Gerrishpage 19
FacebrokeDarrin Gordonpage 23
5:08 pmNikki Riechertpage 24
Train TunnelsAshton Tembypage 34
VariationsKathy Deckerpage 35
WantRashelle McNairpage 36
FriendshipScott Maypage 37
Golden LandJacob Swansonpage 38
Last Night I DreamtAshton Tembypage 39
Smallest GestureScott Maypage 44
Somebody\u27s Hut in MexicoGinamarie Lobiancopage 45
Some Things You Just Can\u27t Tap Dance AroundClint Walkerpage 53
Prose
Lamparus de DiosAaron Whitepage 8
Learning CurveScott Maypage 18
RocktonKatelyn Pfaffpage 20
Fatal DistractionSolomohn Ennispage 25
Noodle NonsenseGabrielle Keigherpage 41
AntarcticaMichael Payeapage 46
Special Features
James K Johnson Award Winners:
God is GraciousJohn Klyczekpage 57
To My Ever Growing ChestJennifer Hindespage 74
God\u27s ScapegoatJennifer Hindespage 76
Rape (Verb, Noun)Jennifer Hindespage 78
Featured Artist: Ashton Tembypage 81
Editor\u27s Pick: The Shooter by Patrick Hallpage 87
Chapbook 2010 Author:Kim Hunter-Perkinspage 114
About the Contributorspage 118
About the Editorspage 122https://thekeep.eiu.edu/vehicle/1092/thumbnail.jp
Tau Interaction with Tubulin and Microtubules: From Purified Proteins to Cells
International audienceMicrotubules (MTs) play an important role in many cellular processes and are dynamic structures regulated by an important network of microtubules-associated proteins, MAPs, such as Tau. Tau has been discovered as an essential factor for MTs formation in vitro, and its region implicated in binding to MTs has been identified. By contrast, the affinity, the stoichiometry, and the topology of Tau-MTs interaction remain controversial. Indeed, depending on the experiment conditions a wide range of values have been obtained. In this chapter, we focus on three biophysical methods, turbidimetry, cosedimentation assay, and Förster Resonance Energy Transfer to study Tau-tubulin interaction both in vitro and in cell. We highlight precautions that must be taken in order to avoid pitfalls and we detail the nature of the conclusions that can be drawn from these methods about Tau-tubulin interaction
Quantifying simulator discrepancy in discrete-time dynamical simulators
When making predictions with complex simulators it can be important to quantify the various sources of uncertainty. Errors in the structural specification of the simulator, for example due to missing processes or incorrect mathematical specification, can be a major source of uncertainty, but are often ignored. We introduce a methodology for inferring the discrepancy between the simulator and the system in discrete-time dynamical simulators. We assume a structural form for the discrepancy function, and show how to infer the maximum-likelihood parameter estimates using a particle filter embedded within a Monte Carlo expectation maximization (MCEM) algorithm. We illustrate the method on a conceptual rainfall-runoff simulator (logSPM) used to model the Abercrombie catchment in Australia. We assess the simulator and discrepancy model on the basis of their predictive performance using proper scoring rules. This article has supplementary material online
Activated monocytes in peritumoral stroma of hepatocellular carcinoma foster immune privilege and disease progression through PD-L1
Macrophages (MÏ) are prominent components of solid tumors and exhibit distinct phenotypes in different microenvironments. We have recently found that tumors can alter the normal developmental process of MÏ to trigger transient activation of monocytes in peritumoral stroma. We showed that a fraction of monocytes/MÏ in peritumoral stroma, but not in cancer nests, expresses surface PD-L1 (also termed B7-H1) molecules in tumors from patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Monocytes activated by tumors strongly express PD-L1 proteins with kinetics similar to their activation status, and significant correlations were found between the levels of PD-L1+ and HLA-DRhigh on tumor-infiltrating monocytes. Autocrine tumor necrosis factor α and interleukin 10 released from activated monocytes stimulated monocyte expression of PD-L1. The PD-L1+ monocytes effectively suppressed tumor-specific T cell immunity and contributed to the growth of human tumors in vivo; the effect could be reversed by blocking PD-L1 on those monocytes. Moreover, we found that PD-L1 expression on tumor-infiltrating monocytes increased with disease progression, and the intensity of the protein was associated with high mortality and reduced survival in the HCC patients. Thus, expression of PD-L1 on activated monocytes/MÏ may represent a novel mechanism that links the proinflammatory response to immune tolerance in the tumor milieu
Search for the lepton-flavor-violating decays Bs0âe±Όâ and B0âe±Όâ
A search for the lepton-flavor-violating decays Bs0âe±Όâ and B0âe±Όâ is performed with a data sample, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0ââfb-1 of pp collisions at âs=7ââTeV, collected by the LHCb experiment. The observed number of Bs0âe±Όâ and B0âe±Όâ candidates is consistent with background expectations. Upper limits on the branching fractions of both decays are determined to be B(Bs0âe±Όâ)101ââTeV/c2 and MLQ(B0âe±Όâ)>126ââTeV/c2 at 95% C.L., and are a factor of 2 higher than the previous bounds
Observation of the decay
The decay is observed for the first
time, using proton-proton collisions collected with the LHCb detector
corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3fb. A signal yield of
decays is reported with a significance of 6.2 standard deviations.
The ratio of the branching fraction of \B_c \rightarrow J/\psi K^+ K^- \pi^+
decays to that of decays is measured to be
, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the
second is systematic.Comment: 18 pages, 2 figure
Observation of associated production of a boson with a meson in the~forward region
A search for associated production of a boson with an open charm meson is
presented using a data sample, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of
of proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy
of 7\,TeV, collected by the LHCb experiment. %% Seven candidate events for
associated production of a boson with a meson and four candidate
events for a boson with a meson are observed with a combined
significance of 5.1standard deviations. The production cross-sections in the
forward region are measured to be where the first uncertainty is statistical and the
second systematic.Comment: 18 pages, 2 figure
Observations of BÂșsâÏ(2S)η and BÂș(s)âÏ(2S)Ï+Ï- decays
First observations of the B0s
âÏ(2S)η, B0 âÏ(2S)Ï
+
Ï
â and B0s
âÏ(2S)Ï
+
Ï
â decays are made
using a dataset corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fbâ1 collected by the LHCb experiment in
protonâproton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of
â
s = 7 TeV. The ratios of the branching fractions
of each of the Ï(2S) modes with respect to the corresponding J/Ï decays are
B(B0s
âÏ(2S)η)
Ă·
B(B0s
âJ/Ïη)
= 0.83± 0.14 (stat)±0.12 (syst) ±0.02 (B),
;
B(B0âÏ(2S)Ï
+
Ï
â
)
Ă·
B(B0âJ/ÏÏ
+
Ï
â
)
= 0.56± 0.07 (stat)±0.05 (syst)± 0.01 (B),
;
B(B0s
âÏ(2S)Ï
+
Ï
â
)
Ă·
B(B0s
âJ/ÏÏ
+
Ï
â
)
= 0.34± 0.04 (stat)±0.03 (syst)± 0.01 (B),
where the third uncertainty corresponds to the uncertainties of the dilepton branching fractions of the J/Ï
and Ï(2S) meson decays
Measurements of the , , meson and baryon lifetimes
Measurements of -hadron lifetimes are reported using collision data,
corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0fb, collected by the
LHCb detector at a centre-of-mass energy of Tev. Using the exclusive decays
, , ,
and the average decay
times in these modes are measured to be = 0.004 0.003 ps, =
0.006 0.004 ps, = 0.013
0.005 ps, = 0.027
0.006 ps and = 0.011
0.005 ps, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is
systematic. These represent the most precise lifetime measurements in these
decay modes. In addition, ratios of these lifetimes, and the ratio of the
decay-width difference, , to the average width, , in
the system, , are
reported. All quantities are found to be consistent with Standard Model
expectations.Comment: 28 pages, 4 figures. Updated reference
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