Determination of Potentially Arable Land and Measurements of Non-Agricultural Uses for Nine Selected Areas in Africa

The purpose of this study was to determine the percentage of total potentially arable land currently committed to non-agricultural human settlement uses in selected African agro-climatic zones. Nine study areas equal in size to Landsat scenes, were selected by climatic zones as specified by the Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy. Soils information were fundamental to this project and were combined with climatic and crop suitability information for each study area. This information was manually converted to digital form for input to a computer-aided geographic information system, thereby creating nine independent data bases. Landsat CCT data for these study areas were processed by computer to identify and map the extent of human settlement. These data were automatically input as files into the appropriate data bases using the registration and aggregation program LEVI, developed at the Holcomb Research Institute. Potentially arable lands were identified within each Landsat scene, using FA0 criteria, based upon soil and crop suitability within each climatic zone. Landsat digital data identified the extent and location of human settlement, and file manipulation techniques identified settlements occurring upon these potentially arable lands. The results of this study indicate that the amount of potentially arable land varied dramatically between the nine study areas, ranging from 778 km² in South Africa (.19% committed to human settlements) to 29,017 km² in Nigeria (2.l% committed to human settlement). The research described in this paper was supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations under contract No. UNFPA/INT/75/P13-2/AGL

ESTIMATING THE VALUE OF BT CORN: A MULTI-STATE COMPARISON

Bt corn offers a powerful tool to control European corn borers and some other pests. Because pest infestations and farming practices differ across the Corn Belt, economic benefits also differ. This research estimates the value of Bt corn across the Corn Belt. Results identify areas where Bt adoption is economically justified.Crop Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

The Value of Bt Corn in Southwest Kansas: A Monte Carlo Simulation Approach

While most Corn Belt farmers consider planting Bt corn to control European corn borer, southwestern Kansas farmers must also take into account an array of other insect pests, including corn rootworm, spider mites, and southwestern corn borer. This research uses a decision analysis framework to estimate the expected economic value of Bt corn in southwest Kansas. Mean per acre Bt values ranged from $12.49 to$34.60, well above the technology fee assumed to be $14 per unit, or$5.25 per acre at a seeding rate of 30,000 seeds per acre. The minimum value over all scenarios was $8.69 per acre. Using Monte Carlo simulation, it was shown that European and southwestern corn borer infestation probabilities, expected corn price, and expected pest-free yields are important determinants of the value of Bt corn.Bt corn, decision analysis, European corn borer, integrated pest management, Monte Carlo simulation, southwestern corn borer, Crop Production/Industries,

Thermomechanical fatigue in 9-12Cr steels: Life prediction models and the effect of tensile dwell periods

This paper is concerned with the assessment of life prediction models for thermomechanical fatigue (TMF), with specific application to P91 steel. A program of TMF tests, including dwell periods, are performed to determine the role of thermomechanical loading on fatigue life. As expected, fatigue life under conventional TMF testing (no dwells) is governed by maximum applied stress and inelastic strain-range. However, with the introduction of dwell periods, at maximum tensile stress during TMF loading, in-phase loading becomes the life-limiting case. This is attributed here to increased microstructural degradation and oxidation, associated with the dwell at peak temperature. Analysis of commonly used TMF life prediction models shows that the effect of dwell periods currently cannot be predicted for in-phase loading. Thus, it is concluded that physically-motivated approaches are required to successfully predict fatigue life under more complex (service) thermomechanical loading histories.Keyword

Fully online clustering of evolving data streams into arbitrarily shaped clusters

In recent times there has been an increase in data availability in continuous data streams and clustering of this data has many advantages in data analysis. It is often the case that these data streams are not stationary, but evolve over time, and also that the clusters are not regular shapes but form arbitrary shapes in the data space. Previous techniques for clustering such data streams are either hybrid online / offline methods, windowed offline methods, or find only hyper-elliptical clusters. In this paper we present a fully online technique for clustering evolving data streams into arbitrary shaped clusters. It is a two stage technique that is accurate, robust to noise, computationally and memory efficient, with a low time penalty as the number of data dimensions increases. The first stage of the technique produces micro-clusters and the second stage combines these micro- clusters into macro-clusters. Dimensional stability and high speed is achieved through keeping the calculations both simple and minimal using hyper-spherical micro-clusters. By maintaining a graph structure, where the micro-clusters are the nodes and the edges are its pairs with intersecting micro-clusters, we minimise the calculations required for macro-cluster maintenance. The micro- clusters themselves are described in such a way that there is no calculation required for the core and shell regions and no separate definition of outer micro-clusters necessary. We demonstrate the ability of the proposed technique to join and separate macro-clusters as they evolve in a fully online manner. There are no other fully online techniques that the authors are aware of and so we compare the tech- nique with popular online / offline hybrid alternatives for accuracy, purity and speed. The technique is then applied to real atmospheric science data streams and used to discover short term, long term and seasonal drift and the effects on anomaly detection. As well as having favourable computational characteristics, the technique can add analytic value over hyper-elliptical methods by character- ising the cluster hyper-shape using Euclidean or fractal shape factors. Because the technique records macro-clusters as graphs, further analytic value accrues from characterising the order, degree, and completeness of the cluster-graphs as they evolve over time

Inverse dynamics modelling of upper-limb tremor, with cross-correlation analysis

A method to characterise upper-limb tremor using inverse dynamics modelling in combination with cross-correlation analyses is presented. A 15 degree-of-freedom inverse dynamics model is used to estimate the joint torques required to produce the measured limb motion, given a set of estimated inertial properties for the body segments. The magnitudes of the estimated torques are useful when assessing patients or evaluating possible intervention methods. The cross-correlation of the estimated joint torques is proposed to gain insight into how tremor in one limb segment interacts with tremor in another. The method is demonstrated using data from a single patient presenting intention tremor because of multiple sclerosis. It is shown that the inertial properties of the body segments can be estimated with sufficient accuracy using only the patient's height and weight as a priori knowledge, which ensures the method's practicality and transferability to clinical use. By providing a more detailed, objective characterisation of patient-specific tremor properties, the method is expected to improve the selection, design and assessment of treatment options on an individual basis

Long-term adherence to a mediterranean diet 1-Year after completion of the MedLey study

Mediterranean populations enjoy the health benefits of a Mediterranean diet (MedDiet), but is it feasible to implement such a pattern beyond the Mediterranean region? The MedLey trial, a 6-month MedDiet intervention vs habitual diet in older Australians, demonstrated that the participants could maintain high adherence to a MedDiet for 6 months. The MedDiet resulted in improved systolic blood pressure (BP), endothelial dilatation, oxidative stress, and plasma triglycerides in comparison with the habitual diet. We sought to determine if 12 months after finishing the MedLey study, the participants maintained their adherence to the MedDiet principles and whether the reduction in the cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors that were seen in the trial were sustained. Participants completed a food frequency questionnaire, and a 15-point MedDiet adherence score (MDAS; greater score = greater adherence) was calculated. Home BP was measured over 6 days, BMI was assessed, and fasting plasma triglycerides were measured. The data were analysed using intention-to-treat linear mixed effects models with a group × time interaction term, comparing data at baseline, 2, 4, and 18 months (12 months post-trial). At 18 months (12 months after finishing the MedLey study), the MedDiet group had a MDAS of 7.9 ± 0.3, compared to 9.6 ± 0.2 at 4 months (p \u3c 0.0001), and 6.7 ± 0.2 (p \u3c 0.0001), at baseline. The MDAS in the HabDiet group remained unchanged over the 18-month period (18 months 6.9 ± 0.3, 4 months 6.9 ± 0.2, baseline 6.7 ± 0.2). In the MedDiet group, the consumption of olive oil, legumes, fish, and vegetables remained higher (p \u3c 0.01, compared with baseline) and discretionary food consumption remained lower (p = 0.02) at 18 months. These data show that some MedDiet principles could be adhered to for 12 months after finishing the MedLey trial. However, improvements in cardiometabolic health markers, including BP and plasma triglycerides, were not sustained. The results indicate that further dietary support for behaviour change may be beneficial to maintaining high adherence and metabolic benefits of the MedDiet

Best-Fit Ellipsoids of Atom-Probe Tomographic Data to Study Coalescence of Gamma Prime (L1_2) Precipitates in Ni-Al-Cr

An algorithm is presented to fit precipitates in atom probe tomographic data sets as equivalent ellipsoids. Unlike previous techniques, which measure only the radius of gyration, these ellipsoids retain the moments of inertia and principle axes of the original precipitate, preserving crystallographic orientational information. The algorithm is applied to study interconnected gamma prime precipitates (L1_2) in the Gamma-matrix (FCC) of a Ni-Al-Cr alloy. The precipitates are found to coagulate along -type directions.Comment: Accepted for publication in Scripta Materialia, added information about local magnification effect

Molecular and Microbial Microenvironments in Chronically Diseased Lungs Associated with Cystic Fibrosis.

To visualize the personalized distributions of pathogens and chemical environments, including microbial metabolites, pharmaceuticals, and their metabolic products, within and between human lungs afflicted with cystic fibrosis (CF), we generated three-dimensional (3D) microbiome and metabolome maps of six explanted lungs from three cystic fibrosis patients. These 3D spatial maps revealed that the chemical environments differ between patients and within the lungs of each patient. Although the microbial ecosystems of the patients were defined by the dominant pathogen, their chemical diversity was not. Additionally, the chemical diversity between locales in the lungs of the same individual sometimes exceeded interindividual variation. Thus, the chemistry and microbiome of the explanted lungs appear to be not only personalized but also regiospecific. Previously undescribed analogs of microbial quinolones and antibiotic metabolites were also detected. Furthermore, mapping the chemical and microbial distributions allowed visualization of microbial community interactions, such as increased production of quorum sensing quinolones in locations where Pseudomonas was in contact with Staphylococcus and Granulicatella, consistent with in vitro observations of bacteria isolated from these patients. Visualization of microbe-metabolite associations within a host organ in early-stage CF disease in animal models will help elucidate the complex interplay between the presence of a given microbial structure, antibiotics, metabolism of antibiotics, microbial virulence factors, and host responses.IMPORTANCE Microbial infections are now recognized to be polymicrobial and personalized in nature. Comprehensive analysis and understanding of the factors underlying the polymicrobial and personalized nature of infections remain limited, especially in the context of the host. By visualizing microbiomes and metabolomes of diseased human lungs, we reveal how different the chemical environments are between hosts that are dominated by the same pathogen and how community interactions shape the chemical environment or vice versa. We highlight that three-dimensional organ mapping methods represent hypothesis-building tools that allow us to design mechanistic studies aimed at addressing microbial responses to other microbes, the host, and pharmaceutical drugs

Gene expression profiling of human prostate cancer stem cells reveals a pro-inflammatory phenotype and the importance of extracellular matrix interactions

An expression signature of human prostate cancer stem cells identifies 581 differentially expressed genes and suggests that the JAK-STAT pathway and focal adhesion signaling are important