ORGANIZATION’S ADOPTION OF USER-INITIATED INNOVATIONS IN ONLINE BRAND COMMUNITIES

Master'sMASTER OF SCIENC

Analysis on Related Factors of Accident Tendency of Bus Drivers in Haikou City

Objective To understand the current situation of accident tendency of bus drivers in Haikou City, and to provide data reference for preventing bus traffic accidents in Haikou City. Methods: A total of 512 bus drivers with driving age ≥ 5 years were investigated by self-made questionnaire by random cluster sampling. The collected data were statistically analyzed by SPSS 26.0. Results: There were significant differences in accident proneness among bus drivers with different family pressure, relationship between different family members, different driving age, different driving time per day and different sleep time per day (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Drivers with high family pressure are easy to cause accidents many times, and drivers with general or disharmonious family members, lower driving age, less sleep time per day and longer driving time per day are easy to cause traffic accidents. Therefore, the relevant departments should take relevant measures according to these factors to reduce the incidence of bus drivers traffic accidents in Haikou City

Supplement of the radiance-based method to validate satellite-derived land surface temperature products over heterogeneous land surfaces

Land surface temperature (LST) retrieved from satellite remote sensing data has become a key parameter in research on global environmental change; therefore, the acquisition of accurate satellite-derived LST information is crucial for the diagnosis and analysis of global change. However, it is relatively difficult to obtain the true value of a pixel due to the scale mismatch between in situ measurements and satellite-based observations, especially for commonly heterogeneous and nonisothermal land areas, which greatly increases the difficulty in estimating pixel-representative LST values from in situ measurements for validation of satellite-based LST products. In this study, a supplemented radiance-based (SR-based) validation method was developed to evaluate the latest moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) Collection 6 Level 2 daily LST/land surface emissivity (LSE) products over a heterogeneous and nonisothermal region of the Heihe Watershed Allied Telemetry Experimental Research (HiWATER) project, West China. In the SR-based framework, pixel-representative LST values are simulated by the MODTRAN model from the corresponding in situ measurements, such as LSE and atmospheric profile measurements, to evaluate the MODIS LST products. The validation results show that the MODIS daytime LST products from the Aqua satellite (MYD11_L2) have a greater accuracy than those from the Terra satellite (MOD11_L2). Analyses of the effect factors indicate a strong correlation between the errors in the MOD11_L2 LST product and the corresponding difference in the MODIS brightness temperature between bands 31 and 32. Although the requirement of synchronous or quasisynchronous in situ measurements for the validated LST products may limit the applicability of the SR-based method, it is still an effective and simple method for validating satellite-derived LST products over mixed pixels. Our method is an indispensable supplement for the validation methods of satellite-derived LST products, and it can be applied in West China and other areas with heterogeneous land surfaces

Robust Quadrupedal Locomotion via Risk-Averse Policy Learning

The robustness of legged locomotion is crucial for quadrupedal robots in challenging terrains. Recently, Reinforcement Learning (RL) has shown promising results in legged locomotion and various methods try to integrate privileged distillation, scene modeling, and external sensors to improve the generalization and robustness of locomotion policies. However, these methods are hard to handle uncertain scenarios such as abrupt terrain changes or unexpected external forces. In this paper, we consider a novel risk-sensitive perspective to enhance the robustness of legged locomotion. Specifically, we employ a distributional value function learned by quantile regression to model the aleatoric uncertainty of environments, and perform risk-averse policy learning by optimizing the worst-case scenarios via a risk distortion measure. Extensive experiments in both simulation environments and a real Aliengo robot demonstrate that our method is efficient in handling various external disturbances, and the resulting policy exhibits improved robustness in harsh and uncertain situations in legged locomotion. Videos are available at https://risk-averse-locomotion.github.io/.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Increased extreme precipitation in Chinese deserts from 1960 to 2018

Extreme precipitation over drylands, especially deserts, has been often observed. The precipitation changes in Chinese deserts have been rarely studied. Here, we use a daily grid precipitation dataset generated via weather station data (0.25° horizontal grid spacing) to investigate the spatial and temporal changes in extreme precipitation in Chinese deserts. The extreme precipitation based on the changes in the total precipitation (PRCPTOT) and the annual‐maximum daily precipitation (Rx1day) in the Chinese desert exhibits markedly increasing trends and presents a spatial distribution of wetting in the western deserts and drying in the eastern deserts. The increase in extreme precipitation could minimize wind erosion and intensify dune stabilization in the western Chinese deserts

Genetic engineering and genome editing techniques in peanut plants

Research has long been associated with human life. In the effort to make a living, many experts who have contributed to the modernization of traditional research methods by conducting various research activities. In this process, professionals, from farmers to senior researchers, have done their part by developing plants that can tolerate or resist to disease. The growing population, climate change and plant disease are having a devastating effect on food security. In particular, it is essential to increase food production by producing high yielding crops of good quality, that may ensure food security. Recently, different gene- editing technologies have been developed. These techniques have been applied in many research fields and their development has provided economic benefits to farmers. Agrobacterium-mediated and biolistic methods are very important techniques for transforming genetic materials in plants. Genome- editing technologies are recent and highly applied in plant research to improve genes associated with yield, disease resistance and drought resistance. For example, Zinc-finger Nucleases (ZFNS), Transcription Activator-like Effector Nucleases (TALEN), and Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats system (CRISPR/ Cas9) methods are now widely applied by researchers and are playing a positive role in increasing production and productivity. Of the gene- editing technology, CRISPR/ Cas9 is widely applied in plant breeding programme as it is easy to use and cost-effective. In this review, we mainly focus on peanut plant, which is an important oil-bearing allotetraploid crop. Therefore, peanut gene editing-technology could increase the oleic acid content in edible peanut oil. Thus, genome editing and gene transformation technologies are extensively explored in this review

Global land surface temperature influenced by vegetation cover and PM2.5 from 2001 to 2016

Land surface temperature (LST) is an important parameter to evaluate environmental changes. In this paper, time series analysis was conducted to estimate the interannual variations in global LST from 2001 to 2016 based on moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) LST, and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) products and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) data from the Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group. The results showed that LST, seasonally integrated normalized difference vegetation index (SINDVI), and PM2.5 increased by 0.17 K, 0.04, and 1.02 �g/m3 in the period of 2001–2016, respectively. During the past 16 years, LST showed an increasing trend in most areas, with two peaks of 1.58 K and 1.85 K at 72�N and 48�S, respectively. Marked warming also appeared in the Arctic. On the contrary, remarkable decrease in LST occurred in Antarctic. In most parts of the world, LST was affected by the variation in vegetation cover and air pollutant, which can be detected by the satellite. In the Northern Hemisphere, positive relations between SINDVI and LST were found; however, in the Southern Hemisphere, negative correlations were detected. The impact of PM2.5 on LST was more complex. On the whole, LST increased with a small increase in PM2.5 concentrations but decreased with a marked increase in PM2.5. The study provides insights on the complex relationship between vegetation cover, air pollution, and land surface temperature

Brain Functional Connectivity Plasticity Within and Beyond the Sensorimotor Network in Lower-Limb Amputees

Cerebral neuroplasticity after amputation has been elucidated by functional neuroimaging. However, little is known concerning how brain network-level functional reorganization of the sensorimotor system evolves following lower-limb amputation. We studied 32 unilateral lower-limb amputees (LLAs) and 32 matched healthy controls (HCs) using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). A regions of interest (ROI)-wise connectivity analysis was performed with ROIs in eight brain regions in the sensorimotor network to investigate intra-network changes, and seed-based whole-brain functional connectivity (FC) with a seed in the contralateral primary sensorimotor cortex (S1M1) was used to study the FC reorganization between the sensorimotor region (S1M1) and other parts of the brain in the LLAs. The ROI-wise connectivity analysis showed that the LLAs had decreased FC, mainly between the subcortical nuclei and the contralateral S1M1 (p < 0.05, FDR corrected). Seed-based whole-brain FC analysis revealed that brain regions with decreased FC with the contralateral S1M1 extended beyond the sensorimotor network to the prefrontal and visual cortices (p < 0.05, FDR corrected). Moreover, correlation analysis showed that decreased FC between the subcortical and the cortical regions in the sensorimotor network progressively increased in relation to the time since amputation. These findings indicated a cascade of cortical reorganization at a more extensive network level following lower-limb amputation, and also showed promise for the development of a possible neurobiological marker of changes in FC related to motor function recovery in LLAs

Cannabinoids help to unravel etiological aspects in common and bring hope for the treatment of autism and epilepsy

Desde 1843 que as propriedades anticonvulsivantes da Cannabis são conhecidas pela ciência ocidental. Em 1980, ensaios clínicos demonstraram que canabidiol possui atividade antiepilética em pacientes de epilepsia refratária, sendo sonolência o único efeito colateral. O embargo imposto pela proibição do uso medicinal da Cannabis, no entanto, prejudicou imensamente o desenvolvimento científico e a exploração dessas propriedades. Multiplicam-se, contudo, os casos bem sucedidos de uso ilegal e sem orientação para o tratamento de síndromes caracterizadas por epilepsia e autismo regressivo. Os resultados corroboram evidências científicas que indicam a existência de processos etiológicos comuns entre o autismo e a epilepsia. Estudos em modelos animais confirmam envolvimento do sistema endocanabinoide. Esses avanços apontam o início de uma revolução no entendimento e tratamento desses transtornos.Since 1843 the anticonvulsant properties of Cannabis are known by the Western science. In 1980, clinical trials have shown that cannabidiol has antiepileptic activity in refractory epilepsy patients, with drowsiness as the only side effect. The embargo imposed by banning medicinal Cannabis use, however, harmed scientific development and the exploration of these properties. However, there is a growing number of successful cases of illegal use without guidance for the treatment of syndromes characterized by epilepsy and regressive autism. The results corroborate scientific evidence that indicates the existence of common etiological aspects between autism and epilepsy. Studies in animal models have confirmed involvement of the endocannabinoid system. These advances indicate the beginning of a revolution in the understanding and treatment of these disorders