Land change detection and effective factors on forest land use changes: application of land change modeler and multiple linear regression

Reducing forest covered areas and changing it to pasture, agricultural, urban and rural areas is performed every year and this causes great damages in natural resources in a wide range. In order to identify the effective factors on reducing the forest cover area, multiple regression was used from 1995 to 2015 in Mazandaran forests. A Multiple regressions can link the decline in forest cover (dependent variable) and its effective factors (independent variable) are well explained. In this study, Landsat TM data of 1995 and Landsat ETM+ data of 2015 were analyzed and classified in order to investigate the changes in the forest area. The images were classified in two classes of forest and non-forest areas and also forest map with spatial variables of physiography and human were analyzed by regression equation. Detection satellite images showed that during the studied period there was found a reduction of forest areas up to approximately 257331 ha. The results of regression analysis indicated that the linear combination of income per capita, rain and temperature with determined coefficient 0.4 as independent variables were capable of estimating the reduction of forest area. The results of this study can be used as an efficient tool to manage and improve forests regarding physiographical and human characteristics.Keywords: Land change Modeler, Multiple linear regression, remote sensing, Mazandaran forest

Effect of noscapine, the antitussive opioid alkaloid, on bradykinin-induced smooth muscle contraction in the isolated ileum of the guinea-pig

Bradykinin (BK) and related kinins are autocoid peptides that play integral roles in many pathophysiological processes such as cough. In this study, the inhibitory effect of noscapine, the antitussive opioid alkaloid, on BK receptors, was tested in the guinea-pig ileum. Contractions of the isolated ileum of the guinea-pig in response to BK were inhibited by noscapine (10–1000 nM) in a concentration-dependent manner. Concentration-response curves (CRCs) to BK were slightly shifted to the right with a concomitant decrease in the maximum effect. A pA2value of 6.68 was calculated for noscapine. The slope of the Schild plot of the antagonism was found to be 0.56. Noscapine had no effect on contractions induced by KCl, acetylcholine, histamine,5-hydroxy tryptamine or angiotensin II. In conclusion, noscapine has a specific antagonistic effect on BK receptors and the mode of inhibition was found to be non-competitive

Economic evaluation of mechanical harvesting of lemons

[EN] Several hypotheses regarding hand and mechanical harvesting have been analysed, in order to estimate the economic possibilities for the mechanical harvesting of lemons taking into account the current availability of technology. We considered several detachment options under experimental conditions; only yellow detachment has been considered for mechanical harvesting, because the sensitivity to the impacts is lower and mechanical detachment was high (80%). Price changes throughout the season were also considered. Total harvest cost is an average of the cost of mechanical harvesting (80%) and the cost of manually harvesting remaining fruit (20%), plus the cost of handling the mechanical harvested fraction. This cost ranges between 0.031 and 0.058 € kg-1 for outputs between 20 and 60 t ha-1, respectively, which is always lower than harvesting by hand (0.065 € kg-1). A Monte Carlo approach was used to study the sensitivity of the results, and Value at Risk (VaR) calculated. The analysis showed that the mechanical harvesting margin is c0.020 € kg-1 higher than the hand harvesting margin, and the output dispersion is higher in March. The VaR analysis showed that at 10% there was no risk that the hand margin is higher than the mechanical margin; at 5% the risk is very low and only for March harvesting. Mechanical harvesting represents a good economic option compared to hand harvesting, since it can increase farmer income by between 400 and 1200 € ha-1.This work was funded by Consejería de Agricultura y Agua de la Región de Murcia and by INIA and FEDER funds (project no. RTA2014-00025-C05-02).Brotons-Martínez, JM.; Martín-Górriz, B.; Torregrosa, A.; Porras, I. (2018). Economic evaluation of mechanical harvesting of lemons. Outlook on Agriculture. 47(1):44-50. https://doi.org/10.1177/0030727018762657S4450471Bordas, M., Torrents, J., Arenas, F. J., & Hervalejo, A. (2012). HIGH DENSITY PLANTATION SYSTEM OF THE SPANISH CITRUS INDUSTRY. Acta Horticulturae, (965), 123-130. doi:10.17660/actahortic.2012.965.15Burns, J. K., Roka, F. M., Li, K.-T., Pozo, L., & Buker, R. S. (2006). Late-season `Valencia’ Orange Mechanical Harvesting with an Abscission Agent and Low-frequency Harvesting. HortScience, 41(3), 660-663. doi:10.21273/hortsci.41.3.660Grafiadellis, I., Mattas, K., Maloupa, E., Tzouramani, I., & Galanopoulos, K. (2000). An Economic Analysis of Soilless Culture in Gerbera Production. HortScience, 35(2), 300-303. doi:10.21273/hortsci.35.2.300Manera, F. J., Brotons, J. M., Conesa, A., & Porras, I. (2012). Influence of temperature on the beginning of degreening in lemon peel. Scientia Horticulturae, 145, 34-38. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2012.07.021Moreno, R., Torregrosa, A., Moltó, E., & Chueca, P. (2015). Effect of harvesting with a trunk shaker and an abscission chemical on fruit detachment and defoliation of citrus grown under Mediterranean conditions. Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research, 13(1), e0206. doi:10.5424/sjar/2015131-6590Roka, F. M., & Hyman, B. R. (2012). MECHANICAL HARVESTING OF SWEET ORANGES FOR JUICE PROCESSING. Acta Horticulturae, (965), 241-243. doi:10.17660/actahortic.2012.965.32Sanders, K. F. (2005). Orange Harvesting Systems Review. Biosystems Engineering, 90(2), 115-125. doi:10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2004.10.006A. Torregrosa, I. Porras, & B. Martín. (2010). Mechanical Harvesting of Lemons (cv. Fino) in Spain Using Abscission Agents. Transactions of the ASABE, 53(3), 703-708. doi:10.13031/2013.30062Wagner, H. M. (1995). Global Sensitivity Analysis. Operations Research, 43(6), 948-969. doi:10.1287/opre.43.6.948J. D. Whitney. (1999). FIELD TEST RESULTS WITH MECHANICAL HARVESTING EQUIPMENT IN FLORIDA ORANGES. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 15(3), 205-210. doi:10.13031/2013.576

CLSM method for the dynamic observation of pH change within polymer matrices for oral delivery

If acid-sensitive drugs or cells are administered orally, there is often a reduction in efficacy associated with gastric passage. Formulation into a polymer matrix is a potential method to improve their stability. The visualization of pH within these materials may help better understand the action of these polymer systems and allow comparison of different formulations. We herein describe the development of a novel confocal laser-scanning microscopy (CLSM) method for visualizing pH changes within polymer matrices and demonstrate its applicability to an enteric formulation based on chitosan-coated alginate gels. The system in question is first shown to protect an acid-sensitive bacterial strain to low pH, before being studied by our technique. Prior to this study, it has been claimed that protection by these materials is a result of buffering, but this has not been demonstrated. The visualization of pH within these matrices during exposure to a pH 2.0 simulated gastric solution showed an encroachment of acid from the periphery of the capsule, and a persistence of pHs above 2.0 within the matrix. This implies that the protective effect of the alginate-chitosan matrices is most likely due to a combination of buffering of acid as it enters the polymer matrix and the slowing of acid penetration

A test of the inventory of attitudes towards seeking mental health services

This study investigates the construct validity, composite reliability and concurrent validity of the Inventory of attitudes towards seeking mental health services (IASMHS). A large sample of Irish police officers (N = 331) participated in the study. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the three-factor structure of the scale, while composite reliability results demonstrated that the IASMHS possessed excellent internal reliability. Structural equation modelling indicated that help-seeking propensity was the strongest predictor of intentions to engage in psychological counselling followed by psychological openness. Neuroticism was a weak, significant predictor of intentions. Implications of these results are discussed in relation to improving utilisation rates of mental health services

Calculation of the relative metastabilities of proteins in subcellular compartments of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

[abridged] Background: The distribution of chemical species in an open system at metastable equilibrium can be expressed as a function of environmental variables which can include temperature, oxidation-reduction potential and others. Calculations of metastable equilibrium for various model systems were used to characterize chemical transformations among proteins and groups of proteins found in different compartments of yeast cells. Results: With increasing oxygen fugacity, the relative metastability fields of model proteins for major subcellular compartments go as mitochondrion, endoplasmic reticulum, cytoplasm, nucleus. In a metastable equilibrium setting at relatively high oxygen fugacity, proteins making up actin are predominant, but those constituting the microtubule occur with a low chemical activity. A reaction sequence involving the microtubule and spindle pole proteins was predicted by combining the known intercompartmental interactions with a hypothetical program of oxygen fugacity changes in the local environment. In further calculations, the most-abundant proteins within compartments generally occur in relative abundances that only weakly correspond to a metastable equilibrium distribution. However, physiological populations of proteins that form complexes often show an overall positive or negative correlation with the relative abundances of proteins in metastable assemblages. Conclusions: This study explored the outlines of a thermodynamic description of chemical transformations among interacting proteins in yeast cells. The results suggest that these methods can be used to measure the degree of departure of a natural biochemical process or population from a local minimum in Gibbs energy.Comment: 32 pages, 7 figures; supporting information is available at http://www.chnosz.net/yeas

Why pharmacokinetic differences among oral triptans have little clinical importance: a comment

Triptans, selective 5-HT1B/1D receptor agonists, are specific drugs for the acute treatment of migraine that have the same mechanism of action. Here, it is discussed why the differences among kinetic parameters of oral triptans have proved not to be very important in clinical practice. There are three main reasons: (1) the differences among the kinetic parameters of oral triptans are smaller than what appears from their average values; (2) there is a large inter-subject, gender-dependent, and intra-subject (outside/during the attack) variability of kinetic parameters related to the rate and extent of absorption, i.e., those which are considered as critical for the response; (3) no dose-concentration–response curves have been defined and it is, therefore, impossible both to compare the kinetics of triptans, and to verify the objective importance of kinetic differences; (4) the importance of kinetic differences is outweighed by non-kinetic factors of variability of response to triptans. If no oral formulations are found that can allow more predictable pharmacokinetics, the same problems will probably also arise with new classes of drugs for the acute treatment of migraine

Elevation in analgetic effect and plasma levels of morphine by desipramine in rats

Pretreatment of rats with desipramine (30 mg/kg, s.c.) enhanced both peak intensity and duration of morphine sulfate (5 mg/kg s.c.) analgesia as determined by measurement of tail flick latency. Morphine concentrations in plasma were also significantly elevated after desipramine. Increased narcotic analgetic responses following desipramine pretreatment appear related to higher circulating levels of unmetabolized morphine. © 1982

Factors Affecting Consumers' Dairy Products Preferences

Choice models represent a valid approach for the analysis of consumers’ preferences as these models offer an opportunity to investigate many aspects that influence consumer behaviour. This study with the purpose of investigating consumers’ preferences and their affecting factors were conducted by using the nested logit model in Sari, Iran in 2018. The results revealed that yoghurt, milk and cheese had the most preferences among the dairy products and consumers had more tendencies towards using low fat than full-fat dairy products. The results of factors affecting dairy products choice indicated that price and family cost decreased the probability of products being chosen, and age, education and attention to exercise variables increased this probability. Marketing mixed variables (4p) also had a significant effect on the choice of dairy products