Responding to the Event Deluge

We present the VOEventNet infrastructure for large-scale rapid follow-up of astronomical events, including selection, annotation, machine intelligence, and coordination of observations. The VOEvent standard is central to this vision, with distributed and replicated services rather than centralized facilities. We also describe some of the event brokers, services, and software that are connected to the network. These technologies will become more important in the coming years, with new event streams from Gaia, LOFAR, LIGO, LSST, and many others.Comment: Submitted to Proceedings of SPIE Observatory Operations, Amsterdam, 2012 July 2-

Scale issues in soil moisture modelling: problems and prospects

Soil moisture storage is an important component of the hydrological cycle and plays a key role in land-surface-atmosphere interaction. The soil-moisture storage equation in this study considers precipitation as an input and soil moisture as a residual term for runoff and evapotranspiration. A number of models have been developed to estimate soil moisture storage and the components of the soil-moisture storage equation. A detailed discussion of the impli cation of the scale of application of these models reports that it is not possible to extrapolate processes and their estimates from the small to the large scale. It is also noted that physically based models for small-scale applications are sufficiently detailed to reproduce land-surface- atmosphere interactions. On the other hand, models for large-scale applications oversimplify the processes. Recently developed physically based models for large-scale applications can only be applied to limited uses because of data restrictions and the problems associated with land surface characterization. It is reported that remote sensing can play an important role in over coming the problems related to the unavailability of data and the land surface characterization of large-scale applications of these physically based models when estimating soil moisture storage.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Prediction of survival among patients receiving transarterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma: A response-based approach

Background and aims: The heterogeneity of intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the widespread use of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) outside recommended guidelines have encouraged the development of scoring systems that predict patient survival. The aim of this study was to build and validate statistical models that offer individualized patient survival prediction using response to TACE as a variable. Approach and results: Clinically relevant baseline parameters were collected for 4,621 patients with HCC treated with TACE at 19 centers in 11 countries. In some of the centers, radiological responses (as assessed by modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors [mRECIST]) were also accrued. The data set was divided into a training set, an internal validation set, and two external validation sets. A pre-TACE model ("Pre-TACE-Predict") and a post-TACE model ("Post-TACE-Predict") that included response were built. The performance of the models in predicting overall survival (OS) was compared with existing ones. The median OS was 19.9 months. The factors influencing survival were tumor number and size, alpha-fetoprotein, albumin, bilirubin, vascular invasion, cause, and response as assessed by mRECIST. The proposed models showed superior predictive accuracy compared with existing models (the hepatoma arterial embolization prognostic score and its various modifications) and allowed for patient stratification into four distinct risk categories whose median OS ranged from 7 months to more than 4 years. Conclusions: A TACE-specific and extensively validated model based on routinely available clinical features and response after first TACE permitted patient-level prognosticatio

Rooting characteristics of Eucaluptus globulus Labill, and Buddleja nitida Bentham on Irazu Volcano, Cartago, Costa Rica

Tesis (M. Sc) -- CATIE, Turrialba (Costa Rica),1969En este trabajo se evaluaron dos especies usadas para trabajos de reforestaci?n en la zona del Volc?n Iraz?, Cartago, Costa Rica, despu?s de las erupciones de 1963 a 1965, en t?rminos de: 1. Su capacidad para satisfacer las metas inmediatas de reforestaci?n con el fin de estabilizar cuencas hidrogr?ficas. 2. Su utilidad futura, en t?rminos de uso potencial para la poblaci?n local. La evaluaci?n de las caracter?sticas de las dos especies (Eucalyptus globulus Labill. y Buddleia nitida Perst.) para satisfacer las metas inmediatas tendientes a estabilizar cuencas hidrogr?ficas, se bas? en un estudio de sus ra?ces. Para su evaluaci?n se escavaron sistemas de ra?ces de ?rboles de uno, dos y tres a?os de edad. Las diferencias reconocidas en las ra?ces de las dos especies estudiadas de edades diferentes, no presentaron ninguna ventaja entre ellas. La profundidad de las ra?ces de ambas especies fue esencialmente la misma, aunque todos los E. globulus mostraron la formaci?n de una ra?z principal, en vez de un sistema de ra?ces no-centralizado como el presentado por B. nitida. El primero no desarroll? gran profundidad. La extensi?n radial de ra?ces laterales que present? E. globulus fue casi el doble que la de B. nitida, durante el mismo per?odo de tiempo. Esta diferencia llegar? a ser m?nima dentro de un corto plazo, cuando los sistemas de ra?ces de los ?rboles adyacentes comiencen a competir. Si la tasa de crecimiento de las ra?ces laterales presentara una diferencia importante, podr?a compensarse por un ajuste en el espaciamiento de los ?rboles plantados. La evaluaci?n de la utilidad potencial de las dos especies, en t?rminos de su uso para la poblaci?n local, se bas? en las caracter?sticas de la forma y por medio de una revisi?n de la literatura. Las diferencias identificadas dentro de sus usos potenciales son marcados. E. globulus tiene un tronco central y otras propiedades estructurales, las cuales son requisitos para hacer su uso aceptable como madera. Se utiliza extensivamente para le?a y postes para construir cercas. Por otro lado, B. nitida no desarrolla un tronco central, y por eso no presenta caracter?sticas para su uso como madera. Tampoco presenta ventajas para le?a y postes para cerca. La recomendaci?n de este estudio es que en los futuros proyectos de reforestaci?n no se consideren solamente las especies capaces de cumplir con las necesidades inmediatas, sino tambi?n las econ?micamente beneficiosas de largo plazo, antes de llevar a cabo la selecci?n final de la especie que va a plantarse. Por los resultados de este estudio se recomienda que E. globulus sea seleccionada para proyectos de reforestaci?n en vez de B. nitida, en aquellas zonas que presenten las mismas condiciones ecol?gicas que las descritas en este trabajo

Population density and dispersal ability in Darwin's darklings: Flightless beetles of the Galápagos Islands

This study is the first to combine both field and genetic data to examine population structure in flightless beetles from the Galápagos Islands. Field studies were conducted on four species of tenebrionid beetles belonging to three genera. Ammophorus Gúerin-Méneville, Blapstinus Latreille, and Stomion Waterhouse. The dynamics of the beetle community at the study site, Tortuga Bay, Santa Cruz Island, were analyzed in an attempt to examine patterns of activity and to quantify species abundances, population sizes, densities and levels of individual vagility. Beetle activity was found to vary with temperature, precipitation and number of sunlight hours. Although the number of recaptures was low, densities in the quadrats ranged from eight B. lugubris Boheman per hectare to 1238 S. laevigatum Waterhouse per hectare. Individual vagility is shown to be low among S. laevigatum, the most abundant species at the study site, as the dispersion index (DI) showed that captures were aggregated in three of the four quadrats, suggesting little movement. In addition, beetle captures occurred more frequently than expected in internal traps, again revealing limited movement into or out of the quadrats. These results were confirmed by a separate analysis of genetic differentiation among demes of S. laevigatum which showed the number of migrants to be less than one per generation