High resolution agriculture land cover using aerial digital photography and GIS : a case study for small island states

Chapter 7With the advent of site-specific crop management, sustainability and profitability, land farming now requires information and technology-based management system to identify, analyse and manage spatial and temporal resource variability. Th is approach is being made increasingly possible by recent innovation in information technologies such as mobile devices, geographic information systems, positioning technologies (such as Geographical Position system), and Earth Observations. Such innovation now off ers a holistic approach to micro-manage agricultural resources. (Robert et al., 1994). Basic mapping and farm-level record keeping is one of the first precision agriculture practices that must be implemented in a typical productive agriculture operation (Stombaugh et al., 2001). Typical tasks include mapping of variations that occur in largescale field features such as vegetation stress, crop rotation, inventorying, irrigation, soil drainage and erosion, pest control, etc. Th e search for a low cost methodology that takes into account the growth of information technology in data capture and surveying, data processing, database creation and geographic information systems becomes mandatory in order to respond to such needs. Th e study constitutes, for the first time in Malta, the collection of high precision farming statistics that makes use of an inexpensive system for aerial mapping that requires minimal ground truthing. Th e effectiveness of such a method for small areas was later demonstrated by Galdies and Borg (2006) related to coastal and beach management in the Maltese islands. In the current case, digital aerial remote sensing enabled the accurate mapping of agricultural variables, and coupled with ground survey data, resulted in the production of precise, high resolution agricultural crop-cover maps. Additional information can be further derived from this data that can be used for the optimisation of micro agriculture practices.peer-reviewe

Electronic Escape Trails for Firefighters

A proposed wireless-communication and data-processing system would exploit recent advances in radio-frequency identification devices (RFIDs) and software to establish information lifelines between firefighters in a burning building and a fire chief at a control station near but outside the building. The system would enable identification of trails that firefighters and others could follow to escape from the building, including identification of new trails should previously established trails become blocked. The system would include a transceiver unit and a computer at the control station, portable transceiver units carried by the firefighters in the building, and RFID tags that the firefighters would place at multiple locations as they move into and through the building (see figure). Each RFID tag, having a size of the order of a few centimeters, would include at least standard RFID circuitry and possibly sensors for measuring such other relevant environmental parameters as temperature, levels of light and sound, concentration of oxygen, concentrations of hazardous chemicals in smoke, and/or levels of nuclear radiation. The RFID tags would be activated and interrogated by the firefighters and control-station transceivers. Preferably, RFID tags would be configured to communicate with each other and with the firefighters units and the control station in an ordered sequence, with built-in redundancy. In a typical scenario, as firefighters moved through a building, they would scatter many RFID tags into smoke-obscured areas by use of a compressed-air gun. Alternatively or in addition, they would mark escape trails by dropping RFID tags at such points of interest as mantraps, hot spots, and trail waypoints. The RFID tags could be of different types, operating at different frequencies to identify their functions, and possibly responding by emitting audible beeps when activated by signals transmitted by transceiver units carried by nearby firefighters

High Resolution Agriculture Land Cover Using Aerial Digital Photography and GIS: A Case Study for Small Island States

Introduction With the advent of site-specifi c crop management, sustainability and profi tability, land farming now requires information and technology-based management system to identify, analyse and manage spatial and temporal resource variability. Th is approach is being made increasingly possible by recent innovation in information technologies such as mobile devices, geographic information systems, positioning technologies (such as Geographical Position system), and Earth Observations. Such innovation now off ers a holistic approach to micro-manage agricultural resources. Th e study constitutes, for the fi rst time in Malta, the collection of high precision farming statistics that makes use of an inexpensive system for aerial mapping that requires minimal ground truthing. Th e eff ectiveness of such a method for small areas was later demonstrated b

Significant improvement in quality of life following surgery for hydrocoele caused by lymphatic filariasis in Malawi: A prospective cohort study

Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a mosquito-borne parasitic infection that causes significant disabling and disfiguring clinical manifestations. Hydrocoele (scrotal swelling) is the most common clinical condition, which affects an estimated 25 million men globally. The recommended strategy is surgical intervention, yet little is known about the impact of hydrocoele on men’s lives, and how it may change if they have access to surger

Physical activity and academic achievement across the curriculum (A + PAAC): rationale and design of a 3-year, cluster-randomized trial

Abstract Background Improving academic achievement and reducing the rates of obesity in elementary school students are both of considerable interest. Increased physical activity during academic instruction time during school offers a potential intervention to address both issues. A program titled “Physical Activity Across the Curriculum” (PAAC) was developed in which classroom teachers in 22 elementary schools were trained to deliver academic instruction using physical activity with a primary aim of preventing increased BMI. A secondary analysis of data assessed the impact of PAAC on academic achievement using the Weschler Individual Achievement Test-II and significant improvements were shown for reading, math and spelling in students who participated in PAAC. Based on the results from PAAC, an adequately powered trial will be conducted to assess differences in academic achievement between intervention and control schools called, “Academic Achievement and Physical Activity Across the Curriculum (A + PAAC).” Methods/design Seventeen elementary schools were cluster randomized to A + PAAC or control for a 3-year trial. Classroom teachers were trained to deliver academic instruction through moderate-to-vigorous physical activity with a target of 100+ minutes of A + PAAC activities per week. The primary outcome measure is academic achievement measured by the Weschler Individual Achievement Test-III, which was administered at baseline (Fall 2011) and will be repeated in the spring of each year by assessors blinded to condition. Potential mediators of any association between A + PAAC and academic achievement will be examined on the same schedule and include changes in cognitive function, cardiovascular fitness, daily physical activity, BMI, and attention-to-task. An extensive process analysis will be conducted to document the fidelity of the intervention. School and student recruitment/randomization, teacher training, and baseline testing for A + PAAC have been completed. Nine schools were randomized to the intervention and 8 to control. A random sample of students in each school, stratified by gender and grade (A + PAAC = 370, Control = 317), was selected for outcome assessments from those who provided parental consent/child assent. Baseline data by intervention group are presented. Discussion If successful, the A + PAAC approach could be easily and inexpensively scaled and disseminated across elementary schools to improve both educational quality and health. Funding source: R01- DK85317. Trial registration: US NIH Clinical Trials, http://NCT01699295.Peer Reviewe

Optimasi Portofolio Resiko Menggunakan Model Markowitz MVO Dikaitkan dengan Keterbatasan Manusia dalam Memprediksi Masa Depan dalam Perspektif Al-Qur`an

Risk portfolio on modern finance has become increasingly technical, requiring the use of sophisticated mathematical tools in both research and practice. Since companies cannot insure themselves completely against risk, as human incompetence in predicting the future precisely that written in Al-Quran surah Luqman verse 34, they have to manage it to yield an optimal portfolio. The objective here is to minimize the variance among all portfolios, or alternatively, to maximize expected return among all portfolios that has at least a certain expected return. Furthermore, this study focuses on optimizing risk portfolio so called Markowitz MVO (Mean-Variance Optimization). Some theoretical frameworks for analysis are arithmetic mean, geometric mean, variance, covariance, linear programming, and quadratic programming. Moreover, finding a minimum variance portfolio produces a convex quadratic programming, that is minimizing the objective function ðð¥with constraintsð ð 𥠥 ðandð´ð¥ = ð. The outcome of this research is the solution of optimal risk portofolio in some investments that could be finished smoothly using MATLAB R2007b software together with its graphic analysis