Terrain analysis using radar shape-from-shading

This paper develops a maximum a posteriori (MAP) probability estimation framework for shape-from-shading (SFS) from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. The aim is to use this method to reconstruct surface topography from a single radar image of relatively complex terrain. Our MAP framework makes explicit how the recovery of local surface orientation depends on the whereabouts of terrain edge features and the available radar reflectance information. To apply the resulting process to real world radar data, we require probabilistic models for the appearance of terrain features and the relationship between the orientation of surface normals and the radar reflectance. We show that the SAR data can be modeled using a Rayleigh-Bessel distribution and use this distribution to develop a maximum likelihood algorithm for detecting and labeling terrain edge features. Moreover, we show how robust statistics can be used to estimate the characteristic parameters of this distribution. We also develop an empirical model for the SAR reflectance function. Using the reflectance model, we perform Lambertian correction so that a conventional SFS algorithm can be applied to the radar data. The initial surface normal direction is constrained to point in the direction of the nearest ridge or ravine feature. Each surface normal must fall within a conical envelope whose axis is in the direction of the radar illuminant. The extent of the envelope depends on the corrected radar reflectance and the variance of the radar signal statistics. We explore various ways of smoothing the field of surface normals using robust statistics. Finally, we show how to reconstruct the terrain surface from the smoothed field of surface normal vectors. The proposed algorithm is applied to various SAR data sets containing relatively complex terrain structure

Investigation of dissolved N2O production processes during wastewater treatment system in Ulaanbaatar

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is an increasing greenhouse gas in the troposphere and a potential destroyer of stratospheric ozone layer. Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is one of the anthropogenic N2O sources because inorganic and organic nitrogen compounds are converted to nitrate (NO3-, in the case of standard system) or N2 (in the case of advanced system) by bacterial nitrification and denitrifcation processes in WWTP. These major processes can be distinguished by isotopocule analysis. In order to reveal production mechanisms of N2O in a standard wastewater treatment, we made water sampling at the central WWTP in Ulaanbaatar. The water samples collected from seven stations including biological reaction tanks were measured for concentration and isotopocule ratios of dissolved N2O and other inorganic nitrogen. Dissolved N2O concentration was extremely higher than that expected under atmospheric equilibrium (about 9 nmol/l) at all stations, indicating that this system is a potential source of N2O. It showed a gradual increase with the progress of biological reaction and the highest concentration (335.7 nmol/l) was observed at station N5-4 of the aeration tank when the DO was 5.7 mg/l. Nitrification by nitrifying bacteria could actively occur by the concentration of NH4+ decreased whereas NO2- and NO3- showed a temporal and monotonic increase, respectively, under high DO concentration. Although the reported values of site preference (SP) of N2O, the difference in 15N/14N ratio between central (α) and terminal (β) nitrogen, produced via NO2- reduction (SP(ND)), including both nitrifier and denitrifier denitrification, and NH2OH oxidation (SP(HO)) ranged from -10.7‰ to 0‰ and 31.4‰ to 36.3‰, respectively, the observed SP at aeration tank was close to SP(ND) rather than SP(HO). It was ranged from 0.4‰ to 13.3‰ when N2O concentration was high, implying that the NO2- reduction made a greater contribution to N2O production. Slightly elevated SP (13.3‰) only at station N5-1 was derived from the mixing of N2O produced via NH2OH oxidation and the maximal contribution of this pathway was estimated to be about 40%. In other words, the contribution of NO2- reduction was more than 60%

A provenance task abstraction framework

Visual analytics tools integrate provenance recording to externalize analytic processes or user insights. Provenance can be captured on varying levels of detail, and in turn activities can be characterized from different granularities. However, current approaches do not support inferring activities that can only be characterized across multiple levels of provenance. We propose a task abstraction framework that consists of a three stage approach, composed of (1) initializing a provenance task hierarchy, (2) parsing the provenance hierarchy by using an abstraction mapping mechanism, and (3) leveraging the task hierarchy in an analytical tool. Furthermore, we identify implications to accommodate iterative refinement, context, variability, and uncertainty during all stages of the framework. A use case describes exemplifies our abstraction framework, demonstrating how context can influence the provenance hierarchy to support analysis. The paper concludes with an agenda, raising and discussing challenges that need to be considered for successfully implementing such a framework

Strategies Used by Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities Partnerships to Prevent Childhood Obesity

IntroductionHealthy Kids, Healthy Communities (HKHC) is an initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to prevent obesity among high-risk children by changing local policies, systems, and environments. In 2009, 105 community partnerships applied for funding from HKHC. Later that year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released recommended community strategies to prevent obesity by changing environments and policies. The objective of this analysis was to describe the strategies proposed by the 41 HKHC partnerships that received funding and compare them to the CDC recommendations.MethodsWe analyzed the funded proposals to assess the types and prevalence of the strategies proposed and mapped them onto the CDC recommendations.ResultsThe most prevalent strategies proposed by HKHC-funded partnerships were providing incentives to retailers to locate and serve healthier foods in underserved areas, improving mechanisms for purchasing food from farms, enhancing infrastructure that supports walking and cycling, and improving access to outdoor recreational facilities.ConclusionThe strategies proposed by HKHC partnerships were well aligned with the CDC recommendations. The popular strategies proposed by HKHC partnerships were those for which there were existing examples of successful implementation. Our analysis provides an example of how information from communities, obtained through grant-writing efforts, can be used to assess the status of the field, guide future research, and provide direction for future investments

A novel approach to task abstraction to make better sense of provenance data

Working Group Report in 'Provenance and Logging for Sense Making' report from Dagstuhl Seminar 18462: Provenance and Logging for Sense Making, Dagstuhl Reports, Volume 8, Issue 1

Assessment for Active Living

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Active Living by Design (ALbD) grant program funded 25 communities across the U.S. The ALbD National Program Office (NPO) supported grantee community partnerships with technical assistance for assessment, planning, and implementation activities intended to increase population levels of physical activity

In vitro embryo rescue and plant regeneration following self-pollination with irradiated pollen in cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz)

Cassava is a highly heterozygous species; hence, current methods used in classical cassava breedingcannot match the urgent need to high yielding varieties. Recently, progress was made through androgenesis and gynogenesis as pathways for raising doubled cassava haploid lines to overcome problems associated with cassava’s inherent reproductive biology, but these efforts were limited (nocandidate cassava plantlets were regenerated). For the first time, this study shows that pollen irradiation coupled with self-pollination and embryo rescue regenerated 62 candidate cassava plantlets. Plants of an elite cassava variety, Nase14, served as a mother plant and as the pollen donor for the irradiation. Irradiation dosages of 50 to 250 Gray studied across five pollination events and 300 or 500 Gray in one pollination event caused a reduction in pollen germination up to 67.0%. By 15 days after pollination (DAP) with irradiated pollen, up to 89.7% of the pollinated flowers had aborted. By embryo rescue time (42 DAP), significant differences were observed in number of fruits, seeds and embryos generated, with the non-irradiated pollen treatments having significantly higher numbers. Sixteen (16) heterozygous SSR markers in the parent and ploidy analysis showed that none of the regenerated plants was haploid or homozygous. However, the plantlets resulting from pollination with non-irradiated pollen had 56.2% homozygous loci, while progeny derived from irradiated treatments had frequencies of homozygous loci between 28.1 and 55.0%. This is the first time to use irradiated pollen in cassava as a pathway to generate candidate plantlets as an initial step in double haploid production.Key words: Cassava, doubled haploids, embryo rescue, plant regeneration, pollen germination, pollenirradiation

Developing the Active Communities Tool to Implement the Community Guide's Built Environment Recommendation for Increasing Physical Activity

Physical activity is higher in communities that include supportive features for walking and bicycling. In 2016, the Community Preventive Services Task Force released a systematic review of built environment approaches to increase physical activity. The results of the review recommended approaches that combine interventions to improve pedestrian and bicycle transportation systems with land use and environmental design strategies. Because the recommendation was multifaceted, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined that communities could benefit from an assessment tool to address the breadth of the Task Force recommendations. The purpose of this article is to describe the systematic approach used to develop the Active Communities Tool. First, we created and refined a logic model and community theory of change for tool development. Second, we reviewed existing community-based tools and abstracted key elements (item domains, advantages, disadvantages, updates, costs, permissions to use, and psychometrics) from 42 tools. The review indicated that no tool encompassed the breadth of the Community Guide recommendations for communities. Third, we developed a new tool and pilot tested its use with 9 diverse teams with public health and planning expertise. Final revisions followed from pilot team and expert input. The Active Communities Tool comprises 6 modules addressing all 8 interventions recommended by the Task Force. The tool is designed to help cross-sector teams create an action plan for improving community built environments that promote physical activity and may help to monitor progress toward achieving community conditions known to promote physical activity