1,463 research outputs found
Farm-gate nitrogen balances on intensive dairy farms in the south west of Ireland
peer-reviewedNitrogen management and farm-gate N balances were evaluated on 21 intensive dairy farms in the south west of Ireland for each of four years (2003 to 2006). The mean annual stocking density was equivalent to 202 kg/ha (s.d. 29.6) of N excreted by livestock on the farm. The mean annual farm-gate N surplus (imports â exports) declined between 2003 and 2006 (277 to 232 kg/ha, s.e. 6.8; P < 0.001) due to a decline in annual N imports (fertilizer, feed and imported manures; 335 to 288 kg/ha, s.e. 6.9; P < 0.001).
Overall annual fertilizer N use on the farms decreased during the study period (266 to 223 kg/ha, s.e. 6.5; P < 0.001) mainly due to lower inputs for the first application in spring and for the production of first-cut silage. These decreases were partly offset by applying more slurry in spring for early grazing and for first-cut silage. The introduction of white clover resulted in lower N imports on four farms. Export of N from farms was unaffected by reductions in N imports. The mean efficiency of N use tended to increase over time (0.18 in 2003 to 0.20 in 2006). The large variation in quantities of fertilizer N applied on farms with similar stocking densities suggests potential for further improvements in the efficiency of N use. In terms of fertilizer N use, complying with S.I. No. 378 of 2006 did not require major changes in the N management practiceson 19 of the farms.This project was part-funded by the European Research and Development Fund under INTERREG IIIB: Green Dairy Project N° 100 and partly by the Dairy Levy. Financial support for post-graduate students involved in this study was provided by the Teagasc Walsh Fellowship Scheme
Image patch analysis and clustering of sunspots: a dimensionality reduction approach
Sunspots, as seen in white light or continuum images, are associated with
regions of high magnetic activity on the Sun, visible on magnetogram images.
Their complexity is correlated with explosive solar activity and so classifying
these active regions is useful for predicting future solar activity. Current
classification of sunspot groups is visually based and suffers from bias.
Supervised learning methods can reduce human bias but fail to optimally
capitalize on the information present in sunspot images. This paper uses two
image modalities (continuum and magnetogram) to characterize the spatial and
modal interactions of sunspot and magnetic active region images and presents a
new approach to cluster the images. Specifically, in the framework of image
patch analysis, we estimate the number of intrinsic parameters required to
describe the spatial and modal dependencies, the correlation between the two
modalities and the corresponding spatial patterns, and examine the phenomena at
different scales within the images. To do this, we use linear and nonlinear
intrinsic dimension estimators, canonical correlation analysis, and
multiresolution analysis of intrinsic dimension.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures, accepted to ICIP 201
Image patch analysis of sunspots and active regions. II. Clustering via matrix factorization
Separating active regions that are quiet from potentially eruptive ones is a
key issue in Space Weather applications. Traditional classification schemes
such as Mount Wilson and McIntosh have been effective in relating an active
region large scale magnetic configuration to its ability to produce eruptive
events. However, their qualitative nature prevents systematic studies of an
active region's evolution for example. We introduce a new clustering of active
regions that is based on the local geometry observed in Line of Sight
magnetogram and continuum images. We use a reduced-dimension representation of
an active region that is obtained by factoring the corresponding data matrix
comprised of local image patches. Two factorizations can be compared via the
definition of appropriate metrics on the resulting factors. The distances
obtained from these metrics are then used to cluster the active regions. We
find that these metrics result in natural clusterings of active regions. The
clusterings are related to large scale descriptors of an active region such as
its size, its local magnetic field distribution, and its complexity as measured
by the Mount Wilson classification scheme. We also find that including data
focused on the neutral line of an active region can result in an increased
correspondence between our clustering results and other active region
descriptors such as the Mount Wilson classifications and the value. We
provide some recommendations for which metrics, matrix factorization
techniques, and regions of interest to use to study active regions.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Journal of Space Weather and Space
Climate (SWSC). 33 pages, 12 figure
Image patch analysis of sunspots and active regions. I. Intrinsic dimension and correlation analysis
The flare-productivity of an active region is observed to be related to its
spatial complexity. Mount Wilson or McIntosh sunspot classifications measure
such complexity but in a categorical way, and may therefore not use all the
information present in the observations. Moreover, such categorical schemes
hinder a systematic study of an active region's evolution for example. We
propose fine-scale quantitative descriptors for an active region's complexity
and relate them to the Mount Wilson classification. We analyze the local
correlation structure within continuum and magnetogram data, as well as the
cross-correlation between continuum and magnetogram data. We compute the
intrinsic dimension, partial correlation, and canonical correlation analysis
(CCA) of image patches of continuum and magnetogram active region images taken
from the SOHO-MDI instrument. We use masks of sunspots derived from continuum
as well as larger masks of magnetic active regions derived from the magnetogram
to analyze separately the core part of an active region from its surrounding
part. We find the relationship between complexity of an active region as
measured by Mount Wilson and the intrinsic dimension of its image patches.
Partial correlation patterns exhibit approximately a third-order Markov
structure. CCA reveals different patterns of correlation between continuum and
magnetogram within the sunspots and in the region surrounding the sunspots.
These results also pave the way for patch-based dictionary learning with a view
towards automatic clustering of active regions.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Journal of Space Weather and Space
Climate (SWSC). 23 pages, 11 figure
GalĂĄpagos sea lion behavior differences in relation to human exposure
Our study examined the behavioral differences of the GalĂĄpagos sea lion (Zalophus wollebaeki) in relation to human presence. Our main goal was to determine whether sea lions would be more aggressive as a result of high frequencies of human exposure. We hypothesized that sea lions would behave differently in relation to varying rates of human exposure and we predicted that there would be more aggressive and interactive behaviors on beaches with higher frequencies of human exposure (as the humans may disturb the normal behavioral patterns of the sea lions). Data was collected daily at low tide in two-hour intervals. Our study took place during July 2014 on Isla San CristĂłbal on three beaches near Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, GalĂĄpagos Islands, Ecuador. We recorded the number of people and sea lions on each beach during each data collection, as well as any observed behavioral characteristics of sea lions. We categorized behavioral characteristics of sea lions as aggressive, interactive but non-aggressive, and non-interactive both on terrestrial and aquatic environments. In addition, we accounted for the frequency of interactions in relation to the size of the beach in which data was collected. Results from a Chi-squared goodness of fit test showed that there was a significant difference in the sea lionsâ behavior in relation to human exposure (p \u3c 0.0001). Further analysis showed that sea lions tend to be more aggressive in response to higher frequencies of human exposure (p \u3c 0.0001). Previous studies have shown that high rates of human exposure in sea lion habitats can result in a decrease of sea lion populations (French et al., 2011). With regards to these results, there should be a consideration for how human exposure can affect the behavior of sea lions. Tourism in the GalĂĄpagos Islands remains prevalent, which can potentially disrupt the natural behavior of protected species if humans disrupt the animalsâ natural behavior
Test report for single event effects of the 80386DX microprocessor
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory Section 514 Single Event Effects (SEE) Testing and Analysis Group has performed a series of SEE tests of certain strategic registers of Intel's 80386DX CHMOS 4 microprocessor. Following a summary of the test techniques and hardware used to gather the data, we present the SEE heavy ion and proton test results. We also describe the registers tested, along with a system impact analysis should these registers experience a single event upset
TNF-α-induced intestinal epithelial cell shedding:implications for intestinal barrier function
Although epithelial cells are continuously shed from the surface of the intestine, the intestinal epithelium maintains the integrity of the epithelial barrier. This is achieved through a highly dynamic process involving reorganization of tight junction and adherens junction proteins. This process both ejects the cell from the epithelial monolayer and plugs the gap left after the cell is shed. Inflammatory insults can trigger a disturbance of these barrier functions by increasing rates of cell shedding. Epithelial cell shedding and loss of barrier can be visualized by confocal laser endomicroscopy in humans. A simple grading system of confocal laser endomicroscopic images can stratify inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients in remission into those who will relapse over the subsequent six months and those who will not. Here, we review the mechanisms governing maintenance of these barrier functions and the implications of inflammation-induced barrier dysfunction in IBD
A Multi-Epoch HST Study of the Herbig-Haro Flow from XZ Tauri
We present nine epochs of Hubble Space Telescope optical imaging of the
bipolar outflow from the pre-main sequence binary XZ Tauri. Our data monitors
the system from 1995-2005 and includes emission line images of the flow. The
northern lobe appears to be a succession of bubbles, the outermost of which
expanded ballistically from 1995-1999 but in 2000 began to deform and
decelerate along its forward edge. It reached an extent of 6" from the binary
in 2005. A larger and fainter southern counterbubble was detected for the first
time in deep ACS images from 2004. Traces of shocked emission are seen as far
as 20" south of the binary. The bubble emission nebulosity has a low excitation
overall, as traced by the [S II]/H-alpha line ratio, requiring a nearly
comoving surrounding medium that has been accelerated by previous ejections or
stellar winds.
Within the broad bubbles there are compact emission knots whose alignments
and proper motions indicate that collimated jets are ejected from each binary
component. The jet from the southern component, XZ Tau A, is aligned with the
outflow axis of the bubbles and has tangential knot velocities of 70-200 km/s.
Knots in the northern flow are seen to slow and brighten as they approach the
forward edge of the outermost bubble. The knots in the jet from the other star,
XZ Tau B, have lower velocities of ~100 km/s
The early life microbiota protects neonatal mice from pathological small intestinal epithelial cell shedding
The early life gut microbiota plays a crucial role in regulating and maintaining the intestinal barrier, with disturbances in these communities linked to dysregulated renewal and replenishment of intestinal epithelial cells. Here we sought to determine pathological cell shedding outcomes throughout the postnatal developmental period, and which host and microbial factors mediate these responses. Surprisingly, neonatal mice (Day 14 and 21) were highly refractory to induction of cell shedding after intraperitoneal administration of liposaccharide (LPS), with Day 29 mice showing strong pathological responses, more similar to those observed in adult mice. These differential responses were not linked to defects in the cellular mechanisms and pathways known to regulate cell shedding responses. When we profiled microbiota and metabolites, we observed significant alterations. Neonatal mice had high relative abundances of Streptococcus, Escherichia, and Enterococcus and increased primary bile acids. In contrast, older mice were dominated by Candidatus Arthromitus, Alistipes, and Lachnoclostridium, and had increased concentrations of SCFAs and methyamines. Antibiotic treatment of neonates restored LPS-induced small intestinal cell shedding, whereas adult fecal microbiota transplant alone had no effect. Our findings further support the importance of the early life window for microbiota-epithelial interactions in the presence of inflammatory stimuli and highlights areas for further investigation
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