Computer-aided boundary delineation of agricultural lands

The National Agricultural Statistics Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) presently uses labor-intensive aerial photographic interpretation techniques to divide large geographical areas into manageable-sized units for estimating domestic crop and livestock production. Prototype software, the computer-aided stratification (CAS) system, was developed to automate the procedure, and currently runs on a Sun-based image processing system. With a background display of LANDSAT Thematic Mapper and United States Geological Survey Digital Line Graph data, the operator uses a cursor to delineate agricultural areas, called sampling units, which are assigned to strata of land-use and land-cover types. The resultant stratified sampling units are used as input into subsequent USDA sampling procedures. As a test, three counties in Missouri were chosen for application of the CAS procedures. Subsequent analysis indicates that CAS was five times faster in creating sampling units than the manual techniques were

A Land Use Change Monitoring System Based on LANDSAT

A procedure for economically determining statistics on acreages of change in the use of land between two dates has been developed to support a Department of Housing and Urban Development program on neighborhood change modeling. The application of image processing techniques to LANDSAT imagery in four stages (registration, differencing, classification, and tabulation) provides one of the basic data sets needed to model future land use in one of six typical urban areas. After appropriate LANDSAT imagery for two desired dates is obtained, date-to-date registration of the study area is performed. Once the two images are adequately registered, the procedures of determining the geographic areas of change are initiated. The ratio of two raw bands for the early date is computed and then subtracted from the same ratio for the late date. This difference is allowed to conform to a gaussian distribution, and those pixels whose values lie beyond two standard deviations from the mean are designated as areas of change. The first step in the creation of a late date classification map is to extract and classify only those areas that show change. Then the early date classified data for unchanged areas is digitally summed with the late date classified data in changed areas. Using polygon overlay routines individually for both the early and late date classifications and then combining the results, a tabulation revealing general land use changes (e.g., the number of acres of residential in the early date versus the number in the late date) can be generated. To determine the manner of the change (e.g., the number of acres changed from rural to urban), the land use classes are first aggregated into rural/urban dicotomies and then a routine which permits comparison of individual pixel values is executed. Finally, a tabulation can display the manner of the land use change aggregated by the administrative district desired (e.g., census tracts)

Urban solar photovoltaics potential: An inventory and modelling study applied to the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles

Procedures for analyzing the potential of solar photovoltaic collectors to meet energy requirements in a metropolitan region are described and a modeling effort is applied to the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles. The procedure involves a series of steps designed to produce maps and tabulations revealing the amount of rooftop area available for establishing solar collectors and the proportion of energy requirement that could be potentially supplied by solar photovoltaics within each of the 533 mainline feeder service areas in the study area. For the sixty five square mile study area, the results showed that, with half the available flat and south facing roofs used and assuming the availability of energy storage, 52.7 percent of the actual kWh energy requirements could have been met in 1978 using photovoltaic collectors. Hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly fluctuations in potential supply and actual loads and recommendations of avenues for further research are discussed. Some further potential applications of the modeling technique are suggested

The lion in Ghana: its historical and current status

El león en Ghana: su situación pasada y presenteHistóricamente, la población de león (Panthera leo) en Ghana ha sido poco estudiada y su situación actual está poco documentada. Tras los últimos intentos infructuosos de encontrar indicios de la presencia de la especie, son numerosos los autores que opinan que la población de león en Ghana está prácticamente extinguida. En un intento por recabar más datos, desde 2005 hemos venido realizando estudios sobre esta especie en los parques más importantes de Ghana y otras zonas protegidas del país, que se han centrado principalmente en el Parque Nacional de Mole (MNP). Asimismo, hemos examinado los datos publicados con el fin de reconstruir la historia de la presencia del león en el país. Si bien nuestra investigación no aportó datos inequívocos, se recabó información circunstancial que sugiere que aún podría existir una pequeña población de león en el MNP y sus zonas circundantes.Historically, the lion (Panthera leo) population in Ghana has been little studied and its status is poorly documented. Currently, after recent unsuccessful attempts to find signs of the presence of the species, many authors believe that the Ghanaian lion population is most likely extinct. In an attempt to gather more data, since 2005 we have been carrying out lion surveys in the most important parks and other protected areas of Ghana, mainly focusing on Mole National Park (MNP). We have also been extensively reviewing the literature in an attempt to reconstruct the history of the presence of the lion in the country. Although our research has not provided unequivocal evidence of the presence of the lion, we have collected circumstantial evidence that suggests that a small lion population might still be present in MNP and its surrounding areas.El león en Ghana: su situación pasada y presenteHistóricamente, la población de león (Panthera leo) en Ghana ha sido poco estudiada y su situación actual está poco documentada. Tras los últimos intentos infructuosos de encontrar indicios de la presencia de la especie, son numerosos los autores que opinan que la población de león en Ghana está prácticamente extinguida. En un intento por recabar más datos, desde 2005 hemos venido realizando estudios sobre esta especie en los parques más importantes de Ghana y otras zonas protegidas del país, que se han centrado principalmente en el Parque Nacional de Mole (MNP). Asimismo, hemos examinado los datos publicados con el fin de reconstruir la historia de la presencia del león en el país. Si bien nuestra investigación no aportó datos inequívocos, se recabó información circunstancial que sugiere que aún podría existir una pequeña población de león en el MNP y sus zonas circundantes

STATISTICAL METHODS TO ASSESS THE SUSCEPTIBILITY TO PARTICULATE MATTER AND HEALTH EFFECTS MEDIATED BY MICRORNASCARRIED IN PLASMA EXTRACELLULAR VESICLES

ABSTRACT Air pollution exposure is a major problem worldwide and has been linked to many diseases. PM10 is one of the components of air pollution and it includes a mixture of compounds. Several studies suggest that PM produces significant effects on respiratory and cardiovascular system, in relation to acute as well as chronic exposure. This process has been extensively studied, but to date it has not yet been fully understood. Ambient particles have been shown to produce a strong inflammatory reaction, and beside pro-inflammatory mediators, cell-derived membrane Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) are also released. EVs (particularly microvesicles) might be the ideal candidate to mediate the effects of air pollution, since potentially they could transfer miRNAs, after internalization within target cells through surface-expressed ligands, enabling intercellular communication in the body. Another gap in our current knowledge regarding PM-related health effects is the identification of susceptible subjects. Recent research findings pointed out obesity as a susceptibility factor to the adverse effects of PM exposure partly due to an increase in particle absorption. According these findings, our hypothesis is that, EVs might be the ideal candidate mechanism to mediate the effects of air pollution, since potentially they could be produced by the respiratory system, reach the systemic circulation and lead to the development of endothelial dysfunction. Moreover, EVs after internalization within target cells through surface-expressed ligands, may transfer miRNAs enabling intercellular communication in the body. Finally, obese individuals might represent one of the best population to investigate the effects of environmental air particles on several molecular mechanisms and, as a final objective, on cardiovascular and respiratory parameters. The main proposal of this research project is to develop the appropriate statistical methodology to address the following specific aims: \u2022 Aim 1. Determine whether exposure to air particles and PM-associated metals can modify EVs in plasma in terms of miRNAs content. \u2022 Aim 2. Determine whether the changes found in ECVs (Aim 1) are associated with respiratory, cardiac and inflammatory outcomes such as: single breath carbon monoxide diffusing capacity DLcoRapp, Forced expiratory volume in the 1st second FEV1, Forced Vital Capacity FVC, Heart Rate, Sistolic Blood Pressure SBP, Diastolic Blood Pressure DBP, C-Reactive Protein CRP, and Fibrinogen. \u2022 Aim 3. Investigate the potential role of miRNAs as mediators of the effect of PM10 exposure on respiratory, cardiac and inflammatory outcomes listed in Aim2. We used a cross-sectional study investigating the effects of particulate air pollution on a population of susceptible overweight/obese subjects, recruited in Lombardy Region, Italy. The population study will include 2000 overweighed/obese (BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight and an adult who has a BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese subjects, recruited at the Center for Obesity and Weight Control (Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Milan and IRCCS Fondazione Ca\u2019Granda \u2013 Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico). We will follow a two-stage, split sample study design. The first (discovery) stage involves genome-wide miRNA expression profiling, by means of OpenArray technology, among 1000 of the aforementioned 2000 participants (the first 1000 subjects consecutively recruited at the Center for Obesity and Weight Control). The second (replication) stage involves a replication analysis of the top 10 miRNAs that resulted from the first stage. At December 31, 2013 (first stage) we recruited 1303 subjects, 87% of whom living in the province of Milan. At April 2015 we recruited a total of 1786 evaluable subjects. Due to technical problems the replication data were not available for statistical analysis at the time of the layout of the thesis. Different normalization strategies on miRNAs expression data were evaluated and compared in different set of miRNAs: Endogenous U6, Global Mean and Mean of 4 more stable miRNAs. The performance of the different normalization strategies was assessed by: (1) evaluating their ability to reduce the experimental induced (technical) variation, (2) determining their power to extract true biological variation. We showed for large scale miRNA expression profiling Global Mean normalization strategy outperforms the other normalization strategy in terms of: \uf0fc better reduction of technical variation: - lower % of miRNAs differentially expressed before and after FDR adjustment - lower Fold change range; \uf0fc more accurate appreciation of biological changes. - higher % of miRNAs differentially expressed before and after FDR adjustment; - higher Fold Change range; PM10 exposure assessment is based on daily PM10 concentration estimates by the FARM model (the flexible air quality regional model), a three-dimensional Eulerian grid model for dispersion, transformation and deposition of particulates, capable to simulate PM10 concentration. By means of ArchGis software the residential address of each subject was georeferenced and the resulting map was superimposed on the map of FARM Model. In this this way to each subject was attributed: (a) the estimated daily exposure of the cell containing their residential address; (b) the exposure of the cell containing the address of the Center for Obesity and Work; (c) the daily average exposure for Milan, calculated as the average of the 22 cells that falls into the city boundaries. Since in each run of OpenArray were simultaneous analysed up to 4 OpenArray plates, identified by a barcode, for a total of 12 samples (3 per plate) it was possible identify an hierarchical data structure with three levels: sample level (level-1), barcode level (level-2) and run level (level-3). In order to verify the association between miRNAs expression and PM10 we developed a three-levels hierarchical linear model (HLM) using the MIXED procedure in SAS. The following list of first 10 top miRNAs were identified: miR_106a_002169, miR_152_000475, miR_181a_2__002317, miR_218_000521, miR_27b_000409, miR_30d_000420, miR_652_002352, miR_92a_000431, miR_25_000403, miR_375_000564. Simple mediation models were applied in order to investigate the role of miRNAs expression as potential mediator on the effect of PM10 on respiratory, cardiac and inflammatory outcomes such as: single breath carbon monoxide diffusing capacity DLco, Forced expiratory volume in the 1st second FEV1, Forced Vital Capacity FVC, Heart Rate, Sistolic Blood Pressure SBP, Diastolic Blood Pressure DBP, C-Reactive Protein CRP, and Fibrinogen. 95% BC bootstrap Confidence intervals for Indirect effect were estimated. Finally, Multiple Parallel mediation models were applied in order to investigate the role of a set of miRNAs expression identified by means of simple mediation models as potential set of parallel mediator on the effect of PM10 on respiratory, cardiac and inflammatory outcomes. A significant indirect effect of PM10 on: - DLcoRapp, was found through the following mediators: mir_106a_002169, mir_152_000475, mir_218_000521 expression; - FEV1Rapp was found through the following mediators: mir_27b_000409 mir_30d_000420 mir_92a_000431 mir_181a_2_002317 mir_218_000521 expression; - FVCRapp was found through the following mediators: mir_27b_000409, mir_92a_000431 and mir_181a_2_002317 expression; - Heart Rate was found through the following mediator: mir_218_000521 expression; - Sistolic Blood Pressure was found through the following mediator: mir_92a_000431 expression; - CRP was found through the following mediator: mir_106a_002169 and mir_652_002352 expression. - Fibrinogeno was found through the following mediator: mir_375_000564 expression. Finally, the total indirect effect of PM10 exposure: - on DLcoRapp obtained summed the indirect effects across all mediators: mir_106a_002169, mir_152_000475, and mir_218_000521 expression is statistically different from zero; - on FEV1Rapp obtained summed the indirect effects across all mediators: mir_27b_000409 mir_30d_000420 mir_92a_000431 mir_181a_2_002317 mir_218_000521 expression is statistically different from zero; - on FVCRapp obtained summed the indirect effects across all mediators mir_27b_000409, mir_92a_000431 and mir_181a_2_002317 expression is statistically different from zero; - on CRP obtained summed the indirect effects across all mediators mir_106a_002169 and mir_652_002352 expression is statistically different from zero

Data management for support of the Oregon Transect Ecosystem Research (OTTER) project

Management of data collected during projects that involve large numbers of scientists is an often overlooked aspect of the experimental plan. Ecosystem science projects like the Oregon Transect Ecosystem Research (OTTER) Project that involve many investigators from many institutions and that run for multiple years, collect and archive large amounts of data. These data range in size from a few kilobytes of information for such measurements as canopy chemistry and meteorological variables, to hundreds of megabytes of information for such items as views from multi-band spectrometers flown on aircraft and scenes from imaging radiometers aboard satellites. Organizing and storing data from the OTTER Project, certifying those data, correcting errors in data sets, validating the data, and distributing those data to other OTTER investigators is a major undertaking. Using the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Pilot Land Data System (PLDS), a Support mechanism was established for the OTTER Project which accomplished all of the above. At the onset of the interaction between PLDS and OTTER, it was not certain that PLDS could accomplish these tasks in a manner that would aid researchers in the OTTER Project. This paper documents the data types that were collected under the auspices of the OTTER Project and the procedures implemented to store, catalog, validate, and certify those data. The issues of the compliance of investigators with data-management requirements, data use and certification, and the ease of retrieving data are discussed. We advance the hypothesis that formal data management is necessary in ecological investigations involving multiple investigators using many data gathering instruments and experimental procedures. The issues and experience gained in this exercise give an indication of the needs for data management systems that must be addressed in the coming decades when other large data-gathering endeavors are undertaken by the ecological science community

Bulk Gold-Catalyzed Reactions of Isocyanides, Amines, and Amine N-Oxides

Bulk gold powder (∼5–50 μm particles) catalyzes the reactions of isocyanides with amines and amine N-oxides to produce ureas. The reaction of n-butyl isocyanide (nBu–N≡C) with di-n-propylamine and N-methylmorpholine N-oxide in acetonitrile, which was studied in the greatest detail, produced 3-butyl-1,1-dipropylurea (O═C(NHnBu)(NnPr2)) in 99% yield at 60 °C within 2 h. Sterically and electronically different isocyanides, amines, and amine N-oxides react successfully under these conditions. Detailed studies support a two-step mechanism that involves a gold-catalyzed reaction of adsorbed isocyanide with the amine N-oxide to form an isocyanate (RN═C═O), which rapidly reacts with the amine to give the urea product. These investigations show that bulk gold, despite its reputation for poor catalytic activity, is capable of catalyzing these reactions

Catalytic Reactions of Carbene Precursors on Bulk Gold Metal

Bulk gold metal powder, consisting of particles (5−50 μm) much larger than nanoparticles, catalyzes the coupling of carbenes generated from diazoalkanes (R2C═N2) and 3,3-diphenylcyclopropene (DPCP) to form olefins. It also catalyzes cyclopropanation reactions of these carbene precursors with styrenes. The catalytic activity of the gold powder depends on the nature of the gold particles, as determined by TEM and SEM studies. The reactions can be understood in terms of mechanisms that involve the generation of carbene R2C: intermediates adsorbed on the gold surface

Conversions of Cyclic Amines to Nylon Precursor Lactams Using Bulk Gold and Fumed Silica Catalysts

Bulk gold powder (∼50 μm) and alumina-supported gold catalyzed the oxidative dehydrogenation of 5-, 6-, and 7-membered cyclic amines to amidines. These amidines were hydrolyzed upon treatment with Aerosil 200 (fumed silica gel) and water, producing lactams in 42–73% yields and amines in 36–63% yields. The gold and Aerosil 200 catalysts could also be combined in a one-pot reaction to catalyze the conversion of cyclic amines to lactams in yields up to 51%