Forbidden Subgraphs in Connected Graphs

Given a set $\xi=\{H_1,H_2,...\}$ of connected non acyclic graphs, a $\xi$-free graph is one which does not contain any member of $$ as copy. Define the excess of a graph as the difference between its number of edges and its number of vertices. Let {\gr{W}}_{k,\xi} be theexponential generating function (EGF for brief) of connected $\xi$-free graphs of excess equal to $k$ ($k \geq 1$). For each fixed $\xi$, a fundamental differential recurrence satisfied by the EGFs {\gr{W}}_{k,\xi} is derived. We give methods on how to solve this nonlinear recurrence for the first few values of $k$ by means of graph surgery. We also show that for any finite collection $\xi$ of non-acyclic graphs, the EGFs {\gr{W}}_{k,\xi} are always rational functions of the generating function, $T$, of Cayley's rooted (non-planar) labelled trees. From this, we prove that almost all connected graphs with $n$ nodes and $n+k$ edges are $\xi$-free, whenever $k=o(n^{1/3})$ and $|\xi| < \infty$ by means of Wright's inequalities and saddle point method. Limiting distributions are derived for sparse connected $\xi$-free components that are present when a random graph on $n$ nodes has approximately $\frac{n}{2}$ edges. In particular, the probability distribution that it consists of trees, unicyclic components, $...$, $(q+1)$-cyclic components all $\xi$-free is derived. Similar results are also obtained for multigraphs, which are graphs where self-loops and multiple-edges are allowed

Estimating leaf area index in different types of mature forest stands in Switzerland: a comparison of methods

Leaf area index (LAI) was estimated at 15 sites in the Swiss Long-Term Forest Ecosystem Research Programme (LWF) in 2004-2005 using two indirect techniques: the LAI-2000 plant canopy analyzer (Licor Inc.) and digital hemispherical photography, applying several exposure settings. Hemispherical photographs of the canopy were analysed using Hemisfer, a software package that offers several new features, which were tested here: (1) automatic thresholding taking the gamma value of the picture into account; (2) implementation of several equations to solve the gap-fraction inversion model from which LAI estimates are derived; (3) correction for ground slope effects, and (4) correction for clumped canopies. In seven broadleaved stands in our sample set, LAI was also estimated semi-directly from litterfall. The various equations used to solve the gap-fraction inversion model generated significantly different estimates for the LAI-2000 measurements. In contrast, the same equations applied in Hemisfer did not produce significantly different estimates. The best relationship between the LAI-2000 and the Hemisfer estimates was obtained when the hemispherical photographs were overexposed by one to two stops compared with the exposure setting derived from the reading of a spotmeter in a canopy gap. There was no clear general relationship between the litterfall and the LAI-2000 or the hemispherical photographs estimates. This was probably due to the heterogeneity of the canopy, or to biased litterfall collection at sites on steep slopes or sites subject to strong winds. This study introduces new arguments into the comparison of the advantages and drawbacks of the LAI-2000 and hemispherical photography in terms of applicability and accurac

Atmospheric Deposition on Swiss Long-Term Forest Ecosystem Research (LWF) Plots

Atmospheric deposition of the major elements was estimated from throughfall and bulk deposition measurements on 13 plots of the Swiss Long-Term Forest Ecosystem Research (LWF) between 1995 and 2001. Independent estimates of the wet and dry deposition of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) on these same plots were gained from combined simplified models. The highest deposition fluxes were measured at Novaggio (Southern Switzerland), exposed to heavy air pollution originating from the Po Plain, with throughfall fluxes averaging 29 kg ha−1 a−1 for N and 15 kg ha−1 a−1 for S. Low deposition fluxes were measured on the plots above 1800 m, with throughfall fluxes lower than 4.5 kg ha−1 a−1 for N and lower than 3 kg ha−1 a−1 for S. The wet deposition of N and S derived from bulk deposition was close to the modeled wet deposition, but the dry deposition derived from throughfall was significantly lower than the modeled dry deposition for both compounds. However, both the throughfall method and the model yielded total deposition estimates of N which exceeded the critical loads calculated on the basis of long-term mass balance considerations. These estimates were within or above the range of empirical critical loads except above 1800

Learning Long-Term Style-Preserving Blind Video Temporal Consistency

When trying to independently apply image-trained algorithms to successive frames in videos, noxious flickering tends to appear. State-of-the-art post-processing techniques that aim at fostering temporal consistency, generate other temporal artifacts and visually alter the style of videos. We propose a postprocessing model, agnostic to the transformation applied to videos (e.g. style transfer, image manipulation using GANs, etc.), in the form of a recurrent neural network. Our model is trained using a Ping Pong procedure and its corresponding loss, recently introduced for GAN video generation, as well as a novel style preserving perceptual loss. The former improves long-term temporal consistency learning, while the latter fosters style preservation. We evaluate our model on the DAVIS and videvo.net datasets and show that our approach offers state-of-the-art results concerning flicker removal, and better keeps the overall style of the videos than previous approaches

Beyond Individual Input for Deep Anomaly Detection on Tabular Data

Anomaly detection is crucial in various domains, such as finance, healthcare, and cybersecurity. In this paper, we propose a novel deep anomaly detection method for tabular data that leverages Non-Parametric Transformers (NPTs), a model initially proposed for supervised tasks, to capture both feature-feature and sample-sample dependencies. In a reconstruction-based framework, we train the NPT model to reconstruct masked features of normal samples. We use the model's ability to reconstruct the masked features during inference to generate an anomaly score. To the best of our knowledge, our proposed method is the first to combine both feature-feature and sample-sample dependencies for anomaly detection on tabular datasets. We evaluate our method on an extensive benchmark of tabular datasets and demonstrate that our approach outperforms existing state-of-the-art methods based on both the F1-Score and AUROC. Moreover, our work opens up new research directions for exploring the potential of NPTs for other tasks on tabular data

Ground vegetation monitoring in Swiss forests: comparison of survey methods and implications for trend assessments

At Swiss long-term forest ecosystem research sites, ground vegetation was assessed during the period 1994-2003/2008 following two approaches: (1) visual assessment of the cover of species occurring in sixteen 1m2 quadrats, distributed over a 43 × 43m area, and (2) phytosociological relevés in concentric circular plots of 30, 200, and 500m2. We first compared the two approaches with respect to diversity assessment. The number of species recorded in the 16 quadrats was in general higher than in the 30m2 plot and it represented 42% to 108% of the number of species recorded in the 500m2 plot. In a second step, we tested whether any temporal trends were apparent. In a few cases, a decrease or increase in Landolt's mean indicator values for light, nitrogen availability, soil pH, soil moisture, or temperature was found to be significant. However, these changes were usually restricted to one approach or one area. The only clear trend was detected in an unmanaged former coppice beech stand, for which all survey approaches indicated canopy closure. At another site, vegetation reacted to the local opening of the canopy following windthrow. In a third step, we compared the leaf area index (LAI), measured with an LAI-2000 instrument (Licor, Inc.) over each quadrat, with the indicator value of the vegetation for light (L). Within a site, there was no clear relationship between LAI and L values per quadrat. In contrast, across all sites, the relationship between LAI and L, averaged per site for all available years, was highly significan

A decade of monitoring at Swiss Long-Term Forest Ecosystem Research (LWF) sites: can we observe trends in atmospheric acid deposition and in soil solution acidity?

Trends in atmospheric acid deposition and in soil solution acidity from 1995 or later until 2007 were investigated at several forest sites throughout Switzerland to assess the effects of air pollution abatements on deposition and the response of the soil solution chemistry. Deposition of the major elements was estimated from throughfall and bulk deposition measurements at nine sites of the Swiss Long-Term Forest Ecosystem Research network (LWF) since 1995 or later. Soil solution was measured at seven plots at four soil depths since 1998 or later. Trends in the molar ratio of base cations to aluminum (BC/Al) in soil solutions and in concentrations and fluxes of inorganic N (NO3-N + NH4-N), sulfate (SO4-S), and base cations (BC) were used to detect changes in soil solution chemistry. Acid deposition significantly decreased at three out of the nine study sites due to a decrease in total N deposition. Total SO4-S deposition decreased at the nine sites, but due to the relatively low amount of SO4-S load compared to N deposition, it did not contribute to decrease acid deposition significantly. No trend in total BC deposition was detected. In the soil solution, no trend in concentrations and fluxes of BC, SO4-S, and inorganic N were found at most soil depths at five out of the seven sites. This suggests that the soil solution reacted very little to the changes in atmospheric deposition. A stronger reduction in base cations compared to aluminum was detected at two sites, which might indicate that acidification of the soil solution was proceeding faster at these site

Performances de reproduction et d'élevage des brebis romanov finnoises et croisées: premier bilan des résultats obtenus en france dans les troupeaux expérimentaux de l'INRA et dans quelques troupeaux d'étude

International audienc

Le rapprochement Chercheur-Consultant en aménagement du territoire : un apport à haute valeur ajoutée ?

En aménagement du territoire, de nouvelles pratiques partenariales semblent émerger lors de la réalisation d'expertises (études, ingénierie de projets, audits, etc.). Si le recours aux cabinets-conseils – au Consultant – et aux laboratoires scientifiques – au Chercheur – par les services de l'Etat ou les collectivités territoriales existe depuis de nombreuses années, le rapprochement et le partenariat entre les consultants et les chercheurs est récent. Certes, cette pratique n’est pas encore systématique en aménagement du territoire mais elle constitue, selon les commanditaires publics, un apport à haute valeur ajoutée dans les prestations de services.In urban planning new partnership practices seem to appear through the realization of expertises (studies, projects engineering, audits…). Although the appeal to consulting firms – to consultants – and in the scientific laboratories – to researchers – by the State services or local government, exists for a long time now, the partnership between consultants and researchers is recent. Even though this partnership is not systematic in urban planning, it brings a contribution with a high added value in the services, according to the public partners