scholarly journals The Resilient Recurrent Behavior of Mediterranean Semi-Arid Complex Adaptive Landscapes

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 296
Author(s):  
Irene Petrosillo ◽  
Donatella Valente ◽  
Christian Mulder ◽  
Bai-Lian Li ◽  
K. Bruce Jones ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Landscape Planning ◽  
Net Primary Production ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Conservation Priorities ◽  
Potential Candidate ◽  
Targeted Interventions ◽  
Quantification Analysis ◽  
Semi Arid ◽  
Over Time

Growing external pressures from human activities and climate change can exacerbate desertification, compromising the livelihoods of more than 25% of the world’s population. The dryland mosaic is defined by land covers that do not behave similarly, and the identification of their recurring or irregular changes over time is crucial, especially in areas susceptible to become desertified. To this aim, the methodological approach of this research is based on the integration of non-linear data analysis techniques, such as recurrence plots (RPs) and recurrence quantification analysis (RQA), applied to the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), which is a functional ecological proxy of above ground net primary production. The research exploits the recurring change detected in vegetation cover over time to gauge the predictable (resilient) behavior of the EVI as well as its chaoticity in a semi-arid Mediterranean region (Apulia, Italy). Interestingly, the results have shown the spatial rendering of recurrence variables, confirming the well-known hot spots of soil degradation and desertification taking place in the region, which are characterized by greater EVI chaoticity, but they have also identified new potential candidate sites. As a result, the susceptibility to land degradation, as measured by the EVI-RQA approach, can help in measuring land desertification with evident operational benefits for landscape planning. The novelty of the research lies in the spatially explicit identification of resilient and less resilient areas to desertification that can support the definition of more targeted interventions and conservation priorities for better planning and sustainable management of Mediterranean drylands.

scholarly journals Engineering students’ attitudinal beliefs by gender and student division: a methodological comparison of changes over time

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Madison E. Andrews ◽  
Anita D. Patrick ◽  
Maura Borrego
Keyword(s):  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Value Engineering ◽  
Longitudinal Analyses ◽  
Utility Value ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Targeted Interventions ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Background Students’ attitudinal beliefs related to how they see themselves in STEM have been a focal point of recent research, given their well-documented links to retention and persistence. These beliefs are most often assessed cross-sectionally, and as such, we lack a thorough understanding of how they may fluctuate over time. Using matched survey responses from undergraduate engineering students (n = 278), we evaluate if, and to what extent, students’ engineering attitudinal beliefs (attainment value, utility value, self-efficacy, interest, and identity) change over a 1-year period. Further, we examine whether there are differences based on gender and student division, and then compare results between cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses to illustrate weaknesses in our current understanding of these constructs. Results Our study revealed inconsistencies between cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of the same dataset. Cross-sectional analyses indicated a significant difference by student division for engineering utility value and engineering interest, but no significant differences by gender for any variable. However, longitudinal analyses revealed statistically significant decreases in engineering utility value, engineering self-efficacy, and engineering interest for lower division students and significant decreases in engineering attainment value for upper division students over a one-year period. Further, longitudinal analyses revealed a gender gap in engineering self-efficacy for upper division students, where men reported higher means than women. Conclusions Our analyses make several contributions. First, we explore attitudinal differences by student division not previously documented. Second, by comparing across methodologies, we illustrate that different conclusions can be drawn from the same data. Since the literature around these variables is largely cross-sectional, our understanding of students’ engineering attitudes is limited. Our longitudinal analyses show variation in engineering attitudinal beliefs that are obscured when data is only examined cross-sectionally. These analyses revealed an overall downward trend within students for all beliefs that changed significantly—losses which may foreshadow attrition out of engineering. These findings provide an opportunity to introduce targeted interventions to build engineering utility value, engineering self-efficacy, and engineering interest for student groups whose means were lower than average.

scholarly journals Relationship between obesity and lower rates of breast feeding initiation in regional Victoria, Australia: an 8-year retrospective panel study

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. e044884
Author(s):  
Melanie Rae Bish ◽  
Fiona Faulks ◽  
Lisa Helen Amir ◽  
Rachel R Huxley ◽  
Harold David McIntyre ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Feeding ◽  
Mode Of Delivery ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Multivariable Analysis ◽  
Morbidly Obese ◽  
Hospital Data ◽  
Targeted Interventions ◽  
Live Births ◽  
Breast Feed ◽  
Over Time

ObjectivesUsing routinely collected hospital data, this study explored secular trends over time in breast feeding initiation in a large Australian sample. The association between obesity and not breast feeding was investigated utilising a generalised estimating equations logistic regression that adjusted for sociodemographics, antenatal, intrapartum and postpartum conditions, mode of delivery and infant’s-related covariates.DesignPopulation-based retrospective panel.SettingA regional hospital that serves 26% of Victoria’s 6.5 million population in Australia.ParticipantsAll women experiencing live births between 2010 and 2017 were included. Women with missing body mass index (BMI) were excluded.ResultsA total of 7491 women contributed to 10 234 live births. At baseline, 57.2% of the women were overweight or obese, with obesity increasing over 8 years by 12.8%, p=0.001. Although, breast feeding increased over time, observed in all socioeconomic status (SES) and BMI categories, the lowest proportions were consistently found among the obese and morbidly obese (78.9% vs 87.1% in non-obese mothers, p<0.001). In the multivariable analysis, risk of not breast feeding was associated with higher BMI, teenage motherhood, smoking, belonging to the lowest SES class, gravidity >4 and undergoing an assisted vaginal or caesarean delivery. Compared with women with a normal weight, the obese and morbidly obese were 66% (OR 1.66, 95% CI 1.40 to 1.96, p<0.001) to 2.6 times (OR 2.61, 95% CI 2.07 to 3.29, p<0.001) less likely to breast feed, respectively. The detected dose–response effect between higher BMI and lower breast feeding was not explained by any of the study covariates.ConclusionThis study provides evidence of increasing breast feeding proportions in regional Victoria over the past decade. However, these proportions were lowest among the obese and morbidly obese and those coming from the most disadvantaged backgrounds suggesting the need for targeted interventions to support breast feeding among these groups. The psychosocial and physiological associations between obesity and breast feeding should further be investigated.

scholarly journals Detecting Forest Degradation in the Three-North Forest Shelterbelt in China from Multi-Scale Satellite Images

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1131
Author(s):  
Tao Yu ◽  
Pengju Liu ◽  
Qiang Zhang ◽  
Yi Ren ◽  
Jingning Yao
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
Net Primary Production ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Forest Degradation ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Area Index ◽  
Sensing Data ◽  
Multi Scale

Detecting forest degradation from satellite observation data is of great significance in revealing the process of decreasing forest quality and giving a better understanding of regional or global carbon emissions and their feedbacks with climate changes. In this paper, a quick and applicable approach was developed for monitoring forest degradation in the Three-North Forest Shelterbelt in China from multi-scale remote sensing data. Firstly, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Ratio Vegetation Index (RVI), Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FPAR) and Net Primary Production (NPP) from remote sensing data were selected as the indicators to describe forest degradation. Then multi-scale forest degradation maps were obtained by adopting a new classification method using time series MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) images, and were validated with ground survey data. At last, the criteria and indicators for monitoring forest degradation from remote sensing data were discussed, and the uncertainly of the method was analyzed. Results of this paper indicated that multi-scale remote sensing data have great potential in detecting regional forest degradation.

In the eye of the recipient

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrin Riese ◽  
Mareike Bayer ◽  
Gerhard Lauer ◽  
Annekathrin Schacht
Keyword(s):  
Pupil Diameter ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Narrative Fiction ◽  
Data Analyses ◽  
Different Dimensions ◽  
Literary Classics ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Physiological Indicator ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Cognitive Dimensions

Plot suspense is one of the most important components of narrative fiction that motivate recipients to follow fictional characters through their worlds. The present study investigates the dynamic development of narrative suspense in excerpts of literary classics from the 19th century in a multi-methodological approach. For two texts, differing in suspense as judged by a large independent sample, we collected (a) data from questionnaires, indicating different affective and cognitive dimensions of receptive engagement, (b) continuous ratings of suspense during text reception from both experts and lay recipients, and (c) registration of pupil diameter as a physiological indicator of changes in emotional arousal and attention during reception. Data analyses confirmed differences between the two texts at different dimensions of receptive engagement and, importantly, revealed significant correlations of pupil diameter and the course of suspense over time. Our findings demonstrate that changes of the pupil diameter provide a reliable ‘online’ indicator of suspense.

Visibility and security in the smart home

2021 ◽  
pp. 135485652110300
Author(s):  
Justine Humphry ◽  
Chris Chesher
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Smart Home ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Cultural Analysis ◽  
Security Systems ◽  
The Uncanny ◽  
A Site ◽  
Over Time

Smart home, media and security systems intervene in the territory and boundaries of the home in a variety of ways. Among these are the capacity to watch the home from afar, and to record these observations over time, as well as using the home as a site of performance for those on the outside. In this paper, we map the meanings of the smart home and explore the tensions between security and visibility, adopting a cultural history and cultural analysis methodological approach. We make a contribution to the literature on the smart home, highlighting its connection to longer trajectories of media and cultural change, and to understanding the contemporary formations of technologised surveillance, with attention to practices that emerged in response to COVID-19. We focus on two aspects of our model of domestic smartification: Ludics (devices and systems for play or entertainment) and exteriorities (security and communication interfaces that remotely monitor and expose the home). We focus on these aspects relating them to ideas of haunting and the uncanny to explore the implications of making what was previously hidden visible and manipulable to others.

scholarly journals Modelling spatial and temporal dynamics of gross primary production in the Sahel from earth-observation-based photosynthetic capacity and quantum efficiency

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 1333-1348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torbern Tagesson ◽  
Jonas Ardö ◽  
Bernard Cappelaere ◽  
Laurent Kergoat ◽  
Abdulhakim Abdi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Production ◽  
Quantum Efficiency ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Photosynthetic Capacity ◽  
Gross Primary Production ◽  
Earth Observation ◽  
Arid Ecosystems ◽  
Spatially Explicit ◽  
Equivalent Water Thickness ◽  
Semi Arid

Abstract. It has been shown that vegetation growth in semi-arid regions is important to the global terrestrial CO2 sink, which indicates the strong need for improved understanding and spatially explicit estimates of CO2 uptake (gross primary production; GPP) in semi-arid ecosystems. This study has three aims: (1) to evaluate the MOD17A2H GPP (collection 6) product against GPP based on eddy covariance (EC) for six sites across the Sahel; (2) to characterize relationships between spatial and temporal variability in EC-based photosynthetic capacity (Fopt) and quantum efficiency (α) and vegetation indices based on earth observation (EO) (normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), renormalized difference vegetation index (RDVI), enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and shortwave infrared water stress index (SIWSI)); and (3) to study the applicability of EO upscaled Fopt and α for GPP modelling purposes. MOD17A2H GPP (collection 6) drastically underestimated GPP, most likely because maximum light use efficiency is set too low for semi-arid ecosystems in the MODIS algorithm. Intra-annual dynamics in Fopt were closely related to SIWSI being sensitive to equivalent water thickness, whereas α was closely related to RDVI being affected by chlorophyll abundance. Spatial and inter-annual dynamics in Fopt and α were closely coupled to NDVI and RDVI, respectively. Modelled GPP based on Fopt and α upscaled using EO-based indices reproduced in situ GPP well for all except a cropped site that was strongly impacted by anthropogenic land use. Upscaled GPP for the Sahel 2001–2014 was 736 ± 39 g C m−2 yr−1. This study indicates the strong applicability of EO as a tool for spatially explicit estimates of GPP, Fopt and α; incorporating EO-based Fopt and α in dynamic global vegetation models could improve estimates of vegetation production and simulations of ecosystem processes and hydro-biochemical cycles.

scholarly journals Estimación de la cosecha de trigo en Andalucía usando series temporales de MERIS Terrestrial Chlorophyll Index (MTCI)

2018 ◽  
pp. 99 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Egea-Cobrero ◽  
V. Rodriguez-Galiano ◽  
E. Sánchez-Rodríguez ◽  
M.A. García-Pérez
Keyword(s):  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Net Primary Production ◽  
Vegetation Indices ◽  
Yield Data ◽  
Imaging Spectrometer ◽  
Wheat Production ◽  
Production Studies ◽  
Normalised Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
Chlorophyll Index ◽  
The One

<p>There is a relationship between net primary production of wheat and vegetation indices obtained from satellite imaging. Most wheat production studies use the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to estimate the production and yield of wheat and other crops. On the one hand, few studies use the MERIS Terrestrial Chlorophyll Index (MTCI) to determine crop yield and production on a regional level. This is possibly due to a lack of continuity of MERIS. On the other hand, the emergence of Sentinel 2 open new possibilities for the research and application of MTCI. This study has built two empirical models to estimate wheat production and yield in Andalusia. To this end, the study used the complete times series (weekly images from 2006–2011) of the MTCI vegetation index from the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) sensor associated with the Andalusian yearbook for agricultural and fishing statistics (AEAP—Anuario de estadísticas agrarias y pesqueras de Andalucía). In order to build these models, the optimal development period for the plant needed to be identified, as did the time-based aggregation of MTCI values using said optimal period as a reference, and relation with the index, with direct observations of production and yield through spatial aggregation using coverage from the Geographic Information System for Agricultural Parcels (SIGPAC—Sistema de información geográfica de parcelas agrícolas) and requests for common agricultural policy (CAP) assistance. The obtained results indicate a significant association between the MTCI index and the production and yield data collected by AEAP at the 95% confidence level (R<sup>2</sup> =0.81 and R<sup>2</sup> =0.57, respectively).</p>

scholarly journals The influence of the climatology of the semi-arid from Alagoas-Brazil on the raw milk microbiota

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Ticiano Gomes do Nascimento ◽  
Euridice Farias Falcão ◽  
Maria Cristina Delgado da Silva ◽  
Josicleide Nascimento Oliveira Silvino ◽  
Pierre Barnabé Escodro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Raw Milk ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
The State ◽  
Maximum Temperature ◽  
Climatic Data ◽  
Microbiological Analysis ◽  
Semi Arid

This study aimed to evaluate the influence of the climatology of the semi-arid from Alagoas-Brazil on the raw milk microbiota in semi-arid area of the 07 micro-regions of the State of Alagoas of Alagoas, Brazil. The climatic data were extracted from National Institute of Meteorology from the Brazilian government. The raw milk was collected after the dairy cow milking process in 12 small rural associations of the semi-arid from the State of Alagoas, during the 4 seasons and the raw milk was carried out procedures of sampling, transportation and microbiological analysis. A total of 58 samples were counted coliforms at 45°C, <em>Escherichia coli</em> and coagulase-positive <em>Staphylococcus</em>. Only 02 rural associations presented low levels of microbiological contamination, which were located in areas of climatic conditions and parameters of thermal comfort index and vegetation index favorable, but 10 rural associations presented high counting of coliforms at 45°C, <em>Escherichia coli</em>. The climatologic parameters (maximum temperature, atmospheric pressure), bovine comfort thermal index and vegetation index have showed to influence the growth of the coliforms at 45°C and <em>Escherichia coli</em> with high incidence during the summer weather. The precipitation parameter, bovine thermal comfort and vegetation index have displayed to influence coagulase-positive<em> Staphylococcus</em> counting especially during the period between the summer end and the autumn beginning seasons. New Actions, and Rural Education and Health Programs should be implemented as politics of Food Safety. New strategies and programs for dissemination more effective on the risks of transmission of pathogens and Foodborne Diseases are necessary as the part of emergence politics of the health and education areas. Regulatory Actions should be encouraged within the processes that improve the quality control of raw milk as well its bioproducts, with professional assistance relevant in agriculture area.

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