Generation and analysis of the 2005 land cover map for Mexico using 250m MODIS data

Land cover plays a key role in global to regional monitoring and modeling because it affects and is being affected by climate change and thus became one of the essential variables for climate change studies. National and international organizations require timely and accurate land cover information for reporting and management actions. The North American Land Change Monitoring System (NALCMS) is an international cooperation of organizations and entities of Canada, the United States, and Mexico to map land cover change of North America's changing environment. This paper presents the methodology to derive the land cover map of Mexico for the year 2005 which was integrated in the NALCMS continental map. Based on a time series of 250 m Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data and an extensive sample data base the complexity of the Mexican landscape required a specific approach to reflect land cover heterogeneity. To estimate the proportion of each land cover class for every pixel several decision tree classifications were combined to obtain class membership maps which were finally converted to a discrete map accompanied by a confidence estimate. The map yielded an overall accuracy of 82.5% (Kappa of 0.79) for pixels with at least 50% map confidence (71.3% of the data). An additional assessment with 780 randomly stratified samples and primary and alternative calls in the reference data to account for ambiguity indicated 83.4% overall accuracy (Kappa of 0.80). A high agreement of 83.6% for all pixels and 92.6% for pixels with a map confidence of more than 50% was found for the comparison between the land cover maps of 2005 and 2006. Further wall-to-wall comparisons to related land cover maps resulted in 56.6% agreement with the MODIS land cover product and a congruence of 49.5 with Globcover.

A SNP-based consensus genetic map for synteny-based trait targeting in faba bean (Vicia faba L.)

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is a globally important nitrogen-fixing legume, which is widely grown in a diverse range of environments. In this work, we mine and validate a set of 845 SNPs from the aligned transcriptomes of two contrasting inbred lines. Each V. faba SNP is assigned by BLAST analysis to a single Medicago orthologue. This set of syntenically anchored polymorphisms were then validated as individual KASP assays, classified according to their informativeness and performance on a panel of 37 inbred lines, and the best performing 757 markers used to genotype six mapping populations. The six resulting linkage maps were merged into a single consensus map on which 687 SNPs were placed on six linkage groups, each presumed to correspond to one of the six V. faba chromosomes. This sequence-based consensus map was used to explore synteny with the most closely-related crop species, lentil, and the most closely related fully sequenced genome, Medicago. Large tracts of uninterrupted colinearity were found between faba bean and Medicago, making it relatively straightforward to predict gene content and order in mapped genetic interval. As a demonstration of this, we mapped a flower colour gene to a 2 cM interval of Vf chromosome 2 which was highly collinear with Mt3. The obvious candidate gene from 77 gene models in the collinear Medicago chromosome segment was the previously characterized MtWD40-1 gene (Mt3g092830, Mt3g092840) controlling anthocyanin production in Medicago and re-sequencing of the Vf orthologue showed a putative causative deletion of the entire 5’ end of the gene.

The aims of early years outdoor education in England: a conceptual and empirical investigation

This paper explores the place of aims in the early years foundation stage outdoor environment in England. Through examining the writing of academics, various themes are identified, and constructed into possible aims. These themes/aims are compared to an empirical study of early years teachers’ attitudes. Data was collected by questionnaire from schools within the University of Reading partnership. There was general agreement between experts and teachers as to the aims. While some respondents were able to explain what the aims of outdoor activity were, a significant number were unable to identify aims; further, a significant number did not distinguish between approach/practice and aims. A lack of understanding and agreement as to what the aims are may indicate teachers are unsure about the purpose of outdoor education for young children. A result of this study is to agree and make explicit the aims for outdoor education in the early years.

A conceptual framework for service system interaction

There is a growing research concern on how service ecosystems form and interact. This research thus aims to explore the service ecosystem formation and interaction as well as its underlying nature of value co-creation. This work develops an initial conceptual framework for assessing service system interactions that includes the various stages of value co-creation within ecosystem context. How the conceptual framework will further be developed and future plan are also presented.

Communicating thematic data quality with web map services

Geospatial information of many kinds, from topographic maps to scientific data, is increasingly being made available through web mapping services. These allow georeferenced map images to be served from data stores and displayed in websites and geographic information systems, where they can be integrated with other geographic information. The Open Geospatial Consortium’s Web Map Service (WMS) standard has been widely adopted in diverse communities for sharing data in this way. However, current services typically provide little or no information about the quality or accuracy of the data they serve. In this paper we will describe the design and implementation of a new “quality-enabled” profile of WMS, which we call “WMS-Q”. This describes how information about data quality can be transmitted to the user through WMS. Such information can exist at many levels, from entire datasets to individual measurements, and includes the many different ways in which data uncertainty can be expressed. We also describe proposed extensions to the Symbology Encoding specification, which include provision for visualizing uncertainty in raster data in a number of different ways, including contours, shading and bivariate colour maps. We shall also describe new open-source implementations of the new specifications, which include both clients and servers.

The dark side of brand attachment: a conceptual framework of brand attachment's detrimental outcomes

Brand attachment recently has received great attention among practitioners and academics alike. Scholars consider brand attachment a key requisite in consumer-brand relationships that create favourable consumer behaviours such as positive brand attitudes and brand loyalty. Few studies, however, examine the detrimental outcomes of brand attachment. In this paper, we develop a conceptual framework that explores how brand attachment may explain detrimental consumer behaviours, such as oppositional brand loyalty and antibrand actions. We investigate consumers' trash-talking and schadenfreude in brand communities and their subsequent outcomes. Our framework reveals that the link between brand attachment and oppositional brand loyalty is driven by consumers' social identity and sense of rivalry. Furthermore, we put forward that brand attachment leads to anti-brand actions when relationships deteriorate. We identify two factors behind the deterioration: (1) companies' opportunism activities, and (2) incongruity between consumers' values and the brand's values. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed arising from our emerging 'dark side' brand attachment framework.

Regulation of the ERK subgroup of MAP kinase cascades through G protein-coupled receptors.

The extracellularly-responsive kinase (ERK) subfamily of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) has been implicated in the regulation of cell growth and differentiation. Activation of ERKs involves a two-step protein kinase cascade lying upstream from ERK, in which the Raf family are the MAPK kinase kinases and the MEK1/MEK2 isoforms are the MAPK kinases. The linear sequence of Raf --> MEK --> ERK constitutes the ERK cascade. Although the ERK cascade is activated through growth factor-regulated receptor protein tyrosine kinases, they are also modulated through G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). All four G protein subfamilies (Gq/11 Gi/o, Gs and G12/13) influence the activation state of ERKs. In this review, we describe the ERK cascade and characteristics of its activation through GPCRs. We also discuss the identity of the intervening steps that may couple agonist binding at GPCRs to activation of the ERK cascade.

Putting the Canal on the map: Panamanian agenda-setting and the 1973 Security Council meetings

In the early 1970s, Panama’s negotiations with the United States over the status of the Panama Canal ground to a standstill. General Omar Torrijos had rejected treaties left unratified by previous governments only to receive a less generous offer from the Nixon administration. Realizing that the talks were being ignored in Washington, the Panamanian government worked to internationalize the previously bilateral issue, creating and exploiting a high-profile forum: Extraordinary meetings of the UN Security Council in March 1973 held in Panama City. In those meetings, Panama isolated the United States in order to raise the issue’s profile and amplify the costs of leaving the matter unsettled. Using underutilized Panamanian sources, this article examines that meeting, the succeeding progress, and the effect of this early stage on the final negotiations several years later. The case also illustrates how, during the unsettled international environment of the 1970s, a small state utilized international organizations to obtain attention and support for its most important cause.

Towards conceptualizing reverse service supply chains

Purpose – Recognizing the heterogeneity of services, this paper aims to clarify the characteristics of forward and the corresponding reverse supply chains of different services. Design/methodology/approach – The paper develops a two-dimensional typology matrix, representing four main clusters of services according to the degree of input standardization and the degree of output tangibility. Based on this matrix, this paper develops a typology and parsimonious conceptual models illustrating the characteristics of forward and the corresponding reverse supply chains of each cluster of services. Findings – The four main clusters of service supply chains have different characteristics. This provides the basis for the identification, presentation and explanation of the different characteristics of their corresponding reverse service supply chains. Research limitations/implications – The findings of this research can help future researchers to analyse, map and model forward and reverse service supply chains, and to identify potential research gaps in the area. Practical/implications – The findings of the research can help managers of service firms to gain better visibility of their forward and reverse supply chains, and refine their business models to help extend their reverse/closed-loop activities. Furthermore, the findings can help managers to better optimize their service operations to reduce service gaps and potentially secure new value-adding opportunities. Originality/value – This paper is the first, to the authors ' knowledge, to conceptualize the basic structure of the forward and reverse service supply chains while dealing with the high level of heterogeneity of services.