Assessing the potential of VEGETATION sensor data for mapping snow and ice cover: a Normalized Difference Snow and Ice Index

The VEGETATION (VGT) sensor in SPOT 4 has four spectral bands that are equivalent to Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) bands (blue, red, near-infrared and mid-infrared spectral bands) and provides daily images of the global land surface at a 1-km spatial resolution. We propose a new index for identifying and mapping of snow ice cover, namely the Normalized Difference Snow/Ice Index (NDSII), which uses reflectance values of red and mid-infrared spectral bands of Landsat TM and VGT. For Landsat TM data, NDSII is calculated as NDSIITM =(TM3 -TM5)/(TM3 +TM5); for VGT data, NDSII is calculated as NDSIIVGT =(B2- MIR)/(B2 + MIR). As a case study we used a Landsat TM image that covers the eastern part of the Qilian mountain range in the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibetan) plateau of China. NDSIITM gave similar estimates of the area and spatial distribution of snow/ice cover to the Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI=(TM2-TM5)/(TM2+TM5)) which has been proposed by Hall et al. The results indicated that the VGT sensor might have the potential for operational monitoring and mapping of snow/ice cover from regional to global scales, when using NDSIIVGT.

认知电位时空模式研究

This report mainly focused on methodology of spatiotemporal patterns (STP) of cognitive potentials or event-related potentials (ERP). The representation of STP of brain wave is an important issue in the research of neural assemblies. This paper described methods of parametric 3D head or brain modeling and its corresponding interpolation for functional imaging based on brain waves. The 3D interpolation method is an extension of cortical imaging technique. It can be used with transformed domain features of brain wave on realistic head or brain models. The simulating results suggests that it is a better method in comparison with the global nearest neighbor technique. A stable and definite STP of brainwave referred as microstate may become basic element for comprehending sophisticated cognitive processes. Fuzzy c-mean algorithm was applied to segmentation STPs of ERP into microstates and corresponding membership functions. The optimal microstate number was estimated with both the trends of objective function against increasing clustering number and the decorrelation technique base don microstate shape similarity. Comparable spatial patterns may occur at different moments in time with fuzzy indices and thus the serial processing limit generated from behavioral methods has been break through. High-resolution frequency domain analysis was carried out with multivariate autoregressive model. Bases on a 3D interpolation mentioned above, visualization of dynamical coordination of cerebral network was realized with magnitude-squared partial coherence. Those technique illustrated with multichannel ERP of 9 subjects when they undertook Strop task. Stroop effects involves several regions during post-perception stage with technique of statistical parameter mapping based F-test [SPM(F)]. As SPM(F) suggested task effects occurred within 100 ms after stimuli presentation involved several sensory regions, it may reflect the top-down processing effect.

A Theory of How the Brain Might Work

I wish to propose a quite speculative new version of the grandmother cell theory to explain how the brain, or parts of it, may work. In particular, I discuss how the visual system may learn to recognize 3D objects. The model would apply directly to the cortical cells involved in visual face recognition. I will also outline the relation of our theory to existing models of the cerebellum and of motor control. Specific biophysical mechanisms can be readily suggested as part of a basic type of neural circuitry that can learn to approximate multidimensional input-output mappings from sets of examples and that is expected to be replicated in different regions of the brain and across modalities. The main points of the theory are: -the brain uses modules for multivariate function approximation as basic components of several of its information processing subsystems. -these modules are realized as HyperBF networks (Poggio and Girosi, 1990a,b). -HyperBF networks can be implemented in terms of biologically plausible mechanisms and circuitry. The theory predicts a specific type of population coding that represents an extension of schemes such as look-up tables. I will conclude with some speculations about the trade-off between memory and computation and the evolution of intelligence.

Trajectory Mapping ("TM''): A New Non-Metric Scaling Technique

Trajectory Mapping "TM'' is a new scaling technique designed to recover the parameterizations, axes, and paths used to traverse a feature space. Unlike Multidimensional Scaling (MDS), there is no assumption that the space is homogenous or metric. Although some metric ordering information is obtained with TM, the main output is the feature parameterizations that partition the given domain of object samples into different categories. Following an introductory example, the technique is further illustrated using first a set of colors and then a collection of textures taken from Brodatz (1966).

Comprehensive assessment of alcohol-related brain damage (ARBD): gap or chasm in the evidence?

Alcohol-related brain damage (ARBD) is primarily caused by chronic alcohol misuse and thiamine deficiency, and results in a broad range of impairments. Despite the increasing incidence of ARBD in the UK in recent decades, it is currently underdiagnosed, managed inappropriately and treated inadequately. Moreover, information about assessments for individuals with ARBD is currently absent from clinical guidelines and policy documents. The aim of this paper was to review the evidence relating to the neurological, neuropsychological, psychosocial, physical and nutritional assessment of individuals with ARBD to identify appropriate assessment tools that could be used to measure and monitor the impact of ARBD over time. A systematic online database search revealed a total of 160 separate references, 133 of which were rejected and two of which could not be accessed. Twenty-five papers were included in the review, including six neuroimaging studies, 17 neuropsychological studies and two studies using psychosocial methods of assessment. A lack of evidence for nutritional and physical assessment of individuals with ARBD was found. The review findings are inconclusive; most instruments currently used in ARBD research have not specifically been validated for use within an ARBD context. Further research is required to identify comprehensive methods of ARBD assessment.

Non-existence of polar factorisations and polar inclusion of a vector-valued mapping

R.J. DOUGLAS, Non-existence of polar factorisations and polar inclusion of a vector-valued mapping. Intern. Jour. Of Pure and Appl. Math., (IJPAM) 41, no. 3 (2007).

Uniqueness of the polar factorisation and projection of a vector-valued mapping

G.R. BURTON and R.J. DOUGLAS, Uniqueness of the polar factorisation and projection of a vector-valued mapping. Ann. I.H. Poincare ? A.N. 20 (2003), 405-418.

Rough set feature selection and rule induction for prediction of malignancy degree in brain glioma

X. Wang, J. Yang, R. Jensen and X. Liu, 'Rough Set Feature Selection and Rule Induction for Prediction of Malignancy Degree in Brain Glioma,' Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine, vol. 83, no. 2, pp. 147-156, 2006.

Automated cross-modal mapping in robotic eye/hand systems using plastic radial basis function networks

Q. Meng and M. H Lee, Automated cross-modal mapping in robotic eye/hand systems using plastic radial basis function networks, Connection Science, 19(1), pp 25-52, 2007.

Construction of Robot Intra-modal and Inter-modal Coordination Skills by Developmental Learning

Q. Meng and M. H. Lee, 'Construction of Robot Intra-modal and Inter-modal Coordination Skills by Developmental Learning', Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems, 48(1), pp 97-114, 2007.

Biologically inspired automatic construction of cross-modal mapping in robotic eye/hand systems

Q. Meng and M.H. Lee, 'Biologically inspired automatic construction of cross-modal mapping in robotic eye/hand systems', IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2006,) ,4742-49, Beijing, 2006.

'Preferring the wrong way': Mapping the Ethical Diversity of US Twentieth-Century Poetry

Woods, T. (2006). 'Preferring the wrong way': Mapping the Ethical Diversity of US Twentieth-Century Poetry. In C. Bigsby (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Modern American Culture (pp.450-468). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. RAE2008

The D-CIXS X-ray mapping spectrometer on SMART-1

Grande, Manuel; Browning, R.; Waltham, N.; Parker, D., 'The D-CIXS X-ray mapping spectrometer on SMART-1', Planetary and Space Science (2003) 51(6) pp.427-433 RAE2008

An association mapping approach to identify flowering time genes in natural populations of Lolium perenne (L.)

Sk?t, L., Humphreys, M. O., Armstead, I. P., Heywood, S., Sk?t, K. P., Sanderson, R., Thomas, I. D., Chorlton, K. H., & Sackville Hamilton, N. R. (2005). An association mapping approach to identify flowering time genes in natural populations of Lolium perenne (L.). Molecular Breeding, 15(3), 233-245. Sponsorship: BBSRC RAE2008