Validation of Canopy Height Profile methodology for small-footprint full-waveform airborne LiDAR data in a discontinuous canopy environment

A Canopy Height Profile (CHP) procedure presented in Harding et al. (2001) for large footprint LiDAR data was tested in a closed canopy environment as a way of extracting vertical foliage profiles from LiDAR raw-waveform. In this study, an adaptation of this method to small-footprint data has been shown, tested and validated in an Australian sparse canopy forest at plot- and site-level. Further, the methodology itself has been enhanced by implementing a dataset-adjusted reflectance ratio calculation according to Armston et al. (2013) in the processing chain, and tested against a fixed ratio of 0.5 estimated for the laser wavelength of 1550nm. As a by-product of the methodology, effective leaf area index (LAIe) estimates were derived and compared to hemispherical photography-derived values. To assess the influence of LiDAR aggregation area size on the estimates in a sparse canopy environment, LiDAR CHPs and LAIes were generated by aggregating waveforms to plot- and site-level footprints (plot/site-aggregated) as well as in 5m grids (grid-processed). LiDAR profiles were then compared to leaf biomass field profiles generated based on field tree measurements. The correlation between field and LiDAR profiles was very high, with a mean R2 of 0.75 at plot-level and 0.86 at site-level for 55 plots and the corresponding 11 sites. Gridding had almost no impact on the correlation between LiDAR and field profiles (only marginally improvement), nor did the dataset-adjusted reflectance ratio. However, gridding and the dataset-adjusted reflectance ratio were found to improve the correlation between raw-waveform LiDAR and hemispherical photography LAIe estimates, yielding the highest correlations of 0.61 at plot-level and of 0.83 at site-level. This proved the validity of the approach and superiority of dataset-adjusted reflectance ratio of Armston et al. (2013) over a fixed ratio of 0.5 for LAIe estimation, as well as showed the adequacy of small-footprint LiDAR data for LAIe estimation in discontinuous canopy forests.

Environmental and ecological economics in the 21st century: an age adjusted citation analysis of the most influential articles, journals, authors and institutions

We investigate the influence of articles, authors, journals and institutions in the field of environmental and ecological economics. We depart from studies that investigated the literature until 2001 and include a time period that has witnessed an enormous increase of importance in the field. We adjust for the age effect given the huge impact of the year of an article's publication on its influence and we show that this adjustment does make a substantial difference — especially for disaggregated units of analysis with diverse age characteristics such as articles or authors. We analyse 6597 studies on environmental and ecological economics published between 2000 and 2009. We provide rankings of the influential articles, authors, journals and institutions and find that Ecological Economics, Energy Economics and the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management have the most influential articles, they publish very influential authors and their articles are cited most. The University of Maryland, Resources for the Future, the University of East Anglia and the World Bank appear to be the most influential institutions in the field of environmental and ecological economics.

Uncertainties in tidally adjusted estimates of sea level rise flooding (bathtub model) for the Greater London

Sea-level rise (SLR) from global warming may have severe consequences for coastal cities, particularly when combined with predicted increases in the strength of tidal surges. Predicting the regional impact of SLR flooding is strongly dependent on the modelling approach and accuracy of topographic data. Here, the areas under risk of sea water flooding for London boroughs were quantified based on the projected SLR scenarios reported in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) fifth assessment report (AR5) and UK climatic projections 2009 (UKCP09) using a tidally-adjusted bathtub modelling approach. Medium- to very high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) are used to evaluate inundation extents as well as uncertainties. Depending on the SLR scenario and DEMs used, it is estimated that 3%–8% of the area of Greater London could be inundated by 2100. The boroughs with the largest areas at risk of flooding are Newham, Southwark, and Greenwich. The differences in inundation areas estimated from a digital terrain model and a digital surface model are much greater than the root mean square error differences observed between the two data types, which may be attributed to processing levels. Flood models from SRTM data underestimate the inundation extent, so their results may not be reliable for constructing flood risk maps. This analysis provides a broad-scale estimate of the potential consequences of SLR and uncertainties in the DEM-based bathtub type flood inundation modelling for London boroughs.

Ribosomal RNA gene insertions in the R2 site of Rhynchosciara (Diptera: Sciaridae)

Ribosomal RNA genes of most insects are interrupted by R1/R2 retrotransposons. The occurrence of R2 retrotransposons in sciarid genomes was studied by PCR and Southern blot hybridization in three Rhynchosciara species and in Trichosia pubescens. Amplification products with the expected size for non-truncated R2 elements were only obtained in Rhynchosciara americana. The rDNA in this species is located in the proximal end of the X mitotic chromosome but in the salivary gland is associated with all four polytene chromosomes. Approximately 50% of the salivary gland rDNA of most R. americana larval groups analysed had an insertion in the R2 site, while no evidence for the presence of R1 elements was found. In-situ hybridization results showed that rDNA repeat units containing R2 take part in the structure of the extrachromosomal rDNA. Also, rDNA resistance to Bal 31 digestion could be interpreted as evidence for nonlinear rDNA as part of the rDNA in the salivary gland. Insertions in the rDNA of three other sciarid species were not detected by Southern blot and in-situ hybridization, suggesting that rDNA retrotransposons are significantly under-represented in their genomes in comparison with R. americana. R2 elements apparently restricted to R. americana correlate with an increased amount of repetitive DNA in its genome in contrast to other Rhynchosciara species. The results obtained in this work together with previous results suggest that evolutionary changes in the genus Rhynchosciara occurred by differential genomic occupation not only of satellite DNA but possibly also of rDNA retrotransposons.

The R2 mobile element of Rhynchosciara americana: Molecular, cytological and dynamic aspects

Ribosomal RNA genes are encoded by large units clustered (18S, 5S, and 28S) in the nucleolar organizer region in several organisms. Sometimes additional insertions are present in the coding region for the 28S rDNA. These insertions are specific non-long terminal repeat retrotransposons that have very restricted integration targets within the genome. The retrotransposon present in the genome of Rhynchosciara americana, RaR2, was isolated by the screening of a genomic library. Sequence analysis showed the presence of conserved regions, such as a reverse transcriptase domain and a zinc finger motif in the amino terminal region. The insertion site was highly conserved in R. americana and a phylogenetic analysis showed that this element belongs to the R2 clade. The chromosomal localization confirmed that the RaR2 mobile element was inserted into a specific site in the rDNA gene. The expression level of RaR2 in salivary glands during larval development was determined by quantitative RT-PCR, and the increase of relative expression in the 3P of the fourth instar larval could be related to intense gene activity characteristic of this stage. 5`-Truncated elements were identified in different DNA samples. Additionally, in three other Rhynchosciara species, the R2 element was present as a full-length element.

A semi-Markov multistate model for estimation of the mean quality-adjusted survival for non-progressive processes

We discuss the estimation of the expected value of the quality-adjusted survival, based on multistate models. We generalize an earlier work, considering the sojourn times in health states are not identically distributed, for a given vector of covariates. Approaches based on semiparametric and parametric (exponential and Weibull distributions) methodologies are considered. A simulation study is conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed estimator and the jackknife resampling method is used to estimate the variance of such estimator. An application to a real data set is also included.

Regression analysis of mean quality-adjusted survival time based on pseudo-observations

Regression models for the mean quality-adjusted survival time are specified from hazard functions of transitions between two states and the mean quality-adjusted survival time may be a complex function of covariates. We discuss a regression model for the mean quality-adjusted survival (QAS) time based on pseudo-observations, which has the advantage of directly modeling the effect of covariates in the QAS time. Both Monte Carlo Simulations and a real data set are studied. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Estimation of the mean quality-adjusted survival using a multistate model for the sojourn times

In clinical trials, it may be of interest taking into account physical and emotional well-being in addition to survival when comparing treatments. Quality-adjusted survival time has the advantage of incorporating information about both survival time and quality-of-life. In this paper, we discuss the estimation of the expected value of the quality-adjusted survival, based on multistate models for the sojourn times in health states. Semiparametric and parametric (with exponential distribution) approaches are considered. A simulation study is presented to evaluate the performance of the proposed estimator and the jackknife resampling method is used to compute bias and variance of the estimator. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Genetic parameters for milk yield of Bubalus bubalis using unadjusted and adjusted milk production for days in milk.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Crescimento aéreo e radicular de arroz de terras altas em função da adubação fosfatada e bioestimulante

The use of plant regulators that stimulate root growth can increase phosphorus uptake by upland rice. The objective of this study was to evaluate shoot and root growth of upland rice fertilized with different phosphorus doses with and without biostimulant. The experiment was carried out in greenhouse in the Faculdade de Ciencias Agronomicas-UNESP, in Botucatu-SP. The treatments consisted of six phosphorus doses applied in sowing (0, 12,5, 25, 50, 100 and 200 mg dm(-3)), with and without Stimulate (R) applied in the seeds (cv. Primavera). The plants were grown for 78 days and then cut at soil level to evaluate leaf area and leaves and collar dry matter. Root samples that were harvested on the same day had their root diameter and dry matter evaluated. The experimental design was the completely randomized, with three replications, arranged as a factorial 2x6. Variance analysis and regression were used to data evaluation. Linear and quadratic equations were adjusted at a probability level of 5%, using those with higher determination coefficient (R(2)). The increase on the phosphorus dose contributed to the lower matter production and leaf area of the plants when the biostimulant was applied. For shoot phosphorus accumulation and root evaluations, the same behavior was observed. It was concluded that the use of Stimulate (R) in seeds, for fitomass production or root system evaluation, was only efficient in low phosphorus doses.

Uniformidade de deposição de gotas de pulverização em plantas de amendoim e Brachiaria plantaginea

Objetivou-se neste trabalho avaliar a uniformidade da deposição de gotas de pulverização em plantas de amendoim e de Brachiaria plantaginea localizadas nas linhas e entrelinhas de semeadura da cultura. O experimento de campo foi realizado com a cultura de amendoim, cultivar IAC Tatu-ST. As pulverizações foram feitas com a cultura nos estádios vegetativo (V1) e reprodutivo (R2). Foi utilizado, como marcador das gotas depositadas, o corante Azul Brilhante (FD&C-1) na concentração de 500 ppm. Os tratamentos foram constituídos por sete pontas de pulverização: XR 110015 VS (150 L ha-1), XR 11002 VS (200 L ha-1), TX-VK 6 (150 L ha-1), TX-VK 8 (200 L ha-1), AI 110015 VS (150 L ha-1), AI11002 VS (200 L ha-1) e TJ60 11002 VS (150 e 200 L ha-1). Utilizou-se o delineamento experimental em blocos ao acaso, com quatro repetições. Para as análises qualitativas, os dados obtidos foram ajustados à curva de regressão pelo modelo de Gompertz. As pontas XR 11002 VS (200 L ha-1) e TX-VK 6 (150 L ha-1) proporcionaram as maiores uniformidades de distribuição da pulverização nas plantas de amendoim cultivar IAC Tatu ST nos estádios vegetativo (V1) e reprodutivo (R2), respectivamente. A uniformidade de deposição nas plantas de B. plantaginea teve grande variação nos depósitos unitários sobre as plantas localizadas na linha e entrelinha da cultura. Apenas a ponta XR 11002 VS (200 L ha¹) causa falhas de deposição em ambos os estádios de desenvolvimento da B. plantaginea localizada na linha da cultura. Quanto às plantas localizadas na entrelinha, a maior eficiência das pontas de pulverização ocorre no estádio de 3-5 perfilhos.

Desempenho de pontas de pulverização na deposição de gotas de pulverização na cultura do amendoim

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of nozzles on spray droplet deposition in the peanut crop cultivar 'Runner IAC 886'. The study was conducted in the field, and the applications of treatments performed in the vegetative stage (V1) and reproductive (R2). It was used the Brilliant Blue FDC - 1 as tracer in water solution, at 500 ppm. The treatments consisted of seven spray nozzle XR 110015 VS (150 L ha(-1)), XR 11002 VS (200 L ha(-1)), TX-VK 6 (150L ha(-1)), TX-VK 8 (200 L ha-1), AI 110015 VS (150 L ha(-1)), AI11002 VS (200 L ha(-1)) e TJ60 11002 VS (150 e 200 L ha(-1)). It was used a randomized blocks design, with four replications. After application, plants were immediately collected, and washed in 100 mL of distilled water for posterior tracer quantification in spectrophotometer. The data had been adjusted a regression curve for Gompertz model. The results had evidenced that at low volumes of application the nozzle AI 110015 VS and TJ60 11002 VS, were the ones with best distribution uniformity of spray on plants of peanut cultivar 'Runner IAC 886' in the vegetative stage (V1) and reproductive (R2) respectively, and the largest deposits and higher percentage of failures in applications have been found in younger plants by comparing the growth stages of application, regardless of the spray nozzle and volume.

Valores de referência para o teste de caminhada com carga progressiva em indivíduos saudáveis: da distância percorrida às respostas fisiológicas

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Bending of light in the framework of R + R2 gravity

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Curvas de lactação em rebanhos da raça holandesa no estado de Minas Gerais. Escolha do modelo de melhor ajuste

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)