Sample records for editors lai poh

  1. A Spatio-Temporal Enhancement Method for medium resolution LAI (STEM-LAI)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Houborg, Rasmus; McCabe, Matthew F.; Gao, Feng

    2016-05-01

    Satellite remote sensing has been used successfully to map leaf area index (LAI) across landscapes, but advances are still needed to exploit multi-scale data streams for producing LAI at both high spatial and temporal resolution. A multi-scale Spatio-Temporal Enhancement Method for medium resolution LAI (STEM-LAI) has been developed to generate 4-day time-series of Landsat-scale LAI from existing medium resolution LAI products. STEM-LAI has been designed to meet the demands of applications requiring frequent and spatially explicit information, such as effectively resolving rapidly evolving vegetation dynamics at sub-field (30 m) scales. In this study, STEM-LAI is applied to Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) based LAI data and utilizes a reference-based regression tree approach for producing MODIS-consistent, but Landsat-based, LAI. The Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model (STARFM) is used to interpolate the downscaled LAI between Landsat acquisition dates, providing a high spatial and temporal resolution improvement over existing LAI products. STARFM predicts high resolution LAI by blending MODIS and Landsat based information from a common acquisition date, with MODIS data from a prediction date. To demonstrate its capacity to reproduce fine-scale spatial features observed in actual Landsat LAI, the STEM-LAI approach is tested over an agricultural region in Nebraska. The implementation of a 250 m resolution LAI product, derived from MODIS 1 km data and using a scale consistent approach based on the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), is found to significantly improve accuracies of spatial pattern prediction, with the coefficient of efficiency (E) ranging from 0.77-0.94 compared to 0.01-0.85 when using 1 km LAI inputs alone. Comparisons against an 11-year record of in-situ measured LAI over maize and soybean highlight the utility of STEM-LAI in reproducing observed LAI dynamics (both characterized by r2 = 0.86) over a

  2. Estimating Leaf Area Index (LAI) in Vineyards Using the PocketLAI Smart-App.

    PubMed

    Orlando, Francesca; Movedi, Ermes; Coduto, Davide; Parisi, Simone; Brancadoro, Lucio; Pagani, Valentina; Guarneri, Tommaso; Confalonieri, Roberto

    2016-11-26

    Estimating leaf area index (LAI) of Vitis vinifera using indirect methods involves some critical issues, related to its discontinuous and non-homogeneous canopy. This study evaluates the smart app PocketLAI and hemispherical photography in vineyards against destructive LAI measurements. Data were collected during six surveys in an experimental site characterized by a high level of heterogeneity among plants, allowing us to explore a wide range of LAI values. During the last survey, the possibility to combine remote sensing data and in-situ PocketLAI estimates (smart scouting) was evaluated. Results showed a good agreement between PocketLAI data and direct measurements, especially for LAI ranging from 0.13 to 1.41 ( R ² = 0.94, RRMSE = 17.27%), whereas the accuracy decreased when an outlying value (vineyard LAI = 2.84) was included ( R ² = 0.77, RRMSE = 43.00%), due to the saturation effect in case of very dense canopies arising from lack of green pruning. The hemispherical photography showed very high values of R ², even in presence of the outlying value ( R ² = 0.94), although it showed a marked and quite constant overestimation error (RRMSE = 99.46%), suggesting the need to introduce a correction factor specific for vineyards. During the smart scouting, PocketLAI showed its reliability to monitor the spatial-temporal variability of vine vigor in cordon-trained systems, and showed a potential for a wide range of applications, also in combination with remote sensing.

  3. LAI inversion algorithm based on directional reflectance kernels.

    PubMed

    Tang, S; Chen, J M; Zhu, Q; Li, X; Chen, M; Sun, R; Zhou, Y; Deng, F; Xie, D

    2007-11-01

    Leaf area index (LAI) is an important ecological and environmental parameter. A new LAI algorithm is developed using the principles of ground LAI measurements based on canopy gap fraction. First, the relationship between LAI and gap fraction at various zenith angles is derived from the definition of LAI. Then, the directional gap fraction is acquired from a remote sensing bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) product. This acquisition is obtained by using a kernel driven model and a large-scale directional gap fraction algorithm. The algorithm has been applied to estimate a LAI distribution in China in mid-July 2002. The ground data acquired from two field experiments in Changbai Mountain and Qilian Mountain were used to validate the algorithm. To resolve the scale discrepancy between high resolution ground observations and low resolution remote sensing data, two TM images with a resolution approaching the size of ground plots were used to relate the coarse resolution LAI map to ground measurements. First, an empirical relationship between the measured LAI and a vegetation index was established. Next, a high resolution LAI map was generated using the relationship. The LAI value of a low resolution pixel was calculated from the area-weighted sum of high resolution LAIs composing the low resolution pixel. The results of this comparison showed that the inversion algorithm has an accuracy of 82%. Factors that may influence the accuracy are also discussed in this paper.

  4. Uncertainty Analysis in the Creation of a Fine-Resolution Leaf Area Index (LAI) Reference Map for Validation of Moderate Resolution LAI Products

    EPA Science Inventory

    The validation process for a moderate resolution leaf area index (LAI) product (i.e., MODIS) involves the creation of a high spatial resolution LAI reference map (Lai-RM), which when scaled to the moderate LAI resolution (i.e., >1 km) allows for comparison and analysis with this ...

  5. Evaluation of the MODIS LAI product using independent lidar-derived LAI: A case study in mixed conifer forest

    Treesearch

    Jennifer L. R. Jensen; Karen S. Humes; Andrew T. Hudak; Lee A. Vierling; Eric Delmelle

    2011-01-01

    This study presents an alternative assessment of the MODIS LAI product for a 58,000 ha evergreen needleleaf forest located in the western Rocky Mountain range in northern Idaho by using lidar data to model (R2=0.86, RMSE=0.76) and map LAI at higher resolution across a large number of MODIS pixels in their entirety. Moderate resolution (30 m) lidar-based LAI estimates...

  6. Patient and prescriber perspectives on long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics and analysis of in-office discussion regarding LAI treatment for schizophrenia

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background The research goal is to better understand prescriber, patient, and caregiver perspectives about long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotic therapy and how these perspectives affect LAI use. Addressing these perspectives in the clinic may lead to greater success in achieving therapeutic goals for the patient with schizophrenia. Methods Ethnographic information was collected from a non-random sample of 69 prescriber-patient conversations (60 with community mental health center [CMHC] psychiatrists; 9 with nurse-practitioners) recorded during treatment visits from August 2011 to February 2012, transcribed and analyzed. Discussions were categorized according to 11 predetermined CMHC topics. In-person observations were also conducted at 4 CMHCs, including home visits by researchers (n = 15 patients) prior to the CMHC visit and observations of patients receiving injections and interacting with staff. Telephone in-depth interviews with psychiatrists, patients, and caregivers to gather additional information on LAI discussion, prescription, or use were conducted. Results Antipsychotic treatment decisions were made without patient or caregiver input in 40 of 60 (67%) of psychiatrist-patient conversations. Involvement of patients or caregivers in treatment decisions was greater when discussing LAI (15 of 60 [25%]) vs oral antipsychotic treatment (5 of 60 [8%]). LAIs were not discussed by psychiatrists in 11 of 22 (50%) patients taking oral antipsychotics. When offered, more LAI-naïve patients expressed neutral (9 of 19 [47%]) rather than favorable (3 of 19 [16%]) or unfavorable (7 of 19 [37%]) responses. Prescribers were most concerned about potentially damaging the therapeutic relationship and side-effects when discussing LAIs while patient resistance was often related to negative feelings about injections. Psychiatrists had some success in overcoming patient objections to LAIs by addressing and decomposing initial resistance. More than half (11 of 19 [58

  7. Seasonal LAI in slash pine estimated with LANDSAT TM

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Curran, Paul J.; Dungan, Jennifer L.; Gholz, Henry L.

    1990-01-01

    The leaf area index (LAI, total area of leaves per unit area of ground) of most forest canopies varies throughout the year, yet for logistical reasons it is difficult to estimate anything more detailed than a seasonal maximum LAI. To determine if remotely sensed data can be used to estimate LAI seasonally, field measurements of LAI were compared to normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values derived using LANDSAT Thematic Mapper (TM) data, for 16 fertilized and control slash pine plots on 3 dates. Linear relationships existed between NDVI and LAI with R(sup 2) values of 0.35, 0.75, and 0.86 for February 1988, September 1988, and March, 1989, respectively. This is the first reported study in which NDVI is related to forest LAI recorded during the month of sensor overpass. Predictive relationships based on data from eight of the plots were used to estimate the LAI of the other eight plots with a root-mean-square error of 0.74 LAI, which is 15.6 percent of the mean LAI. This demonstrates the potential use of LANDSAT TM data for studying seasonal dynamics in forest canopies.

  8. Linking in situ LAI and fine resolution remote sensing data to map reference LAI over cropland and grassland using geostatistical regression method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    He, Yaqian; Bo, Yanchen; Chai, Leilei; Liu, Xiaolong; Li, Aihua

    2016-08-01

    Leaf Area Index (LAI) is an important parameter of vegetation structure. A number of moderate resolution LAI products have been produced in urgent need of large scale vegetation monitoring. High resolution LAI reference maps are necessary to validate these LAI products. This study used a geostatistical regression (GR) method to estimate LAI reference maps by linking in situ LAI and Landsat TM/ETM+ and SPOT-HRV data over two cropland and two grassland sites. To explore the discrepancies of employing different vegetation indices (VIs) on estimating LAI reference maps, this study established the GR models for different VIs, including difference vegetation index (DVI), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and ratio vegetation index (RVI). To further assess the performance of the GR model, the results from the GR and Reduced Major Axis (RMA) models were compared. The results show that the performance of the GR model varies between the cropland and grassland sites. At the cropland sites, the GR model based on DVI provides the best estimation, while at the grassland sites, the GR model based on DVI performs poorly. Compared to the RMA model, the GR model improves the accuracy of reference LAI maps in terms of root mean square errors (RMSE) and bias.

  9. EPIC-Simulated and MODIS-Derived Leaf Area Index (LAI) ...

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Leaf Area Index (LAI) is an important parameter in assessing vegetation structure for characterizing forest canopies over large areas at broad spatial scales using satellite remote sensing data. However, satellite-derived LAI products can be limited by obstructed atmospheric conditions yielding sub-optimal values, or complete non-returns. The United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Exposure Methods and Measurements and Computational Exposure Divisions are investigating the viability of supplemental modelled LAI inputs into satellite-derived data streams to support various regional and local scale air quality models for retrospective and future climate assessments. In this present study, one-year (2002) of plot level stand characteristics at four study sites located in Virginia and North Carolina are used to calibrate species-specific plant parameters in a semi-empirical biogeochemical model. The Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) model was designed primarily for managed agricultural field crop ecosystems, but also includes managed woody species that span both xeric and mesic sites (e.g., mesquite, pine, oak, etc.). LAI was simulated using EPIC at a 4 km2 and 12 km2 grid coincident with the regional Community Multiscale Air Quality Model (CMAQ) grid. LAI comparisons were made between model-simulated and MODIS-derived LAI. Field/satellite-upscaled LAI was also compared to the corresponding MODIS LAI value. Preliminary results show field/satel

  10. Three Different Methods of Estimating LAI in a Small Watershed

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Speckman, H. N.; Ewers, B. E.; Beverly, D.

    2015-12-01

    Leaf area index (LAI) is a critical input of models that improve predictive understanding of ecology, hydrology, and climate change. Multiple techniques exist to quantify LAI, most of which are labor intensive, and all often fail to converge on similar estimates. . Recent large-scale bark beetle induced mortality greatly altered LAI, which is now dominated by younger and more metabolically active trees compared to the pre-beetle forest. Tree mortality increases error in optical LAI estimates due to the lack of differentiation between live and dead branches in dense canopy. Our study aims to quantify LAI using three different LAI methods, and then to compare the techniques to each other and topographic drivers to develop an effective predictive model of LAI. This study focuses on quantifying LAI within a small (~120 ha) beetle infested watershed in Wyoming's Snowy Range Mountains. The first technique estimated LAI using in-situ hemispherical canopy photographs that were then analyzed with Hemisfer software. The second LAI estimation technique was use of the Kaufmann 1982 allometrerics from forest inventories conducted throughout the watershed, accounting for stand basal area, species composition, and the extent of bark beetle driven mortality. The final technique used airborne light detection and ranging (LIDAR) first DMS returns, which were used to estimating canopy heights and crown area. LIDAR final returns provided topographical information and were then ground-truthed during forest inventories. Once data was collected, a fractural analysis was conducted comparing the three methods. Species composition was driven by slope position and elevation Ultimately the three different techniques provided very different estimations of LAI, but each had their advantage: estimates from hemisphere photos were well correlated with SWE and snow depth measurements, forest inventories provided insight into stand health and composition, and LIDAR were able to quickly and

  11. Cross-Dehydrogenative Coupling Reactions Between P(O)-H and X-H (X = S, N, O, P) Bonds.

    PubMed

    Hosseinian, Akram; Farshbaf, Sepideh; Fekri, Leila Zare; Nikpassand, Mohammad; Vessally, Esmail

    2018-05-26

    P(O)-X (X = S, N, O, P) bond-containing compounds have extensive application in medicinal chemistry, agrochemistry, and material chemistry. These useful organophosphorus compounds also have many applications in organic synthesis. In light of the importance of titled compounds, there is continuing interest in the development of synthetic methods for P(O)-X bonds construction. In the last 4 years, the direct coupling reaction of P(O)-H compounds with thiols, alcohols, and amines/amides has received much attention because of the atom-economic character. This review aims to give an overview of new developments in cross-dehydrogenative coupling reactions between P(O)-H and X-H (X = S, N, O, P) bonds, with special emphasis on the mechanistic aspects of the reactions.

  12. A Configuration Framework and Implementation for the Least Privilege Separation Kernel

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-12-01

    The Altova Web site states that virtualization software, Parallels for Mac and Wine , is required for running it on MacOS and RedHat Linux...University of Singapore Singapore 28. Tan Lai Poh National University of Singapore Singapore 29. Quek Chee Luan Defence Science & Technology Agency Singapore

  13. BOREAS RSS-7 LAI, Gap Fraction, and FPAR Data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hall, Forrest G. (Editor); Nickeson, Jaime (Editor); Chen, Jing

    2000-01-01

    The BOREAS RSS-7 team collected various data sets to develop and validate an algorithm to allow the retrieval of the spatial distribution of Leaf Area Index (LAI) from remotely sensed images. Ground measurements of LAI and Fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FPAR) absorbed by the plant canopy were made using the LAI-2000 and TRAC optical instruments during focused periods from 09-Aug-1993 to 19-Sep-1994. The measurements were intensive at the NSA and SSA tower sites, but were made just once or twice at auxiliary sites. The final processed LAI and FPAR data set is contained in tabular ASCII files. The data files are available on a CD-ROM (see document number 20010000884).

  14. An evaluation of MODIS 250-m data for green LAI estimation in crops

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gitelson, Anatoly A.; Wardlow, Brian D.; Keydan, Galina P.; Leavitt, Bryan

    2007-10-01

    Green leaf area index (LAI) is an important variable for climate modeling, estimates of primary production, agricultural yield forecasting, and many other diverse applications. Remotely sensed data provide considerable potential for estimating LAI at local, regional, and global scales. The goal of this study was to retrieve green LAI from MODIS 250-m vegetation index (VI) data for irrigated and rainfed maize and soybeans. The performance of both MODIS-derived NDVI and Wide Dynamic Range Vegetation Index (WDRVI) were evaluated across three growing seasons (2002 through 2004) over a wide range of LAI and also compared to the performance of NDVI and WDRVI derived from reflectance data collected at close-range across the same field locations. The NDVI vs. LAI relationship showed asymptotic behavior with a sharp decrease in the sensitivity of the NDVI to LAI exceeding 2 m2/m2 for both crops. WDRVI vs. LAI relation was linear across the entire range of LAI variation with determination coefficients above 0.93. Importantly, the coefficients of the close-range WDRVI vs. LAI equation and the MODIS-retrieved WDRVI vs. LAI equation were very close. The WDRVI was found to be capable of accurately estimating LAI across a much greater LAI range than the NDVI and can be used for assessing even slight variations in LAI, which are indicative of the early stages of plant stress. These results demonstrate the new possibilities for analyzing the spatio-temporal variation of the LAI of crops using multi-temporal MODIS 250-m imagery.

  15. Deriving Leaf Area Index (LAI) from multiple lidar remote sensing systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tang, H.; Dubayah, R.; Zhao, F.

    2012-12-01

    LAI is an important biophysical variable linking biogeochemical cycles of earth systems. Observations with passive optical remote sensing are plagued by saturation and results from different passive and active sensors are often inconsistent. Recently lidar remote sensing has been applied to derive vertical canopy structure including LAI and its vertical profile. In this research we compare LAI retrievals from three different types of lidar sensors. The study areas include the La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica and Sierra Nevada Forest in California. We first obtain independent LAI estimates from different lidar systems including airborne lidar (LVIS), spaceborne lidar (GLAS) and ground lidar (Echidna). LAI retrievals are then evaluated between sensors as a function of scale, land cover type and sensor characteristics. We also assess the accuracy of these LAI products against ground measurements. By providing a link between ground observations, ground lidar, aircraft and space-based lidar we hope to demonstrate a path for deriving more accurate estimates of LAI on a global basis, and to provide a more robust means of validating passive optical estimates of this important variable.

  16. Assimilation of LAI time-series in crop production models

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kooistra, Lammert; Rijk, Bert; Nannes, Louis

    2014-05-01

    Agriculture is worldwide a large consumer of freshwater, nutrients and land. Spatial explicit agricultural management activities (e.g., fertilization, irrigation) could significantly improve efficiency in resource use. In previous studies and operational applications, remote sensing has shown to be a powerful method for spatio-temporal monitoring of actual crop status. As a next step, yield forecasting by assimilating remote sensing based plant variables in crop production models would improve agricultural decision support both at the farm and field level. In this study we investigated the potential of remote sensing based Leaf Area Index (LAI) time-series assimilated in the crop production model LINTUL to improve yield forecasting at field level. The effect of assimilation method and amount of assimilated observations was evaluated. The LINTUL-3 crop production model was calibrated and validated for a potato crop on two experimental fields in the south of the Netherlands. A range of data sources (e.g., in-situ soil moisture and weather sensors, destructive crop measurements) was used for calibration of the model for the experimental field in 2010. LAI from cropscan field radiometer measurements and actual LAI measured with the LAI-2000 instrument were used as input for the LAI time-series. The LAI time-series were assimilated in the LINTUL model and validated for a second experimental field on which potatoes were grown in 2011. Yield in 2011 was simulated with an R2 of 0.82 when compared with field measured yield. Furthermore, we analysed the potential of assimilation of LAI into the LINTUL-3 model through the 'updating' assimilation technique. The deviation between measured and simulated yield decreased from 9371 kg/ha to 8729 kg/ha when assimilating weekly LAI measurements in the LINTUL model over the season of 2011. LINTUL-3 furthermore shows the main growth reducing factors, which are useful for farm decision support. The combination of crop models and sensor

  17. Modeling the effect of photosynthetic vegetation properties on the NDVI--LAI relationship.

    PubMed

    Steltzer, Heidi; Welker, Jeffrey M

    2006-11-01

    Developing a relationship between the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the leaf area index (LAI) is essential to describe the pattern of spatial or temporal variation in LAI that controls carbon, water, and energy exchange in many ecosystem process models. Photosynthetic vegetation (PV) properties can affect the estimation of LAI, but no models integrate the effects of multiple species. We developed four alternative NDVI-LAI models, three of which integrate PV effects: no PV effects, leaf-level effects, canopy-level effects, and effects at both levels. The models were fit to data across the natural range of variation in NDVI for a widespread High Arctic ecosystem. The weight of evidence supported the canopy-level model (Akaike weight, wr = 0.98), which includes species-specific canopy coefficients that primarily scale fractional PV cover to LAI by accounting for the area of unexposed PV. Modeling the canopy-level effects improved prediction of LAI (R2 = 0.82) over the model with no PV effect (R2 = 0.71) across the natural range of variation in NDVI but did not affect the site-level estimate of LAI. Satellite-based methods to estimate species composition, a variable in the model, will need to be developed. We expect that including the effects of PV properties in NDVI-LAI models will improve prediction of LAI where species composition varies across space or changes over time.

  18. Evaluation and Validation of Updated MODIS C6 and VIIRS LAI/FPAR

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yan, K.; Park, T.; Chen, C.; Yang, B.; Yan, G.; Knyazikhin, Y.; Myneni, R. B.; CHOI, S.

    2015-12-01

    Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (0.4-0.7 μm) absorbed by vegetation (FPAR) play a key role in characterizing vegetation canopy functioning and energy absorption capacity. With radiative transfer realization, MODIS onboard NASA EOS Terra and Aqua satellites has provided globally continuous LAI/FPAR since 2000 and continuously updated the products with better quality. And NPP VIIRS shows the measurement capability to extend high-quality LAI/FPAR time series data records as a successor of MODIS. The primary objectives of this study are 1) to evaluate and validate newly updated MODIS Collection 6 (C6) LAI/FPAR product which has finer resolution (500m) and improved biome type input, and 2) to examine and adjust VIIRS LAI/FPAR algorithm for continuity with MODIS'. For MODIS C6 investigation, we basically measure the spatial coverage (i.e., main radiative transfer algorithm execution), continuity and consistency with Collection 5 (C5), and accuracy with field measured LAI/FPAR. And we also validate C6 LAI/FPAR via comparing other possible global LAI/FPAR products (e.g., GLASS and CYCLOPES) and capturing co-varying seasonal signatures with climatic variables (e.g., temperature and precipitation). For VIIRS evaluation and adjustment, we first quantify possible difference between C5 and MODIS heritage based VIIRS LAI/FPAR. Then based on the radiative transfer theory of canopy spectral invariants, we find VIIRS- and biome-specific configurable parameters (single scattering albedo and uncertainty). These two practices for MODIS C6 and VIIRS LAI/FPAR products clearly suggest that (a) MODIS C6 has better coverage and accuracy than C5, (b) C6 shows consistent spatiotemporal pattern with C5, (c) VIIRS has the potential for producing MODIS-like global LAI/FPAR Earth System Data Records.

  19. Journal Editors Celebrated at Editors' Evening

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Panning, Jeanette

    2014-02-01

    At the Fall Meeting, the premiere social event for AGU's many journal editors is the annual Editors' Evening, an opportunity for members to celebrate and to recognize the efforts of retiring editors. At the event, AGU president Carol Finn welcomed all those in attendance and thanked them for volunteering their time for the benefit of AGU and the wider research community.

  20. Carbon economics of LAI drive photosynthesis patterns across an Amazonian precipitation gradient

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Flack, Sophie; Williams, Mathew; Meir, Patrick; Malhi, Yadvinder

    2017-04-01

    The Amazon rainforest is an integral part of the terrestrial carbon cycle, yet whilst the physiological response of its plants to water availability is increasingly well quantified, constraints to photosynthesis through adaptive response to precipitation regime have received little attention. We use the Soil Plant Atmosphere model to apportion variation in photosynthesis to individual drivers for plots with detailed measurements of carbon cycling, leaf traits and canopy properties, along an Amazonian mean annual precipitation (MAP) gradient. We hypothesised that leaf area index (LAI) would be the principal driver of variation in photosynthesis. Differences in LAI are predicted to result from economic factors; plants balance the carbon cost of leaf construction and maintenance with assimilation potential, to maximise canopy carbon export. Model analysis showed that LAI was the primary driver of differences in GPP along the precipitation gradient, accounting for 49% of observed variation. Meteorology accounted for 19%, whilst plant traits accounted for only 5%. To explain the observed spatial trends in LAI we undertook model experiments. For each plot the carbon budget was quantified iteratively using the field measured LAI time-series of the other plots, keeping meteorology, soil and plant traits constant. The mean annual LAI achieving maximum photosynthesis and net canopy carbon export increased with MAP, reflecting observed LAI trends. At the driest site, alternative, higher LAI strategies were unsustainable. The carbon cost of leaf construction and maintenance was disproportional to GPP achieved. At high MAP, increased foliar carbon costs were remunerative and GPP was maximised by high LAI. Our evidence therefore suggests that observed LAI trends across the precipitation gradient are driven by carbon economics. Forests LAI response to temporal changes in precipitation reflects trends observed across spatial gradients, identifying LAI as a key mechanism for plant

  1. Modeling variability and scale integration of LAI measurements

    Treesearch

    Kris Nackaerts; Pol Coppin

    2000-01-01

    Rapid and reliable estimation of leaf area at various scales is important for research on chance detection of leaf area index (LAI) as an indicator of ecosystem condition. It is of utmost importance to know to what extent boundary and illumination conditions, data aggregation method, and sampling scheme influence the relative accuracy of stand-level LAI measurements....

  2. Towards an improved LAI collection protocol via simulated field-based PAR sensing

    DOE PAGES

    Yao, Wei; Van Leeuwen, Martin; Romanczyk, Paul; ...

    2016-07-14

    In support of NASA’s next-generation spectrometer—the Hyperspectral Infrared Imager (HyspIRI)—we are working towards assessing sub-pixel vegetation structure from imaging spectroscopy data. Of particular interest is Leaf Area Index (LAI), which is an informative, yet notoriously challenging parameter to efficiently measure in situ. While photosynthetically-active radiation (PAR) sensors have been validated for measuring crop LAI, there is limited literature on the efficacy of PAR-based LAI measurement in the forest environment. This study (i) validates PAR-based LAI measurement in forest environments, and (ii) proposes a suitable collection protocol, which balances efficiency with measurement variation, e.g., due to sun flecks and various-sized canopymore » gaps. A synthetic PAR sensor model was developed in the Digital Imaging and Remote Sensing Image Generation (DIRSIG) model and used to validate LAI measurement based on first-principles and explicitly-known leaf geometry. Simulated collection parameters were adjusted to empirically identify optimal collection protocols. Furthermore, these collection protocols were then validated in the field by correlating PAR-based LAI measurement to the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) extracted from the “classic” Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS-C) data (R 2 was 0.61). The results indicate that our proposed collecting protocol is suitable for measuring the LAI of sparse forest (LAI < 3–5 ( m 2/m 2)).« less

  3. Aboveground biomass and leaf area index (LAI) mapping for Niassa Reserve, northern Mozambique

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ribeiro, Natasha S.; Saatchi, Sassan S.; Shugart, Herman H.; Washington-Allen, Robert A.

    2008-09-01

    Estimations of biomass are critical in miombo woodlands because they represent the primary source of goods and services for over 80% of the population in southern Africa. This study was carried out in Niassa Reserve, northern Mozambique. The main objectives were first to estimate woody biomass and Leaf Area Index (LAI) using remotely sensed data [RADARSAT (C-band, λ = 5.7-cm)] and Landsat ETM+ derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Simple Ratio (SR) calibrated by field measurements and, second to determine, at both landscape and plot scales, the environmental controls (precipitation, woody cover density, fire and elephants) of biomass and LAI. A land-cover map (72% overall accuracy) was derived from the June 2004 ETM+ mosaic. Field biomass and LAI were correlated with RADARSAT backscatter (rbiomass = 0.65, rLAI = 0.57, p < 0.0001) from July 2004, NDVI (rbiomass = 0.30, rLAI = 0.35; p < 0.0001) and SR (rbiomass = 0.36, rLAI = 0.40, p < 0.0001). A jackknife stepwise regression technique was used to develop the best predictive models for biomass (biomass = -5.19 + 0.074 * radarsat + 1.56 * SR, r2 = 0.55) and LAI (LAI = -0.66 + 0.01 * radarsat + 0.22 * SR, r2 = 0.45). Biomass and LAI maps were produced with an estimated peak of 18 kg m-2 and 2.80 m2 m-2, respectively. On the landscape-scale, both biomass and LAI were strongly determined by mean annual precipitation (F = 13.91, p = 0.0002). On the plot spatial scale, woody biomass was significantly determined by fire frequency, and LAI by vegetation type.

  4. New Features of the Collection 4 MODIS LAI and FPAR Product

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bin, T.; Yang, W.; Dong, H.; Shabanov, N.; Knyazikhin, Y.; Myneni, R.

    2003-12-01

    An algorithm based on physics of radiative transfer in vegetation canopies for the retrieval of vegetation green leaf area index (LAI) and fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (FPAR) from MODIS surface reflectance data was developed, prototyped and is in operational production at NASA computing facilities since June 2000. This poster highlights recent changes in the operational MODIS LAI and FPAR algorithm introduced for collection 4 data reprocessing. The changes to the algorithm are targeted to improve agreement of retrieved LAI and FPAR with corresponding field measurements, improve consistency of Quality Control (QC) definitions and miscellaneous bug fixes as summarized below. * Improvement of LUTs for the main and back-up algorithms for biomes 1 and 3. Benefits: a) increase in quality of retrievals; b) non-physical peaks in the global LAI distribution have been removed; c) improved agreement with field measurements * Improved QA scheme. Benefits: a) consistency between MODLAND and SCF quality flags has been achieved; b)ambiguity in QA has been resolved * New 8-day compositing scheme. Benefits: a) compositing over best quality retrievals, instead of all retrievals; b) lowers LAI values, decreases saturation and number of pixels generated by the back-up * At-launch static IGBP land cover, input to the LAI/FPAR algorithm, was replaced with the MODIS land cover map. Benefits: a) crosswalking of 17 classes IGBP scheme to 6-biome LC has been eliminated; b) uncertainties in the MODIS LAI/FPAR product due to uncertainties in land cover map have been reduced

  5. Collection of LAI and FPAR Data Over The Terra Core Sites

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Myneni, Ranga B.; Knjazihhin, J.; Tian, Y.; Wang, Y.

    2001-01-01

    The objective of our effort was to collect and archive data on LAI (leaf area index) and FPAR (Fraction of Photosynthetically active Radiation absorbed by vegetation) at the EOS Core validation sites as well as to validate and evaluate global fields of LAI and FPAR derived from atmospherically corrected MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer) surface reflectance data by comparing these fields with the EOS Core validation data set. The above has been accomplished by: (a) the participation in selected field campaigns within the EOS Validation Program; (b) the processing of the collected data so that suitable comparison between field measurements and the MODIS LAI/FPAR fields can be made; (c) the comparison of the MODAS LAI/FRAM fields with the EOS Terra Core validation data set.

  6. Remote Sensing of Miombo Woodland's Aboveground Biomass and LAI using RADARSAT and Landsat ETM+ Data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ribeiro, N. S.; Saatchi, S. S.; Shugart, H. H.; Wshington-Allen, R. A.

    2007-05-01

    Estimations of biomass are critical in Miombo Woodlands because they represent a primary source of food, fiber, and fuel for 340 million rural peoples and another 15 million urban dwellers in southern Africa. The purpose of this study is to estimate woody aboveground biomass and Leaf Area Index (LAI) in Niassa Reserve, northern Mozambique. The objective of this study is to use optical and microwave satellite data with contemporaneous field data to estimate biomass and LAI. Fifty field plots were surveyed across the Niassa Reserve for biomass and LAI in July and December 2004, respectively. Remote sensing data consisting of RADARSAT backscatter (C- band, ë=5.6 cm) and a June 2004 Landsat ETM+ were acquired. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Simple Ratio (SR), and a land-cover map (72% total accuracy) were derived from the Landsat scene. Field measurements of biomass and LAI correlated with Radarsat backscatter (Rsqbiomass=0.45, RsqLAI = 0.35, P<0.0001 ), NDVI (Rsqbiomass =0.15, RsqLAI=0.14-, p <0.0001 ) and SR (Rsqbiomass=-0.14, RsqLAI= 0.17, p <0.0001). A jackknife stepwise regression technique was used to develop the best predictive models for biomass (biomass = -5.19 +0.074*radarsat+1.56*SR, Rsq=0.53) and LAI (LAI= -0.66+0.01*radarsat+0.22*SR, Rsq=0.45). The addition of NDVI did not improve the model. Forest biomass and LAI maps were then produced for Niassa Reserve with an estimated peak total biomass of 18 kg/hm2 and a mean LAI of 2.8 m2/m2. In the east both biomass and LAI are lower than the western Niassa Reserve.

  7. A New Global LAI Product and Its Use for Terrestrial Carbon Cycle Estimation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, J. M.; Liu, R.; Ju, W.; Liu, Y.

    2014-12-01

    For improving the estimation of the spatio-temporal dynamics of the terrestrial carbon cycle, a new time series of the leaf area index (LAI) is generated for the global land surface at 8 km resolution from 1981 to 2012 by combining AVHRR and MODIS satellite data. This product differs from existing LAI products in the following two aspects: (1) the non-random spatial distribution of leaves with the canopy is considered, and (2) the seasonal variation of the vegetation background is included. The non-randomness of the leaf spatial distribution in the canopy is considered using the second vegetation structural parameter named clumping index (CI), which quantifies the deviation of the leaf spatial distribution from the random case. Using the MODIS Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function product, a global map of CI is produced at 500 m resolution. In our LAI algorithm, CI is used to convert the effective LAI obtained from mono-angle remote sensing into the true LAI, otherwise LAI would be considerably underestimated. The vegetation background is soil in crop, grass and shrub but includes soil, grass, moss, and litter in forests. Through processing a large volume of MISR data from 2000 to 2010, monthly red and near-infrared reflectances of the vegetation background is mapped globally at 1 km resolution. This new LAI product has been validated extensively using ground-based LAI measurements distributed globally. In carbon cycle modeling, the use of CI in addition to LAI allows for accurate separation of sunlit and shaded leaves as an important step in terrestrial photosynthesis and respiration modeling. Carbon flux measurements over 100 sites over the globe are used to validate an ecosystem model named Boreal Ecosystem Productivity Simulator (BEPS). The validated model is run globally at 8 km resolution for the period from 1981 to 2012 using the LAI product and other spatial datasets. The modeled results suggest that changes in vegetation structure as quantified

  8. Comparison of the New LEAF Area INDEX (LAI 3G) with the Kazahstan-Wide LEAF Area INDEX DATA SET (GGRS-LAI) over Central ASIA

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kappas, M.; Propastin, P.; Degener, J.; Renchin, T.

    2014-12-01

    Long-term global data sets of Leaf Area Index (LAI) are important for monitoring global vegetation dynamics. LAI indicating phenological development of vegetation is an important state variable for modeling land surface processes. The comparison of long-term data sets is based on two recently available data sets both derived from AVHRR time series. The LAI 3g data set introduced by Zaichun Zhu et al. (2013) is developed from the new improved third generation Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI3g) and best-quality MODIS LAI data. The second long-term data set is based on the 8 km spatial resolution GIMMS-AVHRR data (GGRS-data set by Propastin et al. 2012). The GGRS-LAI product uses a three-dimensional physical radiative transfer model which establishes relationship between LAI, vegetation fractional cover and given patterns of surface reflectance, view-illumination conditions and optical properties of vegetation. The model incorporates a number of site/region specific parameters, including the vegetation architecture variables such as leaf angle distribution, clumping index, and light extinction coefficient. For the application of the model to Kazakhstan, the vegetation architecture variables were computed at the local (pixel) level based on extensive field surveys of the biophysical properties of vegetation in representative grassland areas of Kazakhstan. The comparison of both long-term data sets will be used to interpret their quality for scientific research in other disciplines. References:Propastin, P., Kappas, M. (2012). Retrieval of coarse-resolution leaf area index over the Republic of Kazakhstan using NOAA AVHRR satellite data and ground measurements," Remote Sensing, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 220-246. Zaichun Zhu, Jian Bi, Yaozhong Pan, Sangram Ganguly, Alessandro Anav, Liang Xu, Arindam Samanta, Shilong Piao, Ramakrishna R. Nemani and Ranga B. Myneni (2013). Global Data Sets of Vegetation Leaf Area

  9. Model-simulated and Satellite-derived Leaf Area Index (LAI) Comparisons Across Multiple Spatial Scales

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Iiames, J. S., Jr.; Cooter, E. J.

    2016-12-01

    Leaf Area Index (LAI) is an important parameter in assessing vegetation structure for characterizing forest canopies over large areas at broad spatial scales using satellite remote sensing data. However, satellite-derived LAI products can be limited by obstructed atmospheric conditions yielding sub-optimal values, or complete non-returns. The United States Environmental Protection Agency's Exposure Methods and Measurements and Computational Exposure Divisions are investigating the viability of supplemental modelled LAI inputs into satellite-derived data streams to support various regional and local scale air quality models for retrospective and future climate assessments. In this present study, one-year (2002) of plot level stand characteristics at four study sites located in Virginia and North Carolina (USA) are used to calibrate species-specific plant parameters in a semi-empirical biogeochemical model. The Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) model was designed primarily for managed agricultural field crop ecosystems, but also includes managed woody species that span both xeric and mesic sites (e.g., mesquite, pine, oak, etc.). LAI was simulated using EPIC at a 4 km2 and 12 km2 grid coincident with the regional Community Multiscale Air Quality Model (CMAQ) grid. LAI comparisons were made between model-simulated and MODIS-derived LAI. Field/satellite-upscaled LAI was also compared to the corresponding MODIS LAI value. Preliminary results show field/satellite-upscaled LAI (1 km2) was 1.5 to 3 times smaller than that with the corresponding 1 km2 MODIS LAI for all four sites across all dates, with the largest discrepancies occurring at leaf-out and leaf senescence periods. Simulated LAI/MODIS LAI comparison results will be presented at the conference. Disclaimer: This work is done in support of EPA's Sustainable Healthy Communities Research Program. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency funded and conducted the research described in this paper. Although

  10. Constructing seasonal LAI trajectory by data-model fusion for global evergreen needle-leaf forests

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, R.; Chen, J.; Mo, G.

    2010-12-01

    For decades, advancements in optical remote sensors made it possible to produce maps of a biophysical parameter--the Leaf Area Index (LAI), which is critically necessary in regional and global modeling of exchanges of carbon, water, energy and other substances, across large areas in a fast way. Quite a few global LAI products have been generated since 2000, e.g. GLOBCARBON (Deng et al., 2006), MODIS Collection 5 (Shabanov et al., 2007), CYCLOPES (Baret et al., 2007), etc. Albeit these progresses, the basic physics behind the technology restrains it from accurate estimation of LAI in winter, especially for northern high-latitude evergreen needle-leaf forests. Underestimation of winter LAI in these regions has been reported in literature (Yang et al., 2000; Cohen et al., 2003; Tian et al., 2004; Weiss et al., 2007; Pisek et al., 2007), and the distortion is usually attributed to the variations of canopy reflectance caused by understory change (Weiss et al., 2007) as well as by the presence of ice and snow on leaves and ground (Cohen, 2003; Tian et al., 2004). Seasonal changes in leaf pigments can also be another reason for low LAI retrieved in winter. Low conifer LAI values in winter retrieved from remote sensing make them unusable for surface energy budget calculations. To avoid these drawbacks of remote sensing approaches, we attempt to reconstruct the seasonal LAI trajectory through model-data fusion. A 1-degree LAI map of global evergreen needle-leaf forests at 10-day interval is produced based on the carbon allocation principle in trees. With net primary productivity (NPP) calculated by the Boreal Ecosystems Productivity Simulator (BEPS) (Chen et al., 1999), carbon allocated to needles is quantitatively evaluated and then can be further transformed into LAI using the specific leaf area (SLA). A leaf-fall scheme is developed to mimic the carbon loss caused by falling needles throughout the year. The seasonally maximum LAI from remote sensing data for each pixel

  11. DNAAlignEditor: DNA alignment editor tool

    PubMed Central

    Sanchez-Villeda, Hector; Schroeder, Steven; Flint-Garcia, Sherry; Guill, Katherine E; Yamasaki, Masanori; McMullen, Michael D

    2008-01-01

    Background With advances in DNA re-sequencing methods and Next-Generation parallel sequencing approaches, there has been a large increase in genomic efforts to define and analyze the sequence variability present among individuals within a species. For very polymorphic species such as maize, this has lead to a need for intuitive, user-friendly software that aids the biologist, often with naïve programming capability, in tracking, editing, displaying, and exporting multiple individual sequence alignments. To fill this need we have developed a novel DNA alignment editor. Results We have generated a nucleotide sequence alignment editor (DNAAlignEditor) that provides an intuitive, user-friendly interface for manual editing of multiple sequence alignments with functions for input, editing, and output of sequence alignments. The color-coding of nucleotide identity and the display of associated quality score aids in the manual alignment editing process. DNAAlignEditor works as a client/server tool having two main components: a relational database that collects the processed alignments and a user interface connected to database through universal data access connectivity drivers. DNAAlignEditor can be used either as a stand-alone application or as a network application with multiple users concurrently connected. Conclusion We anticipate that this software will be of general interest to biologists and population genetics in editing DNA sequence alignments and analyzing natural sequence variation regardless of species, and will be particularly useful for manual alignment editing of sequences in species with high levels of polymorphism. PMID:18366684

  12. Retrieving Leaf Area Index (LAI) Using Remote Sensing: Theories, Methods and Sensors

    PubMed Central

    Zheng, Guang; Moskal, L. Monika

    2009-01-01

    The ability to accurately and rapidly acquire leaf area index (LAI) is an indispensable component of process-based ecological research facilitating the understanding of gas-vegetation exchange phenomenon at an array of spatial scales from the leaf to the landscape. However, LAI is difficult to directly acquire for large spatial extents due to its time consuming and work intensive nature. Such efforts have been significantly improved by the emergence of optical and active remote sensing techniques. This paper reviews the definitions and theories of LAI measurement with respect to direct and indirect methods. Then, the methodologies for LAI retrieval with regard to the characteristics of a range of remotely sensed datasets are discussed. Remote sensing indirect methods are subdivided into two categories of passive and active remote sensing, which are further categorized as terrestrial, aerial and satellite-born platforms. Due to a wide variety in spatial resolution of remotely sensed data and the requirements of ecological modeling, the scaling issue of LAI is discussed and special consideration is given to extrapolation of measurement to landscape and regional levels. PMID:22574042

  13. Retrieving Leaf Area Index (LAI) Using Remote Sensing: Theories, Methods and Sensors.

    PubMed

    Zheng, Guang; Moskal, L Monika

    2009-01-01

    The ability to accurately and rapidly acquire leaf area index (LAI) is an indispensable component of process-based ecological research facilitating the understanding of gas-vegetation exchange phenomenon at an array of spatial scales from the leaf to the landscape. However, LAI is difficult to directly acquire for large spatial extents due to its time consuming and work intensive nature. Such efforts have been significantly improved by the emergence of optical and active remote sensing techniques. This paper reviews the definitions and theories of LAI measurement with respect to direct and indirect methods. Then, the methodologies for LAI retrieval with regard to the characteristics of a range of remotely sensed datasets are discussed. Remote sensing indirect methods are subdivided into two categories of passive and active remote sensing, which are further categorized as terrestrial, aerial and satellite-born platforms. Due to a wide variety in spatial resolution of remotely sensed data and the requirements of ecological modeling, the scaling issue of LAI is discussed and special consideration is given to extrapolation of measurement to landscape and regional levels.

  14. Quantifying forest LAI succession in sub-tropical forests using time-series of Landsat data, 1987 -2015

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wu, Q.; Song, J.; Wang, J.; Chen, S.; Yu, B.; Liao, L.

    2016-12-01

    Monitoring the dynamics of leaf area index (LAI) throughout the life-cycle of forests (from seeding to maturity) is vital for simulating forest growth and quantifying carbon sequestration. However, all current global LAI produts show extremely low accuracy in forests and the coarse spatial resolution(nearly 1-km) mismatch with the spatial scale of forest inventory plots (nearly 26m*26m). To date, several studies have explored the possibility of satellite data to classify forest succession or predict stand age. And a few studies have explored the potential of using long term Landsat data to monitor the growing trend of forests, but no studies have quantified the inter-annual and intra-annual LAI dynamics along with forest succession. Vegetation indexes are not perfect variables in quantifying forest foliage dynamics. Hallet (1995) suggested remote sensing of biophysical characteristics should shift away from direct inference from vegetation indices toward more physically based algorithms. This work intends to be a pioneer example for improving the accuracy of forests LAI and providing temporal-spatial matching LAI datasets for monitoring forest processes. We integrates the Geometric-Optical and Radiative Transfer (GORT) model with the Physiological Principles Predicting Growth (3-PG) model to improve the estimation of the forest canopy LAI dynamics. Reflectance time-series data from 1987 to 2015 were collected and preprocessed for forests in southern China, using all available Landsat data (with <80% cloud). Effective LAI and true LAI were field measured to validate our results using various instruments, including digital hemispheric photographs (DHP), LAI-2000 Plant Canopy Analyzer (LI-COR), and Tracing radiation and Architecture of Canopies (TRAC). Results show that the relationship between spectral metrics of satellite images and forest LAI is clear in early stages before maturity. 3-PG provide accurate inter-annual trend of forest LAI, while satellite images

  15. A sensitivity analysis of a surface energy balance model to LAI (Leaf Area Index)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maltese, A.; Cannarozzo, M.; Capodici, F.; La Loggia, G.; Santangelo, T.

    2008-10-01

    The LAI is a key parameter in hydrological processes, especially in the physically based distribution models. It is a critical ecosystem attribute since physiological processes such as photosynthesis, transpiration and evaporation depend on it. The diffusion of water vapor, momentum, heat and light through the canopy is regulated by the distribution and density of the leaves, branches, twigs and stems. The LAI influences the sensible heat flux H in the surface energy balance single source models through the calculation of the roughness length and of the displacement height. The aerodynamic resistance between the soil and within-canopy source height is a function of the LAI through the roughness length. This research carried out a sensitivity analysis of some of the most important parameters of surface energy balance models to the LAI time variation, in order to take into account the effects of the LAI variation with the phenological period. Finally empirical retrieved relationships between field spectroradiometric data and the field LAI measured via a light-sensitive instrument are presented for a cereal field.

  16. Evaluation of Global LAI/FPAR Products from VIIRS and MODIS: Spatiotemporal Consistency and Uncertainty

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xu, B.; Park, T.; Yan, K.; Chen, C.; Jing, L.; Qinhuo, L.; Song, W.; Knyazikhin, Y.; Myneni, R.

    2017-12-01

    The operational EOS MODIS LAI/FPAR algorithm has been successfully transitioned to Suomi-NPP VIIRS by optimizing a small set of configurable parameters in Look-Up-Tables (LUTs). Our preliminary evaluation results show a reasonable agreement between VIIRS and MODIS LAI/FPAR retrievals. However, we still need more comprehensive investigations to assure the continuity of multi-sensor based global LAI/FPAR time series, as the preliminary evaluation was spatiotemporally limited. Here, we used a multi-year (2012-2016) global LAI/FPAR product generated from VIIRS Version 1 and MODIS Collection 6 to evaluate their spatiotemporal consistency at global and site scales. We also quantified the uncertainty of the product by defining and measuring theoretical and physical terms. For both consistency and uncertainty evaluation, we accounted varying biome types and temporal resolutions (i.e., 8-day, seasonal and annual steps). A newly developed approach (a.k.a., Grading and Upscaling Ground Measurements, GUGM) generating accurate validation datasets was implemented to help validating both products. Our results clearly indicate that the LAI/FPAR retrievals from VIIRS and MODIS are quite consistent at different spatio- (i.e., global and site) and temporal- (i.e., 8-day, seasonal and annual) scales. It is also worthy to note that the rate of retrievals from the radiative transfer based main algorithm is also comparable. However, we also saw a relatively larger LAI/FPAR discrepancy over highly dense tropical forests and a slightly less retrieval rate (main algorithm) from VIIRS over high latitude regions. For the uncertainty assessment, the theoretical uncertainty of VIIRS LAI (FPAR) is less than 0.2 (0.06) for non-forest and 0.9 (0.08) for forest, which is nearly identical to those of MODIS. The physical uncertainties of VIIRS and MODIS LAI (FPAR) products assessed by comparing to ground measurements are estimated by 0.60 (0.10) and 0.55 (0.11), respectively. All of the results

  17. [Tasseled cap triangle (TCT)-leaf area index (LAI)model of rice fields based on PROSAIL model and its application].

    PubMed

    Li, Ya Ni; Lu, Lei; Liu, Yong

    2017-12-01

    The tasseled cap triangle (TCT)-leaf area index (LAI) isoline is a model that reflects the distribution of LAI isoline in the spectral space constituted by reflectance of red and near-infrared (NIR) bands, and the LAI retrieval model developed on the basis of this is more accurate than the commonly used statistical relationship models. This study used ground-based measurements of the rice field, validated the applicability of PROSAIL model in simulating canopy reflectance of rice field, and calibrated the input parameters of the model. The ranges of values of PROSAIL input parameters for simulating rice canopy reflectance were determined. Based on this, the TCT-LAI isoline model of rice field was established, and a look-up table (LUT) required in remote sensing retrieval of LAI was developed. Then, the LUT was used for Landsat 8 and WorldView 3 data to retrieve LAI of rice field, respectively. The results showed that the LAI retrieved using the LUT developed from TCT-LAI isoline model had a good linear relationship with the measured LAI R 2 =0.76, RMSE=0.47. Compared with the LAI retrieved from Landsat 8, LAI values retrieved from WorldView 3 va-ried with wider range, and data distribution was more scattered. Resampling the Landsat 8 and WorldView 3 reflectance data to 1 km to retrieve LAI, the result of MODIS LAI product was significantly underestimated compared to that of retrieved LAI.

  18. Retrieval of Vertical LAI Profiles Over Tropical Rain Forests using Waveform Lidar at La Selva, Costa Rica

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Tang, Hao; Dubayah, Ralph; Swatantra, Anu; Hofton, Michelle; Sheldon, Sage; Clark, David B.; Blair, Bryan

    2012-01-01

    This study explores the potential of waveform lidar in mapping the vertical and spatial distributions of leaf area index (LAI) over the tropical rain forest of La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica. Vertical profiles of LAI were derived at 0.3 m height intervals from the Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor (LVIS) data using the Geometric Optical and Radiative Transfer (GORT) model. Cumulative LAI profiles obtained from LVIS were validated with data from 55 ground to canopy vertical transects using a modular field tower to destructively sample all vegetation. Our results showed moderate agreement between lidar and field derived LAI (r2=0.42, RMSE=1.91, bias=-0.32), which further improved when differences between lidar and tower footprint scales (r2=0.50, RMSE=1.79, bias=0.27) and distance of field tower from lidar footprint center (r2=0.63, RMSE=1.36, bias=0.0) were accounted for. Next, we mapped the spatial distribution of total LAI across the landscape and analyzed LAI variations over different land cover types. Mean values of total LAI were 1.74, 5.20, 5.41 and 5.62 over open pasture, secondary forests, regeneration forests after selective-logging and old-growth forests respectively. Lastly, we evaluated the sensitivities of our LAI retrieval model to variations in canopy/ground reflectance ratio and to waveform noise such as induced by topographic slopes. We found for both, that the effects were not significant for moderate LAI values (about 4). However model derivations of LAI might be inaccurate in areas of high-slope and high LAI (about 8) if ground return energies are low. This research suggests that large footprint waveform lidar can provide accurate vertical LAI profile estimates that do not saturate even at the high LAI levels in tropical rain forests and may be a useful tool for understanding the light transmittance within these canopies.

  19. Simulated and Inferred LAI, NPP, and Biomes in North America Since the Last Glacial Maximum.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zajac, L. M.; Williams, J. W.; Kaplan, J.

    2004-12-01

    Vegetation structure and productivity are sensitive to climate change and are an important source of feedbacks to the climate system. Here we employ multiple lines of evidence to reconstruct variations in leaf area index (LAI), net primary productivity (NPP), and biomes. LAI determines the total canopy surface area available for light interception, gas exchange, and water loss, and NPP, the increase in plant carbon per unit area, measures the flux of carbon into the terrestrial biosphere. BIOME4, an equilibrium biogeography and biogeochemistry vegetation model, is used to simulate LAI, NPP, and biome distributions in North America for the past 21,000 years at 1,000-year time-steps. BIOME4 was coupled asynchronously to the Hadley Center Unified Model with a mixed-layer ocean model forced by variations in orbital boundary conditions, physiography, and atmospheric CO2 concentration (Kaplan et al. 2002). BIOME4 models LAI as a trade-off between maximizing light interception and minimizing water loss and assigns the LAI that maximizes NPP. Past LAI's and biomes, independently estimated from fossil pollen assemblages using the modern analogue technique, are compared to model results. In unglaciated eastern North America, canopy closure of the full-glacial conifer forests and woodlands in response to ameliorating climatic conditions resulted in a 80% increase in LAI's between 21 ka and 11 ka. After 8 ka, large areas of tundra and forest-tundra developed in deglaciated regions. The BIOME4 simulations show good agreement with the LAI's and biome distribution inferred from fossil pollen records. Sensitivity analyses with BIOME4 indicate that both climate and CO2 played important roles in regulating vegetation structure and productivity.

  20. Directional effects on NDVI and LAI retrievals from MODIS: A case study in Brazil with soybean

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Breunig, Fábio Marcelo; Galvão, Lênio Soares; Formaggio, Antônio Roberto; Epiphanio, José Carlos Neves

    2011-02-01

    The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is largely used to estimate Leaf Area Index (LAI) using radiative transfer modeling (the "main" algorithm). When this algorithm fails for a pixel, which frequently occurs over Brazilian soybean areas, an empirical model (the "backup" algorithm) based on the relationship between the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and LAI is utilized. The objective of this study is to evaluate directional effects on NDVI and subsequent LAI estimates using global (biome 3) and local empirical models, as a function of the soybean development in two growing seasons (2004-2005 and 2005-2006). The local model was derived from the pixels that had LAI values retrieved from the main algorithm. In order to keep the reproductive stage for a given cultivar as a constant factor while varying the viewing geometry, pairs of MODIS images acquired in close dates from opposite directions (backscattering and forward scattering) were selected. Linear regression relationships between the NDVI values calculated from these two directions were evaluated for different view angles (0-25°; 25-45°; 45-60°) and development stages (<45; 45-90; >90 days after planting). Impacts on LAI retrievals were analyzed. Results showed higher reflectance values in backscattering direction due to the predominance of sunlit soybean canopy components towards the sensor and higher NDVI values in forward scattering direction due to stronger shadow effects in the red waveband. NDVI differences between the two directions were statistically significant for view angles larger than 25°. The main algorithm for LAI estimation failed in the two growing seasons with gradual crop development. As a result, up to 94% of the pixels had LAI values calculated from the backup algorithm at the peak of canopy closure. Most of the pixels selected to compose the 8-day MODIS LAI product came from the forward scattering view because it displayed larger LAI values than the

  1. Editors on Unix

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Clayton, C. A.

    The purpose of this document is to give new users advice on how to choose which editor to use on Unix machines. Under Unix the default editors are considered to be unfriendly and many users prefer to use other more sophisticated alternatives. However, many such alternatives exist; there is not one single editor that everyone finds acceptable and hence each user must decide for himself or herself which to adopt.

  2. Digital cover photography for estimating leaf area index (LAI) in apple trees using a variable light extinction coefficient.

    PubMed

    Poblete-Echeverría, Carlos; Fuentes, Sigfredo; Ortega-Farias, Samuel; Gonzalez-Talice, Jaime; Yuri, Jose Antonio

    2015-01-28

    Leaf area index (LAI) is one of the key biophysical variables required for crop modeling. Direct LAI measurements are time consuming and difficult to obtain for experimental and commercial fruit orchards. Devices used to estimate LAI have shown considerable errors when compared to ground-truth or destructive measurements, requiring tedious site-specific calibrations. The objective of this study was to test the performance of a modified digital cover photography method to estimate LAI in apple trees using conventional digital photography and instantaneous measurements of incident radiation (Io) and transmitted radiation (I) through the canopy. Leaf area of 40 single apple trees were measured destructively to obtain real leaf area index (LAI(D)), which was compared with LAI estimated by the proposed digital photography method (LAI(M)). Results showed that the LAI(M) was able to estimate LAI(D) with an error of 25% using a constant light extinction coefficient (k = 0.68). However, when k was estimated using an exponential function based on the fraction of foliage cover (f(f)) derived from images, the error was reduced to 18%. Furthermore, when measurements of light intercepted by the canopy (Ic) were used as a proxy value for k, the method presented an error of only 9%. These results have shown that by using a proxy k value, estimated by Ic, helped to increase accuracy of LAI estimates using digital cover images for apple trees with different canopy sizes and under field conditions.

  3. Analysis on Difference of Forest Phenology Extracted from EVI and LAI Based on PhenoCams

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, C.; Jing, L.; Qinhuo, L.

    2017-12-01

    Land surface phenology can make up for the deficiency of field observation with advantages of capturing the continuous expression of phenology on a large scale. However, there are some variability in phenological metrics derived from different satellite time-series data of vegetation parameters. This paper aims at assessing the difference of phenology information extracted from EVI and LAI time series. To achieve this, some web-camera sites were selected to analyze the characteristics between MODIS-EVI and MODIS-LAI time series from 2010 to 2014 for different forest types, including evergreen coniferous forest, evergreen broadleaf forest, deciduous coniferous forest and deciduous broadleaf forest. At the same time, satellite-based phenological metrics were extracted by the Logistics algorithm and compared with camera-based phenological metrics. Results show that the SOS and EOS that are extracted from LAI are close to bud burst and leaf defoliation respectively, while the SOS and EOS that are extracted from EVI is close to leaf unfolding and leaf coloring respectively. Thus the SOS that is extracted from LAI is earlier than that from EVI, while the EOS that is extracted from LAI is later than that from EVI at deciduous forest sites. Although the seasonal variation characteristics of evergreen forests are not apparent, significant discrepancies exist in LAI time series and EVI time series. In addition, Satellite- and camera-based phenological metrics agree well generally, but EVI has higher correlation with the camera-based canopy greenness (green chromatic coordinate, gcc) than LAI.

  4. How consistent are global long-term satellite LAI products in terms of interannual variability and trend?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jiang, C.; Ryu, Y.; Fang, H.

    2016-12-01

    Proper usage of global satellite LAI products requires comprehensive evaluation. To address this issue, the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) Land Product Validation (LPV) subgroup proposed a four-stage validation hierarchy. During the past decade, great efforts have been made following this validation framework, mainly focused on absolute magnitude, seasonal trajectory, and spatial pattern of those global satellite LAI products. However, interannual variability and trends of global satellite LAI products have been investigated marginally. Targeting on this gap, we made an intercomparison between seven global satellite LAI datasets, including four short-term ones: MODIS C5, MODIS C6, GEOV1, MERIS, and three long-term products ones: LAI3g, GLASS, and GLOBMAP. We calculated global annual LAI time series for each dataset, among which we found substantial differences. During the overlapped period (2003 - 2011), MODIS C5, GLASS and GLOBMAP have positive correlation (r > 0.6) between each other, while MODIS C6, GEOV1, MERIS, and LAI3g are highly consistent (r > 0.7) in interannual variations. However, the previous three datasets show negative trends, all of which use MODIS C5 reflectance data, whereas the latter four show positive trends, using MODIS C6, SPOT/VGT, ENVISAT/MERIS, and NOAA/AVHRR, respectively. During the pre-MODIS era (1982 - 1999), the three AVHRR-based datasets (LAI3g, GLASS and GLOBMAP) agree well (r > 0.7), yet all of them show oscillation related with NOAA platform changes. In addition, both GLASS and GLOBMAP show clear cut-points around 2000 when they move from AVHRR to MODIS. Such inconsistency is also visible for GEOV1, which uses SPOT-4 and SPOT-5 before and after 2002. We further investigate the map-to-map deviations among these products. This study highlights that continuous sensor calibration and cross calibration are essential to obtain reliable global LAI time series.

  5. [Hyperspectral Estimation of Apple Tree Canopy LAI Based on SVM and RF Regression].

    PubMed

    Han, Zhao-ying; Zhu, Xi-cun; Fang, Xian-yi; Wang, Zhuo-yuan; Wang, Ling; Zhao, Geng-Xing; Jiang, Yuan-mao

    2016-03-01

    Leaf area index (LAI) is the dynamic index of crop population size. Hyperspectral technology can be used to estimate apple canopy LAI rapidly and nondestructively. It can be provide a reference for monitoring the tree growing and yield estimation. The Red Fuji apple trees of full bearing fruit are the researching objects. Ninety apple trees canopies spectral reflectance and LAI values were measured by the ASD Fieldspec3 spectrometer and LAI-2200 in thirty orchards in constant two years in Qixia research area of Shandong Province. The optimal vegetation indices were selected by the method of correlation analysis of the original spectral reflectance and vegetation indices. The models of predicting the LAI were built with the multivariate regression analysis method of support vector machine (SVM) and random forest (RF). The new vegetation indices, GNDVI527, ND-VI676, RVI682, FD-NVI656 and GRVI517 and the previous two main vegetation indices, NDVI670 and NDVI705, are in accordance with LAI. In the RF regression model, the calibration set decision coefficient C-R2 of 0.920 and validation set decision coefficient V-R2 of 0.889 are higher than the SVM regression model by 0.045 and 0.033 respectively. The root mean square error of calibration set C-RMSE of 0.249, the root mean square error validation set V-RMSE of 0.236 are lower than that of the SVM regression model by 0.054 and 0.058 respectively. Relative analysis of calibrating error C-RPD and relative analysis of validation set V-RPD reached 3.363 and 2.520, 0.598 and 0.262, respectively, which were higher than the SVM regression model. The measured and predicted the scatterplot trend line slope of the calibration set and validation set C-S and V-S are close to 1. The estimation result of RF regression model is better than that of the SVM. RF regression model can be used to estimate the LAI of red Fuji apple trees in full fruit period.

  6. Relation of MODIS EVI and LAI across time, vegetation types and hydrological regimes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Alexandridis, Thomas; Ovakoglou, George

    2015-04-01

    Estimation of the Leaf Area Index (LAI) of a landscape is considered important to describe the ecosystems activity and is used as an important input parameter in hydrological and biogeochemical models related to water and carbon cycle, desertification risk, etc. The measurement of LAI in the field is a laborious and costly process and is mainly done by indirect methods, such as hemispherical photographs that are processed by specialized software. For this reason there have been several attempts to estimate LAI with multispectral satellite images, using theoretical biomass development models, or empirical equations using vegetation indices and land cover maps. The aim of this work is to study the relation of MODIS EVI and LAI across time, vegetation type, and hydrological regime. This was achieved by studying 120 maps of EVI and LAI which cover a hydrological year and five hydrologically diverse areas: river Nestos in Greece, Queimados catchment in Brazil, Rijnland catchment in The Netherlands, river Tamega in Portugal, and river Umbeluzi in Mozambique. The following Terra MODIS composite datasets were downloaded for the hydrological year 2012-2013: MOD13A2 "Vegetation Indices" and MCD15A2 "LAI and FPAR", as well as the equivalent quality information layers (QA). All the pixels that fall in a vegetation land cover (according to the MERIS GLOBCOVER map) were sampled for the analysis, with the exception of those that fell at the border between two vegetation or other land cover categories, to avoid the influence of mixed pixels. Using linear regression analysis, the relationship between EVI and LAI was identified per date, vegetation type and study area. Results show that vegetation type has the highest influence in the variation of the relationship between EVI and LAI in each study area. The coefficient of determination (R2) is high and statistically significant (ranging from 0.41 to 0.83 in 90% of the cases). When plotting the EVI factor from the regression equation

  7. LAI-2000 Accuracy, Precision, and Application to Visual Estimation of Leaf Area Index of Loblolly Pine

    Treesearch

    Jason A. Gatch; Timothy B. Harrington; James P. Castleberry

    2002-01-01

    Leaf area index (LAI) is an important parameter of forest stand productivity that has been used to diagnose stand vigor and potential fertilizer response of southern pines. The LAI-2000 was tested for its ability to provide accurate and precise estimates of LAI of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.). To test instrument accuracy, regression was used to...

  8. Estimation of Spatial Trends in LAI in Heterogeneous Semi-arid Ecosystems using Full Waveform Lidar

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Glenn, N. F.; Ilangakoon, N.; Spaete, L.; Dashti, H.

    2017-12-01

    Leaf area index (LAI) is a key structural trait that is defined by the plant functional type (PFT) and controlled by prevailing climate- and human-driven ecosystem stresses. Estimates of LAI using remote sensing techniques are limited by the uncertainties of vegetation inter and intra-gap fraction estimates; this is especially the case in sparse, low stature vegetated ecosystems. Small footprint full waveform lidar digitizes the total amount of return energy with the direction information as a near continuous waveform at a high vertical resolution (1 ns). Thus waveform lidar provides additional data matrices to capture vegetation gaps as well as PFTs that can be used to constrain the uncertainties of LAI estimates. In this study, we calculated a radiometrically calibrated full waveform parameter called backscatter cross section, along with other data matrices from the waveform to estimate vegetation gaps across plots (10 m x 10 m) in a semi-arid ecosystem in the western US. The LAI was then estimated using empirical relationships with directional gap fraction. Full waveform-derived gap fraction based LAI showed a high correlation with field observed shrub LAI (R2 = 0.66, RMSE = 0.24) compared to discrete return lidar based LAI (R2 = 0.01, RMSE = 0.5). The data matrices derived from full waveform lidar classified a number of deciduous and evergreen tree species, shrub species, and bare ground with an overall accuracy of 89% at 10 m. A similar analysis was performed at 1m with overall accuracy of 80%. The next step is to use these relationships to map the PFTs LAI at 10 m spatial scale across the larger study regions. The results show the exciting potential of full waveform lidar to identify plant functional types and LAI in low-stature vegetation dominated semi-arid ecosystems, an ecosystem in which many other remote sensing techniques fail. These results can be used to assess ecosystem state, habitat suitability as well as to constrain model uncertainties in

  9. [Estimation of rice LAI by using NDVI at different spectral bandwidths].

    PubMed

    Wang, Fu-min; Huang, Jing-feng; Tang, Yan-lin; Wang, Xiu-zhen

    2007-11-01

    The canopy hyperspectral reflectance data of rice at its different development stages were collected from field measurement, and the corresponding NDVIs as well as the correlation coefficients of NDVIs and LAI were computed at extending bandwidth of TM red and near-infrared (NIR) spectra. According to the variation characteristics of best fitted R2 with spectral bandwidth, the optimal bandwidth was determined. The results showed that the correlation coefficients of LAI and ND-VI and the maximum R2 of the best fitted functions at different spectral bandwidths had the same variation trend, i.e., decreased with increasing bandwidth when the bandwidth was less than 60 nm. However, when the bandwidth was beyond 60 nm, the maximum R2 somewhat fluctuated due to the effect of NIR. The analysis of R2 variation with bandwidth indicated that 15 nm was the optimal bandwidth for the estimation of rice LAI by using NDVI.

  10. Examining Editor-Author Ethics: Real-World Scenarios from Interviews with Three Journal Editors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Amare, Nicole; Manning, Alan

    2009-01-01

    Those who submit manuscripts to academic journals may benefit from a better understanding of how editors weigh ethics in their interactions with authors. In an attempt to ascertain and to understand editors' ethics, we interviewed 3 current academic journal editors of technical and/or business communication journals. We asked them about the…

  11. Validation and Temporal Analysis of Lai and Fapar Products Derived from Medium Resolution Sensor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Claverie, M.; Vermote, E. F.; Baret, F.; Weiss, M.; Hagolle, O.; Demarez, V.

    2012-12-01

    Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR) have been defined as Essential Climate Variables. Many Earth surface monitoring applications are based on global estimation combined with a relatively high frequency. The medium spatial resolution sensors (MRS), such as SPOT-VGT, MODIS or MERIS, have been widely used to provide land surface products (mainly LAI and FAPAR) to the scientific community. These products require quality assessment and consistency. However, due to consistency of the ground measurements spatial sampling, the medium resolution is not appropriate for direct validation with in situ measurements sampling. It is thus more adequate to use high spatial resolution sensors which can integrate the spatial variability. The recent availability of combined high spatial (8 m) and temporal resolutions (daily) Formosat-2 data allows to evaluate the accuracy and the temporal consistency of medium resolution sensors products. In this study, we proposed to validate MRS products over a cropland area and to analyze their spatial and temporal consistency. As a matter of fact, this study belongs to the Stage 2 of the validation, as defined by the Land Product Validation sub-group of the Earth Observation Satellites. Reference maps, derived from the aggregation of Formosat-2 data (acquired during the 2006-2010 period over croplands in southwest of France), were compared with (i) two existing global biophysical variables products (GEOV1/VGT and MODIS-15 coll. 5), and (ii) a new product (MODdaily) derived from the inversion of PROSAIL radiative transfer model (EMMAH, INRA Avignon) applied on MODIS BRDF-corrected daily reflectance. Their uncertainty was calculated with 105 LAI and FAPAR reference maps, which uncertainties (22 % for LAI and 12% for FAPAR) were evaluated with in situ measurements performed over maize, sunflower and soybean. Inter-comparison of coarse resolution (0.05°) products showed that LAI and FAPAR have

  12. Evaluating the potential of vegetation indices for winter wheat LAI estimation under different fertilization and water conditions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xie, Qiaoyun; Huang, Wenjiang; Dash, Jadunandan; Song, Xiaoyu; Huang, Linsheng; Zhao, Jinling; Wang, Renhong

    2015-12-01

    Leaf area index (LAI) is an important indicator for monitoring crop growth conditions and forecasting grain yield. Many algorithms have been developed for remote estimation of the leaf area index of vegetation, such as using spectral vegetation indices, inversion of radiative transfer models, and supervised learning techniques. Spectral vegetation indices, mathematical combination of reflectance bands, are widely used for LAI estimation due to their computational simplicity and their applications ranged from the leaf scale to the entire globe. However, in many cases, their applicability is limited to specific vegetation types or local conditions due to species specific nature of the relationship used to transfer the vegetation indices to LAI. The overall objective of this study is to investigate the most suitable vegetation index for estimating winter wheat LAI under eight different types of fertilizer and irrigation conditions. Regression models were used to estimate LAI using hyperspectral reflectance data from the Pushbroom Hyperspectral Imager (PHI) and in-situ measurements. Our results showed that, among six vegetation indices investigated, the modified soil-adjusted vegetation index (MSAVI) and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) exhibited strong and significant relationships with LAI, and thus were sensitive across different nitrogen and water treatments. The modified triangular vegetation index (MTVI2) confirmed its potential on crop LAI estimation, although second to MSAVI and NDVI in our study. The enhanced vegetation index (EVI) showed moderate performance. However, the ratio vegetation index (RVI) and the modified simple ratio index (MSR) predicted the least accurate estimations of LAI, exposing the simple band ratio index's weakness under different treatment conditions. The results support the use of vegetation indices for a quick and effective LAI mapping procedure that is suitable for winter wheat under different management practices.

  13. Spatial Upscaling of Long-term In Situ LAI Measurements from Global Network Sites for Validation of Remotely Sensed Products

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xu, B.; Jing, L.; Qinhuo, L.; Zeng, Y.; Yin, G.; Fan, W.; Zhao, J.

    2015-12-01

    Leaf area index (LAI) is a key parameter in terrestrial ecosystem models, and a series of global LAI products have been derived from satellite data. To effectively apply these LAI products, it is necessary to evaluate their accuracy reasonablely. The long-term LAI measurements from the global network sites are an important supplement to the product validation dataset. However, the spatial scale mismatch between the site measurement and the pixel grid hinders the utilization of these measurements in LAI product validation. In this study, a pragmatic approach based on the Bayesian linear regression between long-term LAI measurements and high-resolution images is presented for upscaling the point-scale measurements to the pixel-scale. The algorithm was evaluated using high-resolution LAI reference maps provided by the VALERI project at the Järvselja site and was implemented to upscale the long-term LAI measurements at the global network sites. Results indicate that the spatial scaling algorithm can reduce the root mean square error (RMSE) from 0.42 before upscaling to 0.21 after upscaling compared with the aggregated LAI reference maps at the pixel-scale. Meanwhile, the algorithm shows better reliability and robustness than the ordinary least square (OLS) method for upscaling some LAI measurements acquired at specific dates without high-resolution images. The upscaled LAI measurements were employed to validate three global LAI products, including MODIS, GLASS and GEOV1. Results indicate that (i) GLASS and GEOV1 show consistent temporal profiles over most sites, while MODIS exhibits temporal instability over a few forest sites. The RMSE of seasonality between products and upscaled LAI measurement is 0.25-1.72 for MODIS, 0.17-1.29 for GLASS and 0.36-1.35 for GEOV1 along with different sites. (ii) The uncertainty for products varies over different months. The lowest and highest uncertainty for MODIS are 0.67 in March and 1.53 in August, for GLASS are 0.67 in November

  14. Spatial and seasonal variations of leaf area index (LAI) in subtropical secondary forests related to floristic composition and stand characters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhu, Wenjuan; Xiang, Wenhua; Pan, Qiong; Zeng, Yelin; Ouyang, Shuai; Lei, Pifeng; Deng, Xiangwen; Fang, Xi; Peng, Changhui

    2016-07-01

    Leaf area index (LAI) is an important parameter related to carbon, water, and energy exchange between canopy and atmosphere and is widely applied in process models that simulate production and hydrological cycles in forest ecosystems. However, fine-scale spatial heterogeneity of LAI and its controlling factors have yet to be fully understood in Chinese subtropical forests. We used hemispherical photography to measure LAI values in three subtropical forests (Pinus massoniana-Lithocarpus glaber coniferous and evergreen broadleaved mixed forests, Choerospondias axillaris deciduous broadleaved forests, and L. glaber-Cyclobalanopsis glauca evergreen broadleaved forests) from April 2014 to January 2015. Spatial heterogeneity of LAI and its controlling factors were analysed using geostatistical methods and the generalised additive models (GAMs) respectively. Our results showed that LAI values differed greatly in the three forests and their seasonal variations were consistent with plant phenology. LAI values exhibited strong spatial autocorrelation for the three forests measured in January and for the L. glaber-C. glauca forest in April, July, and October. Obvious patch distribution pattern of LAI values occurred in three forests during the non-growing period and this pattern gradually dwindled in the growing season. Stem number, crown coverage, proportion of evergreen conifer species on basal area basis, proportion of deciduous species on basal area basis, and forest types affected the spatial variations in LAI values in January, while stem number and proportion of deciduous species on basal area basis affected the spatial variations in LAI values in July. Floristic composition, spatial heterogeneity, and seasonal variations should be considered for sampling strategy in indirect LAI measurement and application of LAI to simulate functional processes in subtropical forests.

  15. 75 FR 8081 - Patrick J. Lais: Debarment Order

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-02-23

    ..., among other things, subpotent burn spray, aspirin that had failed dissolution testing, and antacid... as ``Uncoated Aspirin.'' This drug failed its final dissolution testing. Neither Mr. Lais nor the... coated the failed aspirin and renumbered the lot. Part of this lot then was packaged as ``Coated Aspirin...

  16. Development of a global LAI estimation algorithm for JAXA's new earth observation satellite sensor, GCOM-C/SGLI

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ono, Y.; Murakami, H.; Kobayashi, H.; Nasahara, K. N.; Kajiwara, K.; Honda, Y.

    2014-12-01

    Leaf Area Index (LAI) is defined as the one-side green leaf area per unit ground surface area. Global LAI products, such as MOD15 (Terra&Aqua/MODIS) and CYCLOPES (SPOT/VEGETATION) are used for many global terrestrial carbon models. Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency (JAXA) is planning to launch GCOM-C (Global Change Observation Mission-Climate) which carries SGLI (Second-generation GLobal Imager) in the Japanese Fiscal Year 2017. SGLI has the features, such as 17-channel from near ultraviolet to thermal infrared, 250-m spatial resolution, polarization, and multi-angle (nadir and ±45-deg. along-track slant) observation. In the GCOM-C/SGLI land science team, LAI is scheduled to be generated from GCOM-C/SGLI observation data as a standard product (daily 250-m). In extisting algorithms, LAI is estimated by the reverse analysis of vegetation radiative transfer models (RTMs) using multi-spectral and mono-angle observation data. Here, understory layer in vegetation RTMs is assumed by plane parallel (green leaves + soil) which set up arbitrary understroy LAI. However, actual understory consists of various elements, such as green leaves, dead leaves, branches, soil, and snow. Therefore, if understory in vegetation RTMs differs from reality, it will cause an error of LAI to estimate. This report describes an algorithm which estimates LAI in consideration of the influence of understory using GCOM-C/SGLI multi-spectral and multi-angle observation data.

  17. Application and Evaluation of MODIS LAI, fPAR, and Albedo Products in the WRFCMAQ System

    EPA Science Inventory

    Leaf area index (LAI), vegetation fraction (VF), and surface albedo are important parameters in the land surface model (LSM) for meteorology and air quality modeling systems such as WRF/CMAQ. LAI and VF control not only leaf to canopy level evapotranspiration flux scaling but al...

  18. The Importance of Measurement Errors for Deriving Accurate Reference Leaf Area Index Maps for Validation of Moderate-Resolution Satellite LAI Products

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Huang, Dong; Yang, Wenze; Tan, Bin; Rautiainen, Miina; Zhang, Ping; Hu, Jiannan; Shabanov, Nikolay V.; Linder, Sune; Knyazikhin, Yuri; Myneni, Ranga B.

    2006-01-01

    The validation of moderate-resolution satellite leaf area index (LAI) products such as those operationally generated from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor data requires reference LAI maps developed from field LAI measurements and fine-resolution satellite data. Errors in field measurements and satellite data determine the accuracy of the reference LAI maps. This paper describes a method by which reference maps of known accuracy can be generated with knowledge of errors in fine-resolution satellite data. The method is demonstrated with data from an international field campaign in a boreal coniferous forest in northern Sweden, and Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus images. The reference LAI map thus generated is used to assess modifications to the MODIS LAI/fPAR algorithm recently implemented to derive the next generation of the MODIS LAI/fPAR product for this important biome type.

  19. Becoming an Online Editor: Perceived Roles and Responsibilities of Wikipedia Editors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Littlejohn, Allison; Hood, Nina

    2018-01-01

    Introduction: We report on the experiences of a group of people as they become Wikipedia editors. We test Benkler's (2002) theory that commons-based production processes accelerate the creation of capital, questioning what knowledge production processes do people engage in as they become editors? The analysis positions the development of editing…

  20. Burke new Tectonics editor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kevin C. Burke, National Academy of Sciences/ National Research Council (NAS/NRC), assumed responsibilities as Editor in Chief of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) journal Tectonics at the beginning of 1990, taking over from Raymond A. Price, Queens University, Kingston, Ontario. Asger Berthelsen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, continues as the European Editor, and Paul F. Hoffman, Geological Society of Canada, assumes the task of North American Editor. Tectonics is a joint publication of AGU and the European Geophysical Society.

  1. Comparing LAI estimates of corn and soybean from vegetation indices of multi-resolution satellite images

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Leaf area index (LAI) is important in explaining the ability of the crop to intercept solar energy for biomass production and in understanding the impact of crop management practices. This paper describes a procedure for estimating LAI as a function of image-derived vegetation indices from temporal ...

  2. LAI inversion from optical reflectance using a neural network trained with a multiple scattering model

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Smith, James A.

    1992-01-01

    The inversion of the leaf area index (LAI) canopy parameter from optical spectral reflectance measurements is obtained using a backpropagation artificial neural network trained using input-output pairs generated by a multiple scattering reflectance model. The problem of LAI estimation over sparse canopies (LAI < 1.0) with varying soil reflectance backgrounds is particularly difficult. Standard multiple regression methods applied to canopies within a single homogeneous soil type yield good results but perform unacceptably when applied across soil boundaries, resulting in absolute percentage errors of >1000 percent for low LAI. Minimization methods applied to merit functions constructed from differences between measured reflectances and predicted reflectances using multiple-scattering models are unacceptably sensitive to a good initial guess for the desired parameter. In contrast, the neural network reported generally yields absolute percentage errors of <30 percent when weighting coefficients trained on one soil type were applied to predicted canopy reflectance at a different soil background.

  3. BOREAS RSS-7 Landsat TM LAI IMages of the SSA and NSA

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hall, Forrest G. (Editor); Nickeson, Jaime (Editor); Chen, Jing; Cihlar, Josef

    2000-01-01

    The BOReal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study Remote Sensing Science (BOREAS RSS-7) team used Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) images processed at CCRS to produce images of Leaf Area Index (LAI) for the BOREAS study areas. Two images acquired on 06-Jun and 09-Aug-1991 were used for the SSA, and one image acquired on 09-Jun-1994 was used for the NSA. The LAI images are based on ground measurements and Landsat TM Reduced Simple Ratio (RSR) images. The data are stored in binary image-format files.

  4. A LAI inversion algorithm based on the unified model of canopy bidirectional reflectance distribution function for the Heihe River Basin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ma, B.; Li, J.; Fan, W.; Ren, H.; Xu, X.

    2017-12-01

    Leaf area index (LAI) is one of the important parameters of vegetation canopy structure, which can represent the growth condition of vegetation effectively. The accuracy, availability and timeliness of LAI data can be improved greatly, which is of great importance to vegetation-related research, such as the study of atmospheric, land surface and hydrological processes to obtain LAI by remote sensing method. Heihe River Basin is the inland river basin in northwest China. There are various types of vegetation and all kinds of terrain conditions in the basin, so it is helpful for testing the accuracy of the model under the complex surface and evaluating the correctness of the model to study LAI in this area. On the other hand, located in west arid area of China, the ecological environment of Heihe Basin is fragile, LAI is an important parameter to represent the vegetation growth condition, and can help us understand the status of vegetation in the Heihe River Basin. Different from the previous LAI inversion models, the BRDF (bidirectional reflectance distribution function) unified model can be applied for both continuous vegetation and discrete vegetation, it is appropriate to the complex vegetation distribution. LAI is the key input parameter of the model. We establish the inversion algorithm that can exactly retrieve LAI using remote sensing image based on the unified model. First, we determine the vegetation type through the vegetation classification map to obtain the corresponding G function, leaf and surface reflectivity. Then, we need to determine the leaf area index (LAI), the aggregation index (ζ) and the sky scattered light ratio (β) range and the value of the interval, entering all the parameters into the model to calculate the corresponding reflectivity ρ and establish the lookup table of different vegetation. Finally, we can invert LAI on the basis of the established lookup table. The principle of inversion is least squares method. We have produced 1 km

  5. ISTP CDF Skeleton Editor

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chimiak, Reine; Harris, Bernard; Williams, Phillip

    2013-01-01

    Basic Common Data Format (CDF) tools (e.g., cdfedit) provide no specific support for creating International Solar-Terrestrial Physics/Space Physics Data Facility (ISTP/SPDF) standard files. While it is possible for someone who is familiar with the ISTP/SPDF metadata guidelines to create compliant files using just the basic tools, the process is error-prone and unreasonable for someone without ISTP/SPDF expertise. The key problem is the lack of a tool with specific support for creating files that comply with the ISTP/SPDF guidelines. There are basic CDF tools such as cdfedit and skeletoncdf for creating CDF files, but these have no specific support for creating ISTP/ SPDF compliant files. The SPDF ISTP CDF skeleton editor is a cross-platform, Java-based GUI editor program that allows someone with only a basic understanding of the ISTP/SPDF guidelines to easily create compliant files. The editor is a simple graphical user interface (GUI) application for creating and editing ISTP/SPDF guideline-compliant skeleton CDF files. The SPDF ISTP CDF skeleton editor consists of the following components: A swing-based Java GUI program, JavaHelp-based manual/ tutorial, Image/Icon files, and HTML Web page for distribution. The editor is available as a traditional Java desktop application as well as a Java Network Launching Protocol (JNLP) application. Once started, it functions like a typical Java GUI file editor application for creating/editing application-unique files.

  6. From scientist to editor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Novoselov, Kostya S.; Pulizzi, Fabio

    2018-06-01

    Kostya S. Novoselov, professor of physics at the University of Manchester, UK, has been digging into the details of the life of an editor by asking Fabio Pulizzi, Chief Editor of Nature Nanotechnology, some inside information on his work.

  7. Intercomparison and validation of MODIS and GLASS leaf area index (LAI) products over mountain areas: A case study in southwestern China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jin, Huaan; Li, Ainong; Bian, Jinhu; Nan, Xi; Zhao, Wei; Zhang, Zhengjian; Yin, Gaofei

    2017-03-01

    The validation study of leaf area index (LAI) products over rugged surfaces not only gives additional insights into data quality of LAI products, but deepens understanding of uncertainties regarding land surface process models depended on LAI data over complex terrain. This study evaluated the performance of MODIS and GLASS LAI products using the intercomparison and direct validation methods over southwestern China. The spatio-temporal consistencies, such as the spatial distributions of LAI products and their statistical relationship as a function of topographic indices, time, and vegetation types, respectively, were investigated through intercomparison between MODIS and GLASS products during the period 2011-2013. The accuracies and change ranges of these two products were evaluated against available LAI reference maps over 10 sampling regions which standed for typical vegetation types and topographic gradients in southwestern China. The results show that GLASS LAI exhibits higher percentage of good quality data (i.e. successful retrievals) and smoother temporal profiles than MODIS LAI. The percentage of successful retrievals for MODIS and GLASS is vulnerable to topographic indices, especially to relief amplitude. Besides, the two products do not capture seasonal dynamics of crop, especially in spring over heterogeneously hilly regions. The yearly mean LAI differences between MODIS and GLASS are within ±0.5 for 64.70% of the total retrieval pixels over southwestern China. The spatial distribution of mean differences and temporal profiles of these two products are inclined to be dominated by vegetation types other than topographic indices. The spatial and temporal consistency of these two products is good over most area of grasses/cereal crops; however, it is poor for evergreen broadleaf forest. MODIS presents more reliable change range of LAI than GLASS through comparison with fine resolution reference maps over most of sampling regions. The accuracies of direct

  8. PANEL LIBRARY AND EDITOR

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Raible, E.

    1994-01-01

    The Panel Library and Editor is a graphical user interface (GUI) builder for the Silicon Graphics IRIS workstation family. The toolkit creates "widgets" which can be manipulated by the user. Its appearance is similar to that of the X-Windows System. The Panel Library is written in C and is used by programmers writing user-friendly mouse-driven applications for the IRIS. GUIs built using the Panel Library consist of "actuators" and "panels." Actuators are buttons, dials, sliders, or other mouse-driven symbols. Panels are groups of actuators that occupy separate windows on the IRIS workstation. The application user can alter variables in the graphics program, or fire off functions with a click on a button. The evolution of data values can be tracked with meters and strip charts, and dialog boxes with text processing can be built. Panels can be stored as icons when not in use. The Panel Editor is a program used to interactively create and test panel library interfaces in a simple and efficient way. The Panel Editor itself uses a panel library interface, so all actions are mouse driven. Extensive context-sensitive on-line help is provided. Programmers can graphically create and test the user interface without writing a single line of code. Once an interface is judged satisfactory, the Panel Editor will dump it out as a file of C code that can be used in an application. The Panel Library (v9.8) and Editor (v1.1) are written in C-Language (63%) and Scheme, a dialect of LISP, (37%) for Silicon Graphics 4D series workstations running IRIX 3.2 or higher. Approximately 10Mb of disk space is required once compiled. 1.5Mb of main memory is required to execute the panel editor. This program is available on a .25 inch streaming magnetic tape cartridge in UNIX tar format for an IRIS, and includes a copy of XScheme, the public-domain Scheme interpreter used by the Panel Editor. The Panel Library Programmer's Manual is included on the distribution media. The Panel Library and

  9. A methodology to estimate representativeness of LAI station observation for validation: a case study with Chinese Ecosystem Research Network (CERN) in situ data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xu, Baodong; Li, Jing; Liu, Qinhuo; Zeng, Yelu; Yin, Gaofei

    2014-11-01

    Leaf Area Index (LAI) is known as a key vegetation biophysical variable. To effectively use remote sensing LAI products in various disciplines, it is critical to understand the accuracy of them. The common method for the validation of LAI products is firstly establish the empirical relationship between the field data and high-resolution imagery, to derive LAI maps, then aggregate high-resolution LAI maps to match moderate-resolution LAI products. This method is just suited for the small region, and its frequencies of measurement are limited. Therefore, the continuous observing LAI datasets from ground station network are important for the validation of multi-temporal LAI products. However, due to the scale mismatch between the point observation in the ground station and the pixel observation, the direct comparison will bring the scale error. Thus it is needed to evaluate the representativeness of ground station measurement within pixel scale of products for the reasonable validation. In this paper, a case study with Chinese Ecosystem Research Network (CERN) in situ data was taken to introduce a methodology to estimate representativeness of LAI station observation for validating LAI products. We first analyzed the indicators to evaluate the observation representativeness, and then graded the station measurement data. Finally, the LAI measurement data which can represent the pixel scale was used to validate the MODIS, GLASS and GEOV1 LAI products. The result shows that the best agreement is reached between the GLASS and GEOV1, while the lowest uncertainty is achieved by GEOV1 followed by GLASS and MODIS. We conclude that the ground station measurement data can validate multi-temporal LAI products objectively based on the evaluation indicators of station observation representativeness, which can also improve the reliability for the validation of remote sensing products.

  10. [Simulating of carbon fluxes in bamboo forest ecosystem using BEPS model based on the LAI assimilated with Dual Ensemble Kalman Filter].

    PubMed

    Li, Xue Jian; Mao, Fang Jie; Du, Hua Qiang; Zhou, Guo Mo; Xu, Xiao Jun; Li, Ping Heng; Liu, Yu Li; Cui, Lu

    2016-12-01

    LAI is one of the most important observation data in the research of carbon cycle of forest ecosystem, and it is also an important parameter to drive process-based ecosystem model. The Moso bamboo forest (MBF) and Lei bamboo forest (LBF) were selected as the study targets. Firstly, the MODIS LAI time series data during 2014-2015 was assimilated with Dual Ensemble Kalman Filter method. Secondly, the high quality assimilated MBF LAI and LBF LAI were used as input dataset to drive BEPS model for simulating the gross primary productivity (GPP), net ecosystem exchange (NEE) and total ecosystem respiration (TER) of the two types of bamboo forest ecosystem, respectively. The modeled carbon fluxes were evaluated by the observed carbon fluxes data, and the effects of different quality LAI inputs on carbon cycle simulation were also studied. The LAI assimilated using Dual Ensemble Kalman Filter of MBF and LBF were significantly correlated with the observed LAI, with high R 2 of 0.81 and 0.91 respectively, and lower RMSE and absolute bias, which represented the great improvement of the accuracy of MODIS LAI products. With the driving of assimilated LAI, the modeled GPP, NEE, and TER were also highly correlated with the flux observation data, with the R 2 of 0.66, 0.47, and 0.64 for MBF, respectively, and 0.66, 0.45, and 0.73 for LBF, respectively. The accuracy of carbon fluxes modeled with assimilated LAI was higher than that acquired by the locally adjusted cubic-spline capping method, in which, the accuracy of mo-deled NEE for MBF and LBF increased by 11.2% and 11.8% at the most degrees, respectively.

  11. A 30+ Year AVHRR LAI and FAPAR Climate Data Record: Algorithm Description, Validation, and Case Study

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Claverie, Martin; Matthews, Jessica L.; Vermote, Eric F.; Justice, Christopher O.

    2016-01-01

    In- land surface models, which are used to evaluate the role of vegetation in the context ofglobal climate change and variability, LAI and FAPAR play a key role, specifically with respect to thecarbon and water cycles. The AVHRR-based LAIFAPAR dataset offers daily temporal resolution,an improvement over previous products. This climate data record is based on a carefully calibratedand corrected land surface reflectance dataset to provide a high-quality, consistent time-series suitablefor climate studies. It spans from mid-1981 to the present. Further, this operational dataset is availablein near real-time allowing use for monitoring purposes. The algorithm relies on artificial neuralnetworks calibrated using the MODIS LAI/FAPAR dataset. Evaluation based on cross-comparisonwith MODIS products and in situ data show the dataset is consistent and reliable with overalluncertainties of 1.03 and 0.15 for LAI and FAPAR, respectively. However, a clear saturation effect isobserved in the broadleaf forest biomes with high LAI (greater than 4.5) and FAPAR (greater than 0.8) values.

  12. A Study toward the Evaluation of ALOS Images for LAI Estimation in Rice Fields

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sharifi Hashjin, Sh.; Darvishzadeh, R.; Khandan, R.

    2013-10-01

    For expanding and managing agricultural sources, satellite data have a key role in determining required information about different factors in plants Including Leaf Area Index (LAI).This paper has studied the potential of spectral indices in estimating rice canopy LAI in Amol city as one of the main sources of rice production in Iran. Due to its importance in provision of food and calorie of a major portion of population, rice product was chosen for study. A field campaign was conducted when rice was in the max growth stage (late of June). Also, two satellite images from ALOS-AVNIR-2 were used (simultaneous with conducted field works) to extract and determine vegetation indices. Then the Regression between measured data and vegetation indices, derived from combination of different bands, was evaluated and after that suitable vegetation indices were realized. Finally, statistics and calculations for introduction of a suitable model were presented. After examination of models, the results showed that RDVI and SAVI2, by determination coefficient and RMSE of 0.12-0.59 and 0.24-0.62, have more accuracy in LAI estimation. Results of present study demonstrated the potential of ALOS images, for LAI estimation and their significant role in monitoring and managing the rice plant.

  13. Training the Technical Editor.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cathcart, Margaret E.

    The demand for skilled technical editors is growing as society places increasing emphasis on receiving accurate, concise, and complete technical data. Since many organizations do not have inhouse programs for training technical editors, a need exists to provide inexperienced people with basic editing skills. One organization has developed two…

  14. The Effectiveness of Predict-Observe-Explain Technique in Probing Students' Understanding about Acid-Base Chemistry: A Case for the Concepts of pH, pOH, and Strength

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kala, Nesli; Yaman, Fatma; Ayas, Alipasa

    2013-01-01

    The present study describes high school students' conceptions about acids and bases in terms of pH, pOH, microscopic level, strength, and concentration. A total of 27 high school students participated in the study. The data was collected using 3 POE tasks and a semi-structured interview. The data analysis demonstrated that most of the students had…

  15. Meet the Editors: JGR-Atmospheres

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kumar, Mohi

    2006-04-01

    Three scientists were newly appointed and one scientist was reappointed last year as editors of JGR-Atmospheres. The three new editors, John Austin, Jose D. Fuentes, and Ruth Lieberman, along with returning editor Colin O'Dowd, would like to see several changes made to the journal. ``JGR-Atmospheres is still regarded as the highest-quality atmospheric science journal, having perhaps one of the most stringent and rigorous review processes,'' said O'Dowd. ``However, there is still room for improvement.''

  16. Digital Cover Photography for Estimating Leaf Area Index (LAI) in Apple Trees Using a Variable Light Extinction Coefficient

    PubMed Central

    Poblete-Echeverría, Carlos; Fuentes, Sigfredo; Ortega-Farias, Samuel; Gonzalez-Talice, Jaime; Yuri, Jose Antonio

    2015-01-01

    Leaf area index (LAI) is one of the key biophysical variables required for crop modeling. Direct LAI measurements are time consuming and difficult to obtain for experimental and commercial fruit orchards. Devices used to estimate LAI have shown considerable errors when compared to ground-truth or destructive measurements, requiring tedious site-specific calibrations. The objective of this study was to test the performance of a modified digital cover photography method to estimate LAI in apple trees using conventional digital photography and instantaneous measurements of incident radiation (Io) and transmitted radiation (I) through the canopy. Leaf area of 40 single apple trees were measured destructively to obtain real leaf area index (LAID), which was compared with LAI estimated by the proposed digital photography method (LAIM). Results showed that the LAIM was able to estimate LAID with an error of 25% using a constant light extinction coefficient (k = 0.68). However, when k was estimated using an exponential function based on the fraction of foliage cover (ff) derived from images, the error was reduced to 18%. Furthermore, when measurements of light intercepted by the canopy (Ic) were used as a proxy value for k, the method presented an error of only 9%. These results have shown that by using a proxy k value, estimated by Ic, helped to increase accuracy of LAI estimates using digital cover images for apple trees with different canopy sizes and under field conditions. PMID:25635411

  17. Combined Use of Airborne Lidar and DBInSAR Data to Estimate LAI in Temperate Mixed Forests

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Peduzzi, Alicia; Wynne, Randolph Hamilton; Thomas, Valerie A.; Nelson, Ross F.; Reis, James J.; Sanford, Mark

    2012-01-01

    The objective of this study was to determine whether leaf area index (LAI) in temperate mixed forests is best estimated using multiple-return airborne laser scanning (lidar) data or dual-band, single-pass interferometric synthetic aperture radar data (from GeoSAR) alone, or both in combination. In situ measurements of LAI were made using the LiCor LAI-2000 Plant Canopy Analyzer on 61 plots (21 hardwood, 36 pine, 4 mixed pine hardwood; stand age ranging from 12-164 years; mean height ranging from 0.4 to 41.2 m) in the Appomattox-Buckingham State Forest, Virginia, USA. Lidar distributional metrics were calculated for all returns and for ten one meter deep crown density slices (a new metric), five above and five below the mode of the vegetation returns for each plot. GeoSAR metrics were calculated from the X-band backscatter coefficients (four looks) as well as both X- and P-band interferometric heights and magnitudes for each plot. Lidar metrics alone explained 69% of the variability in LAI, while GeoSAR metrics alone explained 52%. However, combining the lidar and GeoSAR metrics increased the R2 to 0.77 with a CV-RMSE of 0.42. This study indicates the clear potential for X-band backscatter and interferometric height (both now available from spaceborne sensors), when combined with small-footprint lidar data, to improve LAI estimation in temperate mixed forests.

  18. AGU Publications Volunteers Feted At Elegant Editors' Evening

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Panning, Jeanette

    2013-01-01

    The 2012 Fall Meeting Editors' Evening, held at the City Club of San Francisco, was hosted by the Publications Committee and is the premier social event for editors and associate editors attending the Fall Meeting. The evening commenced with a welcome from Carol Finn, incoming AGU president, in which she expressed her thanks to the editors and associate editors for volunteering their time to benefit AGU.

  19. EDITORIAL: Message from the Editor Message from the Editor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thomas, Paul

    2010-02-01

    November 2009 and provided particularly detailed advice to the authors. The other three have been very helpful in 'minority fields'. We have excluded our Board members, Guest Editors of special editions and those referees who were already listed in the last four years. Guest Editors' work on papers submitted to their Special Issues is also excluded from consideration. The following people have been selected: Tomonori Takizuka, JAEA-Naka Fusion Institute, Japan Rudolf Neu, Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik, Germany Sibylle Guenter, Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik, Germany Taik-Soo Hahm, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, United States David R. Mikkelsen, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, United States Peter C. de Vries, EURATOM/UKAEA Fusion Association, United Kingdom Yasuhiro Suzuki, National Institute for Fusion Science, Japan Jerzy Wolowski, Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion, Poland Tetsuo Tanabe, Kyushu University, Japan Yasuyuki Yagi, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan Congratulations and many, many thanks! The Guest Editors of special editions deserve a special mention for the excellent help that they have given us. They are: Taik-Soo Hahm, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, United States, Special Issue on H-Mode Physics and Transport Barriers Yaroslav Kolesnichenko, Institute for Nuclear Research, Ukraine, Special Issue on Energetic Particles in Magnetic Confinement Systems Kimitaka Itoh, National Institute for Fusion Science, Japan and Howard R. Wilson, University of York, UK, Special Issue on Plasma Instabilities Bernhard Unterberg, Forschungszentrum Juelich, Germany, Special Issue on Stochastic Fusion Plasma In addition, there is a group of several hundred referees who have helped us in the past year to maintain the high scientific standard of Nuclear Fusion. At the end of this issue we give the full list of all referees for 2009. Our thanks to them! Authors The winner of the 2009 Nuclear Fusion

  20. [Professor LAI Xinsheng's experience of acupuncture combined with medication for epilepsy].

    PubMed

    Fang, Yajing; Wu, Peilong; Wang, Yumei; He, Kejie; Zhang, Sujuan; Lai, Xinsheng

    2018-04-12

    Professor LAI Xinsheng 's experience of acupuncture combined with medication for epilepsy is summarized, which is explained from epilepsy's etiology and pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of acupuncture and medication, respectively. Besides, the theoretical foundation and use instruction of acupuncture technique " tong - yuan " for epilepsy are introduced. Professor LAI highly values the adherence to etiology and pathogenesis, pays attention to syndrome differentiation and searches for the primary disease cause. He proposes the wind, phlegm, stasis and deficiency are the pathogenesis of epilepsy, and points out acupuncture could be applied during attack stage and remittent stage, but electroacupuncture should be used with caution. Regulating spirit is the key for treating epilepsy. The combination of acupuncture and medication could regulate the governor vessel and guide qi to the origin, which have significant curative effect.

  1. Microbial Properties Database Editor Tutorial

    EPA Science Inventory

    A Microbial Properties Database Editor (MPDBE) has been developed to help consolidate microbial-relevant data to populate a microbial database and support a database editor by which an authorized user can modify physico-microbial properties related to microbial indicators and pat...

  2. New Editors Appointed for Water Resources Research

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    2009-03-01

    Praveen Kumar (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), the newly appointed editor in chief of Water Resources Research (WRR), heads the new team of editors for the journal. The other editors are Tom Torgersen (University of Connecticut, Groton), who continues his editorship; Tissa Illangasekare (Colorado School of Mines, Golden); Graham Sander (Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK); and John Selker (Oregon State University, Corvallis). Hoshin Gupta (University of Arizona, Tucson) will join WRR at the end of 2009. The new editors will begin receiving submissions immediately. The incoming editorial board thanks outgoing editors Marc Parlange, Brian Berkowitz, Amilcare Porporato, and Scott Tyler, all of whom will assist during the transition.

  3. TOAD Editor

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bingle, Bradford D.; Shea, Anne L.; Hofler, Alicia S.

    1993-01-01

    Transferable Output ASCII Data (TOAD) computer program (LAR-13755), implements format designed to facilitate transfer of data across communication networks and dissimilar host computer systems. Any data file conforming to TOAD format standard called TOAD file. TOAD Editor is interactive software tool for manipulating contents of TOAD files. Commonly used to extract filtered subsets of data for visualization of results of computation. Also offers such user-oriented features as on-line help, clear English error messages, startup file, macroinstructions defined by user, command history, user variables, UNDO features, and full complement of mathematical statistical, and conversion functions. Companion program, TOAD Gateway (LAR-14484), converts data files from variety of other file formats to that of TOAD. TOAD Editor written in FORTRAN 77.

  4. Microbial properties database editor tutorial

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    A Microbial Properties Database Editor (MPDBE) has been developed to help consolidate microbialrelevant data to populate a microbial database and support a database editor by which an authorized user can modify physico-microbial properties related to microbial indicators and pathogens. Physical prop...

  5. GEOLAND2 global LAI, FAPAR Essential Climate Variables for terrestrial carbon modeling: principles and validation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Baret, F.; Weiss, M.; Lacaze, R.; Camacho, F.; Smets, B.; Pacholczyk, P.; Makhmara, H.

    2010-12-01

    LAI and fAPAR are recognized as Essential Climate Variables providing key information for the understanding and modeling of canopy functioning. Global remote sensing observations at medium resolution are routinely acquired since the 80’s mainly with AVHRR, SEAWIFS, VEGETATION, MODIS and MERIS sensors. Several operational products have been derived and provide global maps of LAI and fAPAR at daily to monthly time steps. Inter-comparison between MODIS, CYCLOPES, GLOBCARBON and JRC-FAPAR products showed generally consistent seasonality, while large differences in magnitude and smoothness may be observed. One of the objectives of the GEOLAND2 European project is to develop such core products to be used in a range of application services including the carbon monitoring. Rather than generating an additional product from scratch, the version 1 of GEOLAND2 products was capitalizing on the existing products by combining them to retain their pros and limit their cons. For these reasons, MODIS and CYCLOPES products were selected since they both include LAI and fAPAR while having relatively close temporal sampling intervals (8 to 10 days). GLOBCARBON products were not used here because of the too long monthly time step inducing large uncertainties in the seasonality description. JRC-FAPAR was not selected as well to preserve better consistency between LAI and fAPAR products. MODIS and CYCLOPES products were then linearly combined to take advantage of the good performances of CYCLOPES products for low to medium values of LAI and fAPAR while benefiting from the better MODIS performances for the highest LAI values. A training database representative of the global variability of vegetation type and conditions was thus built. A back-propagation neural network was then calibrated to estimate the new LAI and fAPAR products from VEGETATION preprocessed observations. Similarly, the vegetation cover fraction (fCover) was also derived by scaling the original CYCLOPES fCover products

  6. Conflicts of interest of editors of medical journals

    PubMed Central

    Minhajuddin, Abu

    2018-01-01

    Background Almost all medical journals now require authors to publicly disclose conflicts of interests (COI). The same standard and scrutiny is rarely employed for the editors of the journals although COI may affect editorial decisions. Methods We conducted a retrospective observational study to determine the prevalence and magnitude of financial relationships among editors of 60 influential US medical journals (10 each for internal medicine and five subspecialties: cardiology, gastroenterology, neurology, dermatology and allergy & immunology). Open Payments database was reviewed to determine the percentage of physician editors receiving payments and the nature and amount of these payments. Findings 703 unique physician editors were included in our analysis. 320/703 (46%) received 8659 general payments totaling $8,120,562. The median number of payments per editor was 9 (IQR 3–26) and the median amount per payment was $91 (IQR $21–441). The median total payment received by each editor in one year was $4,364 (IQR $319–23,143). 152 (48%) editors received payments more than $5,000 in a year, a threshold considered significant by the National Institutes of Health. COI policies for editors were available for 34/60 (57%) journals but only 7/34 (21%) publicly reported the disclosures and only 2 (3.%) reported the dollar amount received. Interpretation A significant number of editors of internal medicine and subspecialty medical journals have financial COI and very few are publicly disclosed. Specialty journal editors have more COI compared to general medicine journal editors. Current policies for disclosing COI for editors are inconsistent and do not comply with the recommended standards. PMID:29775468

  7. ION Configuration Editor

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Borgen, Richard L.

    2013-01-01

    The configuration of ION (Inter - planetary Overlay Network) network nodes is a manual task that is complex, time-consuming, and error-prone. This program seeks to accelerate this job and produce reliable configurations. The ION Configuration Editor is a model-based smart editor based on Eclipse Modeling Framework technology. An ION network designer uses this Eclipse-based GUI to construct a data model of the complete target network and then generate configurations. The data model is captured in an XML file. Intrinsic editor features aid in achieving model correctness, such as field fill-in, type-checking, lists of valid values, and suitable default values. Additionally, an explicit "validation" feature executes custom rules to catch more subtle model errors. A "survey" feature provides a set of reports providing an overview of the entire network, enabling a quick assessment of the model s completeness and correctness. The "configuration" feature produces the main final result, a complete set of ION configuration files (eight distinct file types) for each ION node in the network.

  8. Suicide Prevention in Schizophrenia: Do Long-Acting Injectable Antipsychotics (LAIs) have a Role?

    PubMed

    Pompili, Maurizio; Orsolini, Laura; Lamis, Dorian A; Goldsmith, David R; Nardella, Adele; Falcone, Giulia; Corigliano, Valentina; Luciano, Mario; Fiorillo, Andrea

    2017-01-01

    Suicide risk is a major cause of death among patients with schizophrenia. Death by suicide has been reported in approximately 5% of schizophrenia patients although this figure appears to be an underestimate of the problem. A number of risk factors are routinely reported as associated with suicide risk among these patients, some of which are modifiable by targeted therapeutic strategies. Clozapine is the only compound that gathered evidence as an effective treatment for reducing suicide risk in schizophrenia. Long-Acting Injectable Antipsychotics (LAIs) have a range of advantages in terms of efficacy, safety and tolerability in the treatment of schizophrenia, and one area of interest is whether LAI-treatment may decrease suicidality by indirectly acting on a range of risk factors for suicide specific to schizophrenia patients. This background encouraged the present review of research pertaining to LAIs in relation to modifiable risk factors for suicide in schizophrenia. We viewed our task as gathering, speculating and critically appraising the available research relevant to the topic, with the aim of formulating a hypothesis to be tested with further research. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  9. MPS Editor

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mathews, William S.; Liu, Ning; Francis, Laurie K.; OReilly, Taifun L.; Schrock, Mitchell; Page, Dennis N.; Morris, John R.; Joswig, Joseph C.; Crockett, Thomas M.; Shams, Khawaja S.

    2011-01-01

    Previously, it was time-consuming to hand-edit data and then set up simulation runs to find the effect and impact of the input data on a spacecraft. MPS Editor provides the user the capability to create/edit/update models and sequences, and immediately try them out using what appears to the user as one piece of software. MPS Editor provides an integrated sequencing environment for users. It provides them with software that can be utilized during development as well as actual operations. In addition, it provides them with a single, consistent, user friendly interface. MPS Editor uses the Eclipse Rich Client Platform to provide an environment that can be tailored to specific missions. It provides the capability to create and edit, and includes an Activity Dictionary to build the simulation spacecraft models, build and edit sequences of commands, and model the effects of those commands on the spacecraft. MPS Editor is written in Java using the Eclipse Rich Client Platform. It is currently built with four perspectives: the Activity Dictionary Perspective, the Project Adaptation Perspective, the Sequence Building Perspective, and the Sequence Modeling Perspective. Each perspective performs a given task. If a mission doesn't require that task, the unneeded perspective is not added to that project's delivery. In the Activity Dictionary Perspective, the user builds the project-specific activities, observations, calibrations, etc. Typically, this is used during the development phases of the mission, although it can be used later to make changes and updates to the Project Activity Dictionary. In the Adaptation Perspective, the user creates the spacecraft models such as power, data store, etc. Again, this is typically used during development, but will be used to update or add models of the spacecraft. The Sequence Building Perspective allows the user to create a sequence of activities or commands that go to the spacecraft. It provides a simulation of the activities and

  10. A century of editors.

    PubMed

    Riley, R W

    1983-07-08

    They are unalike and far apart, these 13 past editors of The Journal. Between Nathan S. Davis's first issue and William R. Barclay's retirement, there was almost a century of change in medicine, society, the American Medical Association, prose style, and editorial needs. During these years, the editors ranged from the brilliant organizers John B. Hamilton and George H. Simmons to the diligent John H. Hollister and the devoted Johnson F. Hammond. There were editors with the hot determination of James C. Culbertson, John H. Talbott, and Robert H. Moser, and there were those with the cool precision of Austin Smith and Hugh H. Hussey. They varied from Morris Fishbein, who wrote and spoke "with the grade of an eagle in its unhindered soar," to Truman W. Miller, who wrote scarcely a word. Here, briefly, they are together.

  11. Estimating gross primary productivity of a tropical forest ecosystem over north-east India using LAI and meteorological variables

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Deb Burman, Pramit Kumar; Sarma, Dipankar; Williams, Mathew; Karipot, Anandakumar; Chakraborty, Supriyo

    2017-10-01

    Tropical forests act as a major sink of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and store large amounts of carbon in biomass. India is a tropical country with regions of dense vegetation and high biodiversity. However due to the paucity of observations, the carbon sequestration potential of these forests could not be assessed in detail so far. To address this gap, several flux towers were erected over different ecosystems in India by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology as part of the MetFlux India project funded by MoES (Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India). A 50 m tall tower was set up over a semi-evergreen moist deciduous forest named Kaziranga National Park in north-eastern part of India which houses a significant stretch of local forest cover. Climatically this region is identified to be humid sub-tropical. Here we report first generation of the in situ meteorological observations and leaf area index (LAI) measurements from this site. LAI obtained from NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is compared with the in situ measured LAI. We use these in situ measurements to calculate the total gross photosynthesis (or gross primary productivity, GPP) of the forest using a calibrated model. LAI and GPP show prominent seasonal variation. LAI ranges between 0.75 in winter to 3.25 in summer. Annual GPP is estimated to be 2.11 kg C m^{-2} year^{-1}.

  12. DeviceEditor visual biological CAD canvas

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Background Biological Computer Aided Design (bioCAD) assists the de novo design and selection of existing genetic components to achieve a desired biological activity, as part of an integrated design-build-test cycle. To meet the emerging needs of Synthetic Biology, bioCAD tools must address the increasing prevalence of combinatorial library design, design rule specification, and scar-less multi-part DNA assembly. Results We report the development and deployment of web-based bioCAD software, DeviceEditor, which provides a graphical design environment that mimics the intuitive visual whiteboard design process practiced in biological laboratories. The key innovations of DeviceEditor include visual combinatorial library design, direct integration with scar-less multi-part DNA assembly design automation, and a graphical user interface for the creation and modification of design specification rules. We demonstrate how biological designs are rendered on the DeviceEditor canvas, and we present effective visualizations of genetic component ordering and combinatorial variations within complex designs. Conclusions DeviceEditor liberates researchers from DNA base-pair manipulation, and enables users to create successful prototypes using standardized, functional, and visual abstractions. Open and documented software interfaces support further integration of DeviceEditor with other bioCAD tools and software platforms. DeviceEditor saves researcher time and institutional resources through correct-by-construction design, the automation of tedious tasks, design reuse, and the minimization of DNA assembly costs. PMID:22373390

  13. Extracellular proteome analysis of Leptospira interrogans serovar Lai.

    PubMed

    Zeng, Lingbing; Zhang, Yunyi; Zhu, Yongzhang; Yin, Haidi; Zhuang, Xuran; Zhu, Weinan; Guo, Xiaokui; Qin, Jinhong

    2013-10-01

    Abstract Leptospirosis is one of the most important zoonoses. Leptospira interrogans serovar Lai is a pathogenic spirochete that is responsible for leptospirosis. Extracellular proteins play an important role in the pathogenicity of this bacterium. In this study, L. interrogans serovar Lai was grown in protein-free medium; the supernatant was collected and subsequently analyzed as the extracellular proteome. A total of 66 proteins with more than two unique peptides were detected by MS/MS, and 33 of these were predicted to be extracellular proteins by a combination of bioinformatics analyses, including Psortb, cello, SoSuiGramN and SignalP. Comparisons of the transcriptional levels of these 33 genes between in vivo and in vitro conditions revealed that 15 genes were upregulated and two genes were downregulated in vivo compared to in vitro. A BLAST search for the components of secretion system at the genomic and proteomic levels revealed the presence of the complete type I secretion system and type II secretion system in this strain. Moreover, this strain also exhibits complete Sec translocase and Tat translocase systems. The extracellular proteome analysis of L. interrogans will supplement the previously generated whole proteome data and provide more information for studying the functions of specific proteins in the infection process and for selecting candidate molecules for vaccines or diagnostic tools for leptospirosis.

  14. Temporal Stability of the NDVI-LAI Relationship in a Napa Valley Vineyard

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Johnson, L. F.

    2003-01-01

    Remotely sensed normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values, derived from high-resolution satellite images, were compared with ground measurements of vineyard leaf area index (LAI) periodically during the 2001 growing season. The two variables were strongly related at six ground calibration sites on each of four occasions (r squared = 0.91 to 0.98). Linear regression equations relating the two variables did not significantly differ by observation date, and a single equation accounted for 92 percent of the variance in the combined dataset. Temporal stability of the relationship opens the possibility of transforming NDVI maps to LAI in the absence of repeated ground calibration fieldwork. In order to take advantage of this circumstance, however, steps should be taken to assure temporal consistency in spectral data values comprising the NDVI.

  15. Editor's Choice Offered as a Service

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Richman, Barbara T.

    2010-06-01

    Editor's Choice is now being offered as a service rather than on a subscription basis. As in the past, articles will be selected by collection editors with assistance from advisory panels. The selected articles will be listed on the AGU Web site (http://www.agu.org/pubs/journals/virtual/editors_choice/); these lists will be accessible to anyone. Those who are interested in reading the articles can access them through a personal or institutional subscription or can purchase them either individually or as part of a MultiChoice packet.

  16. EPIC-Simulated and MODIS-Derived Leaf Area Index (LAI) Comparisons Across mMltiple Spatial Scales RSAD Oral Poster based session

    EPA Science Inventory

    Leaf Area Index (LAI) is an important parameter in assessing vegetation structure for characterizing forest canopies over large areas at broad spatial scales using satellite remote sensing data. However, satellite-derived LAI products can be limited by obstructed atmospheric cond...

  17. Daily mapping of Landsat-like LAI and correlation to grape yield

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Wine grape quality and quantity are affected by vine growing condition during some critical growing stages. In this paper, MODIS and Landsat were used to map daily LAI in the two Grape Remote sensing Atmospheric Profiling and Evapotranspiration eXperiment (GRAPEX) experiment fields near Lodi, Califo...

  18. JSME: a free molecule editor in JavaScript.

    PubMed

    Bienfait, Bruno; Ertl, Peter

    2013-01-01

    A molecule editor, i.e. a program facilitating graphical input and interactive editing of molecules, is an indispensable part of every cheminformatics or molecular processing system. Today, when a web browser has become the universal scientific user interface, a tool to edit molecules directly within the web browser is essential. One of the most popular tools for molecular structure input on the web is the JME applet. Since its release nearly 15 years ago, however the web environment has changed and Java applets are facing increasing implementation hurdles due to their maintenance and support requirements, as well as security issues. This prompted us to update the JME editor and port it to a modern Internet programming language - JavaScript. The actual molecule editing Java code of the JME editor was translated into JavaScript with help of the Google Web Toolkit compiler and a custom library that emulates a subset of the GUI features of the Java runtime environment. In this process, the editor was enhanced by additional functionalities including a substituent menu, copy/paste, drag and drop and undo/redo capabilities and an integrated help. In addition to desktop computers, the editor supports molecule editing on touch devices, including iPhone, iPad and Android phones and tablets. In analogy to JME the new editor is named JSME. This new molecule editor is compact, easy to use and easy to incorporate into web pages. A free molecule editor written in JavaScript was developed and is released under the terms of permissive BSD license. The editor is compatible with JME, has practically the same user interface as well as the web application programming interface. The JSME editor is available for download from the project web page http://peter-ertl.com/jsme/

  19. [The Chilean Association of Biomedical Journal Editors].

    PubMed

    Reyes, H

    2001-01-01

    On September 29th, 2000, The Chilean Association of Biomedical Journal Editors was founded, sponsored by the "Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (CONICYT)" (the Governmental Agency promoting and funding scientific research and technological development in Chile) and the "Sociedad Médica de Santiago" (Chilean Society of Internal Medicine). The Association adopted the goals of the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) and therefore it will foster "cooperation and communication among Editors of Chilean biomedical journals; to improve editorial standards, to promote professionalism in medical editing through education, self-criticism and self-regulation; and to encourage research on the principles and practice of medical editing". Twenty nine journals covering a closely similar number of different biomedical sciences, medical specialties, veterinary, dentistry and nursing, became Founding Members of the Association. A Governing Board was elected: President: Humberto Reyes, M.D. (Editor, Revista Médica de Chile); Vice-President: Mariano del Sol, M.D. (Editor, Revista Chilena de Anatomía); Secretary: Anna María Prat (CONICYT); Councilors: Manuel Krauskopff, Ph.D. (Editor, Biological Research) and Maritza Rahal, M.D. (Editor, Revista de Otorrinolaringología y Cirugía de Cabeza y Cuello). The Association will organize a Symposium on Biomedical Journal Editing and will spread information stimulating Chilean biomedical journals to become indexed in international databases and in SciELO-Chile, the main Chilean scientific website (www.scielo.cl).

  20. WRR editor Ronald Cummings

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    1984-04-01

    It has been nearly a year since Ronald Cummings took over as policy sciences editor of Water Resources Research (WRR), and in that time he has worked to make the journal live up to its role as “an interdisciplinary journal integrating research in the social and natural sciences of water.” Cummings takes the “interdisciplinary” part seriously. “I'd like to see a much broader range of policy issues presented to readers,” he says. “I would hope it would then stimulate interchange between our colleagues concerning evolving issues of the '80s and '90s.”Cummings brings a solid background as a resource economist to his 4-year term as editor, which began last January and runs until December 1987. Cummings succeeds Jared Cohon as policy sciences editor. Stephen J. Burges is the WRR editor for hydrological, physical, chemical, and biological sciences. Now a Professor of Economics and Director of the Program in Natural Resources Economics at the University of New Mexico, Cummings is a past president of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists. He has been a consultant in matters of water resources management, forestry management, and energy policy for more than a decade, working on projects in both the United States and Latin America. Since joining the faculty at New Mexico in 1975, he has, among other things, worked with engineers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in developing operation'management models for hot, dry rock geothermal systems.

  1. Leaf Area Index (LAI) in different type of agroforestry systems based on hemispherical photographs in Cidanau Watershed

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nur Khairiah, Rahmi; Setiawan, Yudi; Budi Prasetyo, Lilik; Ayu Permatasari, Prita

    2017-01-01

    Ecological functions of agroforestry systems have perceived benefit to people around Cidanau Watershed, especially in the protection of water quality. The main causes of the problems encountered in the Cidanau Watershed are associated with the human factors, especially encroachment and conversion of forest into farmland. The encroachment has made most forest in Cidanau Watershed become bare land. To preserve the ecological function of agroforestry systems in Cidanau Watershed, monitoring of the condition of the vegetation canopy in agroforestry systems is really needed. High intensity thinning of crown density due to deforestation can change stand leaf area index dramatically. By knowing LAI, we can assess the condition of the vegetation canopy in agroforestry systems. LAI in this research was obtained from Hemispherical Photographs analysis using the threshold method in HemiView Canopy Analysis Software. Our research results indicate that there are six types of agroforestry in Cidanau Watershed i.e. Sengon Agroforestry, Clove Agroforestry, Melinjo Agroforestry, Chocolate Agroforestry, Coffee Agroforestry, and Complex Agroforestry. Several factors potentially contribute to variations in the value of LAI in different types of agroforestry. The simple assumptions about differences ranges of LAI values on six types of agroforestry is closely related to leaf area and plant population density.

  2. Web-Based Media Contents Editor for UCC Websites

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kim, Seoksoo

    The purpose of this research is to "design web-based media contents editor for establishing UCC(User Created Contents)-based websites." The web-based editor features user-oriented interfaces and increased convenience, significantly different from previous off-line editors. It allows users to edit media contents online and can be effectively used for online promotion activities of enterprises and organizations. In addition to development of the editor, the research aims to support the entry of enterprises and public agencies to the online market by combining the technology with various UCC items.

  3. Remarks from a retiring Editor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mansur, Louis K.

    2015-10-01

    At the end of 2015 I plan to step down as Chairman of Editors for the Journal of Nuclear Materials. I use the opportunity to express thoughts that have recurred to me but were muted in comparison with the day to day priorities of editorial work. The most important is that I hold the deepest gratitude for your enduring support- authors, reviewers, readers, the Advisory Editorial Board, and my fellow Editors.

  4. BOREAS RSS-7 Regional LAI and FPAR Images From 10-Day AVHRR-LAC Composites

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hall, Forrest G. (Editor); Nickeson, Jaime (Editor); Chen, Jing; Cihlar, Josef

    2000-01-01

    The BOReal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study Remote Sensing Science (BOREAS RSS-7) team collected various data sets to develop and validate an algorithm to allow the retrieval of the spatial distribution of Leaf Area Index (LAI) from remotely sensed images. Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) level-4c 10-day composite Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) images produced at CCRS were used to produce images of LAI and the Fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FPAR) absorbed by plant canopies for the three summer IFCs in 1994 across the BOREAS region. The algorithms were developed based on ground measurements and Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) images. The data are stored in binary image format files.

  5. Spatial Heterogeneity of Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Its Temporal Course on Arable Land: Combining Field Measurements, Remote Sensing and Simulation in a Comprehensive Data Analysis Approach (CDAA).

    PubMed

    Reichenau, Tim G; Korres, Wolfgang; Montzka, Carsten; Fiener, Peter; Wilken, Florian; Stadler, Anja; Waldhoff, Guido; Schneider, Karl

    2016-01-01

    The ratio of leaf area to ground area (leaf area index, LAI) is an important state variable in ecosystem studies since it influences fluxes of matter and energy between the land surface and the atmosphere. As a basis for generating temporally continuous and spatially distributed datasets of LAI, the current study contributes an analysis of its spatial variability and spatial structure. Soil-vegetation-atmosphere fluxes of water, carbon and energy are nonlinearly related to LAI. Therefore, its spatial heterogeneity, i.e., the combination of spatial variability and structure, has an effect on simulations of these fluxes. To assess LAI spatial heterogeneity, we apply a Comprehensive Data Analysis Approach that combines data from remote sensing (5 m resolution) and simulation (150 m resolution) with field measurements and a detailed land use map. Test area is the arable land in the fertile loess plain of the Rur catchment on the Germany-Belgium-Netherlands border. LAI from remote sensing and simulation compares well with field measurements. Based on the simulation results, we describe characteristic crop-specific temporal patterns of LAI spatial variability. By means of these patterns, we explain the complex multimodal frequency distributions of LAI in the remote sensing data. In the test area, variability between agricultural fields is higher than within fields. Therefore, spatial resolutions less than the 5 m of the remote sensing scenes are sufficient to infer LAI spatial variability. Frequency distributions from the simulation agree better with the multimodal distributions from remote sensing than normal distributions do. The spatial structure of LAI in the test area is dominated by a short distance referring to field sizes. Longer distances that refer to soil and weather can only be derived from remote sensing data. Therefore, simulations alone are not sufficient to characterize LAI spatial structure. It can be concluded that a comprehensive picture of LAI spatial

  6. Spatial Heterogeneity of Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Its Temporal Course on Arable Land: Combining Field Measurements, Remote Sensing and Simulation in a Comprehensive Data Analysis Approach (CDAA)

    PubMed Central

    Korres, Wolfgang; Montzka, Carsten; Fiener, Peter; Wilken, Florian; Stadler, Anja; Waldhoff, Guido; Schneider, Karl

    2016-01-01

    The ratio of leaf area to ground area (leaf area index, LAI) is an important state variable in ecosystem studies since it influences fluxes of matter and energy between the land surface and the atmosphere. As a basis for generating temporally continuous and spatially distributed datasets of LAI, the current study contributes an analysis of its spatial variability and spatial structure. Soil-vegetation-atmosphere fluxes of water, carbon and energy are nonlinearly related to LAI. Therefore, its spatial heterogeneity, i.e., the combination of spatial variability and structure, has an effect on simulations of these fluxes. To assess LAI spatial heterogeneity, we apply a Comprehensive Data Analysis Approach that combines data from remote sensing (5 m resolution) and simulation (150 m resolution) with field measurements and a detailed land use map. Test area is the arable land in the fertile loess plain of the Rur catchment on the Germany-Belgium-Netherlands border. LAI from remote sensing and simulation compares well with field measurements. Based on the simulation results, we describe characteristic crop-specific temporal patterns of LAI spatial variability. By means of these patterns, we explain the complex multimodal frequency distributions of LAI in the remote sensing data. In the test area, variability between agricultural fields is higher than within fields. Therefore, spatial resolutions less than the 5 m of the remote sensing scenes are sufficient to infer LAI spatial variability. Frequency distributions from the simulation agree better with the multimodal distributions from remote sensing than normal distributions do. The spatial structure of LAI in the test area is dominated by a short distance referring to field sizes. Longer distances that refer to soil and weather can only be derived from remote sensing data. Therefore, simulations alone are not sufficient to characterize LAI spatial structure. It can be concluded that a comprehensive picture of LAI spatial

  7. 29 CFR 793.8 - “News editor.”

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false âNews editor.â 793.8 Section 793.8 Labor Regulations... Exemption § 793.8 “News editor.” A news editor is an employee who gathers, edits and rewrites the news. He may also select and prepare news items for broadcast and present the news on the air. An employee who...

  8. 29 CFR 793.8 - “News editor.”

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false âNews editor.â 793.8 Section 793.8 Labor Regulations... Exemption § 793.8 “News editor.” A news editor is an employee who gathers, edits and rewrites the news. He may also select and prepare news items for broadcast and present the news on the air. An employee who...

  9. 29 CFR 793.8 - “News editor.”

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false âNews editor.â 793.8 Section 793.8 Labor Regulations... Exemption § 793.8 “News editor.” A news editor is an employee who gathers, edits and rewrites the news. He may also select and prepare news items for broadcast and present the news on the air. An employee who...

  10. 29 CFR 793.8 - “News editor.”

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false âNews editor.â 793.8 Section 793.8 Labor Regulations... Exemption § 793.8 “News editor.” A news editor is an employee who gathers, edits and rewrites the news. He may also select and prepare news items for broadcast and present the news on the air. An employee who...

  11. 29 CFR 793.8 - “News editor.”

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false âNews editor.â 793.8 Section 793.8 Labor Regulations... Exemption § 793.8 “News editor.” A news editor is an employee who gathers, edits and rewrites the news. He may also select and prepare news items for broadcast and present the news on the air. An employee who...

  12. Editors' Fall Picks

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hoffert, Barbara; Heilbrun, Margaret; Kuzyk, Raya; Kim, Ann; McCormack, Heather; Katterjohn, Anna; Burns, Ann; Williams, Wilda

    2008-01-01

    From the fall's cascade of great new books, "Library Journal's" editors select their favorites--a dark rendition of Afghan life, a look at the "self-esteem trap," a celebration of Brooklyn activism, and much more.

  13. EDITORIAL: Greetings from the new Editor-in-Chief Greetings from the new Editor-in-Chief

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nielsch, Kornelius

    2012-01-01

    On 1 January 2012 I will be assuming the position of Editor-in-Chief of the journal Semiconductor Science and Technology (SST). I am flattered by the confidence expressed in my ability to carry out this challenging job and I will try hard to justify this confidence. The previous Editor-in-Chief, Laurens Molenkamp, University of Würzburg, Germany, has worked tirelessly for the last ten years and has done an excellent job for the journal. Everyone at the journal is profoundly grateful for his leadership and for his achievements In 2012 several new members will join the Editorial Board: Professor Deli Wang (University of California, San Diego) with considerable expertise in semiconductor nanowires, Professor Saskia Fischer (Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany) with a background in semiconductor quantum devices, and Professor Erwin Kessels (Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands) with extensive experience in plasma processing of thin films and gate oxides. In particular, I want to express my gratitude to Professor Israel Bar-Joseph (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel) and Professor Maria Tamargo (The City College of New York, USA), who will leave next year and who have vigorously served the Editorial Board for years. The journal has recently introduced a fast-track option for manuscripts. This option is a high-quality, high-profile outlet for new and important research across all areas of semiconductor research. Authors can expect to receive referee reports in less than 20 days from submission. Once accepted, you can expect the articles to be online within two or three weeks from acceptance and to be published in print in less than a month. Furthermore, all fast-track communications published in 2011 will be free to read for ten years. More detailed information on fast-track publication can be found on the following webpage: http://iopscience.iop.org/0268-1242/page/Fast track communications It is encouraging to see that since the journal introduced pre

  14. New Editors Appointed for Sections of Journal of Geophysical Research

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    2009-04-01

    New editors have been appointed for the Atmospheres, Biogeosciences, and Oceans sections of the Journal of Geophysical Research (JGR). Joost de Gouw (NOAA, Boulder, Colo.) and Renyi Zhang (Texas A&M, College Station) are filling the vacancies of retiring Atmospheres section editors John Austin and Jose Fuentes. De Gouw and Zhang join the continuing editors Steven Ghan and Yinon Rudich. Sara Pryor (Indiana University, Bloomington) is joining the Atmospheres section editorial board as an associate editor now; she will transition to editor in January 2010.

  15. ZED- A LINE EDITOR FOR THE DEC VAX

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Scott, P. J.

    1994-01-01

    The ZED editor for the DEC VAX is a simple, yet powerful line editor for text, program source code, and non-binary data. Line editors can be superior to screen editors in some cases, such as executing complex multiple or conditional commands, or editing via slow modem lines. ZED excels in the area of text processing by using procedure files. For example, such procedures can reformat a file of addresses or remove all comment lines from a FORTRAN program. In addition to command files, ZED also features versatile search qualifiers, global changes, conditionals, on-line help, hexadecimal mode, space compression, looping, logical combinations of search strings, journaling, visible control characters, and automatic detabbing. The ZED editor was originally developed at Cambridge University in London and has been continuously enhanced since 1976. Users of the Cambridge implementation have devised such elaborate ZED procedures as chess games, calculators, and programs for evaluating Pi. This implementation of ZED strives to maintain the characteristics of the Cambridge editor. A complete ZED manual is included on the tape. ZED is written entirely in C for either batch or interactive execution on the DEC VAX under VMS 4.X and requires 80,896 bytes of memory. This program was released in 1988 and updated in 1989.

  16. EDT mode for JED -- An advanced Unix text editor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McIlwrath, B. K.; Page, C. G.

    This note describes Starlink extended EDT emulation for the JED editor. It provides a Unix text editor which can utilise the advanced facilities of DEC VTn00, xterm and similar terminals. JED in this mode provides a reasonably good emulation of the VAX/VMS editor EDT in addition to many extra facilities.

  17. STEVE -- a thinking person's screen editor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fish, Adrian

    STEve is an acronym for STarlink EVE and is an extended EDT-style EVE editor for use at Starlink nodes. The facility provides extra commands which are not part of standard EVE, and improves on one or two of the standard EVE commands. Help on all topics and keys is available from within the editor. The extensions and modifications present in STEve are particularly useful to Starlink users.

  18. Professional Editing Strategies Used by Six Editors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bisaillon, Jocelyne

    2007-01-01

    Identifying the approach used by those revision experts par excellence--that is, professional editors--should enable researchers to better grasp the revision process. To further explore this hypothesis, the author conducted research among professional editors, six of whom she filmed as they engaged in their practice. An analysis of their work…

  19. Golden Girl: Mary Lai Reflects as She Marks Her 50th Anniversary.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Iwanowski, Jay

    1996-01-01

    The career and administrative style of Mary M. Lai, who celebrates her 50th year as chief financial officer at Long Island University (New York), are discussed. Her perspectives on change in higher education and in the institution during that time, the administrator's role, current challenges for financial officers, and the college environment as…

  20. Retrieval of LAI and leaf chlorophyll content from remote sensing data by agronomy mechanism knowledge to solve the ill-posed inverse problem

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Zhenhai; Nie, Chenwei; Yang, Guijun; Xu, Xingang; Jin, Xiuliang; Gu, Xiaohe

    2014-10-01

    Leaf area index (LAI) and LCC, as the two most important crop growth variables, are major considerations in management decisions, agricultural planning and policy making. Estimation of canopy biophysical variables from remote sensing data was investigated using a radiative transfer model. However, the ill-posed problem is unavoidable for the unique solution of the inverse problem and the uncertainty of measurements and model assumptions. This study focused on the use of agronomy mechanism knowledge to restrict and remove the ill-posed inversion results. For this purpose, the inversion results obtained using the PROSAIL model alone (NAMK) and linked with agronomic mechanism knowledge (AMK) were compared. The results showed that AMK did not significantly improve the accuracy of LAI inversion. LAI was estimated with high accuracy, and there was no significant improvement after considering AMK. The validation results of the determination coefficient (R2) and the corresponding root mean square error (RMSE) between measured LAI and estimated LAI were 0.635 and 1.022 for NAMK, and 0.637 and 0.999 for AMK, respectively. LCC estimation was significantly improved with agronomy mechanism knowledge; the R2 and RMSE values were 0.377 and 14.495 μg cm-2 for NAMK, and 0.503 and 10.661 μg cm-2 for AMK, respectively. Results of the comparison demonstrated the need for agronomy mechanism knowledge in radiative transfer model inversion.

  1. Linguistic Prescriptivism in Letters to the Editor

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lukac, Morana

    2016-01-01

    The public's concern with the fate of the standard language has been well documented in the history of the complaint tradition. The print media have for centuries featured letters to the editor on questions of language use. This study examines a corpus of 258 language-related letters to the editor published in the English-speaking print media. By…

  2. LAI is the major cause of divergence in CO2 fertilization effect in land surface models

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Q.; Luo, Y.; Lu, X.; Wang, Y.; Huang, X.; Lin, G., Sr.

    2017-12-01

    Concentration-carbon feedback (β), also called CO2 fertilization effect, is an important feedback between terrestrial ecosystems and atmosphere to alleviate global climate change. However, models participating in C4MIP and CMIP5 predicted diverse CO2 fertilization effects under future CO2 inceasing scenarios. Hence identifing the key processes dominating the divergence of β in land surface models is of significance. We calculated CO2 fertilization effects from leaf level, canopy gross productivity level, net ecosystem productivity level and ecosystem carbon stock level in Community Atmosphere Biosphere Land Exchange (CABLE) model. Our results identified LAI is the key factor dominating the divergence of β among C3 plants in CABLE model. Saturation of the ecosystem productivity to increasing CO2 is not only regulated by leaf-level response, but also the response of LAI to increasing CO2. The greatest variation among C3 plants at ecosystem level suggests that other processes such as different allocation patterns and soil carbon dynamics of various vegetation types are also responsible for the divergence. Our results indicate that processes regarding to LAI need to be better calibrated according to experiments and observations in order to better represent the response of ecosystem productivity to increasing CO2.

  3. The Sentinel-2 MSI Can Increase the Temporal Resolution of 30m Satellite-Derived LAI Estimates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dungan, J. L.; Li, S.; Ganguly, S.; Wang, W.; Nemani, R. R.; Ju, J.; Claverie, M.; Masek, J. G.

    2016-12-01

    The successful launch of the European Space Agency (ESA) Sentinel-2A (S2-A) on 23 June 2015 with its MultiSpectral Instrument (MSI) provides an important means to augment Earth-observation capabilities following the legacy of Landsat. After the three-month satellite commissioning campaign, the MSI onboard S-2A is performing very well (ESA, 2015). By 3 December 2015, the sensor data records have achieved provisional maturity status and have been accessed in level-1C Top-Of-Atmosphere (TOA) reflectance by the remote sensing community worldwide. Near-nadir observations by the MSI onboard S-2A and the Operational Land Imager (OLI) onboard Landsat 8 were collected during Simultaneous Nadir Overpasses as well as nearly coincident overpasses. This paper presents a processing chain using harmonized S-2A MSI and Landsat 8 OLI sensors to obtain increased temporal resolution in Leaf Area Index (LAI) estimates using the red-edge band B8A of MSI to replace the NIR band B08. Results demonstrate that LAI estimates from the MSI and OLI are comparable, and, given sufficient preprocessing for atmospheric correction and geometric rectification, can be used interchangeably to improve the frequency with which low LAI canopies can be monitored.

  4. Academic Degradation and the Retreat of the Editors: Academic Irregularities and the Spreading of Academic Corruption from an Editor's Perspective

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Xun, Gong

    2007-01-01

    Against the backdrop of the grave academic crisis in China, editors have become the objects of wooing, favor-currying, connections-seeking, and collusions; they have been targeted for attacks, plots, extortions, and encroachments. Editing and publishing have become avenues for academic irregularities and academic corruption. Editors have the power…

  5. Views of Iranian medical journal editors on medical research publication.

    PubMed

    Etemadi, Arash; Raiszadeh, Farbod; Alaeddini, Farshid; Azizi, Fereidoun

    2004-01-01

    Medical journal editors play an important role in optimizing research publication. This study evaluates the views of Iranian medical journal editors, and their knowledge of medical publication standards. In May 2001, 51 editors from all journals approved by the Ministry of Health were invited to participate, 27 of whom completed the study. A self-administered questionnaire, based on the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (URMS) was used which consisted of 28 questions in 9 subject fields. These fields included: peer review, conflicts of interest, authorship criteria, publication ethics, duplicate publication, mass media, advertising, competing manuscripts, and the Internet. The knowledge of the editors was assessed by a scoring system, with a range of -46 to +44 points. Twenty-three of the participants were editors-in-chief and 4 were managing editors. Their average age was 47.3 +/- 8.7 years and 25 were male. All journals were peer-reviewed, most having 2 or 3 reviewers for each manuscript. Of the journals, 92.6% accepted or rejected an article on the basis of the views of most reviewers and 52%, sometimes or always, used a statistician as a reviewer. Most of the editors believed that writing the first draft and designing the study are authorship criteria, and most of them believed that these 2 are stated in URMS. Seven journals (25.9%) never published advertisements. Among journals that sold advertisements, the most popular policy (85%) was the rejection of advertisements because they advertised harmful products. Out of 27 journals, 12 were accessible on the Internet, and 7 had independent websites. Of the editors, 81.5% thought that a website is useful for their journal. The average knowledge score of the editors was 6.5 +/- 7.5. None had a negative score, 33% scored zero, 45% obtained average scores and 22% obtained good scores. The results show that peer review is favored by all the editors studied, though it seems that

  6. Data Sharing: A New Editorial Initiative of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Implications for the Editors´ Network.

    PubMed

    Alfonso, Fernando; Adamyan, Karlen; Artigou, Jean-Yves; Aschermann, Michael; Boehm, Michael; Buendia, Alfonso; Chu, Pao-Hsien; Cohen, Ariel; Cas, Livio Dei; Dilic, Mirza; Doubell, Anton; Echeverri, Dario; Enç, Nuray; Ferreira-González, Ignacio; Filipiak, Krzysztof J; Flammer, Andreas; Fleck, Eckart; Gatzov, Plamen; Ginghina, Carmen; Goncalves, Lino; Haouala, Habib; Hassanein, Mahmoud; Heusch, Gerd; Huber, Kurt; Hulín, Ivan; Ivanusa, Mario; Krittayaphong, Rungroj; Lau, Chu-Pak; Marinskis, Germanas; Mach, François; Moreira, Luiz Felipe; Nieminen, Tuomo; Oukerraj, Latifa; Perings, Stefan; Pierard, Luc; Potpara, Tatjana; Reyes-Caorsi, Walter; Rim, Se-Joong; Rødevand, Olaf; Saade, Georges; Sander, Mikael; Shlyakhto, Evgeny; Timuralp, Bilgin; Tousoulis, Dimitris; Ural, Dilek; Piek, J J; Varga, Albert; Lüscher, Thomas F

    2017-05-01

    The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) provides recommendations to improve the editorial standards and scientific quality of biomedical journals. These recommendations range from uniform technical requirements to more complex and elusive editorial issues including ethical aspects of the scientific process. Recently, registration of clinical trials, conflicts of interest disclosure, and new criteria for authorship - emphasizing the importance of responsibility and accountability-, have been proposed. Last year, a new editorial initiative to foster sharing of clinical trial data was launched. This review discusses this novel initiative with the aim of increasing awareness among readers, investigators, authors and editors belonging to the Editors´ Network of the European Society of Cardiology. Resumo O Comitê Internacional de Editores de Revistas Médicas (ICMJE) fornece recomendações para aprimorar o padrão editorial e a qualidade científica das revistas biomédicas. Tais recomendações variam desde requisitos técnicos de uniformização até assuntos editoriais mais complexos e elusivos, como os aspectos éticos do processo científico. Recentemente, foram propostos registro de ensaios clínicos, divulgação de conflitos de interesse e novos critérios de autoria, enfatizando a importância da responsabilidade e da responsabilização. No último ano, lançou-se uma nova iniciativa editorial para fomentar o compartilhamento dos dados de ensaios clínicos. Esta revisão discute essa nova iniciativa visando a aumentar a conscientização de leitores, investigadores, autores e editores filiados à Rede de Editores da Sociedade Europeia de Cardiologia.

  7. Data Sharing: A New Editorial Initiative of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Implications for the Editors´ Network.

    PubMed

    Alfonso, Fernando; Adamyan, Karlen; Artigou, Jean Yves; Aschermann, Michael; Boehm, Michael; Buendia, Alfonso; Chu, Pao Hsien; Cohen, Ariel; Cas, Livio Dei; Dilic, Mirza; Doubell, Anton; Echeverri, Dario; Enç, Nuray; Ferreira-González, Ignacio; Filipiak, Krzysztof J; Flammer, Andreas; Fleck, Eckart; Gatzov, Plamen; Ginghina, Carmen; Goncalves, Lino; Haouala, Habib; Hassanein, Mahmoud; Heusch, Gerd; Huber, Kurt; Hulín, Ivan; Ivanusa, Mario; Krittayaphong, Rungroj; Lau, Chu Pak; Marinskis, Germanas; Mach, François; Moreira, Luiz Felipe; Nieminen, Tuomo; Oukerraj, Latifa; Perings, Stefan; Pierard, Luc; Potpara, Tatjana; Reyes-Caorsi, Walter; Rim, Se Joong; Rødevand, Olaf; Saade, Georges; Sander, Mikael; Shlyakhto, Evgeny; Timuralp, Bilgin; Tousoulis, Dimitris; Ural, Dilek; Piek, J J; Varga, Albert; Lüscher, Thomas F

    2017-06-01

    The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) provides recommendations to improve the editorial standards and scientific quality of biomedical journals. These recommendations range from uniform technical requirements to more complex and elusive editorial issues including ethical aspects of the scientific process. Recently, registration of clinical trials, conflicts of interest disclosure, and new criteria for authorship -emphasizing the importance of responsibility and accountability-, have been proposed. Last year, a new editorial initiative to foster sharing of clinical trial data was launched. This review discusses this novel initiative with the aim of increasing awareness among readers, investigators, authors and editors belonging to the Editors´ Network of the European Society of Cardiology.

  8. A Visual Editor in Java for View

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Stansifer, Ryan

    2000-01-01

    In this project we continued the development of a visual editor in the Java programming language to create screens on which to display real-time data. The data comes from the numerous systems monitoring the operation of the space shuttle while on the ground and in space, and from the many tests of subsystems. The data can be displayed on any computer platform running a Java-enabled World Wide Web (WWW) browser and connected to the Internet. Previously a special-purpose program bad been written to display data on emulations of character-based display screens used for many years at NASA. The goal now is to display bit-mapped screens created by a visual editor. We report here on the visual editor that creates the display screens. This project continues the work we bad done previously. Previously we had followed the design of the 'beanbox,' a prototype visual editor created by Sun Microsystems. We abandoned this approach and implemented a prototype using a more direct approach. In addition, our prototype is based on newly released Java 2 graphical user interface (GUI) libraries. The result has been a visually more appealing appearance and a more robust application.

  9. Editors' Fall Picks

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Heilbrun, Margaret; McCormack, Heather; Katterjohn, Anna; Kuzyk, Raya; Roncevic, Mirela; Fox, Bette-Lee; Hoffert, Barbara

    2009-01-01

    "Library Journal's" review editors select fall titles readers won't want to miss--"Waiting on a Train: The Embattled Future of Passenger Rail Service" (James McCommons); "Happy" (Alex Lemon); "Free for All: Joe Papp, the Public, and the Greatest Theater Story Ever Told" (Kenneth Turan & Joseph Papp); "In My Father's Shadow: A Daughter Remembers…

  10. Editors' Spring Picks

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Library Journal, 2011

    2011-01-01

    While they do not represent the rainbow of reading tastes American public libraries accommodate, Book Review editors are a wildly eclectic bunch. One look at their bedside tables and ereaders would reveal very little crossover. This article highlights an eclectic array of spring offerings ranging from print books to an audiobook to ebook apps. It…

  11. Data Sharing: A New Editorial Initiative of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Implications for the Editors' Network.

    PubMed

    Alfonso, Fernando; Adamyan, Karlen; Artigou, Jean-Yves; Aschermann, Michael; Boehm, Michael; Buendia, Alfonso; Chu, Pao-Hsien; Cohen, Ariel; Cas, Livio Dei; Dilic, Mirza; Doubell, Anton; Echeverri, Dario; Enç, Nuray; Ferreira-González, Ignacio; Filipiak, Krzysztof J; Flammer, Andreas; Fleck, Eckart; Gatzov, Plamen; Ginghina, Carmen; Goncalves, Lino; Haouala, Habib; Hassanein, Mahmoud; Heusch, Gerd; Huber, Kurt; Hulín, Ivan; Ivanusa, Mario; Krittayaphong, Rungroj; Lau, Chu-Pak; Marinskis, Germanas; Mach, François; Moreira, Luiz Felipe; Nieminen, Tuomo; Oukerraj, Latifa; Perings, Stefan; Pierard, Luc; Potpara, Tatjana; Reyes-Caorsi, Walter; Rim, Se-Joong; Rødevand, Olaf; Saade, Georges; Sander, Mikael; Shlyakhto, Evgeny; Timuralp, Bilgin; Tousoulis, Dimitris; Ural, Dilek; Piek, J J; Varga, Albert; Lüscher, Thomas F

    The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) provides recommendations to improve the editorial standards and scientific quality of biomedical journals. These recommendations range from uniform technical requirements to more complex and elusive editorial issues including ethical aspects of the scientific process. Recently, registration of clinical trials, conflicts of interest disclosure, and new criteria for authorship - emphasizing the importance of responsibility and accountability -, have been proposed. Last year, a new editorial initiative to foster sharing of clinical trial data was launched. This review discusses this novel initiative with the aim of increasing awareness among readers, investigators, authors and editors belonging to the Editors' Network of the European Society of Cardiology. Copyright © 2017. Publicado por Masson Doyma México S.A.

  12. Data Sharing: A New Editorial Initiative of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Implications for the Editors´ Network

    PubMed Central

    Alfonso, Fernando; Adamyan, Karlen; Artigou, Jean-Yves; Aschermann, Michael; Boehm, Michael; Buendia, Alfonso; Chu, Pao-Hsien; Cohen, Ariel; Cas, Livio Dei; Dilic, Mirza; Doubell, Anton; Echeverri, Dario; Enç, Nuray; Ferreira-González, Ignacio; Filipiak, Krzysztof J.; Flammer, Andreas; Fleck, Eckart; Gatzov, Plamen; Ginghina, Carmen; Goncalves, Lino; Haouala, Habib; Hassanein, Mahmoud; Heusch, Gerd; Huber, Kurt; Hulín, Ivan; Ivanusa, Mario; Krittayaphong, Rungroj; Lau, Chu-Pak; Marinskis, Germanas; Mach, François; Moreira, Luiz Felipe; Nieminen, Tuomo; Oukerraj, Latifa; Perings, Stefan; Pierard, Luc; Potpara, Tatjana; Reyes-Caorsi, Walter; Rim, Se-Joong; Rødevand, Olaf; Saade, Georges; Sander, Mikael; Shlyakhto, Evgeny; Timuralp, Bilgin; Tousoulis, Dimitris; Ural, Dilek; Piek, J. J.; Varga, Albert; Lüscher, Thomas F.

    2017-01-01

    The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) provides recommendations to improve the editorial standards and scientific quality of biomedical journals. These recommendations range from uniform technical requirements to more complex and elusive editorial issues including ethical aspects of the scientific process. Recently, registration of clinical trials, conflicts of interest disclosure, and new criteria for authorship - emphasizing the importance of responsibility and accountability-, have been proposed. Last year, a new editorial initiative to foster sharing of clinical trial data was launched. This review discusses this novel initiative with the aim of increasing awareness among readers, investigators, authors and editors belonging to the Editors´ Network of the European Society of Cardiology. PMID:28591318

  13. Sources of Uncertainty in the Prediction of LAI / fPAR from MODIS

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dungan, Jennifer L.; Ganapol, Barry D.; Brass, James A. (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    To explicate the sources of uncertainty in the prediction of biophysical variables over space, consider the general equation: where z is a variable with values on some nominal, ordinal, interval or ratio scale; y is a vector of input variables; u is the spatial support of y and z ; x and u are the spatial locations of y and z , respectively; f is a model and B is the vector of the parameters of this model. Any y or z has a value and a spatial extent which is called its support. Viewed in this way, categories of uncertainty are from variable (e.g. measurement), parameter, positional. support and model (e.g. structural) sources. The prediction of Leaf Area Index (LAI) and the fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (fPAR) are examples of z variables predicted using model(s) as a function of y variables and spatially constant parameters. The MOD15 algorithm is an example of f, called f(sub 1), with parameters including those defined by one of six biome types and solar and view angles. The Leaf Canopy Model (LCM)2, a nested model that combines leaf radiative transfer with a full canopy reflectance model through the phase function, is a simpler though similar radiative transfer approach to f(sub 1). In a previous study, MOD15 and LCM2 gave similar results for the broadleaf forest biome. Differences between these two models can be used to consider the structural uncertainty in prediction results. In an effort to quantify each of the five sources of uncertainty and rank their relative importance for the LAI/fPAR prediction problem, we used recent data for an EOS Core Validation Site in the broadleaf biome with coincident surface reflectance, vegetation index, fPAR and LAI products from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS). Uncertainty due to support on the input reflectance variable was characterized using Landsat ETM+ data. Input uncertainties were propagated through the LCM2 model and compared with published uncertainties from the MOD15

  14. ASSESSMENT OF MODIS LAI (W4) IN LOBLOLLY PINE (P. TAEDA) FOREST TYPE, APPOMATTOX, VIRGINIA

    EPA Science Inventory

    The United States Environmental Protection Agency initiated MODIS MODI5A2LAI validation research (2002) in the evergreen needle leaf biome, as defined in the MOD12 classification, in a regional study located in the southeastern United States.

  15. The WebACS - An Accessible Graphical Editor.

    PubMed

    Parker, Stefan; Nussbaum, Gerhard; Pölzer, Stephan

    2017-01-01

    This paper is about the solution to accessibility problems met when implementing a graphical editor, a major challenge being the comprehension of the relationships between graphical components, which needs to be guaranteed for blind and vision impaired users. In the concrete case the HTML5 canvas and Javascript were used. Accessibility was reached by implementing a list view of elements, which also enhances the usability of the editor.

  16. LEAF AREA INDEX (LAI) CHANGE DETECTION ON LOBLOLLY PINE FOREST STANDS WITH COMPLETE UNDERSTORY REMOVAL

    EPA Science Inventory

    The confounding effect of understory vegetation contributions to satellite derived
    estimates of leaf area index (LAI) was investigated on two loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) forest stands located in the southeastern United States. Previous studies have shown that understory can a...

  17. LEAF AREA INDEX (LAI) CHANGE DETECTION ON LOBLOLLY PINE FOREST STANDS WITH COMPLETE UNDERSTORY REMOVAL

    EPA Science Inventory

    The confounding effect of understory vegetation contributions to satellite derived estimates of leaf area index (LAI) was investigated on two loblolly pine forest stands located in the southeastern United States. Previous studies have shown that understory can account from 0-40%...

  18. PDB Editor: a user-friendly Java-based Protein Data Bank file editor with a GUI.

    PubMed

    Lee, Jonas; Kim, Sung Hou

    2009-04-01

    The Protein Data Bank file format is the format most widely used by protein crystallographers and biologists to disseminate and manipulate protein structures. Despite this, there are few user-friendly software packages available to efficiently edit and extract raw information from PDB files. This limitation often leads to many protein crystallographers wasting significant time manually editing PDB files. PDB Editor, written in Java Swing GUI, allows the user to selectively search, select, extract and edit information in parallel. Furthermore, the program is a stand-alone application written in Java which frees users from the hassles associated with platform/operating system-dependent installation and usage. PDB Editor can be downloaded from http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdbeditorjl/.

  19. Integration of ALS and TLS for calibration and validation of LAI profiles from large footprint lidar

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Armston, J.; Tang, H.; Hancock, S.; Hofton, M. A.; Dubayah, R.; Duncanson, L.; Fatoyinbo, T. E.; Blair, J. B.; Disney, M.

    2016-12-01

    The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) is designed to provide measurements of forest vertical structure and above-ground biomass density (AGBD) over tropical and temperate regions. The GEDI is a multi-beam waveform lidar that will acquire transects of forest canopy vertical profiles in conditions of up to 99% canopy cover. These are used to produce a number of canopy height and profile metrics to model habitat suitability and AGBD. These metrics include vertical leaf area index (LAI) profiles, which require some pre-launch refinement of large-footprint waveform processing methods for separating canopy and ground returns and estimation of their reflectance. Previous research developments in modelling canopy gap probability to derive canopy and ground reflectance from waveforms have primarily used data from small-footprint instruments, however development of a generalized spatial model with uncertainty will be useful for interpreting and modelling waveforms from large-footprint instruments such as the NASA Land Vegetation and Ice Sensor (LVIS) with a view to implementation for GEDI. Here we present an analysis of waveform lidar data from the NASA Land Vegetation and Ice Sensor (LVIS), which were acquired in Gabon in February 2016 to support the NASA/ESA AfriSAR campaign. AfriSAR presents a unique opportunity to test refined methods for retrieval of LAI profiles in high above-ground biomass rainforests (up to 600 Mg/ha) with dense canopies (>90% cover), where the greatest uncertainty exists. Airborne and Terrestrial Laser Scanning data (TLS) were also collected, enabling quantification of algorithm performance in plots of dense canopy cover. Refinement of canopy gap probability and LAI profile modelling from large-footprint lidar was based on solving for canopy and ground reflectance parameters spatially by penalized least-squares. The sensitivities of retrieved cover and LAI profiles to variation in canopy and ground reflectance showed improvement

  20. Designing Epigenome Editors: Considerations of Biochemical and Locus Specificities.

    PubMed

    Sen, Dilara; Keung, Albert J

    2018-01-01

    The advent of locus-specific protein recruitment technologies has enabled a new class of studies in chromatin biology. Epigenome editors enable biochemical modifications of chromatin at almost any specific endogenous locus. Their locus specificity unlocks unique information including the functional roles of distinct modifications at specific genomic loci. Given the growing interest in using these tools for biological and translational studies, there are many specific design considerations depending on the scientific question or clinical need. Here we present and discuss important design considerations and challenges regarding the biochemical and locus specificities of epigenome editors. These include how to account for the complex biochemical diversity of chromatin; control for potential interdependency of epigenome editors and their resultant modifications; avoid sequestration effects; quantify the locus specificity of epigenome editors; and improve locus specificity by considering concentration, affinity, avidity, and sequestration effects.

  1. Letter to the Editor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    2000-01-01

    All the Letters to the Editor in this issue are in the same PostScript or PDF file. Contents Looking back on Physics Peter Gill Lecturer in Education, School of Education, King's College London, Franklin-Wilkins Building, Waterloo Road, London SE1 8WA

  2. EDITORIAL: Editor's Farewell

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hudson, R. P.

    1989-01-01

    The completion of Volume 26, 1989, marked the end of my tenure as Editor of Metrologia. My association with the journal, its parent body the Comité International des Poids et Mesures, its host organization the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures, the publishers Springer-Verlag and last (but by no means least) the Editorial Board, has been a pleasant one and I trust that the subscribers will have found the product to be generally satisfactory. There have been, it is true, some disappointments along the way and I shall mention two of these while expressing the hope that the new Editor will enjoy a greater success in their regard. First is the question of circulation, which has stayed dangerously low, although the shrinkage has tapered off in the most recent years. Because of the narrow public support, the costs of production are relatively high and this, through a consequently high subscription rate, tends to enshrine the unsatisfactory state of affairs. Modest schemes to broaden the journal's appeal and bring in a wider readership have foundered upon the first step, namely, that of procuring from staff members of the national standards laboratories the hoped-for articles which would discuss the state of the art in delivering the highest-quality measurement services to the public. However, some very interesting and bolder schemes are presently under discussion. I had also hoped to leaven the journal's content a little by regularly appearing articles on the latest developments within the great national laboratories. But, as with technical review articles, it has proven very difficult to find the right authors who can also spare the time, and only a few laboratories have found it possible to collaborate. In taking my leave, it remains for me to thank all the contributors, referees and readers for their support, to express the hope of an ever brighter future for Metrologia and to wish to the new Editor, Dr D A Blackburn, a happy and successful tenure.

  3. Peer reviews and the role of a journal editor

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Obtaining peer reviews for manuscripts submitted to scientific journals is becoming increasingly difficult. Changes to the system are necessary, and editors must cultivate and maintain a solid base of reviewers to help evaluate journal submissions. This article outlines some steps editors can and sh...

  4. The Lives and Hard Times of Magazine Editors in the Big Apple: A Report on the Society of Magazine Editors' Educators Seminar.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    English, John W.

    This report chronicles the first Society of Magazine Editors' educators seminar, which was held in New York from May 13-17, 1974, and was attended by ten journalism faculty. The industry's concerns, as expressed through editors, are paper, printing, postage, people, and profit. The Magazine Publishers Association (MPA) seems mostly concerned with…

  5. LEAF AREA INDEX (LAI) CHANGE DETECTION ANALYSIS ON LOBLOLLY PINE (PINUS TAEDA) FOLLOWING COMPLETE UNDERSTORY REMOVAL

    EPA Science Inventory

    The confounding effect of understory vegetation contributions to satellite-derived estimates of leaf area index (LAI) was investigated on two loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) forest stands located in Virginia and North Carolina. In order to separate NDVI contributions of the dominantc...

  6. A dense camera network for cropland (CropInsight) - developing high spatiotemporal resolution crop Leaf Area Index (LAI) maps through network images and novel satellite data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kimm, H.; Guan, K.; Luo, Y.; Peng, J.; Mascaro, J.; Peng, B.

    2017-12-01

    Monitoring crop growth conditions is of primary interest to crop yield forecasting, food production assessment, and risk management of individual farmers and agribusiness. Despite its importance, there are limited access to field level crop growth/condition information in the public domain. This scarcity of ground truth data also hampers the use of satellite remote sensing for crop monitoring due to the lack of validation. Here, we introduce a new camera network (CropInsight) to monitor crop phenology, growth, and conditions that are designed for the US Corn Belt landscape. Specifically, this network currently includes 40 sites (20 corn and 20 soybean fields) across southern half of the Champaign County, IL ( 800 km2). Its wide distribution and automatic operation enable the network to capture spatiotemporal variations of crop growth condition continuously at the regional scale. At each site, low-maintenance, and high-resolution RGB digital cameras are set up having a downward view from 4.5 m height to take continuous images. In this study, we will use these images and novel satellite data to construct daily LAI map of the Champaign County at 30 m spatial resolution. First, we will estimate LAI from the camera images and evaluate it using the LAI data collected from LAI-2200 (LI-COR, Lincoln, NE). Second, we will develop relationships between the camera-based LAI estimation and vegetation indices derived from a newly developed MODIS-Landsat fusion product (daily, 30 m resolution, RGB + NIR + SWIR bands) and the Planet Lab's high-resolution satellite data (daily, 5 meter, RGB). Finally, we will scale up the above relationships to generate high spatiotemporal resolution crop LAI map for the whole Champaign County. The proposed work has potentials to expand to other agro-ecosystems and to the broader US Corn Belt.

  7. A scoping review of competencies for scientific editors of biomedical journals.

    PubMed

    Galipeau, James; Barbour, Virginia; Baskin, Patricia; Bell-Syer, Sally; Cobey, Kelly; Cumpston, Miranda; Deeks, Jon; Garner, Paul; MacLehose, Harriet; Shamseer, Larissa; Straus, Sharon; Tugwell, Peter; Wager, Elizabeth; Winker, Margaret; Moher, David

    2016-02-02

    Biomedical journals are the main route for disseminating the results of health-related research. Despite this, their editors operate largely without formal training or certification. To our knowledge, no body of literature systematically identifying core competencies for scientific editors of biomedical journals exists. Therefore, we aimed to conduct a scoping review to determine what is known on the competency requirements for scientific editors of biomedical journals. We searched the MEDLINE®, Cochrane Library, Embase®, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and ERIC databases (from inception to November 2014) and conducted a grey literature search for research and non-research articles with competency-related statements (i.e. competencies, knowledge, skills, behaviors, and tasks) pertaining to the role of scientific editors of peer-reviewed health-related journals. We also conducted an environmental scan, searched the results of a previous environmental scan, and searched the websites of existing networks, major biomedical journal publishers, and organizations that offer resources for editors. A total of 225 full-text publications were included, 25 of which were research articles. We extracted a total of 1,566 statements possibly related to core competencies for scientific editors of biomedical journals from these publications. We then collated overlapping or duplicate statements which produced a list of 203 unique statements. Finally, we grouped these statements into seven emergent themes: (1) dealing with authors, (2) dealing with peer reviewers, (3) journal publishing, (4) journal promotion, (5) editing, (6) ethics and integrity, and (7) qualities and characteristics of editors. To our knowledge, this scoping review is the first attempt to systematically identify possible competencies of editors. Limitations are that (1) we may not have captured all aspects of a biomedical editor's work in our searches, (2) removing redundant and overlapping items may have led to the

  8. Discerning spatial and temporal LAI and clear-sky FAPAR variability during summer at the Toolik Lake vegetation monitoring grid (North Slope, Alaska)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Heim, B.; Beamish, A. L.; Walker, D. A.; Epstein, H. E.; Sachs, T.; Chabrillat, S.; Buchhorn, M.; Prakash, A.

    2016-12-01

    Ground data for the validation of satellite-derived terrestrial Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) at high latitudes are sparse. Also for regional model evaluation (e.g. climate models, land surface models, permafrost models), we lack accurate ranges of terrestrial ground data and face the problem of a large mismatch in scale. Within the German research programs `Regional Climate Change' (REKLIM) and the Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (EnMAP), we conducted a study on ground data representativeness for vegetation-related variables within a monitoring grid at the Toolik Lake Long-Term Ecological Research station; the Toolik Lake station lies in the Kuparuk River watershed on the North Slope of the Brooks Mountain Range in Alaska. The Toolik Lake grid covers an area of 1 km2 containing Eight five grid points spaced 100 meters apart. Moist acidic tussock tundra is the most dominant vegetation type within the grid. Eight five permanent 1 m2 plots were also established to be representative of the individual gridpoints. Researchers from the University of Alaska Fairbanks have undertaken assessments at these plots, including Leaf Area Index (LAI) and field spectrometry to derive the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). During summer 2016, we conducted field spectrometry and LAI measurements at selected plots during early, peak and late summer. We experimentally measured LAI on more spatially extensive Elementary Sampling Units (ESUs) to investigate the spatial representativeness of the permanent 1 m2 plots and to map ESUs for various tundra types. LAI measurements are potentially influenced by landscape-inherent microtopography, sparse vascular plant cover, and dead woody matter. From field spectrometer measurements, we derived a clear-sky mid-day Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR). We will present the first data analyses comparing FAPAR and LAI, and maps of biophysically-focused ESUs for evaluation of the use of remote

  9. EDITORIAL: Incoming Editor-in-Chief Incoming Editor-in-Chief

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Birch, David

    2012-01-01

    It is a pleasure and an honour for me to be taking over as Editor-in-Chief of Measurement Science and Technology. MST is well known across research communities worldwide as a leading journal in which to publish new techniques and instrumentation. It has gained this enviable position largely because of the excellent guidance of its Editorial Board and dedicated staff at Institute of Physics Publishing over many years. I want to highlight in particular the contribution of the outgoing Editor Peter Hauptmann, and other Editors before him, in making the journal truly international. We thank Peter immensely for all his hard work in leading the journal, having exceptionally served two terms, each of five years. I come into the post of Editor at a very interesting and challenging time for research. The global recession is leading to cuts in research funding in many countries, researchers and their outputs are coming under closer scrutiny than ever before, and more is being expected of them. Journals play a critical role in monitoring and maintaining research standards, but we should be careful not to assume that journal Impact Factor is the sole measure of research quality. Although expediency may sometimes demand it, Impact Factor, as practitioners know, is subject dependent. One of the great things about science and technology for me is its level playing field. The key point is still innovation no matter where the work is done or where it is published. MST has a long pedigree of being the natural home of the highest quality papers from leading researchers wishing to report novel instrumentation and techniques. 2013 will mark the 90th anniversary of MST and we look forward to celebrating in style its sustained success. I recall with pride the first paper I published in Journal of Physics E: Scientific Instruments (as MST was previously titled) back in 1977. The paper reported the design and application of an early fluorescence lifetime spectrometer that I had constructed

  10. From the Board of Editors: on Plagiarism

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    2005-04-01

    From the Board of Editors: on Plagiarism

    Dear Colleagues: There has been a significant increase in the number of duplicate submissions and plagiarism cases reported in all major journals, including the journals of the Optical Society of America. Duplicate submissions and plagiarism can take many forms, and all of them are violations of professional ethics, the copyright agreement that an author signs along with the submission of a paper, and OSA's published Author Guidelines. There must be a significant component of new science for a paper to be publishable. The copying of large segments of text from previously published or in-press papers with only minor cosmetic changes is not acceptable and can lead to the rejection of papers. Duplicate submission: Duplicate submission is the most common ethics violation encountered. Duplicate submission is the submission of substantially similar papers to more than one journal. There is a misperception in a small fraction of the scientific community that duplicate submission is acceptable because it sometimes takes a long time to get a paper reviewed and because one of the papers can be withdrawn at any time. This is a clear violation of professional ethics and of the copyright agreement that is signed on submission. Duplicate submission harms the whole community because editors and reviewers waste their time and in the process compound the time it takes to get a paper reviewed for all authors. In cases of duplicate submission, the Editor of the affected OSA journal will consult with the Editor of the other journal involved to determine the proper course of action. Often that action will be the rejection of both papers. Plagiarism: Plagiarism is a serious breach of ethics and is defined as the substantial replication, without attribution, of significant elements of another document already published by the same or other authors. Two types of plagiarism can occur

  11. How Universal Is the Relationship Between Remotely Sensed Vegetation Indices (VI) and Crop Leaf Area Index (LAI)?

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kang, Yanghui; Ozdogan, Mutlu; Zipper, Samuel C.; Roman, Miguel

    2016-01-01

    Global LAI-VI relationships are statistically significant, crop-specific, and mostly non-linear. This research enables the operationalization of large-area crop modeling and, by extension, has relevance to both fundamental and applied agroecosystem research.

  12. Quantifying the effect of editor-author relations on manuscript handling times.

    PubMed

    Sarigöl, Emre; Garcia, David; Scholtes, Ingo; Schweitzer, Frank

    2017-01-01

    In this article we study to what extent the academic peer review process is influenced by social relations between the authors of a manuscript and the editor handling the manuscript. Taking the open access journal PlosOne as a case study, our analysis is based on a data set of more than 100,000 articles published between 2007 and 2015. Using available data on handling editor, submission and acceptance time of manuscripts, we study the question whether co-authorship relations between authors and the handling editor affect the manuscript handling time , i.e. the time taken between the submission and acceptance of a manuscript. Our analysis reveals (1) that editors handle papers co-authored by previous collaborators significantly more often than expected at random, and (2) that such prior co-author relations are significantly related to faster manuscript handling. Addressing the question whether these shorter manuscript handling times can be explained by the quality of publications, we study the number of citations and downloads which accepted papers eventually accumulate. Moreover, we consider the influence of additional (social) factors, such as the editor's experience, the topical similarity between authors and editors, as well as reciprocal citation relations between authors and editors. Our findings show that, even when correcting for other factors like time, experience, and performance, prior co-authorship relations have a large and significant influence on manuscript handling times, speeding up the editorial decision on average by 19 days.

  13. EDITORIAL: Editor's Introduction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Blackburn, D. A.

    1990-01-01

    Since its first issue in 1965 Metrologia has had just three editors, a history of tenure which suggests that those who hold the post find in it sufficient to interest, occupy, challenge and amuse them. I see no reason to doubt that this happy circumstance will continue and look forward to my own period as editor with the intention of retaining, insofar as I am able to interpret them, the best traditions the journal has established so far. As I take up my editorial duties I have become aware that surrounding Metrologia there is a small community of authors, reviewers and readers on whose support the success of the journal entirely depends. It is a community in which the roles change daily with some of its members engaged, even simultaneously, as reader, reviewer and author. I am well aware that the goodwill extended to me as I enter this community is in no small part due the efforts of the outgoing editor, Dr Ralph Hudson, whose easy, engaging and courteous, yet firm, relationship with authors and reviewers emerges clearly from editorial correspondence. I thank him for that he has done and wish him an active and happy retirement. A short foray into the records of Metrologia shows - in the first editorial - that four main kinds of article were originally envisaged: research articles likely to contribute to progress in fundamental scientific measurements, reports of experiments or techniques of particular importance or originality in the area of secondary measurement, articles concerning the decisions of the Comité International des Poids et Mesures, and review articles. No balance was specified but a priority was assigned to articles dealing with fundamental metrology. Of the four categories, the first two represent the core of Metrologia's activity and largely determine its reputation as a publication. For this reason, editorial implementation of the policy set by the CIPM is mainly exercised through the operation of a reviewing system which is intentionally strict

  14. Editorial independence at medical journals owned by professional associations: a survey of editors.

    PubMed

    Davis, Ronald M; Müllner, Marcus

    2002-10-01

    The purpose of this study was to assess the degree of editorial independence at a sample of medical journals and the relationship between the journals and their owners. We surveyed the editors of 33 medical journals owned by not-for-profit organizations ("associations"), including 10 journals represented on the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (nine of which are general medical journals) and a random sample of 23 specialist journals with high impact factors that are indexed by the Institute for Scientific Information. The main outcome measures were the authority to hire, fire, and oversee the work of the editor; the editor's tenure and financial compensation; control of the journal's budget; publication of material about the association; and the editor's perceptions about editorial independence and pressure over editorial content. Of the 33 editors, 23 (70%) reported having complete editorial freedom, and the remainder reported a high level of freedom (a score of > or = 8, where 10 equals complete editorial freedom and 1 equals no editorial freedom). Nevertheless, a substantial minority of editors reported having received at least some pressure in recent years over editorial content from the association's leadership (42%), senior staff (30%), or rank-and-file members (39%). The association's board of directors has the authority to hire (48%) or fire (55%) the editor for about half of the journals, and the editor reports to the board for 10 journals (30%). Twenty-three editors (70%) are appointed for a specific term (median term = 5 years). Three-fifths of the journals have no control over their profit, and the majority of journals use the association's legal counsel and/or media relations staff. Stronger safeguards are needed to give editors protection against pressure over editorial content, including written guarantees of editorial freedom and governance structures that support those guarantees. Strong safeguards are also needed because editors

  15. Letters to the Editor: Emergency Tourniquet Use

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-09-01

    Management of Hepatocellular Carcinoma ,” in which Lau and Lai summarized the published data and clearly defined the role of radiofrequency ablation...RFA) as a treatment option for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).1 As the au- thors pointed out, patients with smaller HCC (tumor diameter: 30 mm) have...release in combat patients. J Trauma. 2008;64(suppl):S153–S161; discussion S161–S162. Radiofrequency Ablation in the Treatment of Hepatocellular

  16. EDITORIAL: Message from the Editor Message from the Editor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thomas, Paul

    2011-01-01

    As usual, being an even year, the 23rd IAEA Fusion Energy Conference took place at Daejeon, Korea. The event was notable not just for the quality of the presentations but also for the spectacular opening ceremony, in the presence of the Prime Minister, Kim Hwang-sik. The Prime Minister affirmed the importance of research into fusion energy research and pledged support for ITER. Such political visibility is good news, of course, but it brings with it the obligation to perform. Fortunately, good performance was much in evidence in the papers presented at the conference, of which a significant proportion contain 'ITER' in the title. Given this importance of ITER and the undertaking by the Nuclear Fusion journal to publish papers associated with Fusion Energy Conference presentations, the Nuclear Fusion Editorial Board has decided to adopt a simplified journal scope that encompasses technology papers more naturally. The scope is available from http://iopscience.iop.org/0029-5515/page/Journal%20information but is reproduced here for clarity: Nuclear Fusion publishes articles making significant advances to the field of controlled thermonuclear fusion. The journal scope includes: the production, heating and confinement of high temperature plasmas; the physical properties of such plasmas; the experimental or theoretical methods of exploring or explaining them; fusion reactor physics; reactor concepts; fusion technologies. The key to scope acceptability is now '....significant advances....' rather than any particular area of controlled thermonuclear fusion research. It is hoped that this will make scope decisions easier for the Nuclear Fusion office, the referees and the Editor.The Nuclear Fusion journal has continued to make an important contribution to the research programme and has maintained its position as the leading journal in the field. This is underlined by the fact that Nuclear Fusion has received an impact factor of 4.270, as listed in ISI's 2009 Science Citation

  17. SIRE: A Simple Interactive Rule Editor for NICBES

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bykat, Alex

    1988-01-01

    To support evolution of domain expertise, and its representation in an expert system knowledge base, a user-friendly rule base editor is mandatory. The Nickel Cadmium Battery Expert System (NICBES), a prototype of an expert system for the Hubble Space Telescope power storage management system, does not provide such an editor. In the following, a description of a Simple Interactive Rule Base Editor (SIRE) for NICBES is described. The SIRE provides a consistent internal representation of the NICBES knowledge base. It supports knowledge presentation and provides a user-friendly and code language independent medium for rule addition and modification. The SIRE is integrated with NICBES via an interface module. This module provides translation of the internal representation to Prolog-type rules (Horn clauses), latter rule assertion, and a simple mechanism for rule selection for its Prolog inference engine.

  18. Kamide reflects on JGR and the role of editor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Woods, Peter

    After serving the space physics community for more than 11 years, Y. Kamide of the Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory at Nagoya University in Toyokawa, Japan, retired as editor of the Journal of Geophysical Research-Space Physics for the Asian/Pacific region. He had been a JGR editor since AGU first opened two editorial offices in Europe and the Asian/Pacific region in 1989. Even as the initial JGR editor in Asia, Kamide was not new to AGU editorial business. Before accepting the JGR position, Kamide served 3 years as the editor in Japan for Geophysical Research Letters.According to Kamide, over the last 5 years, the number of high-quality submissions to JGR in the Asian/Pacific region has increased dramatically, by a factor of 2.5. This increase came mostly from the younger generation of scientists, which bodes well for the future of JGR and space physics in general. Together with the substantial contributions to JGR from the European community, this achievement has been recognized by AGU as proof that JGR is truly an international journal of the highest editorial standards.

  19. Letters to the Editor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    1997-07-01

    All the Letters to the Editor in this issue are in the same PostScript or PDF file. Contents Joining capacitors R Bridges King Edward's School, Birmingham B15 2UA, UK Enjoying Physics John Bausor 5 Longcrofte Road, Edgware, Middlesex HA8 6RR, UK The disadvantages of success M L Cooper Newham College of Further Education, London

  20. Authors and editors assort on gender and geography in high-rank ecological publications

    PubMed Central

    Belou, Rebecca M.

    2018-01-01

    Peer-reviewed publication volume and caliber are widely-recognized proxies for academic merit, and a strong publication record is essential for academic success and advancement. However, recent work suggests that publication productivity for particular author groups may also be determined in part by implicit biases lurking in the publication pipeline. Here, we explore patterns of gender, geography, and institutional rank among authors, editorial board members, and handling editors in high-impact ecological publications during 2015 and 2016. A higher proportion of lead authors had female first names (33.9%) than editorial board members (28.9%), and the proportion of female first names among handling editors was even lower (21.1%). Female editors disproportionately edited publications with female lead authors (40.3% of publications with female lead authors were handled by female editors, though female editors handled only 34.4% of all studied publications). Additionally, ecological authors and editors were overwhelmingly from countries in the G8, and high-ranking academic institutions accounted for a large portion of both the published work, and its editorship. Editors and lead authors with female names were typically affiliated with higher-ranking institutions than their male peers. This description of author and editor features provides a baseline for benchmarking future trends in the ecological publishing culture. PMID:29420647

  1. Authors and editors assort on gender and geography in high-rank ecological publications.

    PubMed

    Manlove, Kezia R; Belou, Rebecca M

    2018-01-01

    Peer-reviewed publication volume and caliber are widely-recognized proxies for academic merit, and a strong publication record is essential for academic success and advancement. However, recent work suggests that publication productivity for particular author groups may also be determined in part by implicit biases lurking in the publication pipeline. Here, we explore patterns of gender, geography, and institutional rank among authors, editorial board members, and handling editors in high-impact ecological publications during 2015 and 2016. A higher proportion of lead authors had female first names (33.9%) than editorial board members (28.9%), and the proportion of female first names among handling editors was even lower (21.1%). Female editors disproportionately edited publications with female lead authors (40.3% of publications with female lead authors were handled by female editors, though female editors handled only 34.4% of all studied publications). Additionally, ecological authors and editors were overwhelmingly from countries in the G8, and high-ranking academic institutions accounted for a large portion of both the published work, and its editorship. Editors and lead authors with female names were typically affiliated with higher-ranking institutions than their male peers. This description of author and editor features provides a baseline for benchmarking future trends in the ecological publishing culture.

  2. Probabilistic landslide susceptibility mapping in the Lai Chau province of Vietnam: focus on the relationship between tectonic fractures and landslides

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, Saro; Dan, Nguyen Tu

    2005-09-01

    This study evaluates the susceptibility of landslides in the Lai Chau province of Vietnam using Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing data to focus on the relationship between tectonic fractures and landslides. Landslide locations were identified from aerial photographs and field surveys. Topographic, geological data and satellite images were collected, processed, and constructed into a spatial database using GIS data and image-processing techniques. A scheme of the tectonic fracturing of crust in the Lai Chau region was established. Lai Chau was identified as a region with many crustal fractures, where the grade of tectonic fracture is closely related to landslide occurrence. The influencing factors of landslide occurrence were: distance from a tectonic fracture, slope, aspect, curvature, soil, and vegetative land cover. Landslide prone areas were analyzed and mapped using the landslide occurrence factors employing the probability-frequency ratio model. The results of the analysis were verified using landslide location data and showed 83.47% prediction accuracy. That emphasized a strong relationship between the susceptibility map and the existing landslide location data. The results of this study can form a basis stable development and land use planning for the region.

  3. Writing filter processes for the SAGA editor, appendix G

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kirslis, Peter A.

    1985-01-01

    The SAGA editor provides a mechanism by which separate processes can be invoked during an editing session to traverse portions of the parse tree being edited. These processes, termed filter processes, read, analyze, and possibly transform the parse tree, returning the result to the editor. By defining new commands with the editor's user defined command facility, which invoke filter processes, authors of filter can provide complex operations as simple commands. A tree plotter, pretty printer, and Pascal tree transformation program were already written using this facility. The filter processes are introduced, parse tree structure is described and the library interface made available to the programmer. Also discussed is how to compile and run filter processes. Examples are presented to illustrate aspect of each of these areas.

  4. Editor's message: Student involvement

    Treesearch

    Bill Block

    2012-01-01

    In the initial Editor's Message of this volume, I stated my intent to involve more students in the publication process. A number of people commented on it being a good idea, but only a couple have followed up. One was Paul Krausman, President of The Wildlife Society. We matched graduate students from the University of Montana wildlife program with manuscripts...

  5. Letters to the Editor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    1997-03-01

    All the Letters to the Editor in this issue are in the same PostScript or PDF file. Contents Criticisms of hands-on pseudoscience David J Fisher 27 Elderberry Road, Cardiff CF5 3RG, UK Measuring varying fields Don Koks Adelaide University, Australia Relativity at A-level: a comment David Sang 3 Ellasdale Road, Bognor Regis, PO21 2SG, UK

  6. Generating the Field: The Role of Editors in Disciplinary Formation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Selfe, Cynthia; Villanueva, Victor; Parks, Steve

    2017-01-01

    In the following conversation, conducted asynchronously through email, three current and former editors discuss the role of publishing in creating a disciplinary identity. Speaking from the academic (Villanueva), digital (Selfe), and community (Parks), and, often crossing these three categories, the editors discuss how the field has failed to…

  7. Research Reporting Guidelines in Dentistry: A Survey of Editors.

    PubMed

    Sarkis-Onofre, Rafael; Cenci, Maximiliano Sérgio; Moher, David; Pereira-Cenci, Tatiana

    2017-01-01

    The use of reporting guidelines has an important role in the development of health research, improving the quality and precision of the publications. This study evaluated how dental journals use reporting guidelines. All editors of dental journals registered on the 2013 Journal Citation Reports list (n=81) were invited to participate. The data were collected by a self-reported web-based questionnaire. Information about the profile of journal/editor and on the use of reporting guidelines by journals was gathered. Information/recommendations about the use of reporting guidelines were collected from the websites of all journals. Data were descriptively analyzed and frequencies were summarized. Thirty-four (42%) editors completed the questionnaire. Most journals are members of Committee on Publication Ethics (64.7%) and/or follow the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors recommendations (20.6%), while 26.5% are not members of any editorial group. Most editors are unfamiliar with the EQUATOR Network (55.9%), do not work full time (85.3%) and 88.2% have some income/payment. Most of them received educational training for this position (55.9%). The CONSORT Statement was endorsed by 61.8% of journals. Information from websites showed that 44.4% journals do not recommend any reporting guideline, 51.9% mention CONSORT Statement in the website and 28.4% only recommend the use of CONSORT Statement. There is clearly room for improving the use of reporting guidelines in dental journals. Broadening the understanding and the endorsement/adherence/implementation of reporting guidelines by journals may promote quality and transparence of published dental research.

  8. From the Board of Editors: on Plagiarism

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    2005-03-01

    Dear Colleagues: There has been a significant increase in the number of duplicate submissions and plagiarism cases reported in all major journals, including the journals of the Optical Society of America. Duplicate submissions and plagiarism can take many forms, and all of them are violations of professional ethics, the copyright agreement that an author signs along with the submission of a paper, and OSA's published Author Guidelines. There must be a significant component of new science for a paper to be publishable. The copying of large segments of text from previously published or in-press papers with only minor cosmetic changes is not acceptable and can lead to the rejection of papers. Duplicate submission is the most common ethics violation encountered. Duplicate submission is the submission of substantially similar papers to more than one journal. There is a misperception in a small fraction of the scientific community that duplicate submission is acceptable because it sometimes takes a long time to get a paper reviewed and because one of the papers can be withdrawn at any time. This is a clear violation of professional ethics and of the copyright agreement that is signed on submission. Duplicate submission harms the whole community because editors and reviewers waste their time and in the process compound the time it takes to get a paper reviewed for all authors. In cases of duplicate submission, the Editor of the affected OSA journal will consult with the Editor of the other journal involved to determine the proper course of action. Often that action will be the rejection of both papers. Plagiarism: Plagiarism is a serious breach of ethics and is defined as the substantial replication, without attribution, of significant elements of another document already published by the same or other authors. Two types of plagiarism can occur-self-plagiarism and plagiarism from others' works. Self-plagiarism is the publication of substantially similar scientific content

  9. lais de prise en charge des syndromes coronariens aigus avec sus-décalage du segment ST à Ouagadougou et facteurs associés à un allongement de ces délais: étude transversale à propos de 43 cas colligés au CHU-Yalgado Ouédraogo

    PubMed Central

    Yameogo, Nobila Valentin; Samadoulougou, André; Millogo, Georges; Kologo, Koudougou Jonas; Kombassere, Karim; Toguyeni, Boubacar Jean Yves; Zabsonre, Patrice

    2012-01-01

    La prise en charge de l'infarctus du myocarde est une course contre la montre et les trois premières heures constituent les « golden hours ». Les objectifs de ce travail étaient de déterminer le délai de prise en charge des infarctus du myocarde du myocarde au Burkina Faso, les facteurs liés à un allongement du délai et le pronostic des patients. Il s'agit d'une étude transversale descriptive menée de Septembre 2010 à Août 2011. Le critère d'inclusion était l'infarctus du myocarde dont le diagnostic était basé sur des critères clinique (douleur angineuse), électrocardiographique (sus-décalage persistant du segment ST dans au moins deux dérivations contiguës du même territoire coronaire, onde Q de nécrose) et biologique (élévation de la troponine). Les informations relatives au délai de prise en charge ont été recueillies: début du premier symptôme, contact avec le premier agent de santé et le cardiologue, nombre de centre de santé consulté avant le transfert en cardiologie, situation géographique des patients, moyen de transport utilisé. Les données ont été analysées grâce au logiciel SPSS version 17. Durant la période d’étude, 43 patients d’âge moyen de 56,51 ± 12,91 ans ont été admis pour infarctus du myocarde. Plus de la moitié des patients (72,0%) habitait Ouagadougou et sa banlieue. Le délai moyen entre le début de la douleur et la consultation dans la première structure sanitaire était de 48 ± 20,8 heures; celui entre le début de la douleur et la réalisation du premier ECG était en moyenne de 8,6 ±4,5 jours. Le délai entre la réalisation de l'ECG et l'admission dans le service de cardiologie était de 4,35 ±4,0 jours [00 heure et 13 jours]. Le délai entre l'admission dans le service de cardiologie et la thrombolyse était de 34 minutes. Enfin le délai entre le début de la douleur et le contact avec le cardiologue était de 9,6±3,5 jours. Il n'y avait pas de différence statiquement

  10. EDITORIAL: Editorial from the new Editor-in-Chief for 2014 Editorial from the new Editor-in-Chief for 2014

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Graham, W. G.

    2014-02-01

    I am honoured to take on the leadership of Plasma Sources Science and Technology (PSST) as the successor to Professor Mark J Kushner, with whom I have had the pleasure to work on the journal for many years. Under Mark's insightful and energetic leadership over the last six years, PSST has cemented its position as the journal of choice within its subject area and is now one of the most successful journals in the field. In this first issue of 2014, I would like to reflect on some of the events and achievements of 2013. At the start of the year the PSST Editorial Board, recognizing the vital importance of atomic, molecular and optical (AMO) data to low-temperature plasma physics, agreed that PSST would accept papers reporting such new data, generated through both experiment and theory. Jonathan Tennyson joined the Editorial Board to represent this area. In March Anne Bourdon joined the Associate Editor team and has since then played a key part in the journal's review process alongside our other Editors. During the autumn, PSST moved to a new editorial management system. In December Deborah O'Connell was awarded the 2013 Hershkowitz Early Career Award and Review and joins the Editorial Board as of 2014. I would also like to thank Miles Turner for his work in leading the drafting of a guide on the details necessary in the reporting of the results of computer simulations; the main conclusions of this report have been incorporated into the journal policy. Overall 2013 has been another successful year for PSST; paper submissions were up by 8% on the previous year and there was the highest ever number of downloads of PSST papers in one year. Another noteworthy feature of 2013 was the continuing improvement in publication times while maintaining our high standards for acceptance and providing expert feedback coupled with encouragement particularly to younger researchers and groups. Largely as a result of the hard work of our referees and Associate Editors, the average time

  11. Preparing Students To Work on Newspaper Copy Desks: Are Educators Meeting Editors' Expectations?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Auman, Ann E.; Cook, Betsy B.

    A study surveyed two groups in the fall of 1994, journalism educators and newspaper editors. Educators completed a survey regarding the course content and skill areas emphasized in beginning level copy editing courses, while editors were asked to respond to questions regarding the skills they expect entry-level copy editors to have. Respondents…

  12. Newspaper Ethics and Managing Editors: The Evolution of APME's Code.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    De Mott, John

    A review of the 42-year development of the professional code of ethics of the Associated Press Managing Editors (APME) demonstrates an effort to elevate newspaper ethical standards around the country. Following the example of the American Society of Newspaper Editors in establishing its "Canons of Journalism" in 1923, the APME formed a…

  13. The Introductory Psychology Textbook Market: Perceptions of Authors and Editors.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Griggs, Richard A.; Jackson, Sherri L.

    1989-01-01

    Surveys psychology textbook authors and editors on their perceptions of the introductory psychology textbook market. Finds that the textbook market is divided into three levels according to quality, and that authors and editors are not familiar with most textbooks. Notes that the growth of used book companies has adversely affected the market.…

  14. Greetings from the new Editor-in-Chief, Ronald Stambaugh Greetings from the new Editor-in-Chief, Ronald Stambaugh

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stambaugh, Ronald

    2012-04-01

    I am very pleased to join the outstanding leadership team for the journal Nuclear Fusion as Scientific Editor. The journal's high position in the field of fusion energy research derives in no small measure from the efforts of the IAEA team in Vienna, the production and marketing of IOP Publishing, the Board of Editors led by its chairman Mitsuru Kikuchi, the Associate Editor for Inertial Confinement Max Tabak and the outgoing Scientific Editor, Paul Thomas. During Paul's five year tenure submissions have grown by over 40%. The usage of the electronic journal has grown year by year with about 300 000 full text downloads of Nuclear Fusion articles in 2011, an impressive figure due in part to the launch of the full 50 year archive. High quality has been maintained while times for peer review and publishing have been reduced and the journal achieved some of the highest impact factors ever (as high as 4.27). The journal has contributed greatly to building the international scientific basis for fusion. I was privileged to serve from 2003 to 2010 as chairman of the Coordinating Committee for the International Tokamak Physics Activity (ITPA) which published in Nuclear Fusion the first ITER Physics Basis (1999) and its later update (2007). The scientific basis that has been developed to date for fusion has led to the construction of major facilities to demonstrate the production of power-plant relevant levels of fusion reactions. We look forward to the journal continuing to play a key role in the international effort toward fusion energy as these exciting major facilities and the various approaches to fusion continue to be developed. It is clear that Nuclear Fusion maintains its position in the field because of the perceived high quality of the submissions, the refereeing and the editorial processes, and the availability and utility of the online journal. The creation of the Nuclear Fusion Prize, led by the Board of Editors chairman Mitsuru Kikuchi, for the most outstanding

  15. Practical field methods of estimating canopy cover, PAR, and LAI in Michigan Oak and pine stands

    Treesearch

    David S. Buckley; J.G. Isebrands; Terry L. Sharik

    1999-01-01

    With the increased use of variables such as canopy cover photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and overstory leaf area index (LAI) in forestry research, relationships between these variables and traditional forestry variables must be defined before recommended levels of these research variables can be achieved by forestry practitioners on the ground. We measured...

  16. Editor and authors' psychology and the chance of teaching.

    PubMed

    Grammaticos, Philip C

    2006-01-01

    It is the duty of the editor to communicate with the authors who submit their scientific work for publication. The question arises as to the best way to perform this communication. The goal is to publish papers that would make their authors proud and the readers of the journal, satisfied. This goal is expressed with honesty, kindness, politeness, diplomacy and when the editor communicated with authors from other Countries, the advice of a person familiar with the traditions of these Countries may be welcome. The unpleasant editor's duty to inform the authors of their paper being rejected, can be expressed either by writing a brief straight forward letter or by giving a more detailed answer or finally, by explaining to the authors their errors in a detailed manner, in other words, by giving them advice and consultation. In his reply to the authors whose paper has been rejected, the editor may touch a sensitive part of their behavior. Authors may consider their paper as "their intellectual child". Some times authors make unacceptable mistakes that may or may not be revealed by the reviewers. Explaining in detail errors and thus counseling the authors, is hard work for the editor but not always appreciated by the authors. The value of counseling and teaching has been emphasized even by ancient philosophers but nowadays enthusiasm in learning is sometimes lacking. Is there a solution to the above? Perhaps if "the instructions to authors" of a journal specified clearly the "submission terms" for accepting a paper for publication, then the authors could be self-evaluated and perhaps all parties concerned would be happier.

  17. Core competencies for scientific editors of biomedical journals: consensus statement.

    PubMed

    Moher, David; Galipeau, James; Alam, Sabina; Barbour, Virginia; Bartolomeos, Kidist; Baskin, Patricia; Bell-Syer, Sally; Cobey, Kelly D; Chan, Leighton; Clark, Jocalyn; Deeks, Jonathan; Flanagin, Annette; Garner, Paul; Glenny, Anne-Marie; Groves, Trish; Gurusamy, Kurinchi; Habibzadeh, Farrokh; Jewell-Thomas, Stefanie; Kelsall, Diane; Lapeña, José Florencio; MacLehose, Harriet; Marusic, Ana; McKenzie, Joanne E; Shah, Jay; Shamseer, Larissa; Straus, Sharon; Tugwell, Peter; Wager, Elizabeth; Winker, Margaret; Zhaori, Getu

    2017-09-11

    Scientific editors are responsible for deciding which articles to publish in their journals. However, we have not found documentation of their required knowledge, skills, and characteristics, or the existence of any formal core competencies for this role. We describe the development of a minimum set of core competencies for scientific editors of biomedical journals. The 14 key core competencies are divided into three major areas, and each competency has a list of associated elements or descriptions of more specific knowledge, skills, and characteristics that contribute to its fulfillment. We believe that these core competencies are a baseline of the knowledge, skills, and characteristics needed to perform competently the duties of a scientific editor at a biomedical journal.

  18. How Non-Daily Editors Describe Status and Function of Editorial Pages.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hynds, Ernest C.; Martin, Charles H.

    1979-01-01

    Results of a survey of 359 editors of nondaily newspapers indicates that most nondaily editors see their editorials and editorial pages as important segments of their newspapers and believe they can use them to help influence readers, particularly on local issues. (Author/GT)

  19. Editorial Page Editors and Endorsements: Chain-owned vs. Independent Newspapers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    St. Dizier, Byron

    Questionnaires were sent to 114 of the 228 editorial page editors at newspapers in the United States with daily circulations greater than 50,000 for a study that compared (1) the editor-publisher relationship existing at chains to that found at independent papers, and (2) the 1984 presidential endorsements made by chains to those by independent…

  20. MODIS land cover and LAI collection 4 product quality across nine states in the western hemisphere.

    Treesearch

    Warren B. Cohen; Thomas K. Maiersperger; David P. Turner; William D. Ritts; Dirk Pflugmacher; Robert E. Kennedy; Alan Kirschbaum; Steven W. Running; Marcos Costa; Stith T. Gower

    2006-01-01

    Global maps of land cover and leaf area index (LAI) derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) reflectance data are an important resource in studies of global change, but errors in these must be characterized and well understood. Product validation requires careful scaling from ground and related measurements to a grain commensurate with MODIS...

  1. Statement on Publication Ethics for Editors and Publishers.

    PubMed

    Gasparyan, Armen Yuri; Yessirkepov, Marlen; Voronov, Alexander A; Gorin, Sergey V; Koroleva, Anna M; Kitas, George D

    2016-09-01

    The digitization and related developments in journal editing and publishing necessitate increasing the awareness of all stakeholders of science communication in the emerging global problems and possible solutions. Journal editors and publishers are frequently encountered with the fast-growing problems of authorship, conflicts of interest, peer review, research misconduct, unethical citations, and inappropriate journal impact metrics. While the number of erroneous and unethical research papers and wasteful, or 'predatory', journals is increasing exponentially, responsible editors are urged to 'clean' the literature by correcting or retracting related articles. Indexers are advised to implement measures for accepting truly influential and ethical journals and delisting sources with predatory publishing practices. Updating knowledge and skills of authors, editors and publishers, developing and endorsing recommendations of global editorial associations, and (re)drafting journal instructions can be viewed as potential tools for improving ethics of academic journals. The aim of this Statement is to increase awareness of all stakeholders of science communication of the emerging ethical issues in journal editing and publishing and initiate a campaign of upgrading and enforcing related journal instructions.

  2. Statement on Publication Ethics for Editors and Publishers

    PubMed Central

    2016-01-01

    The digitization and related developments in journal editing and publishing necessitate increasing the awareness of all stakeholders of science communication in the emerging global problems and possible solutions. Journal editors and publishers are frequently encountered with the fast-growing problems of authorship, conflicts of interest, peer review, research misconduct, unethical citations, and inappropriate journal impact metrics. While the number of erroneous and unethical research papers and wasteful, or 'predatory', journals is increasing exponentially, responsible editors are urged to 'clean' the literature by correcting or retracting related articles. Indexers are advised to implement measures for accepting truly influential and ethical journals and delisting sources with predatory publishing practices. Updating knowledge and skills of authors, editors and publishers, developing and endorsing recommendations of global editorial associations, and (re)drafting journal instructions can be viewed as potential tools for improving ethics of academic journals. The aim of this Statement is to increase awareness of all stakeholders of science communication of the emerging ethical issues in journal editing and publishing and initiate a campaign of upgrading and enforcing related journal instructions. PMID:27510376

  3. Challenges in Diagnosis and Management of Serotonin Syndrome in A Patient with Schizophrenia Treated with A LAI Antipsychotic

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2017-05-20

    Syndrome in A Patient With Schizophrenia Treated with A LAJ Antipsychotic presented at/published to 2017 American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting...OR PRESENTED: Challenges in Diagnosis and Management of Serotonin Syndrome in a Patient With Schizophrenia Treated With a LAI Antipsychotic 7

  4. R. E. (Ted) Munn — Founding editor; a mini-biography

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Taylor, Peter; Thomas, Morley; Truhlar, Ed; Whelpdale, Doug

    1996-02-01

    Ted Munn founded Boundary-Layer Meteorology in 1970 and served as Editor for 75 volumes over a 25 year period. This short article briefly reviews Ted's scientific career with the Atmospheric Environment Service (of Canada), the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria and with the Institute of Environmental Studies at the University of Toronto, and as editor of this journal.

  5. Comparison of satellite-derived LAI and precipitation anomalies over Brazil with a thermal infrared-based Evaporative Stress Index for 2003-2013

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Anderson, Martha C.; Zolin, Cornelio A.; Hain, Christopher R.; Semmens, Kathryn; Tugrul Yilmaz, M.; Gao, Feng

    2015-07-01

    Shortwave vegetation index (VI) and leaf area index (LAI) remote sensing products yield inconsistent depictions of biophysical response to drought and pluvial events that have occurred in Brazil over the past decade. Conflicting reports of severity of drought impacts on vegetation health and functioning have been attributed to cloud and aerosol contamination of shortwave reflectance composites, particularly over the rainforested regions of the Amazon basin which are subject to prolonged periods of cloud cover and episodes of intense biomass burning. This study compares timeseries of satellite-derived maps of LAI from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and precipitation from the Tropical Rainfall Mapping Mission (TRMM) with a diagnostic Evaporative Stress Index (ESI) retrieved using thermal infrared remote sensing over South America for the period 2003-2013. This period includes several severe droughts and floods that occurred both over the Amazon and over unforested savanna and agricultural areas in Brazil. Cross-correlations between absolute values and standardized anomalies in monthly LAI and precipitation composites as well as the actual-to-reference evapotranspiration (ET) ratio used in the ESI were computed for representative forested and agricultural regions. The correlation analyses reveal strong apparent anticorrelation between MODIS LAI and TRMM precipitation anomalies over the Amazon, but better coupling over regions vegetated with shorter grass and crop canopies. The ESI was more consistently correlated with precipitation patterns over both landcover types. Temporal comparisons between ESI and TRMM anomalies suggest longer moisture buffering timescales in the deeper rooted rainforest systems. Diagnostic thermal-based retrievals of ET and ET anomalies, such as used in the ESI, provide independent information on the impacts of extreme hydrologic events on vegetation health in comparison with VI and precipitation-based drought

  6. Scaling Sap Flow Results Over Wide Areas Using High-Resolution Aerial Multispectral Digital Imaging, Leaf Area Index (LAI) and MODIS Satellite Imagery in Saltcedar Stands on the Lower Colorado River

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Murray, R.; Neale, C.; Nagler, P. L.; Glenn, E. P.

    2008-12-01

    Heat-balance sap flow sensors provide direct estimates of water movement through plant stems and can be used to accurately measure leaf-level transpiration (EL) and stomatal conductance (GS) over time scales ranging from 20-minutes to a month or longer in natural stands of plants. However, their use is limited to relatively small branches on shrubs or trees, as the gauged stem section needs to be uniformly heated by the heating coil to produce valid measurements. This presents a scaling problem in applying the results to whole plants, stands of plants, and larger landscape areas. We used high-resolution aerial multispectral digital imaging with green, red and NIR bands as a bridge between ground measurements of EL and GS, and MODIS satellite imagery of a flood plain on the Lower Colorado River dominated by saltcedar (Tamarix ramosissima). Saltcedar is considered to be a high-water-use plant, and saltcedar removal programs have been proposed to salvage water. Hence, knowledge of actual saltcedar ET rates is needed on western U.S. rivers. Scaling EL and GS to large landscape units requires knowledge of leaf area index (LAI) over large areas. We used a LAI model developed for riparian habitats on Bosque del Apache, New Mexico, to estimate LAI at our study site on the Colorado River. We compared the model estimates to ground measurements of LAI, determined with a Li-Cor LAI-2000 Plant Canopy Analyzer calibrated by leaf harvesting to determine Specific Leaf Area (SLA) (m2 leaf area per g dry weight leaves) of the different species on the floodplain. LAI could be adequately predicted from NDVI from aerial multispectral imagery and could be cross-calibrated with MODIS NDVI and EVI. Hence, we were able to project point measurements of sap flow and LAI over multiple years and over large areas of floodplain using aerial multispectral imagery as a bridge between ground and satellite data. The methods are applicable to riparian corridors throughout the western U.S.

  7. Differential patterns of replacement and reactive fibrosis in pressure and volume overload are related to the propensity for ischaemia and involve resistin

    PubMed Central

    Chemaly, Elie R; Kang, Soojeong; Zhang, Shihong; McCollum, LaTronya; Chen, Jiqiu; Bénard, Ludovic; Purushothaman, K-Raman; Hajjar, Roger J; Lebeche, Djamel

    2013-01-01

    Pathological left ventricle (LV) hypertrophy (LVH) results in reactive and replacement fibrosis. Volume overload LVH (VOH) is less profibrotic than pressure overload LVH (POH). Studies attribute subendocardial fibrosis in POH to ischaemia, and reduced fibrosis in VOH to collagen degradation favouring dilatation. However, the mechanical origin of the relative lack of fibrosis in VOH is incompletely understood. We hypothesized that reduced ischaemia propensity in VOH compared to POH accounted for the reduced replacement fibrosis, along with reduced reactive fibrosis. Rats with POH (ascending aortic banding) evolved into either compensated-concentric POH (POH-CLVH) or dilated cardiomyopathy (POH-DCM); they were compared to VOH (aorta–caval fistula). We quantified LV fibrosis, structural and haemodynamic factors of ischaemia propensity, and the activation of profibrotic pathways. Fibrosis in POH-DCM was severe, subendocardial and subepicardial, in contrast with subendocardial fibrosis in POH-CLVH and nearly no fibrosis in VOH. The propensity for ischaemia was more important in POH versus VOH, explaining different patterns of replacement fibrosis. LV collagen synthesis and maturation, and matrix metalloproteinase-2 expression, were more important in POH. The angiotensin II-transforming growth-factor β axis was enhanced in POH, and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) was overexpressed in all types of LVH. LV resistin expression was markedly elevated in POH, mildly elevated in VOH and independently reflected chronic ischaemic injury after myocardial infarction. In vitro, resistin is induced by angiotensin II and induces CTGF in cardiomyocytes. Based on these findings, we conclude that a reduced ischaemia propensity and attenuated upstream reactive fibrotic pathways account for the attenuated fibrosis in VOH versus POH. PMID:24018949

  8. Ethical dilemmas in scientific publication: pitfalls and solutions for editors.

    PubMed

    Gollogly, Laragh; Momen, Hooman

    2006-08-01

    Editors of scientific journals need to be conversant with the mechanisms by which scientific misconduct is amplified by publication practices. This paper provides definitions, ways to document the extent of the problem, and examples of editorial attempts to counter fraud. Fabrication, falsification, duplication, ghost authorship, gift authorship, lack of ethics approval, non-disclosure, 'salami' publication, conflicts of interest, auto-citation, duplicate submission, duplicate publications, and plagiarism are common problems. Editorial misconduct includes failure to observe due process, undue delay in reaching decisions and communicating these to authors, inappropriate review procedures, and confounding a journal's content with its advertising or promotional potential. Editors also can be admonished by their peers for failure to investigate suspected misconduct, failure to retract when indicated, and failure to abide voluntarily by the six main sources of relevant international guidelines on research, its reporting and editorial practice. Editors are in a good position to promulgate reasonable standards of practice, and can start by using consensus guidelines on publication ethics to state explicitly how their journals function. Reviewers, editors, authors and readers all then have a better chance to understand, and abide by, the rules of publishing.

  9. LAI, FAPAR and FCOVER products derived from AVHRR long time series: principles and evaluation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Verger, A.; Baret, F.; Weiss, M.; Lacaze, R.; Makhmara, H.; Pacholczyk, P.; Smets, B.; Kandasamy, S.; Vermote, E.

    2012-04-01

    Continuous and long term global monitoring of the terrestrial biosphere has draught an intense interest in the recent years in the context of climate and global change. Developing methodologies for generating historical data records from data collected with different satellite sensors over the past three decades by taking benefits from the improvements identified in the processing of the new generation sensors is a new central issue in remote sensing community. In this context, the Bio-geophysical Parameters (BioPar) service within Geoland2 project (http://www.geoland2.eu) aims at developing pre-operational infrastructures for providing global land products both in near real time and off-line mode with long time series. In this contribution, we describe the principles of the GEOLAND algorithm for generating long term datasets of three key biophysical variables, leaf area index (LAI), Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetic Active Radiation (FAPAR) and cover fraction (FCOVER), that play a key role in several processes, including photosynthesis, respiration and transpiration. LAI, FAPAR and FCOVER are produced globally from AVHRR Long Term Data Record (LTDR) for the 1981-2000 period at 0.05° spatial resolution and 10 days temporal sampling frequency. The proposed algorithm aims to ensure robustness of the derived long time series and consistency with the ones developed in the recent years, and particularly with GEOLAND products derived from VEGETATION sensor. The approach is based on the capacity of neural networks to learn a particular biophysical product (GEOLAND) from reflectances from another sensor (AVHRR normalized reflectances in the red and near infrared bands). Outliers due to possible cloud contamination or residual atmospheric correction are iteratively eliminated. Prior information based on the climatology is used to get more robust estimates. A specific gap filing and smoothing procedure was applied to generate continuous and smooth time series of decadal

  10. Transferable Output ASCII Data (TOAD) editor version 1.0 user's guide

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bingel, Bradford D.; Shea, Anne L.; Hofler, Alicia S.

    1991-01-01

    The Transferable Output ASCII Data (TOAD) editor is an interactive software tool for manipulating the contents of TOAD files. The TOAD editor is specifically designed to work with tabular data. Selected subsets of data may be displayed to the user's screen, sorted, exchanged, duplicated, removed, replaced, inserted, or transferred to and from external files. It also offers a number of useful features including on-line help, macros, a command history, an 'undo' option, variables, and a full compliment of mathematical functions and conversion factors. Written in ANSI FORTRAN 77 and completely self-contained, the TOAD editor is very portable and has already been installed on SUN, SGI/IRIS, and CONVEX hosts.

  11. Line-Editor Computer Program

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Scott, Peter J.

    1989-01-01

    ZED editing program for DEC VAX computer simple, powerful line editor for text, program source code, and nonbinary data. Excels in processing of text by use of procedure files. Also features versatile search qualifiers, global changes, conditionals, online help, hexadecimal mode, space compression, looping, logical combinations of search strings, journaling, visible control characters, and automatic detabbing. Users of Cambridge implementation devised such ZED procedures as chess games, calculators, and programs for evaluating pi. Written entirely in C.

  12. From the Board of Editors: on Plagiarism

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    2005-04-01

    Dear Colleagues: There has been a significant increase in the number of duplicate submissions and plagiarism cases reported in all major journals, including the journals of the Optical Society of America. Duplicate submissions and plagiarism can take many forms, and all of them are violations of professional ethics, the copyright agreement that an author signs along with the submission of a paper, and OSA's published Author Guidelines. There must be a significant component of new science for a paper to be publishable. The copying of large segments of text from previously published or in-press papers with only minor cosmetic changes is not acceptable and can lead to the rejection of papers. Duplicate submission: Duplicate submission is the most common ethics violation encountered. Duplicate submission is the submission of substantially similar papers to more than one journal. There is a misperception in a small fraction of the scientific community that duplicate submission is acceptable because it sometimes takes a long time to get a paper reviewed and because one of the papers can be withdrawn at any time. This is a clear violation of professional ethics and of the copyright agreement that is signed on submission. Duplicate submission harms the whole community because editors and reviewers waste their time and in the process compound the time it takes to get a paper reviewed for all authors. In cases of duplicate submission, the Editor of the affected OSA journal will consult with the Editor of the other journal involved to determine the proper course of action. Often that action will be the rejection of both papers. Plagiarism: Plagiarism is a serious breach of ethics and is defined as the substantial replication, without attribution, of significant elements of another document already published by the same or other authors. Two types of plagiarism can occur-self-plagiarism and plagiarism from others' works. Self-plagiarism is the publication of substantially

  13. From the Board of Editors: on Plagiarism

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    2005-05-01

    Dear Colleagues: There has been a significant increase in the number of duplicate submissions and plagiarism cases reported in all major journals, including the journals of the Optical Society of America. Duplicate submissions and plagiarism can take many forms, and all of them are violations of professional ethics, the copyright agreement that an author signs along with the submission of a paper, and OSA's published Author Guidelines. There must be a significant component of new science for a paper to be publishable. The copying of large segments of text from previously published or in-press papers with only minor cosmetic changes is not acceptable and can lead to the rejection of papers. Duplicate submission: Duplicate submission is the most common ethics violation encountered. Duplicate submission is the submission of substantially similar papers to more than one journal. There is a misperception in a small fraction of the scientific community that duplicate submission is acceptable because it sometimes takes a long time to get a paper reviewed and because one of the papers can be withdrawn at any time. This is a clear violation of professional ethics and of the copyright agreement that is signed on submission. Duplicate submission harms the whole community because editors and reviewers waste their time and in the process compound the time it takes to get a paper reviewed for all authors. In cases of duplicate submission, the Editor of the affected OSA journal will consult with the Editor of the other journal involved to determine the proper course of action. Often that action will be the rejection of both papers. Plagiarism: Plagiarism is a serious breach of ethics and is defined as the substantial replication, without attribution, of significant elements of another document already published by the same or other authors. Two types of plagiarism can occur-self-plagiarism and plagiarism from others' works. Self-plagiarism is the publication of substantially

  14. 29 CFR 793.11 - Combination announcer, news editor and chief engineer.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Combination announcer, news editor and chief engineer. 793...)(9) OF THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT Requirements for Exemption § 793.11 Combination announcer, news... as a news editor. In such cases, the primary employment test under the section 13(b)(9) exemption...

  15. 29 CFR 793.11 - Combination announcer, news editor and chief engineer.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Combination announcer, news editor and chief engineer. 793...)(9) OF THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT Requirements for Exemption § 793.11 Combination announcer, news... as a news editor. In such cases, the primary employment test under the section 13(b)(9) exemption...

  16. 29 CFR 793.11 - Combination announcer, news editor and chief engineer.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Combination announcer, news editor and chief engineer. 793...)(9) OF THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT Requirements for Exemption § 793.11 Combination announcer, news... as a news editor. In such cases, the primary employment test under the section 13(b)(9) exemption...

  17. STARLSE -- Starlink Extensions to the VAX Language Sensitive Editor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Warren-Smith, R. F.

    STARLSE is a ``Starlink Sensitive'' editor based on the VAX Language Sensitive Editor (LSE). It exploits the extensibility of LSE to provide additional features which assist in the writing of portable Fortran 77 software with a standard Starlink style. STARLSE is intended mainly for use by those writing ADAM applications and subroutine libraries for distribution as part of the Starlink Software Collection, although it may also be suitable for other software projects. It is designed to integrate with the SST (Simple Software Tools) package.

  18. Thanks to outgoing Associate Editors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lichti, Derek D.; Weng, Qihao

    2018-04-01

    As of the end of December 2017, Professors Eberhard Gülch, Olaf Hellwich, Minho Kim, and Lalit Kumar have retired as Associate Editors of the ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Our Journal's readership has benefited greatly from their longstanding commitment to their editorial duties. Both Profs. Gülch and Hellwich began their service to the Journal in 2007, while Profs. Kumar and Kim began in 2012 and 2014, respectively. In their many years as editors, they have witnessed the incredible growth of the Journal in terms of the number of papers submitted and published as well as the impact factor. Thanks to their high standards for paper quality and rigorous peer review, these professors have been important contributors to the Journal's current high standing. They were very versatile in terms of the scope of papers they could handle. Eberhard handled papers in photogrammetry, terrain modelling and geographic information systems (GIS) while Olaf handled papers in radar, computer vision and GIS. Both Lalit and Minho handled papers in optical remote sensing. On behalf of the Journal and the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, we thank them for many years of dedicated service to the Journal.

  19. Letters to the Editor: Public Writing as a Response to Reading.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rinehammer, Nora

    A study conducted by the copy editor of a small daily newspaper in Porter County, Indiana examines readers' motivations for writing letters to the editor. Analysis was based on letters that appeared in "The Vidette Messenger" September 16-30, 1992. Of 75 letters, 32 were responses to information published in the paper during the last 2…

  20. [Qijie theory of LAI's Tongyuan acupuncture technique].

    PubMed

    Zhuang, Juanjuan; Wang, Jihong; Lai, Xinsheng

    2016-05-01

    Qijie theory is one of the important components of TCM meridian and collateral system. It is the shortcut for the communication from the exterior to the interior and for the transverse connection, strengthens the therapeutic effects of acupuncture and moxibustion on the disorders of internal organs and enlarges the indications of acupoints. Professor LAI Xinsheng originally creats Tongyuan acupuncture technique. It is a kind of acupuncture therapeutic methods, including promoting the circulation of the governor vessel, regulating the mind and conducting qi to the origin. In order to analyze the connection between Tongyuan acupuncture technique and traditional meridian and collateral theory, the connotations of Tongyuan acupuncture technique and qijie, as well as the in-terrelationship between them are taken as the basis in the paper. By tracing the literature records, the original concept of qijie is detected. Through proving clinically Tongyuan acupuncture technique, it is revealed that qijie is the arrowhead on the main road of meridian qi circulation and is the essential connotation of the direct path of the body surface connecting with the deep layers of the body as well as the zangfu organs and tissues. It is summarized that the traditional qijie theory provides the powerful theoretic evidence for the treatment with Tongyuan acupuncture technique.

  1. Correction of β-thalassemia mutant by base editor in human embryos.

    PubMed

    Liang, Puping; Ding, Chenhui; Sun, Hongwei; Xie, Xiaowei; Xu, Yanwen; Zhang, Xiya; Sun, Ying; Xiong, Yuanyan; Ma, Wenbin; Liu, Yongxiang; Wang, Yali; Fang, Jianpei; Liu, Dan; Songyang, Zhou; Zhou, Canquan; Huang, Junjiu

    2017-11-01

    β-Thalassemia is a global health issue, caused by mutations in the HBB gene. Among these mutations, HBB -28 (A>G) mutations is one of the three most common mutations in China and Southeast Asia patients with β-thalassemia. Correcting this mutation in human embryos may prevent the disease being passed onto future generations and cure anemia. Here we report the first study using base editor (BE) system to correct disease mutant in human embryos. Firstly, we produced a 293T cell line with an exogenous HBB -28 (A>G) mutant fragment for gRNAs and targeting efficiency evaluation. Then we collected primary skin fibroblast cells from a β-thalassemia patient with HBB -28 (A>G) homozygous mutation. Data showed that base editor could precisely correct HBB -28 (A>G) mutation in the patient's primary cells. To model homozygous mutation disease embryos, we constructed nuclear transfer embryos by fusing the lymphocyte or skin fibroblast cells with enucleated in vitro matured (IVM) oocytes. Notably, the gene correction efficiency was over 23.0% in these embryos by base editor. Although these embryos were still mosaic, the percentage of repaired blastomeres was over 20.0%. In addition, we found that base editor variants, with narrowed deamination window, could promote G-to-A conversion at HBB -28 site precisely in human embryos. Collectively, this study demonstrated the feasibility of curing genetic disease in human somatic cells and embryos by base editor system.

  2. A "Situational" and "Coorientational" Measure of Specialized Magazine Editors' Perceptions of Readers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jeffers, Dennis W.

    A study was undertaken of specialized magazine editors' perceptions of audience characteristics as well as the perceived role of their publications. Specifically, the study examines the relationship between the editors' perceptions of reader problem recognition, level of involvement, constraint recognition, and possession of reference criteria and…

  3. Access, quality, and costs of care at physician owned hospitals in the United States: observational study.

    PubMed

    Blumenthal, Daniel M; Orav, E John; Jena, Anupam B; Dudzinski, David M; Le, Sidney T; Jha, Ashish K

    2015-09-02

    To compare physician owned hospitals (POHs) with non-POHs on metrics around patient populations, quality of care, costs, and payments. Observational study. Acute care hospitals in 95 hospital referral regions in the United States, 2010. 2186 US acute care hospitals (219 POHs and 1967 non-POHs). Proportions of patients using Medicaid and those from ethnic and racial minority groups; hospital performance on patient experience metrics, care processes, risk adjusted 30 day mortality, and readmission rates; costs of care; care payments; and Medicare market share. The 219 POHs were more often small (<100 beds), for profit, and in urban areas. 120 of these POHs were general (non-specialty) hospitals. Compared with patients from non-POHs, those from POHs were younger (77.4 v 78.4 years, P<0.001), less likely to be admitted through an emergency department (23.2% v. 29.0%, P<0.001), equally likely to be black (5.1% v 5.5%, P=0.85) or to use Medicaid (14.9% v 15.4%, P=0.75), and had similar numbers of chronic diseases and predicted mortality scores. POHs and non-POHs performed similarly on patient experience scores, processes of care, risk adjusted 30 day mortality, 30 day readmission rates, costs, and payments for acute myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, and pneumonia. Although POHs may treat slightly healthier patients, they do not seem to systematically select more profitable or less disadvantaged patients or to provide lower value care. © Blumenthal et al 2015.

  4. The XML Metadata Editor of GFZ Data Services

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ulbricht, Damian; Elger, Kirsten; Tesei, Telemaco; Trippanera, Daniele

    2017-04-01

    Following the FAIR data principles, research data should be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reuseable. Publishing data under these principles requires to assign persistent identifiers to the data and to generate rich machine-actionable metadata. To increase the interoperability, metadata should include shared vocabularies and crosslink the newly published (meta)data and related material. However, structured metadata formats tend to be complex and are not intended to be generated by individual scientists. Software solutions are needed that support scientists in providing metadata describing their data. To facilitate data publication activities of 'GFZ Data Services', we programmed an XML metadata editor that assists scientists to create metadata in different schemata popular in the earth sciences (ISO19115, DIF, DataCite), while being at the same time usable by and understandable for scientists. Emphasis is placed on removing barriers, in particular the editor is publicly available on the internet without registration [1] and the scientists are not requested to provide information that may be generated automatically (e.g. the URL of a specific licence or the contact information of the metadata distributor). Metadata are stored in browser cookies and a copy can be saved to the local hard disk. To improve usability, form fields are translated into the scientific language, e.g. 'creators' of the DataCite schema are called 'authors'. To assist filling in the form, we make use of drop down menus for small vocabulary lists and offer a search facility for large thesauri. Explanations to form fields and definitions of vocabulary terms are provided in pop-up windows and a full documentation is available for download via the help menu. In addition, multiple geospatial references can be entered via an interactive mapping tool, which helps to minimize problems with different conventions to provide latitudes and longitudes. Currently, we are extending the metadata editor

  5. LAI (in situ, simulated, Landsat-derived, and MODIS): A comparison within an Oak-Hickory Forest Complex in southwestern Virginia, USA.

    EPA Science Inventory

    The United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Sciences and Atmospheric Modeling Analysis Divisions are investigating the viability of simulated (i.e., ‘modeled’) leaf area index (LAI) inputs into various regional and local scale air quality models. Satellite L...

  6. Ethics and the psychiatry journal editor: responsibilities and dilemmas.

    PubMed

    Greenberg, David; D Strous, Rael

    2014-01-01

    An array of potential ethical stumbling blocks awaits the editors of scientific journals. There are issues of particular relevance to mental health journals, and others unique to local journals with a relatively small circulation and low impact factor. The blind review system, conflict of interests, redundant publication, fraud and plagiarism, guest and ghost authorship and ghost writing, advertising, language and stigma, patient consent, and "rigging" the Impact Factor are all issues of importance. It is critical that editors are aware and informed of these important issues, and have an accessible forum for evaluating problems as they arise.

  7. Letters to the Editor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    1998-03-01

    All the Letters to the Editor in this issue are in the same PostScript or PDF file. Contents Comment on `Magnetic and electric field strengths of high voltage power lines and household appliances' José Luis Giordano Dept. de Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales y Fluidos, CPSI, Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain Twins paradox S R Carson Norton College, Malton, North Yorkshire, UK On alternative ways of finding the ratio of specific heats of gases Tomas Ficker Physics Department, Technical University of Brno, Czech Republic

  8. An international survey and modified Delphi process revealed editors' perceptions, training needs, and ratings of competency-related statements for the development of core competencies for scientific editors of biomedical journals.

    PubMed

    Galipeau, James; Cobey, Kelly D; Barbour, Virginia; Baskin, Patricia; Bell-Syer, Sally; Deeks, Jonathan; Garner, Paul; Shamseer, Larissa; Sharon, Straus; Tugwell, Peter; Winker, Margaret; Moher, David

    2017-01-01

    Background: Scientific editors (i.e., those who make decisions on the content and policies of a journal) have a central role in the editorial process at biomedical journals. However, very little is known about the training needs of these editors or what competencies are required to perform effectively in this role. Methods: We conducted a survey of perceptions and training needs among scientific editors from major editorial organizations around the world, followed by a modified Delphi process in which we invited the same scientific editors to rate the importance of competency-related statements obtained from a previous scoping review. Results: A total of 148 participants completed the survey of perceptions and training needs. At least 80% of participants agreed on six of the 38 skill and expertise-related statements presented to them as being important or very important to their role as scientific editors. At least 80% agreed on three of the 38 statements as necessary skills they perceived themselves as possessing (well or very well).  The top five items on participants' list of top training needs were training in statistics, research methods, publication ethics, recruiting and dealing with peer reviewers, and indexing of journals. The three rounds of the Delphi were completed by 83, 83, and 73 participants, respectively, which ultimately produced a list of 23 "highly rated" competency-related statements and another 86 "included" items. Conclusion: Both the survey and the modified Delphi process will be critical for understanding knowledge and training gaps among scientific editors when designing curriculum around core competencies in the future.

  9. Perillyl alcohol suppresses antigen-induced immune responses in the lung

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Imamura, Mitsuru; Sasaki, Oh; Okunishi, Katsuhide

    Highlights: •Perillyl alcohol (POH) is an isoprenoid which inhibits the mevalonate pathway. •We examined whether POH suppresses immune responses with a mouse model of asthma. •POH treatment during sensitization suppressed Ag-induced priming of CD4{sup +} T cells. •POH suppressed airway eosinophila and cytokine production in thoracic lymph nodes. -- Abstract: Perillyl alcohol (POH) is an isoprenoid which inhibits farnesyl transferase and geranylgeranyl transferase, key enzymes that induce conformational and functional changes in small G proteins to conduct signal production for cell proliferation. Thus, it has been tried for the treatment of cancers. However, although it affects the proliferation of immunocytes,more » its influence on immune responses has been examined in only a few studies. Notably, its effect on antigen-induced immune responses has not been studied. In this study, we examined whether POH suppresses Ag-induced immune responses with a mouse model of allergic airway inflammation. POH treatment of sensitized mice suppressed proliferation and cytokine production in Ag-stimulated spleen cells or CD4{sup +} T cells. Further, sensitized mice received aerosolized OVA to induce allergic airway inflammation, and some mice received POH treatment. POH significantly suppressed indicators of allergic airway inflammation such as airway eosinophilia. Cytokine production in thoracic lymph nodes was also significantly suppressed. These results demonstrate that POH suppresses antigen-induced immune responses in the lung. Considering that it exists naturally, POH could be a novel preventive or therapeutic option for immunologic lung disorders such as asthma with minimal side effects.« less

  10. Open Simulation Laboratories [Guest editors' introduction

    DOE PAGES

    Alexander, Francis J.; Meneveau, Charles

    2015-09-01

    The introduction for the special issue on open simulation laboratories, the guest editors describe how OSLs will become more common as their potential is better understood and they begin providing access to valuable datasets to much larger segments of the scientific community. Moreover, new analysis tools and ways to do science will inevitably develop as a result.

  11. Architecture of the Black Moshannon forest canopy measured by hemispherical photographs and a LI-COR LAI-2000 sensor

    Treesearch

    Y. S. Wang; J. Welles; D. R. Miller; D. E. Anderson; G. Heisler; M. McManus

    1991-01-01

    Non-destructive measurements of light penetration were made at 10 heights in the canopy on twelve different sites in the PA oak forest where the Blackmo 88 spray-micrometeorological experiment was conducted. Vertical profiles of Leaf Area Index, LAI, were calculated from these measurements, and the data were used to define the spatial variability of the forest canopy...

  12. Error Pattern Analysis Applied to Technical Writing: An Editor's Guide for Writers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Monagle, E. Brette

    The use of error pattern analysis can reduce the time and money spent on editing and correcting manuscripts. What is required is noting, classifying, and keeping a frequency count of errors. First an editor should take a typical page of writing and circle each error. After the editor has done a sufficiently large number of pages to identify an…

  13. An increasing problem in publication ethics: Publication bias and editors' role in avoiding it.

    PubMed

    Ekmekci, Perihan Elif

    2017-06-01

    Publication bias is defined as "the tendency on the parts of investigators, reviewers, and editors to submit or accept manuscripts for publication based on the direction or the strength of the study findings."Publication bias distorts the accumulated data in the literature, causes the over estimation of potential benefits of intervention and mantles the risks and adverse effects, and creates a barrier to assessing the clinical utility of drugs as well as evaluating the long-term safety of medical interventions. The World Medical Association, the International Committee of Medical Journals, and the Committee on Publication Ethics have conferred responsibilities and ethical obligations to editors concerning the avoidance of publication bias. Despite the explicit statements in these international documents, the editors' role in and ability to avoid publication bias is still being discussed. Unquestionably, all parties involved in clinical research have the ultimate responsibility to sustain the research integrity and validity of accumulated general knowledge. Cooperation and commitment is required at every step of a clinical trial. However, this holistic approach does not exclude effective measures to be taken at the editors' level. The editors of major medical journals concluded that one precaution that editors can take is to mandate registration of all clinical trials in a public repository as a precondition to submitting manuscripts to journals. Raising awareness regarding the value of publishing negative data for the scientific community and human health, and increasing the number of journals that are dedicated to publishing negative results or that set aside a section in their pages to do so, are positive steps editors can take to avoid publication bias.

  14. EDITORIAL: Incoming Editor-in-Chief

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lidström, Suzanne

    2012-04-01

    When Professor Anders Bárány took over as the Executive Editor of Physica Scripta, in 1986, he talked of his trepidation at having to 'dress himself' in his predecessor's 'editorial coveralls'. At that time, they had been worn by Professor Nils Robert Nilsson, a major figure in the physics community, for almost 20 years. Just one year prior to this, Professor Roger Wäppling had been recruited to the position of Subeditor in conjunction with a decision to expand the number of contributions in the field of condensed matter physics, to turn it into one of the dominant subjects in the broad-based journal. Physica Scripta had already gained a reputation for being a high quality journal with wide coverage of both experimental and theoretical physics. Interestingly, in the mid 1980s, the number of papers submitted had been growing and an impressive 250 submissions per year had been attained, with all of the manuscripts being handled in-house. Not many miles away in the town of Uppsala, a group of English students was stepping off a train on a magnificent snowy day in January to embark on their final year projects. A couple of us enjoyed ourselves so much that we stayed on afterwards as PhD students, thereby encountering the mixed pleasure of studying physics in a second language for the first time. I used to copy the notes down meticulously in Swedish, then try to work backwards with a textbook to improve my language skills. One day, returning from a particularly incomprehensible lecture on solid state physics, I showed my roommates my notes and asked if they could please explain what the lecture had been about: 'I don't know', they replied, 'but this bit is about sheep!' Meanwhile, back at Physica Scripta, the journal continued to flourish: 400 submissions were received in 1996, and the march of progress was well underway. Manuscripts could now be sent in on disks and Physica Scripta was available on the World Wide Web. Roger was appointed to manage the journal and

  15. BOREAS RSS-4 1994 Southern Study Area Jack Pine LAI and FPAR Data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hall, Forrest G. (Editor); Nickeson, Jaime (Editor); Plummer, Stephen

    2000-01-01

    The RSS-4 team collected several data sets related to leaf, plant, and stand physical, optical, and chemical properties. This data set contains leaf area indices and FPAR measurements that were taken at the three conifer sites in the BOREAS SSA during August 1993 and at the jack pine tower flux and a subset of auxiliary sites during July and August 1994. The measurements were made with LAI-2000 and Ceptometer instruments. The measurements were taken for the purpose of model parameterization and to test empirical relationships that were hypothesized between biophysical parameters and remotely sensed data. The data are stored in tabular ASCII files.

  16. What a Book Editor Does All Day.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Allen, Patricia

    1982-01-01

    Describes the major tasks that an editor for a commercial publishing house, in this case a children's book publisher, performs on a day-to-day basis, including manuscript selection, working with authors and illustrators in completing a book, scheduling books for publication, and managing economic and production activities. (JL)

  17. A Model-Data Intercomparison of Carbon Fluxes, Pools, and LAI in the Community Land Model (CLM) and Alternative Carbon Allocation Schemes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Montane, F.; Fox, A. M.; Arellano, A. F.; Alexander, M. R.; Moore, D. J.

    2016-12-01

    Carbon (C) allocation to different plant tissues (leaves, stem and roots) remains a central challenge for understanding the global C cycle, as it determines C residence time. We used a diverse set of observations (AmeriFlux eddy covariance towers, biomass estimates from tree-ring data, and Leaf Area Index measurements) to compare C fluxes, pools, and Leaf Area Index (LAI) data with the Community Land Model (CLM). We ran CLM for seven temperate forests in North America (including evergreen and deciduous sites) between 1980 and 2013 using different C allocation schemes: i) standard C allocation scheme in CLM, which allocates C to the stem and leaves as a dynamic function of annual net primary productivity (NPP); ii) two fixed C allocation schemes, one representative of evergreen and the other one of deciduous forests, based on Luyssaert et al. 2007; iii) an alternative C allocation scheme, which allocated C to stem and leaves, and to stem and coarse roots, as a dynamic function of annual NPP, based on Litton et al. 2007. At our sites CLM usually overestimated gross primary production and ecosystem respiration, and underestimated net ecosystem exchange. Initial aboveground biomass in 1980 was largely overestimated for deciduous forests, whereas aboveground biomass accumulation between 1980 and 2011 was highly underestimated for both evergreen and deciduous sites due to the lower turnover rate in the sites than the one used in the model. CLM overestimated LAI in both evergreen and deciduous sites because the Leaf C-LAI relationship in the model did not match the observed Leaf C-LAI relationship in our sites. Although the different C allocation schemes gave similar results for aggregated C fluxes, they translated to important differences in long-term aboveground biomass accumulation and aboveground NPP. For deciduous forests, one of the alternative C allocation schemes used (iii) gave more realistic stem C/leaf C ratios, and highly reduced the overestimation of initial

  18. Magazine Article Placement: How Editors, Regular Contributors, and Novice Writers Rate Query Letters.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jolliffe, Lee

    About 350,000 freelance magazine articles were purchased by magazine editors last year from the 22,000 freelancers and 225,000 would-be freelancers in the United States. A study examined the factors editors judge most important in selecting freelance magazine article proposals, using factor analysis and qualitative examination of persuasive…

  19. Letter to the editor of TAAP, in response to letter from Anders et al.

    EPA Science Inventory

    To the Editor, Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology: We would like to address the letter to the editor submitted by Anders et al. regarding the substantive issues raised regarding our paper "Evaluation of two different metabolic hypotheses for dichloromethane toxicity using physi...

  20. [Professor LAI Xinsheng's clinical experience in the treatment of premature ovarian failure with tongyuan acupuncture technique and Chinese herbal medicine].

    PubMed

    Li, Xiaozhe; Zhang, Sujuan

    2017-03-12

    In the treatment of premature ovarian failure (POF), professor LAI Xinsheng focuses on the determination of syndrome to seek for etiology, associating with the differentiation of meridian and collateral and that of zangfu organs. Professor LAI believes that POF is mainly manifested as amenorrhea and infertility, localized in the kidney, with the dysfunction of liver, spleen and heart. It is impacted by many pathological factors, such as cold blockage, qi stagnation, blood stagnation, blood deficiency, yin deficiency, etc., which leads to the damage of the thoroughfare vessel and the conception vessel and the blockage of menstrual flow. On the basis of four diagnostic Methods and syndrome differentiation, there are four common syndromes of POF, named qi and blood deficiency, qi and blood stagnation, liver and kidney deficiency and yang deficiency of spleen and kidney. Tongyuan acupuncture technique is summarized by Professor LAI Xinsheng on the basis of yinyang theory. It is an effective and scientific method for acupoint selection along the meridians. The acupoints on the back, communicating with the governor vessel and mind regulation, acting on the brain are selected to promote yang qi of the governor vessel. The back- shu points of five zang organs are selected to regulate the functions of internal organs. The acupoints on the abdomen and the conception vessel are selected to conduce qi to the primary so as to improve reproductive function. In the guidance of tongyuan acupuncture technique, the acupoint prescription is formed and the Chinese herbal medicines are selected in combination to improve ovarian function and regulate menstruation. Hence, the satisfactory therapeutic effects have been achieved.

  1. Editors' report, 2012.

    PubMed

    García-Puig, J; Alonso-Vega, G Gaspar; Ríos-Blanco, J J

    2013-01-01

    The editors of Revista Clínica Española (Rev Clin Esp) inform on their editorial activity during the last 12 months: a) objectives and attainments; b) editorial activity; and c) objectives for 2013. In 2012 the most relevant modifications concerning the editorial activity have been: a) revision by the responsible editor of all manuscripts sent to peer review, and b) translation into English of five manuscripts with abstract of each issue. From the first January to the 30th September 2012 we handled 457 manuscripts (50 manuscripts per month) a figure 22.5% higher than in 2011 (40.8 manuscripts per month). We have accepted 27.2% of all manuscripts (originals, 13.0%). We asked for 295 revisions to 241 reviewers and we have received 66.1% of the revisions asked for in less than two weeks (mean time to receive a revision, 11.3 days). The mean time to adopt an editorial decision for all manuscripts («accept»/«reject») has been 23.9 days (31.3 days in 2011; 35.4 in 2010). This figure has been 29.4 days for the original manuscripts (9.5 and 12.3 days less than in 2011 and 2010, respectively). The mean time taken since a manuscript is received to publication has dropped from 203 days in 2010, 168 in 2011 and 115 in 2012 (less than 3 months). The collaboration with the working groups has reported 19 published manuscripts in 2012. We hope that in 2013 both the English version and the digitalization of Rev Clin Esp from 1940 to 1999 (the journal is already digitalized since 2000) will become a reality. The renewal of the actual sections (i.e., clinical conference, an image for a diagnosis) pretends, with the collaboration of all, to make our journal, each day, better. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.

  2. FloorspaceJS - A New, Open Source, Web-Based Geometry Editor for Building Energy Modeling (BEM): Preprint

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Macumber, Daniel L; Horowitz, Scott G; Schott, Marjorie

    Across most industries, desktop applications are being rapidly migrated to web applications for a variety of reasons. Web applications are inherently cross platform, mobile, and easier to distribute than desktop applications. Fueling this trend are a wide range of free, open source libraries and frameworks that make it incredibly easy to develop powerful web applications. The building energy modeling community is just beginning to pick up on these larger trends, with a small but growing number of building energy modeling applications starting on or moving to the web. This paper presents a new, open source, web based geometry editor formore » Building Energy Modeling (BEM). The editor is written completely in JavaScript and runs in a modern web browser. The editor works on a custom JSON file format and is designed to be integrated into a variety of web and desktop applications. The web based editor is available to use as a standalone web application at: https://nrel.github.io/openstudio-geometry-editor/. An example integration is demonstrated with the OpenStudio desktop application. Finally, the editor can be easily integrated with a wide range of possible building energy modeling web applications.« less

  3. Model of Management (Mo.Ma) for the patient with schizophrenia: crisis control, maintenance, relapse prevention, and recovery with long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIs).

    PubMed

    Brugnoli, Roberto; Rapinesi, Chiara; Kotzalidis, Georgios D; Marcellusi, Andrea; Mennini, Francesco S; De Filippis, Sergio; Carrus, Dario; Ballerini, Andrea; Francomano, Antonio; Ducci, Giuseppe; Del Casale, Antonio; Girardi, Paolo

    2016-01-01

    Schizophrenia is a severe mental disease that affects approximately 1% of the population with a relevant chronic impact on social and occupational functioning and daily activities. People with schizophrenia are 2-2.5 times more likely to die early than the general population. Non-adherence to antipsychotic medications, both in chronic and first episode schizophrenia, is one of the most important risk factors for relapse and hospitalization, that consequently contributes to increased costs due to psychiatric hospitalization. Atypical long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics can improve treatment adherence and decrease re-hospitalization rates in patients with schizophrenia since its onset. The primary goals in the management of schizophrenia are directed not only at symptom reduction in the short and long term, but also at maintaining physical and mental functioning, improving quality of life, and promoting patient recovery. To propose a scientific evidence-based integrated model that provides an algorithm for recovery of patients with schizophrenia and to investigate the effectiveness and safety of antipsychotics LAI in the treatment, maintenance, relapse prevention, and recovery of schizophrenia. After an accurate literature review we identified, collected and analyzed the crucial points in taking care schizophrenia patients, through which we defined the steps described in the model of management and the choice of the better treatment option. Results. In the management model we propose, the choice of a second generation long acting antipsychotic, could allow from the earliest stages of illness better patient management, especially for young individuals with schizophrenia onset, a better recovery and significant reductions of relapse and health care costs. LAI formulations of antipsychotics are valuable, because they help patients to remain adherent to their medication through regular contact with healthcare professionals and to prevent covert non-adherence. The

  4. Magazine Editors and the Writing Process: An Analysis of How Editors Work with Staff and Free-Lance Writers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schierhorn, Ann B.; Endres, Kathleen L.

    Editors of business and consumer magazines chosen by a random sample were asked in a mail survey what method they used in working with staff writers and free-lance writers. They were asked how they work with writers in the five stages of the writing process--idea, reporting, organizing, writing and rewriting. The first mailing to consumer…

  5. Comparison of satellite-derived LAI and precipitation anomalies over Brazil with a thermal infrared-based Evaporative Stress Index for 2003-2013

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Shortwave vegetation index (VI) and leaf area index (LAI) remote sensing products yield inconsistent depictions of biophysical response to drought and pluvial events that have occurred in Brazil over the past decade. Conflicting reports of severity of drought impacts on vegetation health and funct...

  6. Perioperative hypoxemia is common with horizontal positioning during general anesthesia and is associated with major adverse outcomes: a retrospective study of consecutive patients

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Background Reported perioperative pulmonary aspiration (POPA) rates have substantial variation. Perioperative hypoxemia (POH), a manifestation of POPA, has been infrequently studied beyond the PACU, for patients undergoing a diverse array of surgical procedures. Methods Consecutive adult patients with ASA I-IV and pre-operative pulmonary stability who underwent a surgical procedure requiring general anesthesia were investigated. Using pulse oximetry, POH was documented in the operating room and during the 48 hours following PACU discharge. POPA was the presence of an acute pulmonary infiltrate with POH. Results The 500 consecutive, eligible patients had operative body-positions of prone 13%, decubitus 8%, sitting 1%, and supine/lithotomy 78%, with standard practice of horizontal recumbency. POH was found in 150 (30%) patients. Post-operative stay with POH was 3.7 ± 4.7 days and without POH was 1.7 ± 2.3 days (p < 0.0001). POH rate varied from 14% to 58% among 11 of 12 operative procedure-categories. Conditions independently associated with POH (p < 0.05) were acute trauma, BMI, ASA level, glycopyrrolate administration, and duration of surgery. POPA occurred in 24 (4.8%) patients with higher mortality (8.3%), when compared to no POPA (0.2%; p = 0.0065). Post-operative stay was greater with POPA (7.7 ± 5.7 days), when compared to no POPA (2.0 ± 2.9 days; p = 0.0001). Conditions independently associated with POPA (p < 0.05) were cranial procedure, ASA level, and duration of surgery. POPA, acute trauma, duration of surgery, and inability to extubate in the OR were independently associated with post-operative stay (p < 0.05). POH, gastric dysmotility, acute trauma, cranial procedure, emergency procedure, and duration of surgery had independent correlations with post-operative length of stay (p < 0.05). Conclusions Adult surgical patients undergoing general anesthesia with horizontal recumbency have substantial POH and

  7. Message from the Editor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stambaugh, Ronald D.

    2014-01-01

    This last year being an odd numbered year, the pages of Nuclear Fusion saw a large influx of expanded papers from the 2012 Fusion Energy Conference in San Diego. Many papers have focused on the scientific and technical challenges posed by ITER. Contributions are steadily increasing from the new superconducting tokamaks in Asia. The ITER Project continues to move ahead. Construction at the Cadarache site is quite remarkable. Buildings completed include the huge Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility and the Headquarters building, which has been occupied by the ITER staff. Work is progressing on the Assembly building and the Cryostat Workshop. The base of the tokamak complex is being laid. Besides the construction that is taking place and will take place at the site, components from around the world have to navigate the complex route from Marseilles to the site. A test convoy replicating the dimensions and weights of the most exceptional ITER loads successfully traversed that route in 2013. We are pleased to report that the IAEA and ITER have finalized the agreement for ITER authors to publish papers in Nuclear Fusion . Nuclear Fusion is proud to continue its key role in providing the leading forum for the documentation of scientific progress and exchange of research results internationally toward fusion energy. Refereeing The Nuclear Fusion editorial office appreciates greatly the effort made by our referees to sustain the high quality of the journal. Since January 2005, we have been offering the most active referees over the past year a personal subscription to Nuclear Fusion with electronic access for one year, free of charge. We have excluded our Board Members, Guest Editors of special editions and those referees who were already listed in previous years. The following people have been selected: J.M. Canik, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA I.T. Chapman, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, UK L.-G. Eriksson, Commission of the European Communities, Belgium T. Evans

  8. EDITORIAL: A word from the new Editor-in-Chief A word from the new Editor-in-Chief

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mostowski, Jan

    2011-01-01

    TIn the autumn of 2010 I became the Editor-in Chief of European Journal of Physics (EJP). EJP is a place for teachers, instructors and professors to exchange their views on teaching physics at university level and share their experience. It is general opinion that no good research is possible without connection with good, high-quality teaching, at the university level in particular. Therefore excellence in physics teaching is important to the physics community. European Journal of Physics is proud of its contribution to achieving this goal. As Editor-in-Chief, I will continue to work to this general objective of the journal. We will publish articles on specific topics in physics, stressing originality of presentation and suitability for use in students'laboratories, lectures and physics teaching in general. We will also publish more pedagogical papers presenting the achievements of particular teaching methods. In addition, we will continue to publish special sections on particular areas of physics, as well as the annual special section on physics competitions. European Journal of Physics is in good shape. Due to the work of the previous editors and the publisher, the readership is high and growing steadily, and many excellent papers are being submitted and published. I hope that this positive trend for the journal will continue, and I will do my best to keep to this high standard. A few words about myself. I work in the Institute of Physics in Warsaw, Poland. My main research interests are in theoretical quantum optics and I have published about 80 research papers on this topic. For many years I was involved in teaching physics at university and in high school. I am a co-author of a textbook on physics for high-school students and of a problem book in quantum mechanics. For the last ten years, I have been involved in the International Physics Olympiad and over the last few years I have been a member of the Editorial Board of European Journal of Physics.

  9. EDITORIAL: Greetings from the new Editor-in-Chief

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bhattacharya, P.

    2004-04-01

    On 1 January, 2004, I assumed the position of Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics. I will start by saying that I will do my best to justify the confidence of the journal management and publishing staff in my abilities. I was fortunate to have been able to work, as an Editorial Board member, with my predecessor, the previous Editor-in-Chief, Professor Allister Ferguson. Allister has provided a high degree of intellectual stewardship for the journal in the last five years. He has made the job appear a worthy challenge for me. I therefore take this opportunity to thank Allister on behalf of the Editorial Board and publishing staff of the journal. Several other factors contributed to my decision to accept this position. The first is the group of people who actually go about the business of publishing. The Senior Publisher, Nicola Gulley (and her predecessor Sophy Le Masurier); the Managing Editor, Jill Membrey; the Publishing Administrators, Nina Blakesley and Sarah Towell; the Production Editor, Katie Gerrard and their office staff form an amazing group and have managed to make the operation of the journal incredibly efficient. An index of this is the speed with which incoming manuscripts are processed. The average time between the receipt of a manuscript and its web publication, if accepted, is 130 days. This is three to five times shorter than for most other journals. A factor that contributes to this success is a responsive pool of referees that the publishing staff have as a valuable resource. Ultimately, the standard bearers of any journal are the referees. Therefore, a grateful `thank you' is due from all of us at J. Phys. D to all our referees, who diligently perform this honourable task. The Associate Editors of the journal, Professors Lawler, Margaritondo and O'Grady, also provide immense scientific leadership. They help in defining new directions for the journal and in the publishing process. Last, but not least, a remarkable asset of

  10. Financial, nonfinancial and editors' conflicts of interest in high-impact biomedical journals.

    PubMed

    Bosch, Xavier; Pericas, Juan M; Hernández, Cristina; Doti, Pamela

    2013-07-01

    To assess financial, nonfinancial and editors' conflicts of interest (COI) disclosure policies among the most influential biomedical journals publishing original research. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 399 high-impact biomedical journals in 27 biomedical categories of the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) in December 2011. Information relevant to COI and requirements for disclosures that was publicly available on journal websites was collected. While financial COI disclosures were required by 358 (89.7%) and nonfinancial by 280 (70.2%) journals, 155 (38.8%) required editors' disclosures. Journals in the first decile of the JCR classification scored significantly higher than those in the second decile for all disclosure policies. Ninety (22.6%) journals were published by Elsevier and 59 (14.8%) by Wiley-Blackwell, with Elsevier scoring significantly better in financial disclosure policies (P = 0.022). Clinical journals scored significantly higher than basic journals for all disclosure policies. No differences were observed between open-access (n = 25) and nonopen-access (n = 374) journals for any type of disclosure. Somewhat incoherently, authors' disclosure statements were included in some published manuscript in 57.1% of journals without any COI disclosure policies. Authors' financial COI disclosures were required by about 90% of high-impact clinical and basic journals publishing original research. Unlike recent studies showing a significantly lower prevalence of nonfinancial compared with financial disclosures, the former were required by about 70% of journals, suggesting that editors are increasingly concerned about nonfinancial competing interests. Only 40% of journals required disclosure of editors' COI, in conflict with the recommendations of the most influential editors' associations. © 2013 Stichting European Society for Clinical Investigation Journal Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  11. Payments by US pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers to US medical journal editors: retrospective observational study

    PubMed Central

    Bell, Chaim M; Matelski, John J; Detsky, Allan S; Cram, Peter

    2017-01-01

    Objective To estimate financial payments from industry to US journal editors. Design Retrospective observational study. Setting 52 influential (high impact factor for their specialty) US medical journals from 26 specialties and US Open Payments database, 2014. Participants 713 editors at the associate level and above identified from each journal’s online masthead. Main outcome measures All general payments (eg, personal income) and research related payments from pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers to eligible physicians in 2014. Percentages of editors receiving payments and the magnitude of such payments were compared across journals and by specialty. Journal websites were also reviewed to determine if conflict of interest policies for editors were readily accessible. Results Of 713 eligible editors, 361 (50.6%) received some (>$0) general payments in 2014, and 139 (19.5%) received research payments. The median general payment was $11 (£8; €9) (interquartile range $0-2923) and the median research payment was $0 ($0-0). The mean general payment was $28 136 (SD $415 045), and the mean research payment was $37 963 (SD $175 239). The highest median general payments were received by journal editors from endocrinology ($7207, $0-85 816), cardiology ($2664, $0-12 912), gastroenterology ($696, $0-20 002), rheumatology ($515, $0-14 280), and urology ($480, $90-669). For high impact general medicine journals, median payments were $0 ($0-14). A review of the 52 journal websites revealed that editor conflict of interest policies were readily accessible (ie, within five minutes) for 17/52 (32.7%) of journals. Conclusions Industry payments to journal editors are common and often large, particularly for certain subspecialties. Journals should consider the potential impact of such payments on public trust in published research. PMID:29074628

  12. "Clones," Codes, and Conflicts of Interest in Cartooning: Cartoonists and Editors Look at Ethics.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Riffe, Daniel; And Others

    A study examined differences between political cartoonists and op-ed page editors on both traditional ethical issues (such as conflicts of interest) and the special, style-related concerns of editorial cartoonists. Hypotheses proposed were that editors and cartoonists (1) would condemn "cloning" or copying, reflecting an ethical…

  13. [Construction of the eukaryotic recombinant vector and expression of the outer membrane protein LipL32 gene from Leptospira serovar Lai].

    PubMed

    Huang, Bi; Bao, Lang; Zhong, Qi; Shang, Zheng-ling; Zhang, Hui-dong; Zhang, Ying

    2008-02-01

    To construct the eukaryotic experssion vector of LipL32 gene from Leptospira serovar Lai and express the recombinant plasmid in COS-7 cell. The LipL32 gene was amplified from Leptospira strain 017 genomic DNA by PCR and cloned into pcDNA3.1, through restriction nuclease enzyme digestion. Then the recombinant plasmid was transformed into E.coli DH5alpha. After identified by nuclease digestion, PCR and sequencing analysis, the recombinant vector was transfected into COS-7 cell with lipsome. The expression of the target gene was detected by RT-PCR and Western blot. The eukaryotic experssion vector pcDNA3.1-LipL32 was successfully constructed and stably expressed in COS-7 cell. The eukaryotic recombinant vector of outer membrane protein LipL32 gene from Leptospira serovar Lai can be expressed in mammalian cell, which provides an experimental basis for the application of the Leptospira DNA vaccine.

  14. Authors, editors, and the signs, symptoms and causes of plagiarism.

    PubMed

    Shashok, Karen

    2011-07-01

    Plagiarism and inadequate citing appear to have reached epidemic proportions in research publication. This article discusses how plagiarism is defined and suggests some possible causes for the increase in the plagiarism disease. Most editors do not have much tolerance for text re-use with inadequate citation regardless of reasons why words are copied from other sources without correct attribution. However, there is now some awareness that re-use of words in research articles to improve the writing or "the English" (which has become a common practice) should be distinguished from intentional deceit for the purpose of stealing other authors' ideas (which appears to remain a very rare practice). Although it has become almost as easy for editors to detect duplicate text as it is for authors to re-use text from other sources, editors often fail to consider the reasons why researchers resort to this strategy, and tend to consider any text duplication as a symptom of serious misconduct. As a result, some authors may be stigmatized unfairly by being labeled as plagiarists. The article concludes with practical advice for researchers on how to improve their writing and citing skills and thus avoid accusations of plagiarism.

  15. Authors, editors, and the signs, symptoms and causes of plagiarism

    PubMed Central

    Shashok, Karen

    2011-01-01

    Plagiarism and inadequate citing appear to have reached epidemic proportions in research publication. This article discusses how plagiarism is defined and suggests some possible causes for the increase in the plagiarism disease. Most editors do not have much tolerance for text re-use with inadequate citation regardless of reasons why words are copied from other sources without correct attribution. However, there is now some awareness that re-use of words in research articles to improve the writing or “the English” (which has become a common practice) should be distinguished from intentional deceit for the purpose of stealing other authors’ ideas (which appears to remain a very rare practice). Although it has become almost as easy for editors to detect duplicate text as it is for authors to re-use text from other sources, editors often fail to consider the reasons why researchers resort to this strategy, and tend to consider any text duplication as a symptom of serious misconduct. As a result, some authors may be stigmatized unfairly by being labeled as plagiarists. The article concludes with practical advice for researchers on how to improve their writing and citing skills and thus avoid accusations of plagiarism. PMID:21957412

  16. The Legionella pneumophila orphan sensor kinase LqsT regulates competence and pathogen-host interactions as a component of the LAI-1 circuit.

    PubMed

    Kessler, Aline; Schell, Ursula; Sahr, Tobias; Tiaden, André; Harrison, Christopher; Buchrieser, Carmen; Hilbi, Hubert

    2013-02-01

    Legionella pneumophila is an amoeba-resistant opportunistic pathogen that performs cell-cell communication through the signalling molecule 3-hydroxypentadecane-4-one (LAI-1, Legionella autoinducer-1). The lqs (Legionella quorum sensing) gene cluster encodes the LAI-1 autoinducer synthase LqsA, the cognate sensor kinase LqsS and the response regulator LqsR. Here we show that the Lqs system includes an 'orphan' homologue of LqsS termed LqsT. Compared with wild-type L. pneumophila, strains lacking lqsT or both lqsS and lqsT show increased salt resistance, greatly enhanced natural competence for DNA acquisition and impaired uptake by phagocytes. Sensitive novel single round growth assays and competition experiments using Acanthamoeba castellanii revealed that ΔlqsT and ΔlqsS-ΔlqsT, as well as ΔlqsA and other lqs mutant strains are impaired for intracellular growth and cannot compete against wild-type bacteria upon co-infection. In contrast to the ΔlqsS strain, ΔlqsT does not produce extracellular filaments. The phenotypes of the ΔlqsS-ΔlqsT strain are partially complemented by either lqsT or lqsS, but are not reversed by overexpression of lqsA, suggesting that LqsT and LqsS are the sole LAI-1-responsive sensor kinases in L. pneumophila. In agreement with the different phenotypes of the ΔlqsT and ΔlqsS strains, lqsT and lqsS are differentially expressed in the post-exponential growth phase, and transcriptome studies indicated that 90% of the genes, which are downregulated in absence of lqsT, are upregulated in absence of lqsS. Reciprocally regulated genes encode components of a 133 kb genomic 'fitness island' or translocated effector proteins implicated in virulence. Together, these results reveal a unique organization of the L. pneumophila Lqs system comprising two partially antagonistic LAI-1-responsive sensor kinases, LqsT and LqsS, which regulate distinct pools of genes implicated in pathogen-host cell interactions, competence, expression of a

  17. From the desk of the Editor-in-Chief

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hei, Tom K.

    2015-07-01

    Life Sciences in Space Research had a prominent presence at the International Congress of Radiation Research (ICRR) meeting held in Kyoto, Japan from May 25th-29th, with seven of the eleven editors attending the meeting. A journal booth was also put up at the pre-ICRR satellite meeting on Space Radiation and Heavy Ions in Therapy (SRHITS) held a few days earlier in Osaka. Since the inception of LSSR last year, the editors and publisher have promoted the journal at a number of major conferences including COSPAR 2014 in Moscow, the annual meeting of the Radiation Research Society and the NASA Space Radiation Investigators Meeting. These efforts have increased awareness of the journal among investigators in space life sciences and related fields. The number of monthly downloads of articles from the journal website averages 2000, a respectable number for a brand new journal.

  18. Are Editors Out of the Tenure Process?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Howard, Jennifer

    2007-01-01

    University presses have complained for years that tenure committees unfairly expect their editors to be arbiters of what counts as tenure-worthy work. At the same time, the presses have been caught in a business-side squeeze between dwindling sales (and shrinking subsidies) and the ever-greater pressure on scholars to publish. In this article, the…

  19. Comparison of regression and geostatistical methods for mapping Leaf Area Index (LAI) with Landsat ETM+ data over a boreal forest.

    Treesearch

    Mercedes Berterretche; Andrew T. Hudak; Warren B. Cohen; Thomas K. Maiersperger; Stith T. Gower; Jennifer Dungan

    2005-01-01

    This study compared aspatial and spatial methods of using remote sensing and field data to predict maximum growing season leaf area index (LAI) maps in a boreal forest in Manitoba, Canada. The methods tested were orthogonal regression analysis (reduced major axis, RMA) and two geostatistical techniques: kriging with an external drift (KED) and sequential Gaussian...

  20. How is research publishing going to progress in the next 20 years?: transcription of session for editors, associate editors, publishers and others with an interest in scientific publishing held at IADR meeting in Seattle on Wednesday, 20 March 2013.

    PubMed

    Eaton, Kenneth A; Rex Holland, G; Giannobile, William V; Hancocks, Stephen; Robinson, Peter G; Lynch, Christopher D

    2014-03-01

    On March 20th 2013, a one-hour session for Editors, Associate Editors, Publishers and others with an interest in scientific publishing was held at the IADR International Session in Seattle. Organised by Kenneth Eaton and Christopher Lynch (Chair and Secretary, respectively, of the British Dental Editors Forum), the meeting sought to bring together leading international experts in dental publishing, as well as authors, reviewers and students engaged in research. The meeting was an overwhelming success, with more than 100 attendees. A panel involving four leading dental editors led a discussion on anticipated developments in publishing dental research with much involvement and contribution from audience members. This was the third such meeting held at the IADR for Editors, Associate Editors, Publishers and others with an interest in scientific publishing. A follow-up session will take place in Cape Town on 25 June 2014 as part of the annual IADR meeting. The transcript of the Seattle meeting is reproduced in this article. Where possible speakers are identified by name. At the first time of mention their role/position is also stated, thereafter only their name appears. We are grateful to Stephen Hancocks Ltd. for their generous sponsorship of this event. For those who were not able to attend the authors hope this article gives a flavour of the discussions and will encourage colleagues to attend future events. Involvement is open to Editors, Associate Editors, Publishers and others with an interest in scientific publishing. It is a very open group and all those with an interest will be welcome to join in. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. IN DEFENSE OF ECORISK ASSESSMENT (LETTER TO EDITOR)

    EPA Science Inventory

    Dear Editor: We are writing to convey a more accurate portrayal of the status of ecological ("environmental" in Europe) risk assessment that was presented in the recent article by M. Power and L.S. McCarty (Fallacies in Ecological Risk Assessment Practices," August 1997, pp 370A-...

  2. xLPR Sim Editor 1.0 User's Guide

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mariner, Paul E.

    2017-03-01

    The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission in cooperation with the Electric Power Research Institute contracted Sandia National Laboratories to develop the framework of a probabilistic fracture mechanics assessment code called xLPR ( Extremely Low Probability of Rupture) Version 2.0 . The purpose of xLPR is to evaluate degradation mechanisms in piping systems at nuclear power plants and to predict the probability of rupture. This report is a user's guide for xLPR Sim Editor 1.0 , a graphical user interface for creating and editing the xLPR Version 2.0 input file and for creating, editing, and using the xLPR Version 2.0 databasemore » files . The xLPR Sim Editor, provides a user - friendly way for users to change simulation options and input values, s elect input datasets from xLPR data bases, identify inputs needed for a simulation, and create and modify an input file for xLPR.« less

  3. Effect of prophylactic topical hypotensive medications in reducing the incidence of postoperative ocular hypertension after phacoemulsification in dogs.

    PubMed

    Dees, D Dustin; Spahn, Kate J; Wagner, Lynsey Smith; Greller, Andrew; Paglia, Danielle; Armour, Micki D; Madsen, Richard

    2017-11-01

    To determine whether topical hypotensive medications prevent postoperative ocular hypertension (POH) after phacoemulsification. 52 client-owned dogs (88 eyes). Diabetic and nondiabetic dogs having undergone phacoemulsification were included in this retrospective study. The control group received no ocular hypotensive medications. The treatment groups received latanoprost, dorzolamide, or dorzolamide/timolol, beginning immediately after surgery, for 2-week duration. IOPs were obtained at initial examination followed by 4 h, 24 h, 7 days, and 14 days postoperatively. POH was defined as an IOP above 20 mmHg (POH20) or 25 mmHg (POH25). POH20 occurred in 33 of 87 eyes (37.93%), including 11 of 21 eyes (52.38%) in the control group, three of 23 eyes (13.04%) in the latanoprost group, eight of 15 eyes (53.33%) in the dorzolamide group, and 11 of 28 eyes (39.29%) in the dorzolamide/timolol group. Active treatment groups were compared to the control group, and the overall group effect was not significant (P = 0.11). POH25 occurred in 22 of 86 eyes (25.58%), including seven of 21 eyes (33.33%) in the control group, two of 23 eyes (8.70%) in the latanoprost group, five of 15 eyes (33.33%) in the dorzolamide group, and eight of 27 eyes (29.63%) in the dorzolamide/timolol group. Active treatment groups were compared to the control group, and the overall group effect was not significant (P = 0.31). Intraoperative use of intracameral tissue plasminogen activator significantly decreased the chances of POH25 (P = 0.0063). The latanoprost group had a substantially lower percentage of POH 20 and POH25 compared to the control and other active treatment groups, although statistical significance was not achieved. Intraoperative intracameral tissue plasminogen activator decreased the incidence of POH25. © 2017 American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists.

  4. Adequacy of authors’ replies to criticism raised in electronic letters to the editor: cohort study

    PubMed Central

    Delamothe, Tony; Godlee, Fiona; Lundh, Andreas

    2010-01-01

    Objective To investigate whether substantive criticism in electronic letters to the editor, defined as a problem that could invalidate the research or reduce its reliability, is adequately addressed by the authors. Design Cohort study. Setting BMJ between October 2005 and September 2007. Inclusion criteria Research papers generating substantive criticism in the rapid responses section on bmj.com. Main outcome measures Severity of criticism (minor, moderate, or major) as judged by two editors and extent to which the criticism was addressed by authors (fully, partly, or not) as judged by two editors and the critics. Results A substantive criticism was raised against 105 of 350 (30%, 95% confidence interval 25% to 35%) included research papers, and of these the authors had responded to 47 (45%, 35% to 54%). The severity of the criticism was the same in those papers as in the 58 without author replies (mean score 2.2 in both groups, P=0.72). For the 47 criticisms with replies, there was no relation between the severity of the criticism and the adequacy of the reply, neither as judged by the editors (P=0.88 and P=0.95, respectively) nor by the critics (P=0.83; response rate 85%). However, the critics were much more critical of the replies than the editors (average score 2.3 v 1.4, P<0.001). Conclusions Authors are reluctant to respond to criticisms of their work, although they are not less likely to respond when criticisms are severe. Editors should ensure that authors take relevant criticism seriously and respond adequately to it. PMID:20699306

  5. Payments by US pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers to US medical journal editors: retrospective observational study.

    PubMed

    Liu, Jessica J; Bell, Chaim M; Matelski, John J; Detsky, Allan S; Cram, Peter

    2017-10-26

    Objective  To estimate financial payments from industry to US journal editors. Design  Retrospective observational study. Setting  52 influential (high impact factor for their specialty) US medical journals from 26 specialties and US Open Payments database, 2014. Participants  713 editors at the associate level and above identified from each journal's online masthead. Main outcome measures  All general payments (eg, personal income) and research related payments from pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers to eligible physicians in 2014. Percentages of editors receiving payments and the magnitude of such payments were compared across journals and by specialty. Journal websites were also reviewed to determine if conflict of interest policies for editors were readily accessible. Results  Of 713 eligible editors, 361 (50.6%) received some (>$0) general payments in 2014, and 139 (19.5%) received research payments. The median general payment was $11 (£8; €9) (interquartile range $0-2923) and the median research payment was $0 ($0-0). The mean general payment was $28 136 (SD $415 045), and the mean research payment was $37 963 (SD $175 239). The highest median general payments were received by journal editors from endocrinology ($7207, $0-85 816), cardiology ($2664, $0-12 912), gastroenterology ($696, $0-20 002), rheumatology ($515, $0-14 280), and urology ($480, $90-669). For high impact general medicine journals, median payments were $0 ($0-14). A review of the 52 journal websites revealed that editor conflict of interest policies were readily accessible (ie, within five minutes) for 17/52 (32.7%) of journals. Conclusions  Industry payments to journal editors are common and often large, particularly for certain subspecialties. Journals should consider the potential impact of such payments on public trust in published research. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a

  6. Predictors of patients who will develop prolonged occult hypoperfusion following blunt trauma.

    PubMed

    Schulman, Andrew M; Claridge, Jeffrey A; Carr, Gordon; Diesen, Diana L; Young, Jeffrey S

    2004-10-01

    Prolonged occult hypoperfusion or POH (serum lactate >2.4 mmol/L persisting >12 hours from admission) represents a reversible risk factor for adverse outcomes following traumatic injury. We hypothesized that patients at increased risk for POH could be identified at the time of admission. Prospective data from adult trauma admissions between January 1, 1998 and December 31, 2000 were analyzed. Potential risk factors for POH were determined by univariate analysis (p < or =0.10= significant). Significant factors were tested in a logistic regression model (LR) (p < or =0.05= significant). The predictive ability of the LR was tested by receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis (p < or =0.05= significant). Three hundred seventy-eight patients were analyzed, 129 with POH. Injury Severity Score (ISS), emergency department Glasgow Coma Scale score, hypotension, and the individual Abbreviated Injury Scale score (AIS) for Head (H), Abdominal/Pelvic Viscera (A) and Pelvis/Bony Extremity (P) were significantly associated with POH. LR demonstrated that ISS, A-AIS > or =3 and P-AIS > or =3 were independent predictors of POH (p <0.05). ROC analysis of the LR equation was statistically significant (Area=0.69, p <0.001). We identified factors at admission that placed patients at higher risk for developing POH. Select patients may benefit from rapid, aggressive monitoring and resuscitation, possibly preventing POH and its associated morbidity and mortality.

  7. LETTER TO EDITOR ON ARTICLE "ARSENIC MEANS BUSINESS"

    EPA Science Inventory

    The letter to the editor was written to point out that different forms of arsenic are found in source waters and that the technologies listed in the article such as POU RO will not necessarily be effective on all waters. The letter pointed out that most technologies are more eff...

  8. Particle size fraction -Response: Letter to the Editors

    EPA Science Inventory

    To the Editors: We, the undersigned, would like to comment on the article by Cho et al. (Cho et al. 2009), which was published in the November 2009 issue (volume 11, number 11, page 1682-1689) of Environmental Health Perspectives. We read the paper with great interest as the dis...

  9. Beacon Editor: Capturing Signal Transduction Pathways Using the Systems Biology Graphical Notation Activity Flow Language.

    PubMed

    Elmarakeby, Haitham; Arefiyan, Mostafa; Myers, Elijah; Li, Song; Grene, Ruth; Heath, Lenwood S

    2017-12-01

    The Beacon Editor is a cross-platform desktop application for the creation and modification of signal transduction pathways using the Systems Biology Graphical Notation Activity Flow (SBGN-AF) language. Prompted by biologists' requests for enhancements, the Beacon Editor includes numerous powerful features for the benefit of creation and presentation.

  10. Parting messages from current and former editors of the Journal of Andrology.

    PubMed

    Bartke, Andrzej; Orgebin-Crist, Marie-Claire; Desjardins, Claude; Lewis, Ron; Tindall, Don; Hamilton, David W; Pryor, Jon L; Schlegel, Peter N; Hardy, Matthew P; Burnett, Arthur L Bud; Darney, Sally P; Sandlow, Jay

    2012-01-01

    The proposal to produce this final commemorative issue for the Journal of Andrology arose during our regular discussions as current editors soon after it was announced that the Journal would complete its own life course and merge into a new publication (to be named Andrology) with the International Journal of Andrology. We considered the momentous occasion to be one that should be celebrated with an enduring tribute in recognition of the Journal's exceptional 33-year existence. Among the various contributions sought for inclusion in this issue, we envisioned an article assembling collected short essays from all living former editors drawing on notable events and highlights, if not less well-known challenges and successes arising during their editorship eras. We thought that any such production of musings, viewpoints, and most of all words of wisdom from those who have had major roles in the direction and accomplishments of the Journal would offer an illuminating read for the society's members and friends and provide all readers another venue to share in and enjoy the Journal's great history. We are enthralled to have gathered these collections, all personal compositions of the former editors-in-chief, and for their effort that has helped us complete this special endeavor we express to them our tremendous gratitude. Serving as the Journal's last editors, we are also grateful to contribute our essay at the very end as part of this joyous chronicle.

  11. A Comparison of Simulated and Field-Derived Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Canopy Height Values from Four Forest Complexes in the Southeastern USA

    EPA Science Inventory

    Vegetative leaf area is a critical input to models that simulate human and ecosystem exposure to atmospheric pollutants. Leaf area index (LAI) can be measured in the field or numerically simulated, but all contain some inherent uncertainty that is passed to the exposure assessmen...

  12. May 2018 Letters to the Editor-in-Chief.

    PubMed

    2018-05-01

    Letters to the Editor-in-Chief of JOSPT as follows: "Regarding 'Unraveling the Mechanisms of Manual Therapy'" with Authors' Response "The Use of a Broad or Narrow Definition of Injury in Dance Surveillance" with Authors' Response J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2018;48(5):421-424. doi:10.2519/jospt.2018.0201.

  13. EDITORIAL: Outgoing Editor-in-Chief Outgoing Editor-in-Chief

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hauptmann, Peter

    2012-01-01

    I started in 2002 as Editor-in-Chief of a well established journal—MST (Measurement Science and Technology). It was a time when modern means of communication offered new opportunities for the scientific community—for all scientists and engineers whether at universities, in industry or at other institutions—to access better quality information in a shorter time. This development helped us to be more efficient in our daily scientific work and to anticipate new trends faster than before. A flood of information was created by different search engines. A few online journals or journals published in emerging countries with a similar profile to MST appeared on the market. MST had to provide new answers in response to these developments. In 2002 I postulated two requirements to the journal. Firstly, the publisher has to be up to date. My impression over the years has been that IOPP is excellently organized. That has made it easier for the board members and all our reviewers to concentrate on the scientific aspects of our input to the journal. During all my visits to Bristol or my contacts with the IOPP staff I always met very professional and enthusiastic staff members. They have not only supported and encouraged the ideas and initiatives of the Editorial Board members, but they have also worked hard on establishing one of the most effective journal operations in the field of measurement science and technology. Many authors are well aware of this. Thus I am able to declare that the first requirement for a successful journal has been met. Secondly, the scientific level has to be high and the journal should attract readers from all over the world. This task was the responsibility of the Editorial Board members and of myself. Our strategy was on the one hand to ensure continuity in MST but on the other hand to be open to new trends and developments. Examples of these new aspects of the journal are fields like micro- and nanometrology, measurement techniques for

  14. A Generic Metadata Editor Supporting System Using Drupal CMS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pan, J.; Banks, N. G.; Leggott, M.

    2011-12-01

    Metadata handling is a key factor in preserving and reusing scientific data. In recent years, standardized structural metadata has become widely used in Geoscience communities. However, there exist many different standards in Geosciences, such as the current version of the Federal Geographic Data Committee's Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC CSDGM), the Ecological Markup Language (EML), the Geography Markup Language (GML), and the emerging ISO 19115 and related standards. In addition, there are many different subsets within the Geoscience subdomain such as the Biological Profile of the FGDC (CSDGM), or for geopolitical regions, such as the European Profile or the North American Profile in the ISO standards. It is therefore desirable to have a software foundation to support metadata creation and editing for multiple standards and profiles, without re-inventing the wheels. We have developed a software module as a generic, flexible software system to do just that: to facilitate the support for multiple metadata standards and profiles. The software consists of a set of modules for the Drupal Content Management System (CMS), with minimal inter-dependencies to other Drupal modules. There are two steps in using the system's metadata functions. First, an administrator can use the system to design a user form, based on an XML schema and its instances. The form definition is named and stored in the Drupal database as a XML blob content. Second, users in an editor role can then use the persisted XML definition to render an actual metadata entry form, for creating or editing a metadata record. Behind the scenes, the form definition XML is transformed into a PHP array, which is then rendered via Drupal Form API. When the form is submitted the posted values are used to modify a metadata record. Drupal hooks can be used to perform custom processing on metadata record before and after submission. It is trivial to store the metadata record as an actual XML file

  15. nu/TPU -- A DEC TPU compatible editor for UNIX

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rehan, S. C.

    nu/TPU is a fully programmable text processing utility compatible with the TPU system found on VMS systems. People used to using TPU or EDT on the former Starlink VAX/VMS service will find that nu/TPU is very similar to these editors.

  16. Horatio Alger in the Newsroom: Social Origins of American Editors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hart, Jack R.

    1976-01-01

    Concludes that American newspaper editors of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries came from elite social backgrounds, which is contrary to the rags-to-riches image fostered by previous historians. (RB)

  17. PROGRAMMABLE DISPLAY PUSHBUTTON LEGEND EDITOR

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Busquets, A. M.

    1994-01-01

    The Programmable Display Pushbutton (PDP) is a pushbutton device available from Micro Switch which has a programmable 16 x 35 matrix of LEDs on the pushbutton surface. Any desired legends can be displayed on the PDPs, producing user-friendly applications which greatly reduce the need for dedicated manual controls. Because the PDP can interact with the operator, it can call for the correct response before transmitting its next message. It is both a simple manual control and a sophisticated programmable link between the operator and the host system. The Programmable Display Pushbutton Legend Editor, PDPE, is used to create the LED displays for the pushbuttons. PDPE encodes PDP control commands and legend data into message byte strings sent to a Logic Refresh and Control Unit (LRCU). The LRCU serves as the driver for a set of four PDPs. The legend editor (PDPE) transmits to the LRCU user specified commands that control what is displayed on the LED face of the individual pushbuttons. Upon receiving a command, the LRCU transmits an acknowledgement that the message was received and executed successfully. The user then observes the effect of the command on the PDP displays and decides whether or not to send the byte code of the message to a data file so that it may be called by an applications program. The PDPE program is written in FORTRAN for interactive execution. It was developed on a DEC VAX 11/780 under VMS. It has a central memory requirement of approximately 12800 bytes. It requires four Micro Switch PDPs and two RS-232 VAX 11/780 terminal ports. The PDPE program was developed in 1985.

  18. Most Business Editors Find Journalism Graduates Still Unprepared

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pardue, Mary Jane

    2014-01-01

    In 2002, a study was published in "Newspaper Research Journal" that explored the preparedness of graduating journalism students to cover business news. In 2012, a follow-up survey of business editors at the nation's daily newspapers was done to see whether progress had been made in the training of journalism students for the…

  19. Publishing in Educational Psychology Journals: Comments from Editors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nihalani, Priya K.; Mayrath, Michael C.

    2008-01-01

    The following paper emphasizes the importance of publishing and learning how to publish in educational psychology journals. We have compiled a set of recommendations based on advice from editors in the field and several other sources on how to publish. Additionally, this paper provides a step-by-step guide that graduate students and junior faculty…

  20. Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.

    PubMed Central

    1994-01-01

    In the 13 years since it was first published the "Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals" (the Vancouver style), developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, has been widely accepted by both authors and editors; over 400 journals have stated that they will consider manuscripts that conform to its requirements. This is the fourth edition of the "Uniform requirements." PMID:8287338

  1. Expression and characterization of an iron-regulated hemin-binding protein, HbpA, from Leptospira interrogans serovar Lai.

    PubMed

    Asuthkar, Swapna; Velineni, Sridhar; Stadlmann, Johannes; Altmann, Friedrich; Sritharan, Manjula

    2007-09-01

    In an earlier study, based on the ferric enterobactin receptor FepA of Escherichia coli, we identified and modeled a TonB-dependent outer membrane receptor protein (LB191) from the genome of Leptospira interrogans serovar Lai. Based on in silico analysis, we hypothesized that this protein was an iron-dependent hemin-binding protein. In this study, we provide experimental evidence to prove that this protein, termed HbpA (hemin-binding protein A), is indeed an iron-regulated hemin-binding protein. We cloned and expressed the full-length 81-kDa recombinant rHbpA protein and a truncated 55-kDa protein from L. interrogans serovar Lai, both of which bind hemin-agarose. Assay of hemin-associated peroxidase activity and spectrofluorimetric analysis provided confirmatory evidence of hemin binding by HbpA. Immunofluorescence studies by confocal microscopy and the microscopic agglutination test demonstrated the surface localization and the iron-regulated expression of HbpA in L. interrogans. Southern blot analysis confirmed our earlier observation that the hbpA gene was present only in some of the pathogenic serovars and was absent in Leptospira biflexa. Hemin-agarose affinity studies showed another hemin-binding protein with a molecular mass of approximately 44 kDa, whose expression was independent of iron levels. This protein was seen in several serovars, including nonpathogenic L. biflexa. Sequence analysis and immunoreactivity with specific antibodies showed this protein to be LipL41.

  2. EDITORIAL: Message from the Editor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thomas, Paul

    2009-01-01

    Plasmaphysik, Germany) V. Philipps (Forschungszentrum Juelich, Germany) S. Zweben (Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, USA) Y. Hirano (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan) Y. Takase (Tokyo University, Japan) In addition there is a group of several hundred referees who have helped us in the past year to maintain the high scientific standard of Nuclear Fusion. At the end of this issue we give the full list of all referees for 2008. Our thanks to them! Authors The winner of the 2007 award was Clemente Angioni for the paper entitled `Density response to central electron heating: theoretical investigations and experimental observations in ASDEX Upgrade' (Nucl. Fusion 44 8277-845). The winner of the 2008 Nuclear Fusion award is Todd Evans et al for the paper `Suppression of large edge localized modes with edge resonant magnetic fields in high confinement DIII-D plasmas' (Nucl. Fusion 45 595-607). The awards were presented by the IAEA Deputy Director General, Werner Burkart, and the Chairman of the Board of Editors, Mitsuru Kikuchi, on 16 October 2008 at the 22nd IAEA Fusion Energy Conference in Geneva, Switzerland. Given the topicality of these papers for the ITER design, it is a matter of pride to the journal that the work should be published in Nuclear Fusion. Reviews Like many who have worked for a long time in the field, I still make use of Nuclear Fusion Reviews that go back 20 or 30 years. It is particularly useful, therefore, that the Board of Editors has been working to re-activate the review programme. The first fruits will appear in this issue, in the form of `A review of zonal flow experiments', by Akihide Fujisawa. The special procedures for Reviews should be noted: most specifically that they should normally be commissioned by the Board of Editors. However, not only is the Board of Editors working on a programme but I am sure that they would be pleased to consider suggestions for review subjects. Letters The reputation of Nuclear

  3. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-induced CYP1B1 activity is suppressed by perillyl alcohol in MCF-7 cells

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Chan, Nelson L.S.; Wang Huan; Wang Yun

    2006-06-01

    Perillyl alcohol (POH) is a dietary monoterpene with potential applications in chemoprevention and chemotherapy. Although clinical trials are under way, POH's physiological and pharmacological properties are still unclear. In the present study, the effect of POH on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-induced genotoxicity, and the related expression were examined in MCF-7 cells. Exposure to environmental toxicant increases the risk of cancer. Many of these compounds are pro-carcinogens and are biotransformed into their ultimate genotoxic structures by xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes. CYP1A1 and 1B1 are enzymes that catalyze the biotransformation of dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA). Our data revealed that 0.5 {mu}M of POH was effectivemore » in blocking DMBA-DNA binding. Ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) assay indicated that the administration of POH inhibited the DMBA-induced enzyme activity in MCF-7 cells. Enzyme kinetic analysis revealed that POH inhibited CYP1B1 but not CYP1A1 activity. Quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay also demonstrated that the monoterpene reduced CYP1B1 mRNA abundance induced by DMBA. The present study illustrated that POH might inhibit and downregulate CYP1B1, which could protect against PAH-induced carcinogenesis.« less

  4. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-induced CYP1B1 activity is suppressed by perillyl alcohol in MCF-7 cells.

    PubMed

    Chan, Nelson L S; Wang, Huan; Wang, Yun; Leung, Hau Yi; Leung, Lai K

    2006-06-01

    Perillyl alcohol (POH) is a dietary monoterpene with potential applications in chemoprevention and chemotherapy. Although clinical trials are under way, POH's physiological and pharmacological properties are still unclear. In the present study, the effect of POH on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-induced genotoxicity, and the related expression were examined in MCF-7 cells. Exposure to environmental toxicant increases the risk of cancer. Many of these compounds are pro-carcinogens and are biotransformed into their ultimate genotoxic structures by xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes. CYP1A1 and 1B1 are enzymes that catalyze the biotransformation of dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA). Our data revealed that 0.5 microM of POH was effective in blocking DMBA-DNA binding. Ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) assay indicated that the administration of POH inhibited the DMBA-induced enzyme activity in MCF-7 cells. Enzyme kinetic analysis revealed that POH inhibited CYP1B1 but not CYP1A1 activity. Quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay also demonstrated that the monoterpene reduced CYP1B1 mRNA abundance induced by DMBA. The present study illustrated that POH might inhibit and downregulate CYP1B1, which could protect against PAH-induced carcinogenesis.

  5. Manuals for Editors and Authors: A Decision Model.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kirschner, Paul A.

    A series of eight manuals dealing with the triad text characteristics--learning processes--learning outcomes are being prepared for use by authors and editors as an aid in the design and writing of educational texts. These manuals are based upon a model for the functioning of text characteristics which in turn is part of a decision model for the…

  6. Adolescent Sexual Initiation through the Lens of Letters to the Editor Published in Polish Teenage Magazines

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kopacz, Marek S.; Bajka-Kopacz, Aleksandra

    2012-01-01

    Almost all teenage magazines invite readers to submit questions concerning relationships, published as letters to the editor, popularly called "advice columns," often containing explicit questions about sexuality. This study aims to examine, firstly, how themes related to sexual initiation are presented in letters to the editor published…

  7. EDITORIAL: Greetings from the new Editor-in-Chief

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Garcia, Ephrahim

    2008-02-01

    I am Professor Ephrahim Garcia, an Associate Professor at Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. I have been at Cornell University since 2002, spent four years as a Program Manager at the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency from 1998-2002, and before that seven years at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. I have served on the Editorial Advisory Board of Smart Materials and Structures (SMS) for the last six years. It is a humbling thing to be asked to take up the post of Editor-in-Chief in a field with so many talented researchers. I would like to say a heartfelt thanks to the members of the Editorial Board and IOP Publishing for their confidence in me. Most importantly, I would like to thank Professor Vijay Varadan of the University of Arkansas and Professor Richard Claus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University for their efforts in launching the journal 16 years ago. They have been stewards, promoters and, especially Vijay, key to the operation and function of SMS for all these years, and our research community is indebted to them. Professors Varadan and Claus have dedicated their careers to the area of smart materials and structures and we are very grateful for their leadership, mentoring and contribution. SMS is a thriving journal offering papers on all technical areas concerned with smart materials, systems and structures from the micro- and nanoscale to the macroscale. The journal is undergoing some major changes, including the recent transferal of papers to IOP Publishing's peer-review management system. With this new system authors can expect fast publication times of around 4 or 5 months from submission, and excellent author service. In this world of ever changing technology, the Editorial Board and I aim to reduce the time to publication for researchers in this exciting area of science and engineering. I am in the process of

  8. Developing Media Module Proposed to Editor in Editorial Division

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kristanto, A.; Mustaji; Mariono, A.; Sulistiowati; Nuryati, D. W.

    2018-01-01

    In this era of technology in Indonesia, various publishers introduce themselves and participate in advancing the quality of education through the publication of various books as the learning sources. One of the publishers is PT. JP Press. In compiling the learning sources, we found some problems that are left unresolved by the editor. The purpose of this research is to overcome the problems that exist in PT. JP Press by developing media module. This development research uses the ADDIE model. The types of data used in this study are qualitative and quantitative data obtained based on the results of structured interviews with material experts and media experts, as well as the editorial response questionnaire provided for individual try-out and small group try-out. Therefore, it can be concluded that the medium of elementary school supplementary module proposed to the editors of PT. JP Press is valuable to be used in the teaching and learning activities.

  9. [The relevance of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) for medical publishing and research].

    PubMed

    Reyes, Humberto B

    2014-01-01

    The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors is a leading independent institution providing guidance for the report of biomedical research and health related topics in medical journals. Established in 1978, it is currently constituted by editors of fourteen general medical journals from different countries, plus one representative for the US National Library of Medicine and one representative for the World Association of Biomedical Journal Editors. Since 1978 the Committee provides a document, originally named "Uniform Requirements…", "to help authors, editors, and others involved in peer review and biomedical publishing create and distribute accurate, clear, unbiased medical journal articles". This document has been updated several times and the last version was released in August 2013, now renamed "Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals", available in www.icmje.org and citable as "ICMJE Recommendations". A vast proportion of medical journals, worldwide, have adopted these recommendations as rules. The ICMJE discusses and provides guidance on several relevant aspects including criteria on authorship, peer review, scientific misconduct, conflicts of interest, clinical trials registration, good editorial practices, the relations between editors and journal owners, the protection of individuals subject to medical research, the solvency of electronic publications, among others. The 2013 ICMJE Annual Meeting took place in Santiago, Chile, in November 4 and 5. The photograph shows attendants to the final session.

  10. Magazine or journal--what is the difference? The role of the monitoring editor.

    PubMed

    Bretscher, Anthony

    2013-04-01

    Scientific communication, career advancement, and funding decisions are all dependent on research publications. The way manuscripts are handled by high-visibility, professionally edited magazines differs from the way academic journals evaluate manuscripts, using active scientists as monitoring editors. In this essay, I discuss the benefits that come with the involvement of active scientists. I enumerate the decisions a monitoring editor has to make, and how he or she goes about making them. Finally, I indicate ways in which authors can help to make the process a smoother and more positive experience.

  11. Can editors save peer review from peer reviewers?

    PubMed

    D'Andrea, Rafael; O'Dwyer, James P

    2017-01-01

    Peer review is the gold standard for scientific communication, but its ability to guarantee the quality of published research remains difficult to verify. Recent modeling studies suggest that peer review is sensitive to reviewer misbehavior, and it has been claimed that referees who sabotage work they perceive as competition may severely undermine the quality of publications. Here we examine which aspects of suboptimal reviewing practices most strongly impact quality, and test different mitigating strategies that editors may employ to counter them. We find that the biggest hazard to the quality of published literature is not selfish rejection of high-quality manuscripts but indifferent acceptance of low-quality ones. Bypassing or blacklisting bad reviewers and consulting additional reviewers to settle disagreements can reduce but not eliminate the impact. The other editorial strategies we tested do not significantly improve quality, but pairing manuscripts to reviewers unlikely to selfishly reject them and allowing revision of rejected manuscripts minimize rejection of above-average manuscripts. In its current form, peer review offers few incentives for impartial reviewing efforts. Editors can help, but structural changes are more likely to have a stronger impact.

  12. FlaME: Flash Molecular Editor - a 2D structure input tool for the web.

    PubMed

    Dallakian, Pavel; Haider, Norbert

    2011-02-01

    So far, there have been no Flash-based web tools available for chemical structure input. The authors herein present a feasibility study, aiming at the development of a compact and easy-to-use 2D structure editor, using Adobe's Flash technology and its programming language, ActionScript. As a reference model application from the Java world, we selected the Java Molecular Editor (JME). In this feasibility study, we made an attempt to realize a subset of JME's functionality in the Flash Molecular Editor (FlaME) utility. These basic capabilities are: structure input, editing and depiction of single molecules, data import and export in molfile format. The result of molecular diagram sketching in FlaME is accessible in V2000 molfile format. By integrating the molecular editor into a web page, its communication with the HTML elements on this page is established using the two JavaScript functions, getMol() and setMol(). In addition, structures can be copied to the system clipboard. A first attempt was made to create a compact single-file application for 2D molecular structure input/editing on the web, based on Flash technology. With the application examples presented in this article, it could be demonstrated that the Flash methods are principally well-suited to provide the requisite communication between the Flash object (application) and the HTML elements on a web page, using JavaScript functions.

  13. How Innovative Are Editors?: Evidence across Journals and Disciplines

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Petersen, Jessica

    2017-01-01

    Journal editors play a crucial role in the scientific publication system, as they make the final decision on acceptance or rejection of manuscripts. Some critics, however, suspect that the more innovative a manuscript is, the less likely it will be accepted for publication. Especially top-tier journals are accused of rejecting innovative research.…

  14. CMS Configuration Editor: GUI based application for user analysis job

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    de Cosa, A.

    2011-12-01

    We present the user interface and the software architecture of the Configuration Editor for the CMS experiment. The analysis workflow is organized in a modular way integrated within the CMS framework that organizes in a flexible way user analysis code. The Python scripting language is adopted to define the job configuration that drives the analysis workflow. It could be a challenging task for users, especially for newcomers, to develop analysis jobs managing the configuration of many required modules. For this reason a graphical tool has been conceived in order to edit and inspect configuration files. A set of common analysis tools defined in the CMS Physics Analysis Toolkit (PAT) can be steered and configured using the Config Editor. A user-defined analysis workflow can be produced starting from a standard configuration file, applying and configuring PAT tools according to the specific user requirements. CMS users can adopt this tool, the Config Editor, to create their analysis visualizing in real time which are the effects of their actions. They can visualize the structure of their configuration, look at the modules included in the workflow, inspect the dependences existing among the modules and check the data flow. They can visualize at which values parameters are set and change them according to what is required by their analysis task. The integration of common tools in the GUI needed to adopt an object-oriented structure in the Python definition of the PAT tools and the definition of a layer of abstraction from which all PAT tools inherit.

  15. Validating GEOV3 LAI, FAPAR and vegetation cover estimates derived from PROBA-V observations at 333m over Europe

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Camacho, Fernando; Sánchez, Jorge; Lacaze, Roselyne; Weiss, Marie; Baret, Frédéric; Verger, Aleixandre; Smets, Bruno; Latorre, Consuelo

    2016-04-01

    The Copernicus Global Land Service (http://land.copernicus.eu/global/) is delivering surface biophysical products derived from satellite observations at global scale. Fifteen years of LAI, FAPAR, and vegetation cover (FCOVER) products among other indicators have been generated from SPOT/VGT observations at 1 km spatial resolution (named GEOV1, GEOV2). The continuity of the service since the end of SPOT/VGT mission (May, 2014) is achieved thanks to PROBA-V, which offers observations at a finer spatial resolution (1/3 km). In the context of the FP7 ImagineS project (http://fp7-imagines.eu/), a new algorithm (Weiss et al., this conference), adapted to PROBA-V spectral and spatial characteristics, was designed to provide vegetation products (named GEOV3) as consistent as possible with GEOV1 and GEOV2 whilst providing near real-time estimates required by some users. It is based on neural network techniques completed with a data filtering and smoothing process. The near real-time estimates are improved through a consolidation period of six dekads during which observations are accumulated every new dekad. The validation of these products is mandatory to provide associated uncertainties for efficient use of this source of information. This work presents an early validation over Europe of the GEOV3 LAI, FAPAR and vegetation cover (FCOVER) products derived from PROBA-V observation at 333 m and 10-days frequency during the year 2014. The validation has been conducted in agreement with the CEOS LPV best practices for global LAI products. Several performance criteria were investigated for the several GEOV3 modes (near real-time, and successive consolidated estimates) including completeness, spatial and temporal consistency, precision and accuracy. The spatial and temporal consistency was evaluated using as reference PROBA-V GEOV1 and MODC5 1 km similar products using a network of 153 validation sites over Europe (EUVAL). The accuracy was assessed with concomitant data collected

  16. [Stanisława Adamowiczowa--first editor in-chief of Journal "Przeglad Epidemiologiczny"].

    PubMed

    Gromulska, Marta

    2010-01-01

    First issue of Epidemiological Review was published in 1920. First editor in chief was Stanisława Adamowiczowa, PhD (1888-1965), who had worked in National Central Epidemiological Institute since 1919, and later, for period of 45 years, interrupted by breaks resulting from political situation, worked in National Institute of Hygiene. In this jubilee article, we present scientific resume of S. Adamowiczowa which focuses on her achievements in infectious diseases epidemiology, and particularly in analysis and evaluation of current epidemiological data distribution in Poland and worldwide in the period. She was the pioneer in systemic organization of registries of new cases of diseases in the highly populated Polish cities; she initiated use of statistical methods in this field. As editor in chief of Epidemiological Review, she started publishing Epidemiological Chronicle, which is continuously added as a supplement to every second issue, each year. Name of S. Adamowiczowa is associated with Ludwik Rajchman--director of Hygiene Section in League of Nations, with Witold Chodźko PhD--she led courses in National School of Hygiene in Warsaw, with prof. Marcin Kacprzak--as co-author and co-editor of books on hygiene and epidemiology. A brief list of scientific publications of S. Adamowiczowa is also presented.

  17. Genre Analysis of Decision Letters from Editors of Scientific Journals: Building on Flowerdew and Dudley-Evans (2002)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Farley, Peter C.

    2017-01-01

    Flowerdew and Dudley-Evans (2002) described a prototypical structure for decision letters based on a personal database of letters written by one editor for the journal "English for Specific Purposes." In this article, I analyse a publicly available corpus of 59 decision letters from 48 different editors of a wide range of scientific…

  18. FlaME: Flash Molecular Editor - a 2D structure input tool for the web

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Background So far, there have been no Flash-based web tools available for chemical structure input. The authors herein present a feasibility study, aiming at the development of a compact and easy-to-use 2D structure editor, using Adobe's Flash technology and its programming language, ActionScript. As a reference model application from the Java world, we selected the Java Molecular Editor (JME). In this feasibility study, we made an attempt to realize a subset of JME's functionality in the Flash Molecular Editor (FlaME) utility. These basic capabilities are: structure input, editing and depiction of single molecules, data import and export in molfile format. Implementation The result of molecular diagram sketching in FlaME is accessible in V2000 molfile format. By integrating the molecular editor into a web page, its communication with the HTML elements on this page is established using the two JavaScript functions, getMol() and setMol(). In addition, structures can be copied to the system clipboard. Conclusion A first attempt was made to create a compact single-file application for 2D molecular structure input/editing on the web, based on Flash technology. With the application examples presented in this article, it could be demonstrated that the Flash methods are principally well-suited to provide the requisite communication between the Flash object (application) and the HTML elements on a web page, using JavaScript functions. PMID:21284863

  19. Letter from the Editor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Strassmeier, Klaus G.

    2008-01-01

    As of 2006, Astronomische Nachrichten -- Astronomical Notes has reached its all-time high regarding the ISI journal impact factor, with an impressive increase of 60% compared to 2005. We now rank at position 1,399, as shown in the statistics below. This is solely due to the increased number and quality of published articles: In 2006, Astronomische Nachrichten -- Astronomical Notes published 208 research papers and received 1,033 citations -- five citations per paper on average. In 2007, we have published 177 research papers, and one may be curious to see how their factor will develop. In co-operation with Wiley InterScience we have achieved an average o nline publication time of just 4.5 months. As in the past, publication in Astronomische Nachrichten -- Astronomical Notes} continues to be free of charge. Also, all articles of the first issue of each volume can be downloaded free of charge, as can all articles labelled ``Editor's Choice'', which are additionally featured with a color image on the front cover.

  20. Incidence of Postoperative Hematomas Requiring Surgical Treatment in Neurosurgery: A Retrospective Observational Study.

    PubMed

    Lillemäe, Kadri; Järviö, Johanna Annika; Silvasti-Lundell, Marja Kaarina; Antinheimo, Jussi Juha-Pekka; Hernesniemi, Juha Antero; Niemi, Tomi Tapio

    2017-12-01

    We aimed to characterize the occurrence of postoperative hematoma (POH) after neurosurgery overall and according to procedure type and describe the prevalence of possible confounders. Patient data between 2010 and 2012 at the Department of Neurosurgery in Helsinki University Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. A data search was performed according to the type of surgery including craniotomies; shunt procedures, spine surgery, and spinal cord stimulator implantation. We analyzed basic preoperative characteristics, as well as data about the initial intervention, perioperative period, revision operation and neurologic recovery (after craniotomy only). The overall incidence of POH requiring reoperation was 0.6% (n = 56/8783) to 0.6% (n = 26/4726) after craniotomy, 0% (n = 0/928) after shunting procedure, 1.1% (n = 30/2870) after spine surgery, and 0% (n = 0/259) after implantation of a spinal cord stimulator. Craniotomy types with higher POH incidence were decompressive craniectomy (7.9%, n = 7/89), cranioplasty (3.6%, n = 4/112), bypass surgery (1.7%, n = 1/60), and epidural hematoma evacuation (1.6%, n = 1/64). After spinal surgery, POH was observed in 1.1% of cervical and 2.1% of thoracolumbar operations, whereas 46.7% were multilevel procedures. 64.3% of patients with POH and 84.6% of patients undergoing craniotomy had postoperative hypertension (systolic blood pressure >160 mm Hg or lower if indicated). Poor outcome (Glasgow Outcome Scale score 1-3), whereas death at 6 months after craniotomy was detected in 40.9% and 21.7%. respectively, of patients with POH who underwent craniotomy. POH after neurosurgery was rare in this series but was associated with poor outcome. Identification of risk factors of bleeding, and avoiding them, if possible, might decrease the incidence of POH. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Space Weather Editors in Transition: Hail and Farewell

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Knipp, Delores J.

    2017-02-01

    I hope you will join me in welcoming Dr. Daniel Welling of University of Michigan and Dr. T. Paul O'Brien of the Aerospace Corporation to the Space Weather (SWE) editorial team. Dan and Paul have answered the call to fill the shoes of two departing editors: Dr. Howard Singer and Dr. Barbara Giles. Dan brings insight related to space weather model development, while Paul brings expertise in the geospace radiation environment.

  2. A Comprehensive review on the open source hackable text editor-ATOM

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sumangali, K.; Borra, Lokesh; Suraj Mishra, Amol

    2017-11-01

    This document represents a comprehensive study of “Atom”, one of the best open-source code editors available with many features built-in to support multitude of programming environments and to provide a more productive toolset for developers.

  3. Conflicts of interest in biomedical publications: considerations for authors, peer reviewers, and editors.

    PubMed

    Gasparyan, Armen Yuri; Ayvazyan, Lilit; Akazhanov, Nurbek A; Kitas, George D

    2013-12-01

    This article overviews evidence on common instances of conflict of interest (COI) in research publications from general and specialized fields of biomedicine. Financial COIs are viewed as the most powerful source of bias, which may even distort citation outcomes of sponsored publications. The urge to boost journal citation indicators by stakeholders of science communication is viewed as a new secondary interest, which may compromize the interaction between authors, peer reviewers and editors. Comprehensive policies on disclosure of financial and non-financial COIs in scholarly journals are presented as proxies of their indexing in evidence-based databases, and examples of successful medical journals are discussed in detail. Reports on clinical trials, systematic reviews, meta-analyses and clinical practice guidelines may be unduly influenced by author-pharmaceutical industry relations, but these publications do not always contain explicit disclosures to allow the readers to judge the reliability of the published conclusions and practice-changing recommendations. The article emphasizes the importance of adhering to the guidance on COI from learned associations such as the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). It also considers joint efforts of authors, peer reviewers and editors as a foundation for appropriately defining and disclosing potential COIs.

  4. An interactive editor for definition of touch-sensitive zones for a graphic display

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Monroe, Burt L., III; Jones, Denise R.

    1987-01-01

    In the continuing effort to develop more efficient man-machine communications methods, touch displays have shown potential as straightforward input systems. The development of software necessary to handle such systems, however, can become tedious. In order to reduce the need for redundant programming, a touch editor has been developed which allows a programmer to interactively define touch-sensitive areas for a graphic display. The information produced during the editing process is written to a data file, which can be accessed easily when needed by an application program. This paper outlines the structure, logic, and use of the editor, as well as the hardware with which it is presently compatible.

  5. 29 CFR 793.11 - Combination announcer, news editor and chief engineer.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... editor and chief engineer. The 13(b)(9) exemption, as was made clear during the debate on the amendment... television stations. It is known at the time of such debate that these stations employ only a small number of...

  6. 29 CFR 793.11 - Combination announcer, news editor and chief engineer.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... editor and chief engineer. The 13(b)(9) exemption, as was made clear during the debate on the amendment... television stations. It is known at the time of such debate that these stations employ only a small number of...

  7. EDITORIAL: New Editor-in-Chief for Nanotechnology New Editor-in-Chief for Nanotechnology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Couzin, Nina

    2009-01-01

    Nanotechnology is proud to announce the appointment of Professor Mark Reed, Yale University, as the new Editor-in-Chief from January 2009. Mark Reed holds the Harold Hodgkinson Chair of Engineering and Applied Science at Yale University. He has made significant contributions in the areas of quantum dots, electronic transport in nanoscale and mesoscopic systems, artificially structured materials and devices, and molecular electronics. Professor Reed has been associated with the journal as an Editorial Board member for a number of years and we are delighted that he has agreed to take on the scientific leadership of the journal in its 20th year. We also take the opportunity to thank Professor Mark Welland, Cambridge University, for his work as Editor-in-Chief since 2001, and for presiding over the re-launch and remarkable growth of the journal since then. Nanotechnology is unique in that it was the first peer-reviewed journal in the area of nanoscience, the first issue appearing in 1990. Since then it has established a distinguished publication record and has become a leading journal covering all aspects of nanoscale science and technology, as well as specializing in in-depth, comprehensive articles not seen in letter format journals. Published weekly and featuring subject sections, the journal is truly multidisciplinary in nature and is an excellent medium to quickly deliver your research results to readers worldwide. Nanotechnology is proud to be offering some of the fastest publication times around (less than three months on average from receipt to online publication). We offer free online access to all published papers for 30 days, ensuring that anyone with access to the internet will be able to read your paper. We were also the first journal to give our authors the opportunity to communicate their research to a wider audience through nanotechweb.org and other IOP websites. See the journal's homepage at www.iop.org/Journals/nano for more details. We are looking

  8. [Co-editors and editors with Jewish origins of the first German journals for anaesthesia. Their fate under National Socialism and an attempt at a biographical appreciation].

    PubMed

    Goerig, M; Goetz, A E

    2010-09-01

    The decision to publish the journals Der Schmerz and Narkose und Anaesthesie in 1928 was an important step towards the professionalization of anaesthesiology in Germany. The appearance of both journals, which for economic reasons merged into Schmerz - Narkose - Anaesthesie 1 year later, was initiated and vehemently supported by Jewish physicians. As editors and co-editors they were deeply involved with the editorial tasks of the journals for years from the early beginnings. When the National Socialistic Party took over the government in Germany many of the Jewish colleagues were forced to quit their editorial tasks, were eliminated and replaced by "Arians", they were persecuted and often arrested, forced to emigrate or decided to commit suicide due to inhumane personal circumstances. It is our intention to recall the biography and the terrible fate of the nearly unknown Jewish members of the editorial board of the first German anaesthesia journals. Moreover the biographic sketches promote a continuous discussion about the victims of an inhumane and barbarous ideology.

  9. Transforming Pinus pinaster forest to recreation site: preliminary effects on LAI, some forest floor, and soil properties.

    PubMed

    Öztürk, Melih; Bolat, İlyas

    2014-04-01

    This study investigates the effects of forest transformation into recreation site. A fragment of a Pinus pinaster plantation forest was transferred to a recreation site in the city of Bartın located close to the Black Sea coast of northwestern Turkey. During the transformation, some of the trees were selectively removed from the forest to generate more open spaces for the recreationists. As a result, Leaf Area Index (LAI) decreased by 0.20 (about 11%). Additionally, roads and pathways were introduced into the site together with some recreational equipment sealing parts of the soil surface. Consequently, forest environment was altered with a semi-natural landscape within the recreation site. The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of forest transformation into recreation site particularly in terms of the LAI parameter, forest floor, and soil properties. Preliminary monitoring results indicate that forest floor biomass is reduced by 26% in the recreation site compared to the control site. Soil temperature is increased by 15% in the recreation site where selective removal of trees expanded the gaps allowing more light transmission. On the other hand, the soil bulk density which is an indicator of soil compaction is unexpectedly slightly lower in the recreation site. Organic carbon (C(org)) and total nitrogen (N(total)) together with the other physical and chemical parameter values indicate that forest floor and soil have not been exposed to much disturbance. However, subsequent removal of trees that would threaten the vegetation, forest floor, and soil should not be allowed. The activities of the recreationists are to be concentrated on the paved spaces rather than soil surfaces. Furthermore, long-term monitoring and management is necessary for both the observation and conservation of the site.

  10. Are the Editors faced with e-problems performing their duties and responsibilities satisfactorily?

    PubMed

    Ali Jawaid, Shaukat; Jawaid, Masood

    2013-09-01

    Astonishing revolution in information technology, developments in electronic publishing and availability of manuscript management software's has provided lot of facilities to authors, reviewers as well as editors but it has also given birth to lot of e-problems. This communication highlights some of these e-problems besides discussing the manuscript management system practiced by Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences through modified Open Journal System. It also cautions the editors of small journals faced with financial and human resource constraints to keep themselves abreast of all these developments, go for automation in e publishing gradually as all the stake holders i.e. authors, reviewers and office management staff learns these and become used to it.

  11. University-government relationships in the training of technical writers-editors

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Stohrer, Freda F.; Pinelli, Thomas E.

    1979-01-01

    Traditional and nontraditional methods of training technical writers-editors are reviewed. Combining work experience with classroom instruction in the form of cooperative education provides a method of strengthening the Federal career service in professional occupations. The NASA Langley experience that successfully introduced students to the special demands of technical writing and editing is described.

  12. How Educators, Editors View Aspects of J School's Role in Press Criticism.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ryan, Michael

    1978-01-01

    A survey of newspaper editors and journalism school deans and faculty members revealed that media criticism by journalism schools occurs infrequently and that both academic and media people have mixed reactions about its advisability. (GW)

  13. Conflicts of interest in biomedical publications: considerations for authors, peer reviewers, and editors

    PubMed Central

    Gasparyan, Armen Yuri; Ayvazyan, Lilit; Akazhanov, Nurbek A.; Kitas, George D.

    2013-01-01

    This article overviews evidence on common instances of conflict of interest (COI) in research publications from general and specialized fields of biomedicine. Financial COIs are viewed as the most powerful source of bias, which may even distort citation outcomes of sponsored publications. The urge to boost journal citation indicators by stakeholders of science communication is viewed as a new secondary interest, which may compromize the interaction between authors, peer reviewers, and editors. Comprehensive policies on disclosure of financial and non-financial COIs in scholarly journals are presented as proxies of their indexing in evidence-based databases, and examples of successful medical journals are discussed in detail. Reports on clinical trials, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and clinical practice guidelines may be unduly influenced by author-pharmaceutical industry relations, but these publications do not always contain explicit disclosures to allow the readers to judge the reliability of the published conclusions and practice-changing recommendations. The article emphasizes the importance of adhering to the guidance on COI from learned associations such as the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). It also considers joint efforts of authors, peer reviewers, and editors as a foundation for appropriately defining and disclosing potential COIs. PMID:24382859

  14. Letter from the Editor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Strassmeier, Klaus G.

    2009-01-01

    As of 2007, Astronomische Nachrichten -- Astronomical Notes has reached its all-time high regarding the ISI journal impact factor, with an impressive increase of 60% compared to 2005. We now rank at 1,461, as shown in the statistics below. This is solely due to the increased quality of the published articles: In 2006, Astronomische Nachrichten -- Astronomical Notes published 208 research papers and received 1,033 citations -- five citations per paper on average. In 2007, we have published 177 research papers with roughly the same number of citations. In co-operation with Wiley InterScience we have achieved an average online publication time of just 4.5 months. We hope that the year 2008 will be comparably prosperous. As in the past, publication in Astronomische Nachrichten -- Astronomical Notes continues to be free of charge. Also, all articles of the first issue of each volume can be downloaded free of charge, as can all articles labelled ``Editor's Choice'', which are additionally featured with a color image on the front cover.

  15. Effects of Physician-Based Preventive Oral Health Services on Dental Caries.

    PubMed

    Kranz, Ashley M; Preisser, John S; Rozier, R Gary

    2015-07-01

    Most Medicaid programs reimburse nondental providers for preventive dental services. We estimate the impact of comprehensive preventive oral health services (POHS) on dental caries among kindergarten students, hypothesizing improved oral health among students with medical visits with POHS. We conducted a retrospective study in 29,173 kindergarten students by linking Medicaid claims (1999-2006) with public health surveillance data (2005-2006). Zero-inflated regression models estimated the association between number of visits with POHS and (1) decayed, missing, and filled primary teeth (dmft) and (2) untreated decayed teeth while adjusting for confounding. Kindergarten students with ≥4 POHS visits averaged an adjusted 1.82 dmft (95% confidence interval: 1.55 to 2.09), which was significantly less than students with 0 visits (2.21 dmft; 95% confidence interval: 2.16 to 2.25). The mean number of untreated decayed teeth was not reduced for students with ≥4 POHS visits compared with those with 0 visits. POHS provided by nondental providers in medical settings were associated with a reduction in caries experience in young children but were not associated with improvement in subsequent use of treatment services in dental settings. Efforts to promote oral health in medical settings should continue. Strategies to promote physician-dentist collaborations are needed to improve continuity of care for children receiving dental services in medical settings. Copyright © 2015 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

  16. EDITORIAL: Letter from the Editor Letter from the Editor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pashinin, Pavel P.

    2013-01-01

    Dear readers, contributors, and members of the world laser physics community. It is a great honour for us to introduce to you our new publishing partner, IOP Publishing, a subsidiary of the Institute of Physics, United Kingdom. IOP Publishing is a world renowned authority in producing journals, magazines, websites and services that enable researchers and research organizations to present their work to a world-wide audience. Laser Physics, the first English-language scientific journal in Russia, was founded in 1990 on the initiative of Alexander M Prokhorov, a pioneer and leader in laser physics research. Professor Prokhorov served as the first Editor-in-Chief of the journal until 2002. We are proud that it is our 23rd year of publishing Laser Physics and our 10th year of publishing Laser Physics Letters. We would like to honour the memory of our friend, late Professor Igor Yevseyev, whose enthusiasm and unwavering dedication to our journals contributed most significantly to their success. It was initially his idea in 2011 to approach IOP with a partnership proposal. We deeply regret that he is no longer with us as we enter this productive alliance. Now, in partnership with IOP, we are turning a new page in providing world-wide access to the cutting-edge research results in our journals, serving our well established global audience. We see new horizons opening for our journals for years to come and hope that our readers share our enthusiasm and aspirations. Please accept our best wishes for all your new scientific endeavors in the exciting field of laser physics.

  17. Conflicts of interest for medical publishers and editors: protecting the integrity of scientific scholarship.

    PubMed

    Desai, Sapan S; Shortell, Cynthia K

    2011-09-01

    Competition of interest may exist at all levels in the medical publication process. Ensuring the integrity of scientific scholarship involves protecting editorial independence, promoting the use of scientific arbitration boards, promoting transparency throughout all stages of publication, and protecting the relationship between the publisher and its editors through an effective legal framework. It is incumbent upon the publisher, editors, authors, and readers to ensure that the highest standards of scientific scholarship are upheld. Doing so will help reduce fraud and misrepresentation in medical research and increase the trustworthiness of landmark findings in science. Copyright © 2011 Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. John F. Dewey—Tectonics Editor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Richman, Barbara T.

    ‘I want the journal to acquire a reputation for very rapid, fair, and accurate reviewing,’ asserted John F. Dewey, editor-in-chief of AGU's newest journal, Tectonics. Dewey said that he will rule the bimonthly, which will begin publication in February, ‘with a bit of a rod of iron’ to ensure that Tectonics is ‘where only original and important papers are published.’‘I'm going to be very strict with reviewers,’ Dewey explained in his quick British clip. ‘If the review does not come back to me within 10 days to 2 weeks, I'll review the paper myself. I'm also going to have a system whereby, if a paper needs major surgery after being refereed, it will be rejected. Papers will have to be in virtually publishable condition before they are first submitted,’ he said.

  19. Do author-suggested reviewers rate submissions more favorably than editor-suggested reviewers? A study on atmospheric chemistry and physics.

    PubMed

    Bornmann, Lutz; Daniel, Hans-Dieter

    2010-10-14

    Ratings in journal peer review can be affected by sources of bias. The bias variable investigated here was the information on whether authors had suggested a possible reviewer for their manuscript, and whether the editor had taken up that suggestion or had chosen a reviewer that had not been suggested by the authors. Studies have shown that author-suggested reviewers rate manuscripts more favorably than editor-suggested reviewers do. Reviewers' ratings on three evaluation criteria and the reviewers' final publication recommendations were available for 552 manuscripts (in total 1145 reviews) that were submitted to Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, an interactive open access journal using public peer review (authors' and reviewers' comments are publicly exchanged). Public peer review is supposed to bring a new openness to the reviewing process that will enhance its objectivity. In the statistical analysis the quality of a manuscript was controlled for to prevent favorable reviewers' ratings from being attributable to quality instead of to the bias variable. Our results agree with those from other studies that editor-suggested reviewers rated manuscripts between 30% and 42% less favorably than author-suggested reviewers. Against this backdrop journal editors should consider either doing without the use of author-suggested reviewers or, if they are used, bringing in more than one editor-suggested reviewer for the review process (so that the review by author-suggested reviewers can be put in perspective).

  20. The perception of volcanic risk in Kona communities from Mauna Loa and Hualālai volcanoes, Hawai‵i

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gregg, C. E.; Houghton, B. F.; Johnston, D. M.; Paton, D.; Swanson, D. A.

    2004-02-01

    Volcanic hazards in Kona (i.e. the western side of the island of Hawai‵i) stem primarily from Mauna Loa and Hualālai volcanoes. The former has erupted 39 times since 1832. Lava flows were emplaced in Kona during seven of these eruptions and last impacted Kona in 1950. Hualālai last erupted in ca. 1800. Society's proximity to potential eruptive sources and the potential for relatively fast-moving lava flows, coupled with relatively long time intervals since the last eruptions in Kona, are the underlying stimuli for this study of risk perception. Target populations were high-school students and adults ( n=462). Using these data, we discuss threat knowledge as an influence on risk perception, and perception as a driving mechanism for preparedness. Threat knowledge and perception of risk were found to be low to moderate. On average, fewer than two-thirds of the residents were aware of the most recent eruptions that impacted Kona, and a minority felt that Mauna Loa and Hualālai could ever erupt again. Furthermore, only about one-third were aware that lava flows could reach the coast in Kona in less than 3 h. Lava flows and ash fall were perceived to be among the least likely hazards to affect the respondent's community within the next 10 years, whereas vog (volcanic smog) was ranked the most likely. Less than 18% identified volcanic hazards as amongst the most likely hazards to affect them at home, school, or work. Not surprisingly, individual preparedness measures were found on average to be limited to simple tasks of value in frequently occurring domestic emergencies, whereas measures specific to infrequent hazard events such as volcanic eruptions were seldom adopted. Furthermore, our data show that respondents exhibit an 'unrealistic optimism bias' and infer that responsibility for community preparedness for future eruptions primarily rests with officials. We infer that these respondents may be less likely to attend to hazard information, react to warnings as

  1. The perception of volcanic risk in Kona communities from Mauna Loa and Hualālai volcanoes, Hawai'i

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Gregg, Chris E.; Houghton, Bruce F.; Johnston, David M.; Paton, Douglas; Swanson, D.A.

    2004-01-01

    Volcanic hazards in Kona (i.e. the western side of the island of Hawai'i) stem primarily from Mauna Loa and Huala??lai volcanoes. The former has erupted 39 times since 1832. Lava flows were emplaced in Kona during seven of these eruptions and last impacted Kona in 1950. Huala??lai last erupted in ca. 1800. Society's proximity to potential eruptive sources and the potential for relatively fast-moving lava flows, coupled with relatively long time intervals since the last eruptions in Kona, are the underlying stimuli for this study of risk perception. Target populations were high-school students and adults ( n =462). Using these data, we discuss threat knowledge as an influence on risk perception, and perception as a driving mechanism for preparedness. Threat knowledge and perception of risk were found to be low to moderate. On average, fewer than two-thirds of the residents were aware of the most recent eruptions that impacted Kona, and a minority felt that Mauna Loa and Huala??lai could ever erupt again. Furthermore, only about one-third were aware that lava flows could reach the coast in Kona in less than 3 h. Lava flows and ash fall were perceived to be among the least likely hazards to affect the respondent's community within the next 10 years, whereas vog (volcanic smog) was ranked the most likely. Less than 18% identified volcanic hazards as amongst the most likely hazards to affect them at home, school, or work. Not surprisingly, individual preparedness measures were found on average to be limited to simple tasks of value in frequently occurring domestic emergencies, whereas measures specific to infrequent hazard events such as volcanic eruptions were seldom adopted. Furthermore, our data show that respondents exhibit an 'unrealistic optimism bias' and infer that responsibility for community preparedness for future eruptions primarily rests with officials. We infer that these respondents may be less likely to attend to hazard information, react to warnings as

  2. Improving the Yield of Rural Education Research: An Editor's Swan Song

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Coladarci, Theodore

    2007-01-01

    In my 15th and final year as JRRE editor, I identify methodological and substantive shortcomings in the rural education research literature and, in turn, suggest strategies for improvement. I structure my observations around the following considerations: describing the rural context of research, making the rural argument, framing the research…

  3. The effects of an editor serving as one of the reviewers during the peer-review process.

    PubMed

    Giordan, Marco; Csikasz-Nagy, Attila; Collings, Andrew M; Vaggi, Federico

    2016-01-01

    Background Publishing in scientific journals is one of the most important ways in which scientists disseminate research to their peers and to the wider public. Pre-publication peer review underpins this process, but peer review is subject to various criticisms and is under pressure from growth in the number of scientific publications. Methods Here we examine an element of the editorial process at eLife , in which the Reviewing Editor usually serves as one of the referees, to see what effect this has on decision times, decision type, and the number of citations. We analysed a dataset of 8,905 research submissions to eLife since June 2012, of which 2,747 were sent for peer review. This subset of 2747 papers was then analysed in detail.   Results The Reviewing Editor serving as one of the peer reviewers results in faster decision times on average, with the time to final decision ten days faster for accepted submissions (n=1,405) and five days faster for papers that were rejected after peer review (n=1,099). Moreover, editors acting as reviewers had no effect on whether submissions were accepted or rejected, and a very small (but significant) effect on citation rates. Conclusions An important aspect of eLife 's peer-review process is shown to be effective, given that decision times are faster when the Reviewing Editor serves as a reviewer. Other journals hoping to improve decision times could consider adopting a similar approach.

  4. A survey of the awareness, knowledge, policies and views of veterinary journal Editors-in-Chief on reporting guidelines for publication of research

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Background Wider adoption of reporting guidelines by veterinary journals could improve the quality of published veterinary research. The aims of this study were to assess the knowledge and views of veterinary Editors-in-Chief on reporting guidelines, identify the policies of their journals, and determine their information needs. Editors-in-Chief of 185 journals on the contact list for the International Association of Veterinary Editors (IAVE) were surveyed in April 2012 using an online questionnaire which contained both closed and open questions. Results The response rate was 36.8% (68/185). Thirty-six of 68 editors (52.9%) stated they knew what a reporting guideline was before receiving the questionnaire. Editors said they had found out about reporting guidelines primarily through articles in other journals, via the Internet and through their own journal. Twenty of 57 respondents (35.1%) said their journal referred to reporting guidelines in its instructions to authors. CONSORT, REFLECT, and ARRIVE were the most frequently cited. Forty-four of 68 respondents (68.2%) believed that reporting guidelines should be adopted by all refereed veterinary journals. Qualitative analysis of the open questions revealed that lack of knowledge, fear, resistance to change, and difficulty in implementation were perceived as barriers to the adoption of reporting guidelines by journals. Editors suggested that reporting guidelines be promoted through communication and education of the veterinary community, with roles for the IAVE and universities. Many respondents believed a consensus policy on guideline implementation was needed for veterinary journals. Conclusions Further communication and education about reporting guidelines for editors, authors and reviewers has the potential to increase their adoption by veterinary journals in the future. PMID:24410882

  5. Programming the Navier-Stokes computer: An abstract machine model and a visual editor

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Middleton, David; Crockett, Tom; Tomboulian, Sherry

    1988-01-01

    The Navier-Stokes computer is a parallel computer designed to solve Computational Fluid Dynamics problems. Each processor contains several floating point units which can be configured under program control to implement a vector pipeline with several inputs and outputs. Since the development of an effective compiler for this computer appears to be very difficult, machine level programming seems necessary and support tools for this process have been studied. These support tools are organized into a graphical program editor. A programming process is described by which appropriate computations may be efficiently implemented on the Navier-Stokes computer. The graphical editor would support this programming process, verifying various programmer choices for correctness and deducing values such as pipeline delays and network configurations. Step by step details are provided and demonstrated with two example programs.

  6. Do Author-Suggested Reviewers Rate Submissions More Favorably than Editor-Suggested Reviewers? A Study on Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics

    PubMed Central

    Bornmann, Lutz; Daniel, Hans-Dieter

    2010-01-01

    Background Ratings in journal peer review can be affected by sources of bias. The bias variable investigated here was the information on whether authors had suggested a possible reviewer for their manuscript, and whether the editor had taken up that suggestion or had chosen a reviewer that had not been suggested by the authors. Studies have shown that author-suggested reviewers rate manuscripts more favorably than editor-suggested reviewers do. Methodology/Principal Findings Reviewers' ratings on three evaluation criteria and the reviewers' final publication recommendations were available for 552 manuscripts (in total 1145 reviews) that were submitted to Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, an interactive open access journal using public peer review (authors' and reviewers' comments are publicly exchanged). Public peer review is supposed to bring a new openness to the reviewing process that will enhance its objectivity. In the statistical analysis the quality of a manuscript was controlled for to prevent favorable reviewers' ratings from being attributable to quality instead of to the bias variable. Conclusions/Significance Our results agree with those from other studies that editor-suggested reviewers rated manuscripts between 30% and 42% less favorably than author-suggested reviewers. Against this backdrop journal editors should consider either doing without the use of author-suggested reviewers or, if they are used, bringing in more than one editor-suggested reviewer for the review process (so that the review by author-suggested reviewers can be put in perspective). PMID:20976226

  7. 2012 Special NSREC Issue of the IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science Comments by the Editors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schwank, Jim; Brown, Dennis; Girard, Sylvain; Gouker, Pascale; Gerardin, Simone; Quinn, Heather; Barnaby, Hugh

    2012-12-01

    The December 2012 special issue of the IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science contains selected papers from the 49th annual IEEE International Nuclear and Space Radiation Effects Conference (NSREC) held July 16-20, 2012, in Miami, Florida USA. 95 papers presented at the 2012 NSREC were submitted for consideration for this year’s special issue. Those papers that appear in this special issue were able to successfully complete the review process before the deadline for the December issue. A few additional papers may appear in subsequent issues of the TRANSACTIONS. This publication is the premier archival journal for research on space and nuclear radiation effects in materials, devices, circuits, and systems. This distinction is the direct result of the conscientious efforts of both the authors, who present and document their work, and the reviewers, who selflessly volunteer their time and talent to help review the manuscripts. Each paper in this journal has been reviewed by experts selected by the editors for their expertise and knowledge of the particular subject areas. The peer review process for a typical technical journal generally takes six months to one year to complete. To publish this special issue of the IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science (in December), the review process, from initial submission to final form, must be completed in about 10 weeks. Because of the short schedule, both the authors and reviewers are required to respond very quickly. The reviewers listed on the following pages contributed vitally to this quick-turn review process.We would like to express our sincere appreciation to each of them for accepting this difficult, but critical role in the process. To provide consistent reviews of papers throughout the year, the IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science relies on a year-round editorial board that manages reviews for submissions throughout the year to the TRANSACTIONS in the area of radiation effects. The review process is managed by a Senior

  8. Editor in Chief[R] Beginning: Grammar Disasters and Punctuation Faux Pas.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Beckwith, Carrie; Block, Cheryl; Broz, Christine; Hockett, Margaret; White, David

    This workbook is designed as an introduction to the "Editor in Chief" series, which reinforces the rules of written English. In this workbook, student first review the rules of grammar and mechanics using multiple-choice questions; then the students learn to apply these rules in context by editing stories in a variety of formats. This "Beginning"…

  9. A profile of Fritiof S. Sjöstrand--the founding editor.

    PubMed

    Maunsbach, Arvid B

    2008-09-01

    The Journal of Ultrastructure Research was founded in 1957 by Fritiof S. Sjöstrand, who served as Editor-in-Chief until 1990, when the journal changed the name to the Journal of Structural Biology. This profile summarizes the developments that led to the start of the journal and aspects of Fritiof Sjöstrand's scientific and personal carrier.

  10. Artificial intelligence in peer review: How can evolutionary computation support journal editors?

    PubMed

    Mrowinski, Maciej J; Fronczak, Piotr; Fronczak, Agata; Ausloos, Marcel; Nedic, Olgica

    2017-01-01

    With the volume of manuscripts submitted for publication growing every year, the deficiencies of peer review (e.g. long review times) are becoming more apparent. Editorial strategies, sets of guidelines designed to speed up the process and reduce editors' workloads, are treated as trade secrets by publishing houses and are not shared publicly. To improve the effectiveness of their strategies, editors in small publishing groups are faced with undertaking an iterative trial-and-error approach. We show that Cartesian Genetic Programming, a nature-inspired evolutionary algorithm, can dramatically improve editorial strategies. The artificially evolved strategy reduced the duration of the peer review process by 30%, without increasing the pool of reviewers (in comparison to a typical human-developed strategy). Evolutionary computation has typically been used in technological processes or biological ecosystems. Our results demonstrate that genetic programs can improve real-world social systems that are usually much harder to understand and control than physical systems.

  11. EDITORIAL: Incoming Editor-in-Chief

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Webb, Steve

    2006-01-01

    Physics in Medicine and Biology (PMB) is a journal that originated in the UK but is now rightly regarded as one of the pre-eminent international journals for the publication of material coming within its remit. It is 50 years old and its maturity is an outcome of the consistent support of high performing authors, a supportive and professional publishing house, dedicated referees, many vigorous and conscientious editorial boards and the collective input of the 10 previous Editors as listed in his incoming editorial (January 2000 issue) by the retiring Editor, Professor Alun Beddoe. The scientific climate and it associated publication modus operandi in the 1950s was very different from that at the current time and the journal has evolved to reflect this. Hence today the scope of content is somewhat broader, the size of the journal is vastly greater, the whole publication process is slicker and more efficient and a paper in PMB is highly prized by its authors and those who look to quality factors and impact. The quality of the journal still relies on the voluntary labour and expertise of its busy international referees and Board members. For many years I have tried to place my own research material in PMB and encourage my teams to do likewise, not only acknowledging the prestige of the journal but also because of the extraordinarily fast turnaround time of all the processes without any loss of quality. This serves us very well and the publishing team are to be congratulated. Some things seem to change more slowly or not at all, however. The prediction, when I started my research career, that books and journals would be dinosaurs by now has manifestly not come true and, whilst most of us are addicted (and why not?) to the electronic ways of doing things that can be done by more traditional ways, PMB and a packet of reprints from time to time arriving by post still has a reassuring feel despite the fact that the papers have been `on-line' for a while before. An incoming

  12. An editor for the generation and customization of geometry restraints

    DOE PAGES

    Moriarty, Nigel W.; Draizen, Eli J.; Adams, Paul D.

    2017-02-01

    Chemical restraints for use in macromolecular structure refinement are produced by a variety of methods, including a number of programs that use chemical information to generate the required bond, angle, dihedral, chiral and planar restraints. These programs help to automate the process and therefore minimize the errors that could otherwise occur if it were performed manually. Furthermore, restraint-dictionary generation programs can incorporate chemical and other prior knowledge to provide reasonable choices of types and values. However, the use of restraints to define the geometry of a molecule is an approximation introduced with efficiency in mind. The representation of a bondmore » as a parabolic function is a convenience and does not reflect the true variability in even the simplest of molecules. Another complicating factor is the interplay of the molecule with other parts of the macromolecular model. Finally, difficult situations arise from molecules with rare or unusual moieties that may not have their conformational space fully explored. These factors give rise to the need for an interactive editor for WYSIWYG interactions with the restraints and molecule. Restraints Editor, Especially Ligands (REEL) is a graphical user interface for simple and error-free editing along with additional features to provide greater control of the restraint dictionaries in macromolecular refinement.« less

  13. An editor for the generation and customization of geometry restraints.

    PubMed

    Moriarty, Nigel W; Draizen, Eli J; Adams, Paul D

    2017-02-01

    Chemical restraints for use in macromolecular structure refinement are produced by a variety of methods, including a number of programs that use chemical information to generate the required bond, angle, dihedral, chiral and planar restraints. These programs help to automate the process and therefore minimize the errors that could otherwise occur if it were performed manually. Furthermore, restraint-dictionary generation programs can incorporate chemical and other prior knowledge to provide reasonable choices of types and values. However, the use of restraints to define the geometry of a molecule is an approximation introduced with efficiency in mind. The representation of a bond as a parabolic function is a convenience and does not reflect the true variability in even the simplest of molecules. Another complicating factor is the interplay of the molecule with other parts of the macromolecular model. Finally, difficult situations arise from molecules with rare or unusual moieties that may not have their conformational space fully explored. These factors give rise to the need for an interactive editor for WYSIWYG interactions with the restraints and molecule. Restraints Editor, Especially Ligands (REEL) is a graphical user interface for simple and error-free editing along with additional features to provide greater control of the restraint dictionaries in macromolecular refinement.

  14. Community preparedness for lava flows from Mauna Loa and Hualālai volcanoes, Kona, Hawai'i

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Gregg, Chris E.; Houghton, Bruce F.; Paton, Douglas; Swanson, Donald A.; Johnston, David M.

    2004-01-01

    Lava flows from Mauna Loa and Huala??lai volcanoes are a major volcanic hazard that could impact the western portion of the island of Hawai'i (e.g., Kona). The most recent eruptions of these two volcanoes to affect Kona occurred in A.D. 1950 and ca. 1800, respectively. In contrast, in eastern Hawai'i, eruptions of neighboring Ki??lauea volcano have occurred frequently since 1955, and therefore have been the focus for hazard mitigation. Official preparedness and response measures are therefore modeled on typical eruptions of Ki??lauea. The combinations of short-lived precursory activity (e.g., volcanic tremor) at Mauna Loa, the potential for fast-moving lava flows, and the proximity of Kona communities to potential vents represent significant emergency management concerns in Kona. Less is known about past eruptions of Huala??lai, but similar concerns exist. Future lava flows present an increased threat to personal safety because of the short times that may be available for responding. Mitigation must address not only the specific characteristics of volcanic hazards in Kona, but also the manner in which the hazards relate to the communities likely to be affected. This paper describes the first steps in developing effective mitigation plans: measuring the current state of people's knowledge of eruption parameters and the implications for their safety. We present results of a questionnaire survey administered to 462 high school students and adults in Kona. The rationale for this study was the long lapsed time since the last Kona eruption, and the high population growth and expansion of infrastructure over this time interval. Anticipated future growth in social and economic infrastructure in this area provides additional justification for this work. The residents of Kona have received little or no specific information about how to react to future volcanic eruptions or warnings, and short-term preparedness levels are low. Respondents appear uncertain about how to respond

  15. Menstrual cycle perturbation by organohalogens and elements in the Cree of James Bay, Canada.

    PubMed

    Wainman, Bruce C; Kesner, James S; Martin, Ian D; Meadows, Juliana W; Krieg, Edward F; Nieboer, Evert; Tsuji, Leonard J

    2016-04-01

    Persistent organohalogens (POHs) and metals have been linked to alterations in menstrual cycle function and fertility in humans. The Cree First Nations people living near James Bay in Ontario and Quebec, Canada, have elevated levels of POHs, mercury and lead compared to other Canadians. The present study examines the interrelationships between selected POHs and elements on menstrual cycle function in these Cree women. Menstrual cycle characteristics were derived from structured daily diaries and endocrine measurements from daily urine samples collected during one cycle for 42 women age 19-42. We measured 31 POHs in blood plasma and 18 elements in whole blood, for 31 of the participants. POHs and elements detected in ≥ 70% of the participants were transformed by principal component (PC) analysis to reduce the contaminant exposure data to fewer, uncorrelated PCA variables. Multiple regression analysis revealed that, after adjusting for confounders, PC-3 values showed significant negative association with cycle length, after adjusting for confounders (p = 0.002). PC-3 accounted for 9.2% of the variance and shows positive loadings for cadmium, selenium, and PBDE congeners 47 and 153, and a negative loading for copper. Sensitivity analysis of the model to quantify likely effect sizes showed a range of menstrual cycle length from 25.3 to 28.3 days using the lower and upper 95% confidence limits of mean measured contaminant concentrations to predict cycle length. Our observations support the hypothesis that the menstrual cycle function of these women may be altered by exposure to POHs and elements from their environment. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  16. Oral microbiota carriage in patients with multibracket appliance in relation to the quality of oral hygiene.

    PubMed

    Klaus, Katharina; Eichenauer, Johanna; Sprenger, Rhea; Ruf, Sabine

    2016-10-28

    The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of oral microbiota (Candida species (spp.), Streptococcus mutans, and Lactobacilli) in patients with multibracket (MB) appliances in relation to the quality of oral hygiene. Saliva and plaque samples were collected from three groups of 25 patients each (good oral hygiene (GOH), poor oral hygiene (POH), and poor oral hygiene with white spot lesions (POH/WSL)). Counts of colony forming units (CFU) of the investigated oral microbiota were compared using Chi-square and Mann-Whitney U tests. Both saliva and plaque samples showed a high prevalence of Candida spp. in all patients (saliva: 73.4 %, plaque: 60.9 %). The main Candida species was C. albicans. The salivary CFU of Candida spp. in the GOH group was significantly lower than that in the POH group (p = 0.045) and POH/WSL group (p = 0.011). S. mutans was found in the saliva and plaque samples of all patients. Lactobacilli were found in the saliva samples of all patients and in 90.7 % of the plaque samples. In the saliva samples, the CFU of Lactobacilli were more numerous in the POH and POH/WSL groups than in the GOH group (p = 0.047). The investigated sample of patients showed a high carriage of oral Candida spp. Patients with WSL formation during MB appliance treatment exhibited higher counts of Candida and Lactobacilli compared with patients with good oral hygiene. Independent of oral hygiene quality, S. mutans was detected in all patients.

  17. René Marcelle (December 30, 1931-December 18, 2011), the first editor-in-chief of Photosynthesis Research.

    PubMed

    Govindjee; Marcelle, Dominique

    2016-07-01

    This tribute honors the first editor-in-chief of Photosynthesis Research, René Marcelle the Belgian plant physiologist who, with publishers in The Netherlands, launched the journal in 1980. Here, we present a glimpse of René Marcelle's early life, his education and research, as well as his editorial work for the journal and other conferences in plant physiology. He worked on control of photosynthesis, both the biological and environmental aspects, as well as on crassulacean acid metabolism. He is best remembered as a kind-hearted and humane editor.

  18. THE NEW ONLINE METADATA EDITOR FOR GENERATING STRUCTURED METADATA

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Devarakonda, Ranjeet; Shrestha, Biva; Palanisamy, Giri

    Nobody is better suited to describe data than the scientist who created it. This description about a data is called Metadata. In general terms, Metadata represents the who, what, when, where, why and how of the dataset [1]. eXtensible Markup Language (XML) is the preferred output format for metadata, as it makes it portable and, more importantly, suitable for system discoverability. The newly developed ORNL Metadata Editor (OME) is a Web-based tool that allows users to create and maintain XML files containing key information, or metadata, about the research. Metadata include information about the specific projects, parameters, time periods, andmore » locations associated with the data. Such information helps put the research findings in context. In addition, the metadata produced using OME will allow other researchers to find these data via Metadata clearinghouses like Mercury [2][4]. OME is part of ORNL s Mercury software fleet [2][3]. It was jointly developed to support projects funded by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). OME s architecture provides a customizable interface to support project-specific requirements. Using this new architecture, the ORNL team developed OME instances for USGS s Core Science Analytics, Synthesis, and Libraries (CSAS&L), DOE s Next Generation Ecosystem Experiments (NGEE) and Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program, and the international Surface Ocean Carbon Dioxide ATlas (SOCAT). Researchers simply use the ORNL Metadata Editor to enter relevant metadata into a Web-based form. From the information on the form, the Metadata Editor can create an XML file on the server that the editor is installed or to the user s personal computer. Researchers can also use the ORNL Metadata Editor to modify existing XML metadata files. As an example, an NGEE Arctic scientist use OME to

  19. Life and times of the impact factor: retrospective analysis of trends for seven medical journals (1994-2005) and their Editors' views

    PubMed Central

    Chew, Mabel; Villanueva, Elmer V; Van Der Weyden, Martin B

    2007-01-01

    Objective (1) To analyse trends in the journal impact factor (IF) of seven general medical journals (Ann Intern Med, BMJ, CMAJ, JAMA, Lancet, Med J Aust and N Engl J Med) over 12 years; and (2) to ascertain the views of these journals' past and present Editors on factors that had affected their journals' IFs during their tenure, including direct editorial policies. Design Retrospective analysis of IF data from ISI Web of Knowledge Journal Citation Reports—Science Edition, 1994 to 2005, and interviews with Editors-in-Chief. Setting Medical journal publishing. Participants Ten Editors-in-Chief of the journals, except Med J Aust, who served between 1999 and 2004. Main outcome measures IFs and component numerator and denominator data for the seven general medical journals (1994 to 2005) were collected. IFs are calculated using the formula: (Citations in year z to articles published in years x and y)/(Number of citable articles published in years x and y), where z is the current year and x and y are the previous two years. Editors' views on factors that had affected their journals' IFs were also obtained. Results IFs generally rose over the 12-year period, with the N Engl J Med having the highest IF throughout. However, percentage rises in IF relative to the baseline year of 1994 were greatest for CMAJ (about 500%) and JAMA (260%). Numerators for most journals tended to rise over this period, while denominators tended to be stable or to fall, although not always in a linear fashion. Nine of ten eligible editors were interviewed. Possible reasons given for rises in citation counts included: active recruitment of high-impact articles by courting researchers; offering authors better services; boosting the journal's media profile; more careful article selection; and increases in article citations. Most felt that going online had not affected citations. Most had no deliberate policy to publish fewer articles (lowering the IF denominator), which was sometimes the unintended

  20. Publication Criteria and Recommended Areas of Improvement within School Psychology Journals as Reported by Editors, Journal Board Members, and Manuscript Authors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Albers, Craig A.; Floyd, Randy G.; Fuhrmann, Melanie J.; Martinez, Rebecca S.

    2011-01-01

    Two online surveys were completed by editors, associate editors, editorial board members, and members or fellows of the Division 16 of the American Psychological Association. These surveys targeted (a) the criteria for a manuscript to be published in school psychology journals, and (b) the components of the peer-review process that should be…

  1. Constitutive properties of hypertrophied myocardium: cellular contribution to changes in myocardial stiffness

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Harris, Todd S.; Baicu, Catalin F.; Conrad, Chester H.; Koide, Masaaki; Buckley, J. Michael; Barnes, Mary; Cooper, George 4th; Zile, Michael R.

    2002-01-01

    Recent studies have suggested that pressure overload hypertrophy (POH) alters the viscoelastic properties of individual cardiocytes when studied in isolation. However, whether these changes in cardiocyte properties contribute causally to changes in the material properties of the cardiac muscle as a whole is unknown. Accordingly, a selective, isolated, acute change in cardiocyte constitutive properties was imposed in an in vitro system capable of measuring the resultant effect on the material properties of the composite cardiac muscle. POH caused an increase in both myocardial elastic stiffness, from 20.5 +/- 1.3 to 28.4 +/- 1.8, and viscous damping, from 15.2 +/- 1.1 to 19.8 +/- 1.5 s (normal vs. POH, P < 0.05), respectively. Recent studies have shown that cardiocyte constitutive properties could be acutely altered by depolymerizing the microtubules with colchicine. Colchicine caused a significant decrease in the viscous damping in POH muscles (19.8 +/- 1.5 s at baseline vs. 14.7 +/- 1.3 s after colchicine, P < 0.05). Therefore, myocardial material properties can be altered by selectively changing the constitutive properties of one element within this muscle tissue, the cardiocyte. Changes in the constitutive properties of the cardiocytes themselves contribute to the abnormalities in myocardial stiffness and viscosity that develop during POH.

  2. Persnickety editor, Founding Father, Mentor and Friend: The Legacy of Fred Mumpton

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ming, Douglas W.

    2006-01-01

    This paper is a tribute to Dr Fred Munpton, the founder of the International Committee on Natural Zeolites (ICNZ), by one of his students, who later succeed him as president of the ICNZ. The tribute reflects on Dr. Mumpton's skills as an editor and his zeal for the study of natural zeolites.

  3. Stories of Three Editors: A Qualitative Study of Editing in the Workplace.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thompson, Isabelle K.; Rothschild, Joyce M.

    1995-01-01

    Presents generalizations about the editing process in a governmental agency. Suggests that editing is a complex, meaning-making process. Notes that the three vary greatly in their readiness to use their personal authority in interpreting the audience's needs. Suggests that editors gain authority by assuming the role of language specialists and by…

  4. Guidelines for Reviewers and the Editor at the Nuclear Safety Information Center.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Whetsel, H. B.

    The main purpose of this report is to help novice reviewers accelerate their apprenticeship at the Nuclear Safety Information Center, a computerized information service sponsored by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Guidelines for reviewers are presented in Part 1; Part 2 contains guidelines for the novice editor. The goal of the reviewers and…

  5. Smoking Cessation Can Reduce the Incidence of Postoperative Hypoxemia After On-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Surgery.

    PubMed

    Guan, Zheng; Lv, Yi; Liu, Jingjie; Liu, Lin; Yuan, Hui; Shen, Xin

    2016-12-01

    To determine whether smoking cessation can reduce the incidence of postoperative hypoxemia (POH) after on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery. Prospective, single-center, observational study. Single-center university teaching hospital. The study comprised 300 patients undergoing on-pump CABG surgery who met the inclusion criteria. Patients were divided into the following 3 groups according to smoking status: sustained quitters (n = 132)-smoking cessation for more than 1 month and less than 1 year; quitters (n = 95)-smoking cessation for more than 1 week and less than 1 month; and smokers (n = 73)-smoking at least 1 cigarette per day for at least 1 year. None. The primary outcome was the incidence of POH after on-pump CABG surgery. Secondary outcomes included length of postoperative mechanical ventilation and intensive care unit stay between the POH group and non-POH group. There were significant decreases of POH incidence in the sustained quitters and quitters compared with the smokers both after intensive care unit (ICU) admission and 24 hours after surgery (18.2%, 18.9%, v 32.9%; p = 0.036 and 9.8%, 10.5%, v 26%; p = 0.003, respectively), and there was no significant difference in POH incidence between the sustained quitters and quitters. The length of postoperative mechanical ventilation was longer in smokers than in sustained quitters and quitters (15.9±6.1 h v 11.9±5.3 h and 13.0±5.8 h, respectively; p<0.05), but there were no significant differences in the length of ICU stay among the 3 groups (54.2±7.5 h v 55.1±7.5 h and 53.7±6.6 h, respectively; p = 0.333). Smoking cessation can reduce POH after on-pump CABG surgery, and it also can shorten the length of postoperative mechanical ventilation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Semi-automated XML markup of biosystematic legacy literature with the GoldenGATE editor.

    PubMed

    Sautter, Guido; Böhm, Klemens; Agosti, Donat

    2007-01-01

    Today, digitization of legacy literature is a big issue. This also applies to the domain of biosystematics, where this process has just started. Digitized biosystematics literature requires a very precise and fine grained markup in order to be useful for detailed search, data linkage and mining. However, manual markup on sentence level and below is cumbersome and time consuming. In this paper, we present and evaluate the GoldenGATE editor, which is designed for the special needs of marking up OCR output with XML. It is built in order to support the user in this process as far as possible: Its functionality ranges from easy, intuitive tagging through markup conversion to dynamic binding of configurable plug-ins provided by third parties. Our evaluation shows that marking up an OCR document using GoldenGATE is three to four times faster than with an off-the-shelf XML editor like XML-Spy. Using domain-specific NLP-based plug-ins, these numbers are even higher.

  7. Are the Affordable Care Act Restrictions Warranted? A Contemporary Statewide Analysis of Physician-Owned Hospitals.

    PubMed

    Lundgren, Daniel K; Courtney, Paul M; Lopez, Joshua A; Kamath, Atul F

    2016-09-01

    The Affordable Care Act placed a moratorium on physician-owned hospital (POH) expansion. Concern exists that POHs increase costs and target healthier patients. However, limited historical data support these claims and are not weighed against contemporary measures of quality and patient satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to investigate the quality, costs, and efficiency across hospital types. One hundred forty-five hospitals in a single state were analyzed: 8 POHs; 16 proprietary hospitals (PHs); and 121 general, full-service acute care hospitals (ACHs). Multiyear data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Medicare Cost Report and the statewide Health Care Cost Containment Council were analyzed. ACHs had a higher percentage of Medicare patients as a share of net patient revenue, with similar Medicare volume. POHs garnered significantly higher patient satisfaction: mean Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems summary rating was 4.86 (vs PHs: 2.88, ACHs: 3.10; P = .002). POHs had higher average total episode spending ($22,799 vs PHs: $18,284, ACHs: $18,856), with only $1435 of total spending on post-acute care (vs PHs: $3867, ACHs: $3378). Medicare spending per beneficiary and Medicare spending per beneficiary performance rates were similar across all hospital types, as were complication and readmission rates related to hip or knee surgery. POHs had better patient satisfaction, with higher total costs compared to PHs and ACHs. A focus on efficiency, patient satisfaction, and ratio of inpatient-to-post-acute care spending should be weighted carefully in policy decisions that might impact access to quality health care. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Editorial: Conflict of interest policy for Editors of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Integrity in the publication process requires impartiality at all levels of review. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) adheres to the policy of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writin...

  9. Editors' message--Hydrogeology Journal in 2003

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Voss, Clifford; Olcott, Perry; Schneider, Robert

    2004-01-01

    Hydrogeology Journal appeared in six issues containing a total of 710 pages and 48 major articles, including 31 Papers and 14 Reports, as well as some Technical Notes and Book Reviews. The number of submitted manuscripts continues to increase. The final issue of 2003 also contained the annual volume index. Hydrogeology Journal (HJ) is an international forum for hydrogeology and related disciplines and authors in 2003 were from about 28 countries. Articles advanced hydrogeologic science and described hydrogeologic systems in many regions worldwide. These articles focused on a variety of general topics and on studies of hydrogeology in 24 countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, France, India, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland, Turkey, and U.S.A. The Guest Editor of the 2003 HJ theme issue on “Hydromechanics in Geology and Geotechnics”, Ove Stephansson, assembled a valuable collection of technical reviews and research papers from eminent authors on important aspects of the subject area.

  10. Viscoelastic properties of pressure overload hypertrophied myocardium: effect of serine protease treatment

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Stroud, Jason D.; Baicu, Catalin F.; Barnes, Mary A.; Spinale, Francis G.; Zile, Michael R.

    2002-01-01

    To determine whether and to what extent one component of the extracellular matrix, fibrillar collagen, contributes causally to abnormalities in viscoelasticity, collagen was acutely degraded by activation of endogenous matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) with the serine protease plasmin. Papillary muscles were isolated from normal cats and cats with right ventricular pressure overload hypertrophy (POH) induced by pulmonary artery banding. Plasmin treatment caused MMP activation, collagen degradation, decreased the elastic stiffness constant, and decreased the viscosity constant in both normal and POH muscles. Thus, whereas many mechanisms may contribute to the abnormalities in myocardial viscoelasticity in the POH myocardium, changes in fibrillar collagen appear to play a predominant role.

  11. Environmental regulatory failure and metal contamination at the Giap Lai pyrite mine, Northern Vietnam.

    PubMed

    Håkan Tarras-Wahlberg, N; Nguyen, Lan T

    2008-03-01

    The causes for the failure in enforcement of environmental regulations at the Giap Lai pyrite mine in northern Vietnam are considered and the environmental impacts that are associated with this mine are evaluated. It is shown that sulphide-rich tailings and waste rock in the mining area represent significant sources of acid rock drainage (ARD). The ARD is causing elevated metal levels in downstream water bodies, which in turn, represent a threat to both human health and to aquatic ecosystems. Metal concentrations in impacted surface waters have increased after mine closure, suggesting that impacts are becoming progressively more serious. No post-closure, remediation measures have been applied at the mine, in spite of the existence of environmental legislation and both central and regional institutions charged with environmental supervision and control. The research presented here provides further emphasis for the recommendation that, while government institutions may need to be strengthened, and environmental regulations need to be in place, true on the ground improvement in environmental quality in Vietnam and in many other developing countries require an increased focus on promoting public awareness of industrial environmental issues.

  12. Esthetic or Functional, Saccharine or Shocking? An Editor Looks at Values in Children's Books.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Giblin, James Cross

    1977-01-01

    Discusses artistic or esthetic, social and cultural, functional, and commercial values looked for by children's book editors in selecting and publishing manuscripts. Also reviews changes in social and cultural values as shown by children's books published in 1947, 1957, and 1967. (GT)

  13. What Does It Take to Change an Editor's Mind? Identifying Minimally Important Difference Thresholds for Peer Reviewer Rating Scores of Scientific Articles.

    PubMed

    Callaham, Michael; John, Leslie K

    2018-01-05

    We define a minimally important difference for the Likert-type scores frequently used in scientific peer review (similar to existing minimally important differences for scores in clinical medicine). The magnitude of score change required to change editorial decisions has not been studied, to our knowledge. Experienced editors at a journal in the top 6% by impact factor were asked how large a change of rating in "overall desirability for publication" was required to trigger a change in their initial decision on an article. Minimally important differences were assessed twice for each editor: once assessing the rating change required to shift the editor away from an initial decision to accept, and the other assessing the magnitude required to shift away from an initial rejection decision. Forty-one editors completed the survey (89% response rate). In the acceptance frame, the median minimally important difference was 0.4 points on a scale of 1 to 5. Editors required a greater rating change to shift from an initial rejection decision; in the rejection frame, the median minimally important difference was 1.2 points. Within each frame, there was considerable heterogeneity: in the acceptance frame, 38% of editors did not change their decision within the maximum available range; in the rejection frame, 51% did not. To our knowledge, this is the first study to determine the minimally important difference for Likert-type ratings of research article quality, or in fact any nonclinical scientific assessment variable. Our findings may be useful for future research assessing whether changes to the peer review process produce clinically meaningful differences in editorial decisionmaking. Copyright © 2017 American College of Emergency Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. EDITORIAL: Greetings from the new Editor-in-Chief Greetings from the new Editor-in-Chief

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gardner, Jason S.

    2012-01-01

    As I begin my tenure as Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter (JPCM), I look upon this opportunity as both an honour and a real challenge. The journal is in great shape thanks to the work of my predecessors, Marshall Stoneham and David Ferry. The journal's solid reputation is based largely on the work these gentlemen have done over the past decade. The other main reason for the success of JPCM is the amazing staff in Bristol; keep up the good work, please. When discussing the journal with scientists from all corners of the globe, one thing is always mentioned—JPCM is a very reliable journal with well-written, high-quality papers, and a fast but rigorous peer-review process that provides fair, detailed and constructive referee reports for the benefit of authors. This is due almost entirely to our great authors and referees; we rely on them every day—thank you. As the new Editor-in-Chief I hope to continue to improve still further the journal's status in condensed matter science. As mentioned above, our reputation is excellent, but the reality is that we live in a world of bibliometrics and rankings. Over the past few years JPCM has been repositioned as a journal at the forefront of condensed matter physics, and the impact of the journal should increase further as a result of continued emphasis on commissioning in cutting-edge areas identified by the Editorial Board and the journal team. In addition to regular papers, JPCM has a number of other content streams that authors and readers can benefit from. Fast track communications (FTCs) offer exceptionally fast publication for work of the highest impact and urgency. By their select nature, FTCs benefit from personal treatment by the Editorial Board and the average receipt-to-first-decision time is just 11 days (the average receipt-to-publication time is just 45 days). Topical reviews in JPCM make the journal one of the most authoritative sources of review content for condensed matter physics

  15. Common statistical and research design problems in manuscripts submitted to high-impact psychiatry journals: what editors and reviewers want authors to know.

    PubMed

    Harris, Alex H S; Reeder, Rachelle; Hyun, Jenny K

    2009-10-01

    Journal editors and statistical reviewers are often in the difficult position of catching serious problems in submitted manuscripts after the research is conducted and data have been analyzed. We sought to learn from editors and reviewers of major psychiatry journals what common statistical and design problems they most often find in submitted manuscripts and what they wished to communicate to authors regarding these issues. Our primary goal was to facilitate communication between journal editors/reviewers and researchers/authors and thereby improve the scientific and statistical quality of research and submitted manuscripts. Editors and statistical reviewers of 54 high-impact psychiatry journals were surveyed to learn what statistical or design problems they encounter most often in submitted manuscripts. Respondents completed the survey online. The authors analyzed survey text responses using content analysis procedures to identify major themes related to commonly encountered statistical or research design problems. Editors and reviewers (n=15) who handle manuscripts from 39 different high-impact psychiatry journals responded to the survey. The most commonly cited problems regarded failure to map statistical models onto research questions, improper handling of missing data, not controlling for multiple comparisons, not understanding the difference between equivalence and difference trials, and poor controls in quasi-experimental designs. The scientific quality of psychiatry research and submitted reports could be greatly improved if researchers became sensitive to, or sought consultation on frequently encountered methodological and analytic issues.

  16. Interview with the editor: David L. Turpin by Robert P. Scholz.

    PubMed

    Turpin, David L

    2010-04-01

    David L. Turpin has worked on dental journals for over 30 years--from his early days on the Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin, to the Angle Orthodontist, and to the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics. He will retire as editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics at the end of 2010. Copyright (c) 2010 American Association of Orthodontists. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Martin Stutzmann: Editor, Teacher, Scientist and Friend

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cardona, Manuel

    2005-03-01

    On 2 January 1995 Martin Stutzmann became Editor-in-Chief of physica status solidi, replacing Professor E. Gutsche, who had led the journal through the stormy period involving the fall of the Iron Curtain, the unification of Germany and the change in its Eastern part, where physica status solidi was based, from socialism as found in the real world (a German concept) to real world capitalism. In 1995 it was thought that the process had been completed (we should have known better!) and after the retirement of Prof. Gutsche the new owners of physica status solidi (Wiley-VCH) decided that a change in scientific management was desirable to adapt to the new socio-political facts and to insure the scientific continuity of the journal.Martin had moved in 1993 from my department at the Max-Planck-Institute to Munich where he soon displayed a tremendous amount of science man- agement ability during the build-up of the Walter Schottky Institute. The search for a successor as Edi- tor-in-Chief was not easy: the job was not very glamorous after the upheavals which had taken place in the editorial world following the political changes. Somebody in the Editorial Boards must have suggested Martin Stutzmann. I am sure that there was opposition: one usually looks for a well-established person ready to leave his direct involvement in science and take up a new endeavor of a more administrative nature. Nevertheless, the powers that be soon realized that Martin was an excellent, if somewhat unconventional candidate who had enough energy to remain a topnotch scientist and to lead the journal in the difficult times ahead: he was offered the job. In the negotiations that followed, he insisted in getting the administrative structures that would allow him to improve the battered quality of the journal and to continue his scientific productivity. Today we are happy to see that he succeeded in both endeavors. The journal has since grown in size and considerably improved its quality

  18. Comments on ``Anonymous Reviews'' An Editor's View of Anonymous Reviews

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Goff, John A.

    I have read with great interest the recent Forum commentaries in Eos by Myrl Beck, Charles Robinove, Robert Criss, and Anne Hofmeister regarding anonymous reviews. I heartily support their position that anonymous reviews should be avoided. I have not written an anonymous review in ages (and regret the few that I did), and have always appreciated and respected greatly anyone who signs a critical review of one of my own papers. However, I would like to add some perspective from the editorial standpoint. I have served as JGR associate editor for 3 years (never anonymously!), and as Eos editor for seismology and tectonophysics for 4. Over the years, I have rejected a fair number of papers, most of those based on anonymous reviews (fortunately, none of the above commentators was one of them). The vast majority of anonymous reviews I received were well considered. While I would wish that all reviews were signed, I don't think we can summarily dismiss the fear that many would have of enmity and reprisal over a critical review. Some of these fears are likely justified. On more than one occasion, have I witnessed overly aggressive responses on the part of authors to anonymous reviews that I considered to be entirely fair and constructive in their criticisms. I do think we need to do all we can to discourage anonymous reviews, but it will be difficult to completely remove that choice from the process.

  19. Laparoscopic surgery contributes more to nutritional and immunologic recovery than fast-track care in colorectal cancer.

    PubMed

    Xu, Dong; Li, Jun; Song, Yongmao; Zhou, Jiaojiao; Sun, Fangfang; Wang, Jianwei; Duan, Yin; Hu, Yeting; Liu, Yue; Wang, Xiaochen; Sun, Lifeng; Wu, Linshan; Ding, Kefeng

    2015-02-04

    Many clinical trials had repeatedly shown that fast-track perioperative care and laparoscopic surgery are both preferred in the treatment of colorectal cancer. But few studies were designed to explore the diverse biochemical impacts of the two counterparts on human immunologic and nutritional status. Ninety-two cases of colorectal cancer patients meeting the inclusion criteria were randomized to four groups: laparoscopy with fast-track treatment (LAFT); open surgery with fast-track treatment (OSFT); laparoscopy with conventional treatment (LAC); open surgery with conventional treatment (OSC). Peripheral blood tests including nutritional factors (albumin, prealbumin, and transferrin), humoral immunologic factors (IgG, IgM, and IgA), and cellular immunologic factors (T and NK cells) were evaluated. Blood samples were collected preoperatively (baseline) and 12 and 96 h after surgery (indicated as POH12 and POH96, respectively). Albumin, transferrin, prealbumin, and IgG levels were the highest in the LAFT group for both POH12 and POH96 time intervals. Repeated measures (two-way ANOVA) indicated that the difference of albumin, transferrin, and IgG level were attributed to surgery type (P < 0.05) and not perioperative treatment (P > 0.05). Only in the laparoscopy-included groups, the relative albumin and IgG levels of POH96 were obviously higher than that of POH12. Laparoscopic surgery accelerated postoperative nutrition and immune levels rising again while fast-track treatment retarded the drop of postoperative nutrition and immune levels. Laparoscopic surgery might play a more important role than fast-track treatment in the earlier postoperative recovery of nutritional and immunologic status. Combined laparoscopic surgery with fast-track treatment provided best postoperative recovery of nutrition and immune status. These results should be further compared with the clinical outcomes of our FTMDT trial (clinicaltrials.gov: NCT01080547).

  20. Print versus Electronic: Editors' Insights on the Costs and Benefits of Online Journals.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Angell, Brian D.; Smith, Gabie E.

    1998-01-01

    Responses from 26 of 40 editors of electronic journals indicates that 57% were motivated to go online by creative possibilities; only 42% had existing print-journal counterparts; 34.6% felt they reach a broader or different audience online; and 50% felt online journals were less costly and had the advantage of speed of production. (SK)

  1. Fabrication of hydroxyapatite and TiO 2 nanorods on microarc-oxidized titanium surface using hydrothermal treatment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Song, Ho-Jun; Kim, Ji-Woo; Kook, Min-Suk; Moon, Won-Jin; Park, Yeong-Joon

    2010-09-01

    AC-type microarc oxidation (MAO) and hydrothermal treatment techniques were used to enhance the bioactivity of commercially pure titanium (CP-Ti). The porous TiO 2 layer fabricated by the MAO treatment had a dominant anatase structure and contained Ca and P ions. The MAO-treated specimens were treated hydrothermally to form HAp crystallites on the titanium oxide layer in an alkaline aqueous solution (OH-solution) or phosphorous-containing alkaline solution (POH-solution). A small number of micro-sized hydroxyapatite (HAp) crystallites and a thin layer composed of nano-sized HAps were formed on the Ti-MAO-OH group treated hydrothermally in an OH-solution, whereas a large number of micro-sized HAp crystallites and dense anatase TiO 2 nanorods were formed on the Ti-MAO-POH group treated hydrothermally in a POH-solution. The layer of bone-like apatite that formed on the surface of the POH-treated sample after soaking in a modified simulated body fluid was thicker than that on the OH-treated samples.

  2. Wikipedia and medicine: quantifying readership, editors, and the significance of natural language.

    PubMed

    Heilman, James M; West, Andrew G

    2015-03-04

    Wikipedia is a collaboratively edited encyclopedia. One of the most popular websites on the Internet, it is known to be a frequently used source of health care information by both professionals and the lay public. This paper quantifies the production and consumption of Wikipedia's medical content along 4 dimensions. First, we measured the amount of medical content in both articles and bytes and, second, the citations that supported that content. Third, we analyzed the medical readership against that of other health care websites between Wikipedia's natural language editions and its relationship with disease prevalence. Fourth, we surveyed the quantity/characteristics of Wikipedia's medical contributors, including year-over-year participation trends and editor demographics. Using a well-defined categorization infrastructure, we identified medically pertinent English-language Wikipedia articles and links to their foreign language equivalents. With these, Wikipedia can be queried to produce metadata and full texts for entire article histories. Wikipedia also makes available hourly reports that aggregate reader traffic at per-article granularity. An online survey was used to determine the background of contributors. Standard mining and visualization techniques (eg, aggregation queries, cumulative distribution functions, and/or correlation metrics) were applied to each of these datasets. Analysis focused on year-end 2013, but historical data permitted some longitudinal analysis. Wikipedia's medical content (at the end of 2013) was made up of more than 155,000 articles and 1 billion bytes of text across more than 255 languages. This content was supported by more than 950,000 references. Content was viewed more than 4.88 billion times in 2013. This makes it one of if not the most viewed medical resource(s) globally. The core editor community numbered less than 300 and declined over the past 5 years. The members of this community were half health care providers and 85

  3. Highlighting impact: Do editors' selections identify influential papers?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Antonoyiannakis, Manolis

    A recent trend in scientific publishing is that journal editors highlight each week a select set among the papers published (usually) in their respective journals. The highlighted papers are deemed of higher quality, importance, or interest than the 'average' paper and feature prominently in the publishers' websites. We perform a citation analysis of the highlighted papers for a number of journals from various publishers in physics. By comparing the performance of highlighted papers relative to (a) typical papers and (b) highly cited papers in their source journals and in other journals in the field, we explore whether, and to what extent, the selection process at the time of publication identifies papers that will turn out to be influential. We discuss the broader implications for research assessment.

  4. Postmarketing surveillance: perspectives of a journal editor.

    PubMed

    Gelenberg, A J

    1993-01-01

    In the absence of a systematic monitoring program for drugs newly approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), reports in clinical journals provide a legitimate forum for disseminating information about unexpected pharmacologic events. A journal editor bears the responsibility for publishing educated clinical observations that meet standards of scientific rigor while not giving premature credibility to chance and dubious reports of side effects of new drugs. Often this responsibility involves overcoming the fear of bad publicity and withstanding pressures from pharmaceutical companies to print only positive information about new products. Published preliminary observations may contribute to the problem of product liability, but they also generate testable hypotheses and healthy debate. If hypotheses later prove to be incorrect, they can be refuted by systematic studies and clarified in reviews and editorials. Our goal of effective education will be reached not by self-censorship but by scientific openness.

  5. Making the First Cut: An Analysis of Academic Medicine Editors' Reasons for Not Sending Manuscripts Out for External Peer Review.

    PubMed

    Meyer, Holly S; Durning, Steven J; Sklar, David P; Maggio, Lauren A

    2018-03-01

    Manuscripts submitted to Academic Medicine (AM) undergo an internal editor review to determine whether they will be sent for external peer review. Increasingly, manuscripts are rejected at this early stage. This study seeks to inform scholars about common reasons for internal editor review rejections, increase transparency of the process, and provide suggestions for improving submissions. A mixed-methods approach was used to retrospectively analyze editors' free-text comments. Descriptive content analysis was performed of editors' comments for 369 manuscripts submitted between December 2014 and December 2015, and rejected prior to external peer review from AM. Comments were analyzed, categorized, and counted for explicit reasons for rejection. Nine categories of rejection reasons were identified: ineffective study question and/or design (338; 92%); suboptimal data collection process (180; 49%); weak discussion and/or conclusions (139; 37%); unimportant or irrelevant topic to the journal's mission (137; 37%); weak data analysis and/or presentation of results (120; 33%); text difficult to follow, to understand (89; 24%); inadequate or incomplete introduction (67; 18%); other publishing considerations (42; 11%); and issues with scientific conduct (20; 5%). Manuscripts had, on average, three or more reasons for rejection. Findings suggest that clear identification of a research question that is addressed by a well-designed study methodology on a topic aligned with the mission of the journal would address many of the problems that lead to rejection through the internal review process. The findings also align with research on external peer review.

  6. Factors influencing biosafety level and LAI among the staff of medical laboratories.

    PubMed

    Kozajda, Anna; Bródka, Karolina; Szadkowska-Stańczyk, Irena

    2013-01-01

    The aim of the study was to assess the biological risks of medical laboratory employees with particular focus on laboratory acquired infection (LAI), activities having the greatest risk, accidents with biological material, post exposure procedure, preventive measures and workers' knowledge about biological exposure. The study involved 9 laboratories. A questionnaire survey was attended by 123 employees and 9 heads of these units with the use of two questionnaires for laboratory workers and the managers. 32.5% of the respondents (40 persons) had an accident at least once. Needlestick or a broken glass injury covered 18.7% respondents (23 persons), while splashing the skin, mucous membranes or conjunctivae related to 22.8% (28 persons). Among the employees who had an accident, only 45% of the respondents (18 persons) reported this to the manager. Microbes dominant in the biological material were known only to 57 respondents (46.3%), less than half could correctly give an example of a disease (57 persons, 46.3%). More than half of the respondents admitted that they do not know all of the possible routes of infection while working in the laboratory (68 persons, 55.3%). In the study population, a high incidence of accidents was observed, usually during blood sampling and transfer of biological material. Condition of the workers' equipment with personal protective measures and laboratory facilities in devices to reduce the risk of infection and procedures for handling the potentially infectious material should be considered as insufficient. Lack of basic knowledge of the employees about biohazards at workplaces was shown.

  7. Martin Stutzmann: Editor, Teacher, Scientist and Friend

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cardona, Manuel

    2005-02-01

    On 2 January 1995 Martin Stutzmann became Editor-in-Chief of physica status solidi, replacing Professor E. Gutsche, who had led the journal through the stormy period involving the fall of the Iron Curtain, the unification of Germany and the change in its Eastern part, where physica status solidi was based, from socialism as found in the real world (a German concept) to real world capitalism. In 1995 it was thought that the process had been completed (we should have known better!) and after the retirement of Prof. Gutsche the new owners of physica status solidi (Wiley-VCH) decided that a change in scientific management was desirable to adapt to the new socio-political facts and to insure the scientific continuity of the journal.Martin had moved in 1993 from my department at the Max-Planck-Institute to Munich where he soon displayed a tremendous amount of science man- agement ability during the build-up of the Walter Schottky Institute. The search for a successor as Edi- tor-in-Chief was not easy: the job was not very glamorous after the upheavals which had taken place in the editorial world following the political changes. Somebody in the Editorial Boards must have suggested Martin Stutzmann. I am sure that there was opposition: one usually looks for a well-established person ready to leave his direct involvement in science and take up a new endeavor of a more administrative nature. Nevertheless, the powers that be soon realized that Martin was an excellent, if somewhat unconventional candidate who had enough energy to remain a topnotch scientist and to lead the journal in the difficult times ahead: he was offered the job. In the negotiations that followed, he insisted in getting the administrative structures that would allow him to improve the battered quality of the journal and to continue his scientific productivity. Today we are happy to see that he succeeded in both endeavors. The journal has since grown in size and considerably improved its quality

  8. An International Call for Democratizing the Academic Journal Culture from a Community of Editors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mullen, Carol A.; Pryor, Caroline R.; Browne-Ferrigno, Tricia; Harris, Sandra L.

    2013-01-01

    In our reflective essay from our multiple perspectives as journal editors, peer reviewers, and published authors, we present ideas about editorial support, democracy, and innovation in the publishing process. As four tenured professors who work in universities in the states of Illinois, Virginia, Texas, and Kentucky, we are a community of editors…

  9. How Well Do Americans Know Geography? "National Geographic" Editor Discusses Meaning for Schools (Interview).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Koerner, Thomas

    1987-01-01

    Gilbert Grosvenor, editor of "National Geographic," is interviewed about the importance of geography for Americans. He claims our lack of geographic knowledge impedes our ability to act and compete in the world market as a world power and points out that geographic ignorance extends to people employed at high levels of government. (MD)

  10. The cultural definition of an infantile diarrhea in Tambon Korat and Koongyang, northeast Thailand: community perceptions in diarrhea control.

    PubMed

    Baclig, P V; Patrick, W K

    1990-01-01

    In Tambon Korat and Koongyang in Northeastern Thailand, 88% (n = 60) of the mothers and significant other careproviders interviewed believe in poh, a mild, self-limiting diarrhea in infants which is considered a normal prerequisite in child development. The local definition of poh as to its nature, symptomatology and home management and implications for diarrhea control activities are presented in this paper.

  11. EDITORIAL: Greetings from the new Editor-in-Chief Greetings from the new Editor-in-Chief

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Corkum, Paul

    2011-01-01

    As a journal that reports advances in atomic, molecular and optical science (AMO), Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (J. Phys. B) provides the AMO research community with three unique fora: topical reviews, tutorials and special issues. Developed under the leadership of editor Jan Michael Rost and his Editorial Board, these sections have cemented J. Phys. B's reputation as a major journal showcasing the AMO community's advances. For me, an AMO scientist, it is therefore a special pleasure to be entrusted with continuing the tradition of excellence established by Jan Michael and the Editorial Board. I intend to build on this foundation by ensuring that the journal makes full use of these tools. Topical reviews: a unique focus When J. Phys. B becomes the first journal you turn to for initial reviews about important emerging areas in your field, we as an Editorial Board will have succeeded. To us, a topical review is different from a traditional review—a topical review focuses on emerging sub-fields of AMO physics. Its function is to alert and educate our readers about emerging opportunities. Topical reviews can also serve a closely related function for readers: keeping us up-to-date with critical technologies that lie slightly outside our own fields, such as advances in free-electron lasers science, (which will surely affect our field). Our overall goal is to make your research more productive because of the topical reviews you read within the journal. Tutorials J. Phys. B tutorials are aimed at graduate students or researchers venturing into a new field. Just as in my own research group I encourage all graduate students to write their theses in a way that will be useful to both future graduate students and the larger community beyond my group, J. Phys. B has designed tutorials to fill this function on the journal scale. Thus, tutorial authors are able to write in greater depth than can be included in a paper in nature, science or in the

  12. The X-windows interactive navigation data editor

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rinker, G. C.

    1992-01-01

    A new computer program called the X-Windows Interactive Data Editor (XIDE) was developed and demonstrated as a prototype application for editing radio metric data in the orbit-determination process. The program runs on a variety of workstations and employs pull-down menus and graphical displays, which allow users to easily inspect and edit radio metric data in the orbit data files received from the Deep Space Network (DSN). The XIDE program is based on the Open Software Foundation OSF/Motif Graphical User Interface (GUI) and has proven to be an efficient tool for editing radio metric data in the navigation operations environment. It was adopted by the Magellan Navigation Team as their primary data-editing tool. Because the software was designed from the beginning to be portable, the prototype was successfully moved to new workstation environments. It was also itegrated into the design of the next-generation software tool for DSN multimission navigation interactive launch support.

  13. [Declarations issued by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors in conjunction with the Vancouver standards].

    PubMed

    1998-04-01

    These statements, which are published by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors in conjunction with the Vancouver standards, cover some of the legal, ethical, and practical aspects of the publication of research papers, and of the comments generated by them, in biomedical journals. Following a definition of what constitutes a peer-reviewed journal, the roles of journal owners and editors are described, along with those of members of an editorial board, and procedural norms are set forth in connection with conflicts of interests, retractions or corrections, fraud, and breaches of confidentiality. Among the last topics explored are the problems involved in the dissemination of research results by the popular media, the handling of advertising within the journal, and the simultaneous acceptance of manuscripts whose authors have arrived at opposite conclusions regarding the results of a particular study.

  14. Extended Hu¨ckel Calculations on Solids Using the Avogadro Molecular Editor and Visualizer

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Avery, Patrick; Ludoweig, Herbert; Autschbach, Jochen; Zurek, Eva

    2018-01-01

    The "Yet Another extended Hu¨ckel Molecular Orbital Package" (YAeHMOP) has been merged with the Avogadro open-source molecular editor and visualizer. It is now possible to perform YAeHMOP calculations directly from the Avogadro graphical user interface for materials that are periodic in one, two, or three dimensions, and to visualize…

  15. Wikipedia and Medicine: Quantifying Readership, Editors, and the Significance of Natural Language

    PubMed Central

    West, Andrew G

    2015-01-01

    Background Wikipedia is a collaboratively edited encyclopedia. One of the most popular websites on the Internet, it is known to be a frequently used source of health care information by both professionals and the lay public. Objective This paper quantifies the production and consumption of Wikipedia’s medical content along 4 dimensions. First, we measured the amount of medical content in both articles and bytes and, second, the citations that supported that content. Third, we analyzed the medical readership against that of other health care websites between Wikipedia’s natural language editions and its relationship with disease prevalence. Fourth, we surveyed the quantity/characteristics of Wikipedia’s medical contributors, including year-over-year participation trends and editor demographics. Methods Using a well-defined categorization infrastructure, we identified medically pertinent English-language Wikipedia articles and links to their foreign language equivalents. With these, Wikipedia can be queried to produce metadata and full texts for entire article histories. Wikipedia also makes available hourly reports that aggregate reader traffic at per-article granularity. An online survey was used to determine the background of contributors. Standard mining and visualization techniques (eg, aggregation queries, cumulative distribution functions, and/or correlation metrics) were applied to each of these datasets. Analysis focused on year-end 2013, but historical data permitted some longitudinal analysis. Results Wikipedia’s medical content (at the end of 2013) was made up of more than 155,000 articles and 1 billion bytes of text across more than 255 languages. This content was supported by more than 950,000 references. Content was viewed more than 4.88 billion times in 2013. This makes it one of if not the most viewed medical resource(s) globally. The core editor community numbered less than 300 and declined over the past 5 years. The members of this

  16. Parallel public spheres: distance and discourse in letters to the editor.

    PubMed

    Perrin, Andrew J; Vaisey, Stephen

    2008-11-01

    This article examines letters to the editor as one of the ways citizens seek to enact a public sphere using technological mediation. Using a sample of all letters received by a metropolitan newspaper during a three-month period (N = 1,113), the authors demonstrate that the tone and argumentative styles of letters differ with the scope of the issues the letters address. Local issues evoke more reasoned, conciliatory tones, while issues beyond the local context evoke more emotional, confrontational tones, even after controlling for individual writers' characteristics and anger as a motivation to write.

  17. Andreae is New Editor of Global Biogeochemical Cycles

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Andreae, Meinrat O.

    2004-10-01

    As the incoming editor of Global Biogeochemical Cycles, I would like to introduce myself and my ideas for the journal to Eos readers and to current and potential GBC authors. I've had a somewhat ``roaming'' scientific evolution, coming from ``straight'' chemistry through hard-rock geochemistry to chemical oceanography, the field in which I did my Ph.D. I taught marine chemistry at Florida State University for a number of years, and developed an interest in ocean/atmosphere interactions and atmospheric chemistry. In 1987 I took on my present job at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, in Mainz, Germany, and, after leaving the seacoast, my interests shifted to interactions between the terrestrial biosphere and atmosphere, including the role of vegetation fires. My present focus is on the role of biogenic aerosols and biomass smoke in regulating cloud properties and influencing climate.

  18. Educating science editors: is there a comprehensive strategy?

    PubMed

    Gasparyan, Armen Yuri; Yessirkepov, Marlen; Gorin, Sergey V; Kitas, George D

    2014-12-01

    The article considers available options to educate science editors in the fast-transforming digital environment. There is no single course or resource that can cover their constantly changing and diversifying educational needs. The involvement in research, writing, and reviewing is important for gaining editing skills, but that is not all. Membership in editorial associations and access to updated scholarly information in the field are mandatory for maintaining editorial credentials. Learned associations offer access to a few widely-recognized periodicals. There are also formal training courses covering issues in science writing and ethical editing, but no high-level evidence data exist to promote any of these. Networking with like-minded specialists within the global and regional editorial associations seems a useful strategy to upgrade editorial skills and resolve problems with the quality control and digitization of scholarly periodicals.

  19. Educating science editors: is there a comprehensive strategy?

    PubMed Central

    Gasparyan, Armen Yuri; Yessirkepov, Marlen; Gorin, Sergey V.; Kitas, George D.

    2014-01-01

    The article considers available options to educate science editors in the fast-transforming digital environment. There is no single course or resource that can cover their constantly changing and diversifying educational needs. The involvement in research, writing, and reviewing is important for gaining editing skills, but that is not all. Membership in editorial associations and access to updated scholarly information in the field are mandatory for maintaining editorial credentials. Learned associations offer access to a few widely-recognized periodicals. There are also formal training courses covering issues in science writing and ethical editing, but no high-level evidence data exist to promote any of these. Networking with like-minded specialists within the global and regional editorial associations seems a useful strategy to upgrade editorial skills and resolve problems with the quality control and digitization of scholarly periodicals. PMID:25559840

  20. Epidemiology, symptoms and treatment of paragonimiasis in Sin Ho district, Lai Chau province, Vietnam.

    PubMed

    De, N V; Cong, L D; Kino, H; Son, D T; Vien, H V

    2000-01-01

    Sin Ho is a district of the northern mountainous province of Lai Chau, Vietnam, where the people have the habit of eating undercooked crabs. A study on paragoniamiasis carried out from 1994 to 1995 with 1,642 persons in this endemic area, showed that the rate of eating raw-crab was 72.5%. Crab examination (Ranguna kimboiensis) showed an infection rate of Paragonimus metacercaria of 98.1%. With 624 stool samples examined by Kato technique, the infection rate of Paragonimus in humans was 6.4%. With 338 sputum samples examined by direct and centrifuge methods, the infection rate of Paragonimus was 7.4%. Most of the patients were children (63.2%). The infection rate of Paragonimus in dogs was 18.2 - 33.3%. Adult worms, collected from the dogs in the field and from the cats in laboratory, were identified as Paragonimus heterotremus. The main symptoms of Paragonimus patients were cough and hemoptysis (92%), discontinuously developed (96%), without fever (94%), chest pain (70%), pleural effusion (26%), neurogical symptoms (8%), eosinophilia (88.9%), nodular ring shadows in the lungs, as shown by chest X-ray examination and more in lower lobe, (76.2%). Paragonimiasis patients were treated by (a) Praziquantel 25 mg/kg/day x 3 days; the cure rate was 68.8%. (b) Praziquantel 50 mg/kg/day x 3 days; the cure rate was 75%.

  1. Letter to the editor: On plurality and authorship in science.

    PubMed

    Tang, Bor Luen

    2018-01-01

    Moffatt argues that the "plurality of distinct accounts of scientific authorship" necessitates caution in attempts to identify unethical authorship practices, and urges that considerations be given to establishing a "single consensus account of authorship." The revised International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) criteria do capture the essential features of authorship in terms of "intellectual contribution" and "responsibility and accountability," which would clearly demarcate academically legitimate authorship from the common misdemeanors of ghost writing and honorary authorship. However, plurality in the practice of science and credit-sharing culture at the ground would likely render universal adoption or compliance of a single consensus account of authorship untenable.

  2. Funding source and conflict of interest disclosures by authors and editors in gastroenterology specialty journals revisited.

    PubMed

    Qureshi, J; Sud, A; Vakil, N

    2012-03-01

    A survey of journals published in the field of Gastroenterology conducted 5 years ago showed marked variability in reporting of conflicts of interest or funding sources in these journals. To re-examine reporting of conflicts of interest and funding sources for original articles and editorials in Gastroenterology and Hepatology journals. We evaluated all original articles and editorials in 15 leading journals (determined by impact factor-Thomson Reuter Science Citation Index) devoted to Gastroenterology and Hepatology for disclosures of conflicts and for editor's self disclosures. We examined each journal's editorial policy by contacting the journal directly if the information was not revealed on the Web site or print versions of the journal. Of the 1574 articles evaluated, a total of 1207 (77%) reported the presence or absence of a potential conflict of interest and 1047 (67%) reported the presence or absence of funding sources. A total of 3 of the 15 (20%) journals (American Journal of Gastroenterology, Gastroenterology, and Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics reported the presence or absence of funding sources in all their published original articles. Only 5 of 15 (33%) journals (Gut, Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, American Journal of Gastroenterology, Neurogastroenterology & Motility and Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics) publicly disclosed the conflicts of interest of the editors. (i) Funding sources and conflicts of interest are still reported variably in the GI literature. (ii) Editorials and review articles are influential, but have poor reporting of conflicts of interest. (iii) Editors of many journals still do not report their conflicts of interest. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  3. PREFACE: Introductory remarks from the Editors Introductory remarks from the Editors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Knobloch, E.; Meseguer, A.; Marques, F.

    2012-06-01

    The local organizers of the 4th BIFD (Bifurcations and Instabilities in Fluid Dynamics) Symposium held in Barcelona on 18-21 July 2011 would like to thank the editors of Fluid Dynamics Research for offering us the opportunity of publishing a peer-reviewed special issue of the journal with a selection of the contributions presented at this conference. We thank both the authors and the referees for working with us on the rather tight schedule necessary to release the issue within one year of the date of the conference. We also thank the invited speakers, B Eckhardt, L Tuckerman, and J M Vega, for contributing keynote papers to this special issue. The series of BIFD symposia started as a small workshop in Madeira, Portugal, in 2004 with no more than 20 participants. This number increased rapidly during the second and third symposia held in 2006 (Denmark) and 2009 (United Kingdom), with 40 and 110 participants, respectively. The 4th BIFD symposium has consolidated this event as one of the leading conferences in hydrodynamic stability, with nearly 200 participants from around the world. The main goal of this conference is to bring together scientists and engineers from different disciplines directly or indirectly related to fluid dynamics, bifurcation theory and hydrodynamic stability theory. The conference covered many research areas within the aforementioned fields, ranging from thermal, shear and centrifugal flows to biofluids, films, drops, viscoelastic flows and magnetohydrodynamics. The structure of the conference, with invited plenary talks and focused sessions, helped the participants find their home in the conference and share state-of-the-art knowledge within the field of hydrodynamic instabilities. The financial support from MICINN (Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, Grant no FIS2009-08065-E) and UPC (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya) is greatly appreciated. The local organizers would also like to thank ETSAB (Barcelona School of Architecture

  4. The response of ecosystem carbon fluxes to LAI and environmental drivers in a maize crop grown in two contrasting seasons.

    PubMed

    Vitale, Luca; Di Tommasi, Paul; D'Urso, Guido; Magliulo, Vincenzo

    2016-03-01

    The eddy correlation technique was used to investigate the influence of biophysical variables and crop phenological phases on the behaviour of ecosystem carbon fluxes of a maize crop, in two contrasting growing seasons. In 2009, the reduced water supply during the early growing stage limited leaf area expansion, thus negatively affecting canopy photosynthesis. The variability of gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (R eco) was mainly explained by seasonal variation of leaf area index (LAI). The seasonal variation of R eco was positively influenced by soil temperatures (T soil) in 2008 but not in 2009. In 2008, a contribution of both autotrophic and heterotrophic components to total R eco could be hypothesized, while during 2009, autotrophic respiration is supposed to be the most important component. Crop phenological phases affected the response of ecosystem fluxes to biophysical drivers.

  5. Data Sharing: A New Editorial Initiative of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Implications for the Editors’ Network

    PubMed Central

    Alfonso, Fernando; Adamyan, Karlen; Artigou, Jean-Yves; Aschermann, Michael; Boehm, Michael; Buendia, Alfonso; Chu, Pao-Hsien; Cohen, Ariel; Dei Cas, Livio; Dilic, Mirza; Doubell, Anton; Echeverri, Dario; Enç, Nuray; Ferreira-González, Ignacio; J. Filipiak, Krzysztof; Flammer, Andreas; Fleck, Eckart; Gatzov, Plamen; Ginghina, Carmen; Goncalves, Lino; Haouala, Habib; Hassanein, Mahmoud; Heusch, Gerd; Huber, Kurt; Hulín, Ivan; Ivanusa, Mario; Krittayaphong, Rungroj; Lau, Chu-Pak; Marinskis, Germanas; Mach, François; Moreira, Luiz Felipe; Nieminen, Tuomo; Oukerraj, Latifa; Perings, Stefan; Pierard, Luc; Potpara, Tatjana; Reyes-Caorsi, Walter; Rim, Se-Joong; Rødevand, Olaf; Saade, Georges; Sander, Mikael; Shlyakhto, Evgeny; Timuralp, Bilgin; Tousoulis, Dimitris; Ural, Dilek; Piek, J. J.; Varga, Albert; Lüscher, Thomas F.

    2017-01-01

    The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) provides recommendations to improve the editorial standards and scientific quality of biomedical journals. These recommendations range from uniform technical requirements to more complex and elusive editorial issues including ethical aspects of the scientific process. Recently, registration of clinical trials, conflicts of interest disclosure, and new criteria for authorship- emphasizing the importance of responsibility and accountability-, have been proposed. Last year, a new editorial initiative to foster sharing of clinical trial data was launched. This review discusses this novel initiative with the aim of increasing awareness among readers, investigators, authors and editors belonging to the Editors’ Network of the European Society of Cardiology. PMID:28630534

  6. The roles of the AAS Journals' Data Editors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Muench, August; NASA/SAO ADS, CERN/Zenodo.org, Harvard/CfA Wolbach Library

    2018-01-01

    I will summarize the community services provided by the AAS Journals' Data Editors to support authors’ when citing and preserving the software and data used in the published literature. In addition I will describe the life of a piece of code as it passes through the current workflows for software citation in astronomy. Using this “lifecycle” I will detail the ongoing work funded by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to the American Astronomical Society to improve the citation of software in the literature. The funded development team and advisory boards, made up of non-profit publishers, literature indexers, and preservation archives, is implementing the Force11 Software citation principles for astronomy Journals. The outcome of this work will be new workflows for authors and developers that fit in their current practices while enabling versioned citation of software and granular credit for its creators.

  7. [Letters to the editor published in Peruvian biomedical journals indexed in SciELO-Peru 2006-2013].

    PubMed

    Montenegro-Idrogo, Juan José; Mejía-Dolores, Jhon William; Chalco-Huamán, Joel L

    2015-01-01

    This bibliometric study describes the characteristics of letters to the editor published between 2006-2013 in biomedical journals indexed in SciELO-Peru.253 letters (10.3% of total publications) were collected. Most letters (139) were in the Peruvian Journal of Experimental Medicine and Public Health, with marked increase throughout those years. 25% of letters submitted included medical student participation. 14% of authors presented with international affiliations and 27% with endogenous affiliation - common in university journals (Anales de la Facultad de Medicina, Revista Médica Herediana).The usual criteria justifying the publication of letters were: opinion of medical fact or public domain (35.6%) and discussion of results, methodological flaws or interpretation (22.9%). In biomedical journals indexed in SciELO Peru the letters to the editor comprise a percentage of publications that has increased in recent years, with low publication of letters of findings or primary data, compared with opinion or criticism.

  8. Korean association of medical journal editors at the forefront of improving the quality and indexing chances of its member journals.

    PubMed

    Suh, Chang-Ok; Oh, Se Jeong; Hong, Sung-Tae

    2013-05-01

    The article overviews some achievements and problems of Korean medical journals published in the highly competitive journal environment. Activities of Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors (KAMJE) are viewed as instrumental for improving the quality of Korean articles, indexing large number of local journals in prestigious bibliographic databases and launching new abstract and citation tracking databases or platforms (eg KoreaMed, KoreaMed Synapse, the Western Pacific Regional Index Medicus [WPRIM]). KAMJE encourages its member journals to upgrade science editing standards and to legitimately increase citation rates, primarily by publishing more great articles with global influence. Experience gained by KAMJE and problems faced by Korean editors may have global implications.

  9. Carbamylated monomeric allergoids as a therapeutic option for sublingual immunotherapy of dust mite- and grass pollen-induced allergic rhinoconjunctivitis: a systematic review of published trials with a meta-analysis of treatment using Lais® tablets.

    PubMed

    Mösges, R; Ritter, B; Kayoko, G; Allekotte, S

    2010-10-01

    Lais® allergoid tablets contain allergens that are modified by carbamylation. Due to their modified chemical structure, they are suitable for sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) (13, 16, 17, 24). Based on their small molecule size of 12 to 40 kDa, they can be easily absorbed via the oral mucosa (1). In this review, we studied the efficacy of SLIT with carbamylated monomeric allergoid tablets in the treatment of grass pollen- and dust mite-induced allergic rhinoconjunctivitis on the basis of symptom and medication score improvements. Following a selective internet and databank search, six trials-some placebo-controlled-regarding the treatment of grass pollen- (n = 266) and dust mite-induced (n = 241) allergic rhinoconjunctivitis were used to draw conclusions regarding the clinical efficacy of allergoid tablets. The primary endpoints in these trials were decreases in the need for allergy medications and/or reductions in the occurrence of rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms. Data was recorded from patient diaries regarding their symptoms and medications used and conclusions were then drawn about the effectiveness and tolerabieity of Lais® tablets. The average improvement in symptom score in three trials of grass pollen allergy treatment was 34% in comparison to the placebo group. The treatment of dust mite-induced rhinoconjunctivitis produced an average symptom score improvement of 22% compared to the placebo or control groups. The intake of symptomatic rescue medication during allergoid tablet therapy declined. Treatment of grass pollen allergies and dust mite-induced rhinoconjunctivitis showed an average medication score improvement of 49% and 24%, respectively. Few side effects were documented in the trials and predominantly local effects were observed. Severe systemic side effects did not occur. On the basis of the trial results summarized in this review, we suggest that SLIT using Lais® sublingual tablets is an effective and well-tolerated form of treatment.

  10. Somitic disruption of GNAS in chick embryos mimics progressive osseous heteroplasia

    PubMed Central

    Cairns, Dana M.; Pignolo, Robert J.; Uchimura, Tomoya; Brennan, Tracy A.; Lindborg, Carter M.; Xu, Meiqi; Kaplan, Frederick S.; Shore, Eileen M.; Zeng, Li

    2013-01-01

    Progressive osseous heteroplasia (POH) is a rare developmental disorder of heterotopic ossification (HO) caused by heterozygous inactivating germline mutations in the paternal allele of the GNAS gene. Interestingly, POH lesions have a bewildering mosaic distribution. Using clinical, radiographic, and photographic documentation, we found that most of the 12 individuals studied had a lesional bias toward one side or the other, even showing exclusive sidedness. Most strikingly, all had a dermomyotomal distribution of HO lesions. We hypothesized that somatic mutations in a progenitor cell of somitic origin may act on a background of germline haploinsufficiency to cause loss of heterozygosity at the GNAS locus and lead to the unilateral distribution of POH lesions. Taking advantage of the chick system, we examined our hypothesis by mimicking loss of heterozygosity of GNAS expression using dominant-negative GNAS that was introduced into a subset of chick somites, the progenitors that give rise to dermis and muscle. We observed rapid ectopic cartilage and bone induction at the axial and lateral positions in a unilateral distribution corresponding to the injected somites, which suggests that blocking GNAS activity in a targeted population of progenitor cells can lead to mosaic ectopic ossification reminiscent of that seen in POH. PMID:23863715

  11. ESDAPT - APT PROGRAMMING EDITOR AND INTERPRETER

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Premack, T.

    1994-01-01

    ESDAPT is a graphical programming environment for developing APT (Automatically Programmed Tool) programs for controlling numerically controlled machine tools. ESDAPT has a graphical user interface that provides the user with an APT syntax sensitive text editor and windows for displaying geometry and tool paths. APT geometry statement can also be created using menus and screen picks. ESDAPT interprets APT geometry statements and displays the results in its view windows. Tool paths are generated by batching the APT source to an APT processor (COSMIC P-APT recommended). The tool paths are then displayed in the view windows. Hardcopy output of the view windows is in color PostScript format. ESDAPT is written in C-language, yacc, lex, and XView for use on Sun4 series computers running SunOS. ESDAPT requires 4Mb of disk space, 7Mb of RAM, and MIT's X Window System, Version 11 Release 4, or OpenWindows version 3 for execution. Program documentation in PostScript format and an executable for OpenWindows version 3 are provided on the distribution media. The standard distribution medium for ESDAPT is a .25 inch streaming magnetic tape cartridge (Sun QIC-24) in UNIX tar format. This program was developed in 1992.

  12. Reviewing for "Beyond Behavior": An Editor's Guide for Submitting a Comprehensive and Meaningful Review

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mooney, Paul; Ryan, Joseph B.

    2018-01-01

    Reviewing manuscripts is an integral part of the publication process. Unfortunately, few scholars receive training in this skill. This article provides an overview of what it takes to conduct a quality review of a manuscript submission for a practitioner journal. The editors describe the manuscript types published by "Beyond Behavior"…

  13. Using Letters to the Editor as Teaching Examples: Some Opening Strategies for Instructors of Persuasive Discourse.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mistichelli, Bill

    The opportunity to discover the flaws in newspaper letters to the editor and to evaluate the ensuing consequences can help beginning persuasive writing students, who have had little practice at forming arguments, begin to conceptualize for themselves the ways that principles of persuasive discourse apply in particular writing situations. The study…

  14. Advanced software development workstation. Engineering scripting language graphical editor: DRAFT design document

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1991-01-01

    The Engineering Scripting Language (ESL) is a language designed to allow nonprogramming users to write Higher Order Language (HOL) programs by drawing directed graphs to represent the program and having the system generate the corresponding program in HOL. The ESL system supports user generation of HOL programs through the manipulation of directed graphs. The components of this graphs (nodes, ports, and connectors) are objects each of which has its own properties and property values. The purpose of the ESL graphical editor is to allow the user to create or edit graph objects which represent programs.

  15. Endorsement of the CONSORT statement by Chinese journals of Traditional Chinese Medicine: a survey of journal editors and review of journals' instructions for authors.

    PubMed

    Ma, Bin; Ke, Fa-Yong; Zheng, Er-Liang; Yang, Zun-Xian; Tang, Qing-Nan; Qi, Guo-Qing

    2016-06-01

    We aimed to assess the endorsement of the Consolidation Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement by Chinese journals of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and its incorporation into their editorial processes. PubMed, Embase and major Chinese databases were searched to identify journals of TCM from China for inclusion. The latest 'instruction for authors' (IFA) of each included journal was obtained and any text mentioning CONSORT or CONSORT extension papers was extracted. Subsequently, the editor of each of the included journals was surveyed about their journal's endorsement of the CONSORT recommendations and their incorporation into editorial and peer review processes. Sixty-three journals of TCM from China were examined. Of these, only three (5%) and one (2%) of the 63 journals mentioned the CONSORT statement and extension papers, respectively, in their IFA. Fifty-four of 63 (86%) of surveyed journals responded, with the majority of respondents being editors. Only 20% (11/54) of the respondents reported that they had any knowledge of the CONSORT statement. Only 6% (3/54) of the editors reported that they required authors to comply with the CONSORT statement or that they incorporated it into their peer review and editorial processes. TCM journals in China endorsing the CONSORT statement constituted a small percentage of the total. The majority of editors surveyed were not familiar with the content of the CONSORT statement and extension papers. We strongly recommend that the China Periodicals Association issue a policy to promote the endorsement of the CONSORT statement and conduct relevant training for journal editors in China. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

  16. Biogeochemical characteristics of Kuan-Tzu-Ling, Chung-Lun and Bao-Lai hot springs in southern Taiwan.

    PubMed

    Maity, Jyoti Prakash; Liu, Chia-Chuan; Nath, Bibhash; Bundschuh, Jochen; Kar, Sandeep; Jean, Jiin-Shuh; Bhattacharya, Prosun; Liu, Jiann-Hong; Atla, Shashi B; Chen, Chien-Yen

    2011-01-01

    Hot springs are the important natural sources of geothermally heated groundwater from the Earth's crust. Kuan-Tzu-Ling (KTL), Chung-Lun (CL) and Bao-Lai (BL) are well-known hot springs in southern Taiwan. Fluid and mud (sediments) samples were collected from the eruption points of three hot springs for detailed biogeochemical characterization. The fluid sample displays relatively high concentrations of Na(+) and Cl(-) compared with K(+), Mg(2+), Ca(2+), NO(2) (-), and SO(4) (2-), suggesting a possible marine origin. The concentrations of Fe, Cr, Mn, Ni, V and Zn were significantly higher in the mud sediments compared with fluids, whereas high concentrations of As, Ba, Cu, Se, Sr and Rb were observed in the fluids. This suggests that electronegative elements were released during sediment-water interactions. High As concentration in the fluids was observed to be associated with low redox (Eh) conditions. The FTIR spectra of the humic acid fractions of the sediments showed the presence of possible functional groups of secondary amines, ureas, urethanesm (amide), and silicon. The sulfate-reducing deltaproteobacterium 99% similar to Desulfovibrio psychrotolerans (GU329907) were rich in the CL hot spring while mesophilic, proteolytic, thiosulfate- and sulfur-reducing bacterium that 99% similar to Clostridium sulfidigenes (GU329908) were rich in the BL hot spring.

  17. An international survey and modified Delphi process revealed editors’ perceptions, training needs, and ratings of competency-related statements for the development of core competencies for scientific editors of biomedical journals

    PubMed Central

    Galipeau, James; Cobey, Kelly D.; Barbour, Virginia; Baskin, Patricia; Bell-Syer, Sally; Deeks, Jonathan; Garner, Paul; Shamseer, Larissa; Sharon, Straus; Tugwell, Peter; Winker, Margaret; Moher, David

    2017-01-01

    Background: Scientific editors (i.e., those who make decisions on the content and policies of a journal) have a central role in the editorial process at biomedical journals. However, very little is known about the training needs of these editors or what competencies are required to perform effectively in this role. Methods: We conducted a survey of perceptions and training needs among scientific editors from major editorial organizations around the world, followed by a modified Delphi process in which we invited the same scientific editors to rate the importance of competency-related statements obtained from a previous scoping review. Results: A total of 148 participants completed the survey of perceptions and training needs. At least 80% of participants agreed on six of the 38 skill and expertise-related statements presented to them as being important or very important to their role as scientific editors. At least 80% agreed on three of the 38 statements as necessary skills they perceived themselves as possessing (well or very well).  The top five items on participants’ list of top training needs were training in statistics, research methods, publication ethics, recruiting and dealing with peer reviewers, and indexing of journals. The three rounds of the Delphi were completed by 83, 83, and 73 participants, respectively, which ultimately produced a list of 23 “highly rated” competency-related statements and another 86 “included” items. Conclusion: Both the survey and the modified Delphi process will be critical for understanding knowledge and training gaps among scientific editors when designing curriculum around core competencies in the future. PMID:28979768

  18. Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for limonene and perillyl alcohol production.

    PubMed

    Alonso-Gutierrez, Jorge; Chan, Rossana; Batth, Tanveer S; Adams, Paul D; Keasling, Jay D; Petzold, Christopher J; Lee, Taek Soon

    2013-09-01

    Limonene is a valuable monoterpene used in the production of several commodity chemicals and medicinal compounds. Among them, perillyl alcohol (POH) is a promising anti-cancer agent that can be produced by hydroxylation of limonene. We engineered E. coli with a heterologous mevalonate pathway and limonene synthase for production of limonene followed by coupling with a cytochrome P450, which specifically hydroxylates limonene to produce POH. A strain containing all mevalonate pathway genes in a single plasmid produced limonene at titers over 400mg/L from glucose, substantially higher than has been achieved in the past. Incorporation of a cytochrome P450 to hydroxylate limonene yielded approximately 100mg/L of POH. Further metabolic engineering of the pathway and in situ product recovery using anion exchange resins would make this engineered E. coli a potential production platform for any valuable limonene derivative. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Professional Wisdom and Writing for Publication: Qualitative Interviews with Editors and Authors in Early Childhood Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jalongo, Mary Renck

    2013-01-01

    College and university faculty members specializing in early childhood education face some unique challenges in scholarly writing. The purpose of this research was to use open-ended interviews as a way to gather the collective wisdom of a group of key informants about academic writing and publishing in the field. Twenty-two editors and/or authors,…

  20. The New Online Metadata Editor for Generating Structured Metadata

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Devarakonda, R.; Shrestha, B.; Palanisamy, G.; Hook, L.; Killeffer, T.; Boden, T.; Cook, R. B.; Zolly, L.; Hutchison, V.; Frame, M. T.; Cialella, A. T.; Lazer, K.

    2014-12-01

    Nobody is better suited to "describe" data than the scientist who created it. This "description" about a data is called Metadata. In general terms, Metadata represents the who, what, when, where, why and how of the dataset. eXtensible Markup Language (XML) is the preferred output format for metadata, as it makes it portable and, more importantly, suitable for system discoverability. The newly developed ORNL Metadata Editor (OME) is a Web-based tool that allows users to create and maintain XML files containing key information, or metadata, about the research. Metadata include information about the specific projects, parameters, time periods, and locations associated with the data. Such information helps put the research findings in context. In addition, the metadata produced using OME will allow other researchers to find these data via Metadata clearinghouses like Mercury [1] [2]. Researchers simply use the ORNL Metadata Editor to enter relevant metadata into a Web-based form. How is OME helping Big Data Centers like ORNL DAAC? The ORNL DAAC is one of NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) data centers managed by the ESDIS Project. The ORNL DAAC archives data produced by NASA's Terrestrial Ecology Program. The DAAC provides data and information relevant to biogeochemical dynamics, ecological data, and environmental processes, critical for understanding the dynamics relating to the biological components of the Earth's environment. Typically data produced, archived and analyzed is at a scale of multiple petabytes, which makes the discoverability of the data very challenging. Without proper metadata associated with the data, it is difficult to find the data you are looking for and equally difficult to use and understand the data. OME will allow data centers like the ORNL DAAC to produce meaningful, high quality, standards-based, descriptive information about their data products in-turn helping with the data discoverability and

  1. Editor's Comment and Announcement.

    PubMed

    Bortolussi, Robert

    2017-12-17

    It is hard to believe but Clinical and Investigative Medicine (CIM), the official journal of Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation (CSCI), will soon celebrate its 40th birthday!  Over these past four decades, CIM has been the premier journal for Canadian clinician scientists; publishing over 1,000 articles on breakthroughs and major advances from Canada and around the world.  We are listed on Medline, PubMed and the Library of Science. We have been, and will continue to be, an independent journal. To celebrate this auspicious occasion, we have plans to become an even bigger showpiece for national and international clinical advances. We want to connect more closely with Canadian clinician scientists and trainees and we particularly want to encourage more Canadian publications. Changes will soon be coming to CIM with several new features: Newsletter with announcements and news on activities of interest to clinician scientists and trainees; Focused Reviews on specific areas of research; Reflections on work and life experiences of trainees and senior clinician scientists; Methods Papers describing novel methods anticipated to be useful for others; and  Guidelines or Recommendations on clinical care that are endorsed by a Canadian Medical or Surgical Society. Starting in 2018, we will be publishing on a quarterly basis. This will help to ensure we will focus on important breakthroughs and commentaries. However, we are also planning a special edition in the autumn to commemorate the 40th birthday. Stay tuned! Of course CIM will continue to publish original papers on discoveries in pathophysiology, prevention, management, treatment and outcome of clinical problems confronting clinicians in Canada and around the world.  Please join us as we embark on these changes and a new era for CIM, Robert Bortolussi Clinical and Investigative Medicine (CIM) Editor in Chief.

  2. MrEnt: an editor for publication-quality phylogenetic tree illustrations.

    PubMed

    Zuccon, Alessandro; Zuccon, Dario

    2014-09-01

    We developed MrEnt, a Windows-based, user-friendly software that allows the production of complex, high-resolution, publication-quality phylogenetic trees in few steps, directly from the analysis output. The program recognizes the standard Nexus tree format and the annotated tree files produced by BEAST and MrBayes. MrEnt combines in a single software a large suite of tree manipulation functions (e.g. handling of multiple trees, tree rotation, character mapping, node collapsing, compression of large clades, handling of time scale and error bars for chronograms) with drawing tools typical of standard graphic editors, including handling of graphic elements and images. The tree illustration can be printed or exported in several standard formats suitable for journal publication, PowerPoint presentation or Web publication. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  3. "Observation Obscurer" - Time Series Viewer, Editor and Processor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Andronov, I. L.

    The program is described, which contains a set of subroutines suitable for East viewing and interactive filtering and processing of regularly and irregularly spaced time series. Being a 32-bit DOS application, it may be used as a default fast viewer/editor of time series in any compute shell ("commander") or in Windows. It allows to view the data in the "time" or "phase" mode, to remove ("obscure") or filter outstanding bad points; to make scale transformations and smoothing using few methods (e.g. mean with phase binning, determination of the statistically opti- mal number of phase bins; "running parabola" (Andronov, 1997, As. Ap. Suppl, 125, 207) fit and to make time series analysis using some methods, e.g. correlation, autocorrelation and histogram analysis: determination of extrema etc. Some features have been developed specially for variable star observers, e.g. the barycentric correction, the creation and fast analysis of "OC" diagrams etc. The manual for "hot keys" is presented. The computer code was compiled with a 32-bit Free Pascal (www.freepascal.org).

  4. The editor, the publisher, and his mother: the representation of lesbians and gays in the New York Times.

    PubMed

    Chomsky, Daniel; Barclay, Scott

    2013-01-01

    The attention and prominence given to issues in media outlets may affect the importance citizens attribute to them, so the actors who influence mass media coverage decisions may have political power in society generally. This article seeks to measure the relative influence of journalists, social trends, events, government officials, editors, and owners on the New York Times coverage of lesbians and gays from 1960 to 1995. Although many factors affected the nature and frequency of such coverage, the findings of this article show that the owners of the Times exerted decisive influence. Documentary evidence reveals that the Times' owners actively intervened to suppress coverage of lesbians and gays until 1987, even as reporters and editors recognized that increased social visibility made them newsworthy. Statistical analysis confirms that, although some actual events and statements of officials attracted attention from the newspaper throughout the period, they were more likely to generate prominent coverage after 1987 when the stories were consistent with the enthusiasms of the owners.

  5. Serials Management in the Electronic Era: Papers in Honor of Peter Gellatly, Founding Editor of "The Serials Librarian."

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cole, Jim, Ed.; Williams, James W., Ed.

    This book assesses progress and technical changes in the field of serials management and anticipates future directions and challenges for librarians. The book consists of 18 chapters: (1) "Introduction" (Jim Cole and James W. Williams); (2) "Peter Gellatly--Editor with a Deft Touch" (Ruth C. Carter); (3) "The "Deseret…

  6. EDITOR IN CHIEF'S ANNOUNCEMENT: New Review article type New Review article type

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    2010-09-01

    This issue sees the publication of our first `Brief Review', a new kind of review article that we are introducing to complement our existing, very popular Topical Review programme. While a Topical Review is a broad overview article providing comprehensive coverage of progress in an area, a Brief Review is designed to be a shorter, `snapshot' of a field that is expanding or developing rapidly. Written by experts in the field and commissioned by members of our Editorial Board, we hope you find Brief Reviews to be a useful source of information and perspective. Clifford M Will Editor in Chief Classical and Quantum Gravity

  7. Probing interfacial reactions with x-ray reflectivity and x-ray reflection interface microscopy : influence of NaCl on the dissolution of orthoclase at pOH2 and 85 {degree} C.

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Fenter, P.; Lee, S. S.; Park, C.

    2010-01-01

    The role of electrolyte ions in the dissolution of orthoclase (0 0 1) in 0.01 m NaOH (pOH {approx} 2) at 84 {+-} 1 C is studied using a combination of in-situ X-ray reflectivity (XR) and ex-situ X-ray reflection interface microscopy (XRIM). The real-time XR measurements show characteristic intensity oscillations as a function of time indicative of the successive removal of individual layers. The dissolution rate in 0.01 m NaOH increases approximately linearly with increasing NaCl concentration up to 2 m NaCl. XRIM measurements of the lateral interfacial topography/structure were made for unreacted surfaces and those reacted in 0.01 mmore » NaOH/1.0 m NaCl solution for 15, 30 and 58 min. The XRIM images reveal that the dissolution reaction leads to the formation of micron-scale regions that are characterized by intrinsically lower reflectivity than the unreacted regions, and appears to be nucleated at steps and defect sites. The reflectivity signal from these reacted regions in the presence of NaCl in solution is significantly lower than that calculated from an idealized layer-by-layer dissolution process, as observed previously in 0.1 m NaOH in the absence of added electrolyte. This difference suggests that dissolved NaCl results in a higher terrace reactivity leading to a more three-dimensional process, consistent with the real-time XR measurements. These observations demonstrate the feasibility of XRIM to gain new insights into processes that control interfacial reactivity, specifically the role of electrolytes in feldspar dissolution at alkaline conditions.« less

  8. Historical model for editor and Office of Research Integrity cooperation in handling allegations, investigation, and retraction in a contentious (Abbs) case of research misconduct.

    PubMed

    Price, Alan R; Daroff, Robert B

    2015-01-01

    Cooperation between a journal editor and the federal Office of Research Integrity (ORI) in addressing investigations of research misconduct, each performing their own responsibilities while keeping each other informed of events and evidence, can be critical to the professional and regulatory resolution of a case. This paper describes the history of one of ORI's most contentious investigations that involved falsification of research on Parkinson's disease patients by James Abbs, Professor of Neurology, University of Wisconsin, published in the journal Neurology, which was handled cooperatively by the authors, who were the chief ORI investigator and the Editor-in-Chief of Neurology, respectively.

  9. Advanced software development workstation project: Engineering scripting language. Graphical editor

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1992-01-01

    Software development is widely considered to be a bottleneck in the development of complex systems, both in terms of development and in terms of maintenance of deployed systems. Cost of software development and maintenance can also be very high. One approach to reducing costs and relieving this bottleneck is increasing the reuse of software designs and software components. A method for achieving such reuse is a software parts composition system. Such a system consists of a language for modeling software parts and their interfaces, a catalog of existing parts, an editor for combining parts, and a code generator that takes a specification and generates code for that application in the target language. The Advanced Software Development Workstation is intended to be an expert system shell designed to provide the capabilities of a software part composition system.

  10. Characteristics of highly successful orthopedic surgeons: a survey of orthopedic chairs and editors

    PubMed Central

    Klein, Guy; Hussain, Nasir; Sprague, Sheila; Mehlman, Charles T.; Dogbey, Godwin; Bhandari, Mohit

    2013-01-01

    Background Highly successful orthopedic surgeons are a small group of individuals who exert a large influence on the orthopedic field. However, the characteristics of these leaders have not been well-described or studied. Methods Orthopedic surgeons who are departmental chairs, journal editors, editorial board members of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (British edition), or current or past presidents of major orthopedic associations were invited to complete a survey designed to provide insight into their motivations, academic backgrounds and accomplishments, emotional and physical health, and job satisfaction. Results In all, 152 surgeons completed the questionnaire. We identified several characteristics of highly successful surgeons. Many have contributed prolific numbers of publications and book chapters and obtained considerable funding for research. They were often motivated by a “desire for personal development (interesting challenge, new opportunities),” whereas “relocating to a new institution, financial gain, or lack of alternative candidates” played little to no role in their decisions to take positions of leadership. Most respondents were happy with their specialty choice despite long hours and high levels of stress. Despite challenges to their time, successful orthopedic surgeons made a strong effort to maintain their health; compared with other physicians, they exercise more, are more likely to have a primary care physician and feel better physically. Conclusion Departmental chairs, journal editors and presidents of orthopedic associations cope with considerable demands of clinical, administrative, educational and research duties while maintaining a high level of health, happiness and job satisfaction. PMID:23706848

  11. [52th Commemoration of French Journal of Plastic Aesthetic Surgery (1956-2007). Fifty-four years of editorial; five Editors-in-chief].

    PubMed

    Cariou, J-L

    2007-08-01

    The french Society of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery (SOF.CPRE) is born December 3th 1952. Initially without "aesthetic", this "key-word" is agreed in 1983 and the symbols are advanced since: SFCPR, SFCPRE, SOF.CPRE. Its official organ, formerly included in Annales de chirurgie (1954-1955), become Annales de chirurgie plastique in 1956, Annales de chirurgie plastique et esthétique in 1983 and finally Annales de chirurgie plastique esthétique (ACPE) in 1992. Since the origin, five Editors-in-chief succeded: Claude Dufourmentel, Raymond Vilain, Jean-Pierre Lalardrie, Claude Lê-Quang, Jean-Luc Cariou. Four of them are alive, Raymond Vilain is dead. The author relate here the natural story of these five editors who had all a triple route: personnal, surgical and editorial.

  12. EDITORIAL: Letter from the Editor Letter from the Editor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hauptmann, Peter

    2011-01-01

    Dear authors and reviewers of articles for Measurement Science and Technology, I would like to thank all those who have published papers with us in 2010, and special thanks go to those of you who have kindly reviewed articles for the journal. I would also like to take this opportunity to update you on some of the developments on the journal and look ahead to 2011. As many of you are no doubt aware, our impact factor (a measure of the average number of times recent papers are referred to by others) is currently 1.317. This is often taken as an indication of the quality and relevance of recently published research, and although as readers we develop our own instinct for journals of high quality, it is gratifying as an Editor to see the data from an independent organization (Thomson ISI) agreeing with my own assessment. Measurement Science and Technology is a journal with a broad scope covering new measurement techniques in all fields of science and engineering. I therefore find it particularly enjoyable to read summaries of recent research in our strong topical review programme as these cover many varied topics of interest. In 2010 several interesting articles by international leaders in their field were published, for example: Single-photon generation and detection, by G S Buller and R J Collins of Heriot-Watt University [1]. Fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy in life sciences, by Jan Willem Borst and Antonie J W G Visser, from the Microspectroscopy Centre of Wageningen University [2]. Biological and chemical sensors for cancer diagnosis, by Elfriede Simon of Siemens AG [3]. I hope that these articles, and the others published in 2010 and now in 2011, will provide a useful overview for our readers, and be helpful to new researchers. When speaking to young researchers I am particularly aware that having their articles published in a timely fashion is important, and I am pleased that our publication times are highly competitive, with most authors receiving a

  13. Consed: a graphical editor for next-generation sequencing.

    PubMed

    Gordon, David; Green, Phil

    2013-11-15

    The rapid growth of DNA sequencing throughput in recent years implies that graphical interfaces for viewing and correcting errors must now handle large numbers of reads, efficiently pinpoint regions of interest and automate as many tasks as possible. We have adapted consed to reflect this. To allow full-feature editing of large datasets while keeping memory requirements low, we developed a viewer, bamScape, that reads billion-read BAM files, identifies and displays problem areas for user review and launches the consed graphical editor on user-selected regions, allowing, in addition to longstanding consed capabilities such as assembly editing, a variety of new features including direct editing of the reference sequence, variant and error detection, display of annotation tracks and the ability to simultaneously process a group of reads. Many batch processing capabilities have been added. The consed package is free to academic, government and non-profit users, and licensed to others for a fee by the University of Washington. The current version (26.0) is available for linux, macosx and solaris systems or as C++ source code. It includes a user's manual (with exercises) and example datasets. http://www.phrap.org/consed/consed.html dgordon@uw.edu .

  14. Genetic disorders with heterotopic ossificans

    PubMed Central

    Sankar, Ruthiramurthy; Gowrishankar, Kalpana; Viswanathan, Saraswati

    2015-01-01

    Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) and progressive ossific heteroplasia (POH) are rare genetic disorders characterized by heterotopic bone formation leading to progressive loss of mobility and function. We report three cases of these rare disorders (two cases of FOP and one case of POH), which were clinically diagnosed and underwent genetic analysis. The aim of this report is to highlight the clinical features and the differences between these two conditions. We would also like to emphasize on the morbidity that can arise from unnecessary invasive investigations for diagnostic purposes. PMID:26015640

  15. Overexpression of PaFT gene in the wild orchid Phalaenopsis amabilis (L.) Blume

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Semiarti, Endang; Mercuriani, Ixora S.; Rizal, Rinaldi; Slamet, Agus; Utami, Bekti S.; Bestari, Ida A.; Aziz-Purwantoro, Moeljopawiro, S.; Jang, Soenghoe; Machida, Y.; Machida, C.

    2015-09-01

    To shorten vegetative stage and induce transition from vegetative to reproductive stage in orchids, we overexpressed Phalaenopsis amabilis Flowering LocusT (PaFT) gene under the control of Ubiquitin promoter into protocorm of Indonesian Wild Orchid Phalaenopsis amabilis (L.) Blume. The dynamic expression of vegetative gene Phalaenopsis Homeobox1 (POH1) and flowering time gene PaFT has been analyzed. Accumulation of mRNA was detected in shoot and leaves of both transgenic and non transgenic plants by using Reverse transcriptase-PCR (RT-PCR) with specific gene primers for POH1 and PaFT in 24 months old plants. To analyze the POH1 and PaFT genes, three pairs of degenerate primers PaFT degF1R1, F2R2 and F3R3 that amplified 531 bp PaFT cDNA were used. We detected 700 bp PaFTcDNA from leaves and shoots of transgenic plants, but not in NT plants. POH1 mRNA was detected in plants. PaFT protein consists of Phospatidyl Ethanolamine-Binding Protein (PEBP) in interval base 73-483 and CETS family protein at base 7-519, which are important motif for transmembrane protein. We inserted Ubipro::PaFT/pGAS101 into P. amabilis protocorm using Agrobacterium. Analysis of transgenic plants showed that PaFTmRNA was accumulated in leaves of 12 months after sowing, although it is not detected in non transgeic plants. Compare to the wild type (NT plants), ectopic expression of PaFT shows alter phenotype as follows: 31% normal, 19% with short-wavy leaves, 5% form rosette leaves and 45% produced multishoots. Analysis of protein profiles of trasgenic plants showed that a putative PaFT protein (MW 19,7 kDa) was produced in 1eaves and shoots.This means that at 12 months, POH1 gene expression gradually decreased/negatively regulated, the expression of PaFT gene was activated, although there is no flower initiation yet. Some environmental factors might play a role to induce inflorescens. This experiment is in progress.

  16. A Diagram Editor for Efficient Biomedical Knowledge Capture and Integration

    PubMed Central

    Yu, Bohua; Jakupovic, Elvis; Wilson, Justin; Dai, Manhong; Xuan, Weijian; Mirel, Barbara; Athey, Brian; Watson, Stanley; Meng, Fan

    2008-01-01

    Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying complex disorders requires the integration of data and knowledge from different sources including free text literature and various biomedical databases. To facilitate this process, we created the Biomedical Concept Diagram Editor (BCDE) to help researchers distill knowledge from data and literature and aid the process of hypothesis development. A key feature of BCDE is the ability to capture information with a simple drag-and-drop. This is a vast improvement over manual methods of knowledge and data recording and greatly increases the efficiency of the biomedical researcher. BCDE also provides a unique concept matching function to enforce consistent terminology, which enables conceptual relationships deposited by different researchers in the BCDE database to be mined and integrated for intelligible and useful results. We hope BCDE will promote the sharing and integration of knowledge from different researchers for effective hypothesis development. PMID:21347131

  17. IntellEditS: intelligent learning-based editor of segmentations.

    PubMed

    Harrison, Adam P; Birkbeck, Neil; Sofka, Michal

    2013-01-01

    Automatic segmentation techniques, despite demonstrating excellent overall accuracy, can often produce inaccuracies in local regions. As a result, correcting segmentations remains an important task that is often laborious, especially when done manually for 3D datasets. This work presents a powerful tool called Intelligent Learning-Based Editor of Segmentations (IntellEditS) that minimizes user effort and further improves segmentation accuracy. The tool partners interactive learning with an energy-minimization approach to editing. Based on interactive user input, a discriminative classifier is trained and applied to the edited 3D region to produce soft voxel labeling. The labels are integrated into a novel energy functional along with the existing segmentation and image data. Unlike the state of the art, IntellEditS is designed to correct segmentation results represented not only as masks but also as meshes. In addition, IntellEditS accepts intuitive boundary-based user interactions. The versatility and performance of IntellEditS are demonstrated on both MRI and CT datasets consisting of varied anatomical structures and resolutions.

  18. One Size Doesn't Fit All - RefEditor: Building Personalized Diploid Reference Genome to Improve Read Mapping and Genotype Calling in Next Generation Sequencing Studies

    PubMed Central

    Yuan, Shuai; Johnston, H. Richard; Zhang, Guosheng; Li, Yun; Hu, Yi-Juan; Qin, Zhaohui S.

    2015-01-01

    With rapid decline of the sequencing cost, researchers today rush to embrace whole genome sequencing (WGS), or whole exome sequencing (WES) approach as the next powerful tool for relating genetic variants to human diseases and phenotypes. A fundamental step in analyzing WGS and WES data is mapping short sequencing reads back to the reference genome. This is an important issue because incorrectly mapped reads affect the downstream variant discovery, genotype calling and association analysis. Although many read mapping algorithms have been developed, the majority of them uses the universal reference genome and do not take sequence variants into consideration. Given that genetic variants are ubiquitous, it is highly desirable if they can be factored into the read mapping procedure. In this work, we developed a novel strategy that utilizes genotypes obtained a priori to customize the universal haploid reference genome into a personalized diploid reference genome. The new strategy is implemented in a program named RefEditor. When applying RefEditor to real data, we achieved encouraging improvements in read mapping, variant discovery and genotype calling. Compared to standard approaches, RefEditor can significantly increase genotype calling consistency (from 43% to 61% at 4X coverage; from 82% to 92% at 20X coverage) and reduce Mendelian inconsistency across various sequencing depths. Because many WGS and WES studies are conducted on cohorts that have been genotyped using array-based genotyping platforms previously or concurrently, we believe the proposed strategy will be of high value in practice, which can also be applied to the scenario where multiple NGS experiments are conducted on the same cohort. The RefEditor sources are available at https://github.com/superyuan/refeditor. PMID:26267278

  19. Viewing and Editing Earth Science Metadata MOBE: Metadata Object Browser and Editor in Java

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chase, A.; Helly, J.

    2002-12-01

    Metadata is an important, yet often neglected aspect of successful archival efforts. However, to generate robust, useful metadata is often a time consuming and tedious task. We have been approaching this problem from two directions: first by automating metadata creation, pulling from known sources of data, and in addition, what this (paper/poster?) details, developing friendly software for human interaction with the metadata. MOBE and COBE(Metadata Object Browser and Editor, and Canonical Object Browser and Editor respectively), are Java applications for editing and viewing metadata and digital objects. MOBE has already been designed and deployed, currently being integrated into other areas of the SIOExplorer project. COBE is in the design and development stage, being created with the same considerations in mind as those for MOBE. Metadata creation, viewing, data object creation, and data object viewing, when taken on a small scale are all relatively simple tasks. Computer science however, has an infamous reputation for transforming the simple into complex. As a system scales upwards to become more robust, new features arise and additional functionality is added to the software being written to manage the system. The software that emerges from such an evolution, though powerful, is often complex and difficult to use. With MOBE the focus is on a tool that does a small number of tasks very well. The result has been an application that enables users to manipulate metadata in an intuitive and effective way. This allows for a tool that serves its purpose without introducing additional cognitive load onto the user, an end goal we continue to pursue.

  20. Prior Publication and Redundancy in Contemporary Science: Are Authors and Editors at the Crossroads?

    PubMed

    de Vasconcelos, Sonia Maria Ramos; Roig, Miguel

    2015-10-01

    We discuss prior publication and redundancy in contemporary science in the context of changing perceptions of originality in the communication of research results. These perceptions have been changing in the publication realm, particularly in the last 15 years. Presenting a brief overview of the literature, we address some of the conflicts that are likely to arise between authors and editors. We illustrate our approach with conference presentations that are later published as journal articles and focus on a recent retraction of an article that had been previously published as a conference proceedings. Although we do not make definitive pronouncements on the matter-as many concepts are evolving-we do argue that conference papers that contain sufficient details for others to attempt a replication and are indexed in scientific databases such as PubMed, challenge some currently held assumptions of prior publication and originality in the sciences. Our view is that these important issues are in need of further clarification and harmonization within the science publishing community. This need is more evident when we consider current notions of research integrity when it comes to communication to peers. Revisiting long-standing views about what constitutes prior publication and developing a clearer set of guidelines for authors and editors to follow should reduce conflicts in the research environment, which already exerts considerable pressure, especially on newcomers in academia. However, while clearer guidelines are timely, developing them is only part of the challenge. The present times seem to call for deeper changes in the research and publication systems.

  1. Report of the editors, 2014.

    PubMed

    García Puig, J; Gaspar Alonso-Vega, G; Ríos Blanco, J J

    2015-01-01

    The editors of Revista Clínica Española(Rev Clin Esp) inform on their editorial activity during the last 12 months: (a) Objectives and attainments in 2014, (b) Editorial activity, 2014, and (c) 2013 impact factor. In 2014 we achieved the 5 planned objectives. We have published the 9 programmed issues and 103% of the planned papers according to the usual fixed sections. We emphasize the publication of 29 editorials, 21 of which are signed by prestigious foreign authors. From the first January to the 30th September 2014 we received 421 manuscripts (46.8 manuscripts per month), a slight lower figure to that obtained in 2013 (50.9 manuscripts per month). The acceptance rate of the 404 manuscripts whose editorial process has been concluded was 32.3% (originals, 22.4%). We asked for 315 revisions to 240 reviewers and we received 53.3% revisions in less than two weeks (10.4 days). The mean time to adopt an editorial decision for all manuscripts («accepted»/«rejected») has been 18,3 (less than half than in 2009). For «originals» this figure has dropped from 56,6 days in 2009 to 26.6 days in 2014. The mean time elapsed from manuscript reception to its on-line publication was 103 days. In 2014 the collaboration with the working groups from the Internal Medicine Spanish Foundation (FEMI) has reported 11 published manuscripts. In July 2014 we were informed that the Journal Citation Reports gave Rev Clin Esp an Impact Factor of 1,314 (year 2013). This Impact Factor without self-citations would have been 0.705 (in 2009 the global impact factor was 0,584). With the Editorial Committee farewell we welcome the new editorial team and we sincerely thank the SEMI Steering Committee, our colleagues, journal officers, reviewers, readers and authors that since 2009 have trusted on our editorial work. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  2. Survey on open peer review: Attitudes and experience amongst editors, authors and reviewers.

    PubMed

    Ross-Hellauer, Tony; Deppe, Arvid; Schmidt, Birgit

    2017-01-01

    Open peer review (OPR) is a cornerstone of the emergent Open Science agenda. Yet to date no large-scale survey of attitudes towards OPR amongst academic editors, authors, reviewers and publishers has been undertaken. This paper presents the findings of an online survey, conducted for the OpenAIRE2020 project during September and October 2016, that sought to bridge this information gap in order to aid the development of appropriate OPR approaches by providing evidence about attitudes towards and levels of experience with OPR. The results of this cross-disciplinary survey, which received 3,062 full responses, show the majority (60.3%) of respondents to be believe that OPR as a general concept should be mainstream scholarly practice (although attitudes to individual traits varied, and open identities peer review was not generally favoured). Respondents were also in favour of other areas of Open Science, like Open Access (88.2%) and Open Data (80.3%). Among respondents we observed high levels of experience with OPR, with three out of four (76.2%) reporting having taken part in an OPR process as author, reviewer or editor. There were also high levels of support for most of the traits of OPR, particularly open interaction, open reports and final-version commenting. Respondents were against opening reviewer identities to authors, however, with more than half believing it would make peer review worse. Overall satisfaction with the peer review system used by scholarly journals seems to strongly vary across disciplines. Taken together, these findings are very encouraging for OPR's prospects for moving mainstream but indicate that due care must be taken to avoid a "one-size fits all" solution and to tailor such systems to differing (especially disciplinary) contexts. OPR is an evolving phenomenon and hence future studies are to be encouraged, especially to further explore differences between disciplines and monitor the evolution of attitudes.

  3. A TV Reporter, an Adviser's Internship, a TV Anchor/Reporter, an Assignment Editor, a TV Photojournalist's Bag of Tricks.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Patrow, Kris; Youngblood, Steve; Madden, Tracy; Hamburger, Jeff; Johnson, Kevin

    2000-01-01

    Intends to help high school journalism students understand the field they are preparing for by presenting brief descriptions of a day in the work life of a television news reporter, a TV anchor/reporter, and a television news assignment editor. Describes the five-week internship at a local television news station of a journalism instructor. (SR)

  4. Qualitative Research PracticeEditors: Clive Seale , Giampietro Gobo , Jaber F Gubrium , David Silverman Qualitative Research Practice Sage Edition: First 552 £29.99 1412934206 1412934206 [Formula: see text].

    PubMed

    2008-01-01

    This book is jam-packed with a wide range of material related to qualitative research. The editors and contributors are drawn from a wide international background, and thus, say the editors, the book represents 'the global nature of the qualitative research enterprise'. The aim in producing it was not simply to produce another handbook of qualitative research but rather to write a book about research practice. To this end, the book draws upon actual research studies to embed the text in the real world of qualitative research. It is particularly aimed at the student reader.

  5. Publishing bioethics and bioethics--reflections on academic publishing by a journal editor.

    PubMed

    Schüklenk, Udo

    2011-02-01

    This article by one of the Editors of Bioethics, published in the 25th anniversary issue of the journal, describes some of the revolutionary changes academic publishing has undergone during the last decades. Many humanities journals went from typically small print-runs, counting by the hundreds, to on-line availability in thousands of university libraries worldwide. Article up-take by our subscribers can be measured efficiently. The implications of this and other changes to academic publishing are discussed. Important ethical challenges need to be addressed in areas such as the enforcement of plagiarism-related policies, the so-called 'impact factor' and its impact on academic integrity, and the question of whether on-line only publishing can currently guarantee the integrity of academic publishing histories. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  6. ESCHER: An interactive mesh-generating editor for preparing finite-element input

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Oakes, W. R., Jr.

    1984-01-01

    ESCHER is an interactive mesh generation and editing program designed to help the user create a finite-element mesh, create additional input for finite-element analysis, including initial conditions, boundary conditions, and slidelines, and generate a NEUTRAL FILE that can be postprocessed for input into several finite-element codes, including ADINA, ADINAT, DYNA, NIKE, TSAAS, and ABUQUS. Two important ESCHER capabilities, interactive geometry creation and mesh archival storge are described in detail. Also described is the interactive command language and the use of interactive graphics. The archival storage and restart file is a modular, entity-based mesh data file. Modules of this file correspond to separate editing modes in the mesh editor, with data definition syntax preserved between the interactive commands and the archival storage file. Because ESCHER was expected to be highly interactive, extensive user documentation was provided in the form of an interactive HELP package.

  7. EDITORIAL: A few words from the new Editor-in-Chief A few words from the new Editor-in-Chief

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Margaritondo, Giorgio

    2011-04-01

    As I begin my mandate as Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, I can look back with great pleasure at many years of service, as a member of the Editorial Board, to this outstanding instrument of scientific dissemination. Having witnessed the exceptional quantitative and qualitative growth of the journal, I must consider this appointment both an honour and a real challenge. The success of the journal is primarily based on three assets: the authors' talent of course, but also the illuminated leadership of my predecessors at the journal helm and the highly competent, dedicated and responsive staff. I would like to praise, in particular, the leadership of my immediate predecessor and good friend, Pallab Battacharya, the pilot of the years of major qualitative growth. Being Pallab's successor makes my new responsibility even more challenging! The IOP personnel is a key asset for the journal: in my rather broad experience in scientific publishing, I have never seen such a combination of professional experience, commitment and willingness to innovate—a traditional strength of JPD. Regrettably, I cannot acknowledge here all the women and men who contributed to the success of the journal; however, I would like to explicitly acknowledge the outstanding work of Sarah Quin over the past decade. In my new duty, I can fortunately count on her successor, Olivia Roche, whose excellent professional and managerial qualities we can already appreciate. How should we view the future of the journal? In my view, with reasonable optimism. Notwithstanding the tough competition, our journal has a solid reputation and increasing visibility. It has consistently belonged to the small elite group of top journals preferred by applied physics authors worldwide. My program as Editor-in-Chief is both simple and very testing: to continue to enhance this elite status. The challenge comes from a variety of factors: first, 'applied physics' is a continuously evolving notion, even

  8. Sylvia Taylor Johnson, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of "The Journal of Negro Education" (1994-2001): A World-Class Champion Runner

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hughes, Gerunda B.; Wallace, Michael B.

    2007-01-01

    With characteristic crystal clarity and advanced, sharply honed research skills, Dr. Sylvia T. Johnson was able to take full advantage of holding the position of Editor-in-Chief of "The Journal of Negro Education" from 1994 to 2001. This article summarizes her accomplishments through the many hats she wore.

  9. ANNOUNCEMENT: Greetings from the Editor and Publisher

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wäppling, Roger; Williams, Sarah

    2006-01-01

    Physica Scripta is an international physics journal published for the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on behalf of the Nordic Science Academies and Physical Societies. This issue marks the beginning of the partnership between the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and Institute of Physics Publishing (IOP). We look forward to a fruitful relationship in which Physica Scripta can profit from the international reach of IOP. Authors and readers will benefit from advance publication of articles on the web prior to receiving each month's journal issue. The peer-review system will continue to be managed by Professor Roger Wäppling who will assess each paper before assigning it to an external editor or sending it for refereeing. IOP will receive new article submissions and generate electronic documents suitable for use in the refereeing process. The editorial office in Sweden will then be responsible for these manuscripts up to the final publication decision. Accepted articles will be sent to IOP for copy-editing, typesetting, production and distribution. We aim to provide our authors, referees and readers with an enhanced service for this well-established journal. IOP will maintain and augment Physica Scripta's record in publishing a broad range of high-quality research papers and we will continue to publish Topical Issues as supplements to the regular 12 issues. The popular Comments articles will continue to be published in conjunction with regular papers under this new partnership. We hope that our subscribers will continue to enjoy reading Physica Scripta as a valuable resource for general physics research.

  10. Dominant negative Ras attenuates pathological ventricular remodeling in pressure overload cardiac hypertrophy

    PubMed Central

    Ramos-Kuri, Manuel; Rapti, Kleopatra; Mehel, Hind; Zhang, Shihong; Dhandapany, Perundurai S.; Liang, Lifan; García-Carrancá, Alejandro; Bobe, Regis; Fischmeister, Rodolphe; Adnot, Serge; Lebeche, Djamel; Hajjar, Roger J.; Lipskaia, Larissa; Chemaly, Elie R.

    2015-01-01

    The importance of the oncogene Ras in cardiac hypertrophy is well appreciated. The hypertrophic effects of the constitutively active mutant Ras-Val12 are revealed by clinical syndromes due to the Ras mutations and experimental studies. We examined the possible anti-hypertrophic effect of Ras inhibition in vitro using rat neonatal cardiomyocytes (NRCM) and in vivo in the setting of pressure-overload left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy (POH) in rats. Ras functions were modulated via adenovirus directed gene transfer of active mutant Ras-Val12 or dominant negative mutant N17-DN-Ras (DN-Ras). Ras-Val12 expression in vitro activates NFAT resulting in pro-hypertrophic and cardio-toxic effects on NRCM beating and Z-line organization. In contrast, the DN-Ras was antihypertrophic on NRCM, inhibited NFAT and exerted cardio-protective effects attested by preserved NRCM beating and Z line structure. Additional experiments with silencing H-Ras gene strategy corroborated the antihypertrophic effects of siRNA-H-Ras on NRCM. In vivo, with the POH model, both Ras mutants were associated with similar hypertrophy two weeks after simultaneous induction of POH and Ras-mutant gene transfer. However, LV diameters were higher and LV fractional shortening lower in the Ras-Val12 group compared to control and DN-Ras. Moreover, DN-Ras reduced the cross-sectional area of cardiomyocytes in vivo, and decreased the expression of markers of pathologic cardiac hypertrophy. In isolated adult cardiomyocytes after 2 weeks of POH and Ras-mutant gene transfer, DN-Ras improved sarcomere shortening and calcium transients compared to Ras-Val12. Overall, DN-Ras promotes a more physiological form of hypertrophy, suggesting an interesting therapeutic target for pathological cardiac hypertrophy. PMID:26260012

  11. Erratum: Letter to the Editor: Exclusion of primary congenital glaucoma (buphthalmos) from two candidate regions of chromosome arm 6p and chromosome 11

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    NONE

    1996-03-01

    This {open_quotes}Letter to the Editor{close_quotes} is the reprint of a corrected table from a previous paper about the exclusion of primary congenital glaucoma from two candidate regions of chromosome arm 6p and chromosome 11.

  12. [Report of the editors, 2013].

    PubMed

    García Puig, J; Gaspar Alonso-Vega, G; Ríos Blanco, J J

    2014-01-01

    The editors of Revista Clínica Española(Rev Clin Esp) inform on their editorial activity during the last 12 months: (a) objectives and attainments, (b) editorial activity, and (c) objectives for 2014. In 2013 the most relevant modification concerning the editorial activity has been the translation into English of the 5 manuscripts with abstract contained in each issue (http://www.revclinesp.es/). From the first January to the 30th September 2013 we received 458 manuscripts (50.9 manuscripts per month), a similar figure to that obtained in 2012 (51.1 manuscripts per month). The acceptance rate of the 443 manuscripts whose editorial process has been concluded was 23.7% (originals, 11.8%). We asked for 253 revisions to 186 reviewers and we received 74.4% revisions in less than 2 weeks (10.9 days). The mean time to adopt an editorial decision for all manuscripts («accepted»/«rejected») has been 20,3 (half than in 2009). For «originals» this figure has dropped from 56.6 days in 2009 to 22.5 days in 2013. The mean time elapsed from manuscript reception to its on-line publication was 94.8 days in 2013 (110.5 in 2012 and 155.8 in 2011). In 2013 the collaboration with the working groups from the Internal Medicine Spanish Foundation has reported 17 published manuscripts. In 2013 we were informed that the Journal Citation Reports excluded Rev Clin Esp from its impact factor journal list due to its elevated self-citations. We have taken a number of actions to reduce self-citations and we expect to be a minority in 2014. Some other data concerning the editorial policy are encouraging. In this sense, manuscript citation to Rev Clin Esp published articles has seen a substantial increase from 19% in 2008 to 29% in 2012. We work to achieve the digitalization of Rev Clin Esp from 1940 to 1999 (the journal is already digitalized since 2000). The continuous renewal of the journal sections and the working groups collaboration are necessary elements to make our journal, each day

  13. Letters to the Editor of the AAS Newsletter: A Personal Story

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Linsky, Jeffrey L.

    2006-01-01

    Since 1987 the American Astronomical Society Newsletter has published some 142 Letters to the Editor that provide the personal statements and concerns of astronomers about the policies, priorities, and experiences of being an astronomer. While these Letters do not provide a scientific sampling of the issues, they do provide an illuminating picture of the astronomical scene as seen from the perspectives of our colleagues. I describe the history and policies of the Letters section, then summarize the issues presented and debated in these Letters. The topics (in order of numbers of Letters published) are: (1) publishing and refereeing, (2) how the AAS and IAU conduct their business, (3) jobs and how to get them, (4) support for astronomy, (5) scientific units and time, (6) public policy issues, (7) planning for telescopes and space missions, (8) how astronomers do their work, (9) women in astronomy, (10) the work environment, and (11) other issues. A chronological list of the Letters by title and author is included.

  14. Grammar, Punctuation, and Capitalization: a Handbook for Technical Writers and Editors

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mccaskill, Mary K.

    1990-01-01

    Writing problems are addressed which are often encountered in technical documents and preferences are indicated (Langley's) when authorities do not agree. It is directed toward professional writers, editors, and proofreaders. Those whose profession lies in other areas (for example, research or management), but who have occasion to write or review others' writing will also find this information useful. A functional attitude toward grammar and punctuation is presented. Chapter 1 on grammar presents grammatical problems related to each part of speech. Chapter 2 on sentence structure concerns syntax, that is, effective arrangement of words, with emphasis on methods of revision to improve writing effectiveness. Chapter 3 addresses punctuation marks, presenting their function, situations when they are required or incorrect, and situations when they are appropriate but optional. Chapter 4 presents capitalization, which is mostly a matter of editorial style and preference rather than a matter of generally accepted rules. An index and glossary are included.

  15. How to write a medical original article: Advice from an Editor.

    PubMed

    Shokeir, Ahmed A

    2014-03-01

    To provide guidelines for potential authors on how to increase the chances of their manuscript being accepted, with a review focusing on writing an original medical article. This review reflects the personal experience of the present author, who has extensive experience as an author, reviewer and editor. To write an original article successfully, there are three essential requirements, the 'basic triad' of an original article. These are subjects worth reporting, knowledge of the basic structure of an article, and knowledge of the essential mechanics of good writing. This review details each of the three items. Writing, like every other art, cannot be learned wholly from books or lectures, but can be learned largely by experience. The best training is to start the task and persevere. The act of writing, like surgical techniques, must be learned the hard way, by practice and perseverance. Anyone can start writing but only a good writer can finish the task.

  16. Scratching the surface of tomorrow's diagnostics: the Editor-in-Chief's opinion at the 15th year of Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics.

    PubMed

    Lorincz, Attila; Raison, Claire

    2015-01-01

    Interview with Attila Lorincz by Claire Raison (Commissioning Editor) To mark the beginning of the 15th year of Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics, the journal's Editor-in-Chief shares his expert knowledge on translational diagnostics, his opinion on recent controversies and his predictions for molecular diagnostics in 2015 and beyond. Attila Lorincz received his doctorate from Trinity College, Dublin, Republic of Ireland, and went on to become a research fellow at the University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA. During Professor Lorincz's research on human papillomavirus (HPV), he found several important and novel carcinogenic HPV types and pioneered the use of HPV DNA testing for clinical diagnostics. In 1988, Professor Lorincz's team produced the first HPV test to be FDA-approved for patients and in 2003, for general population cervical precancer screening. Now Professor of Molecular Epidemiology at the Centre for Cancer Prevention, Queen Mary University of London, UK, he and his team are furthering translational research into DNA methylation assays for cancer risk prediction.

  17. Measuring Gap Fraction, Element Clumping Index and LAI in Sierra Forest Stands Using a Full-Waveform Ground-Based Lidar

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zhao, Feng; Strahler, Alan H.; Crystal L. Schaaf; Yao, Tian; Yang, Xiaoyuan; Wang, Zhuosen; Schull, Mitchell A.; Roman, Miguel O.; Woodcock, Curtis E.; Olofsson, Pontus; hide

    2012-01-01

    The Echidna Validation Instrument (EVI), a ground-based, near-infrared (1064 nm) scanning lidar, provides gap fraction measurements, element clumping index measurements, effective leaf area index (LAIe) and leaf area index (LAI) measurements that are statistically similar to those from hemispherical photos. In this research, a new method integrating the range dimension is presented for retrieving element clumping index using a unique series of images of gap probability (Pgap) with range from EVI. From these images, we identified connected gap components and found the approximate physical, rather than angular, size of connected gap component. We conducted trials at 30 plots within six conifer stands of varying height and stocking densities in the Sierra National Forest, CA, in August 2008. The element clumping index measurements retrieved from EVI Pgap image series for the hinge angle region are highly consistent (R2=0.866) with those of hemispherical photos. Furthermore, the information contained in connected gap component size profiles does account for the difference between our method and gap-size distribution theory based method, suggesting a new perspective to measure element clumping index with EVI Pgap image series and also a potential advantage of three dimensional Lidar data for element clumping index retrieval. Therefore further exploration is required for better characterization of clumped condition from EVI Pgap image series.

  18. Commentary: Not just genes--reclaiming a role for environmental influences on aetiology and outcome in autism. A commentary on Mandy and Lai (2016).

    PubMed

    Charman, Tony; Chakrabarti, Bhismadev

    2016-03-01

    Mandy and Lai (2015) do the field a service in 'reclaiming' the role of pre- and postnatal environmental influences on the aetiology and course of autism spectrum conditions (ASC). This follows several decades where now discredited theories about putative psychogenic and biological disease models held sway, not least in the public mind. We discuss issues that arise from their review; including the need to identify how large the environmental influences on ASC are likely to be; the specificity of these environmental influences to ASC as opposed to a broader range of neurodevelopmental conditions and outcomes; how best to study complex interactions between genetic and environmental influences; and the promise of novel insights into their mechanisms of action. The review highlights current research that aims to better our understanding of the role of environmental factors in the aetiology and course of ASC and, in the near future, may offer the potential for personalised medicine approaches to intervention based on these discoveries. © 2016 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

  19. Survey on open peer review: Attitudes and experience amongst editors, authors and reviewers

    PubMed Central

    Deppe, Arvid; Schmidt, Birgit

    2017-01-01

    Open peer review (OPR) is a cornerstone of the emergent Open Science agenda. Yet to date no large-scale survey of attitudes towards OPR amongst academic editors, authors, reviewers and publishers has been undertaken. This paper presents the findings of an online survey, conducted for the OpenAIRE2020 project during September and October 2016, that sought to bridge this information gap in order to aid the development of appropriate OPR approaches by providing evidence about attitudes towards and levels of experience with OPR. The results of this cross-disciplinary survey, which received 3,062 full responses, show the majority (60.3%) of respondents to be believe that OPR as a general concept should be mainstream scholarly practice (although attitudes to individual traits varied, and open identities peer review was not generally favoured). Respondents were also in favour of other areas of Open Science, like Open Access (88.2%) and Open Data (80.3%). Among respondents we observed high levels of experience with OPR, with three out of four (76.2%) reporting having taken part in an OPR process as author, reviewer or editor. There were also high levels of support for most of the traits of OPR, particularly open interaction, open reports and final-version commenting. Respondents were against opening reviewer identities to authors, however, with more than half believing it would make peer review worse. Overall satisfaction with the peer review system used by scholarly journals seems to strongly vary across disciplines. Taken together, these findings are very encouraging for OPR’s prospects for moving mainstream but indicate that due care must be taken to avoid a “one-size fits all” solution and to tailor such systems to differing (especially disciplinary) contexts. OPR is an evolving phenomenon and hence future studies are to be encouraged, especially to further explore differences between disciplines and monitor the evolution of attitudes. PMID:29236721

  20. An editor for pathway drawing and data visualization in the Biopathways Workbench.

    PubMed

    Byrnes, Robert W; Cotter, Dawn; Maer, Andreia; Li, Joshua; Nadeau, David; Subramaniam, Shankar

    2009-10-02

    Pathway models serve as the basis for much of systems biology. They are often built using programs designed for the purpose. Constructing new models generally requires simultaneous access to experimental data of diverse types, to databases of well-characterized biological compounds and molecular intermediates, and to reference model pathways. However, few if any software applications provide all such capabilities within a single user interface. The Pathway Editor is a program written in the Java programming language that allows de-novo pathway creation and downloading of LIPID MAPS (Lipid Metabolites and Pathways Strategy) and KEGG lipid metabolic pathways, and of measured time-dependent changes to lipid components of metabolism. Accessed through Java Web Start, the program downloads pathways from the LIPID MAPS Pathway database (Pathway) as well as from the LIPID MAPS web server http://www.lipidmaps.org. Data arises from metabolomic (lipidomic), microarray, and protein array experiments performed by the LIPID MAPS consortium of laboratories and is arranged by experiment. Facility is provided to create, connect, and annotate nodes and processes on a drawing panel with reference to database objects and time course data. Node and interaction layout as well as data display may be configured in pathway diagrams as desired. Users may extend diagrams, and may also read and write data and non-lipidomic KEGG pathways to and from files. Pathway diagrams in XML format, containing database identifiers referencing specific compounds and experiments, can be saved to a local file for subsequent use. The program is built upon a library of classes, referred to as the Biopathways Workbench, that convert between different file formats and database objects. An example of this feature is provided in the form of read/construct/write access to models in SBML (Systems Biology Markup Language) contained in the local file system. Inclusion of access to multiple experimental data types and

  1. Correcting the record of structural publications requires joint effort of the community and journal editors.

    PubMed

    Rupp, Bernhard; Wlodawer, Alexander; Minor, Wladek; Helliwell, John R; Jaskolski, Mariusz

    2016-12-01

    Seriously flawed and even fictional models of biomolecular crystal structures, although rare, still persist in the record of structural repositories and databases. The ensuing problems of database contamination and persistence of publications based on incorrect structure models must be effectively addressed. The burden cannot be simply left to the critical voices who take the effort to contribute dissenting comments that are mostly ignored. The entire structural biology community, and particularly the journal editors who exercise significant power in this respect, must engage in a constructive dialog lest structural biology lose its credibility as an evidence-based empirical science. © 2016 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.

  2. The Synthesis, Structures, and Chemical Properties of Macrocyclic Ligands Covalently Bonded into Layered Arrays

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Clearfield, Abraham

    2014-11-01

    In this part of the proposal we have concentrated on the surface functionalization of α-zirconium phosphate of composition Zr(O3POH)2•H2O. It is a layered compound that can be prepared as particles as small as 30 nm to single crystals in the range of cm. This compound is an ion exchanger with a capacity of 6.64 meq per gram. It finds use as a catalyst, proton conductor, sensors, biosensors, in kidney dialysis and drug delivery. By functionalizing the surface additional uses are contemplated as will be described. The layers consist of the metal, with 4+ charge, that is positioned slightly above andmore » below the mean layer plane and bridged by three of the four phosphate oxygens. The remaining POH groups point into the interlayer space creating double rows of POH groups but single arrays on the surface layers. The surface groups are reactive and we were able to bond silanes, isocyanates, epoxides, acrylates ` and phosphates to the surface POH groups. The layers are easily exfoliated or filled with ions by ion exchange or molecules by intercalation reactions. Highlights of our work include, in addition to direct functionalization of the surfaces, replacement of the protons on the surface with ions of different charge. This allows us to bond phosphates, biophosphates, phosphonic acids and alcohols to the surface. By variation of the ion charge of the ions that replace the surface protons, different surface structures are obtained. We have already shown that polymer fillers, catalysts and Janus particles may be prepared. The combination of surface functionalization with the ability to insert molecules and ions between the layers allow for a rich development of numerous useful other applications as well as nano-surface chemistry.« less

  3. Effectiveness of a resin-modified glass ionomer liner in reducing hypersensitivity in posterior restorations: a study from the practitioners engaged in applied research and learning network.

    PubMed

    Strober, Brad; Veitz-Keenan, Analia; Barna, Julie Ann; Matthews, Abigail G; Vena, Donald; Craig, Ronald G; Curro, Frederick A; Thompson, Van P

    2013-08-01

    The objectives of this randomized comparative effectiveness study conducted by members of the Practitioners Engaged in Applied Research and Learning (PEARL) Network were to determine whether using a resin-modified glass ionomer (RMGI) liner reduces postoperative hypersensitivity (POH) in dentin-bonded Class I and Class II resin-based composite (RBC) restorations, as well as to identify other factors (putative risk factors) associated with increased POH. PEARL Network practitioner-investigators (P-Is) (n = 28) were trained to assess sensitivity determination, enamel and dentin caries activity rankings, evaluation for sleep bruxism, and materials and techniques used. The P-Is enrolled 341 participants who had hypersensitive posterior lesions. Participants were randomly assigned to receive an RBC restoration with or without an RMGI liner before P-Is applied a one-step, self-etching bonding agent. P-Is conducted sensitivity evaluations at baseline, at one and four weeks after treatment, and at all visits according to patient-reported outcomes. P-Is collected complete data regarding 347 restorations (339 participants) at baseline, with 341 (98 percent) (333 participants) recalled at four weeks. Treatment groups were balanced across baseline characteristics and measures. RBC restorations with or without an RMGI liner had the same one-week and four-week POH outcomes, as measured clinically (by means of cold or air stimulation) and according to patient-reported outcomes. Use of an RMGI liner did not reduce clinically measured or patient-reported POH in moderate-depth Class I and Class II restorations. Cold and air clinical stimulation findings were similar between groups. Practical Implications. The time, effort and expense involved in placing an RMGI liner in these moderate-depth RBC restorations may be unnecessary, as the representative liner used did not improve hypersensitivity outcomes.

  4. "Anti-smoking data are exaggerated" versus "the data are clear and indisputable": examining letters to the editor about tobacco.

    PubMed

    Moreland-Russell, Sarah; Harris, Jenine K; Israel, Kendre; Schell, Sarah; Mohr, Anneke

    2012-01-01

    Media advocacy plays a unique role in tobacco control policy development. Letters to the editor in particular are an interesting form of media advocacy because they reflect community sentiment regarding the policy agenda and provide insight into the public debate. The authors used ethnographic context analysis to examine the techniques used by writers of 262 tobacco-related letters to the editor published in 61 newspapers across Missouri over a 2-year period when tobacco tax and smoke-free indoor air initiatives were occurring across the state. The authors found that pro-tobacco control letter writers often used didactic strategies, citing numbers and reports, to convey information and presented their training or experience as a health professional (e.g., M.D., Ph.D.) to add legitimacy to their arguments. Anti-tobacco control letter writers, in contrast, used narrative strategies to support their stance, claimed authority as a smoker or small business owner to legitimize their claims by relating to the audience, and used collectivity to capture the attention of policymakers. These results present the importance of strategic media advocacy in tobacco control. Tobacco control advocates should increase their use of narrative strategies and collectivity in order to better connect with the public and policymakers.

  5. KISS for STRAP: user extensions for a protein alignment editor.

    PubMed

    Gille, Christoph; Lorenzen, Stephan; Michalsky, Elke; Frömmel, Cornelius

    2003-12-12

    The Structural Alignment Program STRAP is a comfortable comprehensive editor and analyzing tool for protein alignments. A wide range of functions related to protein sequences and protein structures are accessible with an intuitive graphical interface. Recent features include mapping of mutations and polymorphisms onto structures and production of high quality figures for publication. Here we address the general problem of multi-purpose program packages to keep up with the rapid development of bioinformatical methods and the demand for specific program functions. STRAP was remade implementing a novel design which aims at Keeping Interfaces in STRAP Simple (KISS). KISS renders STRAP extendable to bio-scientists as well as to bio-informaticians. Scientists with basic computer skills are capable of implementing statistical methods or embedding existing bioinformatical tools in STRAP themselves. For bio-informaticians STRAP may serve as an environment for rapid prototyping and testing of complex algorithms such as automatic alignment algorithms or phylogenetic methods. Further, STRAP can be applied as an interactive web applet to present data related to a particular protein family and as a teaching tool. JAVA-1.4 or higher. http://www.charite.de/bioinf/strap/

  6. Interview with Future Medicinal Chemistry's US Senior Editor, Iwao Ojima. Interview by Issac Bruce.

    PubMed

    Ojima, Iwao

    2012-10-01

    Professor Iwao Ojima studied at the University of Tokyo (Japan) before being appointed as a Senior Research Fellow and Group Leader at the Sagami Institute of Chemical Research. He is now Director of the Institute of Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery at State University of New York (USA) and has been a visiting professor in European, North American and Asian academic institutions. Professor Ojima agreed to serve as the US Senior Editor of Future Medicinal Chemistry when it launched in 2009 and continues to provide his expertise to the journal. Professor Ojima spoke to Future Medicinal Chemistry about why medicinal chemistry is such an exciting field to work in, the state of the pharmaceutical industry, and what features and issues make this journal unique.

  7. Don't be rejected, how can we help authors, reviewers and editors?: Report of a Symposium for Editors Publishers and Others with an Interest in Scientific Publication, Held in Boston on Wednesday, 11 March 2015, during the Annual Meeting of the International Association for Dental Research.

    PubMed

    Eaton, K A; Innes, N; Balaji, S M; Pugh, C; Honkala, E; Lynch, C D

    2017-02-01

    This satellite symposium was the fifth in a series for editors, publishers, reviewers and all those with an interest in scientific publishing. It was held on Wednesday, 11 March 2015 at the IADR meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. The symposium attracted more than 210 attendees. The symposium placed an emphasis on strategies to ensure that papers are accepted by peer reviewed journals. The speaker, representing the Journal of Dental Research gave a history of peer review and explained how to access material to advise new authors. The speaker from India outlined the problems that occur when there is no culture for dental research and it is given a low priority in dental education. He outlined remedies. The speaker from SAGE publications described the help that publishers and editors can provide authors. The final speaker suggested that in developing countries it was essential to create alliances with dental researchers in developed countries and that local conferences to which external speakers were invited, stimulated research both in terms of quantity and quality. A wide ranging discussion then took place. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. LinkEHR-Ed: a multi-reference model archetype editor based on formal semantics.

    PubMed

    Maldonado, José A; Moner, David; Boscá, Diego; Fernández-Breis, Jesualdo T; Angulo, Carlos; Robles, Montserrat

    2009-08-01

    To develop a powerful archetype editing framework capable of handling multiple reference models and oriented towards the semantic description and standardization of legacy data. The main prerequisite for implementing tools providing enhanced support for archetypes is the clear specification of archetype semantics. We propose a formalization of the definition section of archetypes based on types over tree-structured data. It covers the specialization of archetypes, the relationship between reference models and archetypes and conformance of data instances to archetypes. LinkEHR-Ed, a visual archetype editor based on the former formalization with advanced processing capabilities that supports multiple reference models, the editing and semantic validation of archetypes, the specification of mappings to data sources, and the automatic generation of data transformation scripts, is developed. LinkEHR-Ed is a useful tool for building, processing and validating archetypes based on any reference model.

  9. Effet paradoxal du type d’excision sur la prise et le délai de cicatrisation des greffes expansées pour le traitement des brûlures aiguës: a propos de 1129 cas

    PubMed Central

    Guibert, M.; Chaouat, M.; Boccara, D.; Marco, O.; Lavocat, R.; Alameri, O.; Deslandes, E.; Montlahuc, C.; Mimoun, M.

    2016-01-01

    Summary La greffe de peau mince expansée est très employée dans le traitement des brûlures aiguës. Nous avons étudié l’influence de la préparation du sous-sol sur le taux de prise et le délai de cicatrisation des greffes expansées. Nous avons analysé rétrospectivement les 1 129 greffes expansées réalisées dans notre service entre 1995 et 2005 pour le traitement des brûlures aiguës. Leur taux de prise a été significativement meilleur après une préparation du sous-sol par avulsion (82%) par rapport à une préparation du sous-sol par excision tangentielle (75%). Ce taux était meilleur lorsque l’avulsion était pratiquée dans les 7 jours suivant la brûlure (83% vs 73%). Pour une prise en charge entre 7 et 21 jours, ce taux a semblé être meilleur après excision tangentielle, mais de façon non significative. La durée d’évolution jusqu’à cicatrisation était significativement raccourcie pour une préparation du sous-sol par excision tangentielle par rapport à une préparation du sous-sol par avulsion. Ces résultats montrent, paradoxalement, qu’une préparation du sous-sol par avulsion favorise la prise des greffes expansées mais rallonge leur délai de cicatrisation au contraire de l’excision tangentielle. PMID:28149235

  10. Artificial intelligence in peer review: How can evolutionary computation support journal editors?

    PubMed Central

    Fronczak, Piotr; Fronczak, Agata; Ausloos, Marcel; Nedic, Olgica

    2017-01-01

    With the volume of manuscripts submitted for publication growing every year, the deficiencies of peer review (e.g. long review times) are becoming more apparent. Editorial strategies, sets of guidelines designed to speed up the process and reduce editors’ workloads, are treated as trade secrets by publishing houses and are not shared publicly. To improve the effectiveness of their strategies, editors in small publishing groups are faced with undertaking an iterative trial-and-error approach. We show that Cartesian Genetic Programming, a nature-inspired evolutionary algorithm, can dramatically improve editorial strategies. The artificially evolved strategy reduced the duration of the peer review process by 30%, without increasing the pool of reviewers (in comparison to a typical human-developed strategy). Evolutionary computation has typically been used in technological processes or biological ecosystems. Our results demonstrate that genetic programs can improve real-world social systems that are usually much harder to understand and control than physical systems. PMID:28931033

  11. JOSPT Experiences Tremendous Growth, Change in 14 Years With Editor-in-Chief Simoneau in Charge.

    PubMed

    Nyland, John A

    2015-12-01

    As Editor-in-Chief, Dr Guy G. Simoneau and his editorial board have taken JOSPT from an acceptable US-based journal to a highly influential worldwide force behind contemporary orthopaedic and sports physical therapy research and practice. Today, the bridge Dr Simoneau constructed spans the orthopaedic and sports physical therapy globe for the betterment of clinical practice and research. His work fully supports JOSPT's latest strategic plan to provide value-added knowledge translation, develop a broader authorship and readership, increase global marketing of the JOSPT brand, and expand current relationships to new partners and stakeholders. The bridge places JOSPT on very firm footing, tying its rich history to the promise of an exciting and successful future.

  12. The 5/95 Gap on the dissemination of mental health research: The World Psychiatric Association (WPA) task force report on project with editors of low and middle income (LAMI) countries.

    PubMed

    de Jesus Mari, J; Patel, V; Kieling, C; Anders, M; Jakovljevi, M; Lam, L C; Lotaief, F; Mendlowicz, M V; Okulat, G; Sathyanarayana Rao, T S; Tamam, L; Tyrer, P; Herrman, H

    2009-02-01

    The World Psychiatric Association (WPA) Task Force and a small group previously convened by the WPA publications committee initiated three activities between 2006-2008 that aimed to respond to the need for greater support for psychiatry journals in LAMI countries. In a joint venture with participants from the Global Mental Health Movement the Task Force editors from LAMI countries in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America were contacted to identify potential journals to target for indexation (Medline and ISI). The committee analyzed the editors' applications on the following criteria: a) geographical representativeness; b) affiliation to a professional mental health society; c) regular publication of at least 4 issues per year over the past few years; d) comprehensive national and international editorial boards; e) publication of original articles, or at least abstracts, in English; f) some level of current indexation; g) evidence of a good balance between original and review articles in publications; and h) a friendly access website. The committee received 26 applications (11 from Latin America, 7 from Central Europe, 4 from Asia and 4 from Africa), and selected 8 journals, 2 from each geographical area, on the basis of the overall scores obtained for the items mentioned, to participate in an editors meeting held in Prague in September 2008. The aims of the committee are twofold: a) to concentrate support for those selected journals; and b) to assist all LAMI mental health editors in improving the quality of their journals and fulfilling the requirements for full indexation. This report summarizes the procedures conducted by the committee, the assessment of the current non-indexed journals, and offers suggestions for further action.

  13. Library Journals: How to Edit Them--Guidelines Prepared for the IFLA Round Table of Editors of Library Journals. IFLA Professional Reports No. 13.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Borchardt, Dietrich H.

    Developed as the direct result of the August 1982, International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) Seminar on Better Journals for the Library Profession held in Montreal, Canada, this report is designed to provide broad guidelines for the editors of library journals through an examination of the fundamental problems of editing journals for…

  14. [Construction of eukaryotic recombinant vector and expression in COS7 cell of LipL32-HlyX fusion gene from Leptospira serovar Lai].

    PubMed

    Huang, Bi; Bao, Lang; Zhong, Qi; Zhang, Huidong; Zhang, Ying

    2009-04-01

    This study was conducted to construct eukaryotic recombinant vector of LipL32-HlyX fusion gene from Leptospira serovar Lai and express it in mammalian cell. Both of LipL32 gene and HlyX gene were amplified from Leptospira strain O17 genomic DNA by PCR. Then with the two genes as template, LipL32-HlyX fusion gene was obtained by SOE PCR (gene splicing by overlap extension PCR). The fusion gene was then cloned into pcDNA3.1 by restriction nuclease digestion. Having been transformed into E. coli DH5alpha, the recombiant plasmid was identified by restriction nuclease digestion, PCR analysis and sequencing. The recombinant plasmid was then transfected into COS7 cell whose expression was detected by RT-PCR and Western blotting analysis. RT-PCR amplified a fragment about 2000 bp and Western blotting analysis found a specific band about 75 KD which was consistent with the expected fusion protein size. In conclusion, the successful construction of eukaryotic recombinant vector containing LipL32-HlyX fusion gene and the effective expression in mammalian have laid a foundation for the application of Leptospira DNA vaccine.

  15. Rika-Shoshi, the First Physics Experiment Textbook Published in Japanese and its Editor, Jun'ichi Udagawa

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Takahashi, Hiroshi; Akabane, Akira; Shozawa, Jun; Tamaki, Toyomi

    The aim of this study is to examine the teaching of physics experiment at elementary and secondary school levels at the time when Japanese science education commenced. In this report, we focused on the first Japanese textbook of physics experiment, Rika-Shoshi, published in 1882 and the editor of the book, Udagawa Jun'ichi. Many experiments in Rika-Shoshi can be performed using low-cost everyday materials. We compare Rika-Shoshi with the original English textbooks and describe Udagawa's physics teaching in the Gunma Normal School based on the documents in the Gunma University archives. We discuss how we can learn from physics education as taught about 130 years ago.

  16. Preliminary validation of leaf area index sensor in Huailai

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cai, Erli; Li, Xiuhong; Liu, Qiang; Dou, Baocheng; Chang, Chongyan; Niu, Hailin; Lin, Xingwen; Zhang, Jialin

    2015-12-01

    Leaf area index (LAI) is a key variable in many land surface models that involve energy and mass exchange between vegetation and the environment. In recent years, extracting vegetation structure parameters from digital photography becomes a widely used indirect method to estimate LAI for its simplicity and ease of use. A Leaf Area Index Sensor (LAIS) system was developed to continuously monitor the growth of crops in several sampling points in Huailai, China. The system applies 3G/WIFI communication technology to remotely collect crop photos in real-time. Then the crop photos are automatically processed and LAI is estimated based on the improved leaf area index of Lang and Xiang (LAILX) algorithm in LAIS. The objective of this study is to primarily verify the LAI estimated from LAIS (Lphoto) through comparing them with the destructive green LAI (Ldest). Ldest was measured across the growing season ntil maximum canopy development while plants are still green. The preliminary verification shows that Lphoto corresponds well with the Ldest (R2=0.975). In general, LAI could be accurately estimated with LAIS and its LAI shows high consistency compared with the destructive green LAI. The continuous LAI measurement obtained from LAIS could be used for the validation of remote sensing LAI products.

  17. Effects of temperature on gene expression patterns in Leptospira interrogans serovar Lai as assessed by whole-genome microarrays.

    PubMed

    Lo, Miranda; Bulach, Dieter M; Powell, David R; Haake, David A; Matsunaga, James; Paustian, Michael L; Zuerner, Richard L; Adler, Ben

    2006-10-01

    Leptospirosis is an important zoonosis of worldwide distribution. Humans become infected via exposure to pathogenic Leptospira spp. from infected animals or contaminated water or soil. The availability of genome sequences for Leptospira interrogans, serovars Lai and Copenhageni, has opened up opportunities to examine global transcription profiles using microarray technology. Temperature is a key environmental factor known to affect leptospiral protein expression. Leptospira spp. can grow in artificial media at a range of temperatures reflecting conditions found in the environment and the mammalian host. Therefore, transcriptional changes were compared between cultures grown at 20 degrees C, 30 degrees C, 37 degrees C, and 39 degrees C to represent ambient temperatures in the environment, growth under laboratory conditions, and temperatures in healthy and febrile hosts. Data from direct pairwise comparisons of the four temperatures were consolidated to examine transcriptional changes at two generalized biological conditions representing mammalian physiological temperatures (37 degrees C and 39 degrees C) versus environmental temperatures (20 degrees C and 30 degrees C). Additionally, cultures grown at 30 degrees C then shifted overnight to 37 degrees C were compared with those grown long-term at 30 degrees C and 37 degrees C to identify genes potentially expressed in the early stages of infection. Comparison of data sets from physiological versus environmental experiments with upshift experiments provided novel insights into possible transcriptional changes at different stages of infection. Changes included differential expression of chemotaxis and motility genes, signal transduction systems, and genes encoding proteins involved in alteration of the outer membrane. These findings indicate that temperature is an important factor regulating expression of proteins that facilitate invasion and establishment of disease.

  18. Evaluation of seasonal variations of remotely sensed leaf area index over five evergreen coniferous forests

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Rong; Chen, Jing M.; Liu, Zhili; Arain, Altaf

    2017-08-01

    Seasonal variations of leaf area index (LAI) have crucial controls on the interactions between the land surface and the atmosphere. Over the past decades, a number of remote sensing (RS) LAI products have been developed at both global and regional scales for various applications. These products are so far only validated using ground LAI data acquired mostly in the middle of the growing season. The accuracy of the seasonal LAI variation in these products remains unknown and there are few ground data available for this purpose. We performed regular LAI measurements over a whole year at five coniferous sites using two methods: (1) an optical method with LAI-2000 and TRAC; (2) a direct method through needle elongation monitoring and litterfall collection. We compared seasonal trajectory of LAI from remote sensing (RS LAI) with that from a direct method (direct LAI). RS LAI agrees very well with direct LAI from the onset of needle growth to the seasonal peak (R2 = 0.94, RMSE = 0.44), whereas RS LAI declines earlier and faster than direct LAI from the seasonal peak to the completion of needle fall. To investigate the possible reasons for the discrepancy, the MERIS Terrestrial Chlorophyll Index (MTCI) was compared with RS LAI. Meanwhile, phenological metrics, i.e. the start of growing season (SOS) and the end of growing season (EOS), were extracted from direct LAI, RS LAI and MTCI time series. SOS from RS LAI is later than that from direct LAI by 9.3 ± 4.0 days but earlier than that from MTCI by 2.6 ± 1.9 days. On the contrary, for EOS, RS LAI is later than MTCI by 3.3 ± 8.4 days and much earlier than direct LAI by 30.8 ± 7.2 days. Our results suggest that the seasonal trajectory of RS LAI well captures canopy structural information from the onset of needle growth to the seasonal peak, but is greatly influenced by the decrease in leaf chlorophyll content, as indicated by MTCI, from the seasonal peak to the completion of needle fall. These findings have significant

  19. Executive Editor Frank Shushok, Jr. Sits down with Peter Felten and Charles C. Schroeder to Discover What Matters Most for a Meaningful Undergraduate Experience

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shushok, Frank, Jr.

    2017-01-01

    Peter Felten is executive director of the Center for Engaged Learning and assistant provost for teaching and learning at Elon University, where he also serves as a professor of history. Charles C. Schroeder is the past president of ACPA--College Student Educators International and founding coexecutive editor of "About Campus." Felten and…

  20. Predatory journals: una amenaza emergente para autores y editores de publicaciones biomédicas.

    PubMed

    Delgado-López, Pedro David; Corrales-García, Eva María

    So-called predatory publishing is a new and rising phenomenon presenting as an intellectual fraud that jeopardises the quality of scientific contribution, compromises the activity of authors, reviewers and editors of legitimate journals, damages the image of open access publications and is a very profitable business. In this paper, we review the concept and relevance of predatory journals and the characteristics that differentiate them from legitimate publications. Neurosurgical and general neuroscience journals are not immune to this problem. Academic institutions and ethics committees have a duty to raise awareness of this phenomenon and provide information and support to authors and the whole scientific community to avoid its propagation and potential control of biomedical publishing. Copyright © 2017 Sociedad Española de Neurocirugía. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  1. The art and science of publishing: reflections from editors of surgery journals.

    PubMed

    Kibbe, Melina R; Sarr, Michael G; Livingston, Edward H; Freischlag, Julie A; Lillemoe, Keith D; McFadden, David W

    2014-01-01

    During the 8th Annual Academic Surgical Congress held in New Orleans, Louisiana, on February 5-7, 2013, the Association for Academic Surgery (AAS) Presidential Session was dedicated to the topic of publishing. A survey consisting of 37 questions on issues related to publishing was administered to the AAS membership 1 mo before the meeting. The results of the survey were then presented during the 2013 AAS Presidential Session. In addition, a panel of five editors from surgery journals relevant to the membership of the AAS was convened to discuss topics addressed in the results of the survey. These topics included: (1) how to publish in high-impact factor journals; (2) top five reasons why manuscripts get rejected; (3) the do's and don'ts of publishing (i.e., ethics of publishing); (4) how to get on an editorial board; and (5) the future of publishing. This review summarizes the contents of this AAS Presidential Session and provides information relevant for any academician, investigator, or scientist. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  2. Antihyperalgesic effects of dexketoprofen and tramadol in a model of postoperative pain in mice - effects on glial cell activation.

    PubMed

    Romero-Alejo, Elizabeth; Puig, Margarita M; Romero, Asunción

    2016-08-01

    To define likely targets (i.e. glia) and protocols (analgesic combinations) to improve postoperative pain outcomes and reduce chronic pain after surgery. Specifically, to assess the antihyperalgesic effects of the dexketoprofen : tramadol (DEX : TRM) combination, exploring the implication of glial activation. In a mouse model of postincisional pain, we evaluated mechanical nociceptive thresholds (Von Frey) for 21 days postoperatively. We assessed DEX and TRM alone and combined (1 : 1 ratio) on postoperative hyperalgesia (POH, day 1) and delayed latent pain sensitisation (substantiated by a naloxone challenge; PS, day 21). The interactions were analysed using isobolograms, and concomitant changes in spinal glial cell activation were measured. On day 1, DEX completely blocked POH, whereas TRM induced 32% inhibition. TRM, but not DEX, partially (47%) protected against PS, at 21 days. Co-administration of DEX : TRM (1 : 1 ratio) showed additivity for antihyperalgesia. Both drugs and their combination totally inhibited surgery-induced microglia activation on day 1, but had no effect on surgery-induced astrocyte activation (1 day) or re-activation after naloxone (21 days). The DEX : TRM combination could have clinical advantages: a complete prevention of POH after surgery, together with a substantial (48%) inhibition of the development of PS by TRM. Microglia, but not astrocyte activation, could play a relevant role in the development of postoperative pain hypersensitivity. © 2016 Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

  3. Americium(III) capture using phosphonic acid-functionalized silicas with different mesoporous morphologies: adsorption behavior study and mechanism investigation by EXAFS/XPS.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Wen; He, Xihong; Ye, Gang; Yi, Rong; Chen, Jing

    2014-06-17

    Efficient capture of highly toxic radionuclides with long half-lives such as Americium-241 is crucial to prevent radionuclides from diffusing into the biosphere. To reach this purpose, three different types of mesoporous silicas functionalized with phosphonic acid ligands (SBA-POH, MCM-POH, and BPMO-POH) were synthesized via a facile procedure. The structure, surface chemistry, and micromorphology of the materials were fully characterized by (31)P/(13)C/(29)Si MAS NMR, XPS, and XRD analysis. Efficient adsorption of Am(III) was realized with a fast rate to reach equilibrium (within 10 min). Influences including structural parameters and functionalization degree on the adsorption behavior were investigated. Slope analysis of the equilibrium data suggested that the coordination with Am(III) involved the exchange of three protons. Moreover, extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analysis, in combination with XPS survey, was employed for an in-depth probe into the binding mechanism by using Eu(III) as a simulant due to its similar coordination behavior and benign property. The results showed three phosphonic acid ligands were coordinated to Eu(III) in bidentate fashion, and Eu(P(O)O)3(H2O) species were formed with the Eu-O coordination number of 7. These phosphonic acid-functionalized mesoporous silicas should be promising for the treatment of Am-containing radioactive liquid waste.

  4. Antecedents to agenda setting and framing in health news: an examination of priority, angle, source, and resource usage from a national survey of U.S. health reporters and editors.

    PubMed

    Wallington, Sherrie Flynt; Blake, Kelly; Taylor-Clark, Kalahn; Viswanath, K

    2010-01-01

    The influence of news media on audience cognitions, attitudes, and behaviors in the realm of politics, race relations, science, and health has been extensively documented.Agenda setting and framing studies show that news media influence how people develop schema and place priorities on issues, with media stories serving as a major source of issue frames. Although news media are an important intermediary in the translation of scientific knowledge to different publics, little has been documented about the production of health news and factors that may predict media agenda setting and framing in health journalism. We used data from a 2005 national survey of U.S. health reporters and editors to examine predictors of source, resource, story angle, and frame usage among reporters and editors by variables such as organizational structure, individual characteristics of respondents (such as education and years working as a journalist),and perceptions of occupational autonomy. Multivariable logistic regression models revealed several differences among U.S. health reports and editors in the likelihood of using a variety of news sources, resources, priorities, and angles in reporting. Media agenda setting and framing theories suggest that practitioners familiar with media processes can work with journalists to frame messages, thereby increasing the probability of accurate and effective reporting. Results from this study may help to inform interactions between public health and medical practitioners and the press [corrected].

  5. Validation of Leaf Area Index measurements based on the Wireless Sensor Network platform

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Song, Q.; Li, X.; Liu, Q.

    2017-12-01

    The leaf area index (LAI) is one of the important parameters for estimating plant canopy function, which has significance for agricultural analysis such as crop yield estimation and disease evaluation. The quick and accurate access to acquire crop LAI is particularly vital. In the study, LAI measurement of corn crops is mainly through three kinds of methods: the leaf length and width method (LAILLW), the instruments indirect measurement method (LAII) and the leaf area index sensor method(LAIS). Among them, LAI value obtained from LAILLW can be regarded as approximate true value. LAI-2200,the current widespread LAI canopy analyzer,is used in LAII. LAIS based on wireless sensor network can realize the automatic acquisition of crop images,simplifying the data collection work,while the other two methods need person to carry out field measurements.Through the comparison of LAIS and other two methods, the validity and reliability of LAIS observation system is verified. It is found that LAI trend changes are similar in three methods, and the rate of change of LAI has an increase with time in the first two months of corn growth when LAIS costs less manpower, energy and time. LAI derived from LAIS is more accurate than LAII in the early growth stage,due to the small blade especially under the strong light. Besides, LAI processed from a false color image with near infrared information is much closer to the true value than true color picture after the corn growth period up to one and half months.

  6. GUEST EDITORS' INTRODUCTION: Guest Editors' introduction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Coulson, Geoff; de Meer, Jan B.

    1997-03-01

    . Their scheme is embedded in an experimental ATM network with the potential for guaranteed QoS. The system features QoS support mechanisms in both the network and the end systems. Of particular interest is reported experience with a dynamic QoS adaptation protocol implemented in the network and based on video scaling techniques and filtering. In summary, this special issue provides an up to date review of approaches to QoS management and their practical realization. Of course, no claim is made as to comprehensiveness, but the chosen papers do serve as a highly representative sample of current directions in QoS research. The editors are very much obliged to all authors, reviewers and publishers. Without their excellent work, and the contribution of their valuable time this special issue would not have been possible.

  7. Chemoprevention gene therapy (CGT) of pancreatic cancer using perillyl alcohol and a novel chimeric serotype cancer terminator virus.

    PubMed

    Sarkar, S; Azab, B; Quinn, B A; Shen, X; Dent, P; Klibanov, A L; Emdad, L; Das, S K; Sarkar, D; Fisher, P B

    2014-01-01

    Conditionally replication competent adenoviruses (Ads) that selectively replicate in cancer cells and simultaneously express a therapeutic cytokine, such as melanoma differentiation associated gene- 7/Interleukin-24 (mda-7/IL-24), a Cancer Terminator Virus (CTV-M7), hold potential for treating human cancers. To enhance the efficacy of the CTV-M7, we generated a chimeric Ad.5 and Ad.3 modified fiber bipartite CTV (Ad.5/3-CTV-M7) that can infect tumor cells in a Coxsackie Adenovirus receptor (CAR) independent manner, while retaining high infectivity in cancer cells containing high CAR. Although mda-7/IL-24 displays broad-spectrum anticancer properties, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells display an intrinsic resistance to mda-7/IL-24-mediated killing due to an mda-7/IL-24 mRNA translational block. However, using a chemoprevention gene therapy (CGT) approach with perillyl alcohol (POH) and a replication incompetent Ad to deliver mda-7/IL-24 (Ad.mda-7) there is enhanced conversion of mda-7/IL-24 mRNA into protein resulting in pancreatic cancer cell death in vitro and in vivo in nude mice containing human PDAC xenografts. This combination synergistically induces mda-7/IL-24-mediated cancer-specific apoptosis by inhibiting anti-apoptotic Bcl-xL and Bcl-2 protein expression and inducing an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response through induction of BiP/GRP-78, which is most evident in chimeric-modified non-replicating Ad.5/3- mda-7- and CTV-M7-infected PDAC cells. Moreover, Ad.5/3-CTV-M7 in combination with POH sensitizes therapy-resistant MIA PaCa-2 cell lines over-expressing either Bcl-2 or Bcl-xL to mda-7/IL-24-mediated apoptosis. Ad.5/3-CTV-M7 plus POH also exerts a significant antitumor 'bystander' effect in vivo suppressing both primary and distant site tumor growth, confirming therapeutic utility of Ad.5/3-CTV-M7 plus POH in PDAC treatment, where all other current treatment strategies in clinical settings show minimal efficacy.

  8. Optimal interpolation analysis of leaf area index using MODIS data

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Gu, Yingxin; Belair, Stephane; Mahfouf, Jean-Francois; Deblonde, Godelieve

    2006-01-01

    A simple data analysis technique for vegetation leaf area index (LAI) using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data is presented. The objective is to generate LAI data that is appropriate for numerical weather prediction. A series of techniques and procedures which includes data quality control, time-series data smoothing, and simple data analysis is applied. The LAI analysis is an optimal combination of the MODIS observations and derived climatology, depending on their associated errors σo and σc. The “best estimate” LAI is derived from a simple three-point smoothing technique combined with a selection of maximum LAI (after data quality control) values to ensure a higher quality. The LAI climatology is a time smoothed mean value of the “best estimate” LAI during the years of 2002–2004. The observation error is obtained by comparing the MODIS observed LAI with the “best estimate” of the LAI, and the climatological error is obtained by comparing the “best estimate” of LAI with the climatological LAI value. The LAI analysis is the result of a weighting between these two errors. Demonstration of the method described in this paper is presented for the 15-km grid of Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC)'s regional version of the numerical weather prediction model. The final LAI analyses have a relatively smooth temporal evolution, which makes them more appropriate for environmental prediction than the original MODIS LAI observation data. They are also more realistic than the LAI data currently used operationally at the MSC which is based on land-cover databases.

  9. Response to the Letter to the Editor of Crop Science from Donald R. Davis regarding our research article published in Crop Science (2011: 51:2721-2727)

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    This letter serves as a response to the Letter to the Editor submitted by Donald R. Davis regarding our research article entitled “Mineral Concentration of Broccoli Florets in Relation to Year of Cultivar Release” published in Crop Science (2011, 51:2721-2727). In our manuscript, we clearly stated ...

  10. Cost-effectiveness analysis of atypical long-acting antipsychotics for treating chronic schizophrenia in Finland.

    PubMed

    Einarson, Thomas R; Pudas, Hanna; Zilbershtein, Roman; Jensen, Rasmus; Vicente, Colin; Piwko, Charles; Hemels, Michiel E H

    2013-09-01

    In Finland, regional rates of schizophrenia exceed those in most countries, impacting the healthcare burden. This study determined the cost-effectiveness of long-acting antipsychotic (LAI) drugs paliperidone palmitate (PP-LAI), olanzapine pamoate (OLZ-LAI), and risperidone (RIS-LAI) for chronic schizophrenia. This study adapted a decision tree analysis from Norway for the Finnish National Health Service. Country-specific data were sought from the literature and public documents, guided by clinical experts. Costs of health services and products were retrieved from literature sources and current price lists. This simulation study estimated average 1-year costs for treating patients with each LAI, average remission days, rates of hospitalization and emergency room visits and quality-adjusted life-years (QALY). PP-LAI was dominant. Its estimated annual average cost was €10,380/patient and was associated with 0.817 QALY; OLZ-LAI cost €12,145 with 0.810 QALY; RIS-LAI cost €12,074 with 0.809 QALY. PP-LAI had the lowest rates of hospitalization, emergency room visits, and relapse days. This analysis was robust against most variations in input values except adherence rates. PP-LAI was dominant over OLZ-LAI and RIS-LAI in 77.8% and 85.9% of simulations, respectively. Limitations include the 1-year time horizon (as opposed to lifetime costs), omission of the costs of adverse events, and the assumption of universal accessibility. In Finland, PP-LAI dominated the other LAIs as it was associated with a lower cost and better clinical outcomes.

  11. On Paper or Hypermedia? The Effect of Procedural Information in Digital Video Format in the Learning of a Music Score Editor Program by Novice Users.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gimenez, Jesus Tejada; Saenz de Jubera, Magdalena

    This study, by means of an experimental design, examines whether the use of an electronic manual is more effective and efficient than a print manual for the training of novice users with a music score editor program. Differences in access to the two types of manuals were looked for, and information on users' perceptions regarding the materials…

  12. What Does the Thyroid Gland Do?

    MedlinePlus

    ... it helps other cells do their job. hypothyroidism (hi-poh-THY-royd-izm): when your thyroid gland ... thyroid hormone (“hypo” means ‘under’ or ‘below’). hyperthyroidism (hi-purr-THY-royd-izm): when your thyroid gland ...

  13. Dynamic Material Properties of Orthotropic Polymer and Molybdenum for Use in Next Generation Composite Armor Concept?

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-06-01

    1. Shock Compression Experimental Techniques ...............................22 a. Target...3 Figure 2. Composite plate (left) shown by Poh defeating Tantalum projectile while armor grade steel (right) failed...entire target buildup used for a shock compression experiment ..................................................................................23 Figure

  14. A prime-boost approach to HIV preventive vaccine using a recombinant canarypox virus expressing glycoprotein 160 (MN) followed by a recombinant glycoprotein 160 (MN/LAI). The AGIS Group, and l'Agence Nationale de Recherche sur le SIDA.

    PubMed

    Pialoux, G; Excler, J L; Rivière, Y; Gonzalez-Canali, G; Feuillie, V; Coulaud, P; Gluckman, J C; Matthews, T J; Meignier, B; Kieny, M P

    1995-03-01

    The safety and the immunogenicity of a recombinant canarypox live vector expressing the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) gp160 gene from the MN isolate, ALVAC-HIV (vCP125), followed by booster injections of a soluble recombinant hybrid envelope glycoprotein MN/LAI (rgp160), were evaluated in vaccinia-immune, healthy adults at low risk for acquiring HIV-1 infection. Volunteers (n = 20) received vCP125 (10(6) TCID50) at 0 and 1 month, followed randomly by rgp160 formulated in alum or in Freund's incomplete adjuvant (FIA) at 3 and 6 months. Local and systemic reactions were mild or moderate and resolved within the first 72 hr after immunization. No significant biological changes in routine tests were observed in any volunteer. Two injections of vCP125 did not elicit antibodies. Neutralizing antibodies (NA) against the HIV-1 MN isolate were detected in 65 and 90% of the subjects after the first and the second rgp 160 booster injections, respectively. Six months after the last boost, only 55% were still positive. Seven of 14 sera with the highest NA titers against MN weakly cross-neutralized the HIV-1 SF2 isolate; none had NA against the HIV-1 LAI or against a North American primary isolate. Specific lymphocyte T cell proliferation to rgp 160 was detected in 25% of the subjects after vCP125 and in all subjects after the first booster injection and 12 months after the first injection. An envelope-specific cytotoxic lymphocyte activity was found in 39% of the volunteers and characterized for some of them as CD3+, CD8+, MHC class I restricted. The adjuvant formulation did not influence significantly the immune responses.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

  15. Australian letters to the editor on tobacco: triggers, rhetoric, and claims of legitimate voice.

    PubMed

    Smith, Katherine Clegg; McLeod, Kim; Wakefield, Melanie

    2005-11-01

    News coverage of tobacco issues influences both individual behavior change and policy progression. Thus, media advocacy is increasingly recognized as important for promoting public health. Letters to the editor (LTE) are a basic form of media advocacy, serving to demonstrate community sentiment on a given issue. Such letters are yet to receive systematic analytic consideration. The authors conducted an ethnographic content analysis of LTE on tobacco issues from a sample of 11 Australian daily newspapers over a 3-year period (2001 to 2003, N=361). They argue that letters are artifacts of active engagement in a public debate and note that various stakeholders adopt similar strategies to pursue their objectives. They illustrate how identifying personal and collective identities is crucial in the assertion of legitimacy of voice in LTEs. Better understanding is needed of both the particular issues that spark public engagement, and the salient rhetoric employed by advocates of disparate positions.

  16. [Bogdan Suchodolski--initiator and editor-in-chief of the publication History of Polish Science].

    PubMed

    Kuźnicka, Barbara; Kuźnicki, Leszek

    2011-01-01

    Among numerous and distinguished author's and editorial works of Bogdan Suchodolski a particular value presents a publication in eight volumes entitled 'History of Polish Science' (including two biographical and bibliographic volumes), which was published in the years 1970-1992 on Professor's own initiative and edited by himself. This is the first synthesis of the history of science in Poland, from the beginning of the Middle Ages till the present time (to 1952). In the conception of the initiator and editor the work presents the development of scientific thought and achievements of the scholars in relation to national culture and in connexions with the trends in science in the world. 'History of Polish Science' is the work written by several dozen authors, representing different domains of the knowledge. Scientific, organizational and editorial patronate was possible by dint of History of Science and Technology Establishment of Polish Academy of Sciences (presently the Institute for the History of Science of Polish Academy of Sciences), which was managed by Bogdan Suchodolski.

  17. Paternal GNAS Mutations Lead to Severe Intrauterine Growth Retardation (IUGR) and Provide Evidence for a Role of XLαs in Fetal Development

    PubMed Central

    Richard, Nicolas; Molin, Arnaud; Coudray, Nadia; Rault-Guillaume, Pauline; Jüppner, Harald

    2013-01-01

    Context: Heterozygous GNAS inactivating mutations cause pseudohypoparathyroidism type Ia (PHP-Ia) when maternally inherited and pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism (PPHP)/progressive osseous heteroplasia (POH) when paternally inherited. Recent studies have suggested that mutations on the paternal, but not the maternal, GNAS allele could be associated with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) and thus small size for gestational age. Objectives: The aim of the study was to confirm and expand these findings in a large number of patients presenting with either PHP-Ia or PPHP/POH. Patients and Methods: We collected birth parameters (ie, gestational age, weight, length, and head circumference) of patients with either PHP-Ia (n = 29) or PPHP/POH (n = 26) with verified GNAS mutations. The parental allele carrying the mutation was assessed by investigating the parents or, when a de novo mutation was identified, through informative intragenic polymorphisms. Results: Heterozygous GNAS mutations on either parental allele were associated with IUGR. However, when these mutations are located on the paternal GNAS allele, IUGR was considerably more pronounced than with mutations on the maternal allele. Moreover, birth weights were lower with paternal GNAS mutations affecting exons 2–13 than with exon 1/intron 1 mutations. Conclusions: These data indicate that a paternally derived GNAS transcript, possibly XLαs, is required for normal fetal growth and development and that this transcript affects placental functions. Thus, similar to other imprinted genes, GNAS controls growth and/or fetal development. PMID:23884777

  18. Monitoring and mapping leaf area index of rubber and oil palm in small watershed area

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rusli, N.; Majid, M. R.

    2014-02-01

    Existing conventional methods to determine LAI are tedious and time consuming for implementation in small or large areas. Thus, raster LAI data which are available free were downloaded for 4697.60 km2 of Sungai Muar watershed area in Johor. The aim of this study is to monitor and map LAI changes of rubber and oil palm throughout the years from 2002 to 2008. Raster datasets of LAI value were obtained from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) website of available years from 2002 to year 2008. These data, were mosaicked and subset utilizing ERDAS Imagine 9.2. Next, the LAI raster dataset was multiplied by a scale factor of 0.1 to derive the final LAI value. Afterwards, to determine LAI values of rubber and oil palms, the boundaries of each crop from land cover data of the years 2002, 2006 and 2008 were exploited to overlay with LAI raster dataset. A total of 5000 sample points were generated utilizing the Hawths Tool (extension in ARcGIS 9.2) within these boundaries area and utilized for extracting LAI value of oil palm and rubber. In integration, a wide range of literature review was conducted as a guideline to derive LAI value of oil palm and rubber which range from 0 to 6. The results show, an overall mean LAI value from year 2002 to 2008 as decremented from 4.12 to 2.5 due to land cover transition within these years. In 2002, the mean LAI value of rubber and oil palm is 2.65 and 2.53 respectively. Meanwhile in 2006, the mean LAI value for rubber and oil palm is 2.54 and 2.82 respectively. In 2008, the mean LAI value for both crops is 0.85 for rubber and 1.04 for oil palm. In conclusion, apart from the original function of LAI which is related to the growth and metabolism of vegetation, the changes of LAI values from year 2002 to 2008 also capable to explain the process of land cover changes in a watershed area.

  19. Inconsistencies of interannual variability and trends in long-term satellite leaf area index products.

    PubMed

    Jiang, Chongya; Ryu, Youngryel; Fang, Hongliang; Myneni, Ranga; Claverie, Martin; Zhu, Zaichun

    2017-10-01

    Understanding the long-term performance of global satellite leaf area index (LAI) products is important for global change research. However, few effort has been devoted to evaluating the long-term time-series consistencies of LAI products. This study compared four long-term LAI products (GLASS, GLOBMAP, LAI3g, and TCDR) in terms of trends, interannual variabilities, and uncertainty variations from 1982 through 2011. This study also used four ancillary LAI products (GEOV1, MERIS, MODIS C5, and MODIS C6) from 2003 through 2011 to help clarify the performances of the four long-term LAI products. In general, there were marked discrepancies between the four long-term LAI products. During the pre-MODIS period (1982-1999), both linear trends and interannual variabilities of global mean LAI followed the order GLASS>LAI3g>TCDR>GLOBMAP. The GLASS linear trend and interannual variability were almost 4.5 times those of GLOBMAP. During the overlap period (2003-2011), GLASS and GLOBMAP exhibited a decreasing trend, TCDR no trend, and LAI3g an increasing trend. GEOV1, MERIS, and MODIS C6 also exhibited an increasing trend, but to a much smaller extent than that from LAI3g. During both periods, the R 2 of detrended anomalies between the four long-term LAI products was smaller than 0.4 for most regions. Interannual variabilities of the four long-term LAI products were considerably different over the two periods, and the differences followed the order GLASS>LAI3g>TCDR>GLOBMAP. Uncertainty variations quantified by a collocation error model followed the same order. Our results indicate that the four long-term LAI products were neither intraconsistent over time nor interconsistent with each other. These inconsistencies may be due to NOAA satellite orbit changes and MODIS sensor degradation. Caution should be used in the interpretation of global changes derived from the four long-term LAI products. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  20. Light Diffusion in the Tropical Dry Forest of Costa Rica

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Calvo-Rodriguez, S.; Sanchez-Azofeifa, G. A.

    2016-06-01

    Leaf Area Index (LAI) has been defined as the total leaf area (one-sided) in relation to the ground. LAI has an impact on tree growth and recruitment through the interception of light, which in turn affects primary productivity. Even though many instruments exist for estimating LAI from ground, they are often laborious and costly to run continuously. Measurements of LAI from the field using traditional sensors (e.g., LAI-2000) require multiple visits to the field under very specific sky conditions, making them unsuitable to operate in inaccessible areas and forests with dense vegetation, as well as areas where persistent sunny conditions are the norm like tropical dry forests. With this context, we proposed a methodology to characterize light diffusion based on NDVI and LAI measurements taken from the field in two successional stages in the tropical dry forest of Santa Rosa National Park in Costa Rica. We estimate a "K" coefficient to characterize light diffusion by the canopy, based on field NDVI measurements derived from optical phenology instruments and MODIS NDVI. From the coefficients determined, we estimated LAI values and compared them with ground measurements of LAI. In both successional stages ground measurements of LAI had no significant difference to the tower-derived LAI and the estimated LAI from MODIS NDVI.

  1. 1. Post card view of the bridge, c. 1910. Post ...

    Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

    1. Post card view of the bridge, c. 1910. Post card courtesy Carol Poh Miller. Photocopy by Berni Rich, Score Photographers Cleveland, OH - B & O Railroad Bridge Number 464, Spanning Old Ship Canal & Cuyahoga River, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, OH

  2. Monitoring boreal forest leaf area index across a Siberian burn chronosequence: a MODIS validation study

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Cheng, X.; Vierling, Lee; Deering, D.; Conley, A.

    2005-01-01

    Landscapes containing differing amounts of ecological disturbance provide an excellent opportunity to validate and better understand the emerging Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) vegetation products. Four sites, including 1‐year post‐fire coniferous, 13‐year post‐fire deciduous, 24‐year post‐fire deciduous, and >100 year old post‐fire coniferous forests, were selected to serve as a post‐fire chronosequence in the central Siberian region of Krasnoyarsk (57.3°N, 91.6°E) with which to study the MODIS leaf area index (LAI) and vegetation index (VI) products. The collection 4 MODIS LAI product correctly represented the summer site phenologies, but significantly underestimated the LAI value of the >100 year old coniferous forest during the November to April time period. Landsat 7‐derived enhanced vegetation index (EVI) performed better than normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) to separate the deciduous and conifer forests, and both indices contained significant correlation with field‐derived LAI values at coniferous forest sites (r 2 = 0.61 and r 2 = 0.69, respectively). The reduced simple ratio (RSR) markedly improved LAI prediction from satellite measurements (r 2 = 0.89) relative to NDVI and EVI. LAI estimates derived from ETM+ images were scaled up to evaluate the 1 km resolution MODIS LAI product; from this analysis MODIS LAI overestimated values in the low LAI deciduous forests (where LAI<5) and underestimated values in the high LAI conifer forests (where LAI>6). Our results indicate that further research on the MODIS LAI product is warranted to better understand and improve remote LAI quantification in disturbed forest landscapes over the course of the year.

  3. Improving winter leaf area index estimation in coniferous forests and its significance in estimating the land surface albedo

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Rong; Chen, Jing M.; Pavlic, Goran; Arain, Altaf

    2016-09-01

    Winter leaf area index (LAI) of evergreen coniferous forests exerts strong control on the interception of snow, snowmelt and energy balance. Simulation of winter LAI and associated winter processes in land surface models is challenging. Retrieving winter LAI from remote sensing data is difficult due to cloud contamination, poor illumination, lower solar elevation and higher radiation reflection by snow background. Underestimated winter LAI in evergreen coniferous forests is one of the major issues limiting the application of current remote sensing LAI products. It has not been fully addressed in past studies in the literature. In this study, we used needle lifespan to correct winter LAI in a remote sensing product developed by the University of Toronto. For the validation purpose, the corrected winter LAI was then used to calculate land surface albedo at five FLUXNET coniferous forests in Canada. The RMSE and bias values for estimated albedo were 0.05 and 0.011, respectively, for all sites. The albedo map over coniferous forests across Canada produced with corrected winter LAI showed much better agreement with the GLASS (Global LAnd Surface Satellites) albedo product than the one produced with uncorrected winter LAI. The results revealed that the corrected winter LAI yielded much greater accuracy in simulating land surface albedo, making the new LAI product an improvement over the original one. Our study will help to increase the usability of remote sensing LAI products in land surface energy budget modeling.

  4. Cost Effectiveness of Paliperidone Long-Acting Injectable Versus Other Antipsychotics for the Maintenance Treatment of Schizophrenia in France.

    PubMed

    Druais, Sylvain; Doutriaux, Agathe; Cognet, Magali; Godet, Annabelle; Lançon, Christophe; Levy, Pierre; Samalin, Ludovic; Guillon, Pascal

    2016-04-01

    French clinical recommendations suggest prescribing long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics to patients with a maintenance treatment indication in schizophrenia. Despite this, and due to their relatively high acquisition and administration costs, LAIs are still underused in clinical practice in France, thus highlighting the need for pharmacoeconomic evaluations. Our objective was to estimate the cost effectiveness of paliperidone LAI (or paliperidone palmitate), a once-monthly second-generation LAI antipsychotic, compared with the most common antipsychotic medications for the maintenance treatment of schizophrenia in France. A Markov model was developed to simulate the progression of a cohort of schizophrenic patients through four health states (stable treated, stable non-treated, relapse and death) and to consider up to three lines of treatment to account for changes in treatment management. Paliperidone LAI was compared with risperidone LAI, aripiprazole LAI, olanzapine LAI, haloperidol LAI (or haloperidol decanoate) and oral olanzapine. Costs, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and number of relapses were assessed over 5 years based on 3-month cycles with a discount rate of 4% and from a French health insurance perspective. Patients were considered to be stabilised after a schizophrenic episode and would enter the model at an initiation phase, followed by a prevention of relapse phase if successful. Data (e.g. relapse or discontinuation rates) for the initiation phase came from randomised clinical trials, whereas relapse rates in the prevention phase were derived from hospitalisation risks based on real-life French data to capture adherence effects. Safety and utility data were derived from international publications. Additionally, costs were retrieved from French health insurance databases and publications. Finally, expert opinion was used for validation purposes or in case of gaps in data. The robustness of results was assessed through deterministic and

  5. Allometric method to estimate leaf area index for row crops

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Leaf area index (LAI) is critical for predicting plant metabolism, biomass production, evapotranspiration, and greenhouse gas sequestration, but direct LAI measurements are difficult and labor intensive. Several methods are available to measure LAI indirectly or calculate LAI using allometric method...

  6. Retrieval of Winter Wheat Leaf Area Index from Chinese GF-1 Satellite Data Using the PROSAIL Model.

    PubMed

    Li, He; Liu, Gaohuan; Liu, Qingsheng; Chen, Zhongxin; Huang, Chong

    2018-04-06

    Leaf area index (LAI) is one of the key biophysical parameters in crop structure. The accurate quantitative estimation of crop LAI is essential to verify crop growth and health. The PROSAIL radiative transfer model (RTM) is one of the most established methods for estimating crop LAI. In this study, a look-up table (LUT) based on the PROSAIL RTM was first used to estimate winter wheat LAI from GF-1 data, which accounted for some available prior knowledge relating to the distribution of winter wheat characteristics. Next, the effects of 15 LAI-LUT strategies with reflectance bands and 10 LAI-LUT strategies with vegetation indexes on the accuracy of the winter wheat LAI retrieval with different phenological stages were evaluated against in situ LAI measurements. The results showed that the LUT strategies of LAI-GNDVI were optimal and had the highest accuracy with a root mean squared error (RMSE) value of 0.34, and a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.61 during the elongation stages, and the LUT strategies of LAI-Green were optimal with a RMSE of 0.74, and R² of 0.20 during the grain-filling stages. The results demonstrated that the PROSAIL RTM had great potential in winter wheat LAI inversion with GF-1 satellite data and the performance could be improved by selecting the appropriate LUT inversion strategies in different growth periods.

  7. Concept relationship editor: a visual interface to support the assertion of synonymy relationships between taxonomic classifications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Craig, Paul; Kennedy, Jessie

    2008-01-01

    An increasingly common approach being taken by taxonomists to define the relationships between taxa in alternative hierarchical classifications is to use a set-based notation which states relationship between two taxa from alternative classifications. Textual recording of these relationships is cumbersome and difficult for taxonomists to manage. While text based GUI tools are beginning to appear which ease the process, these have several limitations. Interactive visual tools offer greater potential to allow taxonomists to explore the taxa in these hierarchies and specify such relationships. This paper describes the Concept Relationship Editor, an interactive visualisation tool designed to support the assertion of relationships between taxonomic classifications. The tool operates using an interactive space-filling adjacency layout which allows users to expand multiple lists of taxa with common parents so they can explore and assert relationships between two classifications.

  8. Leaf Area Index Estimation Using Chinese GF-1 Wide Field View Data in an Agriculture Region.

    PubMed

    Wei, Xiangqin; Gu, Xingfa; Meng, Qingyan; Yu, Tao; Zhou, Xiang; Wei, Zheng; Jia, Kun; Wang, Chunmei

    2017-07-08

    Leaf area index (LAI) is an important vegetation parameter that characterizes leaf density and canopy structure, and plays an important role in global change study, land surface process simulation and agriculture monitoring. The wide field view (WFV) sensor on board the Chinese GF-1 satellite can acquire multi-spectral data with decametric spatial resolution, high temporal resolution and wide coverage, which are valuable data sources for dynamic monitoring of LAI. Therefore, an automatic LAI estimation algorithm for GF-1 WFV data was developed based on the radiative transfer model and LAI estimation accuracy of the developed algorithm was assessed in an agriculture region with maize as the dominated crop type. The radiative transfer model was firstly used to simulate the physical relationship between canopy reflectance and LAI under different soil and vegetation conditions, and then the training sample dataset was formed. Then, neural networks (NNs) were used to develop the LAI estimation algorithm using the training sample dataset. Green, red and near-infrared band reflectances of GF-1 WFV data were used as the input variables of the NNs, as well as the corresponding LAI was the output variable. The validation results using field LAI measurements in the agriculture region indicated that the LAI estimation algorithm could achieve satisfactory results (such as R² = 0.818, RMSE = 0.50). In addition, the developed LAI estimation algorithm had potential to operationally generate LAI datasets using GF-1 WFV land surface reflectance data, which could provide high spatial and temporal resolution LAI data for agriculture, ecosystem and environmental management researches.

  9. On the Performance of Alternate Conceptual Ecohydrological Models for Streamflow Prediction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Naseem, Bushra; Ajami, Hoori; Cordery, Ian; Sharma, Ashish

    2016-04-01

    A merging of a lumped conceptual hydrological model with two conceptual dynamic vegetation models is presented to assess the performance of these models for simultaneous simulations of streamflow and leaf area index (LAI). Two conceptual dynamic vegetation models with differing representation of ecological processes are merged with a lumped conceptual hydrological model (HYMOD) to predict catchment scale streamflow and LAI. The merged RR-LAI-I model computes relative leaf biomass based on transpiration rates while the RR-LAI-II model computes above ground green and dead biomass based on net primary productivity and water use efficiency in response to soil moisture dynamics. To assess the performance of these models, daily discharge and 8-day MODIS LAI product for 27 catchments of 90 - 1600km2 in size located in the Murray - Darling Basin in Australia are used. Our results illustrate that when single-objective optimisation was focussed on maximizing the objective function for streamflow or LAI, the other un-calibrated predicted outcome (LAI if streamflow is the focus) was consistently compromised. Thus, single-objective optimization cannot take into account the essence of all processes in the conceptual ecohydrological models. However, multi-objective optimisation showed great strength for streamflow and LAI predictions. Both response outputs were better simulated by RR-LAI-II than RR-LAI-I due to better representation of physical processes such as net primary productivity (NPP) in RR-LAI-II. Our results highlight that simultaneous calibration of streamflow and LAI using a multi-objective algorithm proves to be an attractive tool for improved streamflow predictions.

  10. Initiating/maintaining long-acting injectable antipsychotics in schizophrenia/schizoaffective or bipolar disorder - expert consensus survey part 2.

    PubMed

    Sajatovic, Martha; Ross, Ruth; Legacy, Susan N; Byerly, Matthew; Kane, John M; DiBiasi, Faith; Fitzgerald, Heather; Correll, Christoph U

    2018-01-01

    The aim of this study was to provide recommendations on initiating and maintaining long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIs) in individuals with schizophrenia/schizoaffective or bipolar disorder. A 50-question survey comprising 916 response options was completed by 34 expert researchers and high prescribers with extensive LAI experience, rating relative appropriateness/importance on a 9-point scale. Consensus was determined using chi-square test of score distributions. Results of 21 questions comprising 339 response options regarding LAI initiation, maintenance treatment, adequate trial definition, identifying treatment nonresponse, and switching are reported. Experts agreed that the most important LAI selection factor was patient response/tolerability to previous antipsychotics. An adequate therapeutic LAI trial was defined as the time to steady state ± 1-2 injection cycles. Experts suggested that oral efficacy and tolerability should be established before switching to an LAI, without consensus on the required time, and that the time for oral supplementation and next injection interval should be determined by the time to attainment of therapeutic LAI levels. Most experts agreed that ≥1 adequate LAI trial is needed to identify the lack of efficacy. There was little agreement about strategies for switching between LAIs. Expert guidance may aid clinicians in their decisions regarding initiating/maintaining LAIs in individuals with schizophrenia/schizoaffective or bipolar disorder.

  11. The CROWN initiative: journal editors invite researchers to develop core outcomes in women’s health

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Clinical trials, systematic reviews and guidelines compare beneficial and non-beneficial outcomes following interventions. Often, however, various studies on a particular topic do not address the same outcomes, making it difficult to draw clinically useful conclusions when a group of studies is looked at as a whole. This problem was recently thrown into sharp focus by a systematic review of interventions for preterm birth prevention, which found that among 103 randomised trials, no fewer than 72 different outcomes were reported. There is a growing recognition among clinical researchers that this variability undermines consistent synthesis of the evidence, and that what is needed is an agreed standardised collection of outcomes - a "core outcomes set" - for all trials in a specific clinical area. Recognising that the current inconsistency is a serious hindrance to progress in our specialty, the editors of over 50 journals related to women's health have come together to support The CROWN (CoRe Outcomes in WomeN's health) Initiative. PMID:25048583

  12. The CROWN initiative: journal editors invite researchers to develop core outcomes in women’s health

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Clinical trials, systematic reviews and guidelines compare beneficial and non-beneficial outcomes following interventions. Often, however, various studies on a particular topic do not address the same outcomes, making it difficult to draw clinically useful conclusions when a group of studies is looked at as a whole. This problem was recently thrown into sharp focus by a systematic review of interventions for preterm birth prevention, which found that among 103 randomised trials, no fewer than 72 different outcomes were reported. There is a growing recognition among clinical researchers that this variability undermines consistent synthesis of the evidence, and that what is needed is an agreed standardised collection of outcomes - a “core outcomes set” - for all trials in a specific clinical area. Recognising that the current inconsistency is a serious hindrance to progress in our specialty, the editors of over 50 journals related to women’s health have come together to support The CROWN (CoRe Outcomes in WomeN’s health) Initiative. PMID:24957208

  13. The CROWN Initiative: journal editors invite researchers to develop core outcomes in women’s health

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Clinical trials, systematic reviews and guidelines compare beneficial and non-beneficial outcomes following interventions. Often, however, various studies on a particular topic do not address the same outcomes, making it difficult to draw clinically useful conclusions when a group of studies is looked at as a whole. This problem was recently thrown into sharp focus by a systematic review of interventions for preterm birth prevention, which found that among 103 randomised trials, no fewer than 72 different outcomes were reported. There is a growing recognition among clinical researchers that this variability undermines consistent synthesis of the evidence, and that what is needed is an agreed standardised collection of outcomes - a "core outcomes set" - for all trials in a specific clinical area. Recognising that the current inconsistency is a serious hindrance to progress in our specialty, the editors of over 50 journals related to women's health have come together to support The CROWN (CoRe Outcomes in WomeN's health) Initiative. PMID:25050130

  14. Guest editors' introduction to the special section on information technology and evidence implementation.

    PubMed

    Abernethy, Amy P; Hesse, Bradford W

    2011-03-01

    Healthcare is experiencing a transformation-perhaps as significant as the publication of the first randomized controlled trial-in the ways in which basic discovery is translated into effective practice. The change is being precipitated by efforts to undergird the healthcare industry with the same transformational capacities from information technology as is afforded to other sectors in the economy. Although the transformation has been slow in materializing, change is expected to accelerate under the stimulating influence of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. As the changes ripple throughout the healthcare sector, two aspects of medical care in the twenty-first century are expected to rise in importance: data and behavior. Each of the articles within this inaugural issue of Translational Behavioral Medicine has been selected to illustrate treatment of these two assets in one way or another. The editors hope this first issue will serve as a vanguard illustration for how behavioral scientists can be included as integral members of the design team in creating a new platform for evidence implementation in the USA and abroad.

  15. Meet your Aircraft Quiz

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1995-01-01

    This quiz is designed to help a pilot meet his or her aircraft. Although no attempt is made to cover in depth all of the information contained in the typical Pilot's Operating Handbook (POH), Owner's Manual (OM), or Aircraft Flight Manual (AFM), the ...

  16. Spatial heterogeneity of leaf area index across scales from simulation and remote sensing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reichenau, Tim G.; Korres, Wolfgang; Montzka, Carsten; Schneider, Karl

    2016-04-01

    Leaf area index (LAI, single sided leaf area per ground area) influences mass and energy exchange of vegetated surfaces. Therefore LAI is an input variable for many land surface schemes of coupled large scale models, which do not simulate LAI. Since these models typically run on rather coarse resolution grids, LAI is often inferred from coarse resolution remote sensing. However, especially in agriculturally used areas, a grid cell of these products often covers more than a single land-use. In that case, the given LAI does not apply to any single land-use. Therefore, the overall spatial heterogeneity in these datasets differs from that on resolutions high enough to distinguish areas with differing land-use. Detailed process-based plant growth models simulate LAI for separate plant functional types or specific species. However, limited availability of observations causes reduced spatial heterogeneity of model input data (soil, weather, land-use). Since LAI is strongly heterogeneous in space and time and since processes depend on LAI in a nonlinear way, a correct representation of LAI spatial heterogeneity is also desirable on coarse resolutions. The current study assesses this issue by comparing the spatial heterogeneity of LAI from remote sensing (RapidEye) and process-based simulations (DANUBIA simulation system) across scales. Spatial heterogeneity is assessed by analyzing LAI frequency distributions (spatial variability) and semivariograms (spatial structure). Test case is the arable land in the fertile loess plain of the Rur catchment near the Germany-Netherlands border.

  17. Retrieval of Winter Wheat Leaf Area Index from Chinese GF-1 Satellite Data Using the PROSAIL Model

    PubMed Central

    Li, He; Liu, Gaohuan; Liu, Qingsheng; Chen, Zhongxin; Huang, Chong

    2018-01-01

    Leaf area index (LAI) is one of the key biophysical parameters in crop structure. The accurate quantitative estimation of crop LAI is essential to verify crop growth and health. The PROSAIL radiative transfer model (RTM) is one of the most established methods for estimating crop LAI. In this study, a look-up table (LUT) based on the PROSAIL RTM was first used to estimate winter wheat LAI from GF-1 data, which accounted for some available prior knowledge relating to the distribution of winter wheat characteristics. Next, the effects of 15 LAI-LUT strategies with reflectance bands and 10 LAI-LUT strategies with vegetation indexes on the accuracy of the winter wheat LAI retrieval with different phenological stages were evaluated against in situ LAI measurements. The results showed that the LUT strategies of LAI-GNDVI were optimal and had the highest accuracy with a root mean squared error (RMSE) value of 0.34, and a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.61 during the elongation stages, and the LUT strategies of LAI-Green were optimal with a RMSE of 0.74, and R2 of 0.20 during the grain-filling stages. The results demonstrated that the PROSAIL RTM had great potential in winter wheat LAI inversion with GF-1 satellite data and the performance could be improved by selecting the appropriate LUT inversion strategies in different growth periods. PMID:29642395

  18. EDITORIAL: Letter from the Editor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hauptmann, Peter

    2009-01-01

    Marella de Angelis and her colleagues on precision gravimetry using atomic sensors and from Dr Peter Becker on determination of the Avogadro constant via enriched silicon-28. I recommend setting up a free e-mail alert so that you can read them as soon as they are published! As many of you are already aware, our impact factor (a measure of the average number of times recent papers are referred to by others) has risen again to 1.297. This is often taken as an indication of the quality and relevance of recently published research, and although as readers we develop our own instinct for journals of high quality, it is gratifying as an Editor to see the data from an independent organization (Thomson ISI) agreeing with my own assessment. Of course the publication of high quality articles in the journal is dependent both on you the authors who trust us with the publication of your best work and on our referees and Editorial Board Members who we depend on to maintain the high standards you have grown to expect. I must also thank our referees for their rapid response when asked to review papers for Measurement Science and Technology. On average, authors receive a decision on their article in 45 days. Therefore I would like to end this message by saying thank you again to all those who have contributed to our success in the past year, and wish you all the best for a successful 2009!

  19. Assimilation of Remotely Sensed Leaf Area Index into the Community Land Model with Explicit Carbon and Nitrogen Components using Data Assimilation Research Testbed

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ling, X.; Fu, C.; Yang, Z. L.; Guo, W.

    2017-12-01

    Information of the spatial and temporal patterns of leaf area index (LAI) is crucial to understand the exchanges of momentum, carbon, energy, and water between the terrestrial ecosystem and the atmosphere, while both in-situ observation and model simulation usually show distinct deficiency in terms of LAI coverage and value. Land data assimilation, combined with observation and simulation together, is a promising way to provide variable estimation. The Data Assimilation Research Testbed (DART) developed and maintained by the National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) provides a powerful tool to facilitate the combination of assimilation algorithms, models, and real (as well as synthetic) observations to better understanding of all three. Here we systematically investigated the effects of data assimilation on improving LAI simulation based on NCAR Community Land Model with the prognostic carbon-nitrogen option (CLM4CN) linked with DART using the deterministic Ensemble Adjustment Kalman Filter (EAKF). Random 40-member atmospheric forcing was used to drive the CLM4CN with or without LAI assimilation. The Global Land Surface Satellite LAI data (GLASS LAI) LAI is assimilated into the CLM4CN at a frequency of 8 days, and LAI (and leaf carbon / nitrogen) are adjusted at each time step. The results show that assimilating remotely sensed LAI into the CLM4CN is an effective method for improving model performance. In detail, the CLM4-CN simulated LAI systematically overestimates global LAI, especially in low latitude with the largest bias of 5 m2/m2. While if updating both LAI and leaf carbon and leaf nitrogen simultaneously during assimilation, the analyzed LAI can be corrected, especially in low latitude regions with the bias controlled around ±1 m2/m2. Analyzed LAI could also represent the seasonal variation except for the Southern Temperate (23°S-90°S). The obviously improved regions located in the center of Africa, Amazon, the South of Eurasia, the northeast of

  20. Influence of Leaf Area Index Prescriptions on Simulations of Heat, Moisture, and Carbon Fluxes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kala, Jatin; Decker, Mark; Exbrayat, Jean-Francois; Pitman, Andy J.; Carouge, Claire; Evans, Jason P.; Abramowitz, Gab; Mocko, David

    2013-01-01

    Leaf-area index (LAI), the total one-sided surface area of leaf per ground surface area, is a key component of land surface models. We investigate the influence of differing, plausible LAI prescriptions on heat, moisture, and carbon fluxes simulated by the Community Atmosphere Biosphere Land Exchange (CABLEv1.4b) model over the Australian continent. A 15-member ensemble monthly LAI data-set is generated using the MODIS LAI product and gridded observations of temperature and precipitation. Offline simulations lasting 29 years (1980-2008) are carried out at 25 km resolution with the composite monthly means from the MODIS LAI product (control simulation) and compared with simulations using each of the 15-member ensemble monthly-varying LAI data-sets generated. The imposed changes in LAI did not strongly influence the sensible and latent fluxes but the carbon fluxes were more strongly affected. Croplands showed the largest sensitivity in gross primary production with differences ranging from -90 to 60 %. PFTs with high absolute LAI and low inter-annual variability, such as evergreen broadleaf trees, showed the least response to the different LAI prescriptions, whilst those with lower absolute LAI and higher inter-annual variability, such as croplands, were more sensitive. We show that reliance on a single LAI prescription may not accurately reflect the uncertainty in the simulation of the terrestrial carbon fluxes, especially for PFTs with high inter-annual variability. Our study highlights that the accurate representation of LAI in land surface models is key to the simulation of the terrestrial carbon cycle. Hence this will become critical in quantifying the uncertainty in future changes in primary production.

  1. Quantifying seasonal variation of leaf area index using near-infrared digital camera in a rice paddy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hwang, Y.; Ryu, Y.; Kim, J.

    2017-12-01

    Digital camera has been widely used to quantify leaf area index (LAI). Numerous simple and automatic methods have been proposed to improve the digital camera based LAI estimates. However, most studies in rice paddy relied on arbitrary thresholds or complex radiative transfer models to make binary images. Moreover, only a few study reported continuous, automatic observation of LAI over the season in rice paddy. The objective of this study is to quantify seasonal variations of LAI using raw near-infrared (NIR) images coupled with a histogram shape-based algorithm in a rice paddy. As vegetation highly reflects the NIR light, we installed NIR digital camera 1.8 m above the ground surface and acquired unsaturated raw format images at one-hour intervals between 15 to 80 º solar zenith angles over the entire growing season in 2016 (from May to September). We applied a sub-pixel classification combined with light scattering correction method. Finally, to confirm the accuracy of the quantified LAI, we also conducted direct (destructive sampling) and indirect (LAI-2200) manual observations of LAI once per ten days on average. Preliminary results show that NIR derived LAI agreed well with in-situ observations but divergence tended to appear once rice canopy is fully developed. The continuous monitoring of LAI in rice paddy will help to understand carbon and water fluxes better and evaluate satellite based LAI products.

  2. New Editor-in-Chief for Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics New Editor-in-Chief for Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    2011-04-01

    The Institute of Physics is delighted to announce that the new Editor-in-Chief for Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics will be Professor Giorgio Margaritondo of École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland. Giorgio will, with the help of his world-class Editorial Board, maintain standards of scientific rigour whilst ensuring that research published is of the highest quality. 'I would like to praise, in particular, the leadership of my immediate predecessor and good friend, Pallab Battacharya, the pilot of the years of major qualitative growth.' said Professor Margaritondo. 'Being Pallab's successor makes my new responsibility even more challenging!' Professor Margaritondo received the Laurea Summa cum Laude from the University of Rome in 1969. He has been a full professor of Applied Physics at the EPFL since 1990. In 2001, he became Dean of the EPFL Faculty of Basic Sciences. In 2004, he was nominated Provost and he served until 2010, when he became Dean of Continuing Education. He previously worked at the Italian National Research Council, at Bell Laboratories and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research activity concerns the physics of semiconductors and superconductors (electronic states, surfaces and interfaces) and of biological systems; his main experimental techniques are electron spectroscopy and spectromicroscopy, x-ray imaging and scanning near-field microscopy, including experiments with synchrotron light and with free electron lasers. Author of more than 650 scientific publications and 9 books, he was also coordinator in 1995-98 of the scientific division of the Elettra synchrotron in Trieste. In 1997-2003 he was coordinator of the European Commission Round Table on synchrotron radiation. He is the president of the Council of the European Commission Integrated Initiative on Synchrotron and Free Electron Laser Science (IA-SFS and then ELISA), the largest network in the world in this domain. He is Fellow of the American Physical

  3. Evaluation and Intercomparison of MODIS and GEOV1 Global Leaf Area Index Products over Four Sites in North China

    PubMed Central

    Li, Zhenwang; Tang, Huan; Zhang, Baohui; Yang, Guixia; Xin, Xiaoping

    2015-01-01

    This study investigated the performances of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and GEOLAND2 Version 1 (GEOV1) Leaf Area Index (LAI) products using ground measurements and LAI reference maps over four sites in North China for 2011–2013. The Terra + Aqua MODIS and Terra MODIS LAI retrieved by the main algorithm and GEOV1 LAI within the valid range were evaluated and intercompared using LAI reference maps to assess their uncertainty and seasonal variability The results showed that GEOV1 LAI is the most similar product with the LAI reference maps (R2 = 0.78 and RMSE = 0.59). The MODIS products performed well for biomes with low LAI values, but considerable uncertainty arose when the LAI was larger than 3. Terra + Aqua MODIS (R2 = 0.72 and RMSE = 0.68) was slightly more accurate than Terra MODIS (R2 = 0.57 and RMSE = 0.90) for producing slightly more successful observations. Both MODIS and GEOV1 products effectively followed the seasonal trajectory of the reference maps, and GEOV1 exhibited a smoother seasonal trajectory than MODIS. MODIS anomalies mainly occurred during summer and likely occurred because of surface reflectance uncertainty, shorter temporal resolutions and inconsistency between simulated and MODIS surface reflectances. This study suggests that further improvements of the MODIS LAI products should focus on finer algorithm inputs and improved seasonal variation modeling of MODIS observations. Future field work considering finer biome maps and better generation of LAI reference maps is still needed. PMID:25781509

  4. CHAIRMEN'S PREFACE AND EDITORS' NOTE: Unification of Fundamental Interactions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brink, Lars; Nilsson, Jan S.; Salomonson, Per; Skagerstam, Bo-Sture

    1987-01-01

    Vainshtein. We had hoped that the Nobel Symposium should be a signal for improved relations between East and West, but in this respect we failed. The Symposium was held in the small town of Marstrand, a summer resort on an island outside Göteborg. The idea was to have it relatively close to home and to show the participants perhaps the best part of the local nature. Another motive was to keep the participants semi-isolated to provide ample time for discussions. With the somewhat heavy programme we found that even so, the days were not long enough. This Symposium was the second Nobel Symposium on elementary particle physics. The first one, also organized by our group, was held in 1968. We hope and believe that the next one need not be awaited another 18 years! The Symposium was made possible by a generous grant from the Nobel Foundation. An additional grant from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences was also essential. A grant from Nordita made it possible to invite some ten Nordic observers. We also gratefully acknowledge help with the organization of the Symposium from the city of Goteborg, the city of Kungälv, Volvo, Skandinaviska Enskilda banken, Ericsson AB and IBM Sweden. We thank all the participants for all their efforts, to come to our remote part of the world, to give excellent talks, to write up their talks astonishingly quickly and to share with us so much of their knowledge and expertise. Last but not least we are indebted to the members of the organizing committee, members of the group and the secretarial staff. Goteborg, August 1986 Editors' NoteIn these Proceedings the lectures are given in the order of their oral presentation at the Symposium. Regrettably, a few contributors could not participate (V. Gribov, A. Linde, V. Ogievetsky, M. Shifman and A. M. Polyakov). Their contributions have been placed close to the end of the Proceedings. As these authors did not have the opportunity of correcting the proofs, responsibility for printing errors must rest with

  5. Assimilating leaf area index of three typical types of subtropical forest in China from MODIS time series data based on the integrated ensemble Kalman filter and PROSAIL model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Xuejian; Mao, Fangjie; Du, Huaqiang; Zhou, Guomo; Xu, Xiaojun; Han, Ning; Sun, Shaobo; Gao, Guolong; Chen, Liang

    2017-04-01

    Subtropical forest ecosystems play essential roles in the global carbon cycle and in carbon sequestration functions, which challenge the traditional understanding of the main functional areas of carbon sequestration in the temperate forests of Europe and America. The leaf area index (LAI) is an important biological parameter in the spatiotemporal simulation of the carbon cycle, and it has considerable significance in carbon cycle research. Dynamic retrieval based on remote sensing data is an important method with which to obtain large-scale high-accuracy assessments of LAI. This study developed an algorithm for assimilating LAI dynamics based on an integrated ensemble Kalman filter using MODIS LAI data, MODIS reflectance data, and canopy reflectance data modeled by PROSAIL, for three typical types of subtropical forest (Moso bamboo forest, Lei bamboo forest, and evergreen and deciduous broadleaf forest) in China during 2014-2015. There were some errors of assimilation in winter, because of the bad data quality of the MODIS product. Overall, the assimilated LAI well matched the observed LAI, with R2 of 0.82, 0.93, and 0.87, RMSE of 0.73, 0.49, and 0.42, and aBIAS of 0.50, 0.23, and 0.03 for Moso bamboo forest, Lei bamboo forest, and evergreen and deciduous broadleaf forest, respectively. The algorithm greatly decreased the uncertainty of the MODIS LAI in the growing season and it improved the accuracy of the MODIS LAI. The advantage of the algorithm is its use of biophysical parameters (e.g., measured LAI) in the LAI assimilation, which makes it possible to assimilate long-term MODIS LAI time series data, and to provide high-accuracy LAI data for the study of carbon cycle characteristics in subtropical forest ecosystems.

  6. Projections of leaf area index in earth system models

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mahowald, Natalie; Lo, Fiona; Zheng, Yun; Harrison, Laura; Funk, Chris; Lombardozzi, Danica; Goodale, Christine

    2016-03-01

    The area of leaves in the plant canopy, measured as leaf area index (LAI), modulates key land-atmosphere interactions, including the exchange of energy, moisture, carbon dioxide (CO2), and other trace gases and aerosols, and is therefore an essential variable in predicting terrestrial carbon, water, and energy fluxes. Here our goal is to characterize the LAI projections from the latest generation of earth system models (ESMs) for the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 and RCP4.5 scenarios. On average, the models project increases in LAI in both RCP8.5 and RCP4.5 over most of the globe, but also show decreases in some parts of the tropics. Because of projected increases in variability, there are also more frequent periods of low LAI across broad regions of the tropics. Projections of LAI changes varied greatly among models: some models project very modest changes, while others project large changes, usually increases. Modeled LAI typically increases with modeled warming in the high latitudes, but often decreases with increasing local warming in the tropics. The models with the most skill in simulating current LAI in the tropics relative to satellite observations tend to project smaller increases in LAI in the tropics in the future compared to the average of all the models. Using LAI projections to identify regions that may be vulnerable to climate change presents a slightly different picture than using precipitation projections, suggesting LAI may be an additional useful tool for understanding climate change impacts. Going forward, users of LAI projections from the CMIP5 ESMs evaluated here should be aware that model outputs do not exhibit clear-cut relationships to vegetation carbon and precipitation. Our findings underscore the need for more attention to LAI projections, in terms of understanding the drivers of projected changes and improvements to model skill.

  7. Projections of leaf area index in earth system models

    DOE PAGES

    Mahowald, Natalie; Lo, Fiona; Zheng, Yun; ...

    2016-03-09

    The area of leaves in the plant canopy, measured as leaf area index (LAI), modulates key land–atmosphere interactions, including the exchange of energy, moisture, carbon dioxide (CO 2), and other trace gases and aerosols, and is therefore an essential variable in predicting terrestrial carbon, water, and energy fluxes. Here our goal is to characterize the LAI projections from the latest generation of earth system models (ESMs) for the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 and RCP4.5 scenarios. On average, the models project increases in LAI in both RCP8.5 and RCP4.5 over most of the globe, but also show decreases in somemore » parts of the tropics. Because of projected increases in variability, there are also more frequent periods of low LAI across broad regions of the tropics. Projections of LAI changes varied greatly among models: some models project very modest changes, while others project large changes, usually increases. Modeled LAI typically increases with modeled warming in the high latitudes, but often decreases with increasing local warming in the tropics. The models with the most skill in simulating current LAI in the tropics relative to satellite observations tend to project smaller increases in LAI in the tropics in the future compared to the average of all the models. Using LAI projections to identify regions that may be vulnerable to climate change presents a slightly different picture than using precipitation projections, suggesting LAI may be an additional useful tool for understanding climate change impacts. Going forward, users of LAI projections from the CMIP5 ESMs evaluated here should be aware that model outputs do not exhibit clear-cut relationships to vegetation carbon and precipitation. Lastly, our findings underscore the need for more attention to LAI projections, in terms of understanding the drivers of projected changes and improvements to model skill.« less

  8. Applying the concept of ecohydrological equilibrium to predict steady-state leaf area index for Australian ecosystems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yang, J.; Medlyn, B.; De Kauwe, M. G.; Duursma, R.

    2017-12-01

    Leaf Area Index (LAI) is a key variable in modelling terrestrial vegetation, because it has a major impact on carbon, water and energy fluxes. However, LAI is difficult to predict: several recent intercomparisons have shown that modelled LAI differs significantly among models, and between models and satellite-derived estimates. Empirical studies show that long-term mean LAI is strongly related to mean annual precipitation. This observation is predicted by the theory of ecohydrological equilibrium, which provides a promising alternative means to predict steady-state LAI. We implemented this theory in a simple optimisation model. We hypothesized that, when water availability is limited, plants should adjust long-term LAI and stomatal behavior (g1) to maximize net canopy carbon export, under the constraint that canopy transpiration is a fixed fraction of total precipitation. We evaluated the predicted LAI (Lopt) for Australia against ground-based observations of LAI at 135 sites, and continental-scale satellite-derived estimates. For the site-level data, the RMSE of predicted Lopt was 0.14 m2 m-2, which was similar to the RMSE of a comparison of the data against nine-year mean satellite-derived LAI at those sites. Continentally, Lopt had a R2 of over 70% when compared to satellite-derived LAI, which is comparable to the R2 obtained when different satellite products are compared against each other. The predicted response of Lopt to the increase in atmospheric CO2 over the last 30 years also agreed with the estimate based on satellite-derivatives. Our results indicate that long-term equilibrium LAI can be successfully predicted from a simple application of ecohydrological theory. We suggest that this theory could be usefully incorporated into terrestrial vegetation models to improve their predictions of LAI.

  9. Forest canopy growth dynamic modeling based on remote sensing prodcuts and meteorological data in Daxing'anling of Northeast China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wu, Qiaoli; Song, Jinling; Wang, Jindi; Xiao, Zhiqiang

    2014-11-01

    Leaf Area Index (LAI) is an important biophysical variable for vegetation. Compared with vegetation indexes like NDVI and EVI, LAI is more capable of monitoring forest canopy growth quantitatively. GLASS LAI is a spatially complete and temporally continuous product derived from AVHRR and MODIS reflectance data. In this paper, we present the approach to build dynamic LAI growth models for young and mature Larix gmelinii forest in north Daxing'anling in Inner Mongolia of China using the Dynamic Harmonic Regression (DHR) model and Double Logistic (D-L) model respectively, based on the time series extracted from multi-temporal GLASS LAI data. Meanwhile we used the dynamic threshold method to attract the key phenological phases of Larix gmelinii forest from the simulated time series. Then, through the relationship analysis between phenological phases and the meteorological factors, we found that the annual peak LAI and the annual maximum temperature have a good correlation coefficient. The results indicate this forest canopy growth dynamic model to be very effective in predicting forest canopy LAI growth and extracting forest canopy LAI growth dynamic.

  10. Resting and Postexercise Heart Rate Detection From Fingertip and Facial Photoplethysmography Using a Smartphone Camera: A Validation Study.

    PubMed

    Yan, Bryan P; Chan, Christy Ky; Li, Christien Kh; To, Olivia Tl; Lai, William Hs; Tse, Gary; Poh, Yukkee C; Poh, Ming-Zher

    2017-03-13

    /min or 4.11%) or with postvigorous-intensity exercise (r=.980, RMSE=3.84 beats/min or 3.73%). Bland-Altman plots showed better agreement between ECG and fingertip PPG-estimated HR than between ECG and facial PPG-estimated HR. We found that HR detection by the Cardiio smartphone app was accurate at rest and after moderate- and vigorous-intensity exercise in a healthy young adult sample. Contact-free facial PPG detection is more convenient but is less accurate than finger PPG due to body motion after exercise. ©Bryan P Yan, Christy KY Chan, Christien KH Li, Olivia TL To, William HS Lai, Gary Tse, Yukkee C Poh, Ming-Zher Poh. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 13.03.2017.

  11. Combined Study of Snow Depth Determination and Winter Leaf Area Index Retrieval by Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Photogrammetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lendzioch, Theodora; Langhammer, Jakub; Jenicek, Michal

    2017-04-01

    A rapid and robust approach using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) digital photogrammetry was performed for evaluating snow accumulation over different small localities (e.g. disturbed forest and open area) and for indirect field measurements of Leaf Area Index (LAI) of coniferous forest within the Šumava National Park, Czech Republic. The approach was used to reveal impacts related to changes in forest and snowpack and to determine winter effective LAI for monitoring the impact of forest canopy metrics on snow accumulation. Due to the advancement of the technique, snow depth and volumetric changes of snow depth over these selected study areas were estimated at high spatial resolution (1 cm) by subtracting a snow-free digital elevation model (DEM) from a snow-covered DEM. Both, downward-looking UAV images and upward-looking digital hemispherical photography (DHP), and additional widely used LAI-2200 canopy analyser measurements were applied to determine the winter LAI, controlling interception and transmitting radiation. For the performance of downward-looking UAV images the snow background instead of the sky fraction was used. The reliability of UAV-based LAI retrieval was tested by taking an independent data set during the snow cover mapping campaigns. The results showed the potential of digital photogrammetry for snow depth mapping and LAI determination by UAV techniques. The average difference obtained between ground-based and UAV-based measurements of snow depth was 7.1 cm with higher values obtained by UAV. The SD of 22 cm for the open area seemed competitive with the typical precision of point measurements. In contrast, the average difference in disturbed forest area was 25 cm with lower values obtained by UAV and a SD of 36 cm, which is in agreement with other studies. The UAV-based LAI measurements revealed the lowest effective LAI values and the plant canopy analyser LAI-2200 the highest effective LAI values. The biggest bias of effective LAI was observed

  12. Survey of editors and reviewers of high-impact psychology journals: statistical and research design problems in submitted manuscripts.

    PubMed

    Harris, Alex; Reeder, Rachelle; Hyun, Jenny

    2011-01-01

    The authors surveyed 21 editors and reviewers from major psychology journals to identify and describe the statistical and design errors they encounter most often and to get their advice regarding prevention of these problems. Content analysis of the text responses revealed themes in 3 major areas: (a) problems with research design and reporting (e.g., lack of an a priori power analysis, lack of congruence between research questions and study design/analysis, failure to adequately describe statistical procedures); (b) inappropriate data analysis (e.g., improper use of analysis of variance, too many statistical tests without adjustments, inadequate strategy for addressing missing data); and (c) misinterpretation of results. If researchers attended to these common methodological and analytic issues, the scientific quality of manuscripts submitted to high-impact psychology journals might be significantly improved.

  13. Pre-fermentative cold maceration, saignée, and various thermal treatments as options for modulating volatile aroma and phenol profiles of red wine.

    PubMed

    Lukić, Igor; Budić-Leto, Irena; Bubola, Marijan; Damijanić, Kristijan; Staver, Mario

    2017-06-01

    The effects of six maceration treatments on volatile aroma and phenol composition of Teran red wine were studied: standard maceration (control C), cold pre-fermentation maceration (CPM), saignée (S), pre-fermentation heating with extended maceration (PHT) or juice fermentation (PHP), and post-fermentation heating (POH). PHP wine contained the highest amounts of esters, fatty acids and anthocyanins, and the lowest content of other phenols. Alternative treatments decreased higher alcohols in relation to control C. CPM treatment lowered the extraction of seed tannins, exhibited the highest acetaldehyde, ethyl acetate and C 6 -compounds levels, and had increased ester levels in relation to control C. POH wine contained the highest concentration of total phenols, flavonoids, monomeric, oligomeric and polymeric flavanols, and color intensity and hue. S and PHT wines contained lower amount of total phenols, but higher than in C and CPM wines. The calculated Odor Activity Values were used to establish significant differences between the treatments. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Characterization and control of thread mould in cheese.

    PubMed

    Basílico, J C; debasílico, M Z; Chiericatti, C; Vinderola, C G

    2001-06-01

    The origin of a mould responsible for the contamination of an Argentinian cheese factory was identified and several antifungal treatments were assessed. Moulds were isolated and identified from vacuum-packed hard cheeses, from the environment and from the surfaces of the factory. A suspension conidia test containing different fungicides was performed; another assay involved the fumigation with p-OH fenilsalicidamide. Only Phoma glomerata was found in all of the mouldy cheeses, and was also obtained from different environments and machine surfaces. The most effective treatments against P. glomerata isolates were 0.5% (w/v) natamycin and 2% (v/v) parabens. Fumigation with p-OH fenilsalicidamide showed no satisfactory results. P. glomerata is an important thread mould-contaminating agent in vacuum-packed hard cheeses. Taking into account the survival of the conidia of the P. glomerata isolates to different antifungal treatments, the sources of contamination need to be controlled by designing a good factory layout.

  15. Why Gene Editors Like CRISPR/Cas May Be a Game-Changer for Neuroweapons

    PubMed Central

    Giordano, James

    2017-01-01

    This year marks the Eighth Review Conference (RevCon) of the Biological Toxins and Weapons Convention (BWC). At the same time, ongoing international efforts to further and more deeply investigate the brain's complex neuronal circuitry are creating unprecedented capabilities to both understand and control neurological processes of thought, emotion, and behavior. These advances have tremendous promise for human health, but the potential for their misuse has also been noted, with most discussions centering on research and development of agents that are addressed by existing BWC and Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) proscriptions. In this article, we discuss the dual-use possibilities fostered by employing emergent biotechnologic techniques and tools—specifically, novel gene editors like clustered regular interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)—to produce neuroweapons. Based on our analyses, we posit the strong likelihood that development of genetically modified or created neurotropic substances will advance apace with other gene-based therapeutics, and we assert that this represents a novel—and realizable—path to creating potential neuroweapons. In light of this, we propose that it will be important to re-address current categorizations of weaponizable tools and substances, so as to better inform and generate tractable policy to enable improved surveillance and governance of novel neuroweapons. PMID:28574731

  16. Getting published well requires fulfilling editors' and reviewers' needs and desires.

    PubMed

    Schoenwolf, Gary C

    2013-12-01

    Publication in international scientific journals provides an unparalleled opportunity for authors to showcase their work. Where authors publish affects how the community values the work. This value directly determines the impact of the work on the field-papers must be read and cited to advance the field, and because the scientific literature is vast, only a subset of the literature is widely read and cited. Moreover, the value placed on the work also affects the authors' scientific reputation and career advancement. Consequently, it is essential that manuscripts receive the recognition they deserve by being published in one of the "best" journals that the scientific findings allow. Several factors determine where a paper is published: how well the topic of the paper fits the scope of the journal, the quality of the study and the manuscript describing it, the advance the paper makes in its field, the importance of the advance, and the extent to which the paper impacts the broader community of science. As scientists, we assume that our papers will be assessed objectively using only well defined scientific standards, but editors and reviewers also view papers subjectively, having biases of what defines a high-quality publication based on Western standards. Therefore, scientists trained in other parts of the world can be significantly disadvantaged in getting their papers published in the best journals. Here, I present concrete suggestions for improving the perception of a paper in the reader's minds, increasing the likelihood that it will get published well. © 2013 The Authors Development, Growth & Differentiation © 2013 Japanese Society of Developmental Biologists.

  17. A Medieval Irish Treatise on Astronomy Recalled, with a Memoir of its Translator and Editor, Maura Power (1887-1916)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bruck, M. T.; Conway-Piskorski, M.

    1998-01-01

    A 15th century treatise on astronomy in Irish, an adaptation of a Latin translation of an older Arabic text, was transcribed and published together with an English translation and commentaries under the title An Irish Astronomical Tract in 1914. This work is familiar to Celtic language scholars but is little known among astronomers. Here we briefly describe the text, and include a memoir of its editor and translator Maura Power, a young woman who combined a specialist knowledge of the Irish language with an understanding of medieval science. We also recall two other Irish scholars - the geologist Maxwell Close and the astronomer John Ellard Gore - who played their part in recognizing the value of this early Irish scientific text.

  18. Indirect Field Measurement of Wine-Grape Vineyard Canopy Leaf Area Index

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Johnson, Lee F.; Pierce, Lars L.; Skiles, J. W. (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    Leaf area index (LAI) indirect measurements were made at 12 study plots in California's Napa Valley commercial wine-grape vineyards with a LI-COR LI-2000 Plant Canopy Analyzer (PCA). The plots encompassed different trellis systems, biological varieties, and planting densities. LAI ranged from 0.5 - 2.25 sq m leaf area/ sq m ground area according to direct (defoliation) measurements. Indirect LAI reported by the PCA was significantly related to direct LAI (r(exp 2) = 0.78, p less than 001). However, the PCA tended to underestimate direct LAI by about a factor of two. Narrowing the instrument's conical field of view from 148 deg to 56 deg served to increase readings by approximately 30%. The PCA offers a convenient way to discern relative differences in vineyard canopy density. Calibration by direct measurement (defoliation) is recommended in cases where absolute LAI is desired. Calibration equations provided herein may be inverted to retrieve actual vineyard LAI from PCA readings.

  19. Identification of a novel prophage-like gene cluster actively expressed in both virulent and avirulent strains of Leptospira interrogans serovar Lai.

    PubMed

    Qin, Jin-Hong; Zhang, Qing; Zhang, Zhi-Ming; Zhong, Yi; Yang, Yang; Hu, Bao-Yu; Zhao, Guo-Ping; Guo, Xiao-Kui

    2008-06-01

    DNA microarray analysis was used to compare the differential gene expression profiles between Leptospira interrogans serovar Lai type strain 56601 and its corresponding attenuated strain IPAV. A 22-kb genomic island covering a cluster of 34 genes (i.e., genes LA0186 to LA0219) was actively expressed in both strains but concomitantly upregulated in strain 56601 in contrast to that of IPAV. Reverse transcription-PCR assays proved that the gene cluster comprised five transcripts. Gene annotation of this cluster revealed characteristics of a putative prophage-like remnant with at least 8 of 34 sequences encoding prophage-like proteins, of which the LA0195 protein is probably a putative prophage CI-like regulator. The transcription initiation activities of putative promoter-regulatory sequences of transcripts I, II, and III, all proximal to the LA0195 gene, were further analyzed in the Escherichia coli promoter probe vector pKK232-8 by assaying the reporter chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) activities. The strong promoter activities of both transcripts I and II indicated by the E. coli CAT assay were well correlated with the in vitro sequence-specific binding of the recombinant LA0195 protein to the corresponding promoter probes detected by the electrophoresis mobility shift assay. On the other hand, the promoter activity of transcript III was very low in E. coli and failed to show active binding to the LA0195 protein in vitro. These results suggested that the LA0195 protein is likely involved in the transcription of transcripts I and II. However, the identical complete DNA sequences of this prophage remnant from these two strains strongly suggests that possible regulatory factors or signal transduction systems residing outside of this region within the genome may be responsible for the differential expression profiling in these two strains.

  20. Look-up-table approach for leaf area index retrieval from remotely sensed data based on scale information

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhu, Xiaohua; Li, Chuanrong; Tang, Lingli

    2018-03-01

    Leaf area index (LAI) is a key structural characteristic of vegetation and plays a significant role in global change research. Several methods and remotely sensed data have been evaluated for LAI estimation. This study aimed to evaluate the suitability of the look-up-table (LUT) approach for crop LAI retrieval from Satellite Pour l'Observation de la Terre (SPOT)-5 data and establish an LUT approach for LAI inversion based on scale information. The LAI inversion result was validated by in situ LAI measurements, indicating that the LUT generated based on the PROSAIL (PROSPECT+SAIL: properties spectra + scattering by arbitrarily inclined leaves) model was suitable for crop LAI estimation, with a root mean square error (RMSE) of ˜0.31m2 / m2 and determination coefficient (R2) of 0.65. The scale effect of crop LAI was analyzed based on Taylor expansion theory, indicating that when the SPOT data aggregated by 200 × 200 pixel, the relative error is significant with 13.7%. Finally, an LUT method integrated with scale information was proposed in this article, improving the inversion accuracy with RMSE of 0.20 m2 / m2 and R2 of 0.83.