Search results for "forest"
showing 10 items of 3780 documents
Assessment of the interpretability of data mining for the spatial modelling of water erosion using game theory
2021
Abstract This study undertook a comprehensive application of 15 data mining (DM) models, most of which have, thus far, not been commonly used in environmental sciences, to predict land susceptibility to water erosion hazard in the Kahorestan catchment, southern Iran. The DM models were BGLM, BGAM, Cforest, CITree, GAMS, LRSS, NCPQR, PLS, PLSGLM, QR, RLM, SGB, SVM, BCART and BTR. We identified 18 factors usually considered as key controls for water erosion, comprising 10 factors extracted from a digital elevation model (DEM), three indices extracted from Landsat 8 images, a sediment connectivity index (SCI) and three other intrinsic factors. Three indicators consisting of MAE, MBE, RMSE, and…
Comparative Study of Several Machine Learning Algorithms for Classification of Unifloral Honeys
2021
Unifloral honeys are highly demanded by honey consumers, especially in Europe. To ensure that a honey belongs to a very appreciated botanical class, the classical methodology is palynological analysis to identify and count pollen grains. Highly trained personnel are needed to perform this task, which complicates the characterization of honey botanical origins. Organoleptic assessment of honey by expert personnel helps to confirm such classification. In this study, the ability of different machine learning (ML) algorithms to correctly classify seven types of Spanish honeys of single botanical origins (rosemary, citrus, lavender, sunflower, eucalyptus, heather and forest honeydew) was investi…
Effects of the herbicides Benzoylpropethyl and flampropisopropyl on rat liver mitochondria : an alteration in membrane fluidity ?
1984
Abstract The action of the herbicides benzoylpropethyl and flampropisopropyl, and the corresponding unesterified acids was studied in rat liver mitochondria. The herbicides were found to (a) inhibit the mitochondrial electron transfer in complex III or at the level of ubiquinone (I50 of 4 nmol mg protein−1 for flampropisopropyl and 18 for benzoylpropethyl with succinate as a substrate); (b) have an additional (however less sensitive) site of inhibition near succinate dehydrogenase; and (c) interfere with energy transfer. Sensitivity was increased 2- (benzoylpropethyl) and 3.5-fold (flampropisopropyl) as the rats age increased from 12–13 weeks to 23–26 weeks. The free acids were far less eff…
Assessing soil contamination and temporal trends of heavy metal contents in greenhouses on semiarid land
2018
Information about the behavior and temporal evolution of heavy metals in agricultural soils is limited, particularly about greenhouse soils on semiarid lands, indeed it nonexistent. Western Almería (Southern Spain) is a semiarid land where some 30,000 ha are occupied by greenhouses with high productivity. As these greenhouses are fundamental to the socioeconomic development of this area, they should be maintained and well conserved. However, there are indications that long-term intensive agriculture with considerable agrochemicals use can deteriorate soil quality, which in turn, would reduce productivity and food quality. This study was conducted to investigate soil contamination and the te…
Effect of Stem Snapping on Aspen Timber Assortment Recovery in Hemiboreal Forests
2020
Post-disturbance salvage logging mitigates economic loss after windthrow, and the value of salvaged timber is strongly linked to its quality and dimensions. We studied the occurrence of wind-induced damage of aspen in the hemiboreal forests of Latvia based on data from the National Forest Inventory and additional measurements. Individual tree data from three re-measurement periods were linked to follow a tree condition (live, broken, uprooted) and to link tree characteristics to a respective snag. Three linear models were developed to assess factors affecting the snapping height. An assortment outcome was calculated for undamaged and salvaged trees using the bucking algorithm, and timber va…
Recombinant Semliki Forest virus vectors encoding hepatitis B virus small surface and pre-S1 antigens induce broadly reactive neutralizing antibodies
2012
Most hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccines consist of viral small surface (S) protein subtype adw2 expressed in yeast cells. In spite of good efficacy, HBV-genotype and subtype differences, escape mutants and insufficient Th1 activation remain potential problems. To address these problems, we generated recombinant Semliki Forest virus (rSFV) vectors encoding S protein, subtype adw2 or ayw2, or a fragment of the large surface protein, amino acids 1-48 of the pre-S1 domain, fused to S (pre-S1.1-48/S). The antigen loop in S protein and the selected pre-S1 sequences are known targets of neutralizing antibodies. BALB/c mice were immunized intravenously with 10(7) rSFV particles and 10(8) rSFV particl…
Computer-aided detection of cerebral microbleeds in susceptibility-weighted imaging.
2014
Susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) is recognized as the preferred MRI technique for visualizing cerebral vasculature and related pathologies such as cerebral microbleeds (CMBs). Manual identification of CMBs is time-consuming, has limited reliability and reproducibility, and is prone to misinterpretation. In this paper, a novel computer-aided microbleed detection technique based on machine learning is presented: First, spherical-like objects (potential CMB candidates) with their corresponding bounding boxes were detected using a novel multi-scale Laplacian of Gaussian technique. A set of robust 3-dimensional Radon- and Hessian-based shape descriptors within each bounding box were then ex…
Information on the macrolepidoptera fauna of “Dumbrava Sibiului” oak forest (Sibiu, Romania)
2015
In order to establish systematic, ecological and ethological studies, it is extremely important to know the composition of faunal species of Lepidoptera collected in the past and present from "Dumbrava Sibiului" Forest located on the outskirts of Sibiu in central Romania. To assess the current state of Lepidoptera species, we conducted a complex research which was carried out for over 13 years, based on our own samples collected: from March to November, but also on the data resulted from studying the species existing in the collections of the Natural History Museum of Sibiu. After the research we have identified a number of 243 species belonging to 14 families collected over time from "Dumb…
Beerkan Estimation of Soil Transfer parameters (BEST) across soils and scales
2019
Abstract Theories and models used in soil hydrological sciences rely on the knowledge of the spatially and temporally variable soil hydraulic properties, i.e. the water retention and hydraulic conductivity curves. Obtaining reliable experimental information on these curves for an area of interest is not easy and it still remains a challenge for soil scientists. In 2006, a simple and physically based methodology was proposed to completely characterize the soil using a single ring infiltration experiment in the field and determination of soil particle size distribution, initial and final soil water content and dry soil bulk density. This methodology, named BEST – Beerkan Estimation of Soil Tr…
Forest management planning at different geographic levels in Italy: hierarchy, current tools and ongoing development
2009
This paper examines the current status of forest management tools and their pplication at different levels in Italy where the majority of land planning has been and is still being done at the “micro-scale”, meaning that specific local issues are dealt with locally. Starting from international European Union law, the authors review the forest acts that led from the National Forest Plan (NFP) to smaller scales, in relation to their geographic and territorial applicability. Scaling down from the NFP to the local level the various Italian forest programmes and plans are analysed according to a vertical logic (hierarchical mode): Regional Forest Programme (RFP), Territorial (i.e. sub-regional) F…