Data preprocessing for river flow forecasting using neural networks: Wavelet transforms and data partitioning

The evaluation of surface water resources is a necessary input to solving water management problems. Neural network models have been trained to predict monthly runoff for the Tirso basin, located in Sardinia (Italy) at the S. Chiara section. Monthly time series data were available for 69 years and are characterized by non-stationarity and seasonal irregularity, which is typical of a Mediterranean weather regime. This paper investigates the effects of data preprocessing on model performance using continuous and discrete wavelet transforms and data partitioning. The results showed that networks trained with pre-processed data performed better than networks trained on undecomposed, noisy raw signals. In particular, the best results were obtained using the data partitioning technique.     

Linking spatial data from different sources: the effects of change of support

A nationwide Environmental Public Health Tracking program is being created to monitor environmental impacts on human health. This, and many other efforts to relate environmental and health outcomes, depend largely on the synthesis of existing data sets; little new data are being generated for this purpose. More often than not, the data available for such synthesis have been collected for different geographic or spatial units, and any set of these units may be different from the one of interest. In this paper, we compare and contrast two approaches that can be used within a Geographic Information System to link spatial data from different sources. The first approach works with centroids of areal units and is commonly used in environmental health analyses. The second approach honors the spatial support (size, shape and orientation) of the data. Using traditional regression models and a spatially-varying coefficient regression model, we show that different linkage methods can lead to different inference. We describe key ideas pertaining to the support of spatial data that are often ignored in many analyses of environmental health data and present a general analytical approach to change-of-support problems.     

Respect, deference, respectability and place: What is the problem with/for working class boys?

The rise of the notion of ‘respect’ is a key part of the agenda for the third term of the British New Labour Government, first elected in 1997. Here I consider its relationship to and differentiate it from the idea of respectability - a term that has long been used to divide the working class - and consider the links between deference and respect. While the claim that working class youth, especially boys, are ‘disrespectful’ has a long history, I argue that the current focus on respect not only continues this association but also illustrates a deep ambivalence at the heart of the New Labour policy agenda, an uncertainty about the status of young people and a denial of their moral agency. Furthermore, there is a continuation in this agenda of a long-standing designation of certain areas in cities as places to avoid, associated with a disreputable working class population.     

A ~565 Ma old glaciation in the Ediacaran of peri-Gondwanan West Africa

International Journal of Earth Sciences - In the Cadomian orogen of the NE Bohemian Massif and of SW Iberia, a post-Gaskiers glacial event dated at c. 565 Ma has been detected. Such...     

The estimation of spectra from time‐frequency transforms for use in attenuation studies

We introduce the signal dependent time–frequency distribution, which is a time–frequency distribution that allows the user to optimize the tradeoff between joint time–frequency resolution and suppression of transform artefacts. The signal‐dependent time–frequency distribution, as well as the short‐time Fourier transform, Stockwell transform, and the Fourier transform are analysed for their ability to estimate the spectrum of a known wavelet used in a tuning wedge model. Next, the signal‐dependent time–frequency distribution, and fixed‐ and variable‐window transforms are used to estimate spectra from a zero‐offset synthetic seismogram. Attenuation is estimated from the associated spectral ratio curves, and the accuracy of the results is compared. The synthetic consisted of six pairs of strong reflections, based on real well‐log data, with a modeled intrinsic attenuation value of 1000/Q = 20. The signal‐dependent time–frequency distribution was the only time–frequency transform found to produce spectra that estimated consistent attenuation values, with an average of 1000/Q = 26±2; results from the fixed‐ and variable‐window transforms were 24±17 and 39±10, respectively. Finally, all three time–frequency transforms were used in a pre‐stack attenuation estimation method (the pre‐stack Q inversion algorithm) applied to a gather from a North Sea seismic dataset, to estimate attenuation between nine different strong reflections. In this case, the signal‐dependent time‐frequency distribution produced spectra more consistent with the constant‐Q model of attenuation assumed in the pre‐stack attenuation estimation algorithm: the average L1 residuals of the spectral ratio surfaces from the theoretical constant‐Q expectation for the signal‐dependent time‐frequency distribution, short‐time Fourier transform, and Stockwell transform were 0.12, 0.21, and 0.33, respectively. Based on the results shown, the signal‐dependent time‐frequency distribution is a time–frequency distribution that can provide more accurate and precise estimations of the amplitude spectrum of a reflection, due to a higher attainable time–frequency resolution.     

Fragmentation as a Strategy for Caulerpa Species: Fates of Fragments and Implications for Management of an Invasive Weed

Abstract. The successful growth of fragments to full size macroalgal clones is well known for many taxa in mariculture. From an ecological context, however, few studies relate success by invasive species to the ability to fragment readily, disperse widely or re-attach rapidly - obvious hallmarks of weedy species. This study compares morphologically and ecologically distinct species of the green alga Caulerpa : in the Mediterranean, Caulerpa taxifolia is well known as an invasive weed; Caulerpa prolifera grows around or inside seagrass beds and is not apparently invasive; Caulerpa verticillata is among the most diminutive species, with potentially the most restricted reef distribution. We tested three hypotheses: (i) fragment success is independent of size, (ii) fragment success is independent of position within the plant and (iii) fragments from all species will be equally successful in establishing rhizoids, the first step to re-attachment. The success of small fragments (5–40 mm lengths) cut from distinct locations within replicate plants was scored for survival and establishment of rhizoids in bioassays. Additionally, for C. taxifolia , estimates were made of the force needed to puncture upright and prostrate axes, thereby estimating forces required to generate fragments from these two sources. Among the three species, only upright axes of C. taxifolia readily recovered from fragmentation stress for fragment sizes > 10 mm. The forces required to fragment upright axes were substantially less than for comparable rhizome portions. Fragments of C. prolifera were viable only for rhizome portions; fragments of C. verticillata were not viable at any size examined in this study. Estimates of viable fragment size, origin and force required to fragment axes for C. taxifolia support existing field data suggesting that fragmentation is the effective propagation mechanism underlying the spread of this invasive weed.     

Conflict of interest in research on anthropogenic noise and marine mammals: Does funding bias conclusions?

The U.S. Navy, whose sonars kill marine mammals, provides approximately 50% of the funds for marine mammal research worldwide. We examined six reviews of research on the effects of anthropogenic sound on marine mammals, as well as the primary papers cited in the reviews. These reviews cite references showing noise has no effect on marine mammals at an increasing frequency as their funding moves from a conservation organization to independent to partial U.S. military sources. Primary papers are 2.3 times more likely to be cited in the reviews as concluding no effect of noise if the research was militarily-funded than if not. Thus, conflict of interest may have led to a misrepresentation of the effects of noise on marine mammals in both the primary and secondary literature, and thus misinform public policy decisions.     

Estuarine behaviour of metal loads leached from coastal lowland acid sulphate soils

The estuarine behaviour of the metal load leaching from acid sulphate (AS) soils was studied in a selected river system (the V?r? River), in western Finland. Large amounts of metals were transported with the river and deposited within the estuary, causing highly elevated metal concentrations in both the sediment traps and in the underlying bottom sediments. Among the metals, there was a diverging deposition pattern where Al, Cu, La and U demonstrated a strong association with organic matter and were deposited within approximately 4 km from the river mouth. In contrast, the deposition of Co, Mn, Ni and Zn occurred when pH reached circumneutral conditions further out in the estuary. Yet other metals were not abundantly leached from the AS soils and thus not elevated in the river and estuary (Fe, Ti, Cr, V). Five separate chemical extractions indicated the geochemical speciation of the metals.     

Hydrothermal Origin of Early Permian Chert Nodules in theCentral North China Craton Linked to Northern MarginCratonic Activation

Sedimentary chert phases from the Archean to the present are widely used to trace sedimentary environments and tectonic settings. Recently,chert nodules occurring within carbonates have been the subject of possible hydrothermal or biogenic origin,in lieu of a diagenetic origin.However,chert nodules from a vast cratonic basin represent extremely rich silica accumulations but less noted is how they respond to submarine hydrothermal activity (and/or surface siliceous organism productivity). The links between the cratonic-type chert depositions and environmental changes regarding cratonic evolution need to be revisited at a large temporal-spatial scale. The chert nodules are widespread throughout the Lower Permian Taiyuan Formation in the North China Craton (NCC).Several Taiyuan chert-rich successions across the NCC have been selected to study possible links between chert deposition and cratonic evolution in scenario of partial cratonic activation of the northern NCC margin during the Late Paleozoic.Based on stratigraphic correlation,the chert nodules are ubiquitously,evenly distributed throughout the Taiyuan Formation at a large craton-basin scale from the northern to southern interior NCC.Petrological results,elemental abundances,together with silicon and oxygen isotopic compositions of chert samples infer significant hydrothermal contributions for the silica accumulations. Therefore, the cratonic-scale chert depositions of hydrothermal origin infer a giant and remote silica reservoir,linking to the large igneous province and magmatism in the NCC northern margins.The Taiyuan chert nodules could be unique marine sedimentary archives recording the Late Paleozoic NCC partial activation,which also generated continental records of igneous rocks,bauxites and tuffs.The strong tectonics of the northern margin,south-dipping topography and northward transgression of the Early Permian NCC facilitated the chert deposition on the shallow marine platform in the cratonic interior.