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Sugarcane health monitoring with satellite spectroscopy and machine learning: A review
No full textResearch into large-scale crop monitoring has flourished due to increased accessibility to satellite imagery. This review delves into previously unexplored and under-explored areas in sugarcane health monitoring and disease/pest detection using satellite-based spectroscopy and Machine Learning (ML). It discusses key considerations in system development, including relevant satellites, vegetation indices, ML methods, factors influencing sugarcane reflectance, optimal growth conditions, common diseases, and traditional detection methods. Many studies highlight how factors like crop age, soil type, viewing angle, water content, recent weather patterns, and sugarcane variety can impact spectral reflectance, affecting the accuracy of health assessments via spectroscopy. However, these variables have not been fully considered in the literature. In addition, the current literature lacks comprehensive comparisons between ML techniques and vegetation indices. This review addresses these gaps and discusses that, while current findings suggest the potential for an ML-driven satellite spectroscopy system for monitoring sugarcane health, further research is essential. This paper offers a comprehensive analysis of previous research to aid in unlocking this potential and advancing the development of an effective sugarcane health monitoring system using satellite technology
Optimal Planning Target Volume Margins to Account for Intra-Fractional Prostate Motion Relative to Treatment Duration: A Study Using Real-Time Transperineal Ultrasound Guidance
No full textIntroduction: Prostate motion during external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) is common and typically managed using fiducial markers and cone beam CT (CBCT) scans for inter-fractional motion correction. However, real-time intra-fractional motion management is less commonly implemented. This study evaluated the extent of intra-fractional prostate motion using transperineal ultrasound (TPUS) and examined the impact of treatment time on prostate motion.
Methods: Patients undergoing prostate EBRT with TPUS at a single institution from August 2016 to August 2021 were analysed. Pre-treatment daily CBCT corrected inter-fractional prostate shift. Continuous intra-fractional prostate motion was recorded at two frames per second in three dimensions, with three-dimensional (3D) displacement calculated as a vector. Motion data were modelled to determine the probability of the prostate remaining within pre-specified PTV margins relative to treatment delivery time.
Results: The study analysed 3364 fractions delivered to 122 patients. The mean treatment delivery time was 3.8 min. The prostate remained within a 5 mm margin with high frequencies in the superior–inferior (SI) and left–right (LR) directions, 97.8% and 98.4% of fractions respectively while 5.5% of fractions had deviations greater than 5 mm in the anterior–posterior (AP) direction. By contrast, the 3D vector exceeded a 5 mm margin in 14.5% of fractions. Drift motion modelling indicated a 99% probability of the vector staying within a 3 mm margin for 2 min, while for a 5 mm margin, the duration extended to 3.4 min.
Conclusions: Intra-fractional prostate motion monitoring is increasingly important as SABR with reduced PTV margins are utilised in prostate radiotherapy. Smaller PTV margins and longer treatment time require real-time monitoring to avoid geographical miss
Cross-cultural Validation of the Arizona Sexual Experience Scale (ASEX) in 42 Countries and 26 Languages
No full textIntroduction:
The Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale (ASEX) is a brief questionnaire that evaluates five major aspects of sexual function: sex drive, arousal, erectile function/vaginal lubrication, ability to reach orgasm, and satisfaction with orgasm. An advantage of the ASEX is its simplicity and brevity (five items), making it suitable for the screening of sexual function problems in healthcare contexts and large-scale studies. The main objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the ASEX in a multi-national sample, as well as to explore sexual function according to countries, genders, and sexual orientations.
Methods:
The psychometric examination of the ASEX was conducted with a sample of 82,243 participants (women = 57.02%; men = 39.59%; gender-diverse = 3.38%; Mage = 32.39 years; SD = 12.52) from 42 different countries speaking 26 languages.
Results:
The CFA supported a one-factor solution. Multigroup CFAs supported configural, metric, partial scalar, and residual invariance across countries, languages, genders, and sexual orientations. Furthermore, the ASEX showed good internal consistency (ω = .85) and convergent validity (e.g., significant negative associations with masturbation and sexual intercourse frequency). Finally, individuals in Eastern countries, women, and asexual participants reported higher levels of sexual function issues.
Conclusions and Policy Implications:
The findings supported the use of the ASEX as a tool to screen for sexual function problems across diverse populations in multi-cultural settings. This scale may be used to improve our knowledge on the cross-cultural differences on the expression of sexual function, serving as the basis for the development of culturally tailored interventions for the improvement of this basic aspect of well-being
Trade-offs involved in the choice of pot vs field experiments
No full text[Extract] The ability to control and account for environmental conditions is essential when conducting ecological experiments. Two frequent approaches are pot and field experiments. Pot experiments under common garden conditions are excellent for detecting distinct plant responses to specific experimental treatments. Even maternal effects can be accounted for if plants are grown under the same conditions over generations. Pot experiments are exceptional at detecting even slight differences in response to highly controlled factors, but they are not always a meaningful representation of plant responses under more complex and variable natural habitats
How does dimensionality influence outlier detection effectiveness in multivariate geochemical data? insights from LOF and IF methods
No full textThis paper examines the impact of the curse of dimensionality on the performance of isolation forest (IF) and local outlier factor (LOF) in detecting mineralization-related geochemical anomalies from a high-dimensional geochemical dataset. Using subsets selected through random and supervised methods with varying dimensions, IF and LOF were tested against known mineral deposit locations to assess their effectiveness. This study evaluates the percentage of mineral occurrences classified as anomalies and the area under the ROC curve across different dimensionalities. Furthermore, the influence of dimension reduction techniques such as PCA and ISOMAP on IF and LOF performance is explored. IF demonstrates consistent performance, proving robust across various dimensions and particularly suited to high-dimensional datasets. In contrast, LOF displays sensitivity to dimensionality, with optimal performance in lower dimensions (5 to 10 variables) but diminishing effectiveness beyond this range. This sensitivity highlights the importance of judicious input variable selection for LOF to achieve effective anomaly detection in geochemical datasets. Additionally, this study reveals that the performance of IF remains stable with both PCA and ISOMAP, whereas LOF benefits more from PCA, where its variance-maximizing feature may retain sufficient structural integrity for effective anomaly detection. Conversely, the performance of LOF declines with ISOMAP due to its more significant impact on local density changes. This variation underscores the need for a careful selection of dimension reduction methods and the number of components used as input for outlier detection methods
Calcinean sponges (Porifera: Calcarea) from the shelf edge of the Great Australian Bight
No full textThe deep-water regions of eastern and central Great Australian Bight (GAB) are subject to hydrocarbon exploration; consequently, there are efforts to study their biodiversity. Australia has ~200 species of Calcarea, but none has been described taxonomically from the GAB, and most are known down to only 200 m depth. A characterization of deep benthic communities was performed in the GAB at depths ranging from 200 to 3000 m. Of sponge species collected, 16% were members of Calcarea, and 11 were members of subclass Calcinea, which is the focus group of this work. Morphological and molecular tools were used for identification. Calcinean sponges were not found deeper than 400 m. The most diverse genus was Ascoleucetta, which had four species. Nine species and two genera are new to science: Clathrina williamsi sp. nov., Leucascus boomerang sp. nov., Ascoleucetta gabensis sp. nov., Ascoleucetta globularis sp. nov., Ascoleucetta parallela sp. nov., Ascoleucetta plana sp. nov., Leucetta conspicua sp. nov., Robspongia vociva gen. nov., sp. nov., and Rappya australiensis gen. nov., sp. nov. Calcareous sponges represented 1.8% of overall sponge biomass, and site 181 had the highest species richness. Our results reveal a unique community of calcareous sponges hidden within the GAB, suggesting high endemism
Across the Tropical Pacific Ocean: Reflections on the Future of Kanaky-New Caledonia
No full textImagination can be found in a range of human activities and the concept of envisioning the future has been a topic of discussion for centuries (Casey, 2000; Fuentes, 2017; Pelizzo, 2024;). Contemporary discussions on forecasting the future can often relate to climate change and geopolitical instability, as their profound impacts effect how societies must adapt. This paper draws attention to the imagined future of the often-overlooked Franco-Melanesian archipelago of Kanaky-New Caledonia in the South Pacific. As the local population faces growing uncertainties about their future, particularly since the riots of May 2024, it is timely to engage in such reflection. This study focuses on the narratives of the authors, three women from Kanaky-New Caledonia, who have migrated to Australia. As observers from across the ocean, we reflect on the challenges and possible futures of our island home; a place that remains deeply connected to our sense of identity. Here we draw from our experiences as women born across three different decades: the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. By sharing our voices, this paper aims to contribute to the broader discussions about the future of Kanaky-New Caledonia
Influence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis isolate and dose on infection outcomes in a critically endangered Australian amphibian
No full textThe amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd)) is a continuing threat globally, causing widespread declines. Corroboree frogs (Pseudophryne corroboree) are critically endangered and no longer have self-sustaining populations in the wild due to the presence of Bd in the environment. We aimed to investigate variation in susceptibility to Bd in juvenile P. corroboree and evaluate the impact of Bd isolate and dose on infection outcomes. We experimentally exposed juvenile P. corroboree to two Bd isolates at five doses, and also characterised the in vitro growth of these isolates. Frogs showed high susceptibility to Bd, with isolate and dose impacting survival time and infection loads. Additionally, differences in the in vitro phenotype of the two Bd isolates were linked to their differential virulence. This study highlights the considerable impact that fungal isolate and dose have in shaping disease outcomes in experimental exposures
AgeGen Bio Track: Continuous Mouse Behavioral Biometrics-Based Age and Gender Profiling in Online Education Platforms
No full textMouse behavioral biometric-based authentication systems have attracted significant attention as they are considered a more secure alternative to conventional online assessment fraud detection systems. This is attributed to their ability to continuously authenticate users non-intrusively by analyzing their distinctive mouse operating behavior. Most behavioral biometric-based research studies focus on predicting user identity as the primary objective for online assessment fraud detection. However, they do not consider predicting other user-centric parameters like age and gender. Furthermore, there is a need to identify the best segmentation approach and mouse behavior feature set for age and gender classification. We propose the AgeGen Bio track system, a continuous mouse behavioral biometric-based age and gender tracking system for online education platforms. To accomplish this, we first collect novel mouse behavior data with user demographic information. We then evaluate the efficacy of different segmentation approaches, feature sets, and machine learning models for age and gender classification. Experimental results show that the random forest algorithm paired with the three mouse-movement segmentation approach and user characteristic feature set are the best approaches that need to be incorporated into the system, as they achieved promising results
The launch of the Pacific vector network: connecting Pacific Island Countries and areas to prevent and control vector‑borne diseases
No full textThe Pacific Island Health Officers’ Association, the World Health Organization, and the Pacific Community co-organized the launch of the Pacific Vector Network (PVN) to address challenges posed by mosquito-borne diseases, including dengue fever, Zika virus disease, chikungunya, malaria, and lymphatic filariasis. The PVN was created as a new initiative under the Pacific Public Health Surveillance Network (PPHSN). This launch was a critical step in the build-up to PVN as a full-service network of PPHSN in the coming years. The Pacific Island Countries and areas (PIC)-led network comprises vector management leadership, officers, and technical partners dedicated to supporting information-sharing to promote evidence-based collective action and innovation. The setup of a Technical Working Body to ensure governance and to steer forward the work of the network was a key deliverable. This manuscript describes the proceedings and discussions of PIC representatives and several regional partners at the inaugural PVN meeting held 5–7 June 2023 in Hawai’i, USA