scholarly journals Information Theory as a consistent framework for quantification and classification of landscape patterns

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakub Nowosad ◽  
Tomasz F. Stepinski

AbstractContextQuantitative grouping of similar landscape patterns is an important part of landscape ecology due to the relationship between a pattern and an underlying ecological process. One of the priorities in landscape ecology is a development of the theoretically consistent framework for quantifying, ordering and classifying landscape patterns.ObjectiveTo demonstrate that the Information Theory as applied to a bivariate random variable provides a consistent framework for quantifying, ordering, and classifying landscape patterns.MethodsAfter presenting Information Theory in the context of landscapes, information-theoretical metrics were calculated for an exemplar set of landscapes embodying all feasible configurations of land cover patterns. Sequences and 2D parametrization of patterns in this set were performed to demonstrate the feasibility of Information Theory for the analysis of landscape patterns.ResultsUniversal classification of landscape into pattern configuration types was achieved by transforming landscapes into a 2D space of weakly correlated information-theoretical metrics. An ordering of landscapes by any single metric cannot produce a sequence of continuously changing patterns. In real-life patterns, diversity induces complexity – increasingly diverse patterns are increasingly complex.ConclusionsInformation theory provides a consistent, theory-based framework for the analysis of landscape patterns. Information-theoretical parametrization of landscapes offers a method for their classification.

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Lindner ◽  
Ayako Hiyoshi ◽  
Liselotte Hermansson

Background: The International Classification of functioning, disability and health refers capacity to what an individual can do in a standardised environment and describes performance as what an individual really does and whether the individual encounters any difficulty in the real-life environment. Measures of capacity and performance can help to determine if there is any gap between them that may restrict participation. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between capacity scores obtained in a standardised clinical setting and proportional ease of performance obtained from a real-life environment. Methods: The Assessment of Capacity for Myoelectric Control and the Prosthetic Upper Extremity Functional Index were used to assess capacity and performance in 62 prosthetic users (age 3–17). Spearman coefficient and generalised linear model were used to examine the association between these measures. Results: A strong correlation (Spearman = 0.75) was found between the capacity scores and the ease of performance. In both unadjusted and adjusted models, capacity was significantly associated with proportional ease of performance. The adjusted model showed that, by 1 unit increase in the Assessment of Capacity for Myoelectric Control score, the ratio of proportional ease of performance increases by 45%. Conclusion: This implies that Assessment of Capacity for Myoelectric Control can be a predictor for ease of performance in real-life environment. Clinical relevance The ACMC scores may serve as an indicator to predict the difficulties that the children may encounter in their home environment. This prediction can help the clinician to make decisions, such that if the child requires more control training or is ready to move on to learn more complex tasks.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peichao Gao ◽  
Samuel A. Cushman ◽  
Gang Liu ◽  
Sijing Ye ◽  
Shi Shen ◽  
...  

The past several years have witnessed much progress in landscape ecology and fractal analysis. In landscape ecology, the gradient model of landscape patterns (i.e., landscape gradient) has emerged as a new operating paradigm, where most landscape metrics do not apply because they were developed for the patch mosaic model. In the fractal analysis, a new definition of fractal has been proposed, and various new fractal metrics have been developed. This technical note aims to provide an intersection of these two lines of advance, which will further present an opportunity to advance geo-informatics by considering the latest progress in both landscape ecology and fractal analysis. We first present an overview of the new definition of fractal and all the fractal metrics developed under this new definition. Since the chief obstacle to geographers and landscape ecologists in applying these metrics is the lack of readily accessible methods for their easy computation, we then develop an integrated tool to compute them on landscape gradients. The developed tool facilitates the computation of these new fractal metrics. A case study was carried out with real-life landscape gradients, namely a digital terrain model. These new fractal metrics and the developed tool can be expected to facilitate the fractal characterization of the patterns of gradient landscapes and the understanding of landscape dynamics from a new perspective.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 780-787
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Hassan Hayatu ◽  
Abdullahi Mohammed ◽  
Barroon Ahmad Isma’eel ◽  
Sahabi Yusuf Ali

Soil fertility determines a plant's development process that guarantees food sufficiency and the security of lives and properties through bumper harvests. The fertility of soil varies according to regions, thereby determining the type of crops to be planted. However, there is no repository or any source of information about the fertility of the soil in any region in Nigeria especially the Northwest of the country. The only available information is soil samples with their attributes which gives little or no information to the average farmer. This has affected crop yield in all the regions, more particularly the Northwest region, thus resulting in lower food production.  Therefore, this study is aimed at classifying soil data based on their fertility in the Northwest region of Nigeria using R programming. Data were obtained from the department of soil science from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. The data contain 400 soil samples containing 13 attributes. The relationship between soil attributes was observed based on the data. K-means clustering algorithm was employed in analyzing soil fertility clusters. Four clusters were identified with cluster 1 having the highest fertility, followed by 2 and the fertility decreases with an increasing number of clusters. The identification of the most fertile clusters will guide farmers on where best to concentrate on when planting their crops in order to improve productivity and crop yield.


Author(s):  
Nguyen Van Hao

Bronze drums are widely distributed, broader than the range of a nation. Therefore, the identification of each kind of drum is a basic subject, should be concerned. In determining the tribal identity of the drum, the classification of drum is the key stage, the relationship between the objective of the classification and classification criteria is the relation as shape and shadow, if there is no right criteria then the result of division will be difficult to reach the desired goal. Likewise, the criterion of the pattern on the bronze drum brought to the affirmation is the Dong Son bronze drum of the Lac Viet people. And the parallel is the affirmation of the culture, way of life, residence of the nation created the drum.


2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-169
Author(s):  
M L Mojapelo

Storytelling consists of an interaction between a narrator and a listener, both of whom assign meaning to the story as a whole and its component parts. The meaning assigned to the narrative changes over time under the influence of the recipient‟s changing precepts and perceptions which seem to be simplistic in infancy and more nuanced with age. It becomes more philosophical in that themes touching on the more profound questions of human existence tend to become more prominently discernible as the subject moves into the more reflective or summative phases of his or her existence. The aim of this article is to demonstrate the metaphorical character of a story, as reflected in changing patterns of meaning assigned to the narrative in the course of the subjective receiver‟s passage through the various stages of life. This was done by analysing meaning, from a particular storytelling session, at different stages of a listener‟s personal development. Meaning starts as literal and evolves through re-interpretation to abstract and deeper levels towards application in real life.


GIS Business ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 577-585
Author(s):  
T. Vivekanandan ◽  
S. Sachithanantham

In inventory control, suitable models for various real life systems are constructed with the objective of determining the optimal inventory level.  A new type of inventory model using the so-called change of distribution property is analyzed in this paper. There are two machines M1 and M2  in series and the output of M1 is the input of M2. Hence a reserve inventory between M1 and M2 is to be maintained. The method of obtaining the optimal size of reserve inventory, assuming cost of excess inventory, cost of shortage and when the rate of consumption of M2  is a constant, has already been attempted.  In this paper, it is assumed that the repair time of M1  is a random variable and the distribution of the same undergoes a change of distribution  after the truncation point X0 , which is taken to be a random variable.  The optimal size of the reserve inventory is obtained under the above said  assumption . Numerical illustrations are also provided.


Author(s):  
B.A. Voronin ◽  
◽  
I.P. Chupina ◽  
Ya.V. Voronina ◽  
◽  
...  

The article discusses a non-standard view of the formation of human capital for work in organizations of the agricultural sector of the economy, in the context of modern socio-economic transformations. In the classical sense, human capital for agriculture should be formed and developed in rural areas. But in real life, this is not always the case, because there are many factors that prevent the classical solution of this problem. First, the demographic factor affects, second, social and household factors, and third, in many rural areas there are no working agricultural organizations where qualified agricultural specialists can work. All these and other circumstances actualize the problem of the quality of human capital in rural areas in relation to the development of agricultural production.


Author(s):  
Andrey Varlamov ◽  
Vladimir Rimshin

Considered the issues of interaction between man and nature. Noted that this interaction is fundamental in the existence of modern civilization. The question of possible impact on nature and society with the aim of preserving the existence of human civilization. It is shown that the study of this issue goes towards the crea-tion of models of interaction between nature and man. Determining when building models is information about the interaction of man and nature. Considered information theory from the viewpoint of interaction between nature and man. Noted that currently information theory developed mainly as a mathematical theory. The issues of interaction of man and nature, the availability and existence of information in the material sys-tem is not studied. Indicates the link information with the energy terms control large flows of energy. For con-sideration of the interaction of man and nature proposed to use the theory of degradation. Graphs are pre-sented of the information in the history of human development. Reviewed charts of population growth. As a prediction it is proposed to use the simplest based on the theory of degradation. Consideration of the behav-ior of these dependencies led to the conclusion about the existence of communication energy and information as a feature of the degradation of energy. It justifies the existence of border life ( including humanity) at the point with maximum information. Shows the relationship of energy and time using potential energy.


2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iulia Potorac ◽  
Patrick Petrossians ◽  
Adrian F Daly ◽  
Franck Schillo ◽  
Claude Ben Slama ◽  
...  

Responses of GH-secreting adenomas to multimodal management of acromegaly vary widely between patients. Understanding the behavioral patterns of GH-secreting adenomas by identifying factors predictive of their evolution is a research priority. The aim of this study was to clarify the relationship between the T2-weighted adenoma signal on diagnostic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in acromegaly and clinical and biological features at diagnosis. An international, multicenter, retrospective analysis was performed using a large population of 297 acromegalic patients recently diagnosed with available diagnostic MRI evaluations. The study was conducted at ten endocrine tertiary referral centers. Clinical and biochemical characteristics, and MRI signal findings were evaluated. T2-hypointense adenomas represented 52.9% of the series, were smaller than their T2-hyperintense and isointense counterparts (P<0.0001), were associated with higher IGF1 levels (P=0.0001), invaded the cavernous sinus less frequently (P=0.0002), and rarely caused optic chiasm compression (P<0.0001). Acromegalic men tended to be younger at diagnosis than women (P=0.067) and presented higher IGF1 values (P=0.01). Although in total, adenomas had a predominantly inferior extension in 45.8% of cases, in men this was more frequent (P<0.0001), whereas in women optic chiasm compression of macroadenomas occurred more often (P=0.0067). Most adenomas (45.1%) measured between 11 and 20 mm in maximal diameter and bigger adenomas were diagnosed at younger ages (P=0.0001). The T2-weighted signal differentiates GH-secreting adenomas into subgroups with particular behaviors. This raises the question of whether the T2-weighted signal could represent a factor in the classification of acromegalic patients in future studies.


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