Nutrient Analysis and Species Diversity of Alpine Grasslands: A Comparative Analysis of Less Studied Biodiversity Hotspots

The alpine grasslands of Kashmir Himalaya act as a treasure house of floristic biodiversity. They have remained largely unstudied because of their remoteness and inaccessibility. It is imperative to have quantitative studies of these areas to allow the long-term monitoring of flora in these fragile ecosystems. During the present study, nutrient analysis and species diversity of some alpine grasslands were investigated. Electroconductivity (EC) of the soils ranged between 0.12 and 0.33 (dSm−1). With an increase in altitude and precipitation and a decrease in temperature, soil pH and available macro-nutrients (OC, N, P, K) show a considerable decrease. Sixty-six plant species belonging to twenty-nine families and fifty-one genera were reported with members predominantly from the Asteraceae, Rosaceae and Plantaginaceae families. Seven species were common to all study areas and Renyi diversity profiles showed that Kongwattan was the most diverse followed by Poshpathri and Yousmarg. The results of the Sorensen β diversity index showed a relatively lower dissimilarity index among the three studied alpine sites. In the majority of the growth forms, growth initiation was recorded in April, whereas senescence occurred in September. The highest bloom was seen in June-July. The plant species exhibited a greater variability in their phenophases under different environmental conditions and altitudinal gradients. Plants were more vigorous at lower altitudes and showed rapid response to the prevailing conditions. Stoloniferous forbs and tussock forming graminoids such as Sibbaldia cuneata, Trifolium repens, Plantago major, Trifolium pratense, Poa compressa, Poa angustifolia, and Plantago lanceolata showed a greater importance value index (IVI). The sedentary system of livestock rearing at Yousmarg resulted in the decreased density of the palatable species. This study allowed us to conclude that direct knowledge of soil nutrient composition and species diversity in alpine ecosystems can enhance conservation and ensure better management practices over a period of time.

Exploring Temporal Trends of Plant Invasion in Mediterranean Coastal Dunes

Alien plants represent a significant threat to species diversity and composition in natural habitats. Nevertheless, little is known about the dynamic of the invasion process and how its effects on native species change over time. In this study, we explored vegetation changes that occurred in invaded coastal dune habitats over the last 10–15 years (2005–2020), particularly addressing impacts on alien and diagnostic species. To monitor temporal trends, we used data resulting from a revisitation study. After detecting overall changes in alien species occurrence and cover over time, 127 total plots were grouped into plots experiencing colonization, loss, or persistence of alien species. For these three categories, we compared historical and resurveyed plots to quantify changes in native species composition (using the Jaccard dissimilarity index) and to measure variations in diagnostic species cover. The number of alien species doubled over time (from 6 to 12) and two species, Yucca gloriosa and Agave americana, strongly increased their cover (+5.3% and +11.4%, respectively). Furthermore, plots newly invaded appeared to record the greatest changes in both native and diagnostic species. Our results suggest the need for regular monitoring actions to better understand invasion processes over time and to implement effective management strategies in invaded coastal dune habitats.

Dissimilarity-Based Regularized Learning of Charts

Chart images exhibit significant variabilities that make each image different from others even though they belong to the same class or categories. Classification of charts is a major challenge because each chart class has variations in features, structure, and noises. However, due to the lack of affiliation between the dissimilar features and the structure of the chart, it is a challenging task to model these variations for automatic chart recognition. In this article, we present a novel dissimilarity-based learning model for similar structured but diverse chart classification. Our approach jointly learns the features of both dissimilar and similar regions. The model is trained by an improved loss function, which is fused by a structural variation-aware dissimilarity index and incorporated with regularization parameters, making the model more prone toward dissimilar regions. The dissimilarity index enhances the discriminative power of the learned features not only from dissimilar regions but also from similar regions. Extensive comparative evaluations demonstrate that our approach significantly outperforms other benchmark methods, including both traditional and deep learning models, over publicly available datasets.

“All Blacks Are Angry”

This chapter examines the continuing disparities between Whites and Blacks through extensive social science data and studies of the impacts of systemic racism. It first utilizes what demographers call the dissimilarity index to measure housing segregation in major metropolitan areas; cities with heavily Black populations, such as Detroit, have become “hyper-segregated” with almost total “social isolation” of Blacks. The chapter then examines the long-standing academic and political debates over the causes of systemic racism, beginning in 1965 with a government report, The Negro Family: The Case for National Action, by a young Labor Department aide, Daniel Patrick “Pat” Moynihan. He found the main cause of Black poverty and increasing single Black motherhood in the “pathology” of a “matriarchal” Black family structure in which males are neither needed nor welcome. Moynihan’s report spurred an angry rebuttal in a book by psychology professor William Ryan, Blaming the Victim, which found the main cause of Black poverty in the systemic racism of White society and culture. The chapter then looks at social science studies by William Julius Wilson (explaining the “racial invariance” of White and Black crime); psychologist John Dollard (explaining the prevalence of Black-on-Black crime with the “frustration-aggression-displacement” theory); and Black psychiatrists William Grier and Price Cobbs (explaining “Black rage” as rooted in White control of institutions that exclude or discriminate against Blacks). The chapter concludes with a look at the War on Drugs of the 1980s and 1990s and the resulting mass incarceration of Black men.

HUBUNGAN KEKERABATAN FENETIK 7 SPESIES JERUK DI DATARAN TINGGI BENER MERIAH

The study about “Phenetic Relationship of 7 Species of Orange Plants in BenerMeriah Highlands” was inducted back in August until September 2017. The aim of this study is to describe the morphological characterization of 7 species of orange plants in BenerMeriah highlands and to understand the phenetic relationship of 7 species of oranges plant in BenerMeriah highlands. The method used in this study was observation with the type of mixture between qualitative and quantitative. The subjects of this study are 7 species of orange plants, namely: a) Citrus reticulata; b) Citrus amblycarpa; c) Citrus hystrix; d) Citrus nobilis; e) Citrus maxima; f) Citrus sinensis; and g) Citrus aurantifolia. The parameters of this study were the morphological characteristic of stems, leaves, fruits and flowers. The collected data were analyzed descriptively, where the similarities were measured using Similarity Index (SI) and the dissimilarities were measured using Dissimilarity Index (DI) to classify the total of 7 species of orange plants using cluster analysis. According to the morphological characteristics, it could be concluded that there are several differences and similarities among the 7 species of orange plants found in BenerMeriah Regency. The combination of Citrus hystrix with Citrus aurantifolia have the closest phenetic relationship, which have 66 of SI. The other combinations that also have close phenetic relationship are Citrus hystrix with Citrus maxima and Citrus nobilis with Citrus sinensis. The pheneticrelationship that have the highest DI is the combination of Citrus amblycarpa with Citrus maxima, which have 88 of DI

Inequality and Income Segregation in Brazilian cities: A Nationwide Analysis

Urban segregation has brought significant challenges to cities worldwide and has important implications for health. This study aimed to assess income segregation in the 152 largest Brazilian cities included in the SALURBAL Project and identify specific socioeconomic characteristics related to residential segregation by income. Using the Brazilian demographic census database of the year 2010, we calculated the income dissimilarity index (IDI) at census tract level for each SALURBAL city; subsequently comparing it with Gini and other local socioeconomic variables. We evaluated our results' robustness using a bootstrap correction to the IDI to examine the consequences of using different cut-offs of income that were relevant in the context of strong urban and regional inequalities. We identified a 2 minimum wages cut-off as the most appropriate and found little evidence of upward bias in the calculation of the IDI regardless of the cut-off used. Among the 10 most segregated cities, 9 are in the Northeast region, the region with the highest income inequality and poverty in Brazil. Our results indicate that the Gini index and poverty are the main variables associated with residential segregation, measured by the IDI. Social and environmental characteristics were also associated with IDI, reinforcing the notion that access to education, water, sanitation, and better residential conditions are fundamental to improving social equity.

Invasion and escalation of Aleurodicus rugioperculatus (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae): An alarming pest in east coast region of India

Invasive species causes serious threat to the natural ecosystem. Severe and up surging phenomenon of exotic rugose spiraling whitefly (RSW), Aleurodicus rugioperculatus Martin became a major concern in global crop production. The present study aimed to document and assesses the host range, nature, and intensity of damage caused by this cryptic species. The roving survey was conducted to study the occurrence of RSW in the fruit orchards, vegetable gardens, ornamental crops, and avenues trees plantation in the east-coast region of India. Hierarchical clustering was performed based on its incidence on different host plants and correlated with the dissimilarity index. The RSW was identified based on morphological characteristics and the nature of the damage. RSW infested a total of twenty-seven crops was noticed. Four host plants viz., Cocos nucifera L., Musa sp., Psidium guajava L., and Syzygium cumini L. Skeels showed severe levels of infestation. An important implication from the current study is the occurrence of its incidence on the two new host crops viz., Amaranthus tricolor L. and Solanum torvum that was envisaged firstly to the scientific world. This study provides baseline information about RSW among various stakeholders and helps to develop a sustainable management strategy for timely mitigation of RSW menace.

Quantitative Soundscape Analysis to Understand Multidimensional Features

A methodology for the analysis of soundscapes was developed in an attempt to facilitate efficient and accurate soundscape comparisons across time and space. The methodology consists of a collection of traditional soundscape metrics, statistical measures, and acoustic indices that were selected to quantify several salient properties of marine soundscapes: amplitude, impulsiveness, periodicity, and uniformity. The metrics were calculated over approximately 30 h of semi-continuous passive acoustic data gathered in seven unique acoustic environments. The resultant metric values were compared to a priori descriptions and cross-examined statistically to determine which combination most effectively captured the characteristics of the representative soundscapes. The best measures of amplitude, impulsiveness, periodicity, and uniformity were determined to be SPLrms and SPLpk for amplitude, kurtosis for impulsiveness, an autocorrelation based metric for periodicity, and the Dissimilarity index for uniformity. The metrics were combined to form the proposed “Soundscape Code,” which allows for rapid multidimensional and direct comparisons of salient soundscape properties across time and space. This initial characterization will aid in directing further analyses and guiding subsequent assessments to understand soundscape dynamics.

Inkjet-printed fully customizable and low-cost electrodes matrix for gesture recognition

The use of surface electromyography (sEMG) is rapidly spreading, from robotic prostheses and muscle computer interfaces to rehabilitation devices controlled by residual muscular activities. In this context, sEMG-based gesture recognition plays an enabling role in controlling prosthetics and devices in real-life settings. Our work aimed at developing a low-cost, print-and-play platform to acquire and analyse sEMG signals that can be arranged in a fully customized way, depending on the application and the users’ needs. We produced 8-channel sEMG matrices to measure the muscular activity of the forearm using innovative nanoparticle-based inks to print the sensors embedded into each matrix using a commercial inkjet printer. Then, we acquired the multi-channel sEMG data from 12 participants while repeatedly performing twelve standard finger movements (six extensions and six flexions). Our results showed that inkjet printing-based sEMG signals ensured significant similarity values across repetitions in every participant, a large enough difference between movements (dissimilarity index above 0.2), and an overall classification accuracy of 93–95% for flexion and extension, respectively.

Interpretation of Spectral LiDAR Backscattering off the Florida Coast

A multispectral backscattering LiDAR (Light detection and range) system (hereafter Oculus) was integrated into a wave glider and used to estimate the scattering order (i.e., single vs multiple collisions) of LIDAR backscattering, the water inherent optical properties (IOPs), the biogeo-chemical characteristics of particulate scatterers (i.e., relative size, composition) and their motion) on shelf waters of South East Florida. Oculus has a dual-wavelength configuration (473 and 532 nm) and two detection geometries (off- and on-axis). Characteristics of scatterers were investigated based on two complementary LiDAR-derived proxies (the Structural Dissimilarity Index and the spectral slope of LiDAR backscattering). In March 2017, field measurements showed a covariation between direct and diffuse backscattering contributions during morning hours and away from shore. LiDAR attenuation coefficients explained up to 57% of IOPs variability. The analysis of LiDAR-derived proxies suggested higher turbidity and larger particulates near the coast