The challenge of performing relative radiometric correction on raw nighttime-light (NTL) images captured by the Glimmer Image for Urbanization (GIU) sensor of the SDGSAT-1 satellite is the presence ...of stripe noise and vignetting. To address this issue, this article presents a universal method for relative radiometric correction of NTL images captured by the push-broom system. A new automated approach to NTL pixel identification based on gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) was developed to mask NTL ground object pixels from stripe noise, allowing for the calculation of credible stripe noise thresholds. The novel calibration data called "Night-Day" orbital data were introduced for vignetting correction. The "Night-Day" orbital data feature an abnormal transition zone that can be used to determine the vignetting correction parameters. The stripe noise thresholds and vignetting correction parameters can be applied to other raw orbital images. Experiments were conducted on raw images from different dates to verify the universality and robustness of the method, and the results were found to be superior to existing methods. A comparison was also made between the calibrated images and the original official Level-1 products, with the results indicating that the correction parameters calculated by the proposed method resolve the defects in the original Level-1 products. The correction parameters have been accepted by the official and have been used to update the original GIU Level-1 products. Finally, the results of relative radiometric correction on raw images from around the world further demonstrate the universality and credibility of the correction parameters.
There is strong evidence concerning the impact of heat stress on mortality, particularly from high temperatures. However, few studies to our knowledge emphasize the importance of hot nights, which ...may prevent necessary nocturnal rest.
In this study, we use hot-night duration and excess to predict daily cause-specific mortality in summer, using multiple cities across Southern Europe.
We fitted time series regression models to summer cause-specific mortality, including natural, respiratory, and cardiovascular causes, in 11 cities across four countries. We included a distributed lag nonlinear model with lags up to 7 days for hot night duration and excess adjusted by daily mean temperature. We summarized city-specific associations as overall-cumulative exposure-response curves at the country level using meta-analysis.
We found positive but generally nonlinear associations between relative risk (RR) of cause-specific mortality and duration and excess of hot nights. RR of duration associated with nonaccidental mortality in Portugal was 1.29 (95% confidence interval CI = 1.07, 1.54); other associations were imprecise, but we also found positive city-specific estimates for Rome and Madrid. Risk of hot-night excess ranged from 1.12 (95% CI = 1.05, 1.20) for France to 1.37 (95% CI = 1.26, 1.48) for Portugal. Risk estimates for excess were consistently higher than for duration.
This study provides new evidence that, over a wider range of locations, hot night indices are strongly associated with cause-specific deaths. Modeling the impact of thermal characteristics during summer nights on mortality could improve decisionmaking for preventive public health strategies.
Surgical resident operative autonomy is critical for trainee maturation to independence. Acute care surgery (ACS) cases commonly occur off-hours and tension between operating room availability and ...on-call staff can affect resident operative autonomy. We examined operative resident autonomy for general, vascular, and thoracic (GVT) surgery during nights and weekends. We hypothesized that residents would be afforded less operative autonomy during off - hours than weekdays.
This retrospective cohort study uses the Veterans Affairs Surgical Quality Improvement Program database, we examined all GVT cases at Veterans Affairs teaching hospitals from 2004 to 2019. All cases are coded for the level of supervision at the time of surgery: AP, attending primary surgeon; AR, attending and resident operating together; and RP, resident primary (attending supervising but not scrubbed). Cases starting between 6 pm to 7 am Monday through Friday were considered nights, cases on Saturday/Sunday were considered weekends, and collectively considered "off-hours." Resident primary case rates were compared by start time and type.
Over the 15-year study period, there were 666,421 GVT cases performed with 38,097 cases (6%) performed off-hours. During off-hours, 31,396 (83%) were ACS compared with 5% of daytime cases. Overall, off-hours cases have higher RP rate than daytime cases (6.8% vs. 5.8%, p < 0.001). Daytime ACS cases have higher rates of RP than nights/weekends (7.6% vs. 6.8%, p < 0.001). Conversely, daytime elective cases have lower RP than nights (5.7% vs. 7.9%, p < 0.001). During off-hours, there are more RP cases on nights compared with weekends (7.1% vs. 6.5%, p = 0.02).
Overall, residents were afforded more operative autonomy during off-hours, with nights having greater RP than weekends. In contrast, ACS cases have more autonomy during weekdays. These data have potentially significant implications for ACS service staffing, night float rotations, and overall resident operative experience on ACS services.
Prognostic and Epidemiological; Level III.
To date, The Arabian Nights still create frames of reference outside its fictive core. The article critically examined the adaptations and appropriation of the classic Arabian Nights by Edgar Allan ...Poe and how he invested his interest in the Orient to advance his career as a writer. More specifically, the aim was to study the links between European Orientalism and the new version of the Orient constructed in the United States. Various modes of reading and approaches were used to critically interpret the primary texts. Orientalism and postcolonial theories provided a theoretical framework for the study, and the deconstructive approach was applied in certain contexts to deconstruct and dismantle the stereotyping and mythologizing of the Orient. The article contributed to the growing scholarship on American oriental discourse by offering a counter perspective. Poe’s poems and short stories all perpetuate negative oriental representations. His obsession with the Orient is not reflected as aesthetic appreciation but it is rather appropriation that distorts and never restores. Poe’s oriental discourse is only examined lately by Arab critics of American literature and more specifically it surfaced through translations of his works into Arabic. Through stereotypical duplication in the world of realism, a fake Orient has become there in the world of reality.
One Thousand and One Nights - also known in English as the Arabian Nights - is a compilation of folkloric tales, with anonymous author(s), dating as far back as the 14th or 15th century but assumed ...to be rooted much earlier, perhaps the 10th century in its Arabic version and even earlier in its lost Persian embodiment. This authorless work was introduced to the West first in the 18th and later in the 19th century by its French and English Orientalist translators by whom it was brought to life reborn in an alien environment with radically different perceptions and receptions. Since then, The Nights has become one of the most global and yet misunderstood works across various artistic versions besides literature. The narrative framework tells us tales that are widely varied and spread in various regions with their historical and cultural backgrounds, including Persia, Arabia, India, Egypt, China, and so on. On this account, this paper aims to highlight that the multiplicity and hybridity of voices, histories, and cultures position the work at a transnational crossroads. Without dismissing the Oriental aspects of the work, this paper emphasizes that the adaptation and appropriation of such an elusive work with a convoluted history cannot be discussed authoritatively (either through Western Oriental or Post-Colonial or Islamic perspectives) when there is no one author or manuscript or no one culture and nation as a reference point. Each translation or adaptation helps the work expand its transnational network, interconnect old and new, East and West together, bridge differences and continue to address the questions of cultural transformation.
Global climate change (GCC) is one of the most challenging concerns for humanity in the coming decades. Agricultural production and food safety are not exempt from this phenomenon. The occurrence of ...warm nights is projected to increase by the end of the century, which could modify the occurrence of fungal diseases such as Fusarium Head Blight (FHB). Understanding how GCC can affect plant-pathogen interactions could help predict negative impacts in cereal crops under field conditions.
The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of warm nights (+3°C) on the pathosystem F. graminearum-bread wheat under field conditions. Specifically, this work focused on the combination of biotic stress (FHB infection) and abiotic stress (warm nights) on the behaviour of commercial wheat genotypes.
Field assays were carried out during three consecutive growing seasons (2019, 2020, and 2021) under field conditions. Two commercial wheat genotypes with contrasting baking quality were tested under GCC projected conditions. During the susceptibility period for FHB infection, three treatments were applied: natural conditions, inoculated with F. graminearum, and temperature treatment + F. graminearum. After 21 days post-inoculation, disease parameters were registered, while after harvest, grain yield, grain quality, and rheological properties were evaluated.
Warm nights increased disease incidence (up to 16%), disease severity (3% on average), and FDK (0.12%) depending on the year and genotype. These changes negatively impact on grain number m-2 (≈4%) and hectolitre weight (up to 1.32 hL-1). Moreover, grain quality parameters such as protein content (up to 1.20%), wet gluten (≈2%), and SDSS (≈3%) were higher when the night temperature was increased by 3°C. No significant changes were reported regarding rheological properties, although a change to a better baking quality could occur depending on the genotype and the year.
Warm nights could increase FHB pathogenicity under GCC scenarios, affecting grain yield and grain quality parameters. However, the impact of warm nights on rheological properties remains unclear. The present study is the first approach to the impact of warm nights on F. graminearum-bread wheat, focusing on commercial genotypes and their potential impact on rheological properties. The information generated could be useful for scheduling promising plant breeding programmes to mitigate the negative impact of GCC on wheat crops.
Warm nights could increase the negative impact of FHB on wheat crops under field conditions, seriously compromising food safety under GCC.
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•Global climate change (GCC) worldwide affects agriculture and food safety.•Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) and warm nights could increase under climate change scenarios.•FHB occurrence will increase under GCC scenarios, negatively impacting grain quality and yield.•No significant variations were reported regarding rheological properties under GCC conditions.•The study of stress combinations would be relevant to designing GCC mitigation strategies.
