The combination of LiDAR and optical remotely sensed data provides unique information about ecosystem structure and function. Here, we describe the development, validation and application of a new ...airborne system that integrates commercial off the shelf LiDAR hyperspectral and thermal components in a compact, lightweight and portable system. Goddard’s LiDAR, Hyperspectral and Thermal (G-LiHT) airborne imager is a unique system that permits simultaneous measurements of vegetation structure, foliar spectra and surface temperatures at very high spatial resolution (~1 m) on a wide range of airborne platforms. The complementary nature of LiDAR, optical and thermal data provide an analytical framework for the development of new algorithms to map plant species composition, plant functional types, biodiversity, biomass and carbon stocks, and plant growth. In addition, G-LiHT data enhance our ability to validate data from existing satellite missions and support NASA Earth Science research. G-LiHT’s data processing and distribution system is designed to give scientists open access to both low- and high-level data products (http://gliht.gsfc.nasa.gov), which will stimulate the community development of synergistic data fusion algorithms. G-LiHT has been used to collect more than 6,500 km2 of data for NASA-sponsored studies across a broad range of ecoregions in the USA and Mexico. In this paper, we document G-LiHT design considerations, physical specifications, instrument performance and calibration and acquisition parameters. In addition, we describe the data processing system and higher-level data products that are freely distributed under NASA’s Data and Information policy.
Having geographical proximity and a high volume of trade with China, the first country to record an outbreak of the new Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Vietnam was expected to have a high risk of ...transmission. However, as of 4 April 2020, in comparison to attempts to containing the disease around the world, responses from Vietnam are seen as prompt and effective in protecting the interests of its citizens, with 239 confirmed cases and no fatalities. This study analyzes the situation in terms of Vietnam’s policy response, social media and science journalism. A self-made web crawl engine was used to scan and collect official media news related to COVID-19 between the beginning of January and April 4, yielding a comprehensive dataset of 14,952 news items. The findings shed light on how Vietnam—despite being under-resourced—has demonstrated political readiness to combat the emerging pandemic since the earliest days. Timely communication on any developments of the outbreak from the government and the media, combined with up-to-date research on the new virus by the Vietnamese science community, have altogether provided reliable sources of information. By emphasizing the need for immediate and genuine cooperation between government, civil society and private individuals, the case study offers valuable lessons for other nations concerning not only the concurrent fight against the COVID-19 pandemic but also the overall responses to a public health crisis.
•The differences in the children’s background can affect the reading attitudes of different genders.•Shared reading should be promoted in the family.•More book services should be organized for ...children.
Although the government has made an effort to encourage reading, a Vietnamese person only reads four books per year on average. As low reading culture might hinder Vietnam’s pursuit of a knowledge-driven economy, this paper examines the relationship of students’ reading attitudes with gender, reading promotion activities, parents’ involvement. A dataset of 4966 secondary students in Northern Vietnam was used. The Bayesian method was employed to analyze the relationship between students’ reading attitudes and the following factors: their gender, reading promotion activities, parents’ involvement. The findings suggest that female students show more interest in reading than male students. Shared reading between parents and children positively correlates with students’ reading attitudes while buying books for children does not. All types of activities and services promoting reading habits positively correlate with students’ attitudes towards reading activities. Among the four examined services (storytelling contests, story-writing contest, book exhibition, and drawing book illustration), storytelling contest shows a strong association with reading attitudes while drawing book illustration has the weakest impact on reading attitudes.
This research aims to improve stakeholder engagement, particularly local businesses, in addressing environmental problems and taking on both ecological conservation and social responsibilities. A ...structured dataset was built to track all major environment‐related events in Vietnam. Findings, which were extracted from 344 news reports and 75 environmental events, highlight the lack of participation on Vietnamese businesses in sustainable development, with existing corporate activities still driven by practical concerns, that is, profitability. Notably, a minimum of one governmental agency was involved in 82.6% of the events categorized as environmentally damaging, with investigative or administrative tasks being their dominant role. Going forward, there is a need for systematic information collection and public disclosure on business and government involvements in environmental events. Given that Vietnam is expected to be hard hit by climate change, a better understanding of corporate sustainability issues would be beneficial to both the firms and society in the long run.
The development of efficient and selective C−N bond‐forming reactions from abundant feedstock chemicals remains a central theme in organic chemistry owing to the key roles of amines in synthesis, ...drug discovery, and materials science. Herein, we present a dual catalytic system for the N‐alkylation of diverse aromatic carbocyclic and heterocyclic amines directly with carboxylic acids, by‐passing their preactivation as redox‐active esters. The reaction, which is enabled by visible‐light‐driven, acridine‐catalyzed decarboxylation, provides access to N‐alkylated secondary and tertiary anilines and N‐heterocycles. Additional examples, including double alkylation, the installation of metabolically robust deuterated methyl groups, and tandem ring formation, further demonstrate the potential of the direct decarboxylative alkylation (DDA) reaction.
No beating about the bush: (Hetero)aromatic amines underwent decarboxylative N‐alkylation directly with carboxylic acids with a dual copper/acridine photocatalytic system. The directional character of the acridine photocatalysis facilitates the challenging decarboxylation of unactivated carboxylic acids in the presence of more readily oxidizable anilines, thus enabling the use of a wide range of structurally diverse amine and acid substrates (see scheme).
We report on the ultraviolet optical response of a color center in hexagonal boron nitride. We demonstrate a mapping between the vibronic spectrum of the color center and the phonon dispersion in ...hexagonal boron nitride, with a striking suppression of the phonon assisted emission signal at the energy of the phonon gap. By means of nonperturbative calculations of the electron-phonon interaction in a strongly anisotropic phonon dispersion, we reach a quantitative interpretation of the acoustic phonon sidebands from cryogenic temperatures up to room temperature. Our analysis provides an original method for estimating the spatial extension of the electronic wave function in a point defect.
The increasing application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in health and medicine has attracted a great deal of research interest in recent decades. This study aims to provide a global and historical ...picture of research concerning AI in health and medicine. A total of 27,451 papers that were published between 1977 and 2018 (84.6% were dated 2008⁻2018) were retrieved from the Web of Science platform. The descriptive analysis examined the publication volume, and authors and countries collaboration. A global network of authors' keywords and content analysis of related scientific literature highlighted major techniques, including Robotic, Machine learning, Artificial neural network, Artificial intelligence, Natural language process, and their most frequent applications in Clinical Prediction and Treatment. The number of cancer-related publications was the highest, followed by Heart Diseases and Stroke, Vision impairment, Alzheimer's, and Depression. Moreover, the shortage in the research of AI application to some high burden diseases suggests future directions in AI research. This study offers a first and comprehensive picture of the global efforts directed towards this increasingly important and prolific field of research and suggests the development of global and national protocols and regulations on the justification and adaptation of medical AI products.
'Dysbiosis' of the maternal gut microbiome, in response to challenges such as infection
, altered diet
and stress
during pregnancy, has been increasingly associated with abnormalities in brain ...function and behaviour of the offspring
. However, it is unclear whether the maternal gut microbiome influences neurodevelopment during critical prenatal periods and in the absence of environmental challenges. Here we investigate how depletion and selective reconstitution of the maternal gut microbiome influences fetal neurodevelopment in mice. Embryos from antibiotic-treated and germ-free dams exhibited reduced brain expression of genes related to axonogenesis, deficient thalamocortical axons and impaired outgrowth of thalamic axons in response to cell-extrinsic factors. Gnotobiotic colonization of microbiome-depleted dams with a limited consortium of bacteria prevented abnormalities in fetal brain gene expression and thalamocortical axonogenesis. Metabolomic profiling revealed that the maternal microbiome regulates numerous small molecules in the maternal serum and the brains of fetal offspring. Select microbiota-dependent metabolites promoted axon outgrowth from fetal thalamic explants. Moreover, maternal supplementation with these metabolites abrogated deficiencies in fetal thalamocortical axons. Manipulation of the maternal microbiome and microbial metabolites during pregnancy yielded adult offspring with altered tactile sensitivity in two aversive somatosensory behavioural tasks, but no overt differences in many other sensorimotor behaviours. Together, our findings show that the maternal gut microbiome promotes fetal thalamocortical axonogenesis, probably through signalling by microbially modulated metabolites to neurons in the developing brain.
Highlights • The first study comparing methadone treatment with compulsory detention in Asia. • Methadone treatment more effective and less costly than compulsory detention. • Over 3 years, methadone ...treatment cost US$4,108 less for one participant. • Over 3 years, an additional 344 drug-free days gained for a methadone participant.
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