Role Of Provenance Research Articles

Understanding How In-Visualization Provenance Can Support Trade-off Analysis.

In domains such as agronomy or manufacturing, experts need to consider trade-offs when making decisions that involve several, often competing, objectives. Such analysis is complex and may be conducted over long periods of time, making it hard to revisit. In this paper, we consider the use of analytic provenance mechanisms to aid experts recall and keep track of trade-off analysis. We implemented VisProm, a web-based trade-off analysis system, that incorporates in-visualization provenance views, designed to help experts keep track of trade-offs and their objectives. We used VisProm as a technology probe to understand user needs and explore the potential role of provenance in this context. Through observation sessions with three groups of experts analyzing their own data, we make the following contributions. We first, identify eight high-level tasks that experts engaged in during trade-off analysis, such as locating and characterizing interest zones in the trade-off space, and show how these tasks can be supported by provenance visualization. Second, we refine findings from previous work on provenance purposes such as recall and reproduce, by identifying specific objects of these purposes related to trade-off analysis, such as interest zones, and exploration structure (e.g., exploration of alternatives and branches). Third, we discuss insights on how the identified provenance objects and our designs support these trade-off analysis tasks, both when revisiting past analysis and while actively exploring. And finally, we identify new opportunities for provenance-driven trade-off analysis, for example related to monitoring the coverage of the trade-off space, and tracking alternative trade-off scenarios.

Data Provenance in Security and Privacy

Provenance information corresponds to essential metadata that describes the entities, users, and processes involved in the history and evolution of a data object. The benefits of tracking provenance information have been widely understood in a variety of domains; however, only recently have provenance solutions gained interest in the security community. Indeed, on the one hand, provenance allows for a reliable historical analysis enabling security-related applications such as forensic analysis and attribution of malicious activity. On the other hand, the unprecedented changes in the threat landscape place demands for securing provenance information to facilitate its trustworthiness.With the recent growth of provenance studies in security, in this work we examine the role of data provenance in security and privacy. To set this work in context, we outline fundamental principles and models of data provenance and explore how the existing studies achieve security principles. We further review the existing schemes for securing data provenance collection and manipulation known as secure provenance and the role of data provenance for security and privacy, which we refer to as threat provenance.

Provenance and transport mechanism of gravity core sediments in the deep-water area of the Qiongdongnan Basin, northern South China Sea

Reconstructing the role of provenance and transport mechanism of sediments deposited in deep-water environments is often complex because of myriad of factors such as variability in sediment sources, tectonics, bottom morphology, climatic changes and sea level fluctuations as well as current regime. The South China Sea (SCS) is situated at the tectonic intersection of the Pacific, Eurasian, and Indo-Australian plates, and provides an excellent natural laboratory for understanding source-to-sink transport processes of fluvial sediments. The Qiongdongnan Basin (QDNB) is located in the northern part of the SCS, and the deep-water area (>300 m) of the QDNB has a good hydrocarbon source and hydrocarbon accumulation conditions with a tremendous thickness since the late Miocene-Quaternary. However, the complex sources and transport mechanisms of sediments in the QDNB are undefined. In previous study QDNB may have a major provenance or a mixture of sources. In this paper, the sediments of two cores from the deep-water area of QDNB have been analyzed using several sedimentological and geochemical approaches, including measurements of grain size distribution(433 samples), the occurrence of minerals, and trace element geochemistry(37 samples)as well as strontium and neodymium isotopes(20 samples).The granularity analysis results first show that the 19S37 core can be divided into three stages while the 19S40 core is divided into two stages by clear vertical variations in grain size characteristics. Chlorite (62.0%) and Muscovite (33.6%) appear to be the predominant minerals in the 19S37 core, while the mineral assemblage of sediments from 19S40 mainly consists of kaolinite (37.4%), muscovite (29.2%) and chlorite (27.1%). The primitive mantle standardization curves and chondrite standardized distribution patterns of 19S37 and 19S40 are consistent and display enrichments in Th, U, Pb, and Nd and depletions in Ba, Nb, Sr, and Eu. In addition, the content of Sr fluctuates greatly with depth, which should reflect the influences of sea level changes and the relative proportion of various provenance components. The 143Nd/144Nd ratios and εNd values of the sediments from 19S37 are higher than those of the sediments from 19S40, and all the εNd values show narrow variations and range from −10.085 to −11.080. We conclude that the sediments of the deep-water area in the upper Pleistocene-Holocene were mainly from the sources of the Red River, Taiwan, Pearl River, Hainan Island, and Vietnam. The transport mechanism of the sediments from Hainan Island can be explained by the short distance between the source region and the sedimentary site, while the large amounts of terrigenous sediment inputs derived from the Red River and advantageous morphology make the Red River the largest sediment source to cores 19S37 and 19S40. The transport distance and amount of Deep Water Current could be even more powerful to make Taiwan be the second largest source of modern sediments in QDNB.

The Role of Provenance for the Projected Growth of Juvenile European Beech under Climate Change

European beech is one of the most common tree species in Europe and is generally suggested to play even more of a prominent role in forestry in the future. It seems to have the potential to partially replace Norway spruce, as it is less sensitive to expected warmer and drier conditions. It is, however, not well known in which regions these new plantings would be particularly favourable and if specific provenances may be better adapted to the new conditions than others. Therefore, we estimated the potential early height growth under climate conditions in 2040–2060 for 20 beech provenances across a region covering the Czech Republic and Slovakia. This Central European region is expected to experience considerably drier and warmer conditions in the future. For this exercise, we implemented a new neural network model developed from height growth information obtained from the open-access BeechCOSTe52 database. The simulations are driven by past and future climate data obtained from the WorldClim database of historical climate data and future climate projections. Simulations revealed that provenances originating from drier regions performed on average significantly better than those from regions with good water supply. Moreover, provenances originating from drier regions had a particularly large advantage in the relatively arid regions of Central Czechia and Southern Slovakia. We can also confirm that all provenances showed a high phenotypic plasticity of height growth across the whole investigated region.

The Role of Provenance in the Tolerance of Urban Tree Species to Water and Heat Stress

The Role of Provenance in the Tolerance of Urban Tree Species to Water and Heat Stress

Dialectics of Association and Dissociation: Spaces of Valuation, Trade, and Retail in the Gemstone and Jewelry Sector

abstract This article aims to substantiate how processes of valuation translate between different registers of value. We develop an analytical framework of how valuation is intertwined with geographic origination and the geographies of association and dissociation, which establish how commodities and consumer products are either associated with, or dissociated from, matters that are beneficial or damaging for sales and brand reputation. The article focuses on the rather unexplored gemstone and jewelry sector, and shows how the analysis of value is not reducible to Marxist notions of exchange and use value but needs to take into account symbolic and sign value, and embrace dis/association dialectics. It develops a novel conceptual framework that draws upon the early work of Baudrillard on symbolic value, together with Marxian value theory, and mobilizes it for the analysis of association–dissociation dialectics and practices in global value chains. We are particularly concerned with the role of origination and provenance to highlight the intrinsically geographic dimensions of gemstones that are enacted by traders and retailers in the valuation process. The article shows how valuation and consumption of gemstone and jewelry play out through complex and multiscalar, relational associative and dissociative practices, which intertwine with revealed sustainability problems in the diamond industry. It also shows how a current rise in the value and popularity of colored stones interrelate with a corporate refocusing away from mined diamonds, and entails even more in-transparent supply networks.

Using genomics to design and evaluate the performance of underwater forest restoration

Abstract Restoration is an emerging intervention to reverse the degradation and loss of marine habitat‐formers and the ecosystem services they underpin. Current best practice seeks to restore populations by transplanting donor individuals chosen to replicate genetic diversity and structure of extant, nearby populations. However, genetic characteristics are rarely empirically examined across generations, despite their potential role in influencing restoration success. We used genomics to design a restoration program for lost underwater forests of Phyllospora comosa, a dominant forest‐forming macroalga that went locally extinct from reefs off Sydney, Australia. Population genetic diversity and structure of nearby extant populations informed choice of donor sites. We tested whether donor provenance influenced adult transplant survival, condition (via metrics of epibiosis) and the genetic characteristics of recruits at restoration sites. Extant populations of Phyllospora within a 100‐km radius of Sydney comprised three distinct genetic clusters with similar levels of genetic diversity. We transplanted reproductive adults from two of these sites, with the aim of restoring five Phyllospora forests with levels of genetic structure and diversity similar to donor populations. Donor provenance influenced survival and condition of transplanted adults and recruitment levels varied significantly among restoration sites. Yet, recruitment was rapid and genetic diversity and structure of the F1 generation resembled extant populations. This likely occurred because transplanted individuals reproduced synchronously and rapidly post‐transplantation, prior to mortality of adult donor transplants. Synthesis and applications. As restoration and the need to ‘future‐proof’ marine ecosystems increase globally, it will be critical to understand and harness the role of donor provenance, genetic diversity and structure in restoration success. By incorporating ecological and genomic data into restoration design and assessment, this study demonstrates that evidence‐based selection of macroalgal donors can result in F1 generation recruits with similar levels of genetic diversity and structure as extant populations, despite an effect of provenance on transplant survival and condition. This study also highlights the need for ongoing refinement of transplantation techniques to ensure future recruitment success.

Analytic Provenance in Practice: The Role of Provenance in Real-World Visualization and Data Analysis Environments.

Practical data analysis scenarios involve more than just the interpretation of data through visual and algorithmic analysis. Many real-world analysis environments involve multiple types of experts and analysts working together to solve problems and make decisions, adding organizational and social requirements to the mix. We aim to provide new knowledge about the role of provenance for practical problems in a variety of analysis scenarios central to national security. We present the findings from interviews with data analysts from domains, such as intelligence analysis, cyber-security, and geospatial intelligence. In addition to covering multiple analysis domains, our study also considers practical workplace implications related to organizational roles and the level of analyst experience. The results demonstrate how different needs for provenance depend on different roles in the analysis effort (e.g., data analyst, task managers, data analyst trainers, and quality control analysts). By considering the core challenges reported along with an analysis of existing provenance-support techniques through existing research and systems, we contribute new insights about needs and opportunities for improvements to provenance-support methods.

Role of geographical provenance in the response of silver fir seedlings to experimental warming and drought.

Changes in climate can alter the distribution and population dynamics of tree species by altering their recruitment patterns, especially at range edges. However, geographical patterns of genetic diversity could buffer the negative consequences of changing climate at rear range edges where populations might also harbour individuals with drought-adapted genotypes. Silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) reaches its south-western distribution limit in the Spanish Pyrenees, where recent climatic dieback events have disproportionately affected westernmost populations. We hypothesized that silver fir populations from the eastern Pyrenees are less vulnerable to the expected changing climate due to the inclusion of drought-resistant genotypes. We performed an experiment under strictly controlled conditions simulating projected warming and drought compared with current conditions and analysed physiology, growth and survival of silver fir seedlings collected from eastern and western Pyrenean populations. Genetic analyses separated eastern and western provenances in two different lineages. Climate treatments affected seedling morphology and survival of both lineages in an overall similar way: elevated drought diminished survival and induced a higher biomass allocation to roots. Increased temperature and drought provoked more negative stem water potentials and increased δ13C ratios in leaves. Warming reduced nitrogen concentration and increased soluble sugar content in leaves, whereas drought increased nitrogen concentration. Lineage affected these physiological parameters, with western seedlings being more sensitive to warming and drought increase in terms of δ13C, nitrogen and content of soluble sugars. Our results demonstrate that, in A. alba, differences in the physiological response of this species to drought are also associated with differences in biogeographical history.

The role of provenance in luxury textile brands

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the role that provenance holds within the luxury textiles market. It defines similarities and differences in the perception and acceptance of provenance as a key strategy for luxury textile brands in the USA and the UK. Its purpose is to establish a framework of identifiable communication strategies for future growth of the luxury brand sector. Design/methodology/approach – The study consisted of adopting an ethnographic approach to define the role of provenance within luxury brands in the USA and the UK. Attention was focused on textile heritage labels in the USA and in Scotland, to gain insight into how historic artisanship impacts the perception of luxury and authenticity by the consumer. Interviews with key strategists were conducted, and a comparison of the discussions disseminated. Findings – The narrative behind a product, its authenticity and provenance, are key drivers in luxury textile brands, with the perception of quality of utmost importance. Long-standing companies have interwoven provenances with their spiritual birthplaces, people and environment which can be leveraged in product introductions and branding. Practical implications – The paper provides a framework of key features of provenance to inform practitioners on dilemmas such as de-localization, re-localization and transcendence within the luxury brand sector. Originality/value – The paper furthers academic research by investigating contemporary issues in luxury consumer behaviour; specifically in relation to the perception of provenance. While research focuses on Western luxury textile brands and consumers, it provides reference criteria and recommendations to luxury brand strategists that can be adopted and adapted for different fields and geographic locations.

Formalizing the semantics of sea ice

We have initiated a project aimed at enhancing interdisciplinary understanding and usability of polar data by diverse communities. We have produced computer- and human-understandable models of sea ice that can be used to support the interoperability of a wide range of sea ice data. This has the potential to improve scientific predictive analyses and increase usage of the data by scientists, modelers, and forecasters as well as residents of communities that rely on sea ice. We have developed a family of ontologies, leveraging existing best in class models, including one module describing physical characteristics of sea ice, another describing sea ice charts, and a third modeling “egg codes” - an internationally accepted standard for symbolically representing sea ice within geographic regions. We used a semantic Web methodology to rapidly gather and refine requirements, design and iterate over the ontologies, and to evaluate the ontologies with respect to the use cases. We gathered requirements from a wide range of potential stakeholders reflecting the interests of operational ice centers, ice researchers, and indigenous people. We introduce the driving use case and provide an overview of the resulting open source ontologies. We also introduce some key technical considerations including the prominent role of provenance, terms of use, and credit in the model. We describe how the ontologies are being employed and highlight their compatibility with a wide range of existing standards previously developed by many of the stakeholder communities.

Are local filters blind to provenance? Ant seed predation suppresses exotic plants more than natives.

The question of whether species’ origins influence invasion outcomes has been a point of substantial debate in invasion ecology. Theoretically, colonization outcomes can be predicted based on how species’ traits interact with community filters, a process presumably blind to species’ origins. Yet, exotic plant introductions commonly result in monospecific plant densities not commonly seen in native assemblages, suggesting that exotic species may respond to community filters differently than natives. Here, we tested whether exotic and native species differed in their responses to a local community filter by examining how ant seed predation affected recruitment of eighteen native and exotic plant species in central Argentina. Ant seed predation proved to be an important local filter that strongly suppressed plant recruitment, but ants suppressed exotic recruitment far more than natives (89% of exotic species vs. 22% of natives). Seed size predicted ant impacts on recruitment independent of origins, with ant preference for smaller seeds resulting in smaller seeded plant species being heavily suppressed. The disproportionate effects of provenance arose because exotics had generally smaller seeds than natives. Exotics also exhibited greater emergence and earlier peak emergence than natives in the absence of ants. However, when ants had access to seeds, these potential advantages of exotics were negated due to the filtering bias against exotics. The differences in traits we observed between exotics and natives suggest that higher-order introduction filters or regional processes preselected for certain exotic traits that then interacted with the local seed predation filter. Our results suggest that the interactions between local filters and species traits can predict invasion outcomes, but understanding the role of provenance will require quantifying filtering processes at multiple hierarchical scales and evaluating interactions between filters.

The role of provenance in the diagenesis of siliciclastic reservoirs in the Upper Triassic Yanchang Formation, Ordos Basin, China

A better understanding of the controls on reservoir quality has become essential in the petroleum exploration in recent years. Determining the original composition of the sediment framework is important not only for paleogeographic reconstructions, but it is also vital for predicting the nature of physical and chemical diagenesis of the potential reservoirs. Depositional setting and diagenesis are important factors in controlling the type and quality of most siliciclastic reservoirs. We studied the Upper Triassic Chang 8 and 6 members, where the relationship between sediment provenance and diagenesis was examined. The study attempts to clarify sediment provenance and post-depositional diagenetic modifications of the sandstones through systematic analytical methods including petrographie macro- and microscopic analysis of grain and heavy mineral types, and measurements of the palaeocurrent direction of the Yanchang Formation sediments in the outcrops in order to determine the provenance of the studied sediments. Furthermore, the relationship between framework grains, pore types and diagenesis of the sediments was analyzed by thin section petrographic characterization using a polarizing microscope. Additionally, a JEOL JSM-T 330 scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with a digital imaging system was used to investigate the habits and textural relationships of diagenetic minerals. On the basis of our results, we believe that sediment provenance is a significant factor which controls the type and degree of diagenesis which may be expected in sandstones. In the Chang 8 and 6 members, the formation of chlorite rims and laumontite cement was observed where volcanic rock fragments constitute a large part of the framework grains. Furthermore, high biotite content provides abundant iron and magnesium and enables the formation of chlorite rims due to biotite hydrolysis. In addition, ductile deformation of biotite leads to strong mechanical compaction of the sediments. Conversely, high feldspar content diminishes the degree of mechanical compaction, however the dissolution of feldspar minerals in sandstones is commonly observed. Apart from feldspars, quartz and other rigid framework grains highly control the degree of mechanical compaction during the initial stage of burial (0–2 km).

Introduction to special issue on agricultural biodiversity, ecosystems and environment linkages in Africa

This paper introduces the contents of a special issue of Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment dedicated to “Agrobiodiversity & Africa”. Placed within the context of the scientific literature on agricultural biodiversity, its contribution to sustainable production and its importance in Africa, this special issue starts off with background articles which reviewed major agroecosystems in Africa, descriptions of their biodiversity resources, management, limitations and concerns. The follow-up scientific papers covered major components of biodiversity for agriculture namely soil biota, species diversity and germplasm diversity. The soil biota papers report research and findings on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the rhizosphere, termite and bacterial communities and evidence on the influence of their diversity on crop production. The crop species diversity papers provide evidence on the role of the diversity in influencing soil microbial properties as well as managing pest and diseases in crop production. Scientific evidence on the role and interactions of germplasm diversity and provenance with the environment are also presented.

Pattern of genotype–environment interaction in Picea glauca (Moench) Voss in Alberta, Canada

Genotype-environment interaction (GEI) among 19 white spruce provenances planted on eight sites in Alberta, Canada, was analyzed using type B correlations (r p ) and the additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) model. The objectives were to quantify the extent of crossover interaction for height and diameter; evaluate the age-trends in GEI for height and diameter; and examine the role of provenance and test site climate in causing GEI. A high-latitude (~59°N) site was poorly correlated (r p = −0.31 to 0.56) with sites located south of latitude 56°N; a high-elevation (1,220 m) site was poorly correlated (r p ≤ 0.40) with most of the sites located at medium and low elevations (≤800 m); additive main effects and multiplicative interaction analysis revealed a strong association between provenances and sites with similar climate; high-latitude provenances and sites with cool winters and dry summers, and high-elevation provenances and sites with high precipitation and short growing seasons contributed the greatest to GEI. Because the relationship between GEI and climate corresponds well with latitudes and topography, seed transfer in Alberta can be effectively regulated by setting latitude and elevation transfer limits that are periodically adjusted to reflect the changing conditions caused by climate change.

Role of sandstone provenance in the diagenetic albitization of feldspars: A case study of the Jurassic Tera Group sandstones (Cameros Basin, NE Spain)

The Cameros Basin (Iberian Chain, NE Spain) formed during the latest Jurassic–Early Cretaceous rifting stage in an extensional regime characterized by high subsidence rates. Its sedimentary infill (thicker than 6000 m) has been subdivided into eight depositional sequences (DS) mainly composed of continental sediments. DS 1 and DS 2 represent the first rifting stage (Tera Group, Tithonian), mainly formed by fluvial and lacustrine sediments. Sandstone petrofacies evolved from quartz-sedimentolithic in DS 1 to quartz-feldspathic in DS 2 due to the rifting process. In DS 2, three different types of detrital feldspars (K-feldspars, albites and polysynthetic plagioclases) with similar sodium-rich compositions (mean: Ab 94.0 An 4.5 Or 1.5) can be recognized. Chemically pure nonluminescent albites (Ab > 99%) are common. In DS 2, diagenetic albitization of both plagioclases and K-feldspars is inferred from conventional microscopy observations, cathodoluminescence and electron microprobe analyses. DS 1 contains few plagioclase grains, which show no evidence of transformation into albite. Although the albitization is characterized as diagenetic it seems to be provenance-controlled since it affects the units showing higher original plagioclase/K-feldspar ratio (DS 2), due to the greater influence of plutonic and metamorphic source areas in DS 2. Possible Na sources are: (1) the percolation of moderate to high salinity residual brines from related alkaline lakes developed at top of DS 2 in the eastern sector of the basin, (2) clay mineral reactions (sodium smectite to illite and chlorite) indicated by mudstone composition in the interlayered mudstones, and (3) the replacement of detrital sodium plagioclases by carbonate. These three sources can be complementary.

The role of provenance in illitization of deeply buried reservoir sandstones from Haltenbanken and north Viking Graben, offshore Norway

An extensive mineralogical and geochemical database has been compiled to evaluate the relationship between diagenesis and provenance of the Lower/Middle Jurassic sandstones from the Haltenbanken (Mid-Norway) and north Viking Graben. The data from the Haltenbanken area, from burial depths between 2.1 and 4.5 km relative to seafloor (RSF), show a reduction in K-feldspar and kaolin, and a sharp increase in illite content in sandstones which are presently located at depths greater than 3.7 km RSF (120–140°C). However, there is little change in the bulk K/Al molar ratio with depth, which suggests that potassium has been conserved during the precipitation of illite and dissolution of K-feldspar. The K/Al molar ratios in most of the deeply buried Haltenbanken sandstones are greater than 1/4, which corresponds to the molar ratio in illite. This indicates that excess K-feldspar is present, which is confirmed by petrographic observations. By contrast, deeply buried sandstones from the north Viking Graben are mostly characterised by the absence of K-feldspar, a K/Al molar ratio lower than illite and varying amounts of kaolin. This suggests that the amount of K-feldspar present at the onset of illitization (of kaolin) was lower in the north Viking Graben sandstones than in the Haltenbanken area. The degree of illitization of kaolin is higher in the Haltenbanken reservoirs as compared to the north Viking Graben, and this may be directly related to the higher K-feldspar content in the Haltenbanken sandstones. The survival of kaolin below 3.7 km RSF depth, in most of the plagioclase rich and K-feldspar poor sandstones from the north Viking Graben, therefore indicates that illitization of kaolin requires a local presence of K-feldspar in the sandstones.