Amazon.com

About: Amazon.com is a company organization based out in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Computer science & Service (business). The organization has 13363 authors who have published 17317 publications receiving 266589 citations.

Changes in Size of Deforested Patches in the Brazilian Amazon

Abstract: Different deforestation agents, such as small farmers and large agricultural businesses, create different spatial patterns of deforestation. We analyzed the proportion of deforestation associated with different-sized clearings in the Brazilian Amazon from 2002 through 2009. We used annual deforestation maps to determine total area deforested and the size distribution of deforested patches per year. The size distribution of deforested areas changed over time in a consistent, directional manner. Large clearings (>1000 ha) comprised progressively smaller amounts of total annual deforestation. The number of smaller clearings (6.25–50.00 ha) remained unchanged over time. Small clearings accounted for 73% of all deforestation in 2009, up from 30% in 2002, whereas the proportion of deforestation attributable to large clearings decreased from 13% to 3% between 2002 and 2009. Large clearings were concentrated in Mato Grosso, but also occurred in eastern Para and in Rondonia. In 2002 large clearings accounted for 17%, 15%, and 10% of all deforestation in Mato Grosso, Para, and Rondonia, respectively. Even in these states, where there is a highly developed agricultural business dominated by soybean production and cattle ranching, the proportional contribution of large clearings to total deforestation declined. By 2009 large clearings accounted for 2.5%, 3.5%, and 1% of all deforestation in Mato Grosso, Para, and Rondonia, respectively. These changes in deforestation patch size are coincident with the implementation of new conservation policies by the Brazilian government, which suggests that these policies are not effectively reducing the number of small clearings in primary forest, whether these are caused by large landholders or smallholders, but have been more effective at reducing the frequency of larger clearings.

Energy Efficient Geographical Load Balancing via Dynamic Deferral of Workload

Abstract: With the increasing popularity of Cloud computing and Mobile computing, individuals, enterprises and research centers have started outsourcing their IT and computational needs to on-demand cloud services. Recently geographical load balancing techniques have been suggested for data centers hosting cloud computation in order to reduce energy cost by exploiting the electricity price differences across regions. However, these algorithms do not draw distinction among diverse requirements for responsiveness across various workloads. In this paper, we use the flexibility from the Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to differentiate among workloads under bounded latency requirements and propose a novel approach for cost savings for geographical load balancing. We investigate how much workload to be executed in each data center and how much workload to be delayed and migrated to other data centers for energy saving while meeting deadlines. We present an offline formulation for geographical load balancing problem with dynamic deferral and give online algorithms to determine the assignment of workload to the data centers and the migration of workload between data centers in order to adapt with dynamic electricity price changes. We compare our algorithms with the greedy approach and show that significant cost savings can be achieved by migration of workload and dynamic deferral with future electricity price prediction. We validate our algorithms on MapReduce traces and show that geographic load balancing with dynamic deferral can provide 20-30% cost-savings.

Fire in the Tropical Rain Forest of the Amazon Basin

Abstract: Fire has long played an important role in the formation of vegetation types in Amazonia. During the Pleistocene, a large part of Amazonia was covered by grassland, with forest confined to small refugia (the number, size, and evolutionary importance of which are the subject of controversy) (Prance 1982). This period coincided with the arrival of the first humans in the area. Fires started by precolumbian human groups would have slowed the progress of recolonization of the grasslands by forest (e.g., Budowski 1956). Human-initiated burning of grasslands could be expected to affect both the 165,000 km2 of humid savannas of present-day Amazonia (such as those in Roraima in the Humaita area of the state of Amazonas) and the limit between the forest and the cerrado or central Brazilian scrubland. Charcoal in the soil of the lavrados (“natural” grasslands) of Roraima indicate large-scale burning about 1000 years B.P. (Sternberg 1968).

Managing information associated with network resources

Abstract: Systems, methods and interfaces for the selective management of information collected by a browser are provided. The browser obtains a network resource, such as a Web page, from a content provider, and collects information associated with the display and interaction with the content by a user. The browser presents, among other controls, a graphical icon that is representative of an integrated command to remove information collected while accessing a first network resource and to cause the browser application to access a second accessed network resource, Upon receipt of an input corresponding to the selection of the graphical icon, the browser deletes information collected while accessing the first network resource and accesses the second network resource.

Robotic induction and stowage in materials handling facilities

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for robotic induction in materials handling facilities with multiple inventory areas are disclosed. A control system directs one of one or more robotic devices to transport a particular portable storage unit of a plurality of portable storage units from a stock storage area to a particular induction and stowage station of one or more induction and stowage stations. The control system directs induction of one or more single units of items from one or more locations of the particular portable storage unit, while the particular portable storage unit is located at the induction and stowage station, into the conveyance mechanism. The control system directs stowage of received stock comprising one or more types of items to one or more indicated locations of the particular portable storage unit while the particular portable storage unit is located at the particular induction and stowage station.