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Sightings and migration patterns of 65 bean and 65 white-fronted geese are reported. These geese were tagged and serologically screened. 19 of the 53 birds sighted had serologic evidence of Newcastle Disease. The migration patterns of the wild geese provided further evidence that the main resting and wintering sites of migratory waterfowl are likely to be important for the inter- and intraspecies transmission of avian diseases.
Question: Is there a relationship between size and death in the Iona-lived, deep-rooted tree, Acacia erioloba, in a semi-arid savanna? What is the size-class distribution of A. erioloba mortality? Does the mortality distribution differ from total tree size distribution? Does A. erioloba mortality distribution match the mortality distributions recorded thus far in other environments? Location: Dronfield Ranch, near Kimberley, Kalahari, South Africa. Methods: A combination of aerial photographs and a satellite image covering 61 year was used to provide long-term spatial data on mortality. We used aerial photographs of the study area from 1940, 1964, 1984, 1993 and a satellite image from 2001 to follow three plots covering 510 ha. We were able to identify and individually follow ca. 3000 individual trees from 1940 till 2001. Results: The total number of trees increased over time. No relationship between total number of trees and mean tree size was detected. There were no trends over time in total number of deaths per plot or in size distributions of dead trees. Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests showed no differences in size class distributions for living trees through time. The size distribution of dead trees was significantly different from the size distribution of all trees present on the plots. Overall, the number of dead trees was low in small size classes, reached a peak value when canopy area was 20 - 30 m(2), and declined in lamer size-classes. Mortality as a ratio of dead vs. total trees peaked at intermediate canopy sizes too. Conclusion: A. erioloba mortality was size-dependent, peaking at intermediate sizes. The mortality distribution differs from all other tree mortality distributions recorded thus far. We suggest that a possible mechanism for this unusual mortality distribution is intraspecific competition for water in this semi-arid environment.
Non-stationarities are ubiquitous in EEG signals. They are especially apparent in the use of EEG-based brain- computer interfaces (BCIs): (a) in the differences between the initial calibration measurement and the online operation of a BCI, or (b) caused by changes in the subject's brain processes during an experiment (e.g. due to fatigue, change of task involvement, etc). In this paper, we quantify for the first time such systematic evidence of statistical differences in data recorded during offline and online sessions. Furthermore, we propose novel techniques of investigating and visualizing data distributions, which are particularly useful for the analysis of (non-) stationarities. Our study shows that the brain signals used for control can change substantially from the offline calibration sessions to online control, and also within a single session. In addition to this general characterization of the signals, we propose several adaptive classification schemes and study their performance on data recorded during online experiments. An encouraging result of our study is that surprisingly simple adaptive methods in combination with an offline feature selection scheme can significantly increase BCI performance
The Berlin Brain-Computer Interface (BBCI) project develops a noninvasive BCI system whose key features are 1) the use of well-established motor competences as control paradigms, 2) high-dimensional features from 128-channel electroencephalogram (EEG), and 3) advanced machine learning techniques. As reported earlier, our experiments demonstrate that very high information transfer rates can be achieved using the readiness potential (RP) when predicting the laterality of upcoming left-versus right-hand movements in healthy subjects. A more recent study showed that the RP similarily accompanies phantom movements in arm amputees, but the signal strength decreases with longer loss of the limb. In a complementary approach, oscillatory features are used to discriminate imagined movements (left hand versus right hand versus foot). In a recent feedback study with six healthy subjects with no or very little experience with BCI control, three subjects achieved an information transfer rate above 35 bits per minute (bpm), and further two subjects above 24 and 15 bpm, while one subject could not achieve any BCI control. These results are encouraging for an EEG-based BCI system in untrained subjects that is independent of peripheral nervous system activity and does not rely on evoked potentials even when compared to results with very well-trained subjects operating other BCI systems
Combined optimization of spatial and temporal filters for improving brain-computer interfacing
(2006)
Brain-computer interface (BCI) systems create a novel communication channel from the brain to an output de ice by bypassing conventional motor output pathways of nerves and muscles. Therefore they could provide a new communication and control option for paralyzed patients. Modern BCI technology is essentially based on techniques for the classification of single-trial brain signals. Here we present a novel technique that allows the simultaneous optimization of a spatial and a spectral filter enhancing discriminability rates of multichannel EEG single-trials. The evaluation of 60 experiments involving 22 different subjects demonstrates the significant superiority of the proposed algorithm over to its classical counterpart: the median classification error rate was decreased by 11%. Apart from the enhanced classification, the spatial and/or the spectral filter that are determined by the algorithm can also be used for further analysis of the data, e.g., for source localization of the respective brain rhythms.
The new tetrathiacrown ethers maleonitrile-tetrathia-12-crown-4 (mn12S(4)) and maleonitrile-tetrathia-13-crown- 4 (mn13S(4)) have been prepared and characterised by X-ray crystallographic analysis. These crown ethers form 2:1, 3:2 and 1: 1 complexes with AgY (Y = BF4, PF6). The crystal structures of [Ag(mn12S(4))(2)]BF4 (3a), [Ag(mn13S(4))(2)]BF4 (4a) and [Ag-2(mn13S(4))(3)](PF6)(2) (6b) have been determined. Compound 3a contains the centrosymmetric sandwich complex cation [Ag(mn12S(4))(2)](+) where each mn12S(4) ligand is coordinated to the Ag centre in an endo manner through all four S atoms. The 2:1 complex [Ag(mn12S(4))(2)](+) is the first sandwich complex with a tetrathiacrown ether and the first complex with an octa(thioether) coordination sphere. The crystal structure of compound 4a also reveals a 2:1 complex. This complex, [Ag(mnl3S(4))(2)](+), exhibits a half-sandwich structure. One mn13S(4) ligand coordinates to Ag+ by all four S donor atoms and the other 13S(4) crown by only one S atom. Compound 6b contains a dinuclear Ag complex. The Ag complexes 3a,b-8a,b were also studied by electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry. Collision-induced dissociation (CID) was used to compare the relative stability of 2:1 complexes [AgL2]+ and 1:1 complexes [AgL](+) (L = mn12S(4), mn13S(4)). The C-13 NMR chemical shifts of 2:1 and 1:1 Ag complexes and their corresponding free ligands were also estimated and compared. The free energy of the barrier of ring inversion (Delta G(double dagger)) for [Ag(mn12S(4))(2)](+) was determined to be 64 kJmol(-1).
From the roots of the African plant Bulbine frutescens (Asphodelaceae), two unprecedented novel dimeric phenylanthraquinones, named joziknipholones A and B, possessing axial and centrochirality, were isolated, together with six known compounds. Structural elucidation of the new metabolites was achieved by spectroscopic and chiroptical methods, by reductive cleavage of the central bond between the monomeric phenylanthraquinone and -anthrone portions with sodium dithionite, and by quantum chemical CD calculations. Based on the recently revised absolute axial configuration of the parent phenylanthraquinones, knipholone and knipholone anthrone, the new dimers were attributed to possess the P-configuration (i.e., with the acetyl portions below the anthraquinone plane) at both axes in the case of joziknipholone A, whereas in joziknipholone B, the knipholone part was found to be M-configured. Joziknipholones A and B are active against the chloroquine resistant strain K1 of the malaria pathogen, Plasmodium falciparum, and show moderate activity against murine leukemic lymphoma L5178y cells.
From the roots of the African plant Bulbine frutescens (Asphodelaceae), two unprecedented novel dimeric phenylanthraquinones, named joziknipholones A and B, possessing axial and centrochirality, were isolated, together with six known compounds. Structural elucidation of the new metabolites was achieved by spectroscopic and chiroptical methods, by reductive cleavage of the central bond between the monomeric phenylanthraquinone and -anthrone portions with sodium dithionite, and by quantum chemical CD calculations. Based on the recently revised absolute axial configuration of the parent phenylanthraquinones, knipholone and knipholone anthrone, the new dimers were attributed to possess the P- configuration (i.e., with the acetyl portions below the anthraquinone plane) at both axes in the case of joziknipholone A, whereas in joziknipholone B, the knipholone part was found to be M-configured. Joziknipholones A and B are active against the chloroquine resistant strain K1 of the malaria pathogen, Plasmodium falciparum, and show moderate activity against murine leukemic lymphoma L5178y cells.