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We study the time variability of emission lines in three WNE stars : WR 2 (WN2), WR 3 (WN3ha) and WR152 (WN3). While WR 2 shows no variability above the noise level, the other stars do show variation, which are like other WR stars in WR 152 but very fast in WR 3. From these motions, we deduce a value of β ∼1 for WR 3 that is like that seen in O stars and β ∼2–3 for WR 152, that is intermediate between other WR stars and WR 3.
Luminous Blue Variables show strong changes in their stellar wind on time scales of typically years to decades when they expand and contract radially at approximately constant luminosity. Micro-variability on shorter time scales and amplitudes can be observed superimposed to the larger scale radial changes. I will show long-term time series of high resolution spectra which we have collected in the past 20 years for many of the well known LBVs together with a few time series of weekly sampling (HR Car, R40, R71, R110, R127, S Dor) covering a time windows of up to a few months. Wind variability is seen on short and intermediate time scales with the line profiles changing from P Cygni to inverse P Cygni and double peeked profiles sometimes for the same star and spectral line. On longer time scales the ionisation levels for all chemical elements change drastically due to the strong change of the temperature on the stellar surface. While on the long term the characteristic radial changes may have impact on the over all mass loss rates, the variabilities and asymmetries on short and intermediate time scales may cause false estimates of the mass loss rates when confronting models with the observed line profiles
Hα observations of Rigel obtained on 184 nights during the past ten years with the 1-m telescope and ´echelle spectrograph of Ritter Observatory are surveyed. The line profiles were classified in terms of morphology. About 1/4 of them are of P Cygni type, about 15% inverse P Cygni, about 25% double-peaked, about 1/3 pure absorption, and a few are single emission lines. Transformation of the profile from one type to another typically takes a few days. Although the line stays in absorption for extended intervals, only one high-velocity absorption event of the intensity reported by Kaufer et al. (1996a) was observed, in late 2006. Late in this event, Hα absorption occurred farther to the red than the red wing of a plausible photospheric absorption component, an indication of infalling material. In general, as the absorption events come to an end, the emission typically returns with an inverse P Cygni profile. The Hα profile class shows no obvious correlation with the radial velocity of C II λ6578, a photospheric absorption line.
By quantitatively fitting simple emission line profile models that include both atomic opacity and porosity to the Chandra X-ray spectrum of ζ Pup, we are able to explore the trade-offs between reduced mass-loss rates and wind porosity. We find that reducing the mass-loss rate of ζ Pup by roughly a factor of four, to 1.5 × 10−6 M⊙ yr−1, enables simple non-porous wind models to provide good fits to the data. If, on the other hand, we take the literature mass-loss rate of 6×10−6 M⊙ yr−1, then to produce X-ray line profiles that fit the data, extreme porosity lengths – of h∞ ≈ 3 R∗ – are required. Moreover, these porous models do not provide better fits to the data than the non-porous, low optical depth models. Additionally, such huge porosity lengths do not seem realistic in light of 2-D numerical simulations of the wind instability.
We review the effects of clumping on the profiles of resonance doublets. By allowing the ratio of the doublet oscillator strenghts to be a free parameter, we demonstrate that doublet profiles contain more information than is normally utilized. In clumped (or porous) winds, this ratio can lies between unity and the ratio of the f-values, and can change as a function of velocity and time, depending on the fraction of the stellar disk that is covered by material moving at a particular velocity at a given moment. Using these insights, we present the results of SEI modeling of a sample of B supergiants, ζ Pup and a time series for a star whose terminal velocity is low enough to make the components of its Si VIλλ1400 independent. These results are interpreted within the framewrok of the Oskinova et al. (2007) model, and demonstrate how the doublet profiles can be used to extract infromation about wind structure.
We present XMM-Newton Reflection Grating Spectrometer observations of pairs of X-ray emission line profiles from the O star ζ Pup that originate from the same He-like ion. The two profiles in each pair have different shapes and cannot both be consistently fit by models assuming the same wind parameters. We show that the differences in profile shape can be accounted for in a model including the effects of resonance scattering, which affects the resonance line in the pair but not the intercombination line. This implies that resonance scattering is also important in single resonance lines, where its effect is difficult to distinguish from a low effective continuum optical depth in the wind. Thus, resonance scattering may help reconcile X-ray line profile shapes with literature mass-loss rates.
We summarize Chandra observations of the emission line profiles from 17 OB stars. The lines tend to be broad and unshifted. The forbidden/intercombination line ratios arising from Helium-like ions provide radial distance information for the X-ray emission sources, while the H-like to He-like line ratios provide X-ray temperatures, and thus also source temperature versus radius distributions. OB stars usually show power law differential emission measure distributions versus temperature. In models of bow shocks, we find a power law differential emission measure, a wide range of ion stages, and the bow shock flow around the clumps provides transverse velocities comparable to HWHM values. We find that the bow shock results for the line profile properties, consistent with the observations of X-ray line emission for a broad range of OB star properties.
We present one-dimensional, time-dependent models of the clumps generated by the linedeshadowing instability. In order to follow the clumps out to distances of more than 1000 R∗, we use an efficient moving-box technique. We show that, within the approximations, the wind can remain clumped well into the formation region of the radio continuum.
INTEGRAL tripled the number of super-giant high-mass X-ray binaries (sgHMXB) known in the Galaxy by revealing absorbed and fast transient (SFXT) systems. Quantitative constraints on the wind clumping of massive stars can be obtained from the study of the hard X-ray variability of SFXT. A large fraction of the hard X-ray emission is emitted in the form of flares with a typical duration of 3 ksec, frequency of 7 days and luminosity of $10^{36}$ erg/s. Such flares are most probably emitted by the interaction of a compact object orbiting at $\sim10~R_*$ with wind clumps ($10^{22 ... 23}$ g) representing a large fraction of the stellar mass-loss rate. The density ratio between the clumps and the inter-clump medium is $10^{2 ... 4}$. The parameters of the clumps and of the inter-clump medium, derived from the SFXT flaring behavior, are in good agreement with macro-clumping scenario and line-driven instability simulations. SFXT are likely to have larger orbital radius than classical sgHMXB.
Magnetic fields influence the dynamics of hot-star winds and create large scale structure. Based on numerical magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations, we model the wind of θ¹ Ori C, and then use the SEI method to compute synthetic line profiles for a range of viewing angles as function of rotational phase. The resulting dynamic spectrum for a moderately strong line shows a distinct modulation, but with a phase that seems at odds with available observations.
Discussion : X-rays
(2007)
Dynamical simulation of the “velocity-porosity” reduction in observed strength of stellar wind lines
(2007)
I use dynamical simulations of the line-driven instability to examine the potential role of the resulting flow structure in reducing the observed strength of wind absorption lines. Instead of the porosity length formalism used to model effects on continuum absorption, I suggest reductions in line strength can be better characterized in terms of a velocity clumping factor that is insensitive to spatial scales. Examples of dynamic spectra computed directly from instability simulations do exhibit a net reduction in absorption, but only at a modest 10-20% level that is well short of the ca. factor 10 required by recent analyses of PV lines.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large, infrared-optimized space telescope scheduled for launch in 2013. JWST will find the first stars and galaxies that formed in the early universe, connecting the Big Bang to our own Milky Way galaxy. JWST will peer through dusty clouds to see stars forming planetary systems, connecting the MilkyWay to our own Solar System. JWST’s instruments are designed to work primarily in the infrared range of 1 - 28 μm, with some capability in the visible range. JWST will have a large mirror, 6.5 m in diameter, and will be diffraction-limited at 2 μm (0.1 arcsec resolution). JWST will be placed in an L2 orbit about 1.5 million km from the Earth. The instruments will provide imaging, coronography, and multi-object and integral-field spectroscopy across the 1 - 28 μm wavelength range. The breakthrough capabilities of JWST will enable new studies of massive star winds from the Milky Way to the early universe.
General Discussion
(2007)
We study the influence of clumping on the predicted wind structure of O-type stars. For this purpose we artificially include clumping into our stationary wind models. When the clumps are assumed to be optically thin, the radiative line force increases compared to corresponding unclumped models, with a similar effect on either the mass-loss rate or the terminal velocity (depending on the onset of clumping). Optically thick clumps, alternatively, might be able to decrease the radiative force.
We present the results of Monte Carlo mass-loss predictions for massive stars covering a wide range of stellar parameters. We critically test our predictions against a range of observed massloss rates – in light of the recent discussions on wind clumping. We also present a model to compute the clumping-induced polarimetric variability of hot stars and we compare this with observations of Luminous Blue Variables, for which polarimetric variability is larger than for O and Wolf-Rayet stars. Luminous Blue Variables comprise an ideal testbed for studies of wind clumping and wind geometry, as well as for wind strength calculations, and we propose they may be direct supernova progenitors.
Many hot stars exhibit stochastic polarimetric variability, thought to arise from clumping low in the wind. Here we investigate the wind properties required to reproduce this variability using analytic models, with particular emphasis on Luminous Blue Variables. We find that the winds must be highly structured, consisting of a large number of optically-thin clumps; while we find that the overall level of polarization should scale with mass-loss rate – consistent with observations of LBVs. The models also predict variability on very short timescales, which is supported by the results of a recent polarimetric monitoring campaign.
Overwhelming observational and theoretical evidence suggests that the winds of massive stars are highly clumped. We briefly discuss the influence of clumping on model diagnostics and the difficulties of allowing for the influence of clumping on model spectra. Because of its simplicity, and because of computational ease, most spectroscopic analyses incorporate clumping using the volume filling factor. The biases introduced by this approach are uncertain. To investigate alternative clumping models, and to help determine the validity of parameters derived using the volume filling factor method, we discuss results derived using an alternative model in which we assume that the wind is composed of optically thick shells.
We report FUSE observations in 2005–2006 of three O-type, double-lined spectroscopic binaries in the Magellanic Clouds. The systems have very short periods (1.4–2.25 d), represent rare, young evolutionary stages of massive stars and binaries, and provide a unique glimpse at some of the most massive systems that form in dense clusters of massive stars. Improved orbit parameters, including revised masses, for LH54-425 are derived from new ctio spectroscopy. The systems are: LH54-425 in the LMC (O3V + O5V, P=2.25d, 62+37M⊙), J053441-693139 in the LMC (O2-3If+O6V, P=1.4 d, 41+27M⊙), and Hodge 53-47 in the SMC (O6V + O4-5IIIf, P=2.2 d, 24+14M⊙, where the O4 star appears to be less massive than the O6 star). Their short periods indicates that wind interaction and mass transfer are likely important factors in their evolution. The spectra provide quantitative and systematic studies of phase-dependent stellar wind properties, wind collision effects in O+O binaries at lower metallicities, improved radial velocity curves, and FUV spectro-photometric changes as a function of orbital phase.
We present preliminary results of a tailored atmosphere analysis of six Galactic WC stars using UV, optical, and mid-infrared Spitzer IRS data. With these data, we are able to sample regions from 10 to 10³ stellar radii, thus to determine wind clumping in different parts of the wind. Ultimately, derived wind parameters will be used to accuratelymeasure neon abundances, and to so test predicted nuclear-reaction rates.
Mass accretion onto compact objects through accretion disks is a common phenomenon in the universe. It is seen in all energy domains from active galactic nuclei through cataclysmic variables (CVs) to young stellar objects. Because CVs are fairly easy to observe, they provide an ideal opportunity to study accretion disks in great detail and thus help us to understand accretion also in other energy ranges. Mass accretion in these objects is often accompanied by mass outflow from the disks. This accretion disk wind, at least in CVs, is thought to be radiatively driven, similar to O star winds. WOMPAT, a 3-D Monte Carlo radiative transfer code for accretion disk winds of CVs is presented.
We apply the 3-dimensional radiative transport codeWind3D to 3D hydrodynamic models of Corotating Interaction Regions to fit the detailed variability of Discrete Absorption Components observed in Si iv UV resonance lines of HD 64760 (B0.5 Ib). We discuss important effects of the hydrodynamic input parameters on these large-scale equatorial wind structures that determine the detailed morphology of the DACs computed with 3D transfer. The best fit model reveals that the CIR in HD 64760 is produced by a source at the base of the wind that lags behind the stellar surface rotation. The non-corotating coherent wind structure is an extended density wave produced by a local increase of only 0.6% in the smooth symmetric wind mass-loss rate.
Clumping in Galactic WN stars : a comparison of mass loss rates from UV/optical & radio diagnostics
(2007)
The mass loss rates and other parameters for a large sample of Galactic WN stars have been revised by Hamann et al. (2006), using the most up-to date Potsdam Wolf-Rayet (PoWR) model atmospheres. For a sub-sample of these stars exist measurements of their radio free-free emission. After harmonizing the adopted distance and terminal wind velocities, we compare the mass loss rates obtained from the two diagnostics. The differences are discussed as a possible consequence of different clumping contrast in the line-forming and radio-emitting regions.
Recent studies of massive O-type stars present clear evidences of inhomogeneous and clumped winds. O-type (H-rich) central stars of planetary nebulae (CSPNs) are in some ways the low mass–low luminosity analogous of those massive stars. In this contribution, we present preliminary results of our on-going multi-wavelength (FUV, UV and optical) study of the winds of Galactic CSPNs. Particular emphasis will be given to the clumping factors derived by means of optical lines (Hα and Heii 4686) and “classic” FUV (and UV) lines.
We exploit time-series $FUSE$ spectroscopy to {\it uniquely} probe spatial structure and clumping in the fast wind of the central star of the H-rich planetary nebula NGC~6543 (HD~164963). Episodic and recurrent optical depth enhancements are discovered in the P{\sc v} absorption troughs, with some evidence for a $\sim$ 0.17-day modulation time-scale. The characteristics of these features are essentially identical to the discrete absorption components' (DACs) commonly seen in the UV lines of massive OB stars, suggesting the temporal structures seen in NGC~6543 likely have a physical origin that is similar to that operating in massive, luminous stars. The mechanism for forming coherent perturbations in the outflows is therefore apparently operating equally in the radiation-pressure-driven winds of widely differing momenta ($\mdot$$v_\infty$$R_\star^{0.5}$) and flow times, as represented by OB stars and CSPN.
This paper outlines a newly-developed method to include the effects of time variability in the radiative transfer code CMFGEN. It is shown that the flow timescale is often large compared to the variability timescale of LBVs. Thus, time-dependent effects significantly change the velocity law and density structure of the wind, affecting the derivation of the mass-loss rate, volume filling factor, wind terminal velocity, and luminosity. The results of this work are directly applicable to all active LBVs in the Galaxy and in the LMC, such as AG Car, HR Car, S Dor and R 127, and could result in a revision of stellar and wind parameters. The massloss rate evolution of AG Car during the last 20 years is presented, highlighting the need for time-dependent models to correctly interpret the evolution of LBVs.
We discuss the results of time-resolved spectroscopy of three presumably single Population I Wolf-Rayet stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud, where the ambient metallicity is $\sim 1/5 Z_\odot$. We were able to detect and follow numerous small-scale wind-embedded inhomogeneities in all observed stars. The general properties of the moving features, such as their velocity dispersions, emissivities and average accelerations, closely match the corresponding characteristics of small-scale inhomogeneities in the winds of Galactic Wolf-Rayet stars.
The influence of the wind to the total continuum of OB supergiants is discussed. For wind velocity distributions with β > 1.0, the wind can have strong influence to the total continuum emission, even at optical wavelengths. Comparing the continuum emission of clumped and unclumped winds, especially for stars with high β values, delivers flux differences of up to 30% with maximum in the near-IR. Continuum observations at these wavelengths are therefore an ideal tool to discriminate between clumped and unclumped winds of OB supergiants.
Massive stars usually form groups such as OB associations. Their fast stellar winds sweep up collectively the surrounding insterstellar medium (ISM) to generate superbubbles. Observations suggest that superbubble evolution on the surrounding ISM can be very irregular. Numerical simulations considering these conditions could help to understand the evolution of these superbubbles and to clarify the dynamics of these objects as well as the difference between observed X-ray luminosities and the predicted ones by the standard model (Weaver et al. 1977).
We present the latest results on the observational dependence of the mass-loss rate in stellar winds of O and early-B stars on the metal content of their atmospheres, and compare these with predictions. Absolute empirical rates for the mass loss of stars brighter than 10$^{5.2} L_{\odot}$, based on H$\alpha$ and ultraviolet (UV) wind lines, are found to be about a factor of two higher than predictions. If this difference is attributed to inhomogeneities in the wind this would imply that luminous O and early-B stars have clumping factors in their H$\alpha$ and UV line forming regime of about a factor of 3--5. The investigated stars cover a metallicity range $Z$ from 0.2 to 1 $Z_{\odot}$. We find a hint towards smaller clumping factors for lower $Z$. The derived clumping factors, however, presuppose that clumping does not impact the predictions of the mass-loss rate. We discuss this assumption and explain how we intend to investigate its validity in more detail.
We report on new mass-loss rate estimates for O stars in six massive binaries using the amplitude of orbital-phase dependent, linear-polarimetric variability caused by electron scattering off free electrons in the winds. Our estimated mass-loss rates for luminous O stars are independent of clumping. They suggest similar clumping corrections as for WR stars and do not support the recently proposed reduction in mass-loss rates of O stars by one or two orders of magnitude.
Clumping in O-star winds
(2007)
We have analyzed the spectra of seven Galactic O4 supergiants, with the NLTE wind code CMFGEN. For all stars, we have found that clumped wind models match well lines from different species spanning a wavelength range from FUV to optical, and remain consistent with Hα data. We have achieved an excellent match of the P V λλ1118, 1128 resonance doublet and N IV λ1718, as well as He II λ4686 suggesting that our physical description of clumping is adequate. We find very small volume filling factors and that clumping starts deep in the wind, near the sonic point. The most crucial consequence of our analysis is that the mass loss rates of O stars need to be revised downward significantly, by a factor of 3 and more compared to those obtained from smooth-wind models.
I discuss observational evidence – independent of the direct spectral diagnostics of stellar winds themselves – suggesting that mass-loss rates for O stars need to be revised downward by roughly a factor of three or more, in line with recent observed mass-loss rates for clumped winds. These independent constraints include the large observed mass-loss rates in LBV eruptions, the large masses of evolved massive stars like LBVs and WNH stars, WR stars in lower metallicity environments, observed rotation rates of massive stars at different metallicity, supernovae that seem to defy expectations of high mass-loss rates in stellar evolution, and other clues. I pay particular attention to the role of feedback that would result from higher mass-loss rates, driving the star to the Eddington limit too soon, and therefore making higher rates appear highly implausible. Some of these arguments by themselves may have more than one interpretation, but together they paint a consistent picture that steady line-driven winds of O-type stars have lower mass-loss rates and are significantly clumped.
The P v λλ1118, 1128 resonance doublet is an extraordinarily useful diagnostic of O-star winds, because it bypasses the traditional problems associated with determining mass-loss rates from UV resonance lines. We discuss critically the assumptions and uncertainties involved with using P v to diagnose mass-loss rates, and conclude that the large discrepancies between massloss rates determined from P v and the rates determined from “density squared” emission processes pose a significant challenge to the “standard model” of hot-star winds. The disparate measurements can be reconciled if the winds of O-type stars are strongly clumped on small spatial scales, which in turn implies that mass-loss rates based on Hα or radio emission are too large by up to an order of magnitude.
Significant seasonal variation in size at settlement has been observed in newly settled larvae of Dreissena polymorpha in Lake Constance. Diet quality, which varies temporally and spatially in freshwater habitats, has been suggested as a significant factor influencing life history and development of freshwater invertebrates. Accordingly, experiments were conducted with field-collected larvae to test the hypothesis that diet quality can determine planktonic larval growth rates, size at settlement and subsequent post-metamorphic growth rates. Larvae were fed one of two diets or starved. One diet was composed of cyanobacterial cells which are deficient in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), and the other was a mixed diet rich in PUFAs. Freshly metamorphosed animals from the starvation treatment had a carbon content per individual 70% lower than that of larvae fed the mixed diet. This apparent exhaustion of larval internal reserves resulted in a 50% reduction of the postmetamorphic growth rates. Growth was also reduced in animals previously fed the cyanobacterial diet. Hence, low food quantity or low food quality during the larval stage of D. polymorpha lead to irreversible effects for postmetamorphic animals, and is related to inferior competitive abilities.
In the old days (pre ∼1990) hot stellar winds were assumed to be smooth, which made life fairly easy and bothered no one. Then after suspicious behaviour had been revealed, e.g. stochastic temporal variability in broadband polarimetry of single hot stars, it took the emerging CCD technology developed in the preceding decades (∼1970-80’s) to reveal that these winds were far from smooth. It was mainly high-S/N, time-dependent spectroscopy of strong optical recombination emission lines in WR, and also a few OB and other stars with strong hot winds, that indicated all hot stellar winds likely to be pervaded by thousands of multiscale (compressible supersonic turbulent?) structures, whose driver is probably some kind of radiative instability. Quantitative estimates of clumping-independent mass-loss rates came from various fronts, mainly dependent directly on density (e.g. electron-scattering wings of emission lines, UV spectroscopy of weak resonance lines, and binary-star properties including orbital-period changes, electron-scattering, and X-ray fluxes from colliding winds) rather than the more common, easier-to-obtain but clumping-dependent density-squared diagnostics (e.g. free-free emission in the IR/radio and recombination lines, of which the favourite has always been Hα). Many big questions still remain, such as: What do the clumps really look like? Do clumping properties change as one recedes from the mother star? Is clumping universal? Does the relative clumping correction depend on $\dot{M}$ itself?
Mass loss is a very important aspect of the life of massive stars. After briefly reviewing its importance, we discuss the impact of the recently proposed downward revision of mass loss rates due to clumping (difficulty to form Wolf-Rayet stars and production of critically rotating stars). Although a small reduction might be allowed, large reduction factors around ten are disfavoured. We then discuss the possibility of significant mass loss at very low metallicity due to stars reaching break-up velocities and especially due to the metal enrichment of the surface of the star via rotational and convective mixing. This significant mass loss may help the first very massive stars avoid the fate of pair-creation supernova, the chemical signature of which is not observed in extremely metal poor stars. The chemical composition of the very low metallicity winds is very similar to that of the most metal poor star known to date, HE1327-2326 and offer an interesting explanation for the origin of the metals in this star. We also discuss the importance of mass loss in the context of long and soft gamma-ray bursts and pair-creation supernovae. Finally, we would like to stress that mass loss in cooler parts of the HR-diagram (luminous blue variable and yellow and red supergiant stages) are much more uncertain than in the hot part. More work needs to be done in these areas to better constrain the evolution of the most massive stars.
The factors that determine the efficiency of energy transfer in aquatic food webs have been investigated for many decades. The plant-animal interface is the most variable and least predictable of all levels in the food web. In order to study determinants of food quality in a large lake and to test the recently proposed central importance of the long-chained eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) at the pelagic producer-grazer interface, we tested the importance of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) at the pelagic producerconsumer interface by correlating sestonic food parameters with somatic growth rates of a clone of Daphnia galeata. Daphnia growth rates were obtained from standardized laboratory experiments spanning one season with Daphnia feeding on natural seston from Lake Constance, a large pre-alpine lake. Somatic growth rates were fitted to sestonic parameters by using a saturation function. A moderate amount of variation was explained when the model included the elemental parameters carbon (r2 = 0.6) and nitrogen (r2 = 0.71). A tighter fit was obtained when sestonic phosphorus was incorporated (r2 = 0.86). The nonlinear regression with EPA was relatively weak (r2 = 0.77), whereas the highest degree of variance was explained by three C18-PUFAs. The best (r2 = 0.95), and only significant, correlation of Daphnia's growth was found with the C18-PUFA α-linolenic acid (α-LA; C18:3n-3). This correlation was weakest in late August when C:P values increased to 300, suggesting that mineral and PUFA-limitation of Daphnia's growth changed seasonally. Sestonic phosphorus and some PUFAs showed not only tight correlations with growth, but also with sestonic α-LA content. We computed Monte Carlo simulations to test whether the observed effects of α-LA on growth could be accounted for by EPA, phosphorus, or one of the two C18-PUFAs, stearidonic acid (C18:4n-3) and linoleic acid (C18:2n-6). With >99 % probability, the correlation of growth with α-LA could not be explained by any of these parameters. In order to test for EPA limitation of Daphnia's growth, in parallel with experiments on pure seston, growth was determined on seston supplemented with chemostat-grown, P-limited Stephanodiscus hantzschii, which is rich in EPA. Although supplementation increased the EPA content 80-800x, no significant changes in the nonlinear regression of the growth rates with α-LA were found, indicating that growth of Daphnia on pure seston was not EPA limited. This indicates that the two fatty acids, EPA and α-LA, were not mutually substitutable biochemical resources and points to different physiological functions of these two PUFAs. These results support the PUFA-limitation hypothesis for sestonic C:P < 300 but are contrary to the hypothesis of a general importance of EPA, since no evidence for EPA limitation was found. It is suggested that the resource ratios of EPA and α-LA rather than the absolute concentrations determine which of the two resources is limiting growth.
4-Phenylphenoxazinones were isolated after biomimetic oxidation, using diphenoloxidases of insect cuticle, mushroom tyrosinase, or after autoxidation of N-acetyldopamine (Image ) in the presence of β-alanine, β-alanine methyl ester or N-acetyl-L-lysine. They are formed presumably by addition of 2-aminoalkyl-5-alkylphenols to the o-quinone of biphenyltetrol which, in turn, arises from oxidative coupling of. The structures of present the first examples for the assembly of reasonably stable intermediates in the rather complex process of chemical modifications of aliphatic amino acid residues by o-quinones.
Amphiphilic derivatives of octadiene and docosadiene were investigated in monolayers and Langmuir-Blodgett multilayers, with respect to their self-organization and their polymerization behavior. All amphiphiles investigated form monolayers. However, only acid and alcohol derivatives were able to build up multilayers. Those multilayers are rapidly photopolymerized in the layers via a two-step process: Irradiation with long-wavelength UV light yields soluble polymers, whereas additional irradiation with sfiort-wavelength UV light produces insoluble and presumably cross-linked polymers. The reaction meclianism is discussed according to the polymer characterization by UV spectroscopy, small-angle X-ray scattering, NMR spectroscopy, and gel permeation chromatography. All multilayers undergo structural changes during the polymerization; substantial changes result in defects in the polymerized layers as observed by scanning electron microscopy. In contrast to the acids and alcohols, the deposition of monolayers of the aldehyde derivatives did not yield well-ordered multilayers, but rather amorphous films. In this different film structure, the photopolymerization process differs from the one observed in multilayers.
The topography of first-order catchments in a region of western Amazonia was found to exhibit distinctive, recurrent features: a steep, straight lower side slope, a flat or nearly flat terrace at an intermediate elevation between valley floor and interfluve, and an upper side slope connecting interfluve and intermediate terrace. A detailed survey of soil-saturated hydraulic conductivity (K sat)-depth relationships, involving 740 undisturbed soil cores, was conducted in a 0.75-ha first-order catchment. The sampling approach was stratified with respect to the above slope units. Exploratory data analysis suggested fourth-root transformation of batches from the 0–0.1 m depth interval, log transformation of batches from the subsequent 0.1 m depth increments, and the use of robust estimators of location and scale. The K sat of the steep lower side slope decreased from 46 to 0.1 mm/h over the overall sampling depth of 0.4 m. The corresponding decrease was from 46 to 0.1 mm/h on the intermediate terrace, from 335 to 0.01 mm/h on the upper side slope, and from 550 to 0.015 mm/h on the interfluve. A depthwise comparison of these slope units led to the formulation of several hypotheses concerning the link between K sat and topography.
Rainfall erosivities as defined by the R factor from the universal soil loss equation were determined for all events during a two-year period at the station La Cuenca in western Amazonia. Three methods based on a power relationship between rainfall amount and erosivity were then applied to estimate event and daily rainfall erosivities from the respective rainfall amounts. A test of the resulting regression equations against an independent data set proved all three methods equally adequate in predicting rainfall erosivity from daily rainfall amount. We recommend the Richardson model for testing in the Amazon Basin, and its use with the coefficient from La Cuenca in western Amazonia.
Previous hydrometric studies demonstrated the prevalence of overland flow as a hydrological pathway in the tropical rain forest catchment of South Creek, northeast Queensland. The purpose of this study was to consider this information in a mixing analysis with the aim of identifying sources of, and of estimating their contribution to, storm flow during two events in February 1993. K and acid-neutralizing capacity (ANC) were used as tracers because they provided the best separation of the potential sources, saturation overland flow, soil water from depths of 0.3, 0.6, and 1.2 m, and hillslope groundwater in a two-dimensional mixing plot. It was necessary to distinguish between saturation overland flow, generated at the soil surface and following unchanneled pathways, and overland flow in incised pathways. This latter type of overland flow was a mixture of saturation overland flow (event water) with high concentrations of K and a low ANC, soil water (preevent water) with low concentrations of K and a low ANC, and groundwater (preevent water) with low concentrations of K and a high ANC. The same sources explained the streamwater chemistry during the two events with strongly differing rainfall and antecedent moisture conditions. The contribution of saturation overland flow dominated the storm flow during the first, high-intensity, 178-mm event, while the contribution of soil water reached 50% during peak flow of the second, low-intensity, 44-mm event 5 days later. This latter result is remarkably similar to soil water contributions to storm flow in mountainous forested catchments of the southeastern United States. In terms of event and preevent water the storm flow hydrograph of the high-intensity event is dominated by event water and that of the low-intensity event by preevent water. This study highlights the problems of applying mixing analyses to overland flow-dominated catchments and soil environments with a poorly developed vertical chemical zonation and emphasizes the need for independent hydrometric information for a complete characterization of watershed hydrology and chemistry.
Chemical fingerprints of hydrological compartments and flow paths at La Cuenca, western Amazonia
(1995)
A forested first-order catchment in western Amazonia was monitored for 2 years to determine the chemical fingerprints of precipitation, throughfall, overland flow, pipe flow, soil water, groundwater, and streamflow. We used five tracers (hydrogen, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and silica) to distinguish “fast” flow paths mainly influenced by the biological subsystem from “slow” flow paths in the geochemical subsystem. The former comprise throughfall, overland flow, and pipe flow and are characterized by a high potassium/silica ratio; the latter are represented by soil water and groundwater, which have a low potassium/silica ratio. Soil water and groundwater differ with respect to calcium and magnesium. The groundwater-controlled streamflow chemistry is strongly modified by contributions from fast flow paths during precipitation events. The high potassium/silica ratio of these flow paths suggests that the storm flow response at La Cuenca is dominated by event water.
Earlier investigations at South Creek in northeastern Queensland established the importance of overland flow as a hydrologic pathway in this tropical rainforest environment. Since this pathway is ‘fast’, transmitting presumably ‘new’ water, its importance should be reflected in the stormflow chemistry of South Creek: the greater the volumentric contribution to the stormflow hydrograph, the more similarity between the chemical composition of streamwater and of overland flow is to be expected. Water samples were taken during two storm events in an ephemeral gully (gully A), an intermittent gully (gully B) and at the South Creek catchment outlet; additional spot checks were made in several poorly defined rills. The chemical composition of ‘old’ water was determined from 45 baseflow samples collected throughout February. The two events differed considerably in their magnitudes, intensities and antecedent moisture conditions. In both events, the stormflow chemistry in South Creek was characterized by a sharp decrease in Ca, Mg, Na, Si, Cl, EC, ANC, alkalinity and total inorganic carbon. pH remained nearly constant with discharge, whereas K increased sharply, as did sulfate in an ill-defined manner. In event 1, this South Creek stormflow pattern was closely matched by the pattern in gully A, implying a dominant contribution of ‘new’ water. This match was confirmed by the spot samples from rills. Gully B behaved like South Creek itself, but with a dampened ‘new’ water signal, indicating less overland flow generation in its subcatchment. In event 2, which occurred five days later, the initial ‘new’ water signal in gully A was rapidly overwhelmed by a different signal which is attributed to rapid drainage from a perched water table. This study shows that stormflow in this rainforest catchment consists predominantly of ‘new’ water which reaches the stream channel via ‘fast’ pathways. Where the ephemeral gullies delivering overland flow are incised deeply enough to intersect a perched water table, a delayed, ‘old’ water-like signal may be transmitted.
Just and Carpenter (1980) presented a theory of reading based on eye fixations wherein their "psycholinguistic" variables accounted for 72% of the variance in word gaze durations. This comment raises some statistical and theoretical problems with their use of simultaneous regression analysis of gaze duration measures and with the resulting theory of reading. A major problem was the confounding of perceptual with psycholinguistic factors. New eye fixation data are presented to support these criticisms. Analysis of fixations within words revealed that most gaze duration variance was contributed by number of fixations rather than by fixation duration.
The complement fragments C3a and C5a were purified from zymosan-activated human serum by column chromatographic procedures after the bulk of the proteins had been removed by acidic polyethylene glycol precipitation. In the isolated in situ perfused rat liver C3a increased glucose and lactate output and reduced flow. Its effects were enhanced in the presence of the carboxypeptidase inhibitor DL-mercaptomethyl-3-guanidinoethylthio-propanoic acid (MERGETPA) and abolished by preincubation of the anaphylatoxin with carboxypeptidase B or with Fab fragments of an anti-C3a monoclonal antibody. The C3a effects were partially inhibited by the thromboxane antagonist BM13505. C5a had no effect. It is concluded that locally but not systemically produced C3a may play an important role in the regulation of local metabolism and hemodynamics during inflammatory processes in the liver.
In the isolated rat liver perfused in situ stimulation of the nerve bundles around the portal vein and the hepatic artery caused an increase of urate formation that was inhibited by the α1-blocker prazosine and the xanthine oxidase inhibitor allopurinol. Moreover, nerve stimulation increased glucose and lactate output and decreased perfusion flow. Infusion of noradrenaline had similar effects. Compared to nerve stimulation infusion of glucagon led to a less pronounced increase of urate formation and a twice as large increase in glucose output but a decrease in lactate release without affecting the flow rate. Insulin had no effect on any of the parameters studied.
Increase in prostanoid formation in rat liver macrophages (Kupffer cells) by human anaphylatoxin C3a
(1993)
Human anaphylatoxin C3a increases glycogenolysis in perfused rat liver. This action is inhibited by prostanoid synthesis inhibitors and prostanoid antagonists. Because prostanoids but not anaphylatoxin C3a can increase glycogenolysis in hepatocytes, it has been proposed that prostanoid formation in nonparenchymal cells represents an important step in the C3a-dependent increase in hepatic glycogenolysis. This study shows that (a) human anaphylatoxin C3a (0.1 to 10 mug/ml) dose-dependently increased prostaglandin D2, thromboxane B, and prostaglandin F2alpha formation in rat liver macrophages (Kupffer cells); (b) the C3a-mediated increase in prostanoid formation was maximal after 2 min and showed tachyphylaxis; and (c) the C3a-elicited prostanoid formation could be inhibited specifically by preincubation of C3a with carboxypeptidase B to remove the essential C-terminal arginine or by preincubation of C3a with Fab fragments of a neutralizing monoclonal antibody. These data support the hypothesis that the C3a-dependent activation of hepatic glycogenolysis is mediated by way of a C3a-induced prostanoid production in Kupffer cells.
The effect of moderate rates of nitrogen deposition on ground floor vegetation is poorly predicted by uncontrolled surveys or fertilization experiments using high rates of nitrogen (N) addition. We compared the temporal trends of ground floor vegetation in permanent plots with moderate (7–13 kg ha−1 year−1) and lower bulk N deposition (4–6 kg ha−1 year−1) in southern Sweden during 1982–1998. We examined whether trends differed between growth forms (vascular plants and bryophytes) and vegetation types (three types of coniferous forest, deciduous forest, and bog). Trends of site-standardized cover and richness varied among growth forms, vegetation types, and deposition regions. Cover in spruce forests decreased at the same rate with both moderate and low deposition. In pine forests cover decreased faster with moderate deposition and in bogs cover decreased faster with low deposition. Cover of bryophytes in spruce forests increased at the same rate with both moderate and low deposition. In pine forests cover decreased faster with moderate deposition and in bogs and deciduous forests there was a strong non-linear increase with moderate deposition. The trend of number of vascular plants was constant with moderate and decreased with low deposition. We found no trend in the number of bryophyte species. We propose that the decrease of cover and number with low deposition was related to normal ecosystem development (increased shading), suggesting that N deposition maintained or increased the competitiveness of some species in the moderate-deposition region. Deposition had no consistent negative effect on vegetation suggesting that it is less important than normal successional processes.
Recent research has shown that the early lexical representations children establish in their second year of life already seem to be phonologically detailed enough to allow differentiation from very similar forms. In contrast to these findings children with specific language impairment show problems in discriminating phonologically similar word forms up to school age. In our study we investigated the question whether there would be differences in the processing of phonological details in normally developing and in children with low language performance in the second year of life. This was done by a retrospective study in which in the processing of phonological details was tested by a preferential looking experiment when the children were 19 months old. At the age of 30 months children were tested with a standardized German test of language comprehension and production (SETK2). The preferential looking data at 19 months revealed an opposite reaction pattern for the two groups: while the children scoring normally in the SETK2 increase their fixations of a pictured object only when it was named with the correct word, children with later low language performance did so only when presented with a phonologically slightly deviant mispronunciation. We suggest that this pattern does not point to a specific deficit in processing phonological information in these children but might be related to an instability of early phonological representations, and/or a generalized problem of information processing as compared to typically developing children.
Recent work has shown that English-learning 18-month-olds can detect the relationship between discontinuous morphemes such as is and -ing in Grandma is always running (Gomez, 2002; Santelmann & Jusczyk, 1998) but only at a maximum of 3 intervening syllables. In this article we examine the tracking of discontinuous dependencies in children acquiring German. Due to freer word order, German allows for greater distances between dependent elements and a greater syntactic variety of the intervening elements than English does. The aim of this study was to investigate whether factors other than distance may influence the child’s capacity to recognize discontinuous elements. Our findings provide evidence that children’s recognition capacities are affected not only by distance but also by their ability to linguistically analyze the material intervening between the dependent elements. We speculate that this result supports the existence of processing mechanisms that reduce a discontinuous relation to a local one based on subcategorization relations.
How do children determine the syntactic category of novel words? In this article we present the results of 2 experiments that investigated whether German children between 12 and 16 months of age can use distributional knowledge that determiners precede nouns and subject pronouns precede verbs to syntactically categorize adjacent novel words. Evidence from the head-turn preference paradigm shows that, although 12- to 13-month-olds cannot do this, 14- to 16-month-olds are able to use a determiner to categorize a following novel word as a noun. In contrast, no categorization effect was found for a novel word following a subject pronoun. To understand this difference we analyzed adult child-directed speech. This analysis showed that there are in fact stronger co-occurrence relations between determiners and nouns than between subject pronouns and verbs. Thus, in German determiners may be more reliable cues to the syntactic category of an adjacent novel word than are subject pronouns. We propose that the capacity to syntactically categorize novel words, demonstrated here for the first time in children this young, mediates between the recognition of the specific morphosyntactic frame in which a novel word appears and the word-to-world mapping that is needed to build up a semantic representation for the novel word.
Many methods have been proposed for the simulation of constrained mechanical systems. The most obvious of these have mild instabilities and drift problems. Consequently, stabilization techniques have been proposed A popular stabilization method is Baumgarte's technique, but the choice of parameters to make it robust has been unclear in practice. Some of the simulation methods that have been proposed and used in computations are reviewed here, from a stability point of view. This involves concepts of differential-algebraic equation (DAE) and ordinary differential equation (ODE) invariants. An explanation of the difficulties that may be encountered using Baumgarte's method is given, and a discussion of why a further quest for better parameter values for this method will always remain frustrating is presented. It is then shown how Baumgarte's method can be improved. An efficient stabilization technique is proposed, which may employ explicit ODE solvers in case of nonstiff or highly oscillatory problems and which relates to coordinate projection methods. Examples of a two-link planar robotic arm and a squeezing mechanism illustrate the effectiveness of this new stabilization method.
A Hamiltonian system in potential form (formula in the original abstract) subject to smooth constraints on q can be viewed as a Hamiltonian system on a manifold, but numerical computations must be performed in Rn. In this paper methods which reduce "Hamiltonian differential algebraic equations" to ODEs in Euclidean space are examined. The authors study the construction of canonical parameterizations or local charts as well as methods based on the construction of ODE systems in the space in which the constraint manifold is embedded which preserve the constraint manifold as an invariant manifold. In each case, a Hamiltonian system of ordinary differential equations is produced. The stability of the constraint invariants and the behavior of the original Hamiltonian along solutions are investigated both numerically and analytically.
Many methods have been proposed for the stabilization of higher index differential-algebraic equations (DAEs). Such methods often involve constraint differentiation and problem stabilization, thus obtaining a stabilized index reduction. A popular method is Baumgarte stabilization, but the choice of parameters to make it robust is unclear in practice. Here we explain why the Baumgarte method may run into trouble. We then show how to improve it. We further develop a unifying theory for stabilization methods which includes many of the various techniques proposed in the literature. Our approach is to (i) consider stabilization of ODEs with invariants, (ii) discretize the stabilizing term in a simple way, generally different from the ODE discretization, and (iii) use orthogonal projections whenever possible. The best methods thus obtained are related to methods of coordinate projection. We discuss them and make concrete algorithmic suggestions.
During the last few years there was a tremendous growth of scientific activities in the fields related to both Physics and Control theory: nonlinear dynamics, micro- and nanotechnologies, self-organization and complexity, etc. New horizons were opened and new exciting applications emerged. Experts with different backgrounds starting to work together need more opportunities for information exchange to improve mutual understanding and cooperation. The Conference "Physics and Control 2007" is the third international conference focusing on the borderland between Physics and Control with emphasis on both theory and applications. With its 2007 address at Potsdam, Germany, the conference is located for the first time outside of Russia. The major goal of the Conference is to bring together researchers from different scientific communities and to gain some general and unified perspectives in the studies of controlled systems in physics, engineering, chemistry, biology and other natural sciences. We hope that the Conference helps experts in control theory to get acquainted with new interesting problems, and helps experts in physics and related fields to know more about ideas and tools from the modern control theory.
An approach to the development of fluorescent probes to follow polymerizations in situ using fluorinated cross-conjugated enediynes (Y-enynes) is reported. Different substitution patterns in the Y-enynes result in distinct solvatochromic behavior. β,β-Bis(phenylethynyl)pentafluorostyrene 7, which bears no donor substituents and only fluorine at the styrene moiety, shows no solvatochromism. Donor substituted β,β-bis(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenylethynyl) pentafluorostyrene 8 and β,β-bis(4-butyl-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorophenylethynyl)-3,4,5-trimethoxystyrene 9 exhibit solvatochromism upon change of solvent polarity. Y-enyne 8 showed the largest solvatochromic shift (94 nm bathochromic shift) upon changing solvent from cyclohexane to acetonitrile. A smaller solvatochromic response (44 nm bathochromic shift) was observed for 9. Lippert–Mataga treatment of 8 and 9 yields slopes of -10,800 and -6,400 cm -1, respectively. This corresponds to a change in dipole moment of 9.6 and 6.9 D, respectively. The solvatochromic behavior in 8 and 9 supports the formation of an intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) state. The low fluorescence quantum yields are caused by competitive double bond rotation. The fluorescence decay time of 9 decreases in methyltetrahydrofuran from 2.1 ns at 77 K to 0.11 ns at 200 K. Efficient single bond rotation in 9 was frozen at -50 °C in a configuration in which the trimethoxyphenyl ring is perpendicular to the fluorinated rings. 7–9 are photostable compounds. The X-ray structure of 7 shows it is not planar and that its conjugation is distorted. Y-enyne 7 stacks in the solid state showing coulombic, actetylene–arene, and fluorine–π interactions.
Investigations with frequency domain photon density waves allow elucidation of absorption and scattering properties of turbid media. The temporal and spatial propagation of intensity modulated light with frequencies up to more than 1 GHz can be described by the P1 approximation to the Boltzmann transport equation. In this study, we establish requirements for the appropriate choice of turbid model media and characterize mixtures of isosulfan blue as absorber and polystyrene beads as scatterer. For these model media, the independent determination of absorption and reduced scattering coefficients over large absorber and scatterer concentration ranges is demonstrated with a frequency domain photon density wave spectrometer employing intensity and phase measurements at various modulation frequencies.
I perform and analyse the first ever calculations of rotating stellar iron core collapse in {3+1} general relativity that start out with presupernova models from stellar evolutionary calculations and include a microphysical finite-temperature nuclear equation of state, an approximate scheme for electron capture during collapse and neutrino pressure effects. Based on the results of these calculations, I obtain the to-date most realistic estimates for the gravitational wave signal from collapse, bounce and the early postbounce phase of core collapse supernovae. I supplement my {3+1} GR hydrodynamic simulations with 2D Newtonian neutrino radiation-hydrodynamic supernova calculations focussing on (1) the late postbounce gravitational wave emission owing to convective overturn, anisotropic neutrino emission and protoneutron star pulsations, and (2) on the gravitational wave signature of accretion-induced collapse of white dwarfs to neutron stars.
The end of the cold war division of the Baltic Sea in 1989, and the three Baltic states’ return to independence in 1991 created new opportunities for the decision-makers of the area, as well as new possibilities for fashioning security in the region. This article will examine the security debate affecting the Baltic Sea region in the post-cold war period, and in particular, the relevance of the European Union to that debate. The following section will examine various concepts of security relevant to the Baltic region; the third section looks at the EU and the Baltic area; and the last part deals with the implications that EU membership by the Baltic Sea states may have for the security of the Baltic Sea zone.
The article mobilises the concept of strategic culture in order to identify the impact of history upon contemporary security policy. The article will first look at the "wholesale construction" of a strategic culture after the Second World War in West Germany before exploring its impact upon security policy since the end of the Cold War in two areas: the Bundeswehr's out-of-area role and conscription. The central argument presented here is that the strategic culture of the former Federal Republic now writ large on to the new united Germany sets the context within which security policies are designed. This strategic culture, as will be argued, acts as both a facilitating and a restraining variable on behaviour, making certain policy options possible and others impossible.
Observers of international politics have been conscious of the growing international involvement of non-central governments (NCGs), particularly in federal systems. These have been supplemented by the internationalisation of subnational actors in quasi-federal and even unitary states. One of the difficulties is that analysis has often been locked into the dominant paradigm debate in International Relations concerning who and who are not significant actors. Having briefly explored the nature of this changing environment, marked by a growing emphasis on access rather than control as a policy objective and the emergence of what is termed a 'catalytic diplomacy', the discussion focuses on the need for linkage between the levels of government in the pursuit of international as well as domestic policy goals. The nature of linkage mechanisms are discussed.
On the basis of the Dynamic Syntax framework, this paper argues that the production pressures in dialogue determining alignment effects and given versus new informational effects also drive the shift from case-rich free word order systems without clitic pronouns into systems with clitic pronouns with rigid relative ordering. The paper introduces assumptions of Dynamic Syntax, in particular the building up of interpretation through structural underspecification and update, sketches the attendant account of production with close coordination of parsing and production strategies, and shows how what was at the Latin stage a purely pragmatic, production-driven decision about linear ordering becomes encoded in the clitics in theMedieval Spanish system which then through successive steps of routinization yield the modern systems with immediately pre-verbal fixed clitic templates.
We analyze anaphoric phenomena in the context of building an input understanding component for a conversational system for tutoring mathematics. In this paper, we report the results of data analysis of two sets of corpora of dialogs on mathematical theorem proving. We exemplify anaphoric phenomena, identify factors relevant to anaphora resolution in our domain and extensions to the input interpretation component to support it.
Received views of utterance context in pragmatic theory characterize the occurrent subjective states of interlocutors using notions like common knowledge or mutual belief. We argue that these views are not compatible with the uncertainty and robustness of context-dependence in humanhuman dialogue. We present an alternative characterization of utterance context as objective and normative. This view reconciles the need for uncertainty with received intuitions about coordination and meaning in context, and can directly inform computational approaches to dialogue.
Goal-oriented dialog as a collaborative subordinated activity involving collective acceptance
(2006)
Modeling dialog as a collaborative activity consists notably in specifying the contain of the Conversational Common Ground and the kind of social mental state involved. In previous work (Saget, 2006), we claim that Collective Acceptance is the proper social attitude for modeling Conversational Common Ground in the particular case of goal-oriented dialog. We provide a formalization of Collective Acceptance, besides elements in order to integrate this attitude in a rational model of dialog are provided; and finally, a model of referential acts as being part of a collaborative activity is provided. The particular case of reference has been chosen in order to exemplify our claims.
A key problem for models of dialogue is to explain the mechanisms involved in generating and responding to clarification requests. We report a 'Maze task' experiment that investigates the effect of 'spoof' clarification requests on the development of semantic co-ordination. The results provide evidence of both local and global semantic co-ordination phenomena that are not captured by existing dialogue co-ordination models.
How does a shared lexicon arise in population of agents with differing lexicons, and how can this shared lexicon be maintained over multiple generations? In order to get some insight into these questions we present an ALife model in which the lexicon dynamics of populations that possess and lack metacommunicative interaction (MCI) capabilities are compared. We ran a series of experiments on multi-generational populations whose initial state involved agents possessing distinct lexicons. These experiments reveal some clear differences in the lexicon dynamics of populations that acquire words solely by introspection contrasted with populations that learn using MCI or using a mixed strategy of introspection and MCI. The lexicon diverges at a faster rate for an introspective population, eventually collapsing to one single form which is associated with all meanings. This contrasts sharply with MCI capable populations in which a lexicon is maintained, where every meaning is associated with a unique word. We also investigated the effect of increasing the meaning space and showed that it speeds up the lexicon divergence for all populations irrespective of their acquisition method.
Demonstratives, in particular gestures that "only" accompany speech, are not a big issue in current theories of grammar. If we deal with gestures, fixing their function is one big problem, the other one is how to integrate the representations originating from different channels and, ultimately, how to determine their composite meanings. The growing interest in multi-modal settings, computer simulations, human-machine interfaces and VRapplications increases the need for theories ofmultimodal structures and events. In our workshopcontribution we focus on the integration of multimodal contents and investigate different approaches dealing with this problem such as Johnston et al. (1997) and Johnston (1998), Johnston and Bangalore (2000), Chierchia (1995), Asher (2005), and Rieser (2005).
A new method is used in an eye-tracking pilot experiment which shows that it is possible to detect differences in common ground associated with the use of minimally different types of indefinite anaphora. Following Richardson and Dale (2005), cross recurrence quantification analysis (CRQA) was used to show that the tandem eye movements of two Swedish-speaking interlocutors are slightly more coupled when they are using fully anaphoric indefinite expressions than when they are using less anaphoric indefinites. This shows the potential of CRQA to detect even subtle processing differences in ongoing discourse.
Verbal or visual? : How information is distributed across speech and gesture in spatial dialog
(2006)
In spatial dialog like in direction giving humans make frequent use of speechaccompanying gestures. Some gestures convey largely the same information as speech while others complement speech. This paper reports a study on how speakers distribute meaning across speech and gesture, and depending on what factors. Utterance meaning and the wider dialog context were tested by statistically analyzing a corpus of direction-giving dialogs. Problems of speech production (as indicated by discourse markers and disfluencies), the communicative goals, and the information status were found to be influential, while feedback signals by the addressee do not have any influence.
We describe an experiment to gather original data on geometrical aspects of pointing. In particular, we are focusing upon the concept of the pointing cone, a geometrical model of a pointing’s extension. In our setting we employed methodological and technical procedures of a new type to integrate data from annotations as well as from tracker recordings. We combined exact information on position and orientation with rater’s classifications. Our first results seem to challenge classical linguistic and philosophical theories of demonstration in that they advise to separate pointings from reference.
Classical SDRT (Asher and Lascarides, 2003) discussed essential features of dialogue like adjacency pairs or corrections and up-dating. Recent work in SDRT (Asher, 2002, 2005) aims at the description of natural dialogue. We use this work to model situated communication, i.e. dialogue, in which sub-sentential utterances and gestures (pointing and grasping) are used as conventional modes of communication. We show that in addition to cognitive modelling in SDRT, capturing mental states and speech-act related goals, special postulates are needed to extract meaning out of contexts. Gestural meaning anchors Discourse Referents in contextually given domains. Both sorts of meaning are fused with the meaning of fragments to get at fully developed dialogue moves. This task accomplished, the standard SDRT machinery, tagged SDRSs, rhetorical relations, the up-date mechanism, and the Maximize Discourse Coherence constraint generate coherent structures. In sum, meanings from different verbal and non-verbal sources are assembled using extended SDRT to form coherent wholes.
We present a formal analysis of iconic coverbal gesture. Our model describes the incomplete meaning of gesture that’s derivable from its form, and the pragmatic reasoning that yields a more specific interpretation. Our formalism builds on established models of discourse interpretation to capture key insights from the descriptive literature on gesture: synchronous speech and gesture express a single thought, but while the form of iconic gesture is an important clue to its interpretation, the content of gesture can be resolved only by linking it to its context.
In two experiments, many annotators marked antecedents for discourse deixis as unconstrained regions of text. The experiments show that annotators do converge on the identity of these text regions, though much of what they do can be captured by a simple model. Demonstrative pronouns are more likely than definite descriptions to be marked with discourse antecedents. We suggest that our methodology is suitable for the systematic study of discourse deixis.
We present a new analysis of illocutionary forces in dialogue. We analyze them as complex conversational moves involving two dimensions: what Speaker commits herself to and what she calls on Addressee to perform. We start from the analysis of speech acts such as confirmation requests or whimperatives, and extend the analysis to seemingly simple speech acts, such as statements and queries. Then, we show how to integrate our proposal in the framework of the Grammar for Conversation (Ginzburg, to app.), which is adequate for modelling agents' information states and how they get updated.
Claiming that cross-speaker "but" can signal correction in dialogue, we start by describing the types of corrections "but" can communicate by focusing on the Speech Act (SA) communicated in the previous turn and address the ways in which "but" can correct what is communicated. We address whether "but" corrects the proposition, the direct SA or the discourse relation communicated in the previous turn. We will also briefly address other relations signalled by cross-turn "but". After presenting a typology of the situations "but" can correct, we will address how these corrections can be modelled in the Information State model of dialogue, motivating this work by showing how it can be used to potentially avoid misunderstandings. We wrap up by showing how the model presented here updates beliefs in the Information State representation of the dialogue and can be used to facilitate response deliberation.
An account is presented of the focus properties, common ground effect and dialogue behaviour of the accented German discourse marker "doch" and the accented sentence negation "nicht". It is argued that "doch" and "nicht" evoke as a focus alternative the logical complement of the proposition expressed by the sentence in which they occur, and that an analysis in terms of contrastive focus accounts for their effect on the common ground and their function in dialogue.
Improvement of a fluorescence immunoassay with a compact diode-pumped solid state laser at 315 nm
(2006)
We demonstrate the improvement of fluorescence immunoassay (FIA) diagnostics in deploying a newly developed compact diode-pumped solid state (DPSS) laser with emission at 315 nm. The laser is based on the quasi-three-level transition in Nd:YAG at 946 nm. The pulsed operation is either realized by an active Q-switch using an electro-optical device or by introduction of a Cr<SUP>4+</SUP>:YAG saturable absorber as passive Q-switch element. By extra-cavity second harmonic generation in different nonlinear crystal media we obtained blue light at 473 nm. Subsequent mixing of the fundamental and the second harmonic in a β-barium-borate crystal provided pulsed emission at 315 nm with up to 20 μJ maximum pulse energy and 17 ns pulse duration. Substitution of a nitrogen laser in a FIA diagnostics system by the DPSS laser succeeded in considerable improvement of the detection limit. Despite significantly lower pulse energies (7 μJ DPSS laser versus 150 μJ nitrogen laser), in preliminary investigations the limit of detection was reduced by a factor of three for a typical FIA.
Two examples of our biophotonic research utilizing nanoparticles are presented, namely laser-based fluoroimmuno analysis and in-vivo optical oxygen monitoring. Results of the work include significantly enhanced sensitivity of a homogeneous fluorescence immunoassay and markedly improved spatial resolution of oxygen gradients in root nodules of a legume species.
We present an analysis of student language input in a corpus of tutoring dialogue in the domain of symbolic differentiation. Our focus on procedural tutoring makes the dialogue comparable to collaborative problem-solving (CPS). Existing CPS models describe the process of negotiating plans and goals, which also fits procedural tutoring. However, we provide a classification of student utterances and corpus annotation which shows that approximately 28% of non-trivial student language in this corpus is not accounted for by existing models, and addresses other functions, such as evaluating past actions or correcting mistakes. Our analysis can be used as a foundation for improving models of tutoring dialogue.
Face-to-face communication is multimodal. In unscripted spoken discourse we can observe the interaction of several "semiotic layers", modalities of information such as syntax, discourse structure, gesture, and intonation. We explore the role of gesture and intonation in structuring and aligning information in spoken discourse through a study of the co-occurrence of pitch accents and gestural apices. Metaphorical spatialization through gesture also plays a role in conveying the contextual relationships between the speaker, the government and other external forces in a naturally-occurring political speech setting.
This paper investigates the structural properties of morphosyntactically marked focus constructions, focussing on the often neglected non-focal sentence part in African tone languages. Based on new empirical evidence from five Gur and Kwa languages, we claim that these focus expressions have to be analysed as biclausal constructions even though they do not represent clefts containing restrictive relative clauses. First, we relativize the partly overgeneralized assumptions about structural correspondences between the out-of-focus part and relative clauses, and second, we show that our data do in fact support the hypothesis of a clause coordinating pattern as present in clause sequences in narration. It is argued that we deal with a non-accidental, systematic feature and that grammaticalization may conceal such basic narrative structures.