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An Exploration of Rhythmic Grouping of Speech Sequences by French- and German-Learning Infants
(2016)
Rhythm in music and speech can be characterized by a constellation of several acoustic cues. Individually, these cues have different effects on rhythmic perception: sequences of sounds alternating in duration are perceived as short-long pairs (weak-strong/iambic pattern), whereas sequences of sounds alternating in intensity or pitch are perceived as loud-soft, or high-low pairs (strong-weak/trochaic pattern). This perceptual bias—called the Iambic-Trochaic Law (ITL)–has been claimed to be an universal property of the auditory system applying in both the music and the language domains. Recent studies have shown that language experience can modulate the effects of the ITL on rhythmic perception of both speech and non-speech sequences in adults, and of non-speech sequences in 7.5-month-old infants. The goal of the present study was to explore whether language experience also modulates infants’ grouping of speech. To do so, we presented sequences of syllables to monolingual French- and German-learning 7.5-month-olds. Using the Headturn Preference Procedure (HPP), we examined whether they were able to perceive a rhythmic structure in sequences of syllables that alternated in duration, pitch, or intensity. Our findings show that both French- and German-learning infants perceived a rhythmic structure when it was cued by duration or pitch but not intensity. Our findings also show differences in how these infants use duration and pitch cues to group syllable sequences, suggesting that pitch cues were the easier ones to use. Moreover, performance did not differ across languages, failing to reveal early language effects on rhythmic perception. These results contribute to our understanding of the origin of rhythmic perception and perceptual mechanisms shared across music and speech, which may bootstrap language acquisition.
A search for dark matter linelike signals iss performed in the vicinity of the Galactic Center by the H.E.S.S. experiment on observational data taken in 2014. An unbinned likelihood analysis iss developed to improve the sensitivity to linelike signals. The upgraded analysis along with newer data extend the energy coverage of the previous measurement down to 100 GeV. The 18 h of data collected with the H.E.S.S. array allow one to rule out at 95% C.L. the presence of a 130 GeV line (at l = -1.5 degrees, b = 0 degrees and for a dark matter profile centered at this location) previously reported in Fermi-LAT data. This new analysis overlaps significantly in energy with previous Fermi-LAT and H.E.S.S. results. No significant excess associated with dark matter annihilations was found in the energy range of 100 GeV to 2 TeV and upper limits on the gamma-ray flux and the velocity weighted annihilation cross section are derived adopting an Einasto dark matter halo profile. Expected limits for present and future large statistics H.E.S.S. observations are also given.
The inner region of the Milky Way halo harbors a large amount of dark matter (DM). Given its proximity, it is one of the most promising targets to look for DM. We report on a search for the annihilations of DM particles using gamma-ray observations towards the inner 300 pc of the Milky Way, with the H.E.S.S. array of ground-based Cherenkov telescopes. The analysis is based on a 2D maximum likelihood method using Galactic Center (GC) data accumulated by H.E.S.S. over the last 10 years (2004-2014), and does not show any significant gamma-ray signal above background. Assuming Einasto and Navarro-Frenk-White DM density profiles at the GC, we derive upper limits on the annihilation cross section <sigma nu >. These constraints are the strongest obtained so far in the TeV DM mass range and improve upon previous limits by a factor 5. For the Einasto profile, the constraints reach <sigma nu > values of 6 x 10(-26) cm(3) s(-1) in the W+W- channel for a DM particle mass of 1.5 TeV, and 2 x 10(-26) cm(3) s(-1) in the tau(+)tau(-) channel for a 1 TeV mass. For the first time, ground-based gamma-ray observations have reached sufficient sensitivity to probe <sigma nu > values expected from the thermal relic density for TeV DM particles.
The 11 July 1889 Chilik earthquake (M-w 8.0-8.3) forms part of a remarkable sequence of large earthquakes in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the northern Tien Shan. Despite its importance, the source of the 1889 earthquake remains unknown, though the macroseismic epicenter is sited in the Chilik valley, similar to 100 km southeast of Almaty, Kazakhstan (similar to 2 million population). Several short fault segments that have been inferred to have ruptured in 1889 are too short on their own to account for the estimated magnitude. In this paper we perform detailed surveying and trenching of the similar to 30 km long Saty fault, one of the previously inferred sources, and find that it was formed in a single earthquake within the last 700 years, involving surface slip of up to 10 m. The scarp-forming event, likely to be the 1889 earthquake, was the only surface-rupturing event for at least 5000 years and potentially for much longer. From satellite imagery we extend the mapped length of fresh scarps within the 1889 epicentral zone to a total of similar to 175 km, which we also suggest as candidate ruptures from the 1889 earthquake. The 175 km of rupture involves conjugate oblique left-lateral and right-lateral slip on three separate faults, with step overs of several kilometers between them. All three faults were essentially invisible in the Holocene geomorphology prior to the last slip. The recurrence interval between large earthquakes on any of these faults, and presumably on other faults of the Tien Shan, may be longer than the timescale over which the landscape is reset, providing a challenge for delineating sources of future hazard.
We present results from multiwavelength observations of the BL Lacertae object 1ES 1741 + 196, including results in the very high energy gamma-ray regime using the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS). The VERITAS time-averaged spectrum, measured above 180 GeV, is well modelled by a power law with a spectral index of 2.7 +/- 0.7(stat) +/- 0.2(syst). The integral flux above 180 GeV is (3.9 +/- 0.8(stat) +/- 1.0(syst)) x 10(-8) m(-2) s(-1), corresponding to 1.6 per cent of the Crab nebula flux on average. The multiwavelength spectral energy distribution of the source suggests that 1ES 1741+196 is an extreme-high-frequency-peaked BL Lacertae object. The observations analysed in this paper extend over a period of six years, during which time no strong flares were observed in any band. This analysis is therefore one of the few characterizations of a blazar in a non-flaring state.
The F-type star KIC. 8462852 has recently been identified as an exceptional target for search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) observations. We describe an analysis methodology for optical SETI, which we have used to analyze nine hours of serendipitous archival observations of KIC. 8462852 made with the VERITAS gamma-ray observatory between 2009 and 2015. No evidence of pulsed optical beacons, above a pulse intensity at the Earth of approximately 1 photon m(-2), is found. We also discuss the potential use of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope arrays in searching for extremely short duration optical transients in general.
This case study evaluates the suitability of radar-based quantitative precipitation estimates (QPEs) for the simulation of streamflow in the Marikina River Basin (MRB), the Philippines. Hourly radar-based QPEs were produced from reflectivity that had been observed by an S-band radar located about 90 km from the MRB. Radar data processing and precipitation estimation were carried out using the open source library wradlib. To assess the added value of the radar-based QPE, we used spatially interpolated rain gauge observations (gauge-only (GO) product) as a benchmark. Rain gauge observations were also used to quantify rainfall estimation errors at the point scale. At the point scale, the radar-based QPE outperformed the GO product in 2012, while for 2013, the performance was similar. For both periods, estimation errors substantially increased from daily to the hourly accumulation intervals. Despite this fact, both rainfall estimation methods allowed for a good representation of observed streamflow when used to force a hydrological simulation model of the MRB. Furthermore, the results of the hydrological simulation were consistent with rainfall verification at the point scale: the radar-based QPE performed better than the GO product in 2012, and equivalently in 2013. Altogether, we could demonstrate that, in terms of streamflow simulation, the radar-based QPE can perform as good as or even better than the GO product - even for a basin such as the MRB which has a comparatively dense rain gauge network. This suggests good prospects for using radar-based QPE to simulate and forecast streamflow in other parts of the Philippines where rain gauge networks are not as dense.
Galactic cosmic rays reach energies of at least a few petaelectronvolts (of the order of 1015 electronvolts). This implies that our Galaxy contains petaelectronvolt accelerators (‘PeVatrons’), but all proposed models of Galactic cosmic-ray accelerators encounter difficulties at exactly these energies. Dozens of Galactic accelerators capable of accelerating particles to energies of tens of teraelectronvolts (of the order of 1013 electronvolts) were inferred from recent γ-ray observations3. However, none of the currently known accelerators—not even the handful of shell-type supernova remnants commonly believed to supply most Galactic cosmic rays—has shown the characteristic tracers of petaelectronvolt particles, namely, power-law spectra of γ-rays extending without a cut-off or a spectral break to tens of teraelectronvolts4. Here we report deep γ-ray observations with arcminute angular resolution of the region surrounding the Galactic Centre, which show the expected tracer of the presence of petaelectronvolt protons within the central 10 parsecs of the Galaxy. We propose that the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* is linked to this PeVatron. Sagittarius A* went through active phases in the past, as demonstrated by X-ray outbursts5and an outflow from the Galactic Centre6. Although its current rate of particle acceleration is not sufficient to provide a substantial contribution to Galactic cosmic rays, Sagittarius A* could have plausibly been more active over the last 106–107 years, and therefore should be considered as a viable alternative to supernova remnants as a source of petaelectronvolt Galactic cosmic rays.
Answer Set Programming (ASP) is a powerful declarative programming paradigm that has been successfully applied to many different domains. Recently, ASP has also proved successful for hard optimization problems like course timetabling and travel allotment. In this paper, we approach another important task, namely, the shift design problem, aiming at an alignment of a minimum number of shifts in order to meet required numbers of employees (which typically vary for different time periods) in such a way that over- and understaffing is minimized. We provide an ASP encoding of the shift design problem, which, to the best of our knowledge, has not been addressed by ASP yet. Our experimental results demonstrate that ASP is capable of improving the best known solutions to some benchmark problems. Other instances remain challenging and make the shift design problem an interesting benchmark for ASP-based optimization methods.
Towards the assimilation of tree-ring-width records using ensemble Kalman filtering techniques
(2016)
This paper investigates the applicability of the Vaganov–Shashkin–Lite (VSL) forward model for tree-ring-width chronologies as observation operator within a proxy data assimilation (DA) setting. Based on the principle of limiting factors, VSL combines temperature and moisture time series in a nonlinear fashion to obtain simulated TRW chronologies. When used as observation operator, this modelling approach implies three compounding, challenging features: (1) time averaging, (2) “switching recording” of 2 variables and (3) bounded response windows leading to “thresholded response”. We generate pseudo-TRW observations from a chaotic 2-scale dynamical system, used as a cartoon of the atmosphere-land system, and attempt to assimilate them via ensemble Kalman filtering techniques. Results within our simplified setting reveal that VSL’s nonlinearities may lead to considerable loss of assimilation skill, as compared to the utilization of a time-averaged (TA) linear observation operator. In order to understand this undesired effect, we embed VSL’s formulation into the framework of fuzzy logic (FL) theory, which thereby exposes multiple representations of the principle of limiting factors. DA experiments employing three alternative growth rate functions disclose a strong link between the lack of smoothness of the growth rate function and the loss of optimality in the estimate of the TA state. Accordingly, VSL’s performance as observation operator can be enhanced by resorting to smoother FL representations of the principle of limiting factors. This finding fosters new interpretations of tree-ring-growth limitation processes.
Apraxia typically results from left-hemispheric (LH), but also from right-hemispheric (RH) stroke, and often impairs gesture imitation. Especially in LH stroke, it is important to differentiate apraxia-induced gesture imitation deficits from those due to co-morbid aphasia and associated semantic deficits, possibly influencing the imitation of meaningful (MF) gestures. To explore this issue, we first investigated if the 10 supposedly meaningless (ML) gestures of a widely used finger imitation test really carry no meaning, or if the test also contains MF gestures, by asking healthy subjects (n=45) to classify these gestures as MF or ML. Most healthy subjects (98%) classified three of the 10 gestures as clearly MF. Only two gestures were considered predominantly ML. We next assessed how imitation in stroke patients (255 LH, 113 RH stroke) is influenced by gesture meaning and how aphasia influences imitation of LH stroke patients (n=208). All patients and especially patients with imitation deficits (17% of LH, 27% of RH stroke patients) imitated MF gestures significantly better than ML gestures. Importantly, meaningfulness-scores of all 10 gestures significantly predicted imitation scores of patients with imitation deficits. Furthermore, especially in LH stroke patients with imitation deficits, the severity of aphasia significantly influenced the imitation of MF, but not ML gestures. Our findings in a large patient cohort support current cognitive models of imitation and strongly suggest that ML gestures are particularly sensitive to detect imitation deficits while minimising confounding effects of aphasia which affect the imitation of MF gestures in LH stroke patients. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Previous research indicates that infants’ prediction of the goals of observed actions is influenced by own experience with the type of agent performing the action (i.e., human hand vs. non-human agent) as well as by action-relevant features of goal objects (e.g., object size). The present study investigated the combined effects of these factors on 12-month-olds’ action prediction. Infants’ (N = 49) goal-directed gaze shifts were recorded as they observed 14 trials in which either a human hand or a mechanical claw reached for a small goal area (low-saliency goal) or a large goal area (high-saliency goal). Only infants who had observed the human hand reaching for a high-saliency goal fixated the goal object ahead of time, and they rapidly learned to predict the action goal across trials. By contrast, infants in all other conditions did not track the observed action in a predictive manner, and their gaze shifts to the action goal did not change systematically across trials. Thus, high-saliency goals seem to boost infants’ predictive gaze shifts during the observation of human manual actions, but not of actions performed by a mechanical device. This supports the assumption that infants’ action predictions are based on interactive effects of action-relevant object features (e.g., size) and own action experience.
We elicited the production of various types of relative clauses in a group of German-speaking children with specific language impairment (SLI) and typically developing controls in order to test the movement optionality account of grammatical difficulty in SLI. The results show that German-speaking children with SLI are impaired in relative clause production compared to typically developing children. The alternative structures that they produce consist of simple main clauses, as well as nominal and prepositional phrases produced in isolation, sometimes contextually appropriate, and sometimes not. Crucially for evaluating the movement optionality account, children with SLI produce very few instances of embedded clauses where the relative clause head noun is pronounced in situ; in fact, such responses are more common among the typically developing child controls. These results underscore the difficulty German-speaking children with SLI have with structures involving movement, but provide no specific support for the movement optionality account.
The central rift of the Red Sea has 25 brine pools with different physical and geochemical characteristics. Atlantis II (ATIID), Discovery Deeps (DD) and Chain Deep (CD) are characterized by high salinity, temperature and metal content. Several studies reported microbial communities in these brine pools, but few studies addressed the brine pool sediments. Therefore, sediment cores were collected from ATIID, DD, CD brine pools and an adjacent brine-influenced site. Sixteen different lithologic sediment sections were subjected to shotgun DNA pyrosequencing to generate 1.47 billion base pairs (1.47 x 10(9) bp). We generated sediment-specific reads and attempted to annotate all reads. We report the phylogenetic and biochemical uniqueness of the deepest ATIID sulfur-rich brine pool sediments. In contrary to all other sediment sections, bacteria dominate the deepest ATIID sulfur-rich brine pool sediments. This decrease in virus-to-bacteria ratio in selected sections and depth coincided with an overrepresentation of mobile genetic elements. Skewing in the composition of viruses-to-mobile genetic elements may uniquely contribute to the distinct microbial consortium in sediments in proximity to hydrothermally active vents of the Red Sea and possibly in their surroundings, through differential horizontal gene transfer.
Exploring generalisation following treatment of language deficits in aphasia can provide insights into the functional relation of the cognitive processing systems involved. In the present study, we first review treatment outcomes of interventions targeting sentence processing deficits and, second report a treatment study examining the occurrence of practice effects and generalisation in sentence comprehension and production. In order to explore the potential linkage between processing systems involved in comprehending and producing sentences, we investigated whether improvements generalise within (i.e., uni-modal generalisation in comprehension or in production) and/or across modalities (i.e., cross-modal generalisation from comprehension to production or vice versa). Two individuals with aphasia displaying co-occurring deficits in sentence comprehension and production were trained on complex, non-canonical sentences in both modalities. Two evidence-based treatment protocols were applied in a crossover intervention study with sequence of treatment phases being randomly allocated. Both participants benefited significantly from treatment, leading to uni-modal generalisation in both comprehension and production. However, cross-modal generalisation did not occur. The magnitude of uni-modal generalisation in sentence production was related to participants’ sentence comprehension performance prior to treatment. These findings support the assumption of modality-specific sub-systems for sentence comprehension and production, being linked uni-directionally from comprehension to production.
Subsurface microbial communities undertake many terminal electron-accepting processes, often simultaneously. Using a tritium-based assay, we measured the potential hydrogen oxidation catalyzed by hydrogenase enzymes in several subsurface sedimentary environments (Lake Van, Barents Sea, Equatorial Pacific, and Gulf of Mexico) with different predominant electron-acceptors. Hydrogenases constitute a diverse family of enzymes expressed by microorganisms that utilize molecular hydrogen as a metabolic substrate, product, or intermediate. The assay reveals the potential for utilizing molecular hydrogen and allows qualitative detection of microbial activity irrespective of the predominant electron-accepting process. Because the method only requires samples frozen immediately after recovery, the assay can be used for identifying microbial activity in subsurface ecosystems without the need to preserve live material. We measured potential hydrogen oxidation rates in all samples from multiple depths at several sites that collectively span a wide range of environmental conditions and biogeochemical zones. Potential activity normalized to total cell abundance ranges over five orders of magnitude and varies, dependent upon the predominant terminal electron acceptor. Lowest per-cell potential rates characterize the zone of nitrate reduction and highest per-cell potential rates occur in the methanogenic zone. Possible reasons for this relationship to predominant electron acceptor include (i) increasing importance of fermentation in successively deeper biogeochemical zones and (ii) adaptation of H(2)ases to successively higher concentrations of H-2 in successively deeper zones.
Hydrologic regionalization deals with the investigation of homogeneity in watersheds and provides a classification of watersheds for regional analysis. The classification thus obtained can be used as a basis for mapping data from gauged to ungauged sites and can improve extreme event prediction. This paper proposes a wavelet power spectrum (WPS) coupled with the self-organizing map method for clustering hydrologic catchments. The application of this technique is implemented for gauged catchments. As a test case study, monthly streamflow records observed at 117 selected catchments throughout the western United States from 1951 through 2002. Further, based on WPS of each station, catchments are classified into homogeneous clusters, which provides a representative WPS pattern for the streamflow stations in each cluster.
Involvement of Sphingosine 1-Phosphate in Palmitate-Induced Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
(2016)
Background/Aims: Ectopic lipid accumulation in hepatocytes has been identified as a risk factor for the progression of liver fibrosis and is strongly associated with obesity. In particular, the saturated fatty acid palmitate is involved in initiation of liver fibrosis via formation of secondary metabolites by hepatocytes that in turn activate hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) in a paracrine manner Methods: a-smooth muscle actin-expression (alpha-SMA) as a marker of liver fibrosis was investigated via western blot analysis and immunofluorescence microscopy in HSCs (LX-2). Sphingolipid metabolism and the generation of the bioactive secondary metabolite sphingosine I-phosphate (SIP) in response to palmitate were analyzed by LC-MS/MS in hepatocytes (HepG2). To identify the molecular mechanism involved in the progression of liver fibrosis real-time PCR analysis and pharmacological modulation of SIP receptors were performed. Results: Palmitate oversupply increased intra- and extracellular SIP-concentrations in hepatocytes. Conditioned medium from HepG2 cells initiated fibrosis by enhancing alpha-SMA-expression in LX-2 in a S1P-dependent manner In accordance, fibrotic response in the presence of SIP was also observed in HSCs. Pharmacological inhibition of SIP receptors demonstrated that S1P(3) is the crucial receptor subtype involved in this process. Conclusion: SIP is synthesized in hepatocytes in response to palmitate and released into the extracellular environment leading to an activation of HSCs via the S1P(3) receptor (C) 2016 The Author(s) Published by S. Karger AG, Basel
During the summer of 2013, a 4-month spectroscopic campaign took place to observe the variabilities in three Wolf-Rayet stars. The spectroscopic data have been analysed for WR 134 (WN6b), to better understand its behaviour and long-term periodicity, which we interpret as arising from corotating interaction regions (CIRs) in the wind. By analysing the variability of the He ii lambda 5411 emission line, the previously identified period was refined to P = 2.255 +/- 0.008 (s.d.) d. The coherency time of the variability, which we associate with the lifetime of the CIRs in the wind, was deduced to be 40 +/- 6 d, or similar to 18 cycles, by cross-correlating the variability patterns as a function of time. When comparing the phased observational grey-scale difference images with theoretical grey-scales previously calculated from models including CIRs in an optically thin stellar wind, we find that two CIRs were likely present. A separation in longitude of Delta I center dot a parts per thousand integral 90A degrees was determined between the two CIRs and we suggest that the different maximum velocities that they reach indicate that they emerge from different latitudes. We have also been able to detect observational signatures of the CIRs in other spectral lines (C iv lambda lambda 5802,5812 and He i lambda 5876). Furthermore, a DAC was found to be present simultaneously with the CIR signatures detected in the He i lambda 5876 emission line which is consistent with the proposed geometry of the large-scale structures in the wind. Small-scale structures also show a presence in the wind, simultaneously with the larger scale structures, showing that they do in fact co-exist.
Microthlaspi is a predominantly Eurasian genus which also occurs in the northernmost parts of Africa (Maghreb). The most widespread species of the genus is M. perfoliatum, which can be found from Sweden to Algeria and from Portugal to China. The other species are thought to have much more confined distribution ranges, often covering only a few hundred kilometres. This is also believed for the diploid M. erraticum, which was recently re-appraised as a taxon independent from the tetra- to hexaploid M. perfoliatum. Previously, M. erraticum was believed to be present only in Central Europe, from the East of France to Slovenia. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the ecology, evolution and migration history of Microthlaspi it was the focus of the current study to investigate, if M. erraticum is present in habitats outside Central Europe, but with microclimates similar to Central Europe. It is demonstrated that M. erraticum is much more widespread than previously thought, while other lineages apart from M. perfoliatum s.str. and M. erraticum seem to have restricted distribution ranges. The latter species was observed from the Alps and their foreland, the Balkans, the mountainous areas around the Black Sea, Southern Siberia, as well as the Altai and Tien Shan mountains. This demonstrates a widespread occurrence of this easily-overlooked species. (C) 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
The very high energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) blazar Markarian 501 was observed between April 17 and May 5 (MJD 54 938-54 956), 2009, as part of an extensive multiwavelength campaign from radio to VHE. Strong VHE yray activity was detected on May 1st with Whipple and VERITAS, when the flux (E > 400 GeV) increased to 10 times the preflare baseline flux (3.9 x 10(-11) ph cm(-2) s(-1)), reaching five times the flux of the Crab Nebula. This coincided with a decrease in the optical polarization and a rotation of the polarization angle by 15. This VHE flare showed a fast flux variation with an increase of a factor similar to 4 in 25 min, and a falling time of similar to 50 min. We present the observations of the quiescent state previous to the flare and of the high state after the flare, focusing on the flux and spectral variability from Whipple, VERITAS, Fermi-LAT, RXTE, and Swift combined with optical and radio data.
A SEARCH FOR VERY HIGH ENERGY GAMMA RAYS FROM THE MISSING LINK BINARY PULSAR J1023+0038 WITH VERITAS
(2016)
The binary millisecond radio pulsar PSR J1023+0038 exhibits many characteristics similar to the gamma-ray binary system PSR B1259-63/LS 2883, making it an ideal candidate for the study of high-energy nonthermal emission. It has been the subject of multiwavelength campaigns following the disappearance of the pulsed radio emission in 2013 June, which revealed the appearance of an accretion disk around the neutron star. We present the results of very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray observations carried out by the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System before and after this change of state. Searches for steady and pulsed emission of both data sets yield no significant gamma-ray signal above 100 GeV, and upper limits are given for both a steady and pulsed gamma-ray flux. These upper limits are used to constrain the magnetic field strength in the shock region of the PSR J1023+0038 system. Assuming that VHE gamma rays are produced via an inverse Compton mechanism in the shock region, we constrain the shock magnetic field to be greater than similar to 2 G before the disappearance of the radio pulsar and greater than similar to 10 G afterward.
Analysis of time-lapse ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data can provide information regarding subsurface hydrological processes, such as preferential flow. However, the analysis of time-lapse data is often limited by data quality; for example, for noisy input data, the interpretation of difference images is often difficult. Motivated by modern image-processing tools, we have developed two robust GPR attributes, which allow us to distinguish amplitude (contrast similarity) and time-shift (structural similarity) variations related to differences between individual time-lapse GPR data sets. We tested and evaluated our attributes using synthetic data of different complexity. Afterward, we applied them to a field data example, in which subsurface flow was induced by an artificial rainfall event. For all examples, we identified our structural similarity attribute to be a robust measure for highlighting time-lapse changes also in data with low signal-to-noise ratios. We determined that our new attribute-based workflow is a promising tool to analyze time-lapse GPR data, especially for imaging subsurface hydrological processes.
Responses to pathogens, including host transcriptional reprogramming, require partially antagonistic signalling pathways dependent on the phytohormones salicylic (SA) and jasmonic (JA) acids. However, upstream factors modulating the interplay of these pathways are not well characterized. Here, we identify the transcription factor ANAC032 from Arabidopsis thaliana as one such regulator in response to the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 (Pst). ANAC032 directly represses MYC2 activation upon Pst attack, resulting in blockage of coronatine-mediated stomatal reopening which restricts entry of bacteria into plant tissue. Furthermore, ANAC032 activates SA signalling by repressing NIMIN1, a key negative regulator of SA-dependent defence. Finally, ANAC032 reduces expression of JA-responsive genes, including PDF1.2A. Thus, ANAC032 enhances resistance to Pst by generating an orchestrated transcriptional output towards key SA- and JA-signalling genes coordinated through direct binding of ANAC032 to the MYC2, NIMIN1 and PDF1.2A promoters.
Dromedaries have been fundamental to the development of human societies in arid landscapes and for long-distance trade across hostile hot terrains for 3,000 y. Today they continue to be an important livestock resource in marginal agro-ecological zones. However, the history of dromedary domestication and the influence of ancient trading networks on their genetic structure have remained elusive. We combined ancient DNA sequences of wild and early-domesticated dromedary samples from arid regions with nuclear microsatellite and mitochondrial genotype information from 1,083 extant animals collected across the species’ range. We observe little phylogeographic signal in the modern population, indicative of extensive gene flow and virtually affecting all regions except East Africa, where dromedary populations have remained relatively isolated. In agreement with archaeological findings, we identify wild dromedaries from the southeast Arabian Peninsula among the founders of the domestic dromedary gene pool. Approximate Bayesian computations further support the “restocking from the wild” hypothesis, with an initial domestication followed by introgression from individuals from wild, now-extinct populations. Compared with other livestock, which show a long history of gene flow with their wild ancestors, we find a high initial diversity relative to the native distribution of the wild ancestor on the Arabian Peninsula and to the brief coexistence of early-domesticated and wild individuals. This study also demonstrates the potential to retrieve ancient DNA sequences from osseous remains excavated in hot and dry desert environments.
A holistic design and verification environment to investigate driving assistance systems is presented, with an emphasis on system-on-chip architectures for video applications. Starting with an executable specification of a driving assistance application, subsequent transformations are performed across different levels of abstraction until the final implementation is achieved. The hardware/software partitioning is facilitated through the integration of OpenCV and SystemC in the same design environment, as well as OpenCV and Linux in the run-time system. We built a rapid prototyping, FPGA-based camera system, which allows designs to be explored and evaluated in realistic conditions. Using lane departure and the corresponding performance speedup, we show that our platform reduces the design time, while improving the verification efforts.
Gilbert et al. conclude that evidence from the Open Science Collaboration’s Reproducibility Project: Psychology indicates high reproducibility, given the study methodology. Their very optimistic assessment is limited by statistical misconceptions and by causal inferences from selectively interpreted, correlational data. Using the Reproducibility Project: Psychology data, both optimistic and pessimistic conclusions about reproducibility are possible, and neither are yet warranted.
We describe an in-fiber interferometer based on a gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber. Expressions for the sensitivity, figure of merit and refractive index resolution are derived, and values are experimentally measured and theoretically validated using mode field calculations. The refractive indices of nine monoatomic and molecular gases are measured with a resolution of delta(ns) < 10(-6). (C)2016 Optical Society of America
Dropping Out or Keeping Up?
(2016)
The aim of this study was to examine how automatic evaluations of exercising (AEE) varied according to adherence to an exercise program. Eighty-eight participants (24.98 years ± 6.88; 51.1% female) completed a Brief-Implicit Association Task assessing their AEE, positive and negative associations to exercising at the beginning of a 3-month exercise program. Attendance data were collected for all participants and used in a cluster analysis of adherence patterns. Three different adherence patterns (52 maintainers, 16 early dropouts, 20 late dropouts; 40.91% overall dropouts) were detected using cluster analyses. Participants from these three clusters differed significantly with regard to their positive and negative associations to exercising before the first course meeting (η2p = 0.07). Discriminant function analyses revealed that positive associations to exercising was a particularly good discriminating factor. This is the first study to provide evidence of the differential impact of positive and negative associations on exercise behavior over the medium term. The findings contribute to theoretical understanding of evaluative processes from a dual-process perspective and may provide a basis for targeted interventions.
The aim of this study was to examine how automatic evaluations of exercising (AEE) varied according to adherence to an exercise program. Eighty-eight participants (24.98 years +/- 6.88; 51.1% female) completed a Brief-Implicit Association Task assessing their AEE, positive and negative associations to exercising at the beginning of a 3-month exercise program. Attendance data were collected for all participants and used in a cluster analysis of adherence patterns. Three different adherence patterns (52 maintainers, 16 early dropouts, 20 late dropouts; 40.91% overall dropouts) were detected using cluster analyses. Participants from these three clusters differed significantly with regard to their positive and negative associations to exercising before the first course meeting (eta(2)(p) = 0.07). Discriminant function analyses revealed that positive associations to exercising was a particularly good discriminating factor. This is the first study to provide evidence of the differential impact of positive and negative associations on exercise behavior over the medium term. The findings contribute to theoretical understanding of evaluative processes from a dual-process perspective and may provide a basis for targeted interventions.
We construct equivariant KK-theory with coefficients in and R/Z as suitable inductive limits over II1-factors. We show that the Kasparov product, together with its usual functorial properties, extends to KK-theory with real coefficients. Let Gamma be a group. We define a Gamma-algebra A to be K-theoretically free and proper (KFP) if the group trace tr of Gamma acts as the unit element in KKR Gamma (A, A). We show that free and proper Gamma-algebras (in the sense of Kasparov) have the (KFP) property. Moreover, if Gamma is torsion free and satisfies the KK Gamma-form of the Baum-Connes conjecture, then every Gamma-algebra satisfies (KFP). If alpha : Gamma -> U-n is a unitary representation and A satisfies property (KFP), we construct in a canonical way a rho class rho(A)(alpha) is an element of KKR/Z1,Gamma (A A) This construction generalizes the Atiyah-Patodi-Singer K-theory class with R/Z-coefficients associated to alpha. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
This article provides some insights into the complex relationships between thinking and behavioral patterns, bio graphical aspects and teaching style. The data was analyzed in the Grounded Theory tradition and with the help of ATLAS.ti. The results presented here offer preliminary findings only since the research is still ongoing. The focus is on the ways teachers deal with mistakes. Based on two case examples, it will be shown how the fear of making mistakes can lead to teacher-centered lessons, and thereby limiting pupils' possibilities to learn autonomously.
The TeV binary system LS I +61 degrees 303 is known for its regular, non-thermal emission pattern that traces the orbital period of the compact object in its 26.5 day orbit around its B0 Ve star companion. The system typically presents elevated TeV emission around apastron passage with flux levels between 5% and 15% of the steady flux from the Crab Nebula (> 300 GeV). In this article, VERITAS observations of LS I + 61 degrees. 303 taken in late 2014 are presented, during which bright TeV flares around apastron at flux levels peaking above 30% of the Crab Nebula flux were detected. This is the brightest such activity from this source ever seen in the TeV regime. The strong outbursts have rise and fall times of less than a day. The short timescale of the flares, in conjunction with the observation of 10 TeV photons from LS I + 61 degrees 303 during the flares, provides constraints on the properties of the accelerator in the source.
Between the beginning of its full-scale scientific operations in 2007 and 2012, the VERITAS Cherenkov telescope array observed more than 130 blazars; of these, 26 were detected as very-high-energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray sources. In this work, we present the analysis results of a sample of 114 undetected objects. The observations constitute a total live-time of similar to 570 hr. The sample includes several unidentified Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) sources (located at high Galactic latitude) as well as all the sources from the second Fermi-LAT catalog that are contained within the field of view of the VERITAS observations. We have also performed optical spectroscopy measurements in order to estimate the redshift of some of these blazars that do not have spectroscopic distance estimates. We present new optical spectra from the Kast instrument on the Shane telescope at the Lick observatory for 18 blazars included in this work, which allowed for the successful measurement or constraint on the redshift of four of them. For each of the blazars included in our sample, we provide the flux upper limit in the VERITAS energy band. We also study the properties of the significance distributions and we present the result of a stacked analysis of the data set, which shows a 4s excess.
The Galactic Center ridge has been observed extensively in the past by both GeV and TeV gamma-ray instruments revealing a wealth of structure, including a diffuse component and the point sources G0.9+0.1 (a composite supernova remnant) and Sgr A* (believed to be associated with the supermassive black hole located at the center of our Galaxy). Previous very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray observations with the H.E.S.S.. experiment have also detected an extended TeV gamma-ray component along the Galactic plane in the >300 GeV gamma-ray regime. Here we report on observations of the Galactic Center ridge from 2010 to 2014 by the VERITAS telescope array in the >2 TeV energy range. From these observations we (1) provide improved measurements of the differential energy spectrum for Sgr A* in the >2 TeV gamma-ray regime, (2) provide a detection in the >2 TeV gamma-ray emission from the composite SNR G0.9+0.1 and an improved determination of its multi-TeV gamma-ray energy spectrum, and. (3) report on the detection of VER J1746-289, a localized enhancement of >2 TeV gamma-ray emission along the Galactic plane.
Methods. In most cases, the given orientation of the ecliptic is used to set up the heliographic coordinate system for the drawings. Positions and sizes are measured manually on screen. Very early drawings have no indication of their orientation. A rotational matching using common spots of adjacent days is used in some cases, while in other cases, the assumption that images were aligned with a zenith-horizon coordinate system appeared to be the most probable.
From dark to light
(2016)
We consider the dynamical atom-surface Casimir-Polder force in the nonequilibrium configuration of an atom near a perfectly conducting wall, initially prepared in an excited state with the field in its vacuum state. We evaluate the time-dependent Casimir-Polder force on the atom and find that it shows an oscillatory behavior from attractive to repulsive both in time and in space. We also investigate the asymptotic behavior in time of the dynamical force and of related local field quantities, showing that the static value of the force, as obtained by a time-independent approach, is recovered for times much longer than the time scale of the atomic self-dressing but shorter than the atomic decay time. We then discuss the evolution of global quantities such as atomic and field energies and their asymptotic behavior. We also compare our results for the dynamical force on the excited atom with analogous results recently obtained for an initially bare ground-state atom. We show that new relevant features are obtained in the case of an initially excited atom, for example, much larger values of the dynamical force with respect to the static one, allowing for an easier way to single out and observe the dynamical Casimir-Polder effect.
This paper examines the availability of single-conjunct agreement in number and gender in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian. Reported are the results of an experiment in which coordinated singulars are included, as well as disjunction and negative-concord conjunction, next to the typically examined conjoined plurals. The research shows that, contra the general assumptions in the literature (Marusic, Nevins, and Saksida 2007, Marusic, Nevins, and Badecker 2015, Boskovic 2009) but in line with earlier research (Moskovljevic 1983, Bojovic 2003), single-conjunct agreement does occur with coordinated singulars, especially in gender, even if less frequently. This paper shows that (i) first-conjunct agreement in gender preverbally and even last-conjunct agreement postverbally are produced above error level, and that the availability of collective interpretations for the coordinated subject influences the acceptability of the different agreement patterns available, and (ii) number and gender agreement do not have to target the same constituent. The findings shed light on the relation between the features of number and gender with regard to the issues of their bundling and simultaneous agreement, where the experimental results suggest that, while number tends to agree in a pattern that fits either semantic agreement or agreement with the entire conjunction, gender prefers to target single members of coordination, the first or the last. We speculate that a degree of "attraction" obtains, whereby number may attract gender to agree with the entire conjunction or gender may attract number to agree with a single conjunct. The results are used to compare two analyses offered in the literature-Marusic, Nevins, and Saksida 2007/Marusic, Nevins, and Badecker 2015 and Boskovic 2009-showing that our empirical findings are problematic for both, but give a certain advantage to Marusic and his co-authors.
This study investigates the characteristics of narrative-speech production and the use of verbs in Turkish agrammatic speakers (n = 10) compared to non-brain-damaged controls (n = 10). To elicit narrative-speech samples, personal interviews and storytelling tasks were conducted. Turkish has a large and regular verb inflection paradigm where verbs are inflected for evidentiality (i.e. direct versus indirect evidence available to the speaker). Particularly, we explored the general characteristics of the speech samples (e.g. utterance length) and the uses of lexical, finite and non-finite verbs and direct and indirect evidentials. The results show that speech rate is slow, verbs per utterance are lower than normal and the verb diversity is reduced in the agrammatic speakers. Verb inflection is relatively intact; however, a trade-off pattern between inflection for direct evidentials and verb diversity is found. The implications of the data are discussed in connection with narrative-speech production studies on other languages.
In this study we present analytical solutions for convection and diffusion equations. We gather here the analytical solutions for the one-dimensional convection equation, the two-dimensional convection problem, and the one- and two-dimensional diffusion equations. Using obtained analytical solutions, we test the four-dimensional Versatile Electron Radiation Belt code (the VERB-4D code), which solves the modified Fokker-Planck equation with additional convection terms. The ninth-order upwind numerical scheme for the one-dimensional convection equation shows much more accurate results than the results obtained with the third-order scheme. The universal limiter eliminates unphysical oscillations generated by high-order linear upwind schemes. Decrease in the space step leads to convergence of a numerical solution of the two-dimensional diffusion equation with mixed terms to the analytical solution. We compare the results of the third- and ninth-order schemes applied to magnetospheric convection modeling. The results show significant differences in electron fluxes near geostationary orbit when different numerical schemes are used.
Translation is a central cellular process and is optimized for speed and fidelity. The speed of translation of a single codon depends on the concentration of aminoacyl-tRNAs. Here, we used microarray-based approaches to analyze the charging levels of tRNAs in Escherichia coli growing at different growth rates. Strikingly, we observed a non-uniform aminoacylation of tRNAs in complex media. In contrast, in minimal medium, the level of aminoacyl-tRNAs is more uniform and rises to approximately 60%. Particularly, the charging level of tRNA(Ser), tRNA(Cys), tRNA(Thr) and tRNA(His) is below 50% in complex medium and their aminoacylation levels mirror the degree that amino acids inhibit growth when individually added to minimal medium. Serine is among the most toxic amino acids for bacteria and tRNAs(Ser) exhibit the lowest charging levels, below 10%, at high growth rate although intracellular serine concentration is plentiful. As a result some serine codons are among the most slowly translated codons. A large fraction of the serine is most likely degraded by L-serine-deaminase, which competes with the seryl-tRNA-synthetase that charges the tRNAs(Ser). These results indicate that the level of aminoacylation in complex media might be a competition between charging for translation and degradation of amino acids that inhibit growth.
Background: All living cells display a rapid molecular response to adverse environmental conditions, and the heat shock protein family reflects one such example. Hence, failing to activate heat shock proteins can impair the cellular response. In the present study, we evaluated whether the loss of different isoforms of heat shock protein (hsp) genes in Caenorhabditis elegans would affect their vulnerability to Manganese (Mn) toxicity. Conclusions: Taken together, our data suggest that Mn exposure modulates heat shock protein expression, particularly HSP-70, in C. elegans. Furthermore, loss of hsp-70 increases protein oxidation and dopaminergic neuronal degeneration following manganese exposure, which is associated with the inhibition of pink1 increased expression, thus potentially exacerbating the vulnerability to this metal.
We use text classification to distinguish automatically between original and translated texts in Hebrew, a morphologically complex language. To this end, we design several linguistically informed feature sets that capture word-level and sub-word-level (in particular, morphological) properties of Hebrew. Such features are abstract enough to allow for the development of accurate, robust classifiers, and they also lend themselves to linguistic interpretation. Careful evaluation shows that some of the classifiers we define are, indeed, highly accurate, and scale up nicely to domains that they were not trained on. In addition, analysis of the best features provides insight into the morphological properties of translated texts.
Current rates of environmental change are exceeding the capacity of many populations to adapt to new conditions and thus avoid demographic collapse and ultimate extinction. In particular, cold-water freshwater fish species are predicted to experience strong selective pressure from climate change and a wide range of interacting anthropogenic stressors in the near future. To implement effective management and conservation measures, it is crucial to quantify the maximum rate of change that cold-water freshwater fish populations can withstand. Here, we present a spatially explicit eco-genetic individual-based model, inSTREAM-Gen, to predict the eco-evolutionary dynamics of stream-dwelling trout under anthropogenic environmental change. The model builds on a well-tested demographic model, which includes submodels of river dynamics, bioenergetics, and adaptive habitat selection, with a new genetic module that allows exploration of genetic and life-history adaptations to new environments. The genetic module models the transmission of two key traits, size at emergence and maturity size threshold. We parameterized the model for a brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) population at the warmest edge of its range to validate it and analyze its sensitivity to parameters under contrasting thermal profiles. To illustrate potential applications of the model, we analyzed the population's demographic and evolutionary dynamics under scenarios of (1) climate change-induced warming, and (2) warming plus flow reduction resulting from climate and land use change, compared to (3) a baseline of no environmental change. The model predicted severe declines in density and biomass under climate warming. These declines were lower than expected at range margins because of evolution towards smaller size at both emergence and maturation compared to the natural evolution under the baseline conditions. Despite stronger evolutionary responses, declining rates were substantially larger under the combined warming and flow reduction scenario, leading to a high probability of population extinction over contemporary time frames. Therefore, adaptive responses could not prevent extinction under high rates of environmental change. Our model demonstrates critical elements of next generation ecological modelling aiming at predictions in a changing world as it accounts for spatial and temporal resource heterogeneity, while merging individual behaviour and bioenergetics with microevolutionary adaptations.
OPTIMIZATION OF THE BIOSORPTION OF Cr3+, Cd2+ AND Pb2+ USING A NEW BIOWASTE: Zea mays SEED CHAFF
(2016)
This study highlights the potential use of yellow Zea mays seed chaff (YZMSC) biomass as a biosorbent for the removal of Cr3+, Cd2+ and Pb2+ ions from aqueous solutions. Fourier transformed Infrared analysis of the biomass suggests that YZMSC biomass is basically composed of cellulose and methyl cellulose. The biosorption capacities, q(max), of YZMSC biomass for Cr3+, Cd2+ and Pb2+ are 14.68, 121.95 and 384.62 mg/g respectively. Biosorption equilibrium was achieved at 20, 30 and 60 min for Cr3+, Cd2+ and Pb2+ respectively. YZMSC biomass was found to have higher biosorption capacity and overall kinetic rate of uptake for Pb2+ than for Cd2+ and Cr3+. However, Cr3+ had better initial kinetic rate of uptake by the biomass than Pb2+ and Cd2+. The Freundlich equilibrium isotherm model was found to describe equilibrium data better than Langmuir model suggesting that biosorption of these metal ions could be on more than one active site on the surface of YZMSC biomass. Kinetic study predicted the pseudo-second kinetic model as being able to better describe kinetic data obtained than either modified pseudo-first order or Bangham kinetic models. Biosorption of Cr3+, Cd2+ and Pb2+ onto YZMSC biomass was endothermic in nature with large positive entropy values. Biosorption of these metal ions onto YZMSC biomass was observed to be feasible and spontaneous above 283 K. Optimization of biomass weight for the removal of these metal ions suggest that 384 kg, 129 kg and 144 kg of YZMSC biomass is required for the removal of 95% of Cr3+, Cd2+ and Pb2+ metal ions respectively from 100 mg/L of metal ions in 10 tonnes of aqueous solutions.
My paper investigates the diachronic development of the Modern Hungarian finite declarative complementiser hogy ‘COMP’. In Old Hungarian, hogy could be combined with other complementisers, e.g. mint ‘than/as’, giving configurations like hogymint and minthogy, that is, complementiser combinations in general are attested both in the hogy+X and the reverse X+hogy orders, X standing for an unspecified complementiser. The rich variation of Old Hungarian complex complementisers is not fully reflected in Modern Hungarian: it is invariably only one of the orders that survived. I will show that it is always the one that fully grammaticalised into a single C head; this is ultimately tied to the original underlying order of hogy and X as separate C heads. I will also demonstrate that hogy came to be used as a general marker of finite subordination.
The article focuses on comparative complementisers in comparative clauses expressing inequality in various languages, with particular attention paid to their role as lexicalising negative polarity. I argue that the relevant property follows from degree semantics, in that the comparative subclause encodes the inequality of the degree expressed by a matrix clausal element and the one expressed by the comparative operator. Just like ordinary negation, this has to be encoded overtly; however, as it does not constitute an instance of genuine clausal negation, the property cannot be encoded by an operator, and hence must be realised on a functional head, which is either the complementiser or a separate polarity head.
Herein we present an efficient synthesis of a biomimetic probe with modular construction that can be specifically bound by the mannose binding FimH protein - a surface adhesion protein of E. coli bacteria. The synthesis combines the new and interesting DBD dye with the carbohydrate ligand mannose via a Click reaction. We demonstrate the binding to E. coli bacteria over a large concentration range and also present some special characteristics of those molecules that are of particular interest for the application as a biosensor. In particular, the mix-and-measure ability and the very good photo-stability should be highlighted here.
Here, we study the 3-D subduction initiation process induced by the interaction between a hot thermochemical mantle plume and oceanic lithosphere using thermo-mechanical viscoplastic finite difference marker-in-cell models. Our numerical modeling results show that self-sustaining subduction is induced by plume-lithosphere interaction when the plume is sufficiently buoyant, the oceanic lithosphere is sufficiently old and the plate is weak enough to allow the buoyant plume to. pass through it. Subduction initiation occurs following penetration of the lithosphere by the hot plume and the downward displacement of broken, nearly circular segments of lithosphere (proto-slabs) as a result of partially molten plume rocks overriding the proto-slabs. Our experiments show four different deformation regimes in response to plume-lithosphere interaction: a) self-sustaining subduction initiation, in which subduction becomes self-sustaining; b) frozen subduction initiation, in which subduction stops at shallow depths; c) slab break-off, in which the subducting circular slab breaks off soon after formation; and d) plume underplating, in which the plume does not pass through the lithosphere and instead spreads beneath it (i.e., failed subduction initiation). These regimes depend on several parameters, such as the size, composition, and temperature of the plume, the brittle/plastic strength and age of the oceanic lithosphere, and the presence/absence of lithospheric heterogeneities. The results show that subduction initiates and becomes self-sustaining when the lithosphere is older than 10 Myr and the non dimensional ratio of the plume buoyancy force and lithospheric strength above the plume is higher than approximately 2. The outcomes of our numerical experiments are applicable for subduction initiation in the modern and Precambrian Earth and for the origin of plume-related corona structures on Venus. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
The phenylidenepyridine (ppy) palladacycles [PdCl(ppy)(IMes)] (4) [IMes = 1,3-bis(mesityl) imidazol-2-ylidene] and [PdCl(ppy){(CN)(2)IMes}] (6) [(CN)(2)IMes = 4,5-dicyano-1,3-bis(mesityl) imidazol-2-ylidene] were prepared by facile two step syntheses, starting with the reaction of palladium(II) chloride with 2-phenylpyridine followed by subsequent addition of the NHC ligand to the precatalyst precursor [PdCl(ppy)](2). Suitable crystals for the X-ray analysis of the complexes 4 and 6 were obtained. It was shown that 6 has a shorter NHC-palladium bond than the IMes complex 4. The difference of the palladium carbene bond lengths based on the higher pi-acceptor strength of (CN)(2)IMes in comparison to IMes. Thus, (CN)(2)IMes should stabilize the catalytically active central palladium atom better than IMes. As a measure for the pi-acceptor strength of (CN)(2)IMes compared to IMes, the selone (CN)(2)IMes center dot Se (7) was prepared and characterized by Se-77-NMR spectroscopy. The pi-acceptor strength of 7 was illuminated by the shift of its Se-77-NMR signal. The Se-77-NMR signal of 7 was shifted to much higher frequencies than the Se-77-NMR signal of IMes center dot Se. Catalytic experiments using the Mizoroki-Heck reaction of aryl chlorides with n-butyl acrylate showed that 6 is the superior performer in comparison to 4. Using complex 6, an extensive substrate screening of 26 different aryl bromides with n-butyl acrylate was performed. Complex 6 is a suitable precatalyst for para-substituted aryl bromides. The catalytically active species was identified by mercury poisoning experiments to be palladium nanoparticles.
Background: Despite extensive research in the past decades, the influence of genetics on cognitive functions in schizophrenia remains unclear. Dystrobrevin-binding protein 1 (DTNBP1) is one of the most promising candidate genes in schizophrenia. An association of DTNBP1 with cognitive dysfunction, particularly memory impairment, has been reported in a number of studies. However, the results remain inconsistent. The aim of this study was to measure the association between DTNBP1 polymorphisms and cognitive domains in a well-characterized sample. Methods: Ninety-one clinically stable schizophrenia outpatients underwent a battery of cognitive tests. Six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of DTNBP1 were genotyped in all participants. Statistical and multivariate analyses were performed. Results: Factor analysis revealed 4 factors corresponding to distinct cognitive domains, namely sustained attention, set-shifting, executive functioning, and memory. We found a significant association of the rs909706 polymorphism with attention (p = 0.030) and a nonsignificant trend for set-shifting (p = 0.060). The other SNPs and haplotypes were not associated with cognitive function. Discussion: Replication of this finding in a larger sample is needed in order to confirm the importance of this particular polymorphism in the genetics of schizophrenia, particularly the distinct cognitive domains. In conclusion, the present study supports the involvement of DTNBP1 in the regulation of cognitive processes and demonstrates association in particular with sustained attention and set-shifting in schizophrenia patients. (C) 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel
In this study, the stable conformers of neutral anserine were searched by molecular dynamics simulations and energy minimization calculations using the MM2 force field. Thermochemical calculations at B3LYP/6-31G(d) level of theory followed these preliminary calculations. The results confirmed that neutral anserine has quite a flexible structure and many stable gauche and trans conformers at room temperature. Nevertheless, two are considerably more favourable in energy than the others and expected to dominate the gas-phase and matrix IR spectra of the molecule. The corresponding structural and vibrational spectral data for these two conformers of neutral anserine, whose relative stabilities were also examined by high-accuracy energy calculations carried out using G3MP2B3 method, and for the most stable conformer of anserine in zwitterion form were calculated at B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory. The calculated harmonic force constants were refined using the Scaled Quantum Mechanical Force Field (SQM-FF) method and then used to produce the refined wavenumbers, potential energy distributions (PEDs) and IR and Raman intensities. These refined data together with the scaled harmonic wavenumbers obtained using another method, Dual Scale factors (DS), enabled us to correctly analyse the observed IR and Raman spectra of anserine and revealed the effects of conformation and zwitterionic tautomerism on its structural and vibrational spectral data. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Optical biosensors based on porous silicon were fabricated by metal assisted chemical etching. Thereby double layered porous silicon structures were obtained consisting of porous pillars with large pores on top of a porous silicon layer with smaller pores. These structures showed a similar sensing performance in comparison to electrochemically produced porous silicon interferometric sensors.
This article introduces the concept of sustainability-rooted anticonsumption (SRAC), which refers to consumers' anticonsumption practices of voluntary simplicity in living and, on a smaller level, collaborative consumption and boycotting with the goal of supporting sustainable economic development. The SRAC measurement approach is validated based on three empirical studies. Results of a representative German sample (Study 2) reveal that SRAC is predominantly negatively linked to consumer overconsumption dispositions. Exemplary, voluntary simplification and boycott intention may result in declining levels of indebtedness. Study 3 shows that psychosocial well-being is positively related to SRAC and overconsumption. However, a simplified lifestyle and a greater willingness to boycott are not necessarily associated with psychosocial well-being. This article provides insights for practitioners and policymakers to leverage existing SRAC values via “new” business models (sharing offers) or to influence the existing level of consciousness to effectively pave the way for solid progress in the sustainability movement.
Malnutrition, poor health, hunger, and even starvation are still the world's greatest challenges. Malnutrition is defined as deficiency of nutrition due to not ingesting the proper amounts of nutrients by simply not eating enough food and/or by consuming nutrient-poor food in respect to the daily nutritional requirements. Moreover, malnutrition and disease are closely associated and incidences of such diet-related diseases increase particularly in low- and middle-income states. While foods of animal origin are often unaffordable to low-income families, various neglected crops can offer an alternative source of micronutrients, vitamins, as well as health-promoting secondary plant metabolites. Therefore, agricultural and horticultural research should develop strategies not only to produce more food, but also to improve access to more nutritious food. In this context, one promising approach is to promote biodiversity in the dietary pattern of low-income people by getting access to nutritional as well as affordable food and providing recommendations for food selection and preparation. Worldwide, a multitude of various plant species are assigned to be consumed as grains, vegetables, and fruits, but only a limited number of these species are used as commercial cash crops. Consequently, numerous neglected and underutilized species offer the potential to diversify not only the human diet, but also increase food production levels, and, thus, enable more sustainable and resilient agro- and horti-food systems. To exploit the potential of neglected plant (NP) species, coordinated approaches on the local, regional, and international level have to be integrated that consequently demand the involvement of numerous multi-stakeholders. Thus, the objective of the present review is to evaluate whether NP species are important as “Future Food” for improving the nutritional status of humans as well as increasing resilience of agro- and horti-food systems.
Arch filament systems occur in active sunspot groups, where a fibril structure connects areas of opposite magnetic polarity, in contrast to active region filaments that follow the polarity inversion line. We used the GREGOR Infrared Spectrograph (GRIS) to obtain the full Stokes vector in the spectral lines SiI lambda 1082.7 nm, He I lambda 1083.0 nm, and Ca I lambda 1083.9 nm. We focus on the near-infrared calcium line to investigate the photospheric magnetic field and velocities, and use the line core intensities and velocities of the helium line to study the chromospheric plasma. The individual fibrils of the arch filament system connect the sunspot with patches of magnetic polarity opposite to that of the spot. These patches do not necessarily coincide with pores, where the magnetic field is strongest. Instead, areas are preferred not far from the polarity inversion line. These areas exhibit photospheric downflows of moderate velocity, but significantly higher downflows of up to 30 km s(-1) in the chromospheric helium line. Our findings can be explained with new emerging flux where the matter flows downward along the field lines of rising flux tubes, in agreement with earlier results. (C) 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH& Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Pleurotus ostreatus has been widely used as food because of its nutritional and medicinal properties. These have been attributed to the presence of macronutrients, minerals, vitamins, and amino acids, among other secondary metabolites. There are, however, few reports on the antimicrobial activities of different classes of purified compounds from P. ostreatus. This led to the current study, the objective of which was to chemically characterize the antibiotic activities of P. ()streams against selected human pathogenic bacteria and endophytic fungi. Chemical structures were determined using spectroscopic methods and by comparison with values of related structures reported in the literature. Pure compounds from P. ostreatus were tested in vitro against pathogenic bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli) and endophytic fungi (Pencillium digitatum and Fusarium prolferatum). A new compound, (E)-5,7-dimethoxy-6-(3-methylbuta-1,3-dienyl)-2H-chromen-2-one (5-methoxy-(E)-suberodiene) (compound 2), along with ergosterol (compound I.) and 5,7-dimethoxy-6-(3-methylbut-2-enyl)-2H-chromen-2-one (toddaculin; compound 3), were isolated from the fruiting bodies of P. ostreatus. The growth of S. aureus,E proliferatum, and P. digitatum colonies was inhibited in media containing compound 2, with minimum inhibitory concentrations closely comparable to those of conventional antibiotics.
Through the reactions of 1- or 2-naphthol and 4,5-dihydro-3H-benz[c]azepine or 6,7-dihydrothieno[3,2-c]pyridine, new aminonaphthol derivatives were prepared. The syntheses were extended by using N-containing naphthol analogues such as 5-hydroxyisoquinoline and 6-hydroxyquinoline. The ring closures of the novel bifunctional compounds were also achieved, resulting in new naphth[2,1-e][1,3]oxazines, naphth[1,2-e][1,3]oxazines, isoquinolino[5,6-e][1,3]oxazines and quinolino[5,6-e][1,3]oxazines. H-1 NMR spectra of the target heterocycles 16, 20 and 21 were sufficiently resolved to indentify the present stereochemistry; therefore, beside computed structures, spatial experimental (dipolar coupling-NOE) and computed (ring current effect of the naphthyl moiety-TSNMRS) NMR studies were employed. The studied heterocycles exist exclusively as S(14b),R(N), R(14b),S(N), and S(16b)S(N) isomers, respectively. The flexible moieties of the studied compounds prefer. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Intonation Units Revisited
(2016)
Intonation units have been notoriously difficult to identify in natural talk. Problems include fuzzy boundaries, lack of exhaustivity, and the potential circularity involved when studying their interface with other language-organizational dimensions. This volume advocates a way to resolve such problems: the cesura approach. Cesuras, or breaks in the flow of talk, are created by discontinuities in the prosodic-phonetic parameters of speech that cluster to various extents at certain points in time. Using conversation-analytic and interactional-linguistic methodology, the volume identifies the parameters creating cesuras in talk-in-interaction and proposes ways to notate them depending on the researcher s goal. It also offers a way to study the role of cesuras at the prosody-syntax interface non-circularly, which leads to new insights concerning language variation and change. The volume will thus be of major import to anyone working with natural spoken language, its chunks, its various dimensions, and its variation and change."
Environmental stress is detrimental to cell viability and requires an adequate reprogramming of cellular activities to maximize cell survival. We present a global analysis of the response of Escherichia coli to acute heat and osmotic stress. We combine deep sequencing of total mRNA and ribosome-protected fragments to provide a genome-wide map of the stress response at transcriptional and translational levels. For each type of stress, we observe a unique subset of genes that shape the stress-specific response. Upon temperature upshift, mRNAs with reduced folding stability up-and downstream of the start codon, and thus with more accessible initiation regions, are translationally favoured. Conversely, osmotic upshift causes a global reduction of highly translated transcripts with high copy numbers, allowing reallocation of translation resources to not degraded and newly synthesized mRNAs.
This review presents a compositional database of primary anatectic granitoid magmas, entirely based on melt inclusions (MI) in high-grade metamorphic rocks. Although MI are well known to igneous petrologists and have been extensively studied in intrusive and extrusive rocks, MI in crustal rocks that have undergone anatexis (migmatites and granulites) are a novel subject of research. They are generally trapped along the heating path by peritectic phases produced by incongruent melting reactions. Primary MI in high-grade metamorphic rocks are small, commonly 5-10 pm in diameter, and their most common mineral host is peritectic garnet. In most cases inclusions have crystallized into a cryptocrystalline aggregate and contain a granitoid phase assemblage (nanogranitoid inclusions) with quartz, K-feldspar, plagioclase, and one or two mica depending on the particular circumstances. After their experimental remelting under high-confining pressure, nanogranitoid MI can be analyzed combining several techniques (EMP, LA-ICP-MS, NanoSIMS, Raman). The trapped melt is granitic and metaluminous to peraluminous, and sometimes granodioritic, tonalitic, and trondhjemitic in composition, in agreement with the different P-T-a(H2o) conditions of melting and protolith composition, and overlap the composition of experimental glasses produced at similar conditions. Being trapped along the up-temperature trajectory as opposed to classic MI in igneous rocks formed during down-temperature magma crystallization fundamental information provided by nanogranitoid MI is the pristine composition of the natural primary anatectic melt for the specific rock under investigation. So far similar to 600 nanogranitoid MI, coming from several occurrences from different geologic and geodynamic settings and ages, have been characterized. Although the compiled MI database should be expanded to other potential sources of crustal magmas, MI data collected so far can be already used as natural "starting-point" compositions to track the processes involved in formation and evolution of granitoid magmas.
Background: Word retrieval in aphasia involves different levels of processinglemma retrieval, grammatical encoding, lexeme retrieval, and phonological encodingbefore articulation can be programmed and executed. Several grammatical, semantic, lexical, and phonological characteristics, such as word class, age of acquisition, imageability, and word frequency influence the degree of success in word retrieval. It is, however, not yet clear how these factors interact. The current study focuses on the retrieval of nouns and verbs in isolation and in sentence context and evaluates the impact of the mentioned factors on the performance of a group of 54 aphasic speakers.Aims: The main aim is to measure the effect of word frequency on the retrieval of nouns and verb by disentangling the influence of word class, age of acquisition, imageability, and lemma and lexeme frequencies on word retrieval in aphasia.Methods & Procedures: Four tests for retrieval of nouns, verbs in isolation, and infinitives and finite verbs were administered to 54 aphasic speakers. The influence of lemma and lexeme frequency, Age of Acquisition on the word retrieval abilities was analysed.Outcomes and Results: Word class, age of acquisition, and imageability play a significant role in the retrieval of nouns and verbs: nouns are easier than verbs; the earlier a word has been learned and the more concrete it is, the easier it is to retrieve. When performance is controlled for these factors, lemma frequency turns out to play a minor role: only in object naming does it affect word retrieval: the higher the lemma frequency of a noun, the easier it is to access. Such an effect does not exist for verbs, neither on an action-naming test, nor when verbs have to be retrieved in sentence context. Lexeme frequency was not found to be a better predictor than lemma frequency in predicting word retrieval in aphasia.Conclusions: Word retrieval in aphasia is influenced by grammatical, semantic, and lexical factors. Word frequency only plays a minor role: it affects the retrieval of nouns, but not of verbs.
Src1 is a Protein of the Inner Nuclear Membrane Interacting with the Dictyostelium Lamin NE81
(2016)
The nuclear envelope (NE) consists of the outer and inner nuclear membrane (INM), whereby the latter is bound to the nuclear lamina. Src1 is a Dictyostelium homologue of the helix-extension-helix family of proteins, which also includes the human lamin-binding protein MAN1. Both endogenous Src1 and GFP-Src1 are localized to the NE during the entire cell cycle. Immuno-electron microscopy and light microscopy after differential detergent treatment indicated that Src1 resides in the INM. FRAP experiments with GFP-Src1 cells suggested that at least a fraction of the protein could be stably engaged in forming the nuclear lamina together with the Dictyostelium lamin NE81. Both a BioID proximity assay and mis-localization of soluble, truncated mRFP-Src1 at cytosolic clusters consisting of an intentionally mis-localized mutant of GFP-NE81 confirmed an interaction of Src1 and NE81. Expression GFP-Src11–646, a fragment C-terminally truncated after the first transmembrane domain, disrupted interaction of nuclear membranes with the nuclear lamina, as cells formed protrusions of the NE that were dependent on cytoskeletal pulling forces. Protrusions were dependent on intact microtubules but not actin filaments. Our results indicate that Src1 is required for integrity of the NE and highlight Dictyostelium as a promising model for the evolution of nuclear architecture.
Traditional economic theory could not explain, much less predict, the near collapse of the financial system and its long-lasting effects on the global economy. Since the 2008 crisis, there has been increasing interest in using ideas from complexity theory to make sense of economic and financial markets. Concepts, such as tipping points, networks, contagion, feedback, and resilience have entered the financial and regulatory lexicon, but actual use of complexity models and results remains at an early stage. Recent insights and techniques offer potential for better monitoring and management of highly interconnected economic and financial systems and, thus, may help anticipate and manage future crises.
Seven enzymes have been screened for the cleavage of aryl acetates. Phenyl and naphthyl acetates react with lipases and esterases, whereas the sterically demanding anthracene acetate gave a conversion only with porcine liver esterase and esterase 2 from Bacillus subtilis (BS2). These two enzymes have been employed on a preparative (0.5 mmol) scale and afforded cleavage products in 91 and 94% yields, even for anthracene acetate. Thus, this method is superior to chemical cleavage with catalytic amounts of sodium methoxide (Zemplen conditions), which gave only low conversions. Finally, regioselectivity has been achieved with an anthracene bisacetate, in which an ethyl group controls the cleavage of the first acetate. This indicates that steric interactions play a crucial role in the enzymatic cleavage of aryl acetates, which might be interesting for future applications or the development of enzyme inhibitors.
This article studies the effect of child care provision on family structure. We present a model of a marriage market with positive assortative matching, where in equilibrium, the poorest women stay single. Couples have to decide on the number of children and spousal specialization in home production of public goods and child care. We then study how child care provision affects the equilibrium. Due to specialization in home production, the incentive to use child care is smaller for married mothers than for single mothers. We show that this increases the number of single mothers and the divorce rate. Using survey data from Germany, we present suggestive empirical evidence consistent with this finding. (JEL codes: J12 and J13).
We analyze the link between R&D, innovation, and productivity in MSMEs with a special focus on micro firms with fewer than 10 employees; usually constituting the majority of firms in industrialized economies. Using the German KfW SME-panel, we examine to what extent micro firms are different from other firms in terms of innovativeness. We find that while firms engage in innovative activities with smaller probability, the smaller they are, for those firms that do make such investment, R&D intensity is larger the smaller firms are. For all MSMEs, the predicted R&D intensity is positively correlated with the probability of reporting innovation, with a larger effect size for product than for process innovations. Moreover, micro firms benefit in a comparable way from innovation processes as larger firms, as they are similarly able to increase their labor productivity. Overall, the link between R&D, innovation, and productivity in micro firms does not largely differ from their larger counterparts. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
A very general cosmological consideration suggests that, along with galactic dark matter halos, much smaller dark matter structures may exist. These structures are usually called `clumps', and their mass extends to 10−6 M ⊙ or even lower. The clumps should give the main contribution into the signal of dark matter annihilation, provided that they have survived until the present time. Recent observations favor a cored profile for low-mass astrophysical halos. We consider cored clumps and show that they are significantly less firm than the standard NFW ones. In contrast to the standard scenario, the cored clumps should have been completely destroyed inside ~ 20 kpc from the Milky Way center. The dwarf spheroidals should not contain any dark matter clumps. On the other hand, even under the most pessimistic assumption about the clump structure, the clumps should have survived in the Milky Way at a distance exceeding 50 kpc from the center, as well as in low-density cosmic structures. There they significantly boost the dark matter annihilation. We show that at least 70% of the clumps endured the primordial structure formation should still exist untouched in the present-day Universe.
Individuals within populations often differ substantially in habitat use, the ecological consequences of which can be far reaching. Stable isotope analysis provides a convenient and often cost effective means of indirectly assessing the habitat use of individuals that can yield valuable insights into the spatiotemporal distribution of foraging specialisations within a population. Here we use the stable isotope ratios of southern sea lion (Otaria flavescens) pup vibrissae at the Falkland Islands, in the South Atlantic, as a proxy for adult female habitat use during gestation. A previous study found that adult females from one breeding colony (Big Shag Island) foraged in two discrete habitats, inshore (coastal) or offshore (outer Patagonian Shelf). However, as this species breeds at over 70 sites around the Falkland Islands, it is unclear if this pattern is representative of the Falkland Islands as a whole. In order to characterize habitat use, we therefore assayed carbon (delta C-13) and nitrogen (delta N-15) ratios from 65 southern sea lion pup vibrissae, sampled across 19 breeding colonies at the Falkland Islands. Model-based clustering of pup isotope ratios identified three distinct clusters, representing adult females that foraged inshore, offshore, and a cluster best described as intermediate. A significant difference was found in the use of inshore and offshore habitats between West and East Falkland and between the two colonies with the largest sample sizes, both of which are located in East Falkland. However, habitat use was unrelated to the proximity of breeding colonies to the Patagonian Shelf, a region associated with enhanced biological productivity. Our study thus points towards other factors, such as local oceanography and its influence on resource distribution, playing a prominent role in inshore and offshore habitat use.
New age data have been obtained to time constrain the recent Quaternary volcanism of El Hierro (Canary Islands) and to estimate its recurrence rate. We have carried out Ar-40/Ar-39 geochronology on samples spanning the entire volcanostratigraphic sequence of the island and C-14 geochronology on the most recent eruption on the northeast rift of the island: 2280 +/- 30 yr BP. We combine the new absolute data with a revision of published ages onshore, some of which were identified through geomorphological criteria (relative data). We present a revised and updated chronology of volcanism for the last 33 ka that we use to estimate the maximum eruptive recurrence of the island. The number of events per year determined is 9.7 x 10(-4) for the emerged part of the island, which means that, as a minimum, one eruption has occurred approximately every 1000 years. This highlights the need of more geochronological data to better constrain the eruptive recurrence of El Hierro. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
We construct new concrete examples of relative differential characters, which we call Cheeger-Chern-Simons characters. They combine the well-known Cheeger-Simons characters with Chern-Simons forms. In the same way as Cheeger-Simons characters generalize Chern-Simons invariants of oriented closed manifolds, Cheeger-Chern-Simons characters generalize Chern-Simons invariants of oriented manifolds with boundary. We study the differential cohomology of compact Lie groups G and their classifying spaces BG. We show that the even degree differential cohomology of BG canonically splits into Cheeger-Simons characters and topologically trivial characters. We discuss the transgression in principal G-bundles and in the universal bundle. We introduce two methods to lift the universal transgression to a differential cohomology valued map. They generalize the Dijkgraaf-Witten correspondence between 3-dimensional Chern-Simons theories and Wess-Zumino-Witten terms to fully extended higher-order Chern-Simons theories. Using these lifts, we also prove two versions of a differential Hopf theorem. Using Cheeger-Chern-Simons characters and transgression, we introduce the notion of differential trivializations of universal characteristic classes. It generalizes well-established notions of differential String classes to arbitrary degree. Specializing to the class , we recover isomorphism classes of geometric string structures on Spin (n) -bundles with connection and the corresponding spin structures on the free loop space. The Cheeger-Chern-Simons character associated with the class together with its transgressions to loop space and higher mapping spaces defines a Chern-Simons theory, extended down to points. Differential String classes provide trivializations of this extended Chern-Simons theory. This setting immediately generalizes to arbitrary degree: for any universal characteristic class of principal G-bundles, we have an associated Cheeger-Chern-Simons character and extended Chern-Simons theory. Differential trivialization classes yield trivializations of this extended Chern-Simons theory.
A new sequestrate Lactarius species was found in a humid evergreen tropical rainforest dominated by Fabaceae of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae in Cameroon, Central Africa. It is described here as new to science and is named Lactarius megalopterus, referring to its spore ornamentation of extraordinarily high wings. Anatomical characters and molecular systematic analyses confirm its relationship to Lactarius subgenus Plinthogali. Phylogenetic analyses based on two nuclear DNA regions revealed its close relationship to Lactarius angiocarpus, which is also an angiocarpous species from Zambia in Africa. Molecular studies have shown that tuber-like, sequestrate sporocarps evolved independently in several lineages of Basidiomycota. The findings of sequestrate fungi in tropical rainforests raise questions regarding the evolutionary benefit of enclosing the spore-producing hymenium. The enclosure of spore-producing tissue has often been associated with the protection of the delicate hymenium against desiccation in arid habitats or against frost in cold habitats. However, these cannot be the selective factors in warm and humid areas like the tropics. This controversy is exemplarily studied and discussed in the family of Russulaceae, especially in the genus Lactarius. Characters shown by the angiocarpous sporocarp of the new Lactarius, such as thick-walled statismospores, an aromatic smell and mild taste, can be interpreted as adaptations to endozoochorous spore dispersal by mammals. Therefore, here we prefer the alternative hypothesis that sequestrate sporocarps are the result of adaptation to endozoochorous spore dispersal.
Background: Walking speed decreases in old age. Even though old adults regularly participate in exercise interventions, we do not know how the intervention-induced changes in physical abilities produce faster walking. The Potsdam Gait Study (POGS) will examine the effects of 10 weeks of power training and detraining on leg muscle power and, for the first time, on complete gait biomechanics, including joint kinematics, kinetics, and muscle activation in old adults with moderate mobility disability. Methods/Design: POGS is a randomized controlled trial with two arms, each crossed over, without blinding. Arm 1 starts with a 10-week control period to assess the reliability of the tests and is then crossed over to complete 25-30 training sessions over 10 weeks. Arm 2 completes 25-30 exercise sessions over 10 weeks, followed by a 10-week follow-up (detraining) period. The exercise program is designed to improve lower extremity muscle power. Main outcome measures are: muscle power, gait speed, and gait biomechanics measured at baseline and after 10 weeks of training and 10 weeks of detraining. Discussion: It is expected that power training will increase leg muscle power measured by the weight lifted and by dynamometry, and these increased abilities become expressed in joint powers measured during gait. Such favorably modified powers will underlie the increase in step length, leading ultimately to a faster walking speed. POGS will increase our basic understanding of the biomechanical mechanisms of how power training improves gait speed in old adults with moderate levels of mobility disabilities. (C) 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel
We introduce extensions of stability selection, a method to stabilise variable selection methods introduced by Meinshausen and Buhlmann (J R Stat Soc 72:417-473, 2010). We propose to apply a base selection method repeatedly to random subsamples of observations and subsets of covariates under scrutiny, and to select covariates based on their selection frequency. We analyse the effects and benefits of these extensions. Our analysis generalizes the theoretical results of Meinshausen and Buhlmann (J R Stat Soc 72:417-473, 2010) from the case of half-samples to subsamples of arbitrary size. We study, in a theoretical manner, the effect of taking random covariate subsets using a simplified score model. Finally we validate these extensions on numerical experiments on both synthetic and real datasets, and compare the obtained results in detail to the original stability selection method.
Characterization of the Clp protease complex and identification of putative substrates in N. tabacum
(2016)
E-Mail Tracking
(2016)
E-mail advertisement, as one instrument in the marketing mix, allows companies to collect fine-grained behavioural data about individual users’ e-mail reading habits realised through sophisticated tracking mechanisms. Such tracking can be harmful for user privacy and security. This problem is especially severe since e-mail tracking techniques gather data without user consent. Striving to increase privacy and security in e-mail communication, the paper makes three contributions. First, a large database of newsletter e-mails is developed. This data facilitates investigating the prevalence of e- mail tracking among 300 global enterprises from Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. Second, countermeasures are developed for automatically identifying and blocking e-mail tracking mechanisms without impeding the user experience. The approach consists of identifying important tracking descriptors and creating a neural network-based detection model. Last, the effectiveness of the proposed approach is established by means of empirical experimentation. The results suggest a classification accuracy of 99.99%.
Being motivated by open questions in gauge field theories, we consider non-standard de Rham cohomology groups for timelike compact and spacelike compact support systems. These cohomology groups are shown to be isomorphic respectively to the usual de Rham cohomology of a spacelike Cauchy surface and its counterpart with compact support. Furthermore, an analog of the usual Poincare duality for de Rham cohomology is shown to hold for the case with non-standard supports as well. We apply these results to find optimal spaces of linear observables for analogs of arbitrary degree k of both the vector potential and the Faraday tensor. The term optimal has to be intended in the following sense: The spaces of linear observables we consider distinguish between different configurations; in addition to that, there are no redundant observables. This last point in particular heavily relies on the analog of Poincare duality for the new cohomology groups. Published by AIP Publishing.
In this Comment, we review the results of pattern formation in a reaction-diffusion-advection system following the kinetics of the Gray-Scott model. A recent paper by Das [Phys. Rev. E 92, 052914 (2015)] shows that spatiotemporal chaos of the intermittency type can disappear as the advective flow is increased. This study, however, refers to a single point in the space of kinetic parameters of the original Gray-Scott model. Here we show that the wealth of patterns increases substantially as some of these parameters are changed. In addition to spatiotemporal intermittency, defect-mediated turbulence can also be found. In all cases, however, the chaotic behavior is seen to disappear as the advective flow is increased, following a scenario similar to what was reported in our earlier work [I. Berenstein and C. Beta, Phys. Rev. E 86, 056205 (2012)] as well as by Das. We also point out that a similar phenomenon can be found in other reaction-diffusion-advection models, such as the Oregonator model for the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction under flow conditions.
The interplay between soil structure, roots, and microbiota as a determinant of plant-soil feedback
(2016)
Plant-soil feedback (PSF) can influence plant community structure via changes in the soil microbiome. However, how these feedbacks depend on the soil environment remains poorly understood. We hypothesized that disintegrating a naturally aggregated soil may influence the outcome of PSF by affecting microbial communities. Furthermore, we expected plants to differentially interact with soil structure and the microbial communities due to varying root morphology. We carried out a feedback experiment with nine plant species (five forbs and four grasses) where the training phase consisted of aggregated versus disintegrated soil. In the feedback phase, a uniform soil was inoculated in a fully factorial design with soil washings from conspecific- versus heterospecific-trained soil that had been either disintegrated or aggregated. This way, the effects of prior soil structure on plant performance in terms of biomass production and allocation were examined. In the training phase, soil structure did not affect plant biomass. But on disintegrated soil, plants with lower specific root length (SRL) allocated more biomass aboveground. PSF in the feedback phase was negative overall. With training on disintegrated soil, conspecific feedback was positively correlated with SRL and significantly differed between grasses and forbs. Plants with higher SRL were likely able to easily explore the disintegrated soil with smaller pores, while plants with lower SRL invested in belowground biomass for soil exploration and seemed to be more susceptible to fungal pathogens. This suggests that plants with low SRL could be more limited by PSF on disintegrated soils of early successional stages. This study is the first to examine the influence of soil structure on PSF. Our results suggest that soil structure determines the outcome of PSF mediated by SRL. We recommend to further explore the effects of soil structure and propose to include root performance when working with PSF.
Terrigenous sediment supply, marine transport, and depositional processes along tectonically active margins are key to decoding turbidite successions as potential archives of climatic and seismic forcings. Sequence stratigraphic models predict coarse-grained sediment delivery to deep-marine sites mainly during sea-level fall and lowstand. Marine siliciclastic deposition during transgressions and highstands has been attributed to sustained connectivity between terrigenous sources and marine sinks facilitated by narrow shelves. To decipher the controls on Holocene highstand turbidite deposition, we analyzed 12 sediment cores from spatially discrete, coeval turbidite systems along the Chile margin (29 degrees-40 degrees S) with changing climatic and geomorphic characteristics but uniform changes in sea level. Sediment cores from intraslope basins in north-central Chile (29 degrees-33 degrees S) offshore a narrow to absent shelf record a shut-off of turbidite deposition during the Holocene due to postglacial aridification. In contrast, core sites in south-central Chile (36 degrees-40 degrees S) offshore a wide shelf record frequent turbidite deposition during highstand conditions. Two core sites are linked to the Biobio river-canyon system and receive sediment directly from the river mouth. However, intraslope basins are not connected via canyons to fluvial systems but yield even higher turbidite frequencies. High sediment supply combined with a wide shelf and an undercurrent moving sediment toward the shelf edge appear to control Holocene turbidite sedimentation and distribution. Shelf undercurrents may play an important role in lateral sediment transport and supply to the deep sea and need to be accounted for in sediment-mass balances.
To turn or not to turn?
(2016)
Bacteria typically swim in straight runs, interruped by sudden turning events. In particular, some species are limited to a reversal in the swimming direction as the only turning maneuver at their disposal. In a recent article, Grossmann et al (2016 New J. Phys. 18 043009) introduce a theoretical framework to analyze the diffusive properties of active particles following this type of run-and-reverse pattern. Based on a stochastic clock model to mimic the regulatory pathway that triggers reversal events, they show that a run-and-reverse swimmer can optimize its diffusive spreading by tuning the reversal rate according to the level of rotational noise. With their approach, they open up promising new perspectives of how to incorporate the dynamics of intracellular signaling into coarse-grained active particle descriptions.