Responses of neurons in the nucleus of the basal optic root to translational and rotational flowfields

Wild-type Arabidopsis plants, the starch-deficient mutant TL46, and the near-starchless mutant TL25 were evaluated by noninvasive in situ methods for their capacity for net CO2 assimilation, true rates of photosynthetic O2 evolution (determined from chlorophyll fluorescence measurements of photosystem II), partitioning of photosynthate into sucrose and starch, and plant growth. Compared with wild-type plants, the starch mutants showed reduced photosynthetic capacity, with the largest reduction occurring in mutant TL25 subjected to high light and increased CO2 partial pressure. The extent of stimulation of CO2 assimilation by increasing CO2 or by reducing O2 partial pressure was significantly less for the starch mutants than for wild-type plants. Under high light and moderate to high levels of CO2, the rates of CO2 assimilation and O2 evolution and the percentage inhibition of photosynthesis by low O2 were higher for the wild type than for the mutants. The relative rates of 14CO2 incorporation into starch under high light and high CO2 followed the patterns of photosynthetic capacity, with TL46 showing 31% to 40% of the starch-labeling rates of the wild type and TL25 showing less than 14% incorporation. Overall, there were significant correlations between the rates of starch synthesis and CO2 assimilation and between the rates of starch synthesis and cumulative leaf area. These results indicate that leaf starch plays an important role as a transient reserve, the synthesis of which can ameliorate any potential reduction in photosynthesis caused by feedback regulation.     

Effects of radar system parameters,population, and environmental modulation on settlement visibility

Abstract.

The detectability of settlements and factors influencing their visibility are explored using imagery from two side-looking airborne radar systems. K-band and X-band imagery of diverse areas in the United States are examined to discover the minimum population needed for a settlement to be consistently detected. The percentage of settlements visible by size of population are calculated and omission/commission errors analysed. Particular attention is devoted to the effects of environmental modulation and a near-, mid-, or far-range location, but the factors of scale, resolution, and system are also addressed.     

GPUs Neutron Sensitivity Dependence on Data Type

Graphics Processing Units are very prone to be corrupted by neutrons. Experimental results obtained irradiating the GPU with high energy neutrons show that the input data type has a strong influence on the neutron-induced error-rate of the executed algorithms. Moreover, when operations are performed using floating-point data, the probabilities to be corrupted are very different for the mantissa, the exponent or the sign. We investigate the occurrences of errors in the different positions, evaluating the related effects on the result precision. The reported results and the architecture analysis demonstrate that under radiation, whenever possible, one should favor floating-point arithmetic, which is both more reliable and potentially easier to protect than the integer one.     

Daten amtlicher Lebensmittelkontrolle in Deutschland – Analyse und Erfassung der Unterschiede

Whether or not food control data reported according to former directive 89/397 EEC in Germany are comparable and whether or not recording or aggregation differences appear between the Länder should be proved within a project conducted by the BVL. The result of a data analysis of official control data was, that indicators like “the percentage of establishments with non-conformity reports” were not comparable between the Länder. It should be analysed, whether or not this is based on structural differences in the Länder and/or based on a matter of recording or aggregation differences. An analysis of these differences was conducted with the help of the Länder in several local authorities and upper authorities. The towns and authorities were chosen at random. Structured interviews were conducted with food control experts. It could be recognized that recording differences appeared for inspection data. These refer mainly to the deepness of data recording, the total number of recorded establishments, associated controls, and additional establishment information. Aggregation differences were mainly found for the sample data. Here, two main points are important: (1) which samples were actually aggregated; this is which sampling reasons were taken into account (population)? and (2) which samples were summarised in which product group. Less concise are differences in sample planning, the analysis spectrum for one sample, the assessment of analysis results and the consequence of the sample analysis outcome (advice, sanction). Since a statistical analysis of these food control data is difficult because of the mentioned differences in data recording and data aggregation, a harmonized usage of definitions for and recording as well as aggregation of these data is worthwhile. Not till then data could be the basis for a meaningful statistic and picture the success or failure of control activities.     

Cognitive processing and trait anxiety in typically developing children: Evidence for an interpretation bias.

In this study the authors examined whether increases in children's levels of self-reported trait anxiety would be related to their interpretation of ambiguous stimuli. By using the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (C. R. Reynolds & B. O. Richmond, 1985), the authors obtained measurements of anxiety for 40 children ages 7 and 9 years. Interpretation of ambiguous stimuli was measured by using a pictorial homophone task, where homophones could be interpreted as either threatening or neutral. Results showed that children's interpretations of homophones was significantly predicted by level of anxiety. Increases in levels of trait anxiety were positively associated with threatening interpretations of homophones. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marriage and the parenting alliance: longitudinal prediction of change in parenting perceptions and behaviors

The study evaluates how marriage and the parenting alliance affect parenting experiences over time. Couples (N = 79) with school-age children who have mental retardation completed self-report and observational measures of marriage, the parenting alliance, and parenting attitudes and behaviors at 2 periods, 18-24 months apart. Longitudinal structural equation modeling demonstrated significant effects of marital quality on changes over time in self-reports of perceived parenting competence for both the mothers and the fathers, and in observed negative mother-child interactions. Also, in all cases, the parenting alliance mediated the effects of marriage on parenting experiences. There was little evidence of reciprocal causation in which parenting variables predicted change in the quality of marriage and the parenting alliance. Interactions involving child age suggested that teenagers as opposed to younger children were more reactive to negative features of their parents' marital functioning and parenting alliance. Implications are discussed regarding stable but negative marital functioning and regarding possible differences in mothers' and fathers' parenting in the context of marital distress.     

A saturation analysis of error-spectrum shaping quantizers

Error spectrum shaping (ESS) quantizers are analyzed in the context of realistic FIR reconstruction filters and nonzero probability of saturation. Conditions for stable operation are derived, and a suboptimal but effective and computationally efficient design method is proposed. Excellent agreement is obtained between the analysis and simulations. Even under these more stringent constraints, ESS quantizers are shown to achieve significant signal-to-quantization-noise ratio (SQNR) gains when quantizing oversampled Gaussian sources