Birds (Aves), Serrania Sadiri, Parque Nacional Madidi, Depto. La Paz, Bolivia

We surveyed the Serrania Sadiri for birds at elevations between 500-950m for a combined total of 15 days in three different months. The area surveyed was along the Tumupasa/San Jose de Uchupiamones trail at the edge of Parque Nacional Madidi in Depto. La Paz, Bolivia. We report observations of 231 species of birds detected by sight and sound, including many outlying ridge specialists. We report and present photographs of a new species for Depto. La Paz (Caprimulgis nigrescens), the second Bolivian localities for Porphyrolaema prophyrolae ereicapillus, and Basileuterus chrysogaster, and five new species records for Parque Nacional Madidi

The \u27Visual World\u27 Program at the University of Northern Iowa, U.S.A.

Since the 1950\u27s several psychologists have studied the subject of human selective attention [1, 2]. It has been called the \u27cocktail party problem\u27 because a good example of the exercise of selective attention occurs when a large convivial group of people come together and it is still possible for an individual to isolate from the high noise level of conversation what a particular speaker says. Thus, the psychological question is: How do humans select what they consider significant information from the vast amount of information provided to the senses by the external environment? It is known that the amount of information input to the senses by far exceeds the processing capabilities of the brain and, therefore, a means exists to filter from the input what a human considers as essential at any particular moment. In the case of vision, one must ignore most of what can be seen. Selective attention is clearly important to artists scientists and technologists, for the sense of sight plays a large role in their work. However, the kind of visual information selected and how it is used may differ greatly in these three domains. Readers of Leonardo are acquainted with the discussions of the possible differences presented by various authors

Russian Missile Technology and Nuclear Reactor Transfers to Iran

Many in Congress and the Clinton Administration charge that Russian entities are assisting Iran in developing ballistic missiles. Russia is also building a nuclear power station and is finishing other nuclear services to, Iran. Congress has passed legislation requiring the President to impose sanctions for missile technology transfers, arms sales, nuclear technology transfers, and large-scale investments in Iran. H.R 2709, which includes the "Iran Missile Proliferation Sanctions Act of 1997," is one of several bills designed to tighten existing sanctions law. It was amended and passed by the Senate on May 22, 1998, and by the House on June 9 by very large bipartisan majorities. Nevertheless, President Clinton vetoed the bill on June 23 and said he would work to sustain the veto

Russian Missile Technology and Nuclear Reactor Transfers to Iran

Many in Congress and the Clinton Administration charge that Russian entities are assisting Iran in developing ballistic missiles. Russia is also building a nuclear power station and is finishing other nuclear services to, Iran. Congress has passed legislation requiring the President to impose sanctions for missile technology transfers, arms sales, nuclear technology transfers, and large-scale investments in Iran. H.R 2709, which includes the "Iran Missile Proliferation Sanctions Act of 1997," is one of several bills designed to tighten existing sanctions law. It was amended and passed by the Senate on May 22, 1998, and by the House on June 9 by very large bipartisan majorities. Nevertheless, President Clinton vetoed the bill on June 23 and said he would work to sustain the veto

Reinstated episodic context guides sampling-based decisions for reward.

How does experience inform decisions? In episodic sampling, decisions are guided by a few episodic memories of past choices. This process can yield choice patterns similar to model-free reinforcement learning; however, samples can vary from trial to trial, causing decisions to vary. Here we show that context retrieved during episodic sampling can cause choice behavior to deviate sharply from the predictions of reinforcement learning. Specifically, we show that, when a given memory is sampled, choices (in the present) are influenced by the properties of other decisions made in the same context as the sampled event. This effect is mediated by fMRI measures of context retrieval on each trial, suggesting a mechanism whereby cues trigger retrieval of context, which then triggers retrieval of other decisions from that context. This result establishes a new avenue by which experience can guide choice and, as such, has broad implications for the study of decisions

Deep transfer learning of global spectra for local soil carbon monitoring

There is global interest in spectroscopy and the development of large and diverse soil spectral libraries (SSL) to model soil organic carbon (SOC) and monitor, report, and verify (MRV) its changes. The reason is that increasing SOC can improve food production and mitigate climate change. However, ‘global’ modelling of SOC with such diverse and hyperdimensional SSLs do not generalise well locally, e.g. at a field scale. To address this challenge, we propose deep transfer learning (DTL) to leverage useful information from large-scale SSLs to assist local modelling. We used one global, three country-specific SSLs and data from three local sites with DTL to improve the modelling and localise the SOC estimates in individual fields or farms in each country. With DTL, we transferred instances from the SSLs, representations from one-dimensional convolutional neural networks (1D-CNNs) trained on the SSLs, and both instances and representations to improve local modelling. Transferring instances effectively used information from the global SSL to most accurately estimate SOC in each site, reducing the root mean square error (RMSE) by 25.8% on average compared with local modelling. Our results highlight the effectiveness of DTL and the value of diverse, global SSLs for accurate local SOC predictions. Applying DTL with a global SSL one could estimate SOC anywhere in the world more accurately, rapidly, and cost-effectively, enabling MRV protocols to monitor SOC changes

Using diffusion tractography to predict cortical connection strength and distance: a quantitative comparison with tracers in the monkey

Tractography based on diffusion MRI offers the promise of characterizing many aspects of long-distance connectivity in the brain, but requires quantitative validation to assess its strengths and limitations. Here, we evaluate tractography's ability to estimate the presence and strength of connections between areas of macaque neocortex by comparing its results with published data from retrograde tracer injections. Probabilistic tractography was performed on high-quality postmortem diffusion imaging scans from two Old World monkey brains. Tractography connection weights were estimated using a fractional scaling method based on normalized streamline density. We found a correlation between log-transformed tractography and tracer connection weights of r = 0.59, twice that reported in a recent study on the macaque. Using a novel method to estimate interareal connection lengths from tractography streamlines, we regressed out the distance dependence of connection strength and found that the correlation between tractography and tracers remains positive, albeit substantially reduced. Altogether, these observations provide a valuable, data-driven perspective on both the strengths and limitations of tractography for analyzing interareal corticocortical connectivity in nonhuman primates and a framework for assessing future tractography methodological refinements objectively

Eccentric lamellar keratolimbal grafts harvested with a manually guided microkeratome

Background: To perform lamellar keratolimbal allograft transplantation in a one- step procedure with a single graft, we investigated the feasibility of harvesting eccentric lamellar keratolimbal grafts from conventionally processed corneoscleral buttons using a manually guided microkeratome in conjunction with an artificial anterior chamber system. Methods: We used the Moria LSK- One microkeratome and the automated lamellar therapeutic keratoplasty ( ALTK) system ( Antony, France). Ten human donor eyes were used to obtain single- piece lamellar keratolimbal grafts. Specimens were processed for light and electron microscopy. Results: Eccentric keratolimbal grafts could be obtained from all human donor buttons. Grafts include a crescent- shaped limbal and a large corneal portion. No visible damage to the limbal region was discernible. Conclusion: Our data show that the LSK- One microkeratome in conjunction with the ALTK system allows harvesting eccentric keratolimbal grafts from donor corneoscleral buttons. Copyright (c) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel

Phase equilibria and glass transition in colloidal systems with short-ranged attractive interactions. Application to protein crystallization

We have studied a model of a complex fluid consisting of particles interacting through a hard core and a short range attractive potential of both Yukawa and square-well form. Using a hybrid method, including a self-consistent and quite accurate approximation for the liquid integral equation in the case of the Yukawa fluid, perturbation theory to evaluate the crystal free energies, and mode-coupling theory of the glass transition, we determine both the equilibrium phase diagram of the system and the lines of equilibrium between the supercooled fluid and the glass phases. For these potentials, we study the phase diagrams for different values of the potential range, the ratio of the range of the interaction to the diameter of the repulsive core being the main control parameter. Our arguments are relevant to a variety of systems, from dense colloidal systems with depletion forces, through particle gels, nano-particle aggregation, and globular protein crystallization.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figure

Radiative Decay Modes of the D0D^{0} Meson

Using data recorded by the CLEO-II detector at CESR we have searched for four radiative decay modes of the $D^0$ meson: $D^0\to\phi\gamma$, $D^0\to\omega\gamma$, $D^0\to\bar{K}^{*}\gamma$, and $D^0\to\rho^0\gamma$. We obtain 90% CL upper limits on the branching ratios of these modes of $1.9\times 10^{-4}$, $2.4\times 10^{-4}$, $7.6\times 10^{-4}$ and $2.4\times 10^{-4}$ respectively.Comment: 15 page postscript file, postscript file also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN