A fossil byblidaceae seed from eocene South Australia

Copyright © 2004 by The University of ChicagoA single mummified angiosperm seed is described from a middle Eocene clay lens deposit at the Monier East Yatala Sand Pit, Golden Grove, South Australia. The seed is small (0.7 mm long and 0.45 mm wide), elliptical, black, and shows complex raised reticulate honeycomb sculpturing with deeply excavated cell floors and verrucate sculpturing on the anticlinal ridges. The fossil was compared against extant species of Byblis and the Droseraceae, especially the Drosera indica L. complex, common annual carnivorous plants that grow in seasonally damp environments in northern Australia and that have similarly small sculptured seeds. The combination of deep reticulately honeycombed cells and the verrucate anticlinal walls places the seed close to extant taxa in the Byblis liniflora Salisb. complex. However, in the absence of a larger sample and/or of definitive features to assign the fossil unequivocally to an extant species, as well as nomenclatural restrictions preventing the typification of a fossil by an illustration, the specimen is described as a parataxon and placed in Byblidaceae but without a formal name.Conran, John G., and David C. Christophe

Activity limitations and factors influencing functional outcome of patients with stroke following rehabilitation at a specialised facility in the Western Cape

BACKGROUND: Determining the functional abilities and factors influencing outcome of patients with stroke following rehabilitation are essential for the planning of future interventions and services in order to optimise recovery. OBJECTIVES: To determine the activity limitations and factors influencing functional outcome of patients with stroke managed at a specialised rehabilitation centre. METHODOLOGY: A longitudinal study design was used to determine the functional outcomes of patients admitted to the centre on admission and discharge. A data gathering sheet was developed to collect information pertaining to the demographicand medical profile and process of rehabilitation, whereas the Barthel Index was used to collect data relating to functional abilities. For analysis, descriptive statistics as well as inferential statistics (Student t test) were utilised to determine the paired differences. Six prognostic factors influencing functional outcome were selected and tested using linear (bivariate) regression. RESULTS: The mean Barthel Index scores on admission and at discharge were 58.85 and 81.59 respectively. A significant improvement was noted in the execution of functional task of patients with stroke (p< 0.01) between the data collection points. Despite the significant overall improvement, results show a high prevalence of dependence with walking and stair climbing at discharge. Only functional ability on admission (r=0.49) predicted a favourable functional outcome at discharge. CONCLUSION: This study highlights the limitations of younger stroke survivors and the need for continued rehabilitation following in-patient care. It further underscores the administration of a functional rating scale on admission in order to aggressively manage activity limitations.Department of HE and Training approved lis

MiRo: An animal-like companion robot with a biomimetic brain-based control system

© 2017 Authors.The MiRo robot is a new pet-sized mobile platform with an emotionally-engaging personality and appearance that has been developed for research on companion robotics and robot-assisted therapy. MiRo has six senses and eight degrees of freedom that are designed to promote human-robot interaction. A distinctive feature is the use of a biomimetic brain-based control system consisting of a layered control architecture alongside centralized mechanisms for integration and action selection. MiRo has been developed by Consequential Robotics, a spin-out of the University of Sheffield, and aims to provide the HRI community with a flexible platform for research and education

MIRO: A Versatile Biomimetic Edutainment Robot

Here we present MIRO, a companion robot designed to engage users in science and robotics via edutainment. MIRO is a robot that is biomimetic in aesthetics, morphology, behaviour, and control architecture. In this paper, we review how these design choices affect its suitability for a companionship role. In particular, we consider how MIRO's emulation of familiar mammalian body language as one component of a broader biomimetic expressive system provides effective communication of emotional state and intent. We go on to discuss how these features contribute to MIRO's potential in other domains such as healthcare, education, and research

Interspecific hybridization within Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae): Subgenus Symphyomyrtus, sections Bisectae and Adnataria

Copyright © 2001 The University of Chicago PressThe potential for interspecific hybridization within the genus Eucalyptus was investigated through controlled pollination and measurement of seedling leaf morphology. Eucalyptus gillii and E. socialis (subgen. Symphyomyrtus sect. Bisectae ser. Subulatae) were used as the female parents, and pollen was sourced from 16 Eucalyptus species from a number of series within sections Bisectae and Adnataria (subgen. Symphyomyrtus). Thirty-four out of 36 crosses produced seeds; however, the percentage of seeds produced per flower pollinated varied considerably between crosses, as did germination percentage and seedling survival. At 3 mo of age, all surviving seedlings were measured for 15 leaf and stem characters. Multivariate analysis (ordination) of the data from each cross placed the seedlings in relation to their parents, with most crosses intermediate, albeit closer to the maternal parent. Successful hybridization occurred within sect. Bisectae ser. Subulatae and between ser. Subulatae and sect. Bisectae ser. Kruseanae, ser. Levispermae, ser. Curviptera, ser. Erectae and sect. Adnataria ser. Heterophloiae. In contrast, crosses between sect. Bisectae ser. Subulatae and sect. Adnataria ser. Aquilonares and ser. Melliodorae did not produce hybrids. Crosses between closely related species showed a greater degree of success than those between distant crosses, as did those between species with similar flower size.K. L. Delaporte; J. G. Conran; M. Sedgle