2,353 research outputs found
shape to color associations in non synesthetes evidence for emotional mediation
4 Shape Features: Curviness: Curved, angular Symmetry: Asymmetric, symmetric Closure: Open, intersecting-once, intersecting>1 # of Line-Segments: 2, 3, 8 line-segments 8 Hues: Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Orange, Chartreuse, Cyan, Purple 4 Saturation/Lightness levels ("cuts"): Saturated, Light, Muted, Dark + 5 Achromatic Colors: White, Black, Light, Medium, & Dark Gray 1a 1c 2a 2c 3a 3c 4a 4c 5a 5c 6
Potential net primary productivity in South America: application of a global model
We use a mechanistically based ecosystem simulation model to describe and analyze the spatial and temporal patterns of terrestrial net primary productivity (NPP) in South America. The Terrestrial Ecosystem Model (TEM) is designed to predict major carbon and nitrogen fluxes and pool sizes in terrestrial ecosystems at continental to global scales. Information from intensively studies field sites is used in combination with continentalâscale information on climate, soils, and vegetation to estimate NPP in each of 5888 nonâwetland, 0.5° latitude °0.5° longitude grid cells in South America, at monthly time steps. Preliminary analyses are presented for the scenario of natural vegetation throughout the continent, as a prelude to evaluating human impacts on terrestrial NPP. The potential annual NPP of South America is estimated to be 12.5 Pg/yr of carbon (26.3 Pg/yr of organic matter) in a nonâwetland area of 17.0 ° 106 km2. More than 50% of this production occurs in the tropical and subtropical evergreen forest region. Six independent model runs, each based on an independently derived set of model parameters, generated mean annual NPP estimates for the tropical evergreen forest region ranging from 900 to 1510 g°mâ2°yrâ1 of carbon, with an overall mean of 1170 g°mâ2°yrâ1. Coefficients of variation in estimated annual NPP averaged 20% for any specific location in the evergreen forests, which is probably within the confidence limits of extant NPP measurements. Predicted rates of mean annual NPP in other types of vegetation ranged from 95 g°mâ2°yrâ1 in arid shrublands to 930 g°m@?yrâ1 in savannas, and were within the ranges measured in empirical studies. The spatial distribution of predicted NPP was directly compared with estimates made using the Miami mode of Lieth (1975). Overall, TEM predictions were °10% lower than those of the Miami model, but the two models agreed closely on the spatial patterns of NPP in south America. Unlike previous models, however, TEM estimates NPP monthly, allowing for the evaluation of seasonal phenomena. This is an important step toward integration of ecosystem models with remotely sensed information, global climate models, and atmospheric transport models, all of which are evaluated at comparable spatial and temporal scales. Seasonal patterns of NPP in South America are correlated with moisture availability in most vegetation types, but are strongly influenced by seasonal differences in cloudiness in the tropical evergreen forests. On an annual basis, moisture availability was the factor that was correlated most strongly with annual NPP in South America, but differences were again observed among vegetation types. These results allow for the investigation and analysis of climatic controls over NPP at continental scales, within and among vegetation types, and within years. Further model validation is needed. Nevertheless, the ability to investigate NPPâenvironment interactions with a high spatial and temporal resolution at continental scales should prove useful if not essential for rigorous analysis of the potential effects of global climate changes on terrestrial ecosystems
TaxMan : a server to trim rRNA reference databases and inspect taxonomic coverage
© The Author(s), 2012. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nucleic Acids Research 40 (2012): W82-W87, doi:10.1093/nar/gks418.Amplicon sequencing of the hypervariable regions of the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene is a widely accepted method for identifying the members of complex bacterial communities. Several rRNA gene sequence reference databases can be used to assign taxonomic names to the sequencing reads using BLAST, USEARCH, GAST or the RDP classifier. Next-generation sequencing methods produce ample reads, but they are short, currently âŒ100â450ânt (depending on the technology), as compared to the full rRNA gene of âŒ1550ânt. It is important, therefore, to select the right rRNA gene region for sequencing. The primers should amplify the species of interest and the hypervariable regions should differentiate their taxonomy. Here, we introduce TaxMan: a web-based tool that trims reference sequences based on user-selected primer pairs and returns an assessment of the primer specificity by taxa. It allows interactive plotting of taxa, both amplified and missed in silico by the primers used. Additionally, using the trimmed sequences improves the speed of sequence matching algorithms. The smaller database greatly improves run times (up to 98%) and memory usage, not only of similarity searching (BLAST), but also of chimera checking (UCHIME) and of clustering the reads (UCLUST). TaxMan is available at http://www.ibi.vu.nl/programs/taxmanwww/.University of Amsterdam under the research priority area
âOral Infections and Inflammationâ (to B.W.B.); National
Science Foundation [NSF/BDI 0960626 to S.M.H.]; the
European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/
2007-2013) under ANTIRESDEV grant agreement no
241446 (to E.Z.)
Context Matters: A Theory of Semantic Discriminability for Perceptual Encoding Systems
People's associations between colors and concepts influence their ability to
interpret the meanings of colors in information visualizations. Previous work
has suggested such effects are limited to concepts that have strong, specific
associations with colors. However, although a concept may not be strongly
associated with any colors, its mapping can be disambiguated in the context of
other concepts in an encoding system. We articulate this view in semantic
discriminability theory, a general framework for understanding conditions
determining when people can infer meaning from perceptual features. Semantic
discriminability is the degree to which observers can infer a unique mapping
between visual features and concepts. Semantic discriminability theory posits
that the capacity for semantic discriminability for a set of concepts is
constrained by the difference between the feature-concept association
distributions across the concepts in the set. We define formal properties of
this theory and test its implications in two experiments. The results show that
the capacity to produce semantically discriminable colors for sets of concepts
was indeed constrained by the statistical distance between color-concept
association distributions (Experiment 1). Moreover, people could interpret
meanings of colors in bar graphs insofar as the colors were semantically
discriminable, even for concepts previously considered "non-colorable"
(Experiment 2). The results suggest that colors are more robust for visual
communication than previously thought.Comment: To Appear in IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphic
Associations Between Cancer Screening Behavior and Complementary Medicine Use: Results of a National Cross-Sectional Survey of 9151 Australian Women
© The Author(s) 2018. Introduction: Complementary medicine (CM) use has been found to influence the uptake of conventional cancer treatment. This study examines associations between CM use and cancer screening rates. Methods: Women aged 62 to 67 years from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Womenâs Health were surveyed regarding their use of cancer screening initiatives. Associations between cancer screening behavior and visits to CM practitioners were analyzed. Results: Of the 9151 women, 9049 (98.9%) completed questions about cancer screening. A total of 65.1% of women had received a clinical skin examination, 54.3% colorectal cancer screening, 56.2% Pap test (within past 2 years), 83.3% mammogram (within past 2 years), 55.8% clinical breast examination, and 55.8% had conducted breast self-examination. Women who had consulted a massage therapist were more likely to undergo clinical skin examination (P =.002), clinical breast examination (P =.018), and mammogram (P =.001). Women who had consulted a chiropractor were more likely to undergo a clinical skin examination (P =.001), colorectal cancer screening (P =.020), and mammogram (P =.011). Women who had consulted an acupuncturist were more likely to undergo colorectal cancer screening (P =.019), and those who consulted with an osteopath were more liable to have a Pap test (P =.049). Conclusion: Women who visit CM practitioners are more likely to participate in cancer screening initiatives. Research is required to understand the current and potential role that CM practitioners (can) have as public health advocates, recommending preventative health measures such as cancer screening. Such an examination will help ensure optimal screening utilization and effective, timely care for all cancer patients
Effects of university affiliation and âschool spiritâ on color preferences: Berkeley versus Stanford
The ecological valence theory (EVT) posits that preference for a color is determined by peopleâs average affective response to everything associated with it (Palmer & Schloss, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107, 8877â8882, 2010). The EVT thus implies the existence of sociocultural effects: Color preference should increase with positive feelings (or decrease with negative feelings) toward an institution strongly associated with a color. We tested this prediction by measuring undergraduatesâ color preferences at two rival universities, Berkeley and Stanford, to determine whether students liked their universityâs colors better than their rivals did. Students not only preferred their own colors more than their rivals did, but the degree of their preference increased with self-rated positive affect (âschool spiritâ) for their university. These results support the EVTâs claim that color preference is caused by learned affective responses to associated objects and institutions, because it is unlikely that students choose their university or develop their degree of school spirit on the basis of preexisting color preferences
Distribución de nutrientes inorgånicos y clorofila-a a través de los frentes de la Plataforma Continental Patagónica Argentina durante verano y otoño
Oceanographic data collected during 2001-2003 on the Patagonian Continental Shelf of Argentina were analyzed in order to study the main chemical features of this large shelf. The variation of inorganic nutrients and chlorophyll-a during summer and fall in an area within 40 to 60 km from the coast are presented. Nitrate is the limiting nutrient in the region and is negatively correlated to chlorophyll-a. All variables show localized variations in summer, which can be related to tidal fronts through the comparison of our data with the critical Simpson parameter of stability (50 J m-3). In fall, nutrient concentrations on the continental shelf were more uniform and generally higher than in summer due to the disruption of these fronts.Datos oceanĂłgraficos recolectados durante 2001-2003 en la Plataforma Continental PatagĂłnica Argentina fueron analizados para estudiar las principales caracterĂsticas quĂmicas en esta gran plataforma. Se presenta la variaciĂłn de los nutrientes inorgĂĄnicos y de la clorofila-a a una distancia de 40 a 60 km de la costa. El nitrato es el nutriente limitante en la regiĂłn y estĂĄ negativamente correlacionado con la clorofila-a. Todas las variables presentan variaciones localizadas en verano, las cuales pueden ser relacionadas con los frentes de marea a travĂ©s de la comparaciĂłn de nuestros datos con el parĂĄmetro crĂtico de estabilidad de Simpson (50 J m-3). En otoño, la concentraciĂłn de nutrientes en la plataforma continental fue mĂĄs uniforme y generalmente mayor que en verano debido a la disrupciĂłn de dichos frentes.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse
Waist circumference predicts clustering of cardiovascular risk factors in older South Africans
Objecti~'eand design. A cross-sectional analytical study
to determine the cardiovascular risk factor profile of
older residents of fishing villages on the West Coast of
South Africa, and to det.ermine which anthropometric
measures are associated with risk factors.
Subjects. A convenient community-based sample of
152 subjects of mixed ancestry aged 55 years and over was recruited door-to-door using an address list of ageeligible
subjects provided by the local public health care
clinics.
Methods. Cardiovascular relationships were im'estigated
between: (i) number of risk factors (hypertension,
hypercholesterolaemia, diabetes) and body mass index
(8MI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and waist circumference;
and (ii) continuous cardiovascular risk factor variables
and physical activity, smoking, dietary intake, and
24-hour urinary sodium and potassium concentrationS.
Results. The prevalence of hypertension (~ 160/95
mmHg) was 74.3% (95% CI: 67.2 - 81.4%). Neither 24-
hour urinary sodium nor potassium concentrations was
associated with blood pressure (BP). Past, but not present,
moderate-intensity physical activity, particularly
that associated with occupation, was negatively associated
with systolic BP (r = -0.24, P < 0.05). The prevalence
of diabetes and hypercholesterolaemia (serum
cholesterol ~ 6.5 mmolll) was 24.6% (95% CI: 17.2 -
32%) and 40% (95% CI: 31.8 - 48.2%),respectively.
The percentage of subjects with 0, 1, or 2 or more cardiovascular
risk factors was 13.4%,44.1% and 42.5%,
respectively. Subjects with a waist circumference ~ 92
em had a significantly higher number of cardiovascular
risk factors than those with a waist circumference < 92
cm (Xl =9.29, P < 0.01), and this association remained
significant even after controlling for age, sex and smoking
(P < 0.05). Neither 8MI tertiles according to sex, nor
a 8MI cut-point ~ 30, was significantly associated with a
clustering of risk factors. COllclusioll. In a sample of older South Africans of
ntlxed ancestry at high risk of cardiovascular disease,
waist circumference ~ 92 em predicts clustering of risk
factors, Independentl)' of BMI. This simple, populationspecific
reference value may provide a useful screening
tool to identify at-risk Individuals for targeted prevention
for coronary heart disease and associated metabolic
disorders
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