Inside‐out: synergising leaf biochemical traits with stomatal‐regulated water fluxes to enhance transpiration modelling during abiotic stress

As the global climate continues to change, plants will increasingly experience abiotic stress(es). Stomata on leaf surfaces are the gatekeepers to plant interiors, regulating gaseous exchanges that are crucial for both photosynthesis and outward water release. To optimise future crop productivity, accurate modelling of how stomata govern plant–environment interactions will be crucial. Here, we synergise optical and thermal imaging data to improve modelled transpiration estimates during water and/or nutrient stress (where leaf N is reduced). By utilising hyperspectral data and partial least squares regression analysis of six plant traits and fluxes in wheat (Triticum aestivum), we develop a new spectral vegetation index; the Combined Nitrogen and Drought Index (CNDI), which can be used to detect both water stress and/or nitrogen deficiency. Upon full stomatal closure during drought, CNDI shows a strong relationship with leaf water content (r2 = 0.70), with confounding changes in leaf biochemistry. By incorporating CNDI transformed with a sigmoid function into thermal-based transpiration modelling, we have increased the accuracy of modelling water fluxes during abiotic stress. These findings demonstrate the potential of using combined optical and thermal remote sensing-based modelling approaches to dynamically model water fluxes to improve both agricultural water usage and yields

The Vega debris disc: A view from Herschel

We present five band imaging of the Vega debris disc obtained using the Herschel Space Observatory. These data span a wavelength range of 70-500 mu m with full-width half-maximum angular resolutions of 5.6-36.9 ''. The disc is well resolved in all bands, with the ring structure visible at 70 and 160 mu m. Radial profiles of the disc surface brightness are produced, and a disc radius of 11 '' (similar to 85AU) is determined. The disc is seen to have a smooth structure thoughout the entire wavelength range, suggesting that the disc is in a steady state, rather than being an ephemeral structure caused by the recent collision of two large planetesimals

Layered control architectures in robots and vertebrates

We revieiv recent research in robotics, neuroscience, evolutionary neurobiology, and ethology with the aim of highlighting some points of agreement and convergence. Specifically, we com pare Brooks' (1986) subsumption architecture for robot control with research in neuroscience demonstrating layered control systems in vertebrate brains, and with research in ethology that emphasizes the decomposition of control into multiple, intertwined behavior systems. From this perspective we then describe interesting parallels between the subsumption architecture and the natural layered behavior system that determines defense reactions in the rat. We then consider the action selection problem for robots and vertebrates and argue that, in addition to subsumption- like conflict resolution mechanisms, the vertebrate nervous system employs specialized selection mechanisms located in a group of central brain structures termed the basal ganglia. We suggest that similar specialized switching mechanisms might be employed in layered robot control archi tectures to provide effective and flexible action selection

Scintillating bolometers based on ZnMoO4 and Zn100MoO4 crystals to search for 0ν2β decay of 100Mo (LUMINEU project): first tests at the Modane Underground Laboratory

The technology of scintillating bolometers based on zinc molybdate (ZnMoO4) crystals is under development within the LUMINEU project to search for decay of 100Mo with the goal to set the basis for large scale experiments capable to explore the inverted hierarchy region of the neutrino mass pattern. Advanced ZnMoO4 crystal scintillators with mass of ∼0.3 kg were developed and Zn100MoO4 crystal from enriched 100Mo was produced for the first time by using the low-thermal-gradient Czochralski technique. One ZnMoO4 scintillator and two samples (59 g and 63 g) cut from the enriched boule were tested aboveground at milli-Kelvin temperature as scintillating bolometers showing a high detection performance. The first results of the low background measurements with three ZnMoO4 and two enriched detectors installed in the EDELWEISS set-up at the Modane Underground Laboratory (France) are presented