Electronic control/display interface technology

An effort to produce a representative workstation for the Space Station Data Management Test Bed that provides man/machine interface design options for consolidating, automating, and integrating the space station work station, and hardware/software technology demonstrations of space station applications is discussed. The workstation will emphasize the technologies of advanced graphics engines, advanced display/control medias, image management techniques, multifunction controls, and video disk utilizations

First records of \u3ci\u3eHippodamia variegata\u3c/i\u3e (Goeze) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) for Iowa, U.S.A.

Hippodamia variegata (Goeze) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), a Palearctic lady beetle that has become established in North America, is reported for the first time from the state of Iowa, U.S.A. The earliest specimen of H. variegata from Iowa was collected in 2009, with two subsequent specimens in 2012. Collection records of an advancing, non-native species like H. variegata are important for determining comparative rates of geographic spread across various regions and understanding its invasion dynamics

The clustering and bias of radio-selected AGN and star-forming galaxies in the COSMOS field

Dark matter haloes in which galaxies reside are likely to have a significant impact on their evolution. We investigate the link between dark matter haloes and their constituent galaxies by measuring the angular two-point correlation function of radio sources, using recently released 3 GHz imaging over $\sim 2 \ \mathrm{deg}^2$of the COSMOS field. We split the radio source population into Star Forming Galaxies (SFGs) and Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), and further separate the AGN into radiatively efficient and inefficient accreters. Restricting our analysis to$z<1$, we find SFGs have a bias,$b = 1.5 ^{+0.1}_{-0.2}$, at a median redshift of$z=0.62$. On the other hand, AGN are significantly more strongly clustered with$b = 2.1\pm 0.2$at a median redshift of 0.7. This supports the idea that AGN are hosted by more massive haloes than SFGs. We also find low-accretion rate AGN are more clustered ($b = 2.9 \pm 0.3$) than high-accretion rate AGN ($b = 1.8^{+0.4}_{-0.5}$) at the same redshift ($z \sim 0.7$), suggesting that low-accretion rate AGN reside in higher mass haloes. This supports previous evidence that the relatively hot gas that inhabits the most massive haloes is unable to be easily accreted by the central AGN, causing them to be inefficient. We also find evidence that low-accretion rate AGN appear to reside in halo masses of$M_{h} \sim 3-4 \times 10^{13}h^{-1}$M$_{\odot}$at all redshifts. On the other hand, the efficient accreters reside in haloes of$M_{h} \sim 1-2 \times 10^{13}h^{-1}$M$_{\odot}$at low redshift but can reside in relatively lower mass haloes at higher redshifts. This could be due to the increased prevalence of cold gas in lower mass haloes at$z \ge 1$compared to$z<1$.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures, 1 table, accepted by MNRA

Polyphenol Oxidase Activity and \u3cem\u3ein Vitro\u3c/em\u3e Proteolytic Inhibition in Grasses

Harvesting and storing high quality forage in the cool humid regions remains a challenge due to the potential for protein degradation during ensiling. Red clover is an exception as high protein levels are maintained during ensiling. Decreased proteolytic activity in red clover is due to polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity and appropriate o-diphenol substrates (Jones et al., 1995, Sullivan et al., 2004). This project was undertaken to determine if PPO activity is present in a range of grasses and the potential role in proteolytic inhibition in the presence of the o-diphenol caffeic acid

The Influence of Soil Temperature on Soybean Seed Emergence

The best way to obtain adequate soybean stands is to plant high quality seed in an optimum soil environment. But this year many farmers may not be able to obtain enough high quality soybean seed and some acreage may be planted with seed of lower than normal quality. Thus it will be even more important to have an optimum soil environment

Partition Function for (2+1)-Dimensional Einstein Gravity

Taking (2+1)-dimensional pure Einstein gravity for arbitrary genus $g$ as a model, we investigate the relation between the partition function formally defined on the entire phase space and the one written in terms of the reduced phase space. In particular the case of $g=1$ is analyzed in detail. By a suitable gauge-fixing, the partition function $Z$ basically reduces to the partition function defined for the reduced system, whose dynamical variables are $(\tau^A, p_A)$. [The $\tau^A$'s are the Teichm\"uller parameters, and the $p_A$'s are their conjugate momenta.] As for the case of $g=1$, we find out that $Z$ is also related with another reduced form, whose dynamical variables are $(\tau^A, p_A)$ and $(V, \sigma)$. [Here $\sigma$ is a conjugate momentum to 2-volume $V$.] A nontrivial factor appears in the measure in terms of this type of reduced form. The factor turns out to be a Faddeev-Popov determinant coming from the time-reparameterization invariance inherent in this type of formulation. Thus the relation between two reduced forms becomes transparent even in the context of quantum theory. Furthermore for $g=1$, a factor coming from the zero-modes of a differential operator $P_1$ can appear in the path-integral measure in the reduced representation of $Z$. It depends on the path-integral domain for the shift vector in $Z$: If it is defined to include $\ker P_1$, the nontrivial factor does not appear. On the other hand, if the integral domain is defined to exclude $\ker P_1$, the factor appears in the measure. This factor can depend on the dynamical variables, typically as a function of $V$, and can influence the semiclassical dynamics of the (2+1)-dimensional spacetime. These results shall be significant from the viewpoint of quantum gravity.Comment: 21 pages. To appear in Physical Review D. The discussion on the path-integral domain for the shift vector has been adde

Combining Dynamic Predictions from Joint Models for Longitudinal and Time-to-Event Data using Bayesian Model Averaging

The joint modeling of longitudinal and time-to-event data is an active area of statistics research that has received a lot of attention in the recent years. More recently, a new and attractive application of this type of models has been to obtain individualized predictions of survival probabilities and/or of future longitudinal responses. The advantageous feature of these predictions is that they are dynamically updated as extra longitudinal responses are collected for the subjects of interest, providing real time risk assessment using all recorded information. The aim of this paper is two-fold. First, to highlight the importance of modeling the association structure between the longitudinal and event time responses that can greatly influence the derived predictions, and second, to illustrate how we can improve the accuracy of the derived predictions by suitably combining joint models with different association structures. The second goal is achieved using Bayesian model averaging, which, in this setting, has the very intriguing feature that the model weights are not fixed but they are rather subject- and time-dependent, implying that at different follow-up times predictions for the same subject may be based on different models

Mineral sinks within ripening grape berries (Vitis vinifera L.)

Trends in the accumulation of mineral elements into the grape berry components give information about vascular flow into the berry. Shiraz berries were dissected into receptacle, skin, pulp, brush and seeds and the accumulation of 10 mineral elements into these components was followed through development. The elements were separated into two categories according to their accumulation pattern into the berry. The first group of elements continued to accumulate throughout berry growth and ripening, and was comprised of  phloem-mobile potassium, phosphorus, sulphur, magnesium, boron, iron and copper. The second group of elements accumulated mostly prior to veraison, and included the xylem-mobile minerals calcium, manganese and zinc. These results indicate that the xylem contribution to berry growth diminished after veraison. Berry fresh weight, dry weight, as well as berry sugar content, were all highly correlated with berry potassium content. While the pulp and skin were the strongest sinks for potassium and boron, seeds were the strongest sinks for calcium, phosphorus, sulphur, manganese and zinc. With the exception of calcium and manganese, seeds ceased to accumulate most elements during late ripening. The berry receptacle and brush did not accumulate any of the elements to levels above those of the other berry components at any stage of development. Therefore, they did not act as sinks for xylem- or phloem-mobile elements as vascular flow to the pulp and skin slowed.