Filling in the retinal image

The optics of the eye form an image on a surface at the back of the eyeball called the retina. The retina contains the photoreceptors that sample the image and convert it into a neural signal. The spacing of the photoreceptors in the retina is not uniform and varies with retinal locus. The central retinal field, called the macula, is densely packed with photoreceptors. The packing density falls off rapidly as a function of retinal eccentricity with respect to the macular region and there are regions in which there are no photoreceptors at all. The retinal regions without photoreceptors are called blind spots or scotomas. The neural transformations which convert retinal image signals into percepts fills in the gaps and regularizes the inhomogeneities of the retinal photoreceptor sampling mosaic. The filling-in mechamism plays an important role in understanding visual performance. The filling-in mechanism is not well understood. A systematic collaborative research program at the Ames Research Center and SRI in Menlo Park, California, was designed to explore this mechanism. It was shown that the perceived fields which are in fact different from the image on the retina due to filling-in, control some aspects of performance and not others. Researchers have linked these mechanisms to putative mechanisms of color coding and color constancy

Accelerational Implications of Hummingbird Display Dives

Integrative Biolog

A3I visibility modeling project

The Army-NASA Aircrew Aircraft Integration program is supporting a joint project to build a visibility computer-aided design (CAD) tool. CAD has become an essential tool in modern engineering applications. CAD tools are used to create engineering drawings and to evaluate potential designs before they are physically realized. The visibility CAD tool will provide the design engineer with a tool to aid in the location and specification of windows, displays, and control in crewstations. In an aircraft cockpit the location of instruments and the emissive and reflective characteristics of the surfaces must be determined to assure adequate aircrew performance. The visibility CAD tool will allow the designer to ask and answer many of these questions in the context of a three-dimensional graphical representation of the cockpit. The graphic representation of the cockpit is a geometrically valid model of the cockpit design. A graphic model of a pilot, called the pilot manikin, can be placed naturalistically in the cockpit model. The visibility tool has the capability of mapping the cockpit surfaces and other objects modeled in this graphic design space onto the simulated pilot's retinas for a given visual fixation

Synergism and context dependency of interactions between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and rhizobia with prairie legume

Biotic interactions play primary roles in major theories of the distribution and abundance of species, yet the nature of these biotic interactions can depend upon the larger ecological community. Leguminous plants, for example, commonly associate with both arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and rhizobia bacteria, and the pairwise interactions may depend upon the presence or identity of the third partner. To determine if the dynamics of plant–AMF and plant–rhizobia interactions are affected by the alternate symbiont, we manipulated the presence and identity of each symbiont, as well as levels of the nutrients supplied by each symbiont (nitrogen and phosphorus), on the growth of prairie legume Amorpha canescens. We found strong synergistic effects of AMF and rhizobia inoculation on plant biomass production that were independent of nutrient levels. AMF and rhizobia responses were each influenced by the other, but not in the same direction. AMF infection increased root nodule number and mass, but rhizobia inoculation decreased AMF hyphal colonization of roots. The relative benefits of each combination of symbionts depended upon phosphorus level. The effect of nitrogen was also contingent on the biotic environment where nitrogen addition decreased nodulation, but this decrease was reduced with coinfection by AMF. Our results demonstrate a strong contingency on the co-occurrence of AMF and rhizobia for the long-term fitness of A. canescens, and suggest that the belowground community is critical for the success of this species in tallgrass prairies

Grayscale/resolution trade-off for text: Model predictions and psychophysical results for letter confusion and letter discrimination

In a series of papers presented in 1994, we examined the grayscale/resolution trade-off for natural images displayed on devices with discrete pixellation, such as AMLCD's. In the present paper we extend this study by examining the grayscale/resolution trade-off for text images on discrete-pixel displays. Halftoning in printing is an example of the grayscale/resolution trade-off. In printing, spatial resolution is sacrificed to produce grayscale. Another example of this trade-off is the inherent low-pass spatial filter of a CRT, caused by the point-spread function of the electron beam in the phosphor layer. On a CRT, sharp image edges are blurred by this inherent low-pass filtering, and the block noise created by spatial quantization is greatly reduced. A third example of this trade-off is text anti-aliasing, where grayscale is used to improve letter shape, size and location when rendered at a low spatial resolution. There are additional implications for display system design from the grayscale/resolution trade-off. For example, reduced grayscale can reduce system costs by requiring less complexity in the framestore, allowing the use of lower cost drivers, potentially increasing data transfer rates in the image subsystem, and simplifying the manufacturing processes that are used to construct the active matrix for AMLCD (active-matrix liquid-crystal display) or AMTFEL (active-matrix thin-film electroluminescent) devices. Therefore, the study of these trade-offs is important for display designers and manufacturing and systems engineers who wish to create the highest performance, lowest cost device possible. Our strategy for investigating this trade-off is to generate a set of simple test images, manipulate grayscale and resolution, predict discrimination performance using the ViDEOS(Sarnoff) Human Vision Model, conduct an empirical study of discrimination using psychophysical procedures, and verify the computational results using the psychophysical results

Opponent-process additivity--I: Red/green equilibria

A red/green equilibrium light is one which appears neither reddish nor greenish (i.e. either uniquely yellow, uniquely blue, or achromatic). A subset of spectral and nonspectral red/green equilibria was determined for several luminance levels, in order to test whether the set of all such equilibria is closed under linear color-mixture operations.The spectral loci of equilibrium yellow and blue showed either no variation or visually insignificant variation over a range of 1-2 log10 unit. There were no trends that were repeatable across observers. We concluded that spectral red/green equilibria are closed under scalar multiplication; consequently they are invariant hues relative to the Bezold-Brucke shift.The additive mixture of yellow and blue equilibrium wavelengths, in any luminance ratio, is also an equilibrium light. Small changes of the yellowish component of a mixture toward redness or greeness must be compensated by predictable changes of the bluish component of the mixture toward greenness or redness. We concluded that yellow and blue equilibria are complementary relative to an equilibrium white; that desaturation of a yellow or blue equilibrium light with such a white produces no Abney hue shift; and that the set of red/green equilibria is closed under general linear operations.One consequence is that the red/green chromatic-response function, measured by the Jameson-Hurvich technique of cancellation to equilibrium, is a linear function of the individual's color-matching coordinates. A second consequence of linear closure of equilibria is a strong constraint on the class of combination rules by which receptor outputs are recoded into the red/green opponent process.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/22247/1/0000683.pd

Exile Vol. VIIb

FICTION Himself by James Kennedy 9-30 Sardo by Joan Harrington 34-36 Doll House by Bruce Tracy 37-42 The Della Baby by Brenda Dean 47-53 Cruel White by Carolyn Colley 57-66 Almost Every Sunday by Sara Easton Curtis 69-74 A Family by William Weaver 78-86 POETRY Spring Songs by Janet Tallman 32-33 Poem by Katherine Lardner 42 Four Poems by Elizabeth Surbeck 43 Indian Pike Mask by James Funaro 44 The Windigo by James Funaro 45 Query by Barbara Purdy 53 A Taste of Eden by Barbara Purdy 53 The Passion of Jeremiah by Barbara Purdy 53 Statement and Comment by Enid Larimer 54-55 Poem by Barbara Thiele 56 Poem by Catherine Thompson 68 Drifting into a Museum Case by Catherine Thompson 68 To Judy by Tanya Shriver 76-77 Sun One by Sara Easton Curtis 86 Poem by Christine Cooper 87 GRAPHICS woodcut by Catherine Thompson 8 etching by Catherine Thompson 17 Two Models (aquatint) by Virginia Piersol 31 woodcut by Elizabeth Surbeck 46 woodcut by Virginia Piersol 67 linocut by John Hand 75 EDITORIAL Wintering by James W Kennedy 5-7 Poem 68 Drifting into a Museum Case 68 and To Judy 76 are all incorrectly attributed to Barbara Thiele in the published Table of Contents. The attributions given above are taken from the pages on which the works are published. The Contributors section of this issue confirms this interpretation. Awarded the EXILE-Denison Bookstore Writing Prize: Himself by James Kennedy 9-3

Genome of the epsilonproteobacterial chemolithoautotroph Sulfurimonas denitrificans

Author Posting. © American Society for Microbiology, 2008. This article is posted here by permission of American Society for Microbiology for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology 74 (2008): 1145-1156, doi:10.1128/AEM.01844-07.Sulfur-oxidizing epsilonproteobacteria are common in a variety of sulfidogenic environments. These autotrophic and mixotrophic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria are believed to contribute substantially to the oxidative portion of the global sulfur cycle. In order to better understand the ecology and roles of sulfur-oxidizing epsilonproteobacteria, in particular those of the widespread genus Sulfurimonas, in biogeochemical cycles, the genome of Sulfurimonas denitrificans DSM1251 was sequenced. This genome has many features, including a larger size (2.2 Mbp), that suggest a greater degree of metabolic versatility or responsiveness to the environment than seen for most of the other sequenced epsilonproteobacteria. A branched electron transport chain is apparent, with genes encoding complexes for the oxidation of hydrogen, reduced sulfur compounds, and formate and the reduction of nitrate and oxygen. Genes are present for a complete, autotrophic reductive citric acid cycle. Many genes are present that could facilitate growth in the spatially and temporally heterogeneous sediment habitat from where Sulfurimonas denitrificans was originally isolated. Many resistance-nodulation-development family transporter genes (10 total) are present; of these, several are predicted to encode heavy metal efflux transporters. An elaborate arsenal of sensory and regulatory protein-encoding genes is in place, as are genes necessary to prevent and respond to oxidative stress.This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, University of California, under contract W-7405-ENG-48. Genome closure was funded in part by a USF Innovative Teaching Grant (K.M.S.). S.M.S. received partial support through a fellowship from the Hanse Wissenschaftskolleg in Delmenhorst, Germany (http://www.h-w-k.de), and NSF grant OCE-0452333. K.M.S. is grateful for support from NSF grant MCB-0643713. M.H. was supported by a WHOI postdoctoral scholarship. M.G.K. was supported in part by incentive funds provided by the UofL-EVPR office, the KY Science and Engineering Foundation (KSEF-787-RDE-007), and the National Science Foundation (EF-0412129)

The Genome of the Epsilonproteobacterial Chemolithoautotroph Sulfurimonas dentrificans

Sulfur-oxidizing epsilonproteobacteria are common in a variety of sulfidogenic environments. These autotrophic and mixotrophic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria are believed to contribute substantially to the oxidative portion of the global sulfur cycle. In order to better understand the ecology and roles of sulfur-oxidizing epsilonproteobacteria, in particular those of the widespread genus Sulfurimonas, in biogeochemical cycles, the genome of Sulfurimonas denitrificans DSM1251 was sequenced. This genome has many features, including a larger size (2.2 Mbp), that suggest a greater degree of metabolic versatility or responsiveness to the environment than seen for most of the other sequenced epsilonproteobacteria. A branched electron transport chain is apparent, with genes encoding complexes for the oxidation of hydrogen, reduced sulfur compounds, and formate and the reduction of nitrate and oxygen. Genes are present for a complete, autotrophic reductive citric acid cycle. Many genes are present that could facilitate growth in the spatially and temporally heterogeneous sediment habitat from where Sulfurimonas denitrificans was originally isolated. Many resistance-nodulation-development family transporter genes (10 total) are present; of these, several are predicted to encode heavy metal efflux transporters. An elaborate arsenal of sensory and regulatory protein-encoding genes is in place, as are genes necessary to prevent and respond to oxidative stress