A Compact Representation of Drawing Movements with Sequences of Parabolic Primitives

Some studies suggest that complex arm movements in humans and monkeys may optimize several objective functions, while others claim that arm movements satisfy geometric constraints and are composed of elementary components. However, the ability to unify different constraints has remained an open question. The criterion for a maximally smooth (minimizing jerk) motion is satisfied for parabolic trajectories having constant equi-affine speed, which thus comply with the geometric constraint known as the two-thirds power law. Here we empirically test the hypothesis that parabolic segments provide a compact representation of spontaneous drawing movements. Monkey scribblings performed during a period of practice were recorded. Practiced hand paths could be approximated well by relatively long parabolic segments. Following practice, the orientations and spatial locations of the fitted parabolic segments could be drawn from only 2–4 clusters, and there was less discrepancy between the fitted parabolic segments and the executed paths. This enabled us to show that well-practiced spontaneous scribbling movements can be represented as sequences (“words”) of a small number of elementary parabolic primitives (“letters”). A movement primitive can be defined as a movement entity that cannot be intentionally stopped before its completion. We found that in a well-trained monkey a movement was usually decelerated after receiving a reward, but it stopped only after the completion of a sequence composed of several parabolic segments. Piece-wise parabolic segments can be generated by applying affine geometric transformations to a single parabolic template. Thus, complex movements might be constructed by applying sequences of suitable geometric transformations to a few templates. Our findings therefore suggest that the motor system aims at achieving more parsimonious internal representations through practice, that parabolas serve as geometric primitives and that non-Euclidean variables are employed in internal movement representations (due to the special role of parabolas in equi-affine geometry)

The potential impact of land use changes on heavy metal contamination in the drinking water reservoir catchment (Dobczyce Reservoir, south Poland)

To investigate and assess the effects of land use and its changes on concentrations of heavy metals (Pb, Zn, Cd, Cu, Mn, Ni, Fe) in the tributary of drinking water reservoir catchment, soils of different land use types (forest, arable land, meadows and pastures, residential areas), suspended sediment and bottom sediment were collected. Heavy metals were analyzed using atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS). The metal distribution pattern was observed, where Zn and Cd could be considered as main metal contaminants. The variation in the concentration level of Zn and Cd in studied soils showed the impact of pollution from anthropogenic activities. Also some seasonal variations were visible among the suspended sediment and bottom sediment samples which could be associated with land agricultural practices or meteorological conditions. The sediment fingerprints approach used for determining sources of the suspension in the catchment showed (Kruskal-Wallis H test, p˂0.05), that only Mn and Ni were not able to be distinguished among the potential sediment sources. A multiple linear regression model described the relationship between suspended sediment and 4 types of soil samples. The results related suspended composition mostly to the samples from the residential land use. Considering the contemporary trend of observed changes in land use resulting in conversion of agricultural areas into residential and service structures these changes can be essential for the contamination of aquatic environment. This situation is a warning sign due to the rapid industrialization, urbanization and intensive agriculture in this region what can significantly affect the drinking water quality.Celem pracy była ocena wpływu użytkowania gruntów i ich zmian na stężenia metali ciężkich (Pb, Zn, Cd, Cu, Mn, Ni, Fe) w dopływie zlewni zbiornika wody pitnej. Do badań pobrano próbki gleb z różnych typów użytkowania gruntów (las, grunty orne, łąki i pastwiska, tereny zabudowane), rumowiska unoszonego oraz osadów dennych. Metale ciężkie oznaczono za pomocą Atomowej Spektroskopii Absorpcyjnej (ASA). W badanych próbkach zaobserwowano zmienność stężeń metali w zależności od sposobu użytkowania gruntów. Otrzymane wyniki świadczą również, że główne zanieczyszczenie metaliczne w zlewni stanowią Zn i Cd. Wśród próbek rumowiska unoszonego oraz osadów dennych widoczne były pewne wahania sezonowe, które mogły być związane z działalnością rolniczą lub warunkami meteorologicznymi. Zastosowana do określania źródeł zawiesiny w zlewni metoda sediment fingerprints (test Kruskal-Wallis H test, p˂0.05), ) wykazała, że spośród badanych metali jedynie Mn i Ni nie umożliwiają rozróżnienia potencjalnych źródeł pochodzenia rumowiska unoszonego. Pozostałe metale zostały zatem wykorzystane do opisania zależności między rumowiskiem a 4 typami próbek gleb za pomocą modelu regresji wielokrotnej. Model ten wykazał związek zanieczyszczenia próbek rumowiska metalami z zanieczyszczeniem gleb z terenów zabudowanych. Biorąc pod uwagę zaobserwowany współczesny trend zmian w użytkowaniu gruntów, prowadzący do przekształcania obszarów rolniczych w obszary mieszkalne i usługowe, może on istotnie wpływać na zanieczyszczenie środowiska wodnego i jakość wody pitnej. Taka sytuacja jest znakiem ostrzegawczym ze względu na szybkie uprzemysłowienie, urbanizację i intensywną gospodarkę rolną w tym regionie

Nonequilibrium dynamics of the phonon gas in ultrafast-excited antimony

The ultrafast relaxation dynamics of a nonequilibrium phonon gas towards thermal equilibrium involves many-body collisions that cannot be properly described by perturbative approaches. Here, we develop a nonperturbative method to elucidate the microscopic mechanisms underlying the decay of laser-excited coherent phonons in the presence of electron-hole pairs, which so far are not fully understood. Our theory relies on ab initio molecular dynamics simulations on laser-excited potential-energy surfaces. Those simulations are compared with runs in which the laser-excited coherent phonon is artificially deoccupied. We apply this method to antimony and show that the decay of the A1g phonon mode at low laser fluences can be accounted mainly to three-body down-conversion processes of an A1g phonon into acoustic phonons. For higher excitation strengths, however, we see a crossover to a four-phonon process, in which two A1g phonons decay into two optical phonons

Attosecond core-level spectroscopy reveals the flow of excitation in a material between light, carriers and phonons

We use attosecond core-level X-ray spectroscopy to disentangle the spectral and dynamical signatures of energy conversion pathways between photons, charge carriers and the lattice in graphite with attosecond precision and across a picosecond range