3,202 research outputs found
A Taxonomic Revision of the Endemic Hawaiian Lysimachia (Primulaceae) Including Three New Species
A taxonomic revision of the endemic Lysimachia of the Hawaiian
Islands was undertaken with the goal of clarifying species boundaries, especially
within the L. hillebrandii/L. remyi complex of the previous taxonomic treatment.
The endemic species appear to be monophyletic with Malesian affinities. The revision
presented here is based upon observations of morphological characters. Sixteen
species are recognized, of which three are probably extinct. Most species have
narrow ecological preferences and are endemic to a single island. Species differ
from each other most notably in the size, shape, and venation of the leaves; the
size, shape, and pigmentation of the calyx and corolla lobes; and the presence or
absence of viscid stems and leaves. Populations previously classified within L.
hillebrandii or L. remyi differ in a number of characters not previously evaluated
including vestiture, leaf color and venation, pedicel position and color, and calyx
shape and color. Three new species, L. iniki, L. pendens, and L. scopulensis, are
described. A key to species, species descriptions, and distribution maps are provided
Direct calculation of the hard-sphere crystal/melt interfacial free energy
We present a direct calculation by molecular-dynamics computer simulation of
the crystal/melt interfacial free energy, , for a system of hard
spheres of diameter . The calculation is performed by thermodynamic
integration along a reversible path defined by cleaving, using specially
constructed movable hard-sphere walls, separate bulk crystal and fluid systems,
which are then merged to form an interface. We find the interfacial free energy
to be slightly anisotropic with = 0.62, 0.64 and
0.58 for the (100), (110) and (111) fcc crystal/fluid
interfaces, respectively. These values are consistent with earlier density
functional calculations and recent experiments measuring the crystal nucleation
rates from colloidal fluids of polystyrene spheres that have been interpreted
[Marr and Gast, Langmuir {\bf 10}, 1348 (1994)] to give an estimate of
for the hard-sphere system of , slightly lower
than the directly determined value reported here.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter
Model-based Cognitive Neuroscience: Multifield Mechanistic Integration in Practice
Autonomist accounts of cognitive science suggest that cognitive model building and theory construction (can or should) proceed independently of findings in neuroscience. Common functionalist justifications of autonomy rely on there being relatively few constraints between neural structure and cognitive function (e.g., Weiskopf, 2011). In contrast, an integrative mechanistic perspective stresses the mutual constraining of structure and function (e.g., Piccinini & Craver, 2011; Povich, 2015). In this paper, I show how model-based cognitive neuroscience (MBCN) epitomizes the integrative mechanistic perspective and concentrates the most revolutionary elements of the cognitive neuroscience revolution (Boone & Piccinini, 2016). I also show how the prominent subset account of functional realization supports the integrative mechanistic perspective I take on MBCN and use it to clarify the intralevel and interlevel components of integration
Sources and transformations of particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Mexico City
Understanding sources, concentrations, and transformations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the atmosphere is important because of their potent mutagenicity and carcinogenicity. The measurement of particle-bound PAHs by three different methods during the Mexico City Metropolitan Area field campaign in April 2003 presents a unique opportunity for characterization of these compounds and intercomparison of the methods. The three methods are (1) collection and analysis of bulk samples for time-integrated gas- and particle-phase speciation by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry; (2) aerosol photoionization for fast detection of PAHs on particles' surfaces; and (3) aerosol mass spectrometry for fast analysis of size and chemical composition. This research represents the first time aerosol mass spectrometry has been used to measure ambient PAH concentrations and the first time that fast, real-time methods have been used to quantify PAHs alongside traditional filter-based measurements in an extended field campaign. Speciated PAH measurements suggest that motor vehicles and garbage and wood burning are important sources in Mexico City. The diurnal concentration patterns captured by aerosol photoionization and aerosol mass spectrometry are generally consistent. Ambient concentrations of particle-phase PAHs typically peak at ~110 ng m<sup>-3</sup> during the morning rush hour and rapidly decay due to changes in source activity patterns and dilution as the boundary layer rises, although surface-bound PAH concentrations decay faster. The more rapid decrease in surface versus bulk PAH concentrations during the late morning suggests that freshly emitted combustion-related particles are quickly coated by secondary aerosol material in Mexico City's atmosphere and may also be transformed by heterogeneous reactions
Separation and identification of dominant mechanisms in double photoionization
Double photoionization by a single photon is often discussed in terms of two
contributing mechanisms, {\it knock-out} (two-step-one) and {\it shake-off}
with the latter being a pure quantum effect. It is shown that a quasi-classical
description of knock-out and a simple quantum calculation of shake-off provides
a clear separation of the mechanisms and facilitates their calculation
considerably. The relevance of each mechanism at different photon energies is
quantified for helium. Photoionization ratios, integral and singly differential
cross sections obtained by us are in excellent agreement with benchmark
experimental data and recent theoretical results.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Weighted-density approximation for general nonuniform fluid mixtures
In order to construct a general density-functional theory for nonuniform
fluid mixtures, we propose an extension to multicomponent systems of the
weighted-density approximation (WDA) of Curtin and Ashcroft [Phys. Rev. A 32,
2909 (1985)]. This extension corrects a deficiency in a similar extension
proposed earlier by Denton and Ashcroft [Phys. Rev. A 42, 7312 (1990)], in that
that functional cannot be applied to the multi-component nonuniform fluid
systems with spatially varying composition, such as solid-fluid interfaces. As
a test of the accuracy of our new functional, we apply it to the calculation of
the freezing phase diagram of a binary hard-sphere fluid, and compare the
results to simulation and the Denton-Ashcroft extension.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. E as Brief Repor
Kinematic Age Estimates for 4 Compact Symmetric Objects from the Pearson-Readhead Survey
Based on multi-epoch observations at 15 and 43 GHz with the Very Long
Baseline Array (VLBA) we detect significant angular expansions between the two
hot spots of 4 Compact Symmetric Objects (CSOs). From these relative motions we
derive kinematic ages of between 300 and 1200 years for the radio emission.
These ages lend support to the idea that CSOs are produced in a recent phase of
activity. These observations also allow us to study the evolution of the hot
spots dynamically in individual sources. In all 4 sources the hot spots are
separating along the source axis, but in 1031+567 the tip of one hot spot
appears to be moving almost orthogonally to the source axis. Jet components,
seen in 3 of the 4 sources observed, are found to be moving relativistically
outward from the central engines towards the more slowly moving hot spots.Comment: in press at ApJ for v. 541 Oct. 1, 2000, 23 page LaTeX document
includes 6 postscript figure
Multiscale Discriminant Saliency for Visual Attention
The bottom-up saliency, an early stage of humans' visual attention, can be
considered as a binary classification problem between center and surround
classes. Discriminant power of features for the classification is measured as
mutual information between features and two classes distribution. The estimated
discrepancy of two feature classes very much depends on considered scale
levels; then, multi-scale structure and discriminant power are integrated by
employing discrete wavelet features and Hidden markov tree (HMT). With wavelet
coefficients and Hidden Markov Tree parameters, quad-tree like label structures
are constructed and utilized in maximum a posterior probability (MAP) of hidden
class variables at corresponding dyadic sub-squares. Then, saliency value for
each dyadic square at each scale level is computed with discriminant power
principle and the MAP. Finally, across multiple scales is integrated the final
saliency map by an information maximization rule. Both standard quantitative
tools such as NSS, LCC, AUC and qualitative assessments are used for evaluating
the proposed multiscale discriminant saliency method (MDIS) against the
well-know information-based saliency method AIM on its Bruce Database wity
eye-tracking data. Simulation results are presented and analyzed to verify the
validity of MDIS as well as point out its disadvantages for further research
direction.Comment: 16 pages, ICCSA 2013 - BIOCA sessio
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