Forsterking av vegetasjonsdekke i Rødsmoen - skyte- og øvingsfelt – 7 år etter

Magnetoencefalografija (MEG) je metoda funkcionalnog oslikavanja mozga koja ima izrvrsnu vremensku rezoluciju od 1 ms, a uz to i dovoljno dobru prostornu rezoluciju od 2-3 mm, što je čini sjajnim alatom za proučavanje funkcije mozga u stvarnom vremenu, na milisekundnoj razini. Cilj ove radnje je proučavanje učinaka endogene, prikriveno usmjerene, prostorne vidne pažnje na najranije vidne odgovore, koji uključuju prvih 100 ms od prezentacije vidnog podražaja. Donedavno se smatralo da je aktivnost primarnog vidnog korteksa V1 modulirana prostornom vidnom pažnjom tek na latencijama nakon 100 ms od prezentacije vidnog podražaja, i to putem povratnih veza iz viših područja vidnog sustava, poput V2 i V3, međutim nekoliko EEG studija poput Kelly i suradnici [15] i dosad samo jedna MEG studija Poghosyan i suradnici [24] nalaze modulaciju endogenom prikrivenom prostornom vidnom pažnjom čak i te najranije aktivnosti. Pitanje je i dalje otvoreno i predstavlja glavni cilj naše radnje. Neuromagnetska mjerenja su napravljena na 15 ispitanika prosječne dobi 26 godina u MEG laboratoriju u Biomagnetism Center, Department of Neurology, Jena University Clinic u Jeni, u okviru bilateralne sveučilišne suradnje izmedu sveučilišta u Zagrebu i Technical University of Ilmenau. Korišteni su Gabor vidni podražaj i target podražaj (Gabor sa superponiranim prstenom promjenjive osvijetljenosti), pažljivo izabrane veličine, prostorne frekvencije, kontrasta i osvijetljenosti prstena te položaja prikazivanja u vidnom polju, kao i adaptivna eksperimentalna paradigma. Provjeru postoji li modulacija aktivnosti prostornom vidnom pažnjom vršili smo usporedbom slučajeva kada je prostorna vidna pažnja bila i kad nije bila usmjerena vidnim usmjerivačem na dio vidnog polja u kojem je prezentiran Gabor podražaj, izravno iz izmjerenih neuromagnetskih odgovora, kao i pomoću izračunate kortikalne dinamike dobivene koristeći CSST (Constrained Start Spatio-Temporal) metodu. Rezultati naše MEG analize pokazuju modulaciju prostornom vidnom pažnjom, čak i najranijeg vidnog odgovora, u slučajevima nasumično usmjeravane i održavane prostorne vidne pažnje, što je u skladu s nedavnim studijama poput [15] [24]. Rezultat analize za održavano usmjeravanje, kao i usporedba među nasumičnom i održavanom pažnjom, koja je pokazala jače izražen učinak modulacije u slučaju održavane pažnje, predstavljaju novi doprinos razumijevanju najranijih učinaka moduliranja endogenom prikrivenom prostornom vidnom pažnjom. Također, pokazali smo da nema utjecaja pažnje na latenciju maksimuma najranijeg vidnog odgovora, što je u skladu sa svim prethodnim studijama.Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is functional brain imaging method with great temporal resolution of 1 ms and good enough spatial resolution of 2-3 mm, what makes it a great tool for studying brain functioning in real time, on the milisecond level. The goal of this work is to study effects of endogenous, covertly oriented, spatial visual attention on the earliest visual responses, involving first 100 ms from the presentation of the visual stimulus. Until recently it was considered that the activity of the primary visual cortex V1 is modulated by spatial visual attention only on the latencies later than 100 ms after the stimulus presentation, by feedback connections from the higher visual areas, like V2 or V3, but few recent EEG studies, like Kelly et al. [15], and until now only one MEG study, Poghosyan et al. [24], find attentional modulatin of even the earliest evoked visual activity. The question is still open and represents the main goal of our study. Neuromagnetic measurements were made on 15 subjects, of average age 26, in the MEG laboratory in Biomagnetism Center, Department of Neurology, Jena University Clinic in Jena, as a part of bilateral university collaboration between University of Zagreb and Technical University of Ilmenau. We used Gabor visual stimulus and target stimulus (Gabor with superimposed ring of changing luminosity), with specifically chosen size, spatial frequency, contrast, luminosity of the ring and position of appearing in the visual field, just as adaptive experimental paradigm. Checking of the activity modulation by attention was done by comparing tasks when spatial visual attention was and when it was not oriented on the part of visual field where the stimulus was presented, directly from the measured neuromagnetic responses and by using cortical dynamics calculated using CSST (Constrained Start Spatio-Temporal) method. The results of our MEG analysis show activity modulation by spatial visual attention of the earliest visual response, in the tasks of random and sustained orienting, what is in accordance with recent studies like [15] [24]. Result of the analysis for sustained orienting and comparison between the random and sustained orienting, which showed greater effect of attentional modulation, represent the new contribution to understanding of the earliest effects of modulation by endogenous covertly oriented spatial visual attention. We also showed that there is no effect of attention on the latency of maximal earliest visual response, which is in accordance with all the studies

Job crafting and playful work design: Links with performance during busy and quiet days

This study uses proactive work behavior and job demands–resources (JD-R) theories to propose tha

Residual Effects of Fresh and Composted Dairy Manure Applications on Potato Production

Potato growers in Idaho and other dairy producing regions often grow potatoes on fields that have had a history of fresh and composted manure applications. Growers remain uncertain of the impacts that previous manure applications will have on tuber yield and quality, as well as diseases, physiological disorders, and contamination by human pathogenic bacteria such as E. coli. The focus of this study was to determine the long term effects of manure, compost, and chemical phosphorus (P) fertilizer applications on tuber yields, tuber quality, nutrient uptake, tuber disorders and diseases, and soil nutrient concentrations. Russet Burbank potatoes were grown in 2008 and 2009 on plots that had received dairy manure, dairy compost, P fertilizer, or no P source (control) at the same target P rate in 2003, 2004, and 2005. Compared with the P fertilizer treatment, applications of manure and/or compost significantly increased total yields, soil potassium (K), soil nitrate (NO3-N), early season petiole P, and late season petiole K in at least one year of the two-year study. There were no significant differences between P fertilizer, manure, and compost treatments on soil test P, late season petiole P, early season petiole K, E. coli populations on tuber surfaces, common tuber diseases and disorders, and tuber quality. Based on our findings, tuber yields significantly increased three years after applications of fresh and composted dairy manure, while tuber diseases, disorders, and quality were not affected

Longitudinal effects of environmental enrichment on behaviour and physiology of pigs reared on an intensive-stock farm

The aim of this paper was to provide a longitudinal evaluation of the effects of physical enrichments on the behaviour and physiology of intensive stock-farming pigs. Twenty-eight crossbred pigs of both sexes, were exposed to four types of enrichments (hemp ropes, steel chains, plastic balls, rubber hoses) over a period of eleven weeks. This investigation was based on specific abnormal behaviours and physiological indicators, including hematologic parameters. For behavioural score, focal sampling was used with recording of abnormal behaviours (body-, tail- and ear-biting), belly nosing, running, and interaction with objects (for Enriched pigs). The presence of skin injuries was also recorded. In general, the frequency of abnormal behaviours was significantly reduced in the Enriched group. A timerelated profile appeared in the use of the enrichments. Males showed higher occurrence of skin injuries than females. Physiological measurements, such as levels of complement system, white blood cells and neutrophils, were lower in pigs from the Enriched group. Enriched pigs, as a whole, presented much lower levels of serum DHEA-S concentration over two weeks. The findings of this study show the successful provision of appropriate enrichments to encourage behaviours which may result in satisfactory animal oral interaction with the enriching objects, preventing them biting pen-mates. In this respect, the objects proposed were strongly effective in producing changes in behaviour which could mitigate inadequate conditions, such as the relationship between animal body weight and the available space allowance

Daily sleep quality and naval work performance: the role of leadership

BACKGROUND: Poor sleep is a growing concern in naval settings. Previous research has demonstrated that both civilian and military naval work strains sleep quality as well as a negative relationship between sleep quality and crew work performance. Variables moderating this relationship, such as leadership are of interest. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present paper investigates how sailors' daily variations in sleep quality influence self-rated naval work-performance and interacts with perceived daily transformational leadership during a 30-day naval training mission. RESULTS: Using multi-level analysis, we found significant positive main effects of sleep quality and transformational leadership on naval work performance. Transformational leadership moderated the sleep quality-work performance link. Individuals who experienced higher levels of leadership were less prone to reductions in performance after poor sleep. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the results suggest that leadership can partly negate some of the reduction in performance that often accompanies poor sleep, and that leadership becomes more important as the crew becomes sleepier

Measurement of the scintillation time spectra and pulse-shape discrimination of low-energy beta and nuclear recoils in liquid argon with DEAP-1

The DEAP-1 low-background liquid argon detector was used to measure scintillation pulse shapes of electron and nuclear recoil events and to demonstrate the feasibility of pulse-shape discrimination (PSD) down to an electron-equivalent energy of 20 keV. In the surface dataset using a triple-coincidence tag we found the fraction of beta events that are misidentified as nuclear recoils to be $<1.4\times 10^{-7}$ (90% C.L.) for energies between 43-86 keVee and for a nuclear recoil acceptance of at least 90%, with 4% systematic uncertainty on the absolute energy scale. The discrimination measurement on surface was limited by nuclear recoils induced by cosmic-ray generated neutrons. This was improved by moving the detector to the SNOLAB underground laboratory, where the reduced background rate allowed the same measurement with only a double-coincidence tag. The combined data set contains $1.23\times10^8$ events. One of those, in the underground data set, is in the nuclear-recoil region of interest. Taking into account the expected background of 0.48 events coming from random pileup, the resulting upper limit on the electronic recoil contamination is $<2.7\times10^{-8}$ (90% C.L.) between 44-89 keVee and for a nuclear recoil acceptance of at least 90%, with 6% systematic uncertainty on the absolute energy scale. We developed a general mathematical framework to describe PSD parameter distributions and used it to build an analytical model of the distributions observed in DEAP-1. Using this model, we project a misidentification fraction of approx. $10^{-10}$ for an electron-equivalent energy threshold of 15 keV for a detector with 8 PE/keVee light yield. This reduction enables a search for spin-independent scattering of WIMPs from 1000 kg of liquid argon with a WIMP-nucleon cross-section sensitivity of $10^{-46}$ cm$^2$, assuming negligible contribution from nuclear recoil backgrounds.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physic

Measurement of Branching Fractions and Charge Asymmetries for Two-Body B Meson Decays with Charmonium

We report branching fractions and charge asymmetries for exclusive decays of charged and neutral B mesons to two-body final states containing a charmonium meson, J/psi or psi(2S). This result is based on a 29.4 fb^{-1} data sample collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric e+e- collider.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, revte

Pegasus IV: Discovery and Spectroscopic Confirmation of an Ultra-faint Dwarf Galaxy in the Constellation Pegasus

We report the discovery of Pegasus IV, an ultra-faint dwarf galaxy found in archival data from the Dark Energy Camera processed by the DECam Local Volume Exploration Survey. Pegasus IV is a compact, ultra-faint stellar system (r1 2 = 41-+68 pc; MV = −4.25 ± 0.2 mag) located at a heliocentric distance of 90-+64 kpc. Based on spectra of seven nonvariable member stars observed with Magellan/IMACS, we confidently resolve Pegasus IV’s velocity dispersion, measuring sv = 3.3-+1.11.7 km s−1 (after excluding three velocity outliers); this implies a mass-to-light ratio of M1 2 LV,1 2 = 167-+99224M☉ L☉ for the system. From the five stars with the highest signal-to-noise spectra, we also measure a systemic metallicity of [Fe/H] =-2.63-+0.300.26 dex, making Pegasus IV one of the most metal-poor ultra-faint dwarfs. We tentatively resolve a nonzero metallicity dispersion for the system. These measurements provide strong evidence that Pegasus IV is a dark-matter-dominated dwarf galaxy, rather than a star cluster. We measure Pegasus IV’s proper motion using data from Gaia Early Data Release 3, finding (μα*, μδ) = (0.33 ± 0.07, −0.21 ± 0.08) mas yr−1. When combined with our measured systemic velocity, this proper motion suggests that Pegasus IV is on an elliptical, retrograde orbit, and is currently near its orbital apocenter. Lastly, we identify three potential RR Lyrae variable stars within Pegasus IV, including one candidate member located more than 10 half-light radii away from the system’s centroid. The discovery of yet another ultra-faint dwarf galaxy strongly suggests that the census of Milky Way satellites is still incomplete, even within 100 kpc

Evidence for CP-Violating Asymmetries in B0->pi+pi- Decays and Constraints on the CKM Angle phi2

We present an improved measurement of CP-violating asymmetries in B0 -> pi+ pi- decays based on a 78 fb^-1 data sample collected at the Y(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider. We reconstruct one neutral B meson as a B0 -> pi+ pi- CP eigenstate and identify the flavor of the accompanying B meson from inclusive properties of its decay products. We apply an unbinned maximum likelihood fit to the distribution of the time intervals between the two B meson decay points. The fit yields the CP-violating asymmetry amplitudes Apipi = +0.77+/-0.27(stat)+/-0.08(syst) and Spipi = -1.23+/-0.41(stat)+0.08/-0.07(syst), where the statistical uncertainties are determined from Monte Carlo pseudo-experiments. We obtain confidence intervals for CP-violating asymmetry parameters Apipi and Spipi based on a frequentist approach. We rule out the CP-conserving case, Apipi=Spipi=0, at the 99.93% confidence level. We discuss how these results constrain the value of the CKM angle phi2.Comment: 26 pages, 13 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Measurement of the B0-anti-B0-Oscillation Frequency with Inclusive Dilepton Events

The $B^0$-$\bar B^0$ oscillation frequency has been measured with a sample of 23 million \B\bar B pairs collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric B Factory at SLAC. In this sample, we select events in which both B mesons decay semileptonically and use the charge of the leptons to identify the flavor of each B meson. A simultaneous fit to the decay time difference distributions for opposite- and same-sign dilepton events gives $\Delta m_d = 0.493 \pm 0.012{(stat)}\pm 0.009{(syst)}$ ps$^{-1}$.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Physical Review Letter