Parrots, people and plants : urban tree removal and habitat loss for the endangered swift parrot, Lathamus discolor

Swift Parrots, Lathamus discolor, breed predominantly in southeastern Tasmania, including around the city of Hobart. While breeding, they feed mostly on the nectar and pollen of Tasmanian Blue Gum, Eucalyptus globulus, and Black Gum, E. ovata, trees. Swift Parrots are regularly observed foraging on these floral products in the Hobart suburb of Mt Nelson, where the trees produce more flowers than those in adjacent bushland. To investigate trends in the availability of food for Swift Parrots breeding near Hobart, we surveyed people who live in Mt Nelson to ascertain the extent of removal of large eucalypt trees from their properties. The 294 respondents to our questionnaire reported the presence of 263 large E. globulus and 109 large E. ovata on their properties. However, respondents also stated that they had removed 88 large E. globulus and 25 large E. ovata trees in the past five to 10 years, and intended felling a further 13 large E. globulus and 15 large E. ovata trees in the near future. This represents the removal of almost 30% of large trees of both species within a decade, and suggests a decline in foraging habitat for Swift Parrots while breeding near Hobart

S190 interpretation techniques development and application to New York State water resources

The author has identified the following significant results. The program has demonstrated that Skylab imagery can be utilized to regularly monitor eutrophication indices of lakes, such as chlorophyll concentration and photic zone depth. The relationship between the blue to green reflectance ratio and chlorophyll concentration was shown, along with changes in lake properties caused by chlorophyll, lignin, and humic acid using reflectance ratios and changes. A data processing technique was developed for detecting atmospheric fluctuations occurring over a large lake

The Neural Control of a Robot in the Conditions of Movable Obstacles

The proposed concept of robot control assisting uses a neural network, whose operation relies on the activation of neurons delimiting a path from the source to the target with evading movable obstacles The complexity of the control algorithm is O (n). The proposed adjustment of neuron sensitivity using a two-element pencils of planes passing over the shortest path of the robot makes it possible to obtain a set of solutions with simultaneous classification in terms of a very important path length criterion.Предложена концепция сопровождения управления роботом с использованием нейронной сети, работа которой основана на активизации нейронов, определяющих путь от исходной точки до цели с уклонением от подвижных препятствий. Сложность алгоритма управления составляет О (n). Предложенная настройка нейронной чувствительности с использованием двухэлементных пучков плоскостей, пересекающих кратчайший путь робота, позволяет получить множество решений с одновременной классификацией по критерию длины пути.Запропоновано концепцію супроводу управління роботом з використанням нейронної мережі, робота якої базується на активізації нейронів, що визначають шлях від вихідної точки до цілі з відхиленням від рухомих перешкод. Складність алгоритму управління складає On(). Запропоноване настроювання нейронної чутливості з використанням двоелементних пучків площин, що перетинають найкоротший шлях робота, дозволяє отримати велику кількість рішень з одночасною класифікацією за критерієм довжини шляху

Magnetic nanoparticles in MCM-41 type mesoporous silica

Structural phase transformations and magnetic properties of mesoporous MCM-41 template modified with iron and nickel salts were studied by nitrogen physisorption, X-ray diffraction, Mossbauer spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The FeNi-oxide or the bimetallic crystal structure is formed for low and high Ni concentrations, respectively. The average size of nanoparticles is about 10 nm. About 70% of particles exist in a superparamagnetic state at room temperature

Attentional modulation of the carry over of eye-movements between tasks

Task demands that influence scanning behaviour in one task can cause that behaviour to persist to a second unrelated task (carry over). This can also affect performance on a second task (e.g., hazard perception ratings), and has been attributed to a process of attentional bias that is modulated by top-down influences (Thompson & Crundall, 2011). In a series of experiments we explored how these top-down influences impact upon carry over. In all experiments, participants searched letters that were presented horizontally, vertically, or in a random array. They were then presented with a driving scene and rated the hazardousness of the scene. Carry over of eye-movements from the letter search to the scene was observed in all experiments. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that this carry over effect influenced hazard perception accuracy. The magnitude of carry over was correlated with task switching abilities, attentional conflicting, and attentional orienting (Experiment 1), and was affected by predictability of the primary task (Experiment 2). Furthermore, direct current stimulation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and parietal areas affected the magnitude of the effect (Experiment 3). These results indicate that carry over is modulated by the specific ability to orient attention and disengage from this orientation. Over orienting leads to increased carry over and insufficient task switching is detrimental to task performance. As a result the current experiments provide evidence that the carry over effect is strongly influenced by attentional processes, namely orienting, inhibition, and task switching