Tranquillity and soundscapes in urban green spaces ¿ predicted and actual assessments from a questionnaire survey.

A pilot study had previously demonstrated the utility of a tranquillity prediction tool TRAPT for use in 3 green open spaces in a densely populated area. This allows the calculation of perceived levels of tranquillity in open spaces. The current study expands the range of sites to 8 and importantly considers the views of visitors to these spaces. In total 252 face to face interviews were conducted in these spaces. An important aim of the survey was to determine the extent to which reported tranquillity obtained from the questionnaire survey could be predicted by a previously developed prediction tool TRAPT. A further aim was to determine what additional factors may need to be considered in addition to the purely physical descriptors in TRAPT. The questions included the sounds and sights that were noticed, factors affecting tranquillity as well as questions relating to the benefits of visiting these areas. Predictions were considered satisfactory and could be further improved by taking account of issues surrounding personal safety. Examining the trends in these data it was also shown that the percentage of people feeling more relaxed after visiting the spaces was closely related to overall assessments of perceived tranquillity. Further trends and their implications are presented and discussed in the paper.Made available in full text March 2014 at the end of the publisher's embargo period

Calcium- and BTB domain protein-modulated PINOID protein kinase directs polar auxin transport

Plant architecture is determined by tightly regulated developmental processes that largely depend on the action of the plant hormone auxin. A major determinant in auxin action, besides its signaling pathway, is its polar cell-to-cell transport (PAT) throughout the plant. The direction on this transport depends on the localization of the auxin efflux carriers, the PIN proteins. The PINOID (PID) serine/threonine protein kinase is a key regulator of the subcellular localization of the PINs, which are direct phosphorylation targets of the kinase. This thesis describes the functional analysis of three direct interacting partners of PID, two calcium-binding proteins, TOUCH3 (TCH3) and PID BINDING PROTEIN1 (PBP1), and a BTB and TAZ domain (BT) protein. Several studies have already indicated that calcium signaling is induced by auxin application and is necessary for auxin transport. With the isolation of the two calcium-binding proteins TCH3 and PBP1 as interactors of PID, a molecular link between auxin transport and calcium signaling was identified. In this thesis, we show that calcium is involved in the regulation of both the kinase activity and the subcellular localization of PID. In complement to calcium, BTB scaffold proteins are part of the PID protein complex. A detailed analysis of BT protein family in Arabidopsis indicate a functional redundancy among the five members of this family and their requirement for the female gametophyte development. Moreover the BT proteins are required scaffold components in the PID signaling pathway. The functional analyses of the PBPs described in this thesis uncover a new mechanism of protein kinase activity regulation via calcium signaling, and present novel roles for the BT proteins, not only in PID signaling, but also more in general in plant development.LEI Universiteit LeidenPlant science

An Investigation Of The Impact Of Degree Of IFRS Implementation On The Comparative Accuracy And Bias Of Equity Securities Analysts East And West European Firms Earnings Forecasts

This research investigates the comparative impact of country specific degree of IFRS implementation upon the accuracy and bias of West European and East European firms equity securities analysts earnings forecasts for 29 European countries 12 of which are characterized as being East European.  We utilize measures of equity securities analysts earnings forecast accuracy and bias in making comparisons of the impact of country specific degree of IFRS implementation upon the statistical properties of earnings forecasts for firms having domiciles in East European and West European countries.  Our results indicate that (1) analysts earnings forecast accuracy and earning forecast bias decreases in the sense that their association with magnitudes earnings changes decreases in relation with country specific degree of implementation of IFRS and (2) the degree of reduction in analysts earnings forecast accuracy and bias is statistically more pronounced for East European firms than for West European Firms.  Our results persist after controlling for cross-listing of ADRs on US securities exchanges.   Bases upon this evidence we conclude that the benefits of implementation of IFRS is marginally greater for East European firms that for West European firms

Eigenvalue density of Wilson loops in 2D SU(N) YM

In 1981 Durhuus and Olesen (DO) showed that at infinite N the eigenvalue density of a Wilson loop matrix W associated with a simple loop in two-dimensional Euclidean SU(N) Yang-Mills theory undergoes a phase transition at a critical size. The averages of det(z-W), 1/det(z-W), and det(1+uW)/(1-vW) at finite N lead to three different smoothed out expressions, all tending to the DO singular result at infinite N. These smooth extensions are obtained and compared to each other.Comment: 35 pages, 8 figure

Avian Influenza Surveillance with FTA Cards: Field Methods, Biosafety, and Transportation Issues Solved

Avian Influenza Viruses (AIVs) infect many mammals, including humans1. These AIVs are diverse in their natural hosts, harboring almost all possible viral subtypes2. Human pandemics of flu originally stem from AIVs3. Many fatal human cases during the H5N1 outbreaks in recent years were reported. Lately, a new AIV related strain swept through the human population, causing the 'swine flu epidemic'4. Although human trading and transportation activity seems to be responsible for the spread of highly pathogenic strains5, dispersal can also partly be attributed to wild birds6, 7. However, the actual reservoir of all AIV strains is wild birds

Knowledge-assisted ranking: A visual analytic application for sports event data

© 2016 IEEE. Organizing sports video data for performance analysis can be challenging, especially in cases involving multiple attributes and when the criteria for sorting frequently changes depending on the user's task. The proposed visual analytic system enables users to specify a sort requirement in a flexible manner without depending on specific knowledge about individual sort keys. The authors use regression techniques to train different analytical models for different types of sorting requirements and use visualization to facilitate knowledge discovery at different stages of the process. They demonstrate the system with a rugby case study to find key instances for analyzing team and player performance. Organizing sports video data for performance analysis can be challenging in cases with multiple attributes, and when sorting frequently changes depending on the user's task. As this video shows, the proposed visual analytic system allows interactive data sorting and exploration

Isolation and Characterization of Aromatase Inhibitors from Brassaiopsis Glomerulata (Araliaceae)

The hexane- and ethyl acetate-soluble extracts of the leaves of Brassaiopsis glomerulata (Blume) Regel (Araliaceae), collected in Indonesia, were found to inhibit aromatase, the rate-limiting enzyme in the production of estrogens from androgens, in both enzyme- and cell-based aromatase inhibition (AI) assays. Bioassay-guided fractionation led to the isolation of six known compounds of the steroid and triterpenoid classes (1–6) from the hexane extract, of which 6β-hydroxystimasta-4-en-3-one (5), was moderately active in the cell-based AI assay. Fractionation of the ethyl acetate extract afforded seven pure isolates (7–13) of the modified peptide, fatty acid, monoterpenoid, and benzenoid types, including six known compounds and the new natural product, N-benzoyl-l-phenylalanine methyl ester (9). The absolute stereochemistry of 9 and the other two peptides, 7 and 8, was determined by Marfey’s analysis. Linoleic acid (10) was found to be active in the enzyme-based AI assay, while 9 and (−)-dehydrololiolide (12) showed activity in the cell-based AI assay

A microsatellite marker for yellow rust resistance in wheat

Bulk segregant analysis (BSA) was used to identify molecular markers associated with yellow rust disease resistance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). DNAs isolated from the selected yellow rust tolerant and susceptible F-2 individuals derived from a cross between yellow rust resistant and susceptible wheat genotypes were used to established a "tolerant" and a "susceptible" DNA pool. The BSA was then performed on these DNA pools using 230 markers that were previously mapped onto the individual wheat chromosomes. One of the SSR markers (Xgwm382) located on chromosome group 2 (A, B, D genomes) was present in the resistant parent and the resistant bulk but not in the susceptible parent and the susceptible bulk, suggesting that this marker is linked to a yellow rust resistance gene. The presence of Xgwm382 was also tested in 108 additional wheat genotypes differing in yellow rust resistance. This analysis showed that 81% of the wheat genotypes known to be yellow rust resistant had the Xgwm382 marker, further suggesting that the presence of this marker correlates with yellow rust resistance in diverse wheat germplasm. Therefore, Xgwm382 could be useful for marker assisted selection of yellow rust resistances genotypes in wheat breeding programs

BTB and TAZ domain scaffold proteins perform a crucial function in Arabidopsis development

Plant science