A comparision of saccadic eye movements by keyboard musicians when reading music versus text

Many studies have been done on saccadic eye movements while reading text, but none have been done to see how reading music differs from reading text. The saccade is one of the major components of eye movements that has been observed in previous studies, and the EYE TRAC has been used to obtain a quantitative measurement of the number of saccades while reading. The intent of this study was to determine the difference in the number of saccadic eye movements between reading music and reading text, thereby indirectly measuring the difference in visual demand between these two tasks. We used the Eye Trac to measure the number of saccades made by keyboard musicians first while reading the standard Eye Trac text, and secondly by reading musical notes which have been reproduced to simulate the standard text as closely as possible. Both graphical and statistical analyses were performed on the data obtained during testing, and both dramatically show the difference in visual demand. The mean number of saccades per second was significantly higher for reading music (5.032) as compared to reading text (3.529), and the overall time required to complete each task also was very different (16.4 seconds for text, 120 seconds for music). Statistical analysis predicted that the probability that the data occurred by chance was .0001

Factors Influencing the Selection of Precision Farming Information Sources by Cotton Producers

Precision farming information demanded by cotton producers is provided by various suppliers, including consultants, farm input dealerships, University Extension systems, and media sources. Factors associated with the decisions to select among information sources to search for precision farming information are analyzed using a multivariate probit regression accounting for correlation among the different selection decisions. Factors influencing these decisions are age, education, and income. These findings should be valuable to precision farming information providers who may be able to better meet their target clientele needs.Extension, information-source-use decisions, media, multivariate probit, precision agriculture technologies, private sources, Farm Management, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Factors Influencing Selection of Information Sources by Cotton Producers Considering Adoption of Precision Agriculture Technologies

Acknowledgements: The authors thank Cotton Incorporated and the Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station for financial supportInformation source use decisions, Precision Agriculture Technologies, Extension, Media, Private sources, Multivariate Probit, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, Q12, Q16,

Accumulation Pattern Of Total Nonstructural Carbohydrate In Strawberry Runner Plants And Its Influence On Plant Growth And Fruit Production

The pattern of total nonstructural carbohydrate (TNC) accumulation in strawberry (Fragaria ananassa Duch.) nursery runner plants, cv. ‘Camarosa’, was determined for three growing seasons. Plant growth and fruit production patterns were also evaluated. The experiments were carried out on plants propagated in high latitude (41°50' N) and high elevation (1292 m) nurseries in Siskiyou County, California. Plants were sampled beginning in late summer through early autumn and analyzed for dry mass (DM) and TNC. Plants from different digging dates were established in growth chambers (GC) at UC Davis or fruit evaluation plots in Irvine, California. In the nursery, TNC concentration in storage tissues increased steadily from the second week of September to the third week of October, and crown and root TNC concentration was positively correlated with the accumulation of chilling units (hours ≤7.2°C). The root TNC concentration consistently increased from 6 to 10% DM from mid-September to the first week of October. Transplant growth and fruiting pattern were affected by digging date. Overall, the roots were more sensitive to chilling in terms of TNC accumulation, than the crowns. Therefore, roots would be the appropriate organ for assessing TNC status and potential digging dates of strawberry nursery runner plants early in the fall.EEA FamailláFil: Kirschbaum, Daniel Santiago. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Famaillá; ArgentinaFil: Larson, Kirk D. University of California Davis. Department of Plant Sciences; Estados UnidosFil: Weinbaum, Steven A. University of California Davis. Department of Plant Sciences; Estados UnidosFil: DeJong, Theodore M. University of California Davis. Department of Plant Sciences; Estados Unido

Differential Response Of Early And Intermediate Flowering Strawberry Cultivars To Nursery Late-Season Nitrogen Applications And Digging Date

The response of ‘Ventana’, an early flowering cultivar, and ‘Camarosa’, an intermediate flowering cultivar, to nursery late-season nitrogen (N) applications and digging date were studied in strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch). Two experiments were conducted. In the first experiment, runner plants dug on September 20 and October 11 from a high-latitude nursery in California, were established in growth chambers set at 25°/15ºC day/night temperature, 12-h photoperiod, and grown for 90 days. Compared to the first experiment, in the second experiment plants received extra N (foliar-applied) in the nursery in late summer, and runner plants were not grown in GC but in open field (Irvine, California). In the second experiment, runner plants were dug on Sept 20 and Oct 2. In both experiments, plants dug in September were exposed to ~100 chilling units (CU: hours ≤7.2°C) and plants dug in October were exposed to ~300 CU. As a result, October-dug plants had greater crown and root dry weight, and greater concentration of starch and total nonstructural carbohydrates (TNC) in leaves, crowns and roots, compared to September-dug plants. In control plants, from September to October, root TNC concentration increased in ‘Camarosa’ from ~6% to ~11%, and in ‘Ventana’ from ~14% to ~21%, and leaf N concentration ranged from 1.47 to 1.81% in ‘Camarosa’, and from 1.60 to 1.96% in ‘Ventana’. Late summer N applications increased plant N concentration and early-season yields. Late-summer nursery N applications reduced dead leaf biomass (DLB) and dead leaf area (DLA) in both cultivars, although ‘Ventana’ had lower DLB and DLA than ‘Camarosa’. ‘Ventana’ had a greater leaf number and flowered earlier, and had greater early fruit production than ‘Camarosa’. The genetic earliness of ‘Ventana’ would be correlated with the potential of the plant for accumulation of higher initial levels of leaf N and root TNC, and for having greater leaf longevity, compared to ‘Camarosa’.EEA FamailláFil: Kirschbaum, Daniel Santiago. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Famaillá; ArgentinaFil: Larson, Kirk D. University of California Davis. Department of Plant Sciences; Estados UnidosFil: Weinbaum, Steven A. University of California Davis. Department of Plant Sciences; Estados UnidosFil: DeJong, Theodore M. University of California Davis. Department of Plant Sciences; Estados Unido

Perturbed cholesterol and vesicular trafficking associated with dengue blocking in Wolbachia-infected Aedes aegypti cells

Wolbachia are intracellular maternally inherited bacteria that can spread through insect populations and block virus transmission by mosquitoes, providing an important approach to dengue control. To better understand the mechanisms of virus inhibition, we here perform proteomic quantification of the effects of Wolbachia in Aedes aegypti mosquito cells and midgut. Perturbations are observed in vesicular trafficking, lipid metabolism and in the endoplasmic reticulum that could impact viral entry and replication. Wolbachia-infected cells display a differential cholesterol profile, including elevated levels of esterified cholesterol, that is consistent with perturbed intracellular cholesterol trafficking. Cyclodextrins have been shown to reverse lipid accumulation defects in cells with disrupted cholesterol homeostasis. Treatment of Wolbachia-infected Ae. aegypti cells with 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin restores dengue replication in Wolbachia-carrying cells, suggesting dengue is inhibited in Wolbachia-infected cells by localised cholesterol accumulation. These results demonstrate parallels between the cellular Wolbachia viral inhibition phenotype and lipid storage genetic disorders

Adoption of Conservation-Tillage Practices in Cotton Production

Replaced with revised version of paper 10/23/07.conservation tillage, cotton, genetically modified seed, herbicide-resistant cotton, stacked-gene cotton, simultaneous logit model, single-equation logit model, technology adoption, Crop Production/Industries,