Herbivore induction of the glucosinolate-myrosinase defense system: major trends, biochemical bases and ecological significance

Like many other plant defense compounds, glucosinolates are present constitutively in plant tissues, but are also induced to higher levels by herbivore attack. Of the major glucosinolate types, indolic glucosinolates are most frequently induced regardl

Voyager Interstellar Mission (VIM)

The DSN (Deep Space Network) mission support requirements for the Voyager Interstellar Mission (VIM) are summarized. The general objectives of the VIM are to investigate the interplanetary and interstellar media and to continue the Voyager program of ultraviolet astronomy. The VIM will utilize both Voyager spacecraft for the period from January 1990 through December 2019. The mission objectives are outlined and the DSN support requirements are defined through the presentation of tables and narratives describing the spacecraft flight profile; DSN support coverage; frequency assignments; support parameters for telemetry, control and support systems; and tracking support responsibility

A Complete Generalized Adjustment Criterion

Covariate adjustment is a widely used approach to estimate total causal effects from observational data. Several graphical criteria have been developed in recent years to identify valid covariates for adjustment from graphical causal models. These criteria can handle multiple causes, latent confounding, or partial knowledge of the causal structure; however, their diversity is confusing and some of them are only sufficient, but not necessary. In this paper, we present a criterion that is necessary and sufficient for four different classes of graphical causal models: directed acyclic graphs (DAGs), maximum ancestral graphs (MAGs), completed partially directed acyclic graphs (CPDAGs), and partial ancestral graphs (PAGs). Our criterion subsumes the existing ones and in this way unifies adjustment set construction for a large set of graph classes.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, To appear in Proceedings of the 31st Conference on Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence (UAI2015

Complete Graphical Characterization and Construction of Adjustment Sets in Markov Equivalence Classes of Ancestral Graphs

We present a graphical criterion for covariate adjustment that is sound and complete for four different classes of causal graphical models: directed acyclic graphs (DAGs), maximum ancestral graphs (MAGs), completed partially directed acyclic graphs (CPDAGs), and partial ancestral graphs (PAGs). Our criterion unifies covariate adjustment for a large set of graph classes. Moreover, we define an explicit set that satisfies our criterion, if there is any set that satisfies our criterion. We also give efficient algorithms for constructing all sets that fulfill our criterion, implemented in the R package dagitty. Finally, we discuss the relationship between our criterion and other criteria for adjustment, and we provide new soundness and completeness proofs for the adjustment criterion for DAGs.Comment: 58 pages, 12 figures, to appear in JML

Brentano on Consciousness

Consider a perceptual activity such as seeing a colour, hearing a tone, tasting a flavour. How are these activities related to one’s awareness of them? I will use Brentano’s struggle with this question to guide the reader through the development of his view on consciousness. My starting point will be Brentano’s book Die Psychologie des Aristoteles (Brentano 1867), in which he developed an inner sense view of consciousness (§§1-2). Brentano’s early view is underexplored in the literature, but crucial for understanding the development of his thought on the matter. In his major work Psychologie vom Empirischen Standpunkt (1874) he rejected the existence of an inner sense: the exercises of our five senses yield awareness of the world (or at least of intentional objects) as well as awareness of these perceptions. This same-level view of consciousness has been explored and developed by contemporary philosophers of mind. I will discuss the arguments that moved Brentano to change his mind, outline the view and, finally, respond to Husserl’s influential criticism of Brentano’s view (§§3-5)

The Effects of Increasing Degree of Unreliable Automation on Older Adults’ Performance

High level automation has the ability to relieve operators from complex, working memory-intensive tasks. When the task is primarily perceptual or cognitive in nature, the amount taken over by the machine can be very high. However, as operators interact with technology that is more automated (i.e., automation is higher in stage and degree), they may become more subject to the negative effects when that technology fails. This concept of reaping greater benefits of higher degrees of automation that is reliable but suffering catastrophic performance consequences when it is unreliable has been termed the lumberjack effect and has been well documented among younger adults (Endsley & Kiris, 1995; Onnasch et al., 2013; Rovira et al., 2017). The cause of this effect is that frequent interaction with reliable, high level automation induces a complacency or disengagement with the task (becoming out of the loop). Thus, when that automation fails, the user has been out of the loop (Endsley & Kiris, 1995) and is thus unprepared to resume the task. As older adults have reduced cognitive abilities, they may be even more subject to the lumberjack effect: benefiting greatly with reliable, high level automation but suffering major performance decrements with unreliable automation. The purpose of the current study was to examine the presence and magnitude of the lumberjack effect in older adults as it has not yet been documented in the literature. Older and younger adults interacted with various levels of automation. We replicated the finding that performance was negatively affected on unreliable trials of automation compared to reliable trials for both age groups (i.e., the lumberjack effect). However, this effect only appeared during low workload conditions and did not appear to be more pronounced in older adults. These results are the first to show that the lumberjack effect, previously observed in younger adults is equally pronounced in older adults. However, what aspect of aging cognition was the source of this similar lumberjack effect is still an empirical question. Future work should be done to understand methods which can help older adults stay in the loop when using automated technology

Numerical simulation of scavenging processes in explosive volcanic eruption clouds

The scavenging of gases and particles in an explosive volcanic eruption plume has been studied by numerical simulations with the plume model ATHAM (Active Tracer High Resolution Atrnospheric Model). We identified relevant factors that determine the fraction of volcanic material eventually being injected into the stratosphere. An extended version of the microphysics has been formulated: predicting both the specific rnass content and the number concentration it de- scribes the interaction of hydrometeors and voicanic ash in the plume, which leads to particle growth and efficient sedimentation. In addition, we developed a mod- ule for the calculation of volcanic gas scavenging by liquid and solid hydrometeors in the plume. This study reveals the dominant role of hydrometeors in controlling many pro- cesses in the plume. The coating of volcanic ash with liquid water or ice results in highly efficient growth of particles, which strongly enhances the fallout velocity of ash. Precipitation of aggregates results in efficient gas-particle separation, which increases the injection of volcanic gases into the stratosphere. In addition, it strongly influences the stream pattern, which in turn influences the microphysics in the plume by lowering the supersaturation in the ascent zone. By far the highest portion of condensed water freezes to ice in the eruption colurnn. The fast plurne rise to regions, which are too cold for even supercooled liquid water to exist causes rnost particles to occur as ice-ash aggregates. We examined the scavenging of the most important volcanic gases, HCl, SO2 and H2S, by liquid and solid hydrometeors and by aggregates in the plume. The scavenging efficiency is determined by the amount of condensed water or ice. HC1 is almost completely removed from the gas phase by dissolution in liquid water occurring in the lower central plurne. These ash-containing drops quickly freeze to graupel aggregates that precipitate efficiently, thus also removing HCl from higher altitudes. On the other hand, a large extent of SO2 and HzS stays at high levels in the umbrella region. The sulphur species are only slightly soluble in liquid water, hence, they are not removed by liquid water drops. However, they are scavenged by frozen hydrorneteors via direct gas incorporation during diffusional growth of ice. This causes a reduction by - 25% of the potential input of an inert volcanic gas, indicating the great relevance of gas trapping in ice. Low relative humidity in the troposphere in our simulations caused precipitation to reevaporate before it could reach the ground. As a consequence, no evidence of hydrometeor-ash interaction or gas scavenging could be found in the fallout of the eruption simulated here, although these processes occurred to a significant degree in upper parts of the plume