19,571 research outputs found
Nitrate and phosphate availability and distribution have different effects on root system architecture of Arabidopsis
Plant root systems can respond to nutrient availability and distribution by changing the three-dimensional deployment of their roots: their root system architecture (RSA). We have compared RSA in homogeneous and heterogeneous nitrate and phosphate supply in Arabidopsis. Changes in nitrate and phosphate availability were found to have contrasting effects on primary root length and lateral root density, but similar effects on lateral root length. Relative to shoot dry weight (DW), primary root length decreased with increasing nitrate availability, while it increased with increasing phosphate supply. Lateral root density remained constant across a range of nitrate supplies, but decreased with increasing phosphate supply. In contrast, lateral root elongation was suppressed both by high nitrate and high phosphate supplies. Local supplies of high nitrate or phosphate in a patch also had different effects. Primary root growth was not affected by a high nitrate patch, but growth through a high phosphate patch reduced primary root growth after the root left the patch. A high nitrate patch induced an increase in lateral root density in the patch, whereas lateral root density was unaffected by a high phosphate patch. However, both phosphate- and nitrate-rich patches induced lateral root elongation in the patch and suppressed it outside the patch. This co-ordinated response of lateral roots also occurs in soil-grown plants exposed to a nutrient-rich patch. The auxin-resistant mutants axr1, axr4 and aux1 all showed the wild-type lateral root elongation responses to a nitrate-rich patch, suggesting that auxin is not required for this response
Interface design in the process industries
Every operator runs his plant in accord with his own mental model of the process. In this sense, one characteristic of an ideal man-machine interface is that it be in harmony with that model. With this theme in mind, the paper first reviews the functions of the process operator and compares them with human operators involved in control situations previously studied outside the industrial environment (pilots, air traffic controllers, helmsmen, etc.). A brief history of the operator interface in the process industry and the traditional methodology employed in its design is then presented. Finally, a much more fundamental approach utilizing a model definition of the human operator's behavior is presented
Anomalous Radio-Wave Scattering from Interstellar Plasma Structures
This paper considers scattering screens that have arbitrary spatial
variations of scattering strength transverse to the line of sight, including
screens that are spatially well confined, such as disks and filaments. We
calculate the scattered image of a point source and the observed pulse shape of
a scattered impulse. The consequences of screen confinement include: (1) Source
image shapes that are determined by the physical extent of the screen rather
than by the shapes of much-smaller diffracting microirregularities. These
include image elongations and orientations that are frequency dependent. (2)
Variation with frequency of angular broadening that is much weaker than the
trademark \nu^{-2} scaling law (for a cold, unmagnetized plasma), including
frequency-independent cases; and (3) Similar departure of the pulse broadening
time from the usually expected \nu^{-4} scaling law. We briefly discuss
applications that include scattering of pulses from the Crab pulsar by
filaments in the Crab Nebula; image asymmetries from Galactic scattering of the
sources Cyg X-3, Sgr A*, and NGC 6334B; and scattering of background active
galactic nuclei by intervening galaxies. We also address the consequences for
inferences about the shape of the wavenumber spectrum of electron density
irregularities, which depend on scaling laws for the image size and the pulse
broadening. Future low-frequency (< 100 MHz) array observations will also be
strongly affected by the Galactic structure of scattering material. Our
formalism is derived in the context of radio scattering by plasma density
fluctuations. It is also applicable to optical, UV and X-ray scattering by
grains in the interstellar medium.Comment: 21 pages, LaTeX2e with AASTeX-4.0, 6 PostScript figures, accepted by
ApJ, revised version has minor changes to respond to referee comments and
suggestion
Planetary systems around close binary stars: the case of the very dusty, Sun-like, spectroscopic binary BD+20 307
Field star BD+20 307 is the dustiest known main sequence star, based on the
fraction of its bolometric luminosity, 4%, that is emitted at infrared
wavelengths. The particles that carry this large IR luminosity are unusually
warm, comparable to the temperature of the zodiacal dust in the solar system,
and their existence is likely to be a consequence of a fairly recent collision
of large objects such as planets or planetary embryos. Thus, the age of BD+20
307 is potentially of interest in constraining the era of terrestrial planet
formation. The present project was initiated with an attempt to derive this age
using the Chandra X-ray Observatory to measure the X-ray flux of BD+20 307 in
conjunction with extensive photometric and spectroscopic monitoring
observations from Fairborn Observatory. However, the recent realization that
BD+20 307 is a short period, double-line, spectroscopic binary whose components
have very different lithium abundances, vitiates standard methods of age
determination. We find the system to be metal-poor; this, combined with its
measured lithium abundances, indicates that BD+20 307 may be several to many
Gyr old. BD+20 307 affords astronomy a rare peek into a mature planetary system
in orbit around a close binary star (because such systems are not amenable to
study by the precision radial velocity technique).Comment: accepted for ApJ, December 10, 200
Consideration of permanent tidal deformation in the orbit determination and data analysis for the Topex/Poseidon mission
The effects of the permanent tidal effects of the Sun and Moon with specific applications to satellite altimeter data reduction are reviewed in the context of a consistent definition of geoid undulations. Three situations are applicable not only for altimeter reduction and geoid definition, but also for the second degree zonal harmonic of the geopotential and the equatorial radius. A recommendation is made that sea surface heights and geoid undulations placed on the Topex/Poseidon geophysical data record should be referred to the mean Earth case (i.e., with the permanent effects of the Sun and Moon included). Numerical constants for a number of parameters, including a flattening and geoid geopotential, are included
Emulating computer models with step-discontinuous outputs using Gaussian processes
In many real-world applications, we are interested in approximating functions that are analytically unknown. An emulator provides a "fast" approximation of such functions relying on a limited number of evaluations. Gaussian processes (GPs) are commonplace emulators due to their properties such as the ability to quantify uncertainty. GPs are essentially developed to emulate smooth, continuous functions. However, the assumptions of continuity and smoothness is unwarranted in many situations. For example, in computer models where bifurcation, tipping points occur in their systems of equations, the outputs can be discontinuous. This paper examines the capacity of GPs for emulating step-discontinuous functions using two approaches. The first approach is based on choosing covariance functions/kernels, namely neural network and Gibbs, that are most appropriate for modelling discontinuities. The predictive performance of these two kernels is illustrated using several examples. The results show that they have superior performance to standard covariance functions, such as the Mat\'ern family, in capturing sharp jumps. The second approach is to transform the input space such that in the new space a GP with a standard kernel is able to predict the function well. A parametric transformation function is used whose parameters are estimated by maximum likelihood.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC
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Application of NDT thermographic imaging of aerospace structures
This work aims to address the effectiveness and challenges of Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) inspection and improve the detection of defects without causing damage to the material or operator. It focuses on two types of NDT methods; pulsed thermography and vibrothermography. The paper also explores the possibility of performing automated aerial inspection using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) provided with a thermographic imaging system. The concept of active thermography is discussed for inspecting aircraft CFRP panels along with the proposal for performing aerial inspection using the UAV for real time inspection. Static NDT results and the further UAV research indicate that the UAV inspection approach could significantly reduce the inspection time, cost, and workload, whilst potentially increasing the probability of detection
The automated detection of proliferative diabetic retinopathy using dual ensemble classification
Objective: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a retinal vascular disease that is caused by complications of diabetes. Proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) is the advanced stage of the disease which carries a high risk of severe visual impairment. This stage is characterized by the growth of abnormal new vessels. We aim to develop a method for the automated detection of new vessels from retinal images.
Methods: This method is based on a dual classification approach. Two vessel segmentation approaches are applied to create two separate binary vessel maps which each hold vital information. Local morphology, gradient and intensity features are measured using each binary vessel map to produce two separate 21-D feature vectors. Independent classification is performed for each feature vector using an ensemble system of bagged decision trees. These two independent outcomes are then combined to a produce a final decision.
Results: Sensitivity and specificity results using a dataset of 60 images are 1.0000 and 0.9500 on a per image basis.
Conclusions: The described automated system is capable of detecting the presence of new vessels
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