1,879 research outputs found
Early decomposition in visual word recognition: Dissociating morphology, form, and meaning
The role of morphological, semantic, and form-based factors in the early stages of visual word recognition was investigated across different SOAs in a masked priming paradigm, focusing on English derivational morphology. In a first set of experiments, stimulus pairs co-varying in morphological decomposability and in semantic and orthographic relatedness were presented at three SOAs (36, 48, and 72 ms). No effects of orthographic relatedness were found at any SOA. Semantic relatedness did not interact with effects of morphological decomposability, which came through strongly at all SOAs, even for pseudo-suffixed pairs such as archer-arch. Derivational morphological effects in masked priming seem to be primarily driven by morphological decomposability at an early stage of visual word recognition, and are independent of semantic factors. A second experiment reversed the order of prime and target (stem-derived rather than derived-stem), and again found that morphological priming did not interact with semantic relatedness. This points to an early segmentation process that is driven by morphological decomposability and not by the structure or content of central lexical representations
Investigating hookworm genomes by comparative analysis of two Ancylostoma species
Background
Hookworms, infecting over one billion people, are the mostly closely related major human parasites to the model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Applying genomics techniques to these species, we analyzed 3,840 and 3,149 genes from Ancylostoma caninum and A. ceylanicum.
Results
Transcripts originated from libraries representing infective L3 larva, stimulated L3, arrested L3, and adults. Most genes are represented in single stages including abundant transcripts like hsp-20 in infective L3 and vit-3 in adults. Over 80% of the genes have homologs in C. elegans, and nearly 30% of these were with observable RNA interference phenotypes. Homologies were identified to nematode-specific and clade V specific gene families. To study the evolution of hookworm genes, 574 A. caninum / A. ceylanicum orthologs were identified, all of which were found to be under purifying selection with distribution ratios of nonsynonymous to synonymous amino acid substitutions similar to that reported for C. elegans / C. briggsae orthologs. The phylogenetic distance between A. caninum and A. ceylanicum is almost identical to that for C. elegans / C. briggsae.
Conclusion
The genes discovered should substantially accelerate research toward better understanding of the parasites' basic biology as well as new therapies including vaccines and novel anthelmintics
Background field boundary conditions for affine Toda field theories
Classical integrability is investigated for affine Toda field theories in the
presence of a constant background tensor field. This leads to a further set of
discrete possibilities for integrable boundary conditions depending upon the
time-derivative of the fields at the boundary but containing no free parameters
other than the bulk coupling constant.Comment: 21 pages, harvma
Assembling a species–area curve through colonization, speciation and human‐mediated introduction
AimThe fundamental biogeographical processes of colonization, speciation and extinction shape island biotas in space–time. On oceanic islands, area and isolation affect these processes and resulting biodiversity patterns. In the Anthropocene, a new human‐mediated colonization dynamic is altering insular ecosystems world‐wide. Here, we test predictions about the roles of archipelago area and isolation in structuring ant diversity patterns through effects on both natural and anthropogenic biogeographical processes.LocationTropical Pacific islands.MethodsWe compiled a comprehensive data set of ant faunal compositions across tropical Pacific archipelagos. Using regression analysis we evaluated the bivariate and interactive effects of area and isolation on the number of colonizing lineages, native species, endemic species, exotic species and total richness in the archipelago.ResultsThere is a strong species–area effect and a much more modest isolation effect on total ant species richness across the Pacific archipelagos. The number of colonizing lineages of each archipelago is strongly driven by the isolation of the archipelago. Endemic species are present in large archipelagos of low and intermediate isolation. The most remote archipelagos are nearly devoid of endemic lineages and their ant faunas are largely composed of Pacific Tramp species and exotics brought from outside the Pacific region.Main conclusionsThe prominent species–area curve in Pacific ants emerged over time through multiple processes. The colonization of lineages is determined primarily by isolation, with few or no lineages reaching remote archipelagos. Cladogenesis mediates the isolation effect and increases the area effect through the differential radiation of lineages in large archipelagos. In the Anthropocene, the assembly of the species–area relationship has accelerated dramatically through human‐mediated colonization. Overall, our results support a view that species–area curves reflect regulating limits on species richness that scale with area, but that multiple biogeographical processes can occur to achieve these limits.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136723/1/jbi12884.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136723/2/jbi12884_am.pd
Steering of a Bosonic Mode with a Double Quantum Dot
We investigate the transport and coherence properties of a double quantum dot
coupled to a single damped boson mode. Our numerically results reveal how the
properties of the boson distribution can be steered by altering parameters of
the electronic system such as the energy difference between the dots.
Quadrature amplitude variances and the Wigner function are employed to
illustrate how the state of the boson mode can be controlled by a stationary
electron current through the dots.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Separate and combined effects of oligofructose and inulin on post-weaning coli bacillosis and weight gain: a preliminary study
Trends for a reduction in the use of dietary antibiotic growth promoters have caused increased interest in the use of alternative feed additives to maintain 'gut health' after weaning. Oligofructose and inulin are 'prebiotic' fructan-containing carbohydrates purported to enhance 'gut health' in newly-weaned pigs by altering microbial diversity (Konstantinov, et al., 2003). However, their effects using a challenge model of post-weaning colibacillosis (PWC) have never been examined. The aim of the present study was to compare the separate and combined effects of oligofructose and inulin supplementation on the occurrence of diarrhoea and the weight performance in piglets experimentally challenged with enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC)
On Selecting and Scheduling Assembly Plans Using Constraint Programming
This work presents the application of Constraint
Programming to the problem of selecting and sequencing assembly
operations. The set of all feasible assembly plans for a single product is
represented using an And/Or graph. This representation embodies some
of the constraints involved in the planning problem, such as precedence
of tasks, and the constraints due to the completion of a correct assembly
plan. The work is focused on the selection of tasks and their optimal
ordering, taking into account their execution in a generic multi-robot
system. In order to include all different constraints of the problem, the
And/Or graph representation is extended, so that links between nodes
corresponding to assembly tasks are added, taking into account the
resource constraints. The resultant problem is mapped to a Constraint
Satisfaction Problem (CSP), and is solved using Constraint
Programming, a powerful programming paradigm that is increasingly
used to model and solve many hard real-life problems
A Pomset-Based Model for Estimating Workcells' Setups in Assembly Sequence Planning
This paper presents a model based on pomsets (partially ordered multisets)
for estimating the minimum number of setups in the workcells in Assembly
Sequence Planning. This problem is focused through the minimization of
the makespan (total assembly time) in a multirobot system. The planning model
considers, apart from the durations and resources needed for the assembly tasks,
the delays due to the setups in the workcells. An A* algorithm is used to meet
the optimal solution. It uses the And/Or graph for the product to assemble, that
corresponds to a compressed representation of all feasible assembly plans. Two
basic admissible heuristic functions can be defined from relaxed models of the
problem, considering the precedence constraints and the use of resources separately.
The pomset-based model presented in this paper takes into account the
precedence constraints in order to obtain a better estimation for the second heuristic
function, so that the performance of the algorithm could be improved
Stabilization of Hydrodynamic Flows by Small Viscosity Variations
Motivated by the large effect of turbulent drag reduction by minute
concentrations of polymers we study the effects of a weakly space-dependent
viscosity on the stability of hydrodynamic flows. In a recent Letter [Phys.
Rev. Lett. {\bf 87}, 174501, (2001)] we exposed the crucial role played by a
localized region where the energy of fluctuations is produced by interactions
with the mean flow (the "critical layer"). We showed that a layer of weakly
space-dependent viscosity placed near the critical layer can have a very large
stabilizing effect on hydrodynamic fluctuations, retarding significantly the
onset of turbulence. In this paper we extend these observation in two
directions: first we show that the strong stabilization of the primary
instability is also obtained when the viscosity profile is realistic (inferred
from simulations of turbulent flows with a small concentration of polymers).
Second, we analyze the secondary instability (around the time-dependent primary
instability) and find similar strong stabilization. Since the secondary
instability develops around a time-dependent solution and is three-dimensional,
this brings us closer to the turbulent case. We reiterate that the large effect
is {\em not} due to a modified dissipation (as is assumed in some theories of
drag reduction), but due to reduced energy intake from the mean flow to the
fluctuations. We propose that similar physics act in turbulent drag reduction.Comment: 10 pages, 17 figs., REVTeX4, PRE, submitte
A Genetic Algorithm for Assembly Sequence Planning
This work presents a genetic algorithm for assembly sequence planning.
This problem is more difficult than other sequencing problems that have
already been tackled with success using these techniques, such as the classic
Traveling Salesperson Problem (TSP) or the Job Shop Scheduling Problem
(JSSP). It not only involves the arranging of tasks, as in those problems, but
also the selection of them from a set of alternative operations. Two families of
genetic operators have been used for searching the whole solution space. The
first includes operators that search for new sequences locally in a predetermined
assembly plan, that of parent chromosomes. The other family of operators introduces
new tasks in the solution, replacing others to maintain the validity of
chromosomes, and it is intended to search for sequences in other assembly
plans. Furthermore, some problem-based heuristics have been used for generating
the individuals in the population
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