The Future of the Journal? Integrating research data with scientific discourse

To advance the pace of scientific discovery we propose a conceptual format that forms the basis of a truly new way of publishing science. In our proposal, all scientific communication objects (including experimental workflows, direct results, email conversations, and all drafted and published information artifacts) are labeled and stored in a great, big, distributed data store (or many distributed data stores that are all connected). Each item has a set of metadata attached to it, which includes (at least) the person and time it was created, the type of object it is, and the status of the object including intellectual property rights and ownership. Every researcher can (and must) deposit every knowledge item that is produced in the lab into this repository. With this deposition goes an essential metadata component that states who has the rights to see, use, distribute, buy or sell this item. Into this grand (and system-wise distributed, cloud-based) architecture, all items produced by a single lab, or several labs, are stored, labeled and connected

A revision of the genus Potamium (Musci: Sematophyllaceae).

The neotropical genus Potamium as described by Mitten (1869) included species that had little more in common than a growth form adapted to a semi-aquatic habitat. Brotherus divided the genus in section Eu-Potamium and section Potamiopsis, based on peristome characters. This study shows that all species of section Eu-Potamium belong to Sematophyllum, including P. lonchophyllum which was designated as lectotype of Potamium by Buck (1990). In section Potamiopsis two species are recognized: P. vulpinum (Mont.) Mitt. (syn. nov.: Sematophyllum maguireorum Buck) and P. deceptivum Mitt. (syn. nov.: P. leucodontaceum (C.Müll.) Broth., Meiothecium negrense Mitt. and Maguireella vulpina (Mont.) Buck). The genus Potamium is characterized by capsules with an endostome consisting of a low basal membrane and filiform segments, which are often reduced in P. deceptivum. P. vulpinum is designated as lectotype of Potamium and the lectotypification of Buck is rejected. Descriptions, illustrations and a key are provided to the species of Potamium and allied semiaquatic taxa of Sematophyllum

A catalogue of the bryophytes of the Guianas : 2., Musci

This catalogue provides an annotated listing of the mosses (MUSCI) reported from the Guianas (Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana), based on work on the Moss Flora of Suriname, which is now nearing completion. In total 238 species in 90 genera are listed. A list of synonyms (including 10 new ones) and a systematic arrangement of the genera and families are also provided. The following new combinations are proposed: Callicostella guatemalensis (Bartr.), Sematophyllum lonchophyllum (Mont.), Sematophyllum pacimoniense (Mitt.) and Trichosteleum intricatum (Thér.)

Simlandscape, a design and research support system for local planning, based on the scenario method and Parcel-Based GIS

Many authors mention gaps between planning and reality (Salet, 2000; Wheeler, 2002), modelling and reality (Parker, 2003), and between modelling and planning (Clark, 2003). The first gap refers to inadequate planning models and instruments and the second one to the yet inadequate simulation models. The last before mentioned gap refers to cultural and ontological differences between these fields. There seems to be a kind of hate-love relationship: there is a promise of synergy, but also a considerable communication problem. Inside planning there is an ongoing debate on what qualities are important, how to deal with stakeholders and how to implement plans. This debate stretches from the functionalistic modernism to identity oriented comprehensive new regionalism. Planning concepts are in essence instruments for governance and therefore developed for and focused on control and intervention of specific aspects of spatial development. The root of planning is about the creation of the future and not about future research. This focus is one of the reasons why so many regional plans fail to be implemented. Modelling is focused on system behaviour; it is focused on scientific future research. Through its scientific approach and still inapt models, modelling however generates results that many planners do not recognize as practical from their daily perspective. They mistrust the models and find their grid based maps primal. Planning and modelling are complementary and therefore in principle synergetic. Modelling could provide planning, its context and moneylender, with a powerful evaluation tool. For this to happen however planning has to be more open to landscape as an autonomous system and must develop consistent (scenario) approaches. Now, planning models are mostly not adequate for interactive scenario development and simulation. And modelling has, next to improving performace, to pay more attention to practical planning issues (spatial quality and practise data) and language (catographic products and scales). This way they could make a beautiful couple, provided they work on themselves. What is required is a kind of intermediate or integrative scenario and typology approach. Simlandscape is a methodological toolbox for land use planning. It includes research and development, evaluation and monitoring of panoramic land use scenarios. It has been specifically developed to do the before mentioned job. Simlandscape was the object of a recently finished R&D project. It is designed to accommodate future research and interactive scenario development (explorative interactive planning) on a local and regional scale. The toolbox is based on an ontological transformation model of how landscape changes. Key elements are that Simlandscape is parcel based and actor and object orientated. The innovative aspects of Simlandscape have to do with the effect of the key elements of the model – an integration of land property and –exploitation in a landscape layer model in combination with a cadastral data model - for the comprehensiveness of the tool with respect to research activities, plan phases, qualities and stakeholders.

SQUID developments for the gravitational wave antenna MiniGRAIL

We designed two different sensor SQUIDs for the readout of the resonant mass gravitational wave detector MiniGRAIL. Both designs have integrated input inductors in the order of 1.5 muH and are planned for operation in the mK temperature range. Cooling fins were added to the shunt resistors. The fabricated SQUIDs show a behavior that differs from standard DC-SQUIDs. We were able to operate a design with a parallel configuration of washers at reasonable sensitivities. The flux noise saturated to a value of 0.84 muPhi0/radicHz below a temperature of 200 mK. The equivalent noise referred to the current through the input coil is 155 fA/radicHz and the energy resolution yields 62 h

Results of a botanical expedition to mount Roraima, Guyana. I. Bryophytes

A bryological inventory of the Upper Mazaruni District, Guyana (former British Guiana) yielded almost three hundred species, including 2 genera and 11 species new to science and 130 species new to the Guianas. The densely forested and very humid north slope of Mount Roraima (500-2300 m.) proved to be the richest area for bryophytes and most of the novelties were found there. The present paper provides an enumeration of the species collected with a brief characterization of their habitat. The following species are described as new: Haesselia acuminata Gradst., Plagiochila gymnocalyx Inoue, Radula gradsteinii Yamada, Radula guyanensis Yamada, Radula mazarunensis Yamada and Stenorrhipis grollei Gradst. Anastrophyllum subg. Vanaea Inoue & Gradst. from Mount Roraima is elevated to generic rank

Contextualizing Citations for Scientific Summarization using Word Embeddings and Domain Knowledge

Citation texts are sometimes not very informative or in some cases inaccurate by themselves; they need the appropriate context from the referenced paper to reflect its exact contributions. To address this problem, we propose an unsupervised model that uses distributed representation of words as well as domain knowledge to extract the appropriate context from the reference paper. Evaluation results show the effectiveness of our model by significantly outperforming the state-of-the-art. We furthermore demonstrate how an effective contextualization method results in improving citation-based summarization of the scientific articles.Comment: SIGIR 201

Mechanisms of action of the organophosphorus fungicide pyrazophos

In plant protection organophosphorus compounds are well-known for their insecticidal and acaricidal action. Since 1960, a number of organophosphorus fungicides have also been introduced. In an in vivo screening of these and some related insecticidal compounds against Sphaerotheca fuliginea on cucumber, pyrazophos (O,O-diethyl O-(5-methyl-6-ethoxycarbonylpyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidin-2-yl) phosphorothioate) proved to be most active. The chemical displayed both a protective and curative action against the disease; in addition, considerable toxicity to Pyricularia oryzae on barley was also found. Pyrazophos proved to be rather selective because hardly any other fungi sensitive to the chemical were found in a study on the in vitro spectrum of antifungal activity.The organophosphorus fungicides Hinosan (O-ethyl S,S-diphenyl phosphorodithioate) and Kitazin (O,O-diethyl S-benzyl phosphorothioate) were about as toxic as pyrazophos to P. oryzae, but were much less toxic than pyrazophos to S. fuliginea. In view of these results, investigations on mechanisms of fungitoxic action of orianophosphorus fungicides were mainly focused on pyrazophos.Both pyrazophos and its phosphate analogue (PO-pyrazophos) were found to inhibit the activity of carboxylesterases of S.fuliginea. However, because no correlation could be established between in vivo inhibition of the activity of these enzymes by pyrazophos and PO-pyrazophos, and their fungitoxicity, this effect probably does not account for the mechanism of action of pyrazophos.Neither could the toxicity of pyrazophos, in all other experiments studied with P. oryzae, be attributed to an effect on cell membrane permeability, as was shown to be present upon incubation of mycelium of the fungus with Hinosan and Kitazin. In addition, pyrazophos hardly affected nucleic acid and protein synthesis, and only slightly inhibited oxygen uptake.In short-term experiments, using an incubation time of 2 hours, pyrazophos was 100-1000 x less toxic to fungal growth in mycelial suspensions than to radial growth on agar and growth in liquid media inoculated with conidia. In the latter tests, growth was assayed after I week of incubation. These results can be partly ascribed to the fact that pyrazophos is metabolically converted in the fungus into two fungitoxic breakdown products, PO-pyrazophos and 2-hydroxy-5-methyl-6-ethoxycarbonylpyrazolo(1,5-a)pyrimidine (PP). In short-term experiments the toxicity of PP for mycelial growth in suspensions buffered at pH 4.0 even proved to be considerably higher than that of pyrazophos and PO-pyrazophos. PP might, therefore, be regarded as the actual fungitoxic principle of pyrazophos. This hypothesis is supported by the finding that PP, in contrast to pyrazophos, also displayed an inhibitory activity towards nucleic acid and protein synthesis and towards oxygen uptake of the fungus. The weak effects of pyrazophos on these processes and on mycelial growth in short-term experiments can probably be ascribed to an insufficient conversion of pyrazophos into PP under these conditions.Regarding the site of fungitoxic action of PP in P. oryzae, two hypotheses could be suggested. First, PP could inhibit specifically oxygen uptake and hence indirectly cellular synthetic processes like nucleic acid and protein synthesis. Secondly, PP might react aspecifically with cellular components and hence, directly affect both oxygen uptake and biosynthetic processes.Pythium debaryanum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae are practically insensitive to pyrazophos. Upon incubation of these fungi with the fungicide no breakdown products could be detected. Therefore, sensitivity of fungi for pyrazophos seems to be the result of a selective uptake of pyrazophos and/or of its conversion into PO pyrazophos and PP as has been demonstrated for P.oryzae.</em