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Integrated Set (integrate + set)
Selected AbstractsEgg maturation strategy and its associated trade-offs: a synthesis focusing on LepidopteraECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 4 2005Mark A. Jervis Abstract., 1.,Insects vary considerably between and within orders, and even within the same genus, in the degree to which the female's lifetime potential egg complement is mature when she emerges as an adult. 2.,The ,ovigeny index' (OI) , the number of eggs females have ready to lay divided by the lifetime potential fecundity , quantifies variation in the degree of early life concentration of egg production, and also variation in initial reproductive effort. 3.,Here, an integrated set of hypotheses is presented, based on a conceptual model of resource allocation and acquisition, concerning trade-offs at the interspecific level between initial investment in egg production (as measured by OI) and other life-history traits in holometabolous insects. 4.,The evidence supporting each of these hypotheses is reviewed, and particular attention is paid to the Lepidoptera, as relevant life-history data are rapidly accumulating for this ecologically and economically important group. 5.,There is evidence at the interspecific level supporting: (i) a link between OI and a trade-off between soma and non-soma in Trichoptera and Hymenoptera (the proportionate allocation to soma decreases with increasing OI); (ii) a negative correlation between OI and dependency on external nutrient inputs (via adult feeding) in Hymenoptera and in Lepidoptera; (iii) a negative correlation between OI and the degree of polyandry (and nuptial gift, i.e. spermatophore, use) in Lepidoptera; (iv) negative correlations between OI and resource re-allocation capabilities (egg and thoracic musculature resorption) in Hymenoptera and in Lepidoptera; (v) a negative correlation between lifespan and OI in Trichoptera, Hymenoptera, and Lepidoptera, indicating a cost of reproduction; (vi) a link between winglessness and an OI of one in Lepidoptera; (vii) a negative correlation between OI and the degree of female mobility in winged Lepidoptera; and (viii) a negative correlation between OI and larval diet breadth (as mediated by oviposition strategy) in Lepidoptera. [source] Regional monitoring of infrasound events using multiple arrays: application to Utah and Washington StateGEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 1 2008Stephen J. Arrowsmith SUMMARY In this paper, we present an integrated set of algorithms for the automatic detection, association, and location of low-frequency acoustic events using regional networks of infrasound arrays. Here, low-frequency acoustic events are characterized by transient signals, which may arise from a range of natural and anthropogenic sources, examples of which include (but are not limited to) earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, explosions, rockets and bolides. First, we outline a new technique for detecting infrasound signals that works successfully in the presence of correlated noise. We use an F -statistic, sequentially adapted to ambient noise conditions, in order to obtain detections at a given statistical significance while accounting for real background noise. At each array, individual arrivals are then grouped together based on measured delay-times and backazimuths. Each signal is identified as either a first or later arrival. First arrivals at spatially separated arrays are then associated using a grid-search method to form events. Preliminary event locations are calculated from the geographic means and spreads of grid nodes associated with each event. We apply the technique to regional infrasound networks in Utah and Washington State. In Utah, over a period of approximately 1 month, we obtain a total of 276 events recorded at three arrays in a geographic region of 6 × 4°. For four ground-truth explosions in Utah, the automatic algorithm detects, associates, and locates the events within an average offset of 5.4 km to the actual explosion locations. In Washington State, the algorithm locates numerous events that are associated with a large coalmine in Centralia, Washington. An example mining-explosion from Centralia is located within 8.2 km of the mine. The methodology and results presented here provide an initial framework for assessing the capability of infrasound networks for regional infrasound monitoring, in particular by quantifying detection thresholds and localization errors. [source] Integrated polymerase chain reaction-based procedures for the detection and identification of species and subspecies of the Gram-positive bacterial genus LactococcusJOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 2 2002Z.Y. Pu Aims:,Five species of the Gram-positive bacterial genus Lactococcus (Lactococcus lactis, L. garvieae, L. plantarum, L. piscium and L. raffinolactis) are currently recognized. The aim of this work was to develop a simple approach for the identification of these species, as well as to differentiate the industrially important dairy subspecies L. lactis subsp. lactis and L. lactis subsp. cremoris. Methods and Results:,Methods were devised based on specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplifications that exploit differences in the sequences of the 16S ribosomal RNA genes of each species, followed by restriction enzyme cleavage of the PCR products. The techniques developed were used to characterize industrial cheese starter strains of L. lactis and the results were compared with biochemical phenotype and DNA sequence data. Conclusions:,The PCR primers designed can be used simultaneously, providing a simple scheme for screening unknown isolates. Strains of L. lactis show heterogeneity in the 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequence. Significance and Impact of the Study:,This work provides an integrated set of methods for differentiation and identification of lactococcal species associated with agricultural, veterinary, medical and processed food industries. [source] Designing for performance, Part 1: Aligning your HPT decisions from top to bottomPERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT, Issue 1 2007Ryan Watkins Wanting to improve individual and organizational performance is a worthwhile ambition. Yet your success in accomplishing this relies heavily on the suitable selection, design, and development of performance technologies. Only when capable performance technologies are systematically aligned with the desired results of your organization and its partners will you achieve sustainable performance improvements. In this article, the first of a three-part series, you will find a systematic process for initiating the design of a performance system that will accomplish useful results. From identifying the performance expectations of internal and external partners to justifying the performance objectives you establish as guides for future decision making, the systematic processes described in this article will provide you with the initial tools for successfully selecting an integrated set of performance technologies that have the capacity to accomplish valuable results. [source] Are We all Natural Dualists?THE JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, Issue 3 2001A Cognitive Developmental Approach The article takes to task the well-established anthropological claim that non-Western peoples are free from the traps of dualistic thinking. Although Vezo informants in Madagascar produce statements that could be used to support such a claim, experimental procedures that target their inferential reasoning reveal that they systematically differentiate between mind and body, between the biological processes that determine the organism and the social processes that shape personhood. This suggests that there is a significant discrepancy between people's explicit linguistic statements and their implicit theoretical knowledge. Moreover, developmental data show that such implicit theoretical presuppositions are essential to the production and transmission of cultural knowledge. Thus, Vezo children, who do not as yet differentiate between the biological mechanism of birth and the social mechanism of nurture, are still unable to grasp a salient aspect of Vezo culture, namely the causally integrated set of ideas that guide the way adults classify the social world. These findings have significant theoretical and methodological implications for the constitution of anthropological knowledge. [source] Material and digital design synthesisARCHITECTURAL DESIGN, Issue 2 2006Michael Hensel Abstract The advanced material and morphogenetic digital design techniques and technologies presented in this journal call for a higher level methodological integration, which poses a major challenge for the next generation of multidisciplinary architectural research and projects. This collaborative task encompasses the striving for an integrated set of design methods, generative and analytical tools and enabling technologies that facilitate and instrumentalise evolutionary design, and evaluation of differentiated material systems towards a highly performative and sustainable built environment. Michael Hensel and Achim Menges describe recent progress towards a higher-level design synthesis of material self-organisation, digital morphogenesis, associative parametric modelling and computer-aided manufacturing (cam) on the basis of two works produced within the context of the Emergent Technologies and Design Masters programme at the Architectural Association in London, and a recent competition entry by Scheffler + Partner Architects and Achim Menges. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Supply and Operations: Parallel Paths and Integrated StrategiesBRITISH JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2004Steve Brown This paper provides evidence of links between the nature of strategic formulation within firms and subsequent plant performance. The research focuses on how some firms have managed to link operations and supply into an integrated set of mutually supportive strategies. In the current competitive arena firms can no longer rely wholly on internal resource-based capabilities but must instead form strategic partnerships within what are often complex networks. The paper explores how operations and supply functions have pursued parallel paths but have often not been fully integrated within firms. It is argued that such integration, which forms part of what has been termed strategic resonance, can reap enormous benefits in terms of plant-level capabilities for firms. [source] | |||||||||||||