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Minimum
Kinds of Minimum Terms modified by Minimum Selected AbstractsTHE DEPENDENCE STRUCTURE OF RUNNING MAXIMA AND MINIMA: RESULTS AND OPTION PRICING APPLICATIONSMATHEMATICAL FINANCE, Issue 1 2010Umberto Cherubini We provide general results for the dependence structure of running maxima (minima) of sets of variables in a model based on (i) Markov dynamics; (ii) no Granger causality; (iii) cross-section dependence. At the time series level, we derive recursive formulas for running minima and maxima. These formulas enable to use a "bootstrapping" technique to recursively recover the pricing kernels of barrier options from those of the corresponding European options. We also show that the dependence formulas for running maxima (minima) are completely defined from the copula function representing dependence among levels at the terminal date. The result is applied to multivariate discrete barrier digital products. Barrier Altiplanos are simply priced by (i) bootstrapping the price of univariate barrier products; (ii) evaluating a European Altiplano with these values. [source] CRIMINOLOGY, MANDATORY MINIMUMS, AND PUBLIC POLICYCRIMINOLOGY AND PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 1 2006MICHAEL TONRY First page of article [source] Long-Term Follow-Up After Autologous Fat Grafting: Analysis of Results from 116 Patients Followed at Least 12 Months After Receiving the Last of a Minimum of Two TreatmentsDERMATOLOGIC SURGERY, Issue 12 2000Sorin Eremia MD Background. The effectiveness of long-term results for correction of facial rhytides with single or multiple autologous fat transplants remains controversial. Objective. This study is a retrospective review of short- and long-term results for 116 patients who underwent multiple autologous fat grafting sessions into the nasolabial and melolabial (lateral oral commissure) fold, and in some cases additional sites such as lips and glabella. Methods. Criteria for inclusion into the study included at least two treatment sessions and at least a 12-month follow-up evaluation after the last treatment received. A 14-gauge needle cannula was used to aspirate the donor fat and to inject the fat grafts. Results. For the nasolabial and melolabial folds, short-term results at 3,4 months were uniformly excellent. Gradual correction loss was noted between 5 and 8 months, with 25% of patients still rated as excellent and 40% as good. Most patients continued to show correction loss between 9 and 14 months. Only 3,4% of the patients truly maintained long-term correction for more than 14 months. Multiple re-treatments did not significantly increase the percent of patients showing long-term results. For the glabella, the results were very disappointing, with most patients showing complete loss of correction after 3,4 months. For lip augmentation, correction loss was slower than in the glabella, but most patients showed complete loss of correction by 5,8 months. Complications were minimal. Conclusion. Autologous fat grafting is most effective for relatively short-term improvement of facial aging changes in the nasolabial and oral commissures areas. It is less effective for lip augmentation and completely ineffective for the glabella area. [source] Minimum weighted norm wavefield reconstruction for AVA imagingGEOPHYSICAL PROSPECTING, Issue 6 2005Mauricio D. Sacchi ABSTRACT Seismic wavefield reconstruction is posed as an inversion problem where, from inadequate and incomplete data, we attempt to recover the data we would have acquired with a denser distribution of sources and receivers. A minimum weighted norm interpolation method is proposed to interpolate prestack volumes before wave-equation amplitude versus angle imaging. Synthetic and real data were used to investigate the effectiveness of our wavefield reconstruction scheme when preconditioning seismic data for wave-equation amplitude versus angle imaging. [source] A Universal Social Minimum as a Foundation for CitizenshipIDS BULLETIN, Issue 3 2007Koy Thomson First page of article [source] Minimum and preferred entry qualifications and training provision for North Australian workersINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 3 2006Bruce Acutt This paper reports on the outcomes of a replication study of a survey of British employers that requested information on the qualifications sought when recruiting employees and on subsequent training and development. While the British survey was interested in the uptake and use of the British National Vocational Qualifications, the study reported in this article is primarily focused on the uptake and use of the Australian Qualifications Framework qualifications by North Australian employers. This study was prompted by the skills shortages and recruitment difficulties being experienced by organizations throughout rural and regional Australia. Previous studies have found that vocational qualifications were not valued by UK employers and few employers were encouraging employees to undertake vocational awards. If this is also the case in Australia, it may in part explain problems in recruiting skilled workers. This research clearly demonstrates that employees in regional and rural Australia are seeking to improve their knowledge and skills through vocational training and higher education qualifications. Also, employers are providing access to training and are supporting managerial and professional employees to gain higher educational qualifications. When recruiting all types of worker other than unskilled labourers, the majority of organizations prefer to recruit workers with qualifications. In rural and regional centres, however, a more pragmatic stance of recruiting unqualified employees in some areas is observed. Clearly, employers will attempt to minimize training costs by recruiting skilled employees, but in the end they will have to provide access to training and education to ensure that they have a skilled workforce that can deliver essential services and products. [source] Modelling the growth of Weissella cibaria as a function of fermentation conditionsJOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 5 2009A. Ricciardi Abstract Aims:, To investigate the effect of pH, water activity (aw) and temperature on the growth of Weissella cibaria DBPZ1006, a lactic acid bacterium isolated from sourdoughs. Methods and Results:, The kinetics of growth of W. cibaria DBPZ1006 was investigated during batch fermentations as a function of pH (4·0,8·0), aw (0·935,0·994) and temperature (10,45°C) in a rich medium. The growth curve parameters (lag time, growth rate and asymptote) were estimated using the dynamic model of Baranyi and Roberts (1994. A dynamic approach to predicting bacterial growth in food. Int J Food Microbiol23, 277,294). The effect of pH, aw and temperature on maximum specific growth rate (,max) were estimated by fitting a cardinal model. ,max under optimal conditions (pH = 6·6, aw = 0·994, T = 36·3°C) was estimated to be 0·93 h,1. Minimum and maximum estimated pH and temperature for growth were 3·6 and 8·15, and 9·0°C and 47·8°C, respectively, while minimum aw was 0·918 (equivalent to 12·2% w/v NaCl). Conclusions:,Weissella cibaria DBPZ1006 is a fast-growing heterofermentative strain, which could be used in a mixed starter culture for making bread. Significance and Impact of the Study:, This is the first study reporting the modelling of the growth of W. cibaria, a species that is increasingly being used as a starter in sourdough and vegetable fermentations. [source] Patterns of woody plant species richness in the Iberian Peninsula: environmental range and spatial scaleJOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Issue 10 2008Ole R. Vetaas Abstract Aim, Climate-based models often explain most of the variation in species richness along broad-scale geographical gradients. We aim to: (1) test predictions of woody plant species richness on a regional spatial extent deduced from macro-scale models based on water,energy dynamics; (2) test if the length of the climate gradients will determine whether the relationship with woody species richness is monotonic or unimodal; and (3) evaluate the explanatory power of a previously proposed ,water,energy' model and regional models at two grain sizes. Location, The Iberian Peninsula. Methods, We estimated woody plant species richness on grid maps with c. 2500 and 22,500 km2 cell size, using geocoded data for the individual species. Generalized additive models were used to explore the relationships between richness and climatic, topographical and substrate variables. Ordinary least squares regression was used to compare regional and more general water,energy models in relation to grain size. Variation partitioning by partial regression was applied to find how much of the variation in richness was related to spatial variables, explanatory variables and the overlap between these two. Results, Water,energy dynamics generate important underlying gradients that determine the woody species richness even over a short spatial extent. The relationships between richness and the energy variables were linear to curvilinear, whereas those with precipitation were nonlinear and non-monotonic. Only a small fraction of the spatially structured variation in woody species richness cannot be accounted for by the fitted variables related to climate, substrate and topography. The regional models accounted for higher variation in species richness than the water,energy models, although the water,energy model including topography performed well at the larger grain size. Elevation range was the most important predictor at all scales, probably because it corrects for ,climatic error' due to the unrealistic assumption that mean climate values are evenly distributed in the large grid cells. Minimum monthly potential evapotranspiration was the best climatic predictor at the larger grain size, but actual evapotranspiration was best at the smaller grain size. Energy variables were more important than precipitation individually. Precipitation was not a significant variable at the larger grain size when examined on its own, but was highly significant when an interaction term between itself and substrate was included in the model. Main conclusions, The significance of range in elevation is probably because it corresponds to several aspects that may influence species diversity, such as climatic variability within grid cells, enhanced surface area, and location for refugia. The relative explanatory power of energy and water variables was high, and was influenced by the length of the climate gradient, substrate and grain size of the analysis. Energy appeared to have more influence than precipitation, but water availability is also determined by energy, substrate and topographic relief. [source] Minimum , -divergence estimation for arch modelsJOURNAL OF TIME SERIES ANALYSIS, Issue 1 2006S. Ajay Chandra Abstract., This paper considers a minimum , -divergence estimation for a class of ARCH(p) models. For these models with unknown volatility parameters, the exact form of the innovation density is supposed to be unknown in detail but is thought to be close to members of some parametric family. To approximate such a density, we first construct an estimator for the unknown volatility parameters using the conditional least squares estimator given by Tjøstheim [Stochastic processes and their applications (1986) Vol. 21, pp. 251,273]. Then, a nonparametric kernel density estimator is constructed for the innovation density based on the estimated residuals. Using techniques of the minimum Hellinger distance estimation for stochastic models and residual empirical process from an ARCH(p) model given by Beran [Annals of Statistics (1977) Vol. 5, pp. 445,463] and Lee and Taniguchi [Statistica Sinica (2005) Vol. 15, pp. 215,234] respectively, it is shown that the proposed estimator is consistent and asymptotically normal. Moreover, a robustness measure for the score of the estimator is introduced. The asymptotic efficiency and robustness of the estimator are illustrated by simulations. The proposed estimator is also applied to daily stock returns of Dell Corporation. [source] Mikrofügen mit Laserstrahlung , Innovative Verfahren zur Fertigung mikrotechnischer BauteileLASER TECHNIK JOURNAL, Issue 3 2006Arnold Gillner Dr.-Ing. Miniaturisierte und hochintegrierte Bauelemente mit besonderen Anforderungen an thermische Belastung und Bauteilbeeinflussung erfordern innovative Fügeverfahren, die den Anforderungen an kurze Taktzeiten und minimaler Fügegeometrie gerecht werden. Hinzu kommt ein steigender Materialmix, dem mit klassischen Fügetechnologien nicht mehr begegnet werden kann. Die Laser-Mikrofügetechnik bietet hier mit neuen kompakten Strahlquellen, z. B. Faserlasern und innovativen Prozessvarianten, Lösungen, mit denen artungleiche Werkstoffkombinationen mit einem Minimum an Energieeintrag bei kurzen Fügezeiten im Millisekunden-Bereich erzeugt werden können. Schmelzefreie Prozessvarianten, wie das Laserbonden, ermöglichen hier sogar die Verbindung von Glas und Glas/Silizium-Komponenten ohne sichtbare Fügezone. [source] Data from frequency-volume charts versus filling cystometric estimated capacities and prevalence of instability in men with lower urinary tract symptoms suggestive of benign prostatic hyperplasiaNEUROUROLOGY AND URODYNAMICS, Issue 2 2002Ger E.P.M. van Venrooij Abstract The aim was to examine associations of filling cystometric estimated compliance, capacities, and prevalence of bladder instability with data from frequency-volume charts in a well-defined group of men with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) suggestive of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Men with LUTS suggestive of BPH were included if they met the criteria of the International Consensus Committee on BPH, i.e., they voided more than 150 mL during uroflowmetry, their residual volume and prostate size were estimated, and they completed frequency-volume charts correctly. From the frequency-volume charts, voiding habits, and fluid intake in the daytime and at night were evaluated. Filling cystometric studies were performed in these men as well. Decreased compliance was an exceptional finding. Cystometric capacity and especially effective capacity (cystometric capacity minus residual volume) corresponded significantly with the maximum voided volume on the frequency-volume charts. Effective capacity was almost twice as high as the average voided volume. Minimum voided volume on frequency-volume charts was not related to filling cystometric data. The presence of instability in the supine or sitting position or in both positions was not significantly associated with smaller voided volumes, higher nocturia, or diuria. Filling cystometric capacities were strongly associated with maximal and mean voided volumes derived from frequency-volume charts. The presence of detrusor instability during filling cystometry did not significantly affect voided volumes, diuria, or nocturia. Neurourol. Urodynam. 21:106,111, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Temperature-dependent development and distribution in the soil profile of pupae of greyback canegrub Dermolepida albohirtum (Waterhouse) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in Queensland sugarcaneAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 1 2007David P Logan Abstract, The temperature-dependent development rate of pupae of greyback canegrub, Dermolepida albohirtum (Waterhouse) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), a major pest of sugarcane in central and northern Queensland, was determined under six constant temperature regimes: 18, 20, 23, 25, 27 and 30°C, and for four geographically separated populations. Development rate increased significantly with increasing temperature. Parameters of the linear regression equation did not differ among populations and common coefficients were calculated. Developmental zero, at and below which no development occurs, for pupae was 12.0°C and the thermal constant was 476 day-degrees (D°). Minimum and maximum periods for pupal development were 26 days at 30°C and 75 days at 18°C, respectively. The phenology of pupae was determined in soil-filled cubicles in a shade house and in the field at Ayr (19°35,S, 147°25,E), north Queensland, using D. albohirtum field-collected as late-stage third-instar larvae and kept in containers. Pupation of D. albohirtum began in late August or early September and eclosion was complete by mid- to late October. The phenology data were used to validate the development model. Eclosion was predicted by summing hourly fractions of day-degrees until 476 D° was reached and was close to actual eclosion. As temperature, and hence pupal development rate, varies with soil depth, the distribution of the third instars in pupal cells in the soil profile was determined in recently harvested fields of sugarcane in the Burdekin sugarcane district centred on Ayr. Numbers of late third instars in pupal cells peaked at 300,400 mm, with pupae found from 30 to 700 mm. Pupal development was simulated using hourly soil temperatures measured at depths of 200 and 400 mm at Ayr and at Sarina (21°22,S, 149°13,E). The pupal stage was predicted to take up to 2,10 days longer at 200 mm deep than at 400 mm depending on pupation site and date. When pupation was simulated in late August, as is likely in the field, pupal development at 400 mm deep took 48,56 days at Ayr and 58,62 days at Sarina. [source] Schienenlängskräfte auf Brücken infolge TragwerksbiegungBAUTECHNIK, Issue 2 2005Peter Ruge Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Die Längskraftbeanspruchung von durchgehend geschweißten Schienen auf Brücken ist nach DIN -Fachbericht 101 auch für den Lastfall Tragwerksbiegung infolge Verkehrslast nachzuweisen. Für elastisch-plastische Kopplung zwischen Gleis und Tragwerk beschreibt der Aufsatz einerseits eine numerische Finite-Element Lösung über äquivalente Temperaturdehnungen und andererseits eine exakte analytische Lösung in Form einer Steifigkeitsformulierung. Diese erfordert lediglich ein Minimum an Freiheitsgraden und ermöglicht darüber hinaus die Konzeption kompakter praxistauglicher Bemessungsdiagramme, falls keine Rutschbereiche auftreten. Longitudinal forces in rails on bridges due to bending of deck. According to DIN -Fachbericht 101, the calculation of longitudinal forces in continuously welded rails on bridges must include the actions due to bending of the deck. For an elastic-plastic connection between rail and deck, this paper first describes a numerical FE-solution by treating bending by means of equivalent strains due to temperature. Secondly, an exact solution is presented in a stiffness-like manner. This formulation needs only a minimum of degrees of freedom and can be used to create rather compact design graphs for the practicing engineers if sliding does not occur. [source] Das Gesetz vom Minimum.CHEMIE IN UNSERER ZEIT (CHIUZ), Issue 5 2010Liebig oder Sprengel? Abstract Zu Beginn des 19. Jahrhunderts vollzog sich langsam der Wandel von der Humustheorie zur Mineralstofflehre. Carl Sprengel kann als Wegbereiter der neuen Lehre angesehen werden, deren Grundlagen er als erster klar formulierte. Doch erst Justus von Liebig verhalf der Mineralstofflehre zum Durchbruch. So hat Sprengel auch bereits 1828 das Gesetz vom Minimum formuliert, welches heute noch häufig dem populäreren Liebig zugeschrieben wird. Die bekannte Analogie zur Visualisierung des Gesetzes als Minimum-Tonne geht auf keinen der beiden Protagonisten zurück. Diese Analogie hat sich seit 1903 behauptet, obwohl es bereits 1910 einen Wettbewerb zur Entwicklung einer besseren Darstellung gab. In the early 19th Century there was a change from the humus theory to the theory of mineral nutrition of plants. Carl Sprengel can be considered as pioneer, who first of all formulated the new theory clearly. But only Justus von Liebig made the theory of mineral nutrition popular. Similarly Sprengel formulated the Law of the Minimum already in 1828 whereas Liebig couched it only in 1855. The famous analogy as Minimum barrel was developed at none of the both protagonists. This analogy stands its ground since 1903, even though there was a competition for a better analogy already in 1910. [source] Rubisco expression in rice leaves is related to genotypic variation of photosynthesis under elevated growth CO2 and temperaturePLANT CELL & ENVIRONMENT, Issue 12 2003R. W. GESCH ABSTRACT Genetic modifications of agronomic crops will likely be necessary to cope with global climate change. This study tested the hypotheses that genotypic differences in rice (Oryza sativa L.) leaf photosynthesis at elevated [CO2] and temperature are related to protein and gene expression of Rubisco, and that high growth temperatures under elevated [CO2] negatively affect photosystem II (PSII) photochemical efficiency. Two rice cultivars representing an indica (cv. IR72) and japonica type (cv. M103) were grown in 350 (ambient) and 700 (elevated) µmol CO2 mol,1 at 28/18, 34/24 and 40/30 °C sinusoidal maximum/minimum, day/night temperatures in outdoor, sunlit, environment-controlled chambers. Leaf photosynthesis of IR72 favoured higher growth temperatures more than M103. Rubisco total activity and protein content were negatively affected in both genotypes by high temperatures and elevated CO2. However, at moderate to high growth temperatures, IR72 leaves averaged 71 and 39% more rbcS transcripts than M103 under ambient and elevated CO2, respectively, and likewise had greater Rubisco activity and protein content. Expression of psbA (D1 protein of PSII) in IR72 leaves increased with temperature, whereas it remained constant for M103, except for a 20% decline at 40/30 °C under elevated CO2. Even at the highest growth temperatures, PSII photochemical efficiency was not impaired in either genotype grown under either ambient or elevated CO2. Genotypic differences exist in rice for carboxylation responses to elevated CO2 and high temperatures, which may be useful in developing genotypes suited to cope with global climate changes. [source] 3D Image Segmentation of Aggregates from Laser ProfilingCOMPUTER-AIDED CIVIL AND INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING, Issue 4 2003Hyoungkwan Kim Automated scanners of different designs use cameras or lasers to obtain digital images of groups of aggregate particles. To accurately determine particle size and shape parameters, each particle region in the image must be isolated and processed individually. Here, a method for segmenting a particle image acquired from laser profiling is developed using a Canny edge detector and a watershed transformation. Canny edges with rigorous and liberal threshold values are used to outline particle boundaries on a binary image and to check the validity of watersheds, respectively. To find appropriate regional minima in the watershed transformation, a varying search window method is used, where the number of neighboring pixels being compared with the pixel of interest is determined from the height value of the pixel. Test results with this method are promising. When implemented in automated systems that are designed to rapidly assess size and shape characteristics of stone particles, this technique can not only reduce the amount of time required for aggregate preparation, but also increase the accuracy of analysis results. [source] Flow energy and channel adjustments in rills developed in loamy sand and sandy loam soilsEARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 1 2009Jovan R. Stefanovic Abstract The storms usually associated with rill development in nature are seldom prolonged, so development is often interrupted by interstorm disturbances, e.g. weathering or tillage. In laboratory simulated rainfall experiments, active rill development can be prolonged, and under these conditions typically passes through a period of intense incision, channel extension and bifurcation before reaching quasi-stable conditions in which little form change occurs. This paper presents laboratory experiments with coarse textured soils under simulated rainfall which show how channel adjustment processes contribute to the evolution of quasi-stability. Newly incised rills were stabilized for detailed study of links between rill configuration and flow energy. On a loamy sand, adjustment towards equilibrium occurred due to channel widening and meandering, whereas on a sandy loam, mobile knickpoints and chutes, pulsations in flow width and flow depth and changes in stream power and sediment discharge occurred as the channel adjusted towards equilibrium. The tendency of rill systems towards quasi-stability is shown by changes in stream power values which show short-lived minima. Differences in energy dissipation in stabilized rills indicate that minimization of energy dissipation was reached locally between knickpoints and at the downstream ends of rills. In the absence of energy gradients in knickpoints and chutes, stabilized rill sections tended toward equilibrium by establishing uniform energy expenditure. The study confirmed that energy dissipation increased with flow aspect ratio. In stabilized rills, flow acceleration reduced energy dissipation on the loamy sand but not on the sandy loam. On both soils flow deceleration tended to increase energy dissipation. Understanding how rill systems evolve towards stability is essential in order to predict how interruptions between storms may affect long-term rill dynamics. This is essential if event-based physical models are to become effective in predicting sediment transport on rilled hillslopes under changing weather and climatic conditions. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. [source] Spatial and temporal variations in bank erosion on sand-bed streams in the seasonally wet tropics of northern AustraliaEARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 9 2006M. J. Saynor Abstract Bank erosion rates and processes across a range of spatial scales are poorly understood in most environments, especially in the seasonally wet tropics of northern Australia where sediment yields are among global minima. A total of 177 erosion pins was installed at 45 sites on four sand-bed streams (Tributaries North and Central, East Tributary and Ngarradj) in the Ngarradj catchment in the Alligator Rivers Region. Bank erosion was measured for up to 3·5 years (start of 1998/99 wet season to end of 2001/02 wet season) at three spatial scales, namely a discontinuous gully (0·6 km2) that was initiated by erosion of a grass swale between 1975 and 1981, a small continuous channel (2·5 km2) on an alluvial fan that was formed by incision of a formerly discontinuous channel between 1964 and 1978, and three medium-sized, continuous channels (8·5,43·6 km2) with riparian vegetation. The bank erosion measurements during a period of average to above-average rainfall established that substantial bank erosion occurred during the wet season on the two smaller channels by rapid lateral migration (Tributary Central) and by erosion of gully sidewalls due to a combination of within-gully flows and overland flow plunging over the sidewalls (Tributary North). Minor bank erosion also occurred during the dry season by faunal activity, by desiccation and loss of cohesion of the sandy bank sediments and by dry flow processes. The larger channels with riparian vegetation (East Tributary and Ngarradj) did not generate significant amounts of sediment by bank erosion. Deposition (i.e. negative pin values) was locally significant at all scales. Bank profile form and channel planform exert a strong control on erosion rates during the wet season but not during the dry season. Copyright © 2006 Commonwealth Government of Australia. [source] Turbulent flow over a dune: Green River, ColoradoEARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 3 2005Jeremy G. Venditti Abstract Detailed echo-sounder and acoustic Doppler velocimeter measurements are used to assess the temporal and spatial structure of turbulent flow over a mobile dune in a wide, low-gradient, alluvial reach of the Green River. Based on the geometric position of the sensor over the bedforms, measurements were taken in the wake, in transitional flow at the bedform crest, and in the internal boundary layer. Spatial distributions of Reynolds shear stress, turbulent kinetic energy, turbulence intensity, and correlation coefficient are qualitatively consistent with those over fixed, two-dimensional bedforms in laboratory flows. Spectral and cospectral analysis demonstrates that energy levels in the lee of the crest (i.e. wake) are two to four times greater than over the crest itself, with minima over the stoss slope (within the developing internal boundary layer). The frequency structure in the wake is sharply defined with single, dominant peaks. Peak and total spectral and cross-spectral energies vary over the bedform in a manner consistent with wave-like perturbations that ,break' or ,roll up' into vortices that amalgamate, grow in size, and eventually diffuse as they are advected downstream. Fluid oscillations in the lee of the dune demonstrate Strouhal similarity between laboratory and field environments, and correspondence between the peak frequencies of these oscillations and the periodicity of surface boils was observed in the field. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Foraging in nature: foraging efficiency and attentiveness in caterpillars with different diet breadthsECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 4 2004E. A. Bernays Abstract., 1. Seventy-seven individual last-instar caterpillars foraging in the field were examined for 6 h each. They represented four species of Arctiidae of similar size and habitat use. Two, Hypocrisias minima and Pygarctia roseicapitis, are specialists restricted to particular plant genera. The other two, Grammia geneura and Estigmene acrea, are extreme generalists that use many host plant species from multiple plant families. 2. Parameters of behavioural efficiency were monitored. Generalists spent more time walking, rejected more potential host plants, took longer to decide to feed after inspecting a plant, and took relatively more small feeding bouts compared with specialists. 3. This is the first test of differential foraging efficiency in the field in relation to diet breadth of insects and the data indicate that generalists are less efficient in their foraging activities and may suffer from divided attention. The need for attentiveness to enhance efficiency and thereby reduce ecological risk is discussed. [source] The Role of Axial Ligation in Nitrate Reductase: A Model Study by DFT Calculations on the Mechanism of Nitrate ReductionEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INORGANIC CHEMISTRY, Issue 34 2008Kuntal Pal Abstract The reactivity differences of the model anionic complexes [Mo(mnt)2(X)(PPh3)], [mnt2, = 1,2-dicyanoethylenedithiolate; X = SPh (1a), SEt (1b), Cl (1c), Br (1b)] towards oxygen atom transfer from nitrate, which is a key step performed by nitrate reductase, has been investigated by density functional theory calculations. Unlike complexes 1a and 1b, complexes 1c and 1d do not react with nitrate. Thermodynamically, all these complexes have a similar ability to generate the pentacoordinate active state [Mo(mnt)2(X)], by dissociation of PPh3, although the inaccessibility of the dxy orbital in 1c,d and the instability of the corresponding nitrate-bound enzyme substrate (ES) type complex contributes to their failure to reduce nitrate. The nature of the ES complex for 1a,b is described. The variation in the experimental data due to the change of axial ligation from SPh to SEt on the catalytic pathway has also been addressed. The gas-phase and solvent-corrected potential energy surface for the reaction of 1a,b with nitrate are established with fully optimized minima and transition states.(© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2008) [source] The Reductive Elimination of Methane from ansa -Hydrido(methyl)metallocenes of Molybdenum and Tungsten: Application of Hammond's Postulate to Two-State ReactionsEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INORGANIC CHEMISTRY, Issue 15 2005José-Luis Carreón-Macedo Abstract The energetic profile of the methane reductive elimination from a selected number of hydrido(methyl)molybdenocene and -tungstenocene derivatives has been calculated by DFT methods. The calculations were carried out for the CH2(C5H4)2M (a -M), SiH2(C5H4)2M (a -H2Si,M), and SiMe2(C5Me4)2M (a -Me2Si,M*) ansa -metallocene systems for M = Mo, W. They include the full optimization of minima [the hydrido(methyl) starting complexes, M(H)(CH3), the intermediate methane complexes, M(CH4), and the metallocene products in the singlet and triplet configurations, (3M and 1M)], transition states (for the methyl hydride reductive elimination, M,TSins, and for the hydrogen exchange, M,TSexch), and the minimum energy crossing point (M,MECP) leading from the singlet methane complexes to the corresponding triplet metallocenes. The results are compared with those previously obtained for the simpler (C5H5)2M (Cp2M) systems (J. C. Green, J. N. Harvey, and R. Poli, J. Chem. Soc., Dalton Trans.2002, 1861). The calculated energy profiles, notably the relative energies of M,TSins and M,MECP, are in agreement with available experimental observations for the a -Me2Si,M* systems. The comparison of the energies and geometries of the rate-determining M,TSins and M,MECP structures with those of the thermodynamically relevant minima for the various systems show the applicability of Hammond's postulate to two-state reactions. However, one notable exception serves to show that the principle is only quantitatively reliable when all the potential energy surfaces for the set of analogous reactions have similar shapes. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2005) [source] Nitrogen Trifluoride as a Bifunctional Lewis Base: Implications for the Adsorption of NF3 on Solid SurfacesEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INORGANIC CHEMISTRY, Issue 5 2004Paola Antoniotti Abstract The structure, stability, and thermochemistry of isomeric adducts between NF3 and the Lewis acids BH3,nFn (n = 0,3) have been investigated at the coupled-cluster and at the Gaussian-3 (G3) level of theory. At the CCD/cc-pVDZ level both the nitrogen- and the fluorine-coordinated structures of all BH3,nFn,(NF3) (n = 0,3) adducts were characterized as true minima on the potential energy surface, thus providing the first theoretical evidence for the behavior of NF3 as a bifunctional Lewis base when interacting with neutral Lewis acids. At the G3 level, and 298.15 K, including the contribution of the entropy term, the H3B,NF3 adduct is predicted to be more stable than H3B,F,NF2 by 4.3 kcal mol,1; this free energy difference is 3.7 kcal mol,1 at the CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ//CCD/cc-pVDZ level of theory. Conversely, at the latter computational level, the fluorine-coordinated isomers of the BH2F,(NF3), BHF2,(NF3), and BF3,(NF3) adducts are practically degenerate with the nitrogen-coordinated ones. BH3,nFn,(NF3) (n = 0,3) complexes feature typical bond dissociation energies of ca. 1,2 kcal mol,1, and are predicted to be thermodynamically stable only at low temperatures. However, the appreciable influence of the basis set superposition error (BSSE) prevents a quantitative assessment of these small computed dissociation energies. Finally, we briefly discuss the implications of our calculations for the adsorption of NF3 on solid surfaces. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2004) [source] Calculated Enthalpies for Dimerisation of Binary, Unsaturated, Main-Group Element Hydrides as a Means to Analyse Their Potential for Multiple BondingEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INORGANIC CHEMISTRY, Issue 11 2003Hans-Jörg Himmel Abstract Herein, the dimerisation of subvalent, binary, main-group element hydrides with the potential for multiple bonding is studied using both hybrid DFT (B3LYP) and ab initio [MP2 and CCSD(T)] methods. The [2+2] cycloaddition is an important and characteristic reaction of derivatives of ethylene. A comparison of dimerisation reactions for several compounds with the potential for multiple bonding should, therefore, shed light on the properties of these species. Our study includes the hydrides E2H2 (E = B, Al, Ga, N P or As), E2H4 (E = C, Si or Ge) and ENH4 (E = B, Al or Ga) and their dimers. Several isomeric forms of the monomers and dimers have to be considered. The trends within a group and a period are established and the factors responsible for them are discussed. It turns out that, generally, the enthalpies for dimerisation increase for heavier homologues, reflecting that the most important factor is the reduced strength of the E,E bonds in the monomers prior to dimerisation and, to some degree, also the reduced ring strain in the cyclic dimers. The exceptions are the dimerisations of B2H2 and Al2H2, both of which lead to the tetrahedral E4H4 species (E = B or Al). Dimerisation of Al2H2 is associated with a smaller enthalpy than that for the dimerisation of B2H2. Comparisons and analyses are made complicated because of the changes in the structures of the isomeric global minima between homologues. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2003) [source] Laser Flash Photolysis of Disulfonyldiazomethanes: Partitioning between Hetero-Wolff Rearrangement and Intramolecular Carbene Oxidation by a Sulfonyl GroupEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, Issue 11 2003Götz Bucher Abstract Laser flash photolysis of bis(phenylsulfonyl)diazomethane (1a) and ditosyldiazomethane (1b) leads to the formation of sulfonylsulfenes 8a/8b (,max = 310 nm). Non-first-order kinetics and non-linear Stern,Volmer behavior suggest the formation of another transient species also absorbing at , = 310 nm. Based on the results of DFT calculations, these species are tentatively identified as dithiocarbonate S,S,S, -trioxides 12a/b, which are formed from the oxathiirene S -oxides 9a/b. The latter compounds bear the characteristics of masked carbenes (, estimated as 700 ps) and are quenched by methanol and cyclooctene. Singlet disulfonylcarbenes 2a/b are not predicted to be minima, since all attempts at optimizing the geometry of 2a led to 9a instead. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2003) [source] Image-processing chain for a three-dimensional reconstruction of basal cell carcinomas,EXPERIMENTAL DERMATOLOGY, Issue 7 2010Patrick Scheibe Please cite this paper as: Image-processing chain for a three-dimensional reconstruction of basal cell carcinomas. Experimental Dermatology 2010; 19: 689,691. Abstract:, Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common malignant skin cancer. For a deeper insight into the specific growth patterns of the tumorous tissue in BCC, we have focused on the development of a novel automated image-processing chain for 3D reconstruction of BCC using histopathological serial sections. For fully automatic delineation of the tumor within the tissue, we apply a fuzzy c-means segmentation method. We used a novel multi-grid form of the non-linear registration introduced by Braumann and Kuska in 2005 effectively suppressing registration runs into local minima (possibly caused by diffuse nature of the tumor). Our method was successfully applied in a proof-of-principle study for automated reconstruction. [source] Moduli stabilisation and applications in IIB string theoryFORTSCHRITTE DER PHYSIK/PROGRESS OF PHYSICS, Issue 3 2007J.P. Conlon String compactifications represent the most promising approach towards unifying general relativity with particle physics. However, naive compactifications give rise to massless particles (moduli) which would mediate unobserved long-range forces, and it is therefore necessary to generate a potential for the moduli. In the introductory chapters I review this problem and recall how in IIB compactifications the dilaton and complex structure moduli can be stabilised by 3-form fluxes. There exist very many possible discrete flux choices which motivates the use of statistical techniques to analyse this discretuum of choices. Such approaches generate formulae predicting the distribution of vacua and I describe numerical tests of these formulae on the Calabi-Yau ,4[1,1,2,2,6]. Stabilising the Kähler moduli requires nonperturbative superpotential effects. I review the KKLT construction and explain why this must in general be supplemented with perturbative Kähler corrections. I show how the incorporation of such corrections generically leads to non-supersymmetric minima at exponentially large volumes, giving a detailed account of the,, expansion and its relation to Kähler corrections. I illustrate this with explicit computations for the Calabi-Yau ,4[1,1,1,6,9]. The next part of the article examines phenomenological applications of this construction. I first describe how the magnitude of the soft supersymmetry parameters may be computed. In the large-volume models the gravitino mass and soft terms are volume-suppressed. As we naturally have ,, ,1, this gives a dynamical solution of the hierarchy problem. I also demonstrate the existence of a fine structure in the soft terms, with gaugino masses naturally lighter than the gravitino mass by a factor ln (MP/m3/2). A second section gives a detailed analysis of the relationship of moduli stabilisation to the QCD axions relevant to the strong CP problem, proving a no-go theorem on the compatibility of a QCD axion with supersymmetric moduli stabilisation. I describe how QCD axions can coexist with nonsupersymmetric perturbative stabilisation and how the large-volume models naturally contain axions with decay constants that are phenomenologically allowed and satisfy the appealing relationship fa2 ,MPMsusy. A further section describe how a simple and predictive inflationary model can be built in the context of the above large-volume construction, using the no-scale Kähler potential to avoid the , problem. I finally conclude, summarising the phenomenological scenario and outlining the prospects for future work. [source] Multiyear to daily radon variability from continuous monitoring at the Amram tunnel, southern IsraelGEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 2 2010S. M. Barbosa SUMMARY Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive noble gas generated within mineral grains of uranium bearing rocks by alpha decay from radium. The Amram tunnel (A. Bloch Geophysical Observatory) is a particularly suitable location for the investigation of radon variability. Located in the arid environment of the Arava desert, near Elat, the 170 m tunnel that constitutes the observatory enables radon monitoring in a desert environment and under fairly stable environmental conditions. The analysis of the temporal variability of continuous measurements of radon and environmental parameters at the Amram tunnel over a period of several years shows a complex temporal pattern characterized by non-stationary and multiscale features. Radon concentrations exhibit multiyear variability in the form of a increasing trend of ,1000 Bq m,3 yr,1 in the mean and much larger trends up to ,2500 Bq m,3 yr,1 in the maximum radon levels. Radon concentrations also display strong seasonal patterns, with maxima in summer and minima in winter, ranging from 2.5 kBq m,3 in winter to 35 kBq m,3 in summer. Intraseasonal variability is characterized by very large radon anomalies, with sharp increases of more than 20 kBq m,3 relative to the base level, that occur in spring and summer and last for several days. Daily periodic variability with maxima around midnight appears also in spring and summer, being absent in the cold months. Radon variability at seasonal, intraseasonal and daily timescales is associated with the air temperature outside the tunnel, specifically the temperature gradient between the external environment and the more stable environment inside the tunnel where the measurements are performed. [source] Addressing non-uniqueness in linearized multichannel surface wave inversionGEOPHYSICAL PROSPECTING, Issue 1 2009Michele Cercato ABSTRACT The multichannel analysis of the surface waves method is based on the inversion of observed Rayleigh-wave phase-velocity dispersion curves to estimate the shear-wave velocity profile of the site under investigation. This inverse problem is nonlinear and it is often solved using ,local' or linearized inversion strategies. Among linearized inversion algorithms, least-squares methods are widely used in research and prevailing in commercial software; the main drawback of this class of methods is their limited capability to explore the model parameter space. The possibility for the estimated solution to be trapped in local minima of the objective function strongly depends on the degree of nonuniqueness of the problem, which can be reduced by an adequate model parameterization and/or imposing constraints on the solution. In this article, a linearized algorithm based on inequality constraints is introduced for the inversion of observed dispersion curves; this provides a flexible way to insert a priori information as well as physical constraints into the inversion process. As linearized inversion methods are strongly dependent on the choice of the initial model and on the accuracy of partial derivative calculations, these factors are carefully reviewed. Attention is also focused on the appraisal of the inverted solution, using resolution analysis and uncertainty estimation together with a posteriori effective-velocity modelling. Efficiency and stability of the proposed approach are demonstrated using both synthetic and real data; in the latter case, cross-hole S-wave velocity measurements are blind-compared with the results of the inversion process. [source] Migration velocity analysis and waveform inversionGEOPHYSICAL PROSPECTING, Issue 6 2008William W. Symes ABSTRACT Least-squares inversion of seismic reflection waveform data can reconstruct remarkably detailed models of subsurface structure and take into account essentially any physics of seismic wave propagation that can be modelled. However, the waveform inversion objective has many spurious local minima, hence convergence of descent methods (mandatory because of problem size) to useful Earth models requires accurate initial estimates of long-scale velocity structure. Migration velocity analysis, on the other hand, is capable of correcting substantially erroneous initial estimates of velocity at long scales. Migration velocity analysis is based on prestack depth migration, which is in turn based on linearized acoustic modelling (Born or single-scattering approximation). Two major variants of prestack depth migration, using binning of surface data and Claerbout's survey-sinking concept respectively, are in widespread use. Each type of prestack migration produces an image volume depending on redundant parameters and supplies a condition on the image volume, which expresses consistency between data and velocity model and is hence a basis for velocity analysis. The survey-sinking (depth-oriented) approach to prestack migration is less subject to kinematic artefacts than is the binning-based (surface-oriented) approach. Because kinematic artefacts strongly violate the consistency or semblance conditions, this observation suggests that velocity analysis based on depth-oriented prestack migration may be more appropriate in kinematically complex areas. Appropriate choice of objective (differential semblance) turns either form of migration velocity analysis into an optimization problem, for which Newton-like methods exhibit little tendency to stagnate at nonglobal minima. The extended modelling concept links migration velocity analysis to the apparently unrelated waveform inversion approach to estimation of Earth structure: from this point of view, migration velocity analysis is a solution method for the linearized waveform inversion problem. Extended modelling also provides a basis for a nonlinear generalization of migration velocity analysis. Preliminary numerical evidence suggests a new approach to nonlinear waveform inversion, which may combine the global convergence of velocity analysis with the physical fidelity of model-based data fitting. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||