19 resultados para Spot sizes
em University of Queensland eSpace - Australia
Resumo:
Single-copy restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) markers were used to determine the genetic structure of the global population of Mycosphaerella musicola, the cause of Sigatoka (yellow Sigatoka) disease of banana. The isolates of M. musicola examined were grouped into four geographic populations representing Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Australia and Indonesia. Moderate levels of genetic diversity were observed for most of the populations (H = 0.22-0.44). The greatest genetic diversity was found in the Indonesian population (H = 0.44). Genotypic diversity was close to 50% in all populations. Population differentiation tests showed that the geographic populations of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Australia and Indonesia were genetically different populations. Using F-ST tests, very high levels of genetic differentiation were detected between all the population pairs (F-ST > 0.40), with the exception of the Africa and Latin America-Caribbean population pair. These two populations differed by only 3% (F-ST = 0.03), and were significantly different (P < 0.05) from all other population pairs. The high level of genetic diversity detected in Indonesia in comparison to the other populations provides some support for the theory that M. musicola originated in South-east Asia and that M. musicola populations in other regions were founded by isolates from the South-east Asian region. The results also suggest the migration of M. musicola between Africa and the Latin America-Caribbean region.
Resumo:
Adult male Satin Bowerbirds build and decorate stick bowers to which they attract females for matings; females choose among males based on these complex bowers, decorations placed at these bowers, and displays consisting of vocalisations and posturing. Male Satin Bowerbirds undergo an extended period of delayed morphological maturation during which they retain female-like plumage and are assumed to learn adult male behavioural traits. Little is known, however, of how immature males acquire the ability to display and build and decorate bowers, except that they observe the displays of adult males at adults' bowers, and practise their own displays at both adults' and 'practice' bowers. We present data on the home ranges and movement patterns of six immature males, acquired through radio-tracking at the Bunya Mountains in south-east Queensland. Home-range size averaged 13.67 +/- 3.38 ha and immature males visited only some of the bowers located in their home ranges. On average, they visited 2.33 +/- 0.52 adults' bowers and 4.00 +/- 2.00 practice bowers.
Resumo:
Well-mixed blends of poly(ethylene) and poly(styrene) have been synthesized using supercritical carbon dioxide as a solvent. The morphology of the blends has been conclusively characterized using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), Raman microprobe microscopy, and C-13 solid-state cross-polarization magic angle spinning NMR (C-13 CPMAS NMR). DSC measurements demonstrate that poly(styrene) in the blends resides solely in the amorphous regions of the poly(ethylene) matrix; however, corroborative evidence from the SAXS experiments shows that poly(styrene) resides within the interlamellar spaces. The existence of nanometer-sized domains of poly(styrene) was shown within a blend of poly(styrene) and poly(ethylene) when formed in supercritical carbon dioxide using Raman microprobe microscopy and C-13 CPMAS NMR spectroscopy coupled with a spin diffusion model. This contrasts with blends formed at ambient pressure in the absence of solvent, in which domains of poly(styrene) in the micrometer size range are formed. This apparent improved miscibility of the two components was attributed to better penetration of the monomer prior to polymerization and increased swelling of the polymer substrate by the supercritical carbon dioxide solvent.
Resumo:
White spot syndrome virus ( WSSV) is a serious pathogen of aquatic crustaceans. Little is known about its transmission in vivo and the immune reaction of its hosts. In this study, the circulating haemocytes of crayfish, Procambarus clarkii, infected by WSSV, and primary haemocyte cultures inoculated with WSSV, were collected and observed by transmission electron microscopy and light microscopy following in situ hybridization. In ultrathin sections of infected haemocytes, the enveloped virions were seen to be phagocytosed in the cytoplasm and no viral particles were observed in the nuclei. In situ hybridization with WSSV-specific probes also demonstrated that there were no specific positive signals present in the haemocytes. Conversely, strong specific positive signals showed that WSSV replicated in the nuclei of gill cells. As a control, the lymphoid organ of shrimp, Penaeus monodon, infected by WSSV was examined by in situ hybridization which showed that WSSV did not replicate within the tubules of the lymphoid organ. In contrast to previous studies, it is concluded that neither shrimp nor crayfish haemocytes support WSSV replication.White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) is a serious pathogen of aquatic crustaceans. Little is known about its transmission in vivo and the immune reaction of its hosts. In this study, the circulating haemocytes of crayfish, Procambarus clarkii, infected by WSSV, and primary haemocyte cultures inoculated with WSSV, were collected and observed by transmission electron microscopy and light microscopy following in situ hybridization. In ultra-thin sections of infected haemocytes, the enveloped virions were seen to be phagocytosed in the cytoplasm and no viral particles were observed in the nuclei. In situ hybridization with WSSV-specific probes also demonstrated that there were no specific positive signals present in the haemocytes. Conversely, strong specific positive signals showed that WSSV replicated in the nuclei of gill cells. As a control, the lymphoid organ of shrimp, Penaeus monodon, infected by WSSV was examined by in situ hybridization which showed that WSSV did not replicate within the tubules of the lymphoid organ. In contrast to previous studies, it is concluded that neither shrimp nor crayfish haemocytes support WSSV replication.
Resumo:
The recent deregulation in electricity markets worldwide has heightened the importance of risk management in energy markets. Assessing Value-at-Risk (VaR) in electricity markets is arguably more difficult than in traditional financial markets because the distinctive features of the former result in a highly unusual distribution of returns-electricity returns are highly volatile, display seasonalities in both their mean and volatility, exhibit leverage effects and clustering in volatility, and feature extreme levels of skewness and kurtosis. With electricity applications in mind, this paper proposes a model that accommodates autoregression and weekly seasonals in both the conditional mean and conditional volatility of returns, as well as leverage effects via an EGARCH specification. In addition, extreme value theory (EVT) is adopted to explicitly model the tails of the return distribution. Compared to a number of other parametric models and simple historical simulation based approaches, the proposed EVT-based model performs well in forecasting out-of-sample VaR. In addition, statistical tests show that the proposed model provides appropriate interval coverage in both unconditional and, more importantly, conditional contexts. Overall, the results are encouraging in suggesting that the proposed EVT-based model is a useful technique in forecasting VaR in electricity markets. (c) 2005 International Institute of Forecasters. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Resumo:
As field determinations take much effort, it would be useful to be able to predict easily the coefficients describing the functional response of free-living predators, the function relating food intake rate to the abundance of food organisms in the environment. As a means easily to parameterise an individual-based model of shorebird Charadriiformes populations, we attempted this for shorebirds eating macro-invertebrates. Intake rate is measured as the ash-free dry mass (AFDM) per second of active foraging; i.e. excluding time spent on digestive pauses and other activities, such as preening. The present and previous studies show that the general shape of the functional response in shorebirds eating approximately the same size of prey across the full range of prey density is a decelerating rise to a plateau, thus approximating the Holling type 11 ('disc equation') formulation. But field studies confirmed that the asymptote was not set by handling time, as assumed by the disc equation, because only about half the foraging time was spent in successfully or unsuccessfully attacking and handling prey, the rest being devoted to searching. A review of 30 functional responses showed that intake rate in free-living shorebirds varied independently of prey density over a wide range, with the asymptote being reached at very low prey densities (< 150/m(-2)). Accordingly, most of the many studies of shorebird intake rate have probably been conducted at or near the asymptote of the functional response, suggesting that equations that predict intake rate should also predict the asymptote. A multivariate analysis of 468 'spot' estimates of intake rates from 26 shorebirds identified ten variables, representing prey and shorebird characteristics, that accounted for 81 % of the variance in logarithm-transformed intake rate. But four-variables accounted for almost as much (77.3 %), these being bird size, prey size, whether the bird was an oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus eating mussels Mytilus edulis, or breeding. The four variable equation under-predicted, on average, the observed 30 estimates of the asymptote by 11.6%, but this discrepancy was reduced to 0.2% when two suspect estimates from one early study in the 1960s were removed. The equation therefore predicted the observed asymptote very successfully in 93 % of cases. We conclude that the asymptote can be reliably predicted from just four easily measured variables. Indeed, if the birds are not breeding and are not oystercatchers eating mussels, reliable predictions can be obtained using just two variables, bird and prey sizes. A multivariate analysis of 23 estimates of the half-asymptote constant suggested they were smaller when prey were small but greater when the birds were large, especially in oystercatchers. The resulting equation could be used to predict the half-asymptote constant, but its predictive power has yet to be tested. As well as predicting the asymptote of the functional response, the equations will enable research workers engaged in many areas of shorebird ecology and behaviour to estimate intake rate without the need for conventional time-consuming field studies, including species for which it has not yet proved possible to measure intake rate in the field.
Resumo:
There are many physical factors that can affect the self-heating rate of coal. The presence of seam gas has often been referred to as inhibiting coal self-heating due to the limited access of oxidation sites created by the presence of the gas adsorbed on the coal pores. Similarly, the presence of bed moisture in the coal also acts as an inhibitor of oxidation by blocking access of air into the pores. Gas drainage of a coal seam prior to mining removes both gas and moisture from the seam. Bulk coal self-heating tests in a two-metre column on both gassy, as-mined and gas-drained, dried high volatile bituminous coal show that removal of gas and moisture from the coal accelerates the rate of self-heating to thermal runaway from 8.5 days to 4.25 days, from a start temperature of 30°C, with an airflow of 0.25 L/min. The corresponding gas evolution pattern for each of these situations is different. Therefore, it is necessary to take this change in coal condition into consideration when developing a spontaneous combustion management plan.
Resumo:
The processes that take place during the development of a heating are difficult to visualise. Bulk coal self-heating tests at The University of Queensland (UQ) using a two-metre column are providing graphic evidence of the stages that occur during a heating. Data obtained from these tests, both temperature and corresponding off-gas evolution can be transformed into what is effectively a video-replay of the heating event. This is achieved by loading both sets of data into a newly developed animation package called Hotspot. The resulting animation is ideal for spontaneous combustion training purposes as the viewer can readily identify the different hot spot stages and corresponding off-gas signatures. Colour coding of the coal temperature, as the hot spot forms, highlights its location in the coal pile and shows its ability to migrate upwind. An added benefit of the package is that once a mine has been tested in the UQ two-metre column, there is a permanent record of that particular coals performance for mine personnel to view.