Harvesting fruit of equivalent chronological age and fruit position shows individual effects of UV radiation on aspects of the strawberry ripening process

The effect of UV radiation on fruit secondary compounds of strawberry cv ‘Elsanta’ was recorded taking chronological age and fruit position on the truss into account. When fruit of similar age post-anthesis, and truss position were compared, we found that the concentration of secondary compounds differed according to fruit position on the truss. UV radiation hastened the rate of colour development and resulted in an increase in fruit anthocyanin (14–31%), flavonoid (9–21%) and phenolic (9–20%) contents at harvesting; but it had no effect on fruit soluble solid content, pH and volatile composition. It did, however, increase leaf flavonoid (16%) and phenolic (8%) concentrations. Fruit ripened under a UV transparent film were firmer, smaller but greater in number than fruit ripened under a UV opaque film. Overall, the results indicate that UV radiation does not affect all aspects of strawberry ripening but independently alters rate of colour development and fruit firmness

Position criticality in chess endgames

Some 50,000 Win Studies in Chess challenge White to find an effectively unique route to a win. Judging the impact of less than absolute uniqueness requires both technical analysis and artistic judgment. Here, for the first time, an algorithm is defined to help analyse uniqueness in endgame positions objectively. The key idea is to examine how critical certain positions are to White in achieving the win. The algorithm uses sub-n-man endgame tables (EGTs) for both Chess and relevant, adjacent variants of Chess. It challenges authors of EGT generators to generalise them to create EGTs for these chess variants. It has already proved efficient and effective in an implementation for Starchess, itself a variant of chess. The approach also addresses a number of similar questions arising in endgame theory, games and compositions.

Trends in Austral jet position in ensembles of high- and low-top CMIP5 models

Trends in the position of the DJF Austral jet have been analysed for multi-model ensemble simulations of a subset of high- and low-top models for the periods 1960-2000, 2000-2050, and 2050-2098 under the CMIP5 historical, RCP4.5, and RCP8.5 scenarios. Comparison with ERA-Interim, CFSR and the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis shows that the DJF and annual mean jet positions in CMIP5 models are equatorward of reanalyses for the 1979-2006 mean. Under the RCP8.5 scenario, the mean jet position in the high-top models moves 3 degrees poleward of its 1860-1900 position by 2098, compared to just over 2 degrees for the low-top models. Changes in jet position are linked to changes in the meridional temperature gradient. Compared to low-top models, the high-top models predict greater warming in the tropical upper troposphere due to increased greenhouse gases for all periods considered: up to 0.28 K/decade more in the period 2050-2098 under the RCP8.5 scenario. Larger polar lower-stratospheric cooling is seen in high-top models: -1.64 K/decade compared to -1.40 K/decade in the period 1960-2000, mainly in response to ozone depletion, and -0.41 K/decade compared to -0.12 K/decade in the period 2050-2098, mainly in response to increases in greenhouse gases. Analysis suggests that there may be a linear relationship between the trend in jet position and meridional temperature gradient, even under strong forcing. There were no clear indications of an approach to a geometric limit on the absolute magnitude of the poleward shift by 2100.

An introduction to television studies. 3rd edition.

This is a comprehensive textbook for students of Television Studies, now updated for its third edition. The book provides students with a framework for understanding the key concepts and main approaches to Television Studies, including audience research, television history and broadcasting policy, and the analytical study of individual programmes. The book includes a glossary of key terms used in the television industry and in the academic study of television, there are suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter, and chapters include suggested activities for use in class or as assignments. The case studies in the book include analysis of advertisements, approaches to news reporting, television scheduling, and challenges to television in new contexts of viewing on computers and mobile devices. The topics of individual chapters are: studying television, television histories, television cultures, television texts and narratives, television genres and formats, television production, television quality and value, television realities and representation, television censorship and regulation, television audiences, and the likely future for television.

The ocean’s role in setting the mean position of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone

Through study of observations and coupled climate simulations, it is argued that the mean position of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) north of the equator is a consequence of a northwards heat transport across the equator by ocean circulation. Observations suggest that the hemispheric net radiative forcing of climate at the top of the atmosphere is almost perfectly symmetric about the equator, and so the total (atmosphere plus ocean) heat transport across the equator is small (order 0.2 PW northwards). Due to the Atlantic ocean’s meridional overturning circulation, however, the ocean carries significantly more heat northwards across the equator (order 0.4 PW) than does the coupled system. There are two primary consequences. First, atmospheric heat transport is southwards across the equator to compensate (0.2 PW southwards), resulting in the ITCZ being displaced north of the equator. Second, the atmosphere, and indeed the ocean, is slightly warmer (by perhaps 2 °C) in the northern hemisphere than in the southern hemisphere. This leads to the northern hemisphere emitting slightly more outgoing longwave radiation than the southern hemisphere by virtue of its relative warmth, supporting the small northward heat transport by the coupled system across the equator. To conclude, the coupled nature of the problem is illustrated through study of atmosphere–ocean–ice simulations in the idealized setting of an aquaplanet, resolving the key processes at work.

WCSC 2013: the 3rd World Chess Software Championship

The 3rd World Chess Software Championship took place in Yokohama, Japan during August 2013. It pits chess engines against each other on a common hardware platform - in this instance, the Intel i7 2740 Ivy Bridge with 16GB RAM supporting a potential eight processing threads. It was narrowly won by HIARCS from JUNIOR and PANDIX with JONNY, SHREDDER and MERLIN taking the remaining places. Games, occasionally annotated, are available here.

Using coordinated observations in polarized white light and Faraday rotation to probe the spatial position and magnetic field of an interplanetary sheath

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) can be continuously tracked through a large portion of the inner heliosphere by direct imaging in visible and radio wavebands. White light (WL) signatures of solar wind transients, such as CMEs, result from Thomson scattering of sunlight by free electrons and therefore depend on both viewing geometry and electron density. The Faraday rotation (FR) of radio waves from extragalactic pulsars and quasars, which arises due to the presence of such solar wind features, depends on the line-of-sight magnetic field component B ∥ and the electron density. To understand coordinated WL and FR observations of CMEs, we perform forward magnetohydrodynamic modeling of an Earth-directed shock and synthesize the signatures that would be remotely sensed at a number of widely distributed vantage points in the inner heliosphere. Removal of the background solar wind contribution reveals the shock-associated enhancements in WL and FR. While the efficiency of Thomson scattering depends on scattering angle, WL radiance I decreases with heliocentric distance r roughly according to the expression Ir –3. The sheath region downstream of the Earth-directed shock is well viewed from the L4 and L5 Lagrangian points, demonstrating the benefits of these points in terms of space weather forecasting. The spatial position of the main scattering site r sheath and the mass of plasma at that position M sheath can be inferred from the polarization of the shock-associated enhancement in WL radiance. From the FR measurements, the local B ∥sheath at r sheath can then be estimated. Simultaneous observations in polarized WL and FR can not only be used to detect CMEs, but also to diagnose their plasma and magnetic field properties.

Where have all the linguists gone? The position of Linguistics in British German Studies from the mid-19th century until 2000

Retrospectively, Linguistics - understood as a scientific study of language - has been an important part of British German Studies. In fact, the establishment of modern language as academic disciplines in the UK is closely related to the Germanic philology and the interest in the history, and structure of languages. However, over the last few decades, a demise of Linguistics in the departments of modern languages has been observed. The aim of this paper is to survey the position of linguistic research and teaching in the discipline of German Studies in the UK. To begin with, I will give a brief account of the history of linguistic/ language studies in the discipline. Subsequently, the current position of Linguistics in research and teaching will be scrutinised. Finally, this paper will discuss the importance of linguistic insights for the discipline of German Studies, with particular reference to teaching.