Architecture and morphogenesis of grain sorghum, Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench

Plant architecture has been neglected in most studies of biomass allocation in crops. To help redress this situation for grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench), we used a 3D digitiser to measure the dimensions and orientations of vegetative and reproductive structures and derived thermal time-based functions for architectural changes during morphogenesis. Our plants, which were grown in a greenhouse, controlled environment cabinets and the field, covered a large, three-fold, size range when mature. This allowed us to detect some general architectural relationships and to fit morphogenetic functions common across the size range we observed. For example, the relationship between the lengths of successive fully-expanded leaves within a plant was nearly constant for all plants. The lengths of existing leaf blades were accurate predictors of the lengths of up to six subsequently-formed blades in our plants. Similar constant relationships were detected for internode lengths in the panicle and for heights above ground of the collars of successive leaves, even though these traits varied a lot between growth conditions. We suggest that such architectural relationships may be used to link the effect of previous growth conditions to future growth potential, and in that way to predict future partitioning. Our results provide the basis for a preliminary model of sorghum morphogenesis which could eventually become useful in conjunction with crop models by allowing resource acquisition to be related to changes in plant architecture during development. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Simulation of insect movement with respect to plant architecture and morphogenesis

Developments in computer and three dimensional (3D) digitiser technologies have made it possible to keep track of the broad range of data required to simulate an insect moving around or over the highly heterogeneous habitat of a plant's surface. Properties of plant parts vary within a complex canopy architecture, and insect damage can induce further changes that affect an animal's movements, development and likelihood of survival. Models of plant architectural development based on Lindenmayer systems (L-systems) serve as dynamic platforms for simulation of insect movement, providing ail explicit model of the developing 3D structure of a plant as well as allowing physiological processes associated with plant growth and responses to damage to be described and Simulated. Simple examples of the use of the L-system formalism to model insect movement, operating Lit different spatial scales-from insects foraging on an individual plant to insects flying around plants in a field-are presented. Such models can be used to explore questions about the consequences of changes in environmental architecture and configuration on host finding, exploitation and its population consequences. In effect this model is a 'virtual ecosystem' laboratory to address local as well as landscape-level questions pertinent to plant-insect interactions, taking plant architecture into account. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Stratigraphy, facies architecture and tectonic implications of the Upper Devonian to Lower Carboniferous Campwyn Volcanics of the northern New England Fold Belt

Upper Devonian to Lower Carboniferous strata of the Campwyn Volcanics of east central Queensland preserve a substantial sequence of first-cycle volcaniclastic sedimentary and coeval volcanic rocks that record prolonged volcanic activity along the northern New England Fold Belt. The style and scale of volcanism varied with time, producing an Upper Devonian sequence of mafic volcano-sedimentary rocks overlain by a rhyolitic ignimbrite-dominated sequence that passes upward into a Lower Carboniferous limestone-bearing sedimentary sequence. We define two facies associations for the Campwyn Volcanics. A lower facies association is dominated by mafic volcanic-derived sedimentary breccias with subordinate primary mafic volcanic rocks comprising predominantly hyaloclastite and peperite. Sedimentary breccias record episodic and high energy, subaqueous depositional events with clastic material sourced from a mafic lava-dominated terrain. Some breccias contain a high proportion of attenuated dense, glassy mafic juvenile clasts, suggesting a syn-eruptive origin. The lower facies association coarsens upwards from a lithic sand-dominated sequence through a thick interval of pebble- to boulder-grade polymict volcaniclastic breccias, culminating in facies that demonstrate subaerial exposure. The silicic upper facies association marks a significant change in eruptive style, magma composition and the nature of eruptive sources, as well as the widespread development of subaerial depositional conditions. Crystal-rich, high-grade, low- to high-silica rhyolite ignimbrites dominate the base of this facies association. Biostratigraphic age controls indicate that the ignimbrite-bearing sequences are Famennian to lower-mid Tournaisian in age. The ignimbrites represent extra-caldera facies with individual units up to 40 m thick and mostly lacking coarse lithic breccias. Thick deposits of pyroclastic material interbedded with fine-grained siliceous sandstone and mudstone (locally radiolarian-bearing) were deposited from pyroclastic flows that crossed palaeoshorelines or represent syn-eruptive, resedimented pyroclastic material. Some block-bearing lithic-pumice-crystal breccias may also reflect more proximal subaqueous silicic explosive eruptions. Crystal-lithic sandstones interbedded with, and overlying the ignimbrites, contain abundant detrital volcanic quartz and feldspar derived from the pyroclastic deposits. Limestone is common in the upper part of the upper facies association, and several beds are oolitic (cf. Rockhampton Group of the Yarrol terrane). Overall, the upper facies association fines upward and is transgressive, recording a return to shallow-marine conditions. Palaeocurrent data from all stratigraphic levels in the Campwyn Volcanics indicate that the regional sediment-dispersal direction was to the northwest, and opposed to the generally accepted notion of easterly sediment dispersal from a volcanic arc source. The silicic upper facies association correlates in age and lithology to Early Carboniferous silicic volcanism in the Drummond (Cycle 1) and Burdekin Basins, Connors Arch, and in the Yarrol terranes of eastern Queensland. The widespread development of silicic volcanism in the Early Carboniferous indicates that silicic (rift-related) magmatism was not restricted to the Drummond Basin, but was part of a more substantial silicic igneous province.

Poster: EMMON: a WSN system architecture and toolset for large-scale and dense real-time embedded monitoring

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have attracted growing interest in the last decade as an infrastructure to support a diversity of ubiquitous computing and cyber-physical systems. However, most research work has focused on protocols or on specific applications. As a result, there remains a clear lack of effective and usable WSN system architectures that address both functional and non-functional requirements in an integrated fashion. This poster outlines the EMMON system architecture for large-scale, dense, real-time embedded monitoring. It provides a hierarchical communication architecture together with integrated middleware and command and control software. It has been designed to maintain as much as flexibility as possible while meeting specific applications requirements. EMMON has been validated through extensive analytical, simulation and experimental evaluations, including through a 300+ nodes test-bed the largest single-site WSN test-bed in Europe.

Architecture and mosaics in recently discovered Palaeochristian basilicas

The excavations of the Dericik Early Christian Basilicas revealed the importance of the surrounding area of Bursa for understanding Early Christianity between the Late Roman and Early Byzantine periods. In the salvage excavations of 2001, the basic plan of the basilica (nave, narthex, presbyterium and apse) was revealed. The most important artefacts uncovered in that year were the mosaic pavements with geometric and plant ornaments and a grave located in the North Eastern corner of the church. The mosaic of the basilica was laid with the opus tessellatum technique on a thick mortar foundation with white, red, yellow, olive green and dark blue tesserae. A refrigerium scene is represented in the middle of the narthex mosaic. The mosaic in the centre of the nave is divided into parts, one of which with figures of birds inside octagons. In the transitional area between the nave and apse, three heavily damaged inscriptions have been conserved each of three or four lines, one of them indicating the wish of Epituchanos, diakôn, a church member.

Recensão: Michelangelo Sabatino, "Pride in Modesty: Modernist Architecture and the Vernacular Tradition in Italy"

Recensão de: Michelangelo Sabatino, "Pride in Modesty: Modernist Architecture and the Vernacular Tradition in Italy", Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2011

Upgrade of an industrial building: BIM model of the as-built situation and evaluation of modifications

Dissertação de mestrado integrado in Civil Engineering

A Novel Memory-centric Architecture and Organization of Processors and Computers

The modern computer systems that are in use nowadays are mostly processor-dominant, which means that their memory is treated as a slave element that has one major task – to serve execution units data requirements. This organization is based on the classical Von Neumann's computer model, proposed seven decades ago in the 1950ties. This model suffers from a substantial processor-memory bottleneck, because of the huge disparity between the processor and memory working speeds. In order to solve this problem, in this paper we propose a novel architecture and organization of processors and computers that attempts to provide stronger match between the processing and memory elements in the system. The proposed model utilizes a memory-centric architecture, wherein the execution hardware is added to the memory code blocks, allowing them to perform instructions scheduling and execution, management of data requests and responses, and direct communication with the data memory blocks without using registers. This organization allows concurrent execution of all threads, processes or program segments that fit in the memory at a given time. Therefore, in this paper we describe several possibilities for organizing the proposed memory-centric system with multiple data and logicmemory merged blocks, by utilizing a high-speed interconnection switching network.

Task-dependent influence of genetic architecture and mating frequency on division of labour in social insect societies.

Division of labour is one of the most prominent features of social insects. The efficient allocation of individuals to different tasks requires dynamic adjustment in response to environmental perturbations. Theoretical models suggest that the colony-level flexibility in responding to external changes and internal perturbation may depend on the within-colony genetic diversity, which is affected by the number of breeding individuals. However, these models have not considered the genetic architecture underlying the propensity of workers to perform the various tasks. Here, we investigated how both within-colony genetic variability (stemming from variation in the number of matings by queens) and the number of genes influencing the stimulus (threshold) for a given task at which workers begin to perform that task jointly influence task allocation efficiency. We used a numerical agent-based model to investigate the situation where workers had to perform either a regulatory task or a foraging task. One hundred generations of artificial selection in populations consisting of 500 colonies revealed that an increased number of matings always improved colony performance, whatever the number of loci encoding the thresholds of the regulatory and foraging tasks. However, the beneficial effect of additional matings was particularly important when the genetic architecture of queens comprised one or a few genes for the foraging task's threshold. By contrast, a higher number of genes encoding the foraging task reduced colony performance with the detrimental effect being stronger when queens had mated with several males. Finally, the number of genes encoding the threshold for the regulatory task only had a minor effect on colony performance. Overall, our numerical experiments support the importance of mating frequency on efficiency of division of labour and also reveal complex interactions between the number of matings and genetic architecture.

Anti Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post Primary Schools - Appendix 2 Practical tips for building a positive school culture and climate

Anti Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post Primary Schools - Appendix 2 Practical tips for building a positive school culture and climate. Provided by the Department of Education and Skills, Ireland.

Relationships between host plant architecture and gall abundance and survival

The plant architecture hypothesis predicts that variation in host plant architecture influences insect herbivore community structure, dynamics and performance. In this study we evaluated the effects of Macairea radula (Melastomataceae) architecture on the abundance of galls induced by a moth (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae). Plant architecture and gall abundance were directly recorded on 58 arbitrarily chosen M. radula host plants in the rainy season of 2006 in an area of Cerrado vegetation, southeastern Brazil. Plant height, dry biomass, number of branches, number of shoots and leaf abundance were used as predicting variables of gall abundance and larval survival. Gall abundance correlated positively with host plant biomass and branch number. Otherwise, no correlation (p > 0.05) was found between gall abundance with shoot number or with the number of leaves/plant. From a total of 124 galls analyzed, 67.7% survived, 14.5% were attacked by parasitoids, while 17.7% died due to unknown causes. Larvae that survived or were parasitized were not influenced by architectural complexity of the host plant. Our results partially corroborate the plant architecture hypothesis, but since parasitism was not related to plant architecture it is argued that bottom-up effects may be more important than top-down effects in controlling the population dynamics of the galling lepidopteran. Because galling insects often decrease plant fitness, the potential of galling insects in selecting for less architectural complex plants is discussed.