Transpiration efficiency in a segregating population of sunflower: Inheritance, correlation with other traits and association with hybrid grain yield

Plants incorporate isotopes of carbon into their tissue at different rates because of discrimination against 13C relative to 12C during photosynthesis. This difference in discrimination has been negatively correlated with transpiration efficiency (TE) in many C3 species and so, carbon isotope discrimination (Δ) of leaf tissues has been proposed as a potential tool for selecting genotypes with improved performance under water limited conditions. The relationship between Δ and TE in sunflower has been described previously using diverse genotypes, but this relationship has not been investigated with material selected from a segregating population. In this study, the TE of twenty recombinant inbred lines from a population (HAR4 x SA52) segregating for Δ was evaluated in a rainout shelter experiment. A strong negative genetic correlation between TE and Δ was observed (rg = -0.58), confirming previous studies of sunflower with unrelated lines. In addition, TE was strongly correlated to plant height at the final harvest (rg = 0.64) and TDW (rg = 0.58), and moderately correlated to SLW (rg = 0.46) and SPAD (rg = 0.21) but not leaf number (rg = 0.02). Estimates of narrow sense heritability of TE and Δ were very high (0.82 and 0.77, respectively) suggesting that selection for these traits could occur in early generations of segregating populations. Grain yield evaluations under field conditions of hybrids contrasting for Δ showed that low Δ (high TE) hybrids had a yield advantage between 22-35% in dry environments where the yield was less than 2t/ha. While this level of yield advantage may not be realized in commercial breeding programs, computer simulations suggest that 10-15% yield improvements may be possible. Low Δ material selected from the population HAR4 x SA52 has been distributed to private seed companies for further evaluation.

A corpus-based analysis of transfer effects and connected speech processes in Vietnamese English

This paper presents a corpus-based descriptive analysis of the most prevalent transfer effects and connected speech processes observed in a comparison of 11 Vietnamese English speakers (6 females, 5 males) and 12 Australian English speakers (6 males, 6 females) over 24 grammatical paraphrase items. The phonetic processes are segmentally labelled in terms of IPA diacritic features using the EMU speech database system with the aim of labelling departures from native-speaker pronunciation. An analysis of prosodic features was made using ToBI framework. The results show many phonetic and prosodic processes which make non-native speakers’ speech distinct from native ones. The corpusbased methodology of analysing foreign accent may have implications for the evaluation of non-native accent, accented speech recognition and computer assisted pronunciation- learning.

The effect of music on monitoring a simulated anaesthetised patient with sonfication

The idea of sonifying anaesthetised patients’ vital signs is gaining acceptance, but some anaesthetists are concerned about additional noise in the operating theatre. We tested the effect of ambient music (jazz, classical and rock) on participants’ ability to monitor a simulated anaesthetised patient with sonification and visual monitors. Participants liked working with ambient music when workload was low. Participants preferred rock music, but reported working better with classical. Ambient music has less effect on participants’ ability to monitor the simulated patient than a distractor task does. We discuss practical implications of these findings.

Earcon for intermittent information in monitoring environments

In this paper we discuss the first of a series of experiments evaluating earcons for critical care environments. We examine peoples’ ability to monitor earcons conveying systolic and diastolic blood pressure while conducting a distractor task. The results showed that when a beacon is present prior to the earcon, participants’ judgment of pitch and duration information improved. The results of the study also indicated presence of historical information in the earcon may interfere with participants’ judgments. However, since participants felt more confident in their recall of previous values when the historical information was present, the results may reflect insufficient training.

Are echo techniques comparable for measurement of left ventricular dysynchrony? Comparison of real time 3D and tissue Doppler echocardiography in patients with ischaemic cardiomyopathy

Tissue Doppler (TD) assessment of dysynchrony (DYS) is established in evaluation for bi-ventricular pacing. Time to regional minimal volume by real-time 3D echo (3D) has been applied to DYS. 3D offers simultaneous assessment of all segments and may limit errors in localization of maximum delay due to off-axis images.We compared TD and 3D for assessment of DYS. 27 patients with ischaemic cardiomyopathy (aged 60±11 years, 85% male) underwent TD with generation of regional velocity curves. The interval between QRS onset and maximal systolic velocity (TTV) was measured in 6 basal and 6 mid-cavity segments. Onthe same day,3Dwas performed and data analysed offline with Q-Lab software (Philips, Andover, MA). Using 12 analogous regional time-volume curves time to minimal volume (T3D)was calculated. The standard deviation (S.D.) between segments in TTV and T3D was calculated as a measure ofDYS. In 7 patients itwas not possible to measureT3D due to poor images. In the remaining 20, LV diastolic volume, systolic volume and EF were 128±35 ml, 68±23 ml and 46±13%, respectively. Mean TTV was less than mean T3D (150±33ms versus 348±54 ms; p < 0.01). The intrapatient range was 20–210ms for TTV and 0–410ms for T3D. Of 9 patients (45%) with significantDYS (S.D. TTV > 32 ms), S.D. T3D was 69±37ms compared to 48±34ms in those without DYS (p = ns). In DYS patients there was concordance of the most delayed segment in 4 (44%) cases.Therefore, different techniques for assessing DYS are not directly comparable. Specific cut-offs for DYS are needed for each technique.

Designing for Location-Dependence

This paper proposes a methodological framework for use in designing location-dependent games or experiences. An increasing interest in this genre has given rise to a number of common issues surrounding the design and development of these types of experience. Specifically, the treatment of and approach to the use of location gives rise to particular design considerations. The framework proposed here aims to highlight these and provide designers with tools for use in addressing these.

Dynamic response: Real-time adaptation for music emotion

Music plays an enormous role in today's computer games; it serves to elicit emotion, generate interest and convey important information. Traditional gaming music is fixed at the event level, where tracks loop until a state change is triggered. This behaviour however does not reflect musically the in-game state between these events. We propose a dynamic music environment, where music tracks adjust in real-time to the emotion of the in-game state. We are looking to improve the affective response to symbolic music through the modification of structural and performative characteristics through the application of rule-based techniques. In this paper we undertake a multidiscipline approach, and present a series of primary music-emotion structural rules for implementation. The validity of these rules was tested in small study involving eleven participants, each listening to six permutations from two musical works. Preliminary results indicate that the environment was generally successful in influencing the emotion of the musical works for three of the intended four directions (happier, sadder & content/dreamier). Our secondary aim of establishing that the use of music-emotion rules, sourced predominantly from Western classical music, could be applied with comparable results to modern computer gaming music was also largely successfully.