Classifying Ecosystem Services for Economic Valuation: The case of forest water services

30 p.

A computer-aided investigation of motion detection units in the fly

This work deals with two related areas: processing of visual information in the central nervous system, and the application of computer systems to research in neurophysiology.

Certain classes of interneurons in the brain and optic lobes of the blowfly Calliphora phaenicia were previously shown to be sensitive to the direction of motion of visual stimuli. These units were identified by visual field, preferred direction of motion, and anatomical location from which recorded. The present work is addressed to the questions: (1) is there interaction between pairs of these units, and (2) if such relationships can be found, what is their nature. To answer these questions, it is essential to record from two or more units simultaneously, and to use more than a single recording electrode if recording points are to be chosen independently. Accordingly, such techniques were developed and are described.

One must also have practical, convenient means for analyzing the large volumes of data so obtained. It is shown that use of an appropriately designed computer system is a profitable approach to this problem. Both hardware and software requirements for a suitable system are discussed and an approach to computer-aided data analysis developed. A description is given of members of a collection of application programs developed for analysis of neuro-physiological data and operated in the environment of and with support from an appropriate computer system. In particular, techniques developed for classification of multiple units recorded on the same electrode are illustrated as are methods for convenient graphical manipulation of data via a computer-driven display.

By means of multiple electrode techniques and the computer-aided data acquisition and analysis system, the path followed by one of the motion detection units was traced from open optic lobe through the brain and into the opposite lobe. It is further shown that this unit and its mirror image in the opposite lobe have a mutually inhibitory relationship. This relationship is investigated. The existence of interaction between other pairs of units is also shown. For pairs of units responding to motion in the same direction, the relationship is of an excitatory nature; for those responding to motion in opposed directions, it is inhibitory.

Experience gained from use of the computer system is discussed and a critical review of the current system is given. The most useful features of the system were found to be the fast response, the ability to go from one analysis technique to another rapidly and conveniently, and the interactive nature of the display system. The shortcomings of the system were problems in real-time use and the programming barrier—the fact that building new analysis techniques requires a high degree of programming knowledge and skill. It is concluded that computer system of the kind discussed will play an increasingly important role in studies of the central nervous system.

To the knowledge of the genus Pseudospora Cienkowski [Translation from: Archiv fur Protistenkunde 59, 350-368, 1927]

Morphological observations on the two types of Pseudospora are given. The two Pseudospora whic are described are Pseudospora eudorini and Pseudospora volvocis. The systematic classification of the genus Pseudospora is discussed.

Contributions to time series data mining departing from the problem of road travel time modeling

194 p.

Use of endoparasitic helminths as tags in delineating stocks of American plaice (Hippoglossoides platessoides) from the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence and Cape Breton Shelf

Endoparasitic helminths were inventoried in 483 American plaice (Hippoglossoides platessoides) collected from the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, NAFO (North Atlantic Fisheries Organization) division 4T, and Cape Breton Shelf (NAFO subdivision 4Vn) in September 2004 and May 2003, respectively. Forward stepwise discriminant function analysis (DFA) of the 4T samples indicated that abundances of the acanthocephalans Echinorhynchus gadi and Corynosoma strumosum were significant in the classification of plaice to western or eastern 4T. Cross validation yielded a correct classification rate of 79% overall, thereby supporting the findings of earlier mark-recapture studies which have indicated that 4T plaice comprise two discrete stocks: a western and an eastern stock. Further analyses including 4Vn samples, however, indicated that endoparasitic helminths may have little value as tags in the classification of plaice overwintering in Laurentian Channel waters of the Cabot Strait and Cape Breton Shelf, where mixing of 4T and 4Vn fish may occur.

Preservation of fish by freezing and glazing. Pt. 1. Bacteriology of fresh, frozen and glazed fish

Microbiological investigation of fresh and frozen fishes such as pomfret, surmai and mackerel was carried out under various conditions of preservation. Glazing, block-freezing and preservation in gunny bag were affected. Determination of bacterial load and isolation, identification and classification of the resistant bacteria were made. Spore-formers of Subtilis mesentericus group were found to be resistant to freezing as well as glazing by ascorbic acid, citric acid and sodium nitrite except a mixture of sodium chloride and glucose. Bacterial load was reduced to a good extent and maintained low till the end of frozen storage period.

A Preliminary study of the defensive spines of some Malayan freshwater fishes

The defensive spines of fifteen Malayan freshwater fishes have been studied morphologically. The classification of spines has been slightly modified from the previous work of Fernando and Fernando (1960). They are divided into simple, denticle-bearing and venom-carrying. The simple spines are further sub-divided into single and multiple and the denticle-bearing into Bagriid and Clariid types. The latter agree morphologically with the venom-carrying spines of previously studied forms and may be a degenerate condition. Simple spines occur singly in the Cyprinidae where they are found at the anterior end of the dorsal fin. A spine of similar structure occurs in the catfish Glyptothorax. In the families Anabantidae, Cichlidae and Mastacenbelidae simple spines occur as a series. Denticle-bearing spines occur in the catfishes (Order-Nematognathi). Those having denticles on one face occur in the Bagridae, Siluridae, Sisoridae, and Akysidae. They are referred to as Bagriid type. In the other type denticles occur on the anterior and posterior faces of the spine. They are referred to as Clariid type. None of the Malayan species studied had venom-carrying spines and they are unlikely to be found in the freshwater species. The functioning of the defensive mechanism whose morphological bases are spines is discussed and the relation between the size and habitat on the effectiveness of the spines is mentioned. The evolution of defensive spines is discussed briefly.

Natural versus artificial scene classification by ordering discrete fourier power spectra

Holistic representations of natural scenes is an effective and powerful source of information for semantic classification and analysis of arbitrary images. Recently, the frequency domain has been successfully exploited to holistically encode the content of natural scenes in order to obtain a robust representation for scene classification. In this paper, we present a new approach to naturalness classification of scenes using frequency domain. The proposed method is based on the ordering of the Discrete Fourier Power Spectra. Features extracted from this ordering are shown sufficient to build a robust holistic representation for Natural vs. Artificial scene classification. Experiments show that the proposed frequency domain method matches the accuracy of other state-of-the-art solutions. © 2008 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Synthesis of positive-real functions with low-complexity series-parallel networks

The purpose of this paper is to continue to develop the recently introduced concept of a regular positive-real function and its application to the classification of low-complexity two-terminal networks. This paper studies five- and six-element series-parallel networks with three reactive elements and presents a complete characterisation and graphical representation of the realisability conditions for these networks. The results are motivated by an approach to passive mechanical control which makes use of the inerter device. ©2009 IEEE.

Molecular systematics of pikas (genus Ochotona) inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences

The phylogenetic relationships among worldwide species of genus Ochotona were investigated by sequencing mitochondrial cytochrome b and ND4 genes. Parsimony and neighbor-joining analyses of the sequence data yielded congruent results that strongly indicated three major clusters: the shrub-steppe group, the northern group, and the mountain group. The subgeneric classification of Ochotona species needs to be revised because each of the two subgenera in the present classification contains species from the mountain group. To solve this taxonomic problem so that each taxon is monophyletic, i.e., represents a natural clade, Ochotona could be divided into three subgenera, one for the shrub-steppe species, a second for the northern species, and a third for the mountain species. The inferred tree suggests that the differentiation of this genus in the Palearctic Region was closely related to the gradual uplifting of the Tibet (Qinghai-Xizang) Plateau, as hypothesized previously, and that vicariance might have played a major role in the differentiation of this genus on the Plateau, On the other hand, the North American species, O. princeps, is most likely a dispersal event, which might have happened during the Pliocene through the opening of the Bering Strait. The phylogenetic relationships within the shrub-steppe group are worth noting in that instead of a monophyletic shrub-dwelling group, shrub dwellers and steppe dwellers are intermingled with each other. Moreover, the sequence divergence within the sister tars of one steppe? dweller and one shrub dweller is very low. These findings support the hypothesis that pikes have entered the steppe environment several times and that morphological similarities within steppe dwellers were due to convergent evolution. (C) 2000 Academic Press.

STUDIES ON THE CHROMOSOMES OF GENUS NYCTICEBUS

The karyotypes of three species (N. coucang, N. intermedius, and N. pygmaeus) of genus Nycticebus, collected from the southern Yunnan of China, have been studied. All individuals from three species possess 2n=50 chromosomes, and all chromosomes in their complement are biarm chromosomes. The karyotype of slow loris (N. coucang) is characterized by having a secondary constriction and Ag-NORs in the short arms of pair No. 1. The G-banding patterns of three species are very similar. Three species are found to have multiple Ag-NORs. In N. coucang, NORs were observed on five pairs (Nos. 1, 6, 9, 15, and 23) and in N. intermedius and N. pygmaeus, NORs were found on four pairs (Nos. 6, 9, 15, and 20). This finding indicates that slow lorises, as primitive primates, also have multiple NOR-bearing chromosomes. Finally, the classification of genus Nycticebus by karyotype analysis is discussed, and our results suggest that there are at least two valid species, namely: N. coucang and N. pygmaeus.

Phylogenetic relationships of the macaques (Cercopithecidae : Macaca), inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences

To study the phylogenetic relationships of the macaques, five gene fragments were sequenced from 40 individuals of eight species: Macaca mulatta, M. cyclopis, M. fascicularis, M. arctoides, M. assamensis, M. thibetana, M. silenus, and M. leonina. In addition, sequences of M. sylvanus were obtained from Genbank. A baboon was used as the outgroup. The phylogenetic trees were constructed using maximum-parsimony and Bayesian methods. Because five gene fragments were from the mitochondrial genome and were inherited as a single entity without recombination, we combined the five genes into a single analysis. The parsimony bootstrap proportions we obtained were higher than those from earlier studies based on the combined mtDNA dataset. Excluding M. arctoides, our results are generally consistent with the classification of Delson (1980). Our phylogenetic analyses agree with earlier studies suggesting that the mitochondrial lineages of M. arctoides share a close evolutionary relationship with the mitochondrial lineages of the fascicularis group of macaques (and M. fascicularis, specifically). M. mulatta (with respect to M. cyclopis), M. assamensis assamensis (with respect to M. thibetana), and M. leonina (with respect to M. silenus) are paraphyletic based on our analysis of mitochondrial genes.

Molecular phylogeny of Nycticebus inferred from mitochondrial genes

Researchers are still discussing the classification of Nycticebus. We established a molecular phylogeny covering all recognized taxa in Nycticebus to provide information for further evaluation. We sequenced partial D-loop (ca. 390 bp) and cytochrome b gen

Molecular evolution of the keratin associated protein gene family in mammals, role in the evolution of mammalian hair

Background: Hair is unique to mammals. Keratin associated proteins (KRTAPs), which contain two major groups: high/ultrahigh cysteine and high glycine-tyrosine, are one of the major components of hair and play essential roles in the formation of rigid and

Classification and choice in product design

Life is full of difficult choices. Everyone has their own way of dealing with these, some effective, some not. The problem is particularly acute in engineering design because of the vast amount of information designers have to process. This paper deals with a subset of this set of problems: the subset of selecting materials and processes, and their links to the design of products. Even these, though, present many of the generic problems of choice, and the challenges in creating tools to assist the designer in making them. The key elements are those of classification, of indexing, of reaching decisions using incomplete data in many different formats, and of devising effective strategies for selection. This final element - that of selection strategies - poses particular challenges. Product design, as an example, is an intricate blend of the technical and (for want of a better word) the aesthetic. To meet these needs, a tool that allows selection by analysis, by analogy, by association and simply by 'browsing' is necessary. An example of such a tool, its successes and remaining challenges, will be described.