The Wieruszowski ancestry : from the mid 1700’s to the late 1900’s /

Family trees of the descendants of the Wieruszowski and of the Apt families from the mid 1700’s to the late 1900’s, from family sources and from other places.

Automating Crop Damage Assessments with Unmanned Aerial Systems and Machine Learning

Agricultural pests are responsible for millions of dollars in crop losses and management costs every year. In order to implement optimal site-specific treatments and reduce control costs, new methods to accurately monitor and assess pest damage need to be investigated. In this paper we explore the combination of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), remote sensing and machine learning techniques as a promising methodology to address this challenge. The deployment of UAVs as a sensor platform is a rapidly growing field of study for biosecurity and precision agriculture applications. In this experiment, a data collection campaign is performed over a sorghum crop severely damaged by white grubs (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). The larvae of these scarab beetles feed on the roots of plants, which in turn impairs root exploration of the soil profile. In the field, crop health status could be classified according to three levels: bare soil where plants were decimated, transition zones of reduced plant density and healthy canopy areas. In this study, we describe the UAV platform deployed to collect high-resolution RGB imagery as well as the image processing pipeline implemented to create an orthoimage. An unsupervised machine learning approach is formulated in order to create a meaningful partition of the image into each of the crop levels. The aim of this approach is to simplify the image analysis step by minimizing user input requirements and avoiding the manual data labelling necessary in supervised learning approaches. The implemented algorithm is based on the K-means clustering algorithm. In order to control high-frequency components present in the feature space, a neighbourhood-oriented parameter is introduced by applying Gaussian convolution kernels prior to K-means clustering. The results show the algorithm delivers consistent decision boundaries that classify the field into three clusters, one for each crop health level as shown in Figure 1. The methodology presented in this paper represents a venue for further esearch towards automated crop damage assessments and biosecurity surveillance.

The averaging principle and the diagram technique

Rae and Davidson have found a striking connection between the averaging method generalised by Kruskal and the diagram technique used by the Brussels school in statistical mechanics. They have considered conservative systems whose evolution is governed by the Liouville equation. In this paper we have considered a class of dissipative systems whose evolution is governed not by the Liouville equation but by the last-multiplier equation of Jacobi whose Fourier transform has been shown to be the Hopf equation. The application of the diagram technique to the interaction representation of the Jacobi equation reveals the presence of two kinds of interactions, namely the transition from one mode to another and the persistence of a mode. The first kind occurs in the treatment of conservative systems while the latter type is unique to dissipative fields and is precisely the one that determines the asymptotic Jacobi equation. The dynamical equations of motion equivalent to this limiting Jacobi equation have been shown to be the same as averaged equations.

Generalised quaternion methods in conformal geometry

A new approach to Penrose's twistor algebra is given. It is based on the use of a generalised quaternion algebra for the translation of statements in projective five-space into equivalent statements in twistor (conformal spinor) space. The formalism leads toSO(4, 2)-covariant formulations of the Pauli-Kofink and Fierz relations among Dirac bilinears, and generalisations of these relations.

Quarantine and surveillance strategies for plant pathogen detection and control

Incursions of plant pests and diseases pose serious threats to food security, agricultural productivity and the natural environment. One of the challenges in confidently delimiting and eradicating incursions is how to choose from an arsenal of surveillance and quarantine approaches in order to best control multiple dispersal pathways. Anthropogenic spread (propagules carried on humans or transported on produce or equipment) can be controlled with quarantine measures, which in turn can vary in intensity. In contrast, environmental spread processes are more difficult to control, but often have a temporal signal (e.g. seasonality) which can introduce both challenges and opportunities for surveillance and control. This leads to complex decisions regarding when, where and how to search. Recent modelling investigations of surveillance performance have optimised the output of simulation models, and found that a risk-weighted randomised search can perform close to optimally. However, exactly how quarantine and surveillance strategies should change to reflect different dispersal modes remains largely unaddressed. Here we develop a spatial simulation model of a plant fungal-pathogen incursion into an agricultural region, and its subsequent surveillance and control. We include structural differences in dispersal via the interplay of biological, environmental and anthropogenic connectivity between host sites (farms). Our objective was to gain broad insights into the relative roles played by different spread modes in propagating an invasion, and how incorporating knowledge of these spread risks may improve approaches to quarantine restrictions and surveillance. We find that broad heuristic rules for quarantine restrictions fail to contain the pathogen due to residual connectivity between sites, but surveillance measures enable early detection and successfully lead to suppression of the pathogen in all farms. Alternative surveillance strategies attain similar levels of performance by incorporating environmental or anthropogenic dispersal risk in the prioritisation of sites. Our model provides the basis to develop essential insights into the effectiveness of different surveillance and quarantine decisions for fungal pathogen control. Parameterised for authentic settings it will aid our understanding of how the extent and resolution of interventions should suitably reflect the spatial structure of dispersal processes.

Social evolution - Has nature ever rewound the tape?

Social insects such as ants, bees, wasps and termites exhibit extreme forms of altruism where some individuals remain sterile and assist other individuals in reproduction. Hamilton's inclusive fitness theory provides a powerful framework for investigating the evolution of such altruism. Using the paper wasp Ropalidia marginata, we have quantified and delineated the role of ecological, physiological, genetic and demographic factors in social evolution. An interesting feature of the models we have developed is their symmetry so that either altruism or selfishness can evolve, depending on the numerical values of various parameters. This suggests that selfish/solitary behaviour must occasionally re-emerge even from the eusocial state, It is useful to contemplate expected intermediate states during such potential reversals. We can perhaps envisage three successive steps in such a hypothetical process: i) workers revolt against the hegemony of the queen and challenge her status as the sole reproductive, ii) workers stop producing queens and one or more of them function as egg layers (functional queen/s) capable of producing both haploid as well as diploid offspring and iii) social evolution reverses completely so that a eusocial species becomes solitary, at least facultatively. It appears that the third step, namely transition from eusociality to the solitary state, is rare and has been restricted to transitions from the primitively eusocial state only. The absence of transitions from the highly eusocial state to the solitary state may be attributed to a number of 'preventing mechanisms' such as (a) queen control of workers (b) loss of spermathecae and ability to mate (c) morphological specialization (d) caste polyethism and (e) homeostasis, which must each make the transition difficult and, taken together, perhaps very difficult. However, the discovery of a transition from the highly eusocial to the solitary state can hardly he ruled out, given that little or no effort has gone into its detection. In this paper I discuss social evolution and its possible reversal and cite potential examples of stages in the transition from the social to the solitary.

Keeping kids sun safe: exploring parents' beliefs about their young child's sun-protective behaviours

Objectives Melanoma of the skin is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia. Given the high incidence of sunburn in children and the level of sun protection provided by parents is often infrequent and/or insufficient, this research employed qualitative methodology to examine parents' beliefs about their young child's sun safe behaviour. Methods Parents (N = 21; n = 14 mothers, n = 7 fathers) of children aged 2–5 years participated in focus groups to identify commonly held beliefs about their decision to sun protect their child. Data were analysed using thematic content analysis. Results Parents generally had knowledge of the broad sun safe recommendations; however, the specific details of the recommendations were not always known. Parents reported adopting a range of sun-protective measures for their child, which depended on the time of year. A range of advantages (e.g. reducing the risk of skin cancer, developing good habits early and parental peace of mind), disadvantages (e.g. false sense of safety and preventing vitamin D absorption), barriers (e.g. child refusal) and facilitators (e.g. routine and accessibility) to performing sun safe practices were identified. Normative pressures and expectations also affected parents' motivation to be sun safe for their child. Conclusions These identified beliefs can be used to inform interventions to improve sun safe behaviours in young children who reside in a region that has the highest skin cancer incidence in the world.

A psychosocial analysis of parent's decisions for limiting their young child's screen time: An examination of attitudes, social norms and roles, and control perceptions

- Objectives Preschool-aged children spend substantial amounts of time engaged in screen-based activities. As parents have considerable control over their child's health behaviours during the younger years, it is important to understand those influences that guide parents' decisions about their child's screen time behaviours. - Design A prospective design with two waves of data collection, 1 week apart, was adopted. - Methods Parents (n = 207) completed a Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB)-based questionnaire, with the addition of parental role construction (i.e., parents' expectations and beliefs of responsibility for their child's behaviour) and past behaviour. A number of underlying beliefs identified in a prior pilot study were also assessed. - Results The model explained 77% (with past behaviour accounting for 5%) of the variance in intention and 50% (with past behaviour accounting for 3%) of the variance in parental decisions to limit child screen time. Attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, parental role construction, and past behaviour predicted intentions, and intentions and past behaviour predicted follow-up behaviour. Underlying screen time beliefs (e.g., increased parental distress, pressure from friends, inconvenience) were also identified as guiding parents' decisions. - Conclusion Results support the TPB and highlight the importance of beliefs for understanding parental decisions for children's screen time behaviours, as well as the addition of parental role construction. This formative research provides necessary depth of understanding of sedentary lifestyle behaviours in young children which can be adopted in future interventions to test the efficacy of the TPB mechanisms in changing parental behaviour for their child's health.

Thermoelectric power in ultrathin films, quantum wires and carbon nanotubes under classically large magnetic field: Simplified theory and relative comparison

We study the thermoelectric power under classically large magnetic field (TPM) in ultrathin films (UFs), quantum wires (QWs) of non-linear optical materials on the basis of a newly formulated electron dispersion law considering the anisotropies of the effective electron masses, the spin-orbit splitting constants and the presence of the crystal field splitting within the framework of k.p formalism. The results of quantum confined III-V compounds form the special cases of our generalized analysis. The TPM has also been studied for quantum confined II-VI, stressed materials, bismuth and carbon nanotubes (CNs) on the basis of respective dispersion relations. It is found taking quantum confined CdGeAs2, InAs, InSb, CdS, stressed n-InSb and Bi that the TPM increases with increasing film thickness and decreasing electron statistics exhibiting quantized nature for all types of quantum confinement. The TPM in CNs exhibits oscillatory dependence with increasing carrier concentration and the signature of the entirely different types of quantum systems are evident from the plots. Besides, under certain special conditions, all the results for all the materials gets simplified to the well-known expression of the TPM for non-degenerate materials having parabolic energy bands, leading to the compatibility test. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Low loss and frequency (1 kHz-1 MHz) independent dielectric characteristics of 3BaO-3TiO(2)-B2O3 glasses

X-ray powder diffraction along with differential thermal analysis carried out on the as-quenched samples in the 3BaO-3TiO(2)-B2O3 system confirmed their amorphous and glassy nature, respectively. The dielectric constants in the 1 kHz-1 MHz frequency range were measured as a function of temperature (323-748 K). The dielectric constant and loss were found to be frequency independent in the 323-473 K temperature range. The temperature coefficient of dielectric constant was estimated using Havinga's formula and found to be 16 ppm K-1. The electrical relaxation was rationalized using the electric modulus formalism. The dielectric constant and loss were 17 +/- 0.5 and 0.005 +/- 0.001, respectively at 323 K in the 1 kHz-1 MHz frequency range which may be of considerable interest to capacitor industry.

Third post-Newtonian angular momentum flux and the secular evolution of orbital elements for inspiralling compact binaries in quasi-elliptical orbits

The angular-momentum flux from an inspiralling binary system of compact objects moving in quasi-elliptical orbits is computed at the third post-Newtonian (3PN) order using the multipolar post-Minkowskian wave generation formalism. The 3PN angular-momentum flux involves the instantaneous, tail, and tail-of-tails contributions as for the 3PN energy flux, and in addition a contribution due to nonlinear memory. We average the angular-momentum flux over the binary's orbit using the 3PN quasi-Keplerian representation of elliptical orbits. The averaged angular-momentum flux provides the final input needed for gravitational-wave phasing of binaries moving in quasi-elliptical orbits. We obtain the evolution of orbital elements under 3PN gravitational radiation reaction in the quasi-elliptic case. For small eccentricities, we give simpler limiting expressions relevant for phasing up to order e(2). This work is important for the construction of templates for quasi-eccentric binaries, and for the comparison of post-Newtonian results with the numerical relativity simulations of the plunge and merger of eccentric binaries.

A complete characterization of pre-Mueller and Mueller matrices in polarization optics

The Mueller-Stokes formalism that governs conventional polarization optics is formulated for plane waves, and thus the only qualification one could require of a 4 x 4 real matrix M in order that it qualify to be the Mueller matrix of some physical system would be that M map Omega((pol)), the positive solid light cone of Stokes vectors, into itself. In view of growing current interest in the characterization of partially coherent partially polarized electromagnetic beams, there is a need to extend this formalism to such beams wherein the polarization and spatial dependence are generically inseparably intertwined. This inseparability brings in additional constraints that a pre-Mueller matrix M mapping Omega((pol)) into itself needs to meet in order to be an acceptable physical Mueller matrix. These additional constraints are motivated and fully characterized. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America

The effect of exercise and light on mood

The aim of the study was to compare the effect physical exercise and bright light has on mood in healthy, working-age subjects with varying degrees of depressive symptoms. Previous research suggests that exercise may have beneficial effects on mood at least in subjects with depression. Bright light exposure is an effective treatment of winter depression, and possibly of non-seasonal depression as well. Limited data exist on the effect of exercise and bright light on mood in non-clinical populations, and no research has been done on the combination of these interventions. Working-age subjects were recruited through occupational health centres and 244 subjects were randomized into intervention groups: exercise, either in bright light or normal lighting, and relaxation / stretching sessions, either in bright light or normal gym lighting. During the eight-week intervention in midwinter, subjects rated their mood using a self-rating version of the Hamilton Depression Scale with additional questions for atypical depressive symptoms. The main finding of the study was that both exercise and bright-light exposure were effective in treating depressive symptoms. When the interventions were combined, the relative reduction in the Hamilton Depression Scale was 40 to 66%, and in atypical depressive symptoms even higher, 45 to 85%. Bright light exposure was more effective than exercise in treating atypical depressive symptoms. No single factor could be found that would predict a good response to these interventions. In conclusion, aerobic physical exercise twice a week during wintertime was effective in treating depressive symptoms. Adding bright light exposure to exercise increased the benefit, especially by reducing atypical depressive symptoms. Since this is so, this treatment could prevent subsequent major depressive episodes among the population generally.

Thermoelectric Power Under Strong Magnetic Field in Quantum Dots and Quantized Superlattices: Simplified Theory and Relative Comparison

In this paper, we study the thermoelectric power under strong magnetic field (TPSM) in quantum dots (QDs) of nonlinear optical, III-V, II-VI, GaP, Ge, Te, Graphite, PtSb2, zerogap, Lead Germanium Telluride, GaSb, stressed materials, Bismuth, IV-VI, II-V, Zinc and Cadmium diphosphides, Bi2Te3 and Antimony respectively. The TPSM in III-V, II-VI, IV-VI, HgTe/CdTe quantum well superlattices with graded interfaces and effective mass superlattices of the same materials together with the quantum dots of aforementioned superlattices have also been investigated in this context on the basis of respective carrier dispersion laws. It has been found that the TPSM for the said quantum dots oscillates with increasing thickness and decreases with increasing electron concentration in various manners and oscillates with film thickness, inverse quantizing magnetic field and impurity concentration for all types of superlattices with two entirely different signatures of quantization as appropriate in respective cases of the aforementioned quantized structures. The well known expression of the TPSM for wide-gap materials has been obtained as special case for our generalized analysis under certain limiting condition, and this compatibility is an indirect test of our generalized formalism. Besides, we have suggested the experimental method of determining the carrier contribution to elastic constants for nanostructured materials having arbitrary dispersion laws.