Different Levels Of Structure Research Articles

Phylogeography of the Iberian endemic butterfly Erebia palarica Chapman, 1905 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae): An integrative approach

Abstract Montane biodiversity is particularly vulnerable to rapid oscillations in environmental conditions. Recent modelling showed that only three of the 19 butterfly species of Erebia (Nymphalidae, Satyrinae) currently present in Iberia would persist in a worst‐case scenario for 2070. One of them is Erebia palarica, endemic to Northwest Spain. We combined genetics, morphometrics and ecological niche modelling to reconstruct its evolutionary history. First, sequences of the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) mitochondrial gene obtained from 305 specimens revealed a double star‐like network that suggests a demographic expansion from two ancestral populations. This finding is congruent with the larger and disjunct putative distribution revealed by climatic modelling during the Last Glacial Maximum. Second, genotyping of 262 samples with seven microsatellite markers produced a large cluster at the centre‐East of the Cantabrian range, mostly affected by isolation by distance, and revealed different levels of structure in the western localities. Lastly, we reviewed the intraspecific taxonomy of the species. The westernmost site (Queixa) stands as a clearly separated unit according to genetic and morphometric analyses, which further supports its vague former description as subspecies E. p. castroviejoi. Altogether, the case of E. palarica exemplifies the complexity that narrow endemics can show and highlights that understanding the evolutionary history of species is crucial for designing adequate conservation strategies.

Entanglement and Symmetry Structure of N(= 3) Quantum Oscillators with Disparate Coupling Strengths in a Common Quantum Field Bath

In this paper, we study the entanglement structure of a system of N quantum oscillators with distinctive coupling strengths, all linearly coupled to a common massless scalar quantum field. This study is helpful in characterizing the notion of an entanglement domain and its symmetry features, which is useful for understanding the interplay between different levels of structure in many-body quantum systems. The effect of the quantum field on the system is derived via the influence functional and the correlation functions are obtained from the solutions of the evolutionary operator of the reduced density matrix. They are then used to construct the covariance matrix, which forms the basis for our analysis of the structure of quantum entanglement in this open system. To make the physical features explicit, we consider a system of three quantum coupled oscillators placed at the vertices of an equilateral triangle with disparate pairwise couplings. We analyze the entanglement between one oscillator and the other two with equal (symmetric) and unequal (asymmetric) coupling strengths. As a physical illustration, we apply the results for these two different configurations to address some basic issues in macroscopic quantum phenomena from the quantum entanglement perspective.

What Young People Think About Music, Rhythm and Trauma: An Action Research Study.

A number of popular theories about trauma have suggested rhythm has potential as a mechanism for regulating arousal levels. However, there is very little literature examining this proposal from the perspective of the young people who might benefit. This action research project addresses this gap by collaborating with four groups of children in the out-of-home-care system to discover what they wanted from music therapists who brought a strong focus on rhythm-based activities. The four music therapy groups took place over a 12 month period and each cycle of action and reflection led to adjustments in what activities were offered, as well as exploring different levels of structure and ways of building relationships in the groups. The initial group incorporated a strong emphasis on highly structured rhythm-based activities, but young people found the format difficult to engage with. The second cycle included more opportunities for creativity and self-direction within semi-structured activities which children reported enjoying, but too much freedom also became overwhelming at times. The two groups in the third cycle seemed to balance structure and responsiveness successfully but were also influenced by the introduction of individual sessions prior to group commencement, which was designed to contribute to safety and trust building. Final reflections on the role of rhythm in supporting young people who have had adverse experiences were centred around the ideas of co-regulation. This was qualitatively different to our expectations that practicing rhythm-based activities would lead to an expanded window of tolerance that resulted in less time being spent in either hypo-arousal or hyper-arousal. Instead of entraining to an external rhythm, young people felt safe when their rhythms were matched, even if they were irregular, out of time and unpredictable. The small moments of co-regulation resulted in pleasure, comfort, satisfaction and peace and these moments were highly valued by the young people, who described just wanting to be relaxed and happy. Although not as rhythm-specific as the literature might suggest, music making with trusted adults helped the young people in this study feel more content.

3D Printed Template‐Directed Assembly of Multiscale Graphene Structures

AbstractThe assembly of different levels of structure from the nano‐ to the macroscale has produced materials with outstanding performance. Here, using graphene as a model building block, the fabrication of multiscale structures is reported, with tailorable features spanning seven orders of magnitude in size by a 3D printed template‐directed assembly method which combines the ability to customize structures from the meso‐ to macroscale using digital light processing and from the nano‐ to microscale using self‐assembly. It is shown that by a careful design of the structures, a number of extraordinary properties can be produced including ultralow density (≥0.08 mg cm–3), and ultrahigh stiffness, and compressibility (full recovery from 95% strain). The approach not only provides diversified structure control over wide length scales for nanomaterial assembly but also shows the possibility of changing the properties of the structure for different applications.

Integration of structured reporting into the routine radiological workflow

Klinisches/methodisches ProblemStrukturierte Befundung ist seit Jahren eines der meist diskutierten Themen in der Radiologie. Aktuell herrscht ein Mangel an nutzerfreundlichen Softwarelösungen, welche in die bestehende IT-Infrastruktur der Kliniken und Praxen integriert sind und effiziente Dateneingaben erlauben.Radiologische StandardverfahrenRadiologische Befunde werden meist als Freitext über Spracherkennungssysteme diktiert oder per Tastatur eingegeben. Zudem werden Textbausteine für die Erstellung von Normalbefunden verwendet und bei Bedarf durch Freitextinhalte ergänzt.Methodische InnovationenSoftwarebasierte Befundungssysteme können Spracherkennungssysteme mit radiologischen Befundvorlagen in Form von interaktiven Entscheidungsbäumen vereinen. Eine technische Integration in RIS(Radiologieinformationssystem)-, PACS(„picture archiving and communication system“)- und AV(„advanced visualization“)-Systeme über Programmierschnittstellen und Interoperabilitätsstandards ermöglicht effiziente Prozesse und die Generierung maschinenlesbarer Befunddaten.LeistungsfähigkeitStrukturierte, semantisch annotierte klinische Daten, die über ein strukturiertes Befundungssystem erhoben werden, stehen unmittelbar für epidemiologische Datenauswertungen und kontinuierliches KI(Künstliche Intelligenz)-Training zur Verfügung.BewertungDer Einsatz der strukturierten Befundung in der radiologischen Routinediagnostik ist mit einer initialen Umstellungsphase verbunden. Eine erfolgreiche Implementierung setzt eine enge Verzahnung der technischen Infrastruktur mehrerer Systeme voraus.Empfehlung für die PraxisDurch die Nutzung einer hybriden, softwarebasierten Befundungslösung können radiologische Befunde mit unterschiedlichen Stufen der Struktur generiert werden. Klinische Fragestellungen oder Informationen können aus klinischen Subsystemen semiautomatisch übertragen werden, um vermeidbare Fehler zu eliminieren und die Produktivität zu erhöhen.

Supporting decision-making in upper-level chemical engineering laboratories

We redesigned the upper-level chemical engineering laboratory sequence at Stanford University to shift the focus from learning various analytic techniques, to having students learn to make the same decisions that an expert experimentalist makes in the laboratory. Each course in the two-course sequence had different levels of structure and available agency to scaffold the decision-making process for students in a way that would help them practice making the relevant decisions. In the first lab course, students were given targeted feedback as they made a limited set of experimentation decisions, such as deciding how much data to collect or how to control variables, for a predefined experimental question. In the second lab course, students were given the opportunity to make almost all of the same decisions an expert experimentalist would conducting their research, including choosing a research question. We found that students tended to make more decisions per week in the second lab course than in the first, partly because some decisions, such as whether an experiment was feasible, were made for the students in the first lab. In the projects in the second lab course, we found substantial variations in the temporal patterns of student decision-making between groups, but the variation in decision-making did not seem to be correlated with the type of research question students chose to explore. Student testimonials suggest that the first lab course laid the groundwork for students to be successful in the more open-ended projects in the second course. These results motivate future research that systematically varies the amount of agency afforded to students to understand the role of other variables, such as relevant course preparation or prior research experiences, in learning to make expert-level decisions during experimentation.

Structural Insights into tRNA via Hypochromism

Categorizing the various levels of protein and nucleic acid structures is a relatively straightforward concept students understand quickly when shown representative structural images. However, keeping in mind the idea of primary, secondary, and tertiary structure proves more difficult when students are in the laboratory setting simply looking at a clear solution containing tRNA. Here, a laboratory exercise is described comparing A260 values from tRNA samples containing structural elements to samples where all structure has been abolished through the use of alkaline base hydrolysis. The amount of hypochromism resulting from structural features in tRNA is used to highlight the different levels of structure formed in the absence and presence of magnesium cations.

Funde in Schichten

Abstract A key passage in Adalbert Stifter’s Der Nachsommer (Indian Summer) tells of the discovery of an antique marble statue in Cumae, Italy. The account can be read as an archeological scene in which a pretext, Prosper Mérimée’s La Vénus d’Ille, is overwritten and inverted. Both texts were written by authors who were officially nominated inspectors of historical monuments; both reflect on archeological practices related to national heritage. While Mérimée’s novella satirizes a destructive practice of exposure, Stifter promotes a gentle form of excavation in order to restore an intact antiquity. The passage refers to a stratigraphic concept discussed in contemporary archeology which also characterizes the working method of the author himself: a writing in ‘layers’ of pretexts and subtexts that at the same time removes and stacks different levels of structure and meaning.

Polarization, Modal Orientation, and Voice Leading

This article seeks to define tonality as an interaction between different levels of structure in terms of a conjunction of intervallic distance, polarization, modal direction, and voice leading of the harmonic progressions. Intervallic distances depend on the modal direction of transformations as well as on polarization on the circle of fifths in any hierarchy level. Voice leading creates pitch spaces that both embody and outweigh the abstract concept of tonal event according to transformational theories. This model of tonality is particularly relevant to music of the later nineteenth and earlier twentieth centuries, where works are based on complex, developed structures composed of non-symmetrical recurring units. The potential for analysis is demonstrated with several passages from Dohnányi’s Piano Quintet, op. 26, first movement.

“3 Piano Sonatas for the Young” op. 118 in a context of last works by Robert Schumann

“3 Piano Sonatas for the Young” op. 118 in a context of last works by Robert Schumann

Tourism - Harmonization Of Interests

Tourism is a popular and complex phenomenon. The territorial tourism system has many elements and different levels of structure. Its organization and operation is based on the harmonization of a multitude of interests. Many typical tourist tasks have the increased complexity in the congruence of interests. This relates to the issue of managing the development of tourism in the region, to the problems of organizing a tourist trip and a service enterprise. Trends in the global tourism industry are aimed at systemic solutions in the alignment of interests. When developing tourism destinations, it is possible to trace regular processes regarding to the harmonization of interests.

Between repetition and variation: a musical performance of malícia in capoeira

ABSTRACTThe physical expression of Brazilian capoeira features an intriguing combination of playfulness and aggression that practitioners navigate with malícia—the ability to be deceptive. Expressions of malícia in capoeira include attitudes, utterances or actions devised to confuse, distract or mislead the opponent and onlookers, resulting in an improvement of one’s position during the physical game. This article explores musical structures connected to malícia and argues that in promoting competition between those engaged in the physical game, musicians bring malícia to the foreground of the musical domain. Because capoeira’s music is groove based and patterned at all levels of structure, this study uses periodicity and variation as the main categories of analysis, focusing on how musicians, singers and those playing the physical game manipulate or relate to patterns, variations and tempo at different levels of structure in order to display malícia.

Comparison of two educational music therapy interventions on recovery knowledge and affect: a cluster-randomized study

ABSTRACTAlthough illness management and recovery is an established evidence-based treatment for adult mental health consumers, there is a dearth of music therapy research in this critical area. The purpose of this cluster-randomized effectiveness study was to determine the effects of different levels of structure within educational music therapy interventions on knowledge of illness management and recovery and affect in adult acute care mental health inpatients. Participants (N = 115) were randomly assigned by cluster to one of three single-session group-based conditions: high-structure educational music therapy (HS-EMT), low-structure educational music therapy (LS-EMT), or wait-list control (WLC). Significant between-group differences were found in knowledge of illness management and recovery between the HS-EMT condition and both the LS-EMT and WLC condition, with the HS-EMT condition having more favorable means. Significant between-group differences were also found in positive affect between the LS-EMT condition and both the HS-EMT and WLC conditions, with the LS-EMT condition having more favorable means. The HS-EMT intervention, which had previously lacked empirical investigation, may be ideal for efficiently and effectively imparting knowledge concerning illness management and recovery in acute mental health settings. Implications for clinical practice, limitations, and suggestions for future research are included.

Which way is which? Examining symbolic control of attention with compound arrow cues.

Spatial symbols can generate attentional biases toward peripheral locations compatible with the symbol's meaning. An important question concerns how one symbol is selected when competing symbols are present. Studies examining this issue for spatially distinct symbols have suggested that selection depends on the task goals. In the present study, we examined whether the influence of competing symbolic stimuli (arrows) at different levels of structure on attentional control also depends on the task goals. Participants made simple detection responses to a peripheral target preceded by a spatially uninformative compound arrow (global arrow composed of local arrows). In addition, participants were required to perform a secondary task in which they matched the orientation of the global arrow (global task) or the location of a uniquely colored local arrow (local task) to a test display presented immediately following a detection response. When the global and local arrows pointed at opposite locations, a local cueing effect emerged in the local task, and a global cueing effect in the global task, indicating that the task goals influenced the selection of the level of structure. However, when the local level was spatially neutral (global arrow, local rectangles), a cueing effect was observed independent of task, and when the global level was spatially neutral (global rectangle, local arrows), a cueing effect was observed in the local task only, suggesting that global processing was obligatory and local processing optional. These findings suggest that attentional effects triggered by the global level are more strongly reflexive than those triggered by the local level.

Controlling and Evaluating the Structure and Morphology of Polymers on Multiple Scales

Crystalline polymers spontaneously form hierarchical structures although the precise manner in which these scales of structure are interconnected especially terms of the formation and evolution of the complete structure remains unclear. We have set out to control these scales of structure by introducing additional components which self-assemble in to nano-scale units which then direct the crystallisation of the polymer matrix. In other words, we first assemble a low concentration top-level structure which is designed to template or direct the sub-sequent crystallisation of the matrix polymer. This top level structure takes on the role of controlling the structure. We have set out to both establish the design principles of such structures and to develop experimental procedures which allow us to follow the formation of such complex hierarchical polymer structures. In particular we focus of the relationships between these different levels of structure and time sequence of events required for the structure to evolve in the targeted manner. In this programme, we have exploited time-resolving small-angle X-ray scattering and electron microscopy together with neutron scattering to probe and quantify the different scales of structure and their evolution. We highlight new neutron scattering instrumentation which we believe have great potential in the growing field of hierarchical structures in polymers. The addition of small quantities of nanoparticles to conventional and sustainable thermoplastics leads to property enhancements with considerable potential in a number of areas Most engineered nano-particles are highly stable and these exist as nano-particles prior to compounding with the polymer resin, they remain as nano- particles during the active use as well as in the subsequent waste and recycling streams. In this work we also explore the potential for constructing nano-particles within the polymer matrix during processing from organic compounds selected to provide nanoparticles which can effectively control the subsequent crystallization process. Typically these nano-particles are rod-like in shape.

The effect of medium structure complexity on the growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in gelatin–dextran systems

As most food systems are (semi-)solid, the effect of food structure on bacterial growth has been widely acknowledged. However, studies on the growth dynamics of yeasts have neglected the effect of food structure.In this paper, the growth dynamics of the spoilage yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was investigated at 23.5°C in broth, singular, homogeneous biopolymer systems and binary biopolymer systems with a heterogeneous microstructure. The biopolymers gelatin and dextran were used to introduce the different levels of structure. The metabolizing ability of gelatin and dextran by S. cerevisiae was examined. To study microbial behavior in the binary systems at the micro level, mixtures were imaged with confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Growth dynamics and microscopic images of S. cerevisiae were compared with those obtained for Escherichia coli in the same model system (Boons et al., 2014). Different phase-separated, heterogeneous microstructures were obtained by changing the amount of added gelatin and dextran. Regardless of the microstructure, S. cerevisiae was preferentially located in the dextran phase. Metabolizing ability-tests indicated that gelatin could be consumed by S. cerevisiae but in the presence of glucose, no change in gelatin concentration was observed. No indication of dextran metabolizing ability was observed. When supplementing broth with gelatin or dextran alone, an enhanced growth rate and maximum cell density were observed. This enhancement was further increased by adding a second biopolymer, introducing a heterogeneous microstructure and hence increasing the medium structure complexity.The results obtained indicate that food structure complexity plays a significant role in the growth dynamics of S. cerevisiae, an important food spoiler.

Dent and Flint maize diversity panels reveal important genetic potential for increasing biomass production.

Genetic and phenotypic analysis of two complementary maize panels revealed an important variation for biomass yield. Flowering and biomass QTL were discovered by association mapping in both panels. The high whole plant biomass productivity of maize makes it a potential source of energy in animal feeding and biofuel production. The variability and the genetic determinism of traits related to biomass are poorly known. We analyzed two highly diverse panels of Dent and Flint lines representing complementary heterotic groups for Northern Europe. They were genotyped with the 50 k SNP-array and phenotyped as hybrids (crossed to a tester of the complementary pool) in a western European field trial network for traits related to flowering time, plant height, and biomass. The molecular information revealed to be a powerful tool for discovering different levels of structure and relatedness in both panels. This study revealed important variation and potential genetic progress for biomass production, even at constant precocity. Association mapping was run by combining genotypes and phenotypes in a mixed model with a random polygenic effect. This permitted the detection of significant associations, confirming height and flowering time quantitative trait loci (QTL) found in literature. Biomass yield QTL were detected in both panels but were unstable across the environments. Alternative kinship estimator only based on markers unlinked to the tested SNP increased the number of significant associations by around 40% with a satisfying control of the false positive rate. This study gave insights into the variability and the genetic architectures of biomass-related traits in Flint and Dent lines and suggests important potential of these two pools for breeding high biomass yielding hybrid varieties.

Coalbed Methane (CBM) Project Enrichment Area and Economic Evaluation

Coalbed gas, also called coalbed methane gas, is a kind of unconventional natural gas located in coal and rocks, coexisting with coal and its main ingredient are methane. On different levels of structure, coal bed methanes adsorption has partition zonality. The gas-bearing of coal seams has relative concentration in different tectonic units, is known as coalbed methane (CBM) enrichment. Influenced by coal rank, coal, rock properties and various geological conditions and other factors, the enrichment has certain regularity. In the study of the coal bed gas enrichment, coal bed gas enrichment especially refers to coal bed methane enrichment. Economic evaluation is that it may analysis reserves financial feasibility and economical rationality for coal seam to get the best economic benefit evaluation, by various stages in CBM cost and final production and income situation.

Parasites, proteomes and systems: has Descartes’ clock run out of time?

SUMMARYSystems biology aims to integrate multiple biological data types such as genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics across different levels of structure and scale; it represents an emerging paradigm in the scientific process which challenges the reductionism that has dominated biomedical research for hundreds of years. Systems biology will nevertheless only be successful if the technologies on which it is based are able to deliver the required type and quality of data. In this review we discuss how well positioned is proteomics to deliver the data necessary to support meaningful systems modelling in parasite biology. We summarise the current state of identification proteomics in parasites, but argue that a new generation of quantitative proteomics data is now needed to underpin effective systems modelling. We discuss the challenges faced to acquire more complete knowledge of protein post-translational modifications, protein turnover and protein-protein interactions in parasites. Finally we highlight the central role of proteome-informatics in ensuring that proteomics data is readily accessible to the user-community and can be translated and integrated with other relevant data types.

Evolution of microstructure in compacted London Clay during wetting and loading

The influence of fabric on mechanical behaviour is explicitly considered in some of the current constitutive models for unsaturated soils. These are based on assumptions regarding the interaction between different levels of structure, which still require experimental validation. A study has been carried out to investigate the evolution of fabric in a compacted natural clay during wetting and loading, and the results are presented in this paper. Samples of London Clay were statically compacted to the same initial conditions, dry of optimum moisture content in a Proctor plot, and subsequently taken along complex stress paths involving wetting, loading, or a combination of both. Mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) and environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) microstructure investigations were carried out to observe and quantify the change in fabric associated with each path. The soil fabric was observed to change from an aggregate to a matrix type structure along all wetting paths. This transition was found to take place only when the suction was reduced to a value close to zero kPa. Results also showed that fabric changes during yielding were stress path-dependent. It was not possible to find a correspondence between the volume of free porosity and the volume of intra-aggregate pores, as suggested by some authors. Finally, the volume of pore water was found to agree closely with the volume of intra-aggregate pores, providing support to the assumption that in an unsaturated aggregate microstructure the clay aggregations are saturated.