Series Of Races Research Articles

Potential of the Colombian Coffee Collection as a Source of Genetic Resistance to Colletotrichum kahawae JM Waller PD Bridge

Coffee berry disease (CBD) is not present in the Americas and presents a potential risk for growing coffee. Therefore, Colombia, which has been in scientific cooperation with the Centro de Investigação de Ferrugens do Cafeeiro (CIFC) of Portugal for more than 30 years, has been evaluating the genetic resistance of nine populations of C. arabica to 13 isolates of Colletotrichum kahawae JM Waller and PD Bridge, which are diverse in terms of aggressiveness and geographical origin. The phenotypes observed in the interaction between C. arabica and C. kahawae were used to develop a statistically reliable scale (p-value ≥ 0.001) to categorize resistance in C. arabica into five classes, and this scale was used to classify the nine populations of C. arabica evaluated. The results allowed us to corroborate the potential of Timor Hybrid CIFC 1343 (TH CIFC 1343) as a source of genetic resistance to CBD and to identify new genetic sources not yet explored for the development of varieties in Colombia that may eventually mitigate the effects of CBD in the face of increasing rainfall events and minimum temperatures due to climate change, which can favor disease development. Additionally, the results suggest that the existence of races in the C. arabica–C. kahawae complex is probable, and a selection of genotypes was identified as a possible differential series of races in C. kahawae.

Evolution of Grand Prix

Grand Prix is a Circuit where different types of Motorsport racing held in which Formula One car racing is the highest class of take automatic racing sanction by the (FIA). In Grand Prix series of races held annually in different countries around the world. Each race is held on a specifically designed racetrack and consist of multiple laps around the track. This paper speaks on the evolution of Grand Prix over the 70 years of its history in architectural aspects and its future prospect and compare between the temporary spaces and the permanent built spaces and its circulation around the circuit. KEYWORDS- Circulation, Formula 1, History, Temporary spaces, Permanent spaces

Authors’ Response

Authors’ Response

Agronomic Trait Variations and Ploidy Differentiation of Kiwiberries in Northwest China: Implication for Breeding.

Polyploid plants often have higher biomass and superior crop qualities. Breeders therefore search for crop germplasm with higher ploidy levels; however, whether higher ploidy levels are associated with better performance remains unclear. Actinidia arguta and related species, whose commercialized fruit are referred to as kiwiberries, harbor a series of ploidy races in nature, offering an opportunity to determine the link between ploidy levels and agronomic traits. In the present study, we determined the ploidy levels of A. arguta var. arguta, A. arguta var. giraldii, and A. melanandra in 16 natural populations using flow cytometry, and examined 31 trait variations in fruits, leaves and flowers by field observations, microscopic examination and laboratory analyses. Our results showed that octaploid and decaploid A. arguta var. giraldii had larger dimension of leaves than tetraploid A. arguta var. arguta and A. melanandra, but their fruits were significantly smaller. In addition, A. arguta var. giraldii (8x and 10x) had higher contents of nutrients such as ascorbic acid and amino acids; however, some important agronomic traits, including the content of total sugar and total acid, were significantly lower in the octaploids and decaploids. Moreover, octaploids and decaploids did not result in greater ecological adaptability for the challenging environments and climates. In conclusion, the differentiation of ecological adaptability and traits among natural kiwiberries' cytotypes suggested that higher ploidy levels are not inevitably advantageous in plants. The findings of A. arguta and related taxa in geographical distribution and agronomic trait variations will facilitate their germplasm domestication.

Forty years of The Selfish Gene are not enough.

Forty years of The Selfish Gene are not enough.

Putting flexible animal prospection into context: escaping the theoretical box.

The debate on non-human future-oriented cognition has long revolved around the question whether such cognition at all occurs. Closer inspection reveals just how much cognition in general-down to its simplest forms-is geared toward predicting the future in a bid to maintain homeostasis and fend off entropy. Over the course of life's existence on Earth, evolution and natural selection have, through a series of evolutionary arms races, gotten increasingly good at achieving this. Prospection has reached its current pinnacle based partly on a system for episodic cognition that-as research increasingly is showing-is not limited principally to human beings. Nevertheless, and despite some notable recent defections, many researchers remain convinced of the merits of the Bischof-Köhler Hypothesis with its claim that no species other than human beings is able to anticipate future needs or otherwise live in anything other than the immediate present moment. What might, at first, appear to be empirical disputes turn out to reveal largely unquestioned theoretical divides. Without due care, one risks setting out conditions for 'true' future orientation that are irrelevant for describing human cognition. In sorting out the theoretical and terminological muddle framing contemporary debate, this article makes a plea for moving beyond past dogmas while putting animal prospection research into the context of evolution and contemporary cognitive science. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.

Run Czech as a product of sport tourism

This article presents the Run Czech series of cross-country races as sports events that have the potential to contribute to economic development in the Czech Republic by increasing tourism. It presents the results of research conducted during the family run in association with the Olomouc Half Marathon in 2014. These results confirm, among others, the general view that sporting events brings benefits to the host destination by increasing the number of tourists, including not only international but also domestic participants and the people who accompany them.

Maximum likelihood ranking in racing sports

Most ranking methods used in racing sports are based on the number of points earned in a series of races. In some applications, this method will fail to provide an accurate ranking of competitors based on ability. In particular, rankings will not accurately reflect ability when competitors enter different numbers of races or when the level of competition varies by race. Additionally, point-based rankings are dependent on a subjective points scale. Three alternative models of performance and corresponding maximum likelihood estimation methods are presented that can be used to rank competitors and overcome the shortcomings of point-based rankings. Two methods are based on paired-comparisons among competitors and can be estimated using common binary-choice regression methods; the other is based on the rank-ordered logit model. These methods are valuable tools for stakeholders who need to evaluate the relative abilities of competitors to efficiently allocate resources. Application is demonstrated using results from the 2012 Formula One season, and the results of the maximum likelihood methods are compared to each other and the official point-based rankings.

Detection of Illegal Race Walking: A Tool to Assist Coaching and Judging

Current judging of race walking in international competitions relies on subjective human observation to detect illegal gait, which naturally has inherent problems. Incorrect judging decisions may devastate an athlete and possibly discredit the international governing body. The aim of this study was to determine whether an inertial sensor could improve accuracy, monitor every step the athlete makes in training and/or competition. Seven nationally competitive race walkers performed a series of legal, illegal and self-selected pace races. During testing, athletes wore a single inertial sensor (100 Hz) placed at S1 of the vertebra and were simultaneously filmed using a high-speed camera (125 Hz). Of the 80 steps analyzed the high-speed camera identified 57 as illegal, the inertial sensor misidentified four of these measures (all four missed illegal steps had 0.008 s of loss of ground contact) which is considerably less than the best possible human observation of 0.06 s. Inertial sensor comparison to the camera found the typical error of estimate was 0.02 s (95% confidence limits 0.01–0.02), with a bias of 0.02 (±0.01). An inertial sensor can thus objectively improve the accuracy in detecting illegal steps (loss of ground contact) and, along with the ability to monitor every step of the athlete, could be a valuable tool to assist judges during race walk events.

The Power Profile Predicts Road Cycling MMP

Laboratory tests of fitness variables have previously been shown to be valid predictors of cycling time-trial performance. However, due to the influence of drafting, tactics and the variability of power output in mass-start road races, comparisons between laboratory tests and competition performance are limited. The purpose of this study was to compare the power produced in the laboratory Power Profile (PP) test and Maximum Mean Power (MMP) analysis of competition data. Ten male cyclists (mean+/-SD: 20.8+/-1.5 y, 67.3+/-5.5 kg, V O (2 max) 72.7+/-5.1 mL x kg (-1) x min (-1)) completed a PP test within 14 days of competing in a series of road races. No differences were found between PP results and MMP analysis of competition data for durations of 60-600 s, total work or estimates of critical power and the fixed amount of work that can be completed above critical power (W'). Self-selected cadence was 15+/-7 rpm higher in the lab. These results indicate that the PP test is an ecologically valid assessment of power producing capacity over cycling specific durations. In combination with MMP analysis, this may be a useful tool for quantifying elements of cycling specific performance in competitive cyclists.

Autonomous vehicle development: No accident

The Insight Racing team in Cary, North Carolina, began turning a bright-blue Lotus Elise into a driverless vehicle that could compete in a robotic car race. The mission of DARPApsilas ldquoGrand Challengerdquo, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, part of the U.S. Department of Defense, is to develop technology with military applications. When, in 2001, Congress mandated that at least a third of all military vehicles be autonomous by 2015, the agency responded with a series of races, all with million-dollar prizes and open to anyone who could build a driverless robotic car. AnnieWay's car, silver VW Passat, was equipped with LIDAR (light detection and ranging) sensors that can find obstacles around the car, look for curbs and depressions in the road, and detect whether the vehicle is going uphill or downhill. The AnnieWay robotic car made it to the finals of the Urban Challenge where it competed for US$3.5 million in cash prizes. The AnnieWay's Passat was custom made so that it could switch between manual and autonomous driving.

Web-based experiments controlled by JavaScript: an example from probability learning.

JavaScript programs can be used to control Web experiments. This technique is illustrated by an experiment that tested the effects of advice on performance in the classic probability-learning paradigm. Previous research reported that people tested via the Web or in the lab tended to match the probabilities of their responses to the probabilities that those responses would be reinforced. The optimal strategy, however, is to consistently choose the more frequent event; probability matching produces suboptimal performance. We investigated manipulations we reasoned should improve performance. A horse race scenario in which participants predicted the winner in each of a series of races between two horses was compared with an abstract scenario used previously. Ten groups of learners received different amounts of advice, including all combinations of (1) explicit instructions concerning the optimal strategy, (2) explicit instructions concerning a monetary sum to maximize, and (3) accurate information concerning the probabilities of events. The results showed minimal effects of horse race versus abstract scenario. Both advice concerning the optimal strategy and probability information contributed significantly to performance in the task. This paper includes a brief tutorial on JavaScript, explaining with simple examples how to assemble a browser-based experiment.

THE MAYORAL CAMPAIGNS OF HARVEY GANTT: PROSPECTS AND PROBLEMS OF COALITION MAINTENANCE IN THE NEW SOUTH

Recent United States Supreme Court rulings suggest that future gains in the number of black elected officials will likely derive primarily from districts which are predominantly white. The series of mayoral races (1979 primary and the 1983, 1985, and 1987 general elections) run by Harvey Gantt in Charlotte, North Carolina illuminates the problems and prospects of coalition maintenance in the New South. Specifically, these races suggest that in order to win in non‐black majority districts, it is imperative for black office seekers to formulate a biracial coalition which by its very nature consists of disparate social groups. Although deracialized electoral strategies can facilitate the formation of biracial coalitions by emphasizing issues which transcend racial boundaries, such strategies are not foolproof given the complexity of modern racism. This research addresses a significant void in the political science literature resulting from the lack of scholarly attention to these campaigns, and more generally to biracial political contests and coalition maintenance in the southern region.

Latitudinal Clines in the Properties of a Circadian Pacemaker

The circadian rhythm of eclosion activity and its pacemaker were analyzed in a series of latitudinal races of Drosophila auraria ranging from 34.2 degrees to 42.9 degrees N in Japan. The phase of the rhythm (psi EL) to the daily photoperiod (PP) changes as daylength is increased, and the slope of psi EL (PP) changes with latitude. Is is sufficiently greater in the north to cause a phase reversal of northern and southern races on long versus short photoperiods. This reversal is found in assays of the pacemaker's phase (psi PL) as well as that of the rhythm (psi EL). Assay of the pacemaker shows that its period (tau) is longer in northern than in southern races, and that the amplitude of its phase response curve (PRC) is lower in the north. The period of the rhythm in all latitudinal races is longer than 24 hr in short photoperiods (LD 1:23), but is probably less than 24 hr (as an aftereffect of photoperiod) in longer days such as LD 14:10. The observed north-south differences in the phase relation of both pacemaker and rhythm to the light cycle are explained by the latitudinal clines in pacemaker properties and a postulated aftereffect of photoperiod on tau. It is suggested that the latitudinal cline in PRC amplitude has functional significance in conserving the amplitude of the pacemaker's signal to the rest of the system it times. Computer simulation shows that without such a reduction in the perceived light intensity, pacemaker amplitude will be lowered by the increase in duration of the daily light at higher latitudes.

The Carpinus caroliniana Complex in North America. II. Systematics

The Carpinus caroliniana complex consists of a series of geographical races ranging north and south through the deciduous forest zone of eastern temperate North America and the mountains of Mexico and northern Central America. All of these races are morphologically variable and difficult to distinguish on the basis of independent characters. Nevertheless, each possesses a broadly distinctive set of features related to a particular ecological situation. Published records of Pleistocene and post-Pleistocene pollen floras suggest that Carpinus survived Wisconsin glaciations throughout much of its present range in unglaciated eastern North America, both east and west of the Appalachian Mountains, and geological and paleobotanical evidence supports the hypothesis of pre-Pleistocene western introduction of the genus into Mexico. The complex is divided to form two species. The northern C. caroliniana consists of subsp. caroliniana of the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains of the southeastern United States and subsp. virginiana of the Appalachian Mountains and northern interior regions to the west. The Latin American C. tropicalis is separated into subsp. tropicalis of the deciduous forest zone of the highlands of southern Mexico and northern Central America and subsp. mexicana of the cool humid zone of mountains in northeastern Mexico and the trans-Mexican volcanic belt. The Carpinus caroliniana complex of eastern North America has been shown by multivariate analyses (Furlow 1987) to consist of four phenetically distinct, though usually variable, geographical races. High intraand inter-population variability in many parts of the complex results in the overlap of character states among races, and it is difficult to find absolute character differences to distinguish them. Although these patterns have been noted in the past, they have not been described precisely, leading to confusion and oversimplification in the taxonomic treatment of the group. The American hornbeam was first described in 1785 as C. betulus var. virginiana by Humphrey Marshall. Three years later, Thomas Walter (1788) named material from South Carolina C. caroliniana, establishing the American taxon, taken as a whole, as a species distinct from the European C. betulus L. From then until 1935, except for Michaux's (1803) description of C. americana (a nomenclatural synonym of C. caroliniana), little taxonomic change was proposed. Winkler's (1904) monograph of the Betulaceae recognizes only the single species in North America. In 1935, Fernald recognized two varieties of C. caroliniana in the eastern United States and adjacent Canada, the southeastern var. caroliniana being distinguished in a number of foliage, bark, and habit characters from the common var. virginiana of the northern deciduous forest region. The Mexican and Central American portion of the complex was recognized as distinct from C. caroliniana by John Donnell Smith (1890) who named Carpinus americana var. tropicalis, and this taxon was later given species status by Lundell (1939). A great deal of taxonomic confusion has centered around the Mexican and Central American populations of Carpinus, perhaps in part as a result of a lack of familiarity with the group by the botanists from temperate regions who have treated it taxonomically, and in part due to an uncritical acceptance of the idea that Latin American amentiferous taxa are necessarily conspecific with their vicariads of the northeastern United States (cf. Graham 1973). Most current Mexican and Central American floras (e.g., Nee 1981) treat their material simply as C. caroliniana, without recognizing infraspecific taxa. However, Standley (1920) and Standley and Steyermark (1952) state that both var. caroliniana and var. tropicalis occur in Mexico, var. caroliniana in central and northern Mexico, and var. tropicalis mostly in southern Mexico and Central America. These workers describe var. tropicalis as differing from var. caroliniana primarily by its dense pubescence, as do the authors of virtually all of the subsequent descriptive literature dealing with the group. In his

An Empirical Analysis of Preferences in the 1983 Multicandidate Peruvian Mayoral Election

The 1983 four-candidate mayoral race in Lima, Peru, offers a chance to examine some notions from rational choice theory with empirical data. Data from a preelection Gallup poll test whether the winner-take-all plurality rule produced an undominated winner and an equilibrium result. The data produce a series of hypothetical pairwise races, assuming (by necessity) sincere voting and single-peaked preferences along an anti-incumbency dimension. Preference orderings are generated both proportionally and randomly. The results using the former argue that a tie would have occurred between the actual winner and the runner-up; using the latter, the actual winner would have been victorious, while the secondand third-place candidates would have tied.

Some limiting distributions associated with sequences of multinomial trials

AbstractA series of independent trials is considered in which one of k ≥ 2 mutually exclusive and exhaustive outcomes occurs at each trial. The series terminates when m outcomes of any one type have occurred. The limiting distribution (as m → ∞) of the number of trials performed until termination is found with particular attention to the situation where a Dirichlet distribution is assigned to the k vector of probabilities for each outcome. Applications to series of races involving k runners and to spares problems in reliability modeling are discussed. The problem of selecting a stopping rule so that the probability of the series terminating on outcome i is k−1 (i.e., a “fair” competition) is also studied. Two generalizations of the original asymptotic problem are addressed.

News Briefs

Data General and Datawest Computer services will be providing a computerised scoring service for this year's Admiral's Cup series of races, organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC), which include the Fastnet Race (605 miles) on 8 August. The system will comprise a minicomputer plus printers and displays located first at the RORC headquarters in Cowes and then in the RORC race office at the Royal Western Yacht Club at Plymouth. Additionally Data General will be providing selected up‐to‐date results information to Prestel. It is anticipated that Cefax and Oracle services will pick up this service too. In the event of storm, coastguard stations will be able to find out a yacht's latest reported position by means of telex links to the computer output.

Physician Skis for Fitness, Races for Reward.

Milton Hanson was looking forward to a five-month cross-country skiing vacation, but the challenge of ski racing induced him to enter a series of international races.

LOCAL GENE DISPERSAL IN PHLOX.

The local population ideally is composed of an aggregation of organisms sharing in a common gene pool and exchanging genes freely (Wright, 1931, 1943a, 1949). Such freedom, however, rarely is achieved in nature, for the dispersal of genes is highly leptokurtic (Dobzhansky and Wright, 1943, 1947; Bateman, 1947a, 1950; Griffiths, 1950; Colwell, 1951). Within a local population of outbreeding organisms, this form of gene dispersal leads to the formation of a series of overlapping panmictic units referred to as neighborhoods (Wright, 1940, 1943a, 1946). Knowledge of the neighborhood structure of plant and animal populations is meager. In animals, neighborhood studies have been conducted only on Drosophila (Dobzhansky and Wright, 1941, 1943, 1947), Cepaea (Lamotte, 1951) and Sceloporus (Kerster, 1964). In plants neighborhood investigations have dealt almost exclusively with wind-pollinated trees including Fraxinus, Pseudotsuga, Populus, Ulmus, Picea, Cedrus (J. Wright, 1953) and Pinus (Bannister, 1965); a notable exception is the work on the entomophilous, annual herb, Linanthus parryae (Wright, 1943b). To the authors' knowledge, the neighborhood structure of populations of perennial herbs has never been determined. The work discussed below was undertaken to fill this void. The purpose of this paper is to consider intrapopulation gene dispersal and the type of neighborhood engendered by the dispersal pattern in the self-incompatible, perennial herb, Phlox pilosa L. Phlox pilosa is one of the most highly diversified species in the genus, and has evolved a series of subspecies and races fitting its ecologically diversified area (Wherry, 1930, 1955; Levin and Smith, 1965). The species is a conspicuous element of the spring flora of mesic prairies and open woodlands throughout much' of the eastern United States. Colonies of P. pilosa contain from tens to thousands of individuals, and often display marked exomorphic variation. Pollination is performed by an array of insects, the Lepidoptera being especially suited for the task (Grant and Grant, 1965). Seed-set in natural populations is about 40%, i.e., the triovulate capsule yields an average of 1.2 seeds (Levin and Kerster, 1967a). Seeds are ripened during the early summer and scattered by the force of the dehiscing capsule; there are no special mechanisms for longdistance dispersal. Neighborhood determinations were made on three colonies in Cook County, Illinois. The colonies inhabited undisturbed sand prairies, and each was composed of several thousand plants which occupied an area in excess of 1000 M2. Colony designation (I, II, III) is assigned on the basis of density, colony I being the most dense. Data on pollen and seed dispersal and density were collected from each colony, and synthesized for neighborhood calculations.