Search results for "GAZ"
showing 10 items of 624 documents
50,000 years of ice and seals: Impacts of the Last Glacial Maximum on Antarctic fur seals
2021
Abstract Ice is one of the most important drivers of population dynamics in polar organisms, influencing the locations, sizes, and connectivity of populations. Antarctic fur seals, Arctocephalus gazella, are particularly interesting in this regard, as they are concomitantly reliant on both ice‐associated prey and ice‐free coastal breeding areas. We reconstructed the history of this species through the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) using genomic sequence data from seals across their range. Population size trends and divergence events were investigated using continuous‐time size estimation analysis and divergence time estimation models. The combined results indicated that a panmictic population …
Effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on Gazania rigens pot plant cultivation in a Mediterranean environment
2018
Herbaceous plants used in island beds and borders need to be rapid growing, high performing and maintaining good visual quality during the growing season. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi application is acquiring interest for its beneficial effects on ornamental bedding plants. Gazania rigens is a herbaceous ornamental plant grown for its large daisy-like flowers. The species thrives in the coastal areas of the Mediterranean region, particularly in the mild climate of southern Italy and Sicily, where performs well in summer bedding schemes in sea side gardens even in dry and windy conditions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of inoculation with Rhizophagus irregularis on se…
Growth and activities of enzymes of primary metabolism in batch cultures of Catharanthus roseus cell suspension under different pCO2 conditions
1988
In vitro enzyme activities of glycolysis, pentose-phosphate pathway and dark CO2 fixation were assayed in batch cultures of heterotrophic Catharanthus roseus cells under various gassing rates and partial pressures of carbon dioxide. Detrimental effects of low pCO2 culture conditions on the growth characteristics could be linked to marked changes in levels of enzymes of primary metabolism during growth. The enzyme levels observed during the early stages of growth were found to be more stable when a constant pCO2 (20 mbar) was maintained and enabled exponential growth to be reached more rapidly. The importance of carbon dioxide as a “conditioning factor” of the culture medium is discussed.
Luminance Information Is Required for the Accurate Estimation of Contrast in Rapidly Changing Visual Contexts.
2020
Summary Visual perception scales with changes in the visual stimulus, or contrast, irrespective of background illumination. However, visual perception is challenged when adaptation is not fast enough to deal with sudden declines in overall illumination, for example, when gaze follows a moving object from bright sunlight into a shaded area. Here, we show that the visual system of the fly employs a solution by propagating a corrective luminance-sensitive signal. We use in vivo 2-photon imaging and behavioral analyses to demonstrate that distinct OFF-pathway inputs encode contrast and luminance. Predictions of contrast-sensitive neuronal responses show that contrast information alone cannot ex…
Peaks of in situ N2O emissions are influenced by N2O producing and reducing microbial communities across arable soils
2018
International audience; Introduction Agriculture is the main source of terrestrial N2O emissions, a potent greenhouse gas and the main cause of ozone depletion ((Hu et al., 2015). The reduction of N2O into N2 by microorganisms carrying the nitrous oxide reductase gene (nosZ) is the only known biological process eliminating this greenhouse gas. Recent studies showed that a previously unknown clade of N2O-reducers (nosZII) was related to the potential capacity of the soil to act as a N2O sink (see Hallin et al., 2017 and references therein). However little is known about how this group responds to different agricultural practices. Here, we investigated how N2O-producers and N2O-reducers were …
How Long Did You Look At Me? The Influence of Gaze Direction on Perceived Duration and Temporal Sensitivity.
2016
Faces that exhibit emotionally negative expressions in mutual gaze have been shown to induce a dilation of perceived duration. The influence of gaze by itself on duration judgments, however, has rarely been investigated. We argue for a social interaction hypothesis, according to which humans should be highly accurate and precise (sensitive) when processing the temporal dynamics of mutual gaze. In three experiments, we investigated whether the direction of observed gaze affects perceived duration and temporal sensitivity. In Experiment 1, subjects did indeed estimate the duration of direct gaze more accurately as compared to the duration of averted gaze. In Experiments 2 and 3, subjects had…
Una segregazione paradossale e multi-scalare: il caso del quartiere ZEN di Palermo
2016
L’articolo affronta la questione della segregazione nel quartiere ZEN di Palermo (Sicilia). L’impianto teorico dialoga con la letteratura anglosassone, ma ne prende le distanze nel tentativo di individuare alcune specificità locali del caso. L’obiettivo è duplice: intanto indentificare alcuni “movimenti geostorici” che hanno caratterizzato il quartiere, collegando a ciascuno di questi una fase del processo segregativo; inoltre, rappresentare la segregazione del quartiere in forma cartografica, mediante l’uso di alcuni ideogrammi e mappe mentali. This article deals with the issue of segregation in the ZEN district of Palermo, Sicily. The theoretical framework is built around Anglo-Saxon refe…
Prosodic modulation as a mark to express pragmatic values: The case of mitigation in Spanish
2021
Abstract One of the functions of prosody in discourse is to convey pragmatic values that add up to the core semantic meaning of spoken units or segments. Regarding mitigation, Caffi (1999: 890) specifically discusses “the very important prosodic and kinesic means of mitigation, such as changes in pitch prominence, rhythm, speech rate, as well as eye-contact, gaze, gaze aversion, smile, particular postures, etc.” In this paper, I focus on some prosodic factors such as pitch, intensity, duration and speech rate that can be used in European Spanish, in combination with pragmatic meanings. The first aim is to establish a theoretical deliberation on prosody as a clear marker to convey pragmatic …
“Do you understand (me)?” negotiating mutual understanding by using gaze and environmentally coupled gestures between two deaf signing participants
2020
Abstract In this paper we explore the use of multimodal and multilingual semiotic resources in interactions between two deaf signing participants, a researcher and an asylum seeker. The focus is on the use of gaze and environmentally coupled gestures. Drawing on multimodal analysis and linguistic ethnography, we demonstrate how gaze and environmentally coupled gestures are effective semiotic resources for reaching mutual understanding. The study provides insight into the challenges and opportunities (deaf) asylum seekers, researchers, and employees of reception centres or the state may encounter because of the asymmetrical language competencies. Our concern is that such asymmetrical situati…
Alexandre Brierre de Boismont and the limits of the psychopathological gaze
2018
One of the most remarkable implications of psychological medicine in the transition from the 18th to the 19th century was the advent of a new way of looking at the human being and new tools for analysing not only behaviour and individual experience, but also historical events, collective behavioural patterns or complex cultural achievements. Unsurprisingly, the deployment of this gaze could not advance without there being a series of disputes and controversies about its reach and the limits to its indiscriminate application. Focusing on the figure of French alienist Alexandre Brierre de Boismont and on the controversial cases of hallucinations and suicide, this article addresses the confli…