Search results for "Orbit"
showing 10 items of 1104 documents
Fruit yield and quality responses of apple cvars Gala and Fuji to partial rootzone drying under Mediterranean conditions
2012
SUMMARYIncreasing irrigation efficiency is a major goal for fruit production in dry Mediterranean environments. The present study was conducted in three consecutive years (2007–09) under typical Mediterranean conditions and tested the effect of partial rootzone drying (PRD) on yield and fruit quality of two apple cultivars: Gala, with fruit maturing in summer and Fuji, with fruit maturing in autumn. Three irrigation treatments were imposed: conventional irrigation (CI), PRD (0·50 of CI water on one side of the rootzone, which was alternated periodically) and continuous deficit irrigation (DI, 0·50 of CI water on both sides of the rootzone). During the 2008 and 2009 irrigation seasons, DI re…
Astronomic forcing on the planktonic foraminifera assemblage in the Piacenzian Punta Piccola section (southern Italy)
2006
[1] A high-resolution quantitative analysis of the calcareous planktonic assemblages (planktonic foraminifers and calcareous nannofossils) at the Punta Piccola section (at the base of which, the global standard stratotype-section and point of the Piacenzian stage is defined) provided a more accurate biostratigraphy for the Mediterranean middle Pliocene (2.6–3.6 Ma). In particular, an astronomically calibrated age of 2.87 Ma was estimated for the Pliocene first occurrence of Neogloboquadrina atlantica instead of the younger previously proposed age of 2.72 Ma. Spectral analysis performed on the Globigerinoides species (spp.) planktonic foraminifera assemblage along with cross-spectral analysi…
Beauty and the brain: Investigating the neural and musical attributes of beauty during a naturalistic music listening experience
2020
ABSTRACTEvaluative beauty judgments are very common, but in spite of this commonality, are rarely studied in cognitive neuroscience. Here we investigated the neural and musical attributes of musical beauty using a naturalistic free-listening paradigm applied to behavioral and neuroimaging recordings and validated by experts’ judgments. In Study 1, 30 Western healthy adult participants rated continuously the perceived beauty of three musical pieces using a motion sensor. This allowed us to identify the passages in the three musical pieces that were inter-subjectively judged as beautiful or ugly. This informed the analysis for Study 2, where additional 36 participants were recorded with funct…
Accuracy assessment of land surface temperature retrievals from MSG2-SEVIRI data
2011
The accuracy of the Land Surface Temperature (LST) product generated operationally by the EUMETSAT Land Surface Analysis Satellite Applications Facility (LSA SAF) from the data registered by the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) on board the geostationary METEOSAT Second Generation 2 (MSG2, Meteosat 9) satellite was assessed on two test sites in Eastern Spain: a homogeneous, fully vegetated rice field and a high-plain, homogeneous area of shrubland. The LSA SAF LSTs were compared with ground LST measurements in the conventional temperature-based (T-based) method. We also validated the LSA SAF LST product by using an alternative radiance-based (R-based) method, with grou…
Hybrid DFT calculations of the atomic and electronic structure for ABO3 perovskite (001) surfaces
2005
Abstract We present the results of first-principles calculations on two possible terminations of the (0 0 1) surfaces of SrTiO3, BaTiO3, and PbTiO3 perovskite crystals. Atomic structure and the electronic configurations were calculated for different 2D slabs, both stoichiometric and non-stoichiometric, using hybrid (B3PW) exchange-correlation technique and re-optimized basis sets of atomic (Gaussian) orbitals. Results are compared with previous calculations and available experimental data. The electronic density distribution near the surface and covalency effects are discussed in details for all three perovskites. Both SrTiO3 and BaTiO3 (0 0 1) surfaces demonstrate reduction of the optical …
Theoretical prediction of structural, vibrational and NMR parameters of plastic optical fiber (POF) material precursors. Cis and trans perhydro- and …
2014
Abstract Density functional theory (DFT) prediction of cis and trans perhydro- and perfluoro-2-methylene-4,5-dimethyl-1,3-dioxolanes structure, supported by vibrational analysis and calculation of multinuclear isotropic nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) shieldings and indirect spin–spin couplings (SSCCs) was performed. The performance of the used methodology was verified on 1,3-dioxolane selected as model compound. The structures of hydrogenated and fluorinated monomers of POF materials were calculated using B3LYP and BLYP density functionals combined with 6-311 ++ G(3df,2pd) basis set. The BLYP/6-311++G(3df,2pd) level of theory was suggested for vibrational analysis. Gauge independent atomi…
Electron capture activation of the disulfide bond. The role of the asymmetry and electronegativity.
2010
The effects of electron capture on the structure of XSSX' disulfide derivatives in which the substituents attached to the sulfur atoms have different electronegativites have been investigated at different levels of theory, namely DFT, MP2, QCISD and CASSCF/CASPT2. Although it has been generally assumed that electron attachment to disulfide derivatives leads to a systematic and significant activation of the S-S bond, our results show that this is the case only when the substituents X or X' have low electronegativity. Otherwise, the S-S bond in the anion remains practically unperturbed and only the S-X bond is largely activated or even broken, because the extra electron occupies the sigma*(S-…
Asymmetry and Non-Adiabaticity in Fragmentation of Disulfide Bonds upon Electron Capture
2010
Although it has been generally assumed that electron attachment to disulfide derivatives leads to a systematic and significant activation of the S-S bond, we show, by using [CH(3)SSX] (X = CH(3), NH(2), OH, F) derivatives as model compounds, that this is the case only when the X substituents have low electronegativity. Through the use of MP2, QCI and CASPT2 molecular orbital (MO) methods, we elucidate, for the first time, the mechanisms that lead to unimolecular fragmentation of disulfide derivatives after electron attachment. Our theoretical scrutiny indicates that these mechanisms are more intricate than assumed in previous studies. The most stable products, from a thermodynamic viewpoint…
A computationally feasible quantum chemical model for 13C NMR chemical shifts of PCB-derived carboxylic acids.
2004
Two quantum chemical models have been derived for the prediction of 13C NMR chemical shifts of novel PCB acids obtained from PCBs by catalytic carbonylation. 13C isotropic shielding constants were calculated employing the GIAO (gauge-independent atomic orbital) method with density functional theory (DFT). The best results were obtained by cluster calculations, which took the solvent effects into account properly. In this approach, a solvent molecule (acetone) was attached by a hydrogen bond to every hydrogen atom present in a PCB acid, and the geometry of the molecular cluster was optimized employing the AM1 method. For 158 chemical shifts, the cross-validated standard error was 2.8 ppm and…
Molecular orbital studies on brominated diphenyl ethers. Part I—conformational properties
2005
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are widely used as additive flame retardants and quantities in the environment are on the rise. Because they are structurally related to polychlorinated biphenyls and also to thyroid hormones, there is serious concern that PBDEs may pose a danger to human health. Knowledge of their conformational properties is key to assessing their environmental fate and risk. The conformational properties of PBDEs were investigated by quantum chemical methods including semiempirical self-consistent field molecular orbital (SCF-MO), ab initio SCF-MO and density functional theory (DFT). Conformational analyses of model congeners 2,2',4,6'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether and 2…