A method to experimentally clamp leaf water content to defined values to assess its effects on apoplastic pH

Background Leaf hydration is controlled by feedback mechanisms, e.g. stomatal responses, adjustments of osmotic potential and hydraulic conductivity. Leaf water content thus is an input into related feedback-loops controlling the balance of water uptake and loss. Apoplastic alkalisation upon leaf dehydration is hypothesized to be involved in water stress related signaling on tissue level. When studying these mechanisms and their intermediate signaling steps, an experimenter has only poor means to actually control the central experimental variable, leaf water content (LWC), because it is not only dependent on external variables (e.g. air humidity), which are under experimental control, but is also governed by the biological influences controlling transpiration and water uptake. Those are often unknown in their magnitude, unpredictable and fluctuating throughout an experiment and will prevent true repetitions of an experiment. The goal of the method presented here is to experimentally control and manipulate leaf water content (LWC) of attached intact leaves enclosed in a cuvette. Results An experimental setup was developed where LWC is measured by a sensor based on IR-transmission and its signal processed to control a pump which circulates air from the cuvette through a cold trap. Hereby a feedback-loop is formed, which by adjusting vapour pressure deficit (VPD) and consequently leaf transpiration can precisely control LWC. This technique is demonstrated here in a combination with microscopic fluorescence imaging of apoplastic pH (pH apo ) as indicated by the excitation ratio of the pH sensitive dye OregonGreen. Initial results indicate that pH apo of the adaxial epidermis of Vicia faba is linearly related to reductions in LWC. Conclusions Using this setup, constant LWC levels, step changes or ramps can be experimentally applied while simultaneously measuring physiological responses. The example experiments demonstrate that bringing LWC under experimental control in this way allows better controlled and more repeatable experiments to probe quantitative relationships between LWC and signaling and regulatory processes.

Beyond Counting Clients and Surveying Satisfaction: Directly Measuring the Impacts of CTL Consultations

Evidence-based practice in educational development includes leveraging data to iteratively refine CTL services. However, CTL data collection is often limited to counts and satisfaction surveys, rather than direct measures of outcomes. To directly assess impacts of CTL consultations on course and syllabus design practices, we analyzed 94 clients’ syllabi (n=32 faculty, n=62 graduate students and postdocs), before and after CTL consultations. Faculty and non-faculty clients demonstrated significant change following consultations (6% and 10% gains in syllabus rubric scores, representing 50% and 31% of possible gains, respectively). We compared faculty clients to quasi-experimental control groups who did not receive consultations. Syllabi from non-clients scored lower and did not demonstrate similar changes across semesters. Attendance at a CTL seminar on course and syllabus design did not explain variation in clients’ syllabi. We discuss implications for assessment of CTL services. Additionally, we compare and contrast the affordances of syllabi and other teaching artifacts as data sources in direct assessments of CTL impacts.      

Creation of an unexpected plane of enhanced covalency in cerium(III) and berkelium(III) terpyridyl complexes

Controlling the properties of heavy element complexes, such as those containing berkelium, is challenging because relativistic effects, spin-orbit and ligand-field splitting, and complex metal-ligand bonding, all dictate the final electronic states of the molecules. While the first two of these are currently beyond experimental control, covalent M‒L interactions could theoretically be boosted through the employment of chelators with large polarizabilities that substantially shift the electron density in the molecules. This theory is tested by ligating BkIII with 4’-(4-nitrophenyl)-2,2’:6’,2”-terpyridine (terpy*), a ligand with a large dipole. The resultant complex, Bk(terpy*)(NO3)3(H2O)·THF, is benchmarked with its closest electrochemical analog, Ce(terpy*)(NO3)3(H2O)·THF. Here, we show that enhanced Bk‒N interactions with terpy* are observed as predicted. Unexpectedly, induced polarization by terpy* also creates a plane in the molecules wherein the M‒L bonds trans to terpy* are shorter than anticipated. Moreover, these molecules are highly anisotropic and rhombic EPR spectra for the CeIII complex are reported.

Optimization Method of Art Design Resource Scheduling for 6G Network Environment in Colleges and Universities

In order to solve the problem of low flexibility margin of traditional art and design resource scheduling in colleges and universities, an optimization method for art and design resource scheduling in the 6G network environment has been designed. By determining the flexibility margin index of university art and design resource scheduling, the scheduling optimization model is established, the scheduling communication parameters are set for the 6G network environment, the delay of university art and design resource scheduling is perceived, the period of insufficient flexibility is searched, and elimination measures are taken to realize the optimization of university art and design resource scheduling. The experimental results show that the margin of the designed scheduling method is always higher than that of the experimental control group in the same scheduling period, which can solve the problem of low scheduling flexibility margin of traditional methods.

Understanding crowd responses to emergencies using virtual reality and social psychological methods

Our project brings together research from crowd psychology and evacuation research to design and build virtual reality experiments that explore crowd responses to perceived threats. This summary outlines some of the main advantages and considerations that we have found when combining our research areas. We discuss novel ways to overcome practical and ethical limitations when researching responses to emergencies and behaviour in large groups, methodological advances that address common issues such as interdependence of data and experimental control, the ability to integrate and test theory into study design, and the benefits of triangulating diverse data collection methods to understand how and why crowd reactions occur in emergencies in real-time.

Quantum Dynamical Simulation of a Transversal Stern–Gerlach Interferometer

Originally conceived as a thought experiment, an apparatus consisting of two Stern–Gerlach apparatuses joined in an inverted manner touched on the fundamental question of the reversibility of evolution in quantum mechanics. Theoretical analysis showed that uniting the two partial beams requires an extreme level of experimental control, making the proposal in its original form unrealizable in practice. In this work, we revisit the above question in a numerical study concerning the possibility of partial-beam recombination in a spin-coherent manner. Using the Suzuki–Trotter numerical method of wave propagation and a configurable, approximation-free magnetic field, a simulation of a transversal Stern–Gerlach interferometer under ideal conditions is performed. The result confirms what has long been hinted at by theoretical analyses: the transversal Stern–Gerlach interferometer quantum dynamics is fundamentally irreversible even when perfect control of the associated magnetic fields and beams is assumed.

Comparing Blood Loss Estimates by Medical Laypeople in Online and In-person Formats using SABLE

To design interventions for teaching laypeople how to respond in hemorrhage situations, it is necessary to understand factors that influence their perception of blood loss. Although lab-based research offers more experimental control, it limits access to certain kinds of participants. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare results from an online administration of a web-based application (SABLE) to data collected using the same application in a lab. Participants viewed 78 5-second video clips of simulated bleeding injuries with a male or female victim and different volumes of blood loss. They estimated the volume of blood loss after each video. The results replicated the general findings from prior research and revealed no significant differences in estimations or estimation accuracy between the online and lab-based administration of SABLE. Results are discussed in terms of applicability to research practice.

Parts and Wholes: Reduction Allometry and Modularity in Experimental Folsom Points

Projectile points are a common subject of archaeological study. In the past decade, landmark-based geometric morphometrics (LGM) has increasingly been used to analyze points as whole objects. LGM and other studies document allometric changes in points—change in shape with change in size—as a product of resharpening. Allometry registers in part because different segments or modules of points are subject to different degrees of resharpening, with blades often experiencing more reduction than stems. Different modules retain varying degrees of morphological integrity as points move through their use lives. Most previous LGM studies involved two-dimensional point models, and few tested directly for modularity. We apply LGM methods to three-dimensional models of Folsom point replicas whose degree and pattern of reduction are known, finding evidence for both allometry and modularity, with modest integration. Complementary non-LGM data reveal similar results, indicating a robust pattern and ways to approximate LGM results in other data. Moreover, our dataset's experimental control clearly identifies the results as a function of the progressive reduction in use experienced by points.

आत्महीनता पर गायत्री साधना का प्रभाव

प्रस्तुत शोध कार्य आचार्य श्रीराम शर्मा के द्वारा निर्देशित गायत्री साधना का आत्महीनता पर प्रभाव का अध्ययन करने के लिए किया गया है । जिसमें नियंत्रित प्रयोगात्मक समूह अभिकल्प प्रयोग कर 60 दिनों तक 45 मिनट का अभ्यास कराया गया । शोध कार्य में 17-25 आयु वर्ग के 120 (80 प्रयोगिक, 40 नियंत्रण) प्रतिदर्श का चयन देव संस्कृति विश्वविद्यालय, महिला व्यवसायिक शिक्षण संस्थान, पंजाब सिंध क्षेत्र इंटर कॉलेज और भरत मंदिर संस्कृत महाविद्यालय ऋषिकेश से कोटा प्रतिचयन विधि द्वारा किया गया है । प्रस्तुत परिणाम 0.01 स्तर पर सार्थक है जो यह दर्शाता है कि गायत्री साधना का आत्महीनता पर सकारात्मक प्रभाव पड़ता है । The present investigation was undertaken to study the effect of Gayatri Sadhana described by Acharya ShriRam Sharma on Self Inferiority. Practice was 45 minutes daily for a total duration of 60 days. Experimental control design was used. In this research 120 subjects (80 experimental, 40 control) were taken from Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya, Mahila Vyavsaik Shikshan Sansthan, Punjab Sindh kshetra Inter College and Bharat Mandir Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya of Rishikesh of age group 17 to 25 by quota sampling. Results were significant on 0.01 level that show Gayatri Sadhana has positive effect on self Inferiority.