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Sample records for sweetcorn

  1. Knowing what, where, and when: event comprehension in language processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kukona, Anuenue; Altmann, Gerry T M; Kamide, Yuki

    2014-10-01

    We investigated the retrieval of location information, and the deployment of attention to these locations, following (described) event-related location changes. In two visual world experiments, listeners viewed arrays with containers like a bowl, jar, pan, and jug, while hearing sentences like "The boy will pour the sweetcorn from the bowl into the jar, and he will pour the gravy from the pan into the jug. And then, he will taste the sweetcorn". At the discourse-final "sweetcorn", listeners fixated context-relevant "Target" containers most (jar). Crucially, we also observed two forms of competition: listeners fixated containers that were not directly referred to but associated with "sweetcorn" (bowl), and containers that played the same role as Targets (goals of moving events; jug), more than distractors (pan). These results suggest that event-related location changes are encoded across representations that compete for comprehenders' attention, such that listeners retrieve, and fixate, locations that are not referred to in the unfolding language, but related to them via object or role information. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Previsão do preço dos principais grãos produzidos no Rio Grande do Sul Forcasting the price of major grains produced in Rio Grande do Sul

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Analice Marchezan

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available Objetivou-se realizar previsões para o ano de 2007, referente ao preço das principais culturas das lavouras temporárias desenvolvidas no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Os dados-base da quantidade produzida dos principais grãos analisados foram a média anual, de 1995 a 2006, as previsões de preços, de janeiro de 1995 a dezembro de 2006. Para realização das previsões do preço das culturas de soja, arroz e milho no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul foi utilizada Metodologia Box & Jenkins. Para as culturas destacadas, a metodologia captou vários modelos significativos, mas por meiodos Critérios Penalizadores, AIC, SBC e Erro Quadrado Médio, escolheu-se o melhor modelo para cada série, sendo ideal o modelo ARIMA (0,1,2(0,1,0 para a soja; o modelo SARIMA(1,1,0(1,0,1 para o arroz e o modelo ARIMA (2,1,1(0,1,0 para o milho.The aim of this research was to make predictions for 2007, referring to the price of temporary crops developed in the Rio Grande do Sul state. The data-base of the amout produced of the major grain analyzed were the annual average1995 to 2006 and price produced, from January 1995 to December 2006. To accomplish the forecasts in relation to prices of soybean, rice and sweetcorn in RS state, it was used the Box & Jenkins methodology. To such cultivations, the methodoly showed many significant models, however, through the penalizing criterias, AIC e SBC, in addition to the square average error, it was possible to choose the best model for each serie, being the model ARIMA (0,1,2(0,1,0 to soybean; the model SARIMA (1,1,0(1,0,1 to rice and the model ARIMA (2,1,1(0,1,0 to sweetcorn.

  3. Nitrogen fixation by Gliricidia sepium: decomposition of its leaves in soil and effects on sweet-corn yields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zaharah, A.R.; Sharifuddin, H.A.H.; Anular, R.; Bah, A.R.; Mwange, K.Nk.; Kathuli, P.; Juma, P.

    1998-01-01

    Nitrogen fixation by Gliricidia sepium subjected to three pruning regimes (one, two or four cuts per year) was measured using the 15 N-dilution technique with Cassia siamea as the reference species. Over a 4-year period, estimates of the fraction of N derived from fixation, generally 2 fixer. Gliricidia sepium leaves were placed in litter-bags, buried in an ultisol and sampled at intervals over 70 days. The half-life for dry matter was 17 days, and about 60% of the N was lost within 10 days; K and Ca were the most rapidly released nutrients, with half-lives of only 1 and 3 days, respectively. The N contributions from G. sepium leaves and roots to alley-cropped sweet corn were quantified by the 15 N-dilution technique over three growing seasons. The application of leaves with roots resulted in increased N uptake and dry matter yield in corn. Below-ground competition between hedgerow and corn, assessed using 32 P with the third crop, occurred under conditions of low nutrient-availability. The data imply that there is no advantage of the cut-and-carry system over permanent hedgerows, provided that prunings are applied at the time of nutrient demand in the crop. (author)

  4. Irradiation to ensure the safety and quality of some ethnic soups, snacks and Yunan chicken

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Irawati, Z.; Harsojo; Nurcahya, C.M.; Anas, F.; Natalia, L.

    2009-01-01

    Semi-concentrated black, oxtail, chicken vegetable and chicken sweetcorn soups, precooked spring roll, rissole and croquette snacks, and Yunan chicken were individually packed in a dry laminate pouch of PET 12 μm/LDPE adh.2 μm/Al foil 7 μm /LDPE adh/LLDPE (C4) 50 μm under vacuum followed by freezing for 24 h at -18 deg. C prior to irradiation with doses of 1, 3, 5 and 7 kGy at cryogenic conditions (-79 deg. C). Both the non-irradiated and irradiated prepared meals were then stored in a refrigerator at 5 ± 2 deg. C. The non-irradiated samples and those samples irradiated at 1 kGy were mostly damaged after a week in storage. Gamma irradiation at doses of 5-7 kGy for soups and snacks, and doses of 3-5 kGy for Yunan chicken can reduce the microbial load by about 2-3 log cycles, respectively, without affecting the physicochemical parameters and palatability over 2-3 months. However, the irradiated spring roll was unable to withstand more than 1 month storage. The D 10 values for potential pathogens on Yunan chicken were 0.28 kGy for Salmonella typhimurium, 0.17 kGy for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 0.12 kGy for Escherichia coli O157, 0.66 kGy for Listeria monocytogenes and 0.09 kGy for Campylobacter jejuni. (author)

  5. Behavioural and physiological effects of finely balanced decision-making in chickens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davies, Anna C; Nicol, Christine J; Persson, Mia E; Radford, Andrew N

    2014-01-01

    In humans, more difficult decisions result in behavioural and physiological changes suggestive of increased arousal, but little is known about the effect of decision difficulty in other species. A difficult decision can have a number of characteristics; we aimed to monitor how finely balanced decisions, compared to unbalanced ones, affected the behaviour and physiology of chickens. An unbalanced decision was one in which the two options were of unequal net value (1 (Q1) vs. 6 (Q6) pieces of sweetcorn with no cost associated with either option); a finely balanced decision was one in which the options were of equal net value (i.e. hens were "indifferent" to both options). To identify hens' indifference, a titration procedure was used in which a cost (electromagnetic weight on an access door) was applied to the Q6 option, to find the individual point at which hens chose this option approximately equally to Q1 via a non-weighted door. We then compared behavioural and physiological indicators of arousal (head movements, latency to choose, heart-rate variability and surface body temperature) when chickens made decisions that were unbalanced or finely balanced. Significant physiological (heart-rate variability) and behavioural (latency to pen) differences were found between the finely balanced and balanced conditions, but these were likely to be artefacts of the greater time and effort required to push through the weighted doors. No other behavioural and physiological measures were significantly different between the decision categories. We suggest that more information is needed on when best to monitor likely changes in arousal during decision-making and that future studies should consider decisions defined as difficult in other ways.

  6. Behavioural and physiological effects of finely balanced decision-making in chickens.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna C Davies

    Full Text Available In humans, more difficult decisions result in behavioural and physiological changes suggestive of increased arousal, but little is known about the effect of decision difficulty in other species. A difficult decision can have a number of characteristics; we aimed to monitor how finely balanced decisions, compared to unbalanced ones, affected the behaviour and physiology of chickens. An unbalanced decision was one in which the two options were of unequal net value (1 (Q1 vs. 6 (Q6 pieces of sweetcorn with no cost associated with either option; a finely balanced decision was one in which the options were of equal net value (i.e. hens were "indifferent" to both options. To identify hens' indifference, a titration procedure was used in which a cost (electromagnetic weight on an access door was applied to the Q6 option, to find the individual point at which hens chose this option approximately equally to Q1 via a non-weighted door. We then compared behavioural and physiological indicators of arousal (head movements, latency to choose, heart-rate variability and surface body temperature when chickens made decisions that were unbalanced or finely balanced. Significant physiological (heart-rate variability and behavioural (latency to pen differences were found between the finely balanced and balanced conditions, but these were likely to be artefacts of the greater time and effort required to push through the weighted doors. No other behavioural and physiological measures were significantly different between the decision categories. We suggest that more information is needed on when best to monitor likely changes in arousal during decision-making and that future studies should consider decisions defined as difficult in other ways.

  7. In-vitro morphogenesis of corn (Zea mays L.) : I. Differentiation of multiple shoot clumps and somatic embryos from shoot tips.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhong, H; Srinivasan, C; Sticklen, M B

    1992-07-01

    In-vitro methods have been developed to regenerate clumps of multiple shoots and somatic embryos at high frequency from shoot tips of aseptically-grown seedlings as well as from shoot apices of precociously-germinated immature zygotic embryos of corn (Zea mays L.). About 500 shoots were produced from a shoot tip after eight weeks of culture (primary culture and one subculture of four weeks) in darkness on Murashige and Skoog basal medium (MS) supplemented with 500 mg/L casein hydrolysate (CH) and 9 μM N(6)-benzyladenine (BA). In this medium, shoots formed in shoot tips as tightly packed "multiple shoot clumps" (MSC), which were composed of some axillary shoots and many adventitious shoots. When the shoot tips were cultured on MS medium containing 500 mg/L CH, 9 μM BA and 2.25 μM 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), most of the shoots in the clumps were adventitious in origin. Similar shoot tips cultured on MS medium containing 500 mg/L CH, 4.5 μM BA and 2.25 μM 2,4-D regenerated many somatic embryos within eight weeks of culture. Somatic embryos were produced either directly from the shoot apical meristems or from calli derived from the shoots apices. Both the MSC and the embryos produced normal shoots on MS medium containing 2.25 μM BA and 1.8 μM indole-3-butyric acid (IBA). These shoots were rooted on MS medium containing 3.6 μM IBA, and fertile corn plants were grown in the greenhouse. The sweet-corn genotype, Honey N Pearl, was used for the experiments described above, but shoot-tip cultures from all of 19 other corn genotypes tested also formed MSC on MS medium containing 500 mg/L CH and 9 μM BA.

  8. Parasitismo natural em ovos crisopídeos Natural egg parasitism of chrysopids

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Alice de Medeiros

    2009-02-01

    Full Text Available Os predadores, em geral, apresentam hábitos generalistas e por isso podem ser usados em programas de controle biológico, em diferentes agroecossistemas. A sobrevivência dos predadores é afetada por diversos fatores, como, por exemplo, a presença de parasitóides. Este trabalho foi conduzido com os objetivos de identificar os parasitóides de crisopídeos, especialmente os parasitóides de ovos, e determinar o nível de parasitismo natural. As amostragens foram feitas na Embrapa Hortaliças, em campos de milho-doce, de setembro/1997 a fevereiro/1998. Os ovos de crisopídeos foram coletados semanalmente, sendo individualizados em cápsulas de gelatina até a emergência da larva e/ou do parasitóide. Foram coletados 800 ovos de crisopídeos, sendo que em 71% dos ovos, as larvas sobreviveram; 9% dos ovos foram considerados inviáveis e 20% foram parasitados por seis espécies de microhimenópteros. Destes, 57% foram parasitados por Telenomus sp. (Scelionidae, 32% por Trichogramma pretiosum (Trichogrammatidae, 6% por Oencyrtus chrysopae Crawford (Encyrtidae e 5% por Aprostocetus sp. (Eulophidae.Most predators, in general, have generalist habits and can be used as biological control agents in several crops. Predator survival is affected by several factors, such as occurrence of parasitoids. The main purpose of this research was to identify the parasitoids of chrysopids, especially egg parasitoids and their level of parasitism. The samples were taken in a sweet-corn field at Embrapa Hortaliças from September/1997 to February/1998. The chrysopids eggs were collected weekly and then individualized in gelatine capsules until larval or parasitoid emergency. A total of 800 eggs were collected. The predator emerged from 71% of the eggs, 9% were inviable eggs and the other 20% were parasitized by six species of microhymenopterans. Among these, 57% were parasitized by Telenomus sp. (Scelionidae, 32% were parasitized by Trichogramma pretiosum

  9. ServAR: An augmented reality tool to guide the serving of food.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rollo, Megan E; Bucher, Tamara; Smith, Shamus P; Collins, Clare E

    2017-05-12

    Accurate estimation of food portion size is a difficult task. Visual cues are important mediators of portion size and therefore technology-based aids may assist consumers when serving and estimating food portions. The current study evaluated the usability and impact on estimation error of standard food servings of a novel augmented reality food serving aid, ServAR. Participants were randomised into one of three groups: 1) no information/aid (control); 2) verbal information on standard serving sizes; or 3) ServAR, an aid which overlayed virtual food servings over a plate using a tablet computer. Participants were asked to estimate the standard serving sizes of nine foods (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, green beans, kidney beans, potato, pasta, rice, and sweetcorn) using validated food replicas. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests compared median served weights of each food to reference standard serving size weights. Percentage error was used to compare the estimation of serving size accuracy between the three groups. All participants also performed a usability test using the ServAR tool to guide the serving of one randomly selected food. Ninety adults (78.9% female; a mean (95%CI) age 25.8 (24.9-26.7) years; BMI 24.2 (23.2-25.2) kg/m 2 ) completed the study. The median servings were significantly different to the reference portions for five foods in the ServAR group, compared to eight foods in the information only group and seven foods for the control group. The cumulative proportion of total estimations per group within ±10%, ±25% and ±50% of the reference portion was greater for those using ServAR (30.7, 65.2 and 90.7%; respectively), compared to the information only group (19.6, 47.4 and 77.4%) and control group (10.0, 33.7 and 68.9%). Participants generally found the ServAR tool easy to use and agreed that it showed potential to support optimal portion size selection. However, some refinements to the ServAR tool are required to improve the user experience. Use of the