Vocal learning is a critical behavioral substrate for spoken human language. It is a rare trait found in three distantly related groups of birds-songbirds, hummingbirds, and parrots. These avian groups have remarkably similar systems of cerebral vocal nuclei for the control of learned vocalizations that are not found in their more closely related vocal non-learning relatives. These findings led to

Responses are typically faster and more accurate when both auditory and visual modalities are stimulated than when only one is. This bimodal advantage is generally attributed to a speeding of responding on bimodal trials, relative to unimodal trials. It remains possible that this effect might be due to a performance decrement on unimodal ones. To investigate this, two levels of auditory and visual

Spatially coupled low-density parity-check (SC-LDPC) codes are considered for transmission over the block-fading channel. The diversity order of the SC-LDPC codes is studied using density evolution and simulation results. We demonstrate that the diversity order of the code can be increased, without lowering the code rate, by simply increasing the coupling parameter (memory) of a SC-LDPC code. For

The properties of modified cellulose polymers, such as methylcellulose, are significantly influenced by the distribution of substituents along the polymer backbone. This distribution is difficult to determine due to the lack of suitable analytical methods. One approach is to use cellulose-degrading enzymes to gain information from the capability of the enzymes to cleave the bonds between glucose u

Spectral tuning is a diverse topic, both with regard to mechanism and with regard to biological significance. We have touched upon a related topic already when dealing with quantum dots in Chapter 5. In organisms, spectral tuning can be achieved both by chemical means (choice of pigment) and by physical means. The latter aspect is treated towards the end of the chapter in a section on structural c

For the purpose of various synchronization tasks (including carrier phase, time, frequency, and frame synchronization), one may add a known pilot sequence, typically a pseudo-noise sequence, to the unknown data sequence. This approach is known as a spread-spectrum pilot technique or as a superimposed pilot sequence technique. In this paper, we apply the superimposed pilot sequence technique for th

This chapter describes the construction and performance of a spectrophotometer that is very easily constructed from a DVD, a digital camera, a lamp and some cardboard, wood, and sheet metal.

Abstract in UndeterminedAccurately modelling the dynamic behaviour of multi-storey buildings in wood requires the geometry involved to be represented in great detail, resulting in systems having many millions of degrees of freedom. Consequently, there is a need for model order reduction and the methodology of substructure modelling is employed here to create reduced models for analysis of low-freq

Iron N-heterocyclic carbene (FeNHC) complexes with long-lived charge transfer states are emerging as a promising class of photoactive materials. We have synthesized [FeII(ImP)2] (ImP = bis(2,6-bis(3-methylimidazol-2-ylidene-1-yl)phenylene)) that combines carbene ligands with cyclometalation for additionally improved ligand field strength. The 9 ps lifetime of its 3MLCT (metal-to-ligand charge tran

Objective: Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is an age-related vasculitis. Prior studies have identified an association between GCA and hematologic malignancies (HMs). How the presence of somatic mutations that drive the development of HMs, or clonal hematopoiesis (CH), may influence clinical outcomes in GCA is not well understood. Methods: To examine an association between CH and GCA, we analyzed sequen

Laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) has been developed for visualization of fuel distribution fields in an operating spark-ignition (SI) engine. Since the standard research fuel iso-octane, does not yield a useful LIF signal a fluorescent additive was used. None of the commonly used seeds were found adequate. A seed not commonly used in this context, 3-pentanone, C2H5COC2H5, was chosen due to favorab

Objective: To assess overall resource consumption, work capacity and quality of life of patients with multiple sclerosis in nine European countries. Methods: Information on resource consumption related to multiple sclerosis, informal care by relatives, productivity losses and overall quality of life (utility) was collected with a standardised pre-tested questionnaire from 13186 patients enrolled i

OBJECTIVE: The study was undertaken to measure baseline values for chemical markers in human subjects during wakefulness, anesthesia, and neurosurgery, using intracerebral microdialysis. METHODS: Microdialysis catheters were inserted into normal posterior frontal cerebral cortex in nine patients who were undergoing surgery to treat benign lesions of the posterior fossa. The perfusion rate was 1.0