Academic literature on the topic 'Actifos'

This study is designed to test the potential for reducing the growth of the mycelium of the fungus <em>Hymenoscyphus fraxineus</em> (<em>anamorph Chalara fraxinea</em>) by using phosphite preparations at various concentrations in vitro. The study shows that adding pure phosphite to potato dextrose agar media inhibits the development of the fungus, but if the preparation is applied in the form of ammonium phosphite (Actifos), the growth of fungus will be accelerated. Probably the addition of nitrogen contained in the product Actifos has positive effect on the mycelial growth, but pure phosphite restricts its development. These studies are preliminary and only show the potential use of phosphite to reduce the development of <em>H. fraxineus</em>; however, to completely confirm its operation, further research is needed in this area.

Abstract This study is designed to test the potential for reducing the growth of the mycelium of the fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus (anamorph Chalara fraxinea) by using phosphite preparations at various concentrations in vitro. The study shows that adding pure phosphite to potato dextrose agar media inhibits the development of the fungus, but if the preparation is applied in the form of ammonium phosphite (Actifos), the growth of fungus will be accelerated. Probably the addition of nitrogen contained in the product Actifos has positive effect on the mycelial growth, but pure phosphite restricts its development. These studies are preliminary and only show the potential use of phosphite to reduce the development of H. fraxineus; however, to completely confirm its operation, further research is needed in this area.

In the last decades, a new wave of oak decline has been observed in Poland. The most important pathogenic organisms involved in this phenomenon are probably soil-borne pathogens <em>Phytophthoragenus</em>, especially <em>P. quercina</em>. In this work, we sought to test the influence of elevated CO₂ concentration on the susceptibility of oaks (<em>Quercus robur</em> L.) to infection by<em> P. quercina</em>. In order to test the susceptibility of oak fine roots to infection, we applied phosphite-based fertiliser Actifos in 0.6% concentration. One-year-old oak seedlings were grown for one year in greenhouse with either an ambient atmosphere (400 ppm CO₂) or an elevated (800 ppm) concentration of CO₂. Oaks grown at the elevated CO₂ concentration developed longer shoots as proved by statistically significant differences. However, there was no difference in the development of root systems. The application of Actifos had a positive significant effect on the development of shoots and the surface area of fine roots under the elevated CO₂ concentration.

The European Fraxinus species are threatened by the alien invasive pathogen Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, which was introduced into Poland in the 1990s and has spread throughout the European continent, causing a large-scale decline of ash. There are no effective treatments to protect ash trees against ash dieback, which is caused by this pathogen, showing high variations in susceptibility at the individual level. Earlier studies have shown that the application of phosphites could improve the health of treated seedlings after artificial inoculation with H. fraxineus. Three-year-old F. excelsior seedlings were inoculated with the following pathogens: a H. fraxineus, Phytophthora species mixture (P. plurivora, P. megasperma, and P. taxon hungarica), in combination with two pathogens and mock-inoculated as the control, and then either watered or treated with ammonium phosphite (Actifos). Results showed significant differences in the survival of seedlings and symptoms of disease development among the treatments. Chlorophyll-a fluorescence parameters indicated a decrease in photosynthetic efficiency in infected plants, suggesting that they were under strong biotic stress, but none of the parameters could be used as a reliable bioindicator for ash decline disease. The application of Actifos enhanced the production of triterpenes (ursolic and oleanolic acid), and decreased the production of phenols (tyrosol) and sterols (β-sitosterol) in seedlings infected with H. fraxineus. Treatment with Actifos caused seedlings to enhance their response to pathogen(s) attack and increase their survival probability.

AbstractThe aim of the project was to check the influence of ammonium phosphite preparation − Actifos on the physiology of leaves and a possible reduction of infection by the fungus a year after the application of fertilizer. Three observation plots were selected in Karczma Borowa, Krotoszyn and Piaski Forest Districts (FD). In each of these observation plots, trees were chosen randomly. In Karczma Borowa FD, the trees were treated by watering them with a 3% solution of Actifos. In Krotoszyn FD, the leaves of trees were sprayed twice (in July and September) from the plane using a 50% solution of Actifos; and in Piaski FD, only the trunks of tress were sprayed twice the same way, but in July 2012 and September 2013. In October 2013, from each tested tree, ten leaves were selected randomly from the upper, well-lit parts of their crowns. The assessment of leaf surface damaged by mycelium and chlorophyllafluorescence was performed. After the application of the phosphite, no negative physiological consequences for the treated trees were noticed − neither concerning the average leaf area nor the fluorescence of chlorophyll. The manner of phosphite application (leaves, trunks or roots) did not cause any negative consequences for the vitality/health of the treated trees as compared to the control trees. A certain tendency in the reduction of oak mildew on the treated leaves with phosphite was observed, however these observations should be continued in the next years.

The aim of the project was to check the influence of ammonium phosphite preparation &minus; Actifos on the physiology of leaves and a possible reduction of infection by the fungus a year after the application of fertilizer. Three observation plots were selected in Karczma Borowa, Krotoszyn and Piaski Forest Districts (FD). In each of these observation plots, trees were chosen randomly. In Karczma Borowa FD, the trees were treated by watering them with a 3% solution of Actifos. In Krotoszyn FD, the leaves of trees were sprayed twice (in July and September) from the plane using a 50% solution of Actifos; and in Piaski FD, only the trunks of tress were sprayed twice the same way, but in July 2012 and September 2013. In October 2013, from each tested tree, ten leaves were selected randomly from the upper, well-lit parts of their crowns. The assessment of leaf surface damaged by mycelium and chlorophyll <em>a</em> fluorescence was performed. After the application of the phosphite, no negative physiological consequences for the treated trees were noticed &minus; neither concerning the average leaf area nor the fluorescence of chlorophyll. The manner of phosphite application (leaves, trunks or roots) did not cause any negative consequences for the vitality/health of the treated trees as compared to the control trees. A certain tendency in the reduction of oak mildew on the treated leaves with phosphite was observed, however these observations should be continued in the next years.

AbstractIn the circumstances of only a limited number of pesticides being approved for use in forest nurseries, it is necessary to also examine the efficacy of new products available on the European market that stimulate growth and improve resilience and vitality among seedlings and saplings, with a view to the application of these products forming part of an integrated programme of plant protection. This paper describes trials of the three commercially available fertilizer products Actifos, Zielony Busz and Effective Microorganisms (EM), as carried out in seven Polish nurseries in an attempt to promote the growth of shoots and root systems of seedlings and saplings. In 64% of cases of it being used, Actifos was shown to stimulate growth significantly beyond control levels in the shoots of oak, beech, pine, spruce and alder saplings as well as the roots of young alders and oaks.

Abstract In the last decades, a new wave of oak decline has been observed in Poland. The most important pathogenic organisms involved in this phenomenon are probably soil-borne pathogens Phytophthoragenus, especially P. quercina. In this work, we sought to test the influence of elevated CO2 concentration on the susceptibility of oaks (Quercus robur L.) to infection by P. quercina. In order to test the susceptibility of oak fine roots to infection, we applied phosphite-based fertiliser Actifos in 0.6% concentration. One-year-old oak seedlings were grown for one year in greenhouse with either an ambient atmosphere (400 ppm CO2) or an elevated (800 ppm) concentration of CO2. Oaks grown at the elevated CO2 concentration developed longer shoots as proved by statistically significant differences. However, there was no difference in the development of root systems. The application of Actifos had a positive significant effect on the development of shoots and the surface area of fine roots under the elevated CO2 concentration.

Досліджено перспективи використання фосфітів як стимуляторів відпірності дерев дуба звичайного до патогенів з роду Phytophthora. Для цього на території надлісництва "Кротошин" Регіональної дирекції державних лісів у Познані (Польща) закладено пробні площі, на яких з літака оброблено дубові деревостани препаратами Kalex та Actifos. Для порівняльного аналізу вибрано 30 оброблених препаратами дерев та 30 контрольних. Усі вкриті лісом ділянки характеризуються типом лісорослинних умов свіжий сугруд (C2) та типом лісу – свіжа грабова судіброва. Встановлено статистично обґрунтовану відмінність у середніх значеннях досліджуваних ознак коріння для оброблених фосфітами та контрольних дерев. Встановлено, що сукупний вплив біотичних та абіотичних чинників на ріст дерев та формування їхніх кореневих систем у досліджуваних деревостанах є подібним. Зважаючи на наявність у ґрунті патогенів з роду Phytophthora, дерева, оброблені фосфітами, мають кращі значення стану крони, що було використано як індикатор загального санітарного стану досліджуваних дерев. Здійснений аналіз зміни середніх значень ознак коренів показав відмінність у формуванні власне цих ознак у здорових, пошкоджених та замираючих оброблених фосфітами та контрольних дерев. Зважаючи на певні особливості, формалізовано залежність ступеня дефоліації та синтетичного індексу Syn від відповідних морфолого-таксаційних ознак дерев та ознак коріння. Отримані регресійні рівняння дають змогу пояснити тенденції та здійснити наближений прогноз модельваних залежностей для оброблених фосфітами та контрольних дерев.

In this study, greenhouse tests were conducted on 240 Fraxinus excelsior seedlings to investigate the simultaneous damage caused by thea pathogenic fungus and oomycetes. The experiment was performed under controlled conditions in the greenhouse of the Institute of Forest Research in Sękocin Stary (Poland). Three species of oomycetes were used for the experiment: Phytophthora plurivora, Phytophthora taxon hungarica, Phytophthora megasperma, and the fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. Inoculations using the fungus were carried out on shoots and in plant pots in which the soil was mixed with the three Phytophthora species mentioned above, both simultaneously and separately, which made it possible to recognize the cumulative effect of the related plant infection. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of phosphite-containing preparations on the health of common ash under conditions of threat to the roots by Phytophthora spp. and damage to the aerial parts of the plant by the fungus, as well as the possible occurrence of synergistic effects. Two types of protective preparations (Actifos and Phos60 of the nitrogen and potassium forms, respectively) were used. It was found that the inoculation of ash seedlings with the fungus H. fraxineus resulted in plant mortality, while the mixture of Phytophthora did not cause significant damage. It was confirmed that when pathogens coexist, a phenomenon occurs that leads to an acceleration in the development of disease symptoms and, thus, to plant mortality. In vitro tests confirmed the usefulness of phosphite preparations for the protection of ash seedlings.

We think less than we think. My thesis moves from this suspicion to show that standard accounts of intentional action can't explain the whole of agency. Causalist accounts such as Davidson's and Bratman's, according to which an action can be intentional only if it is caused by a particular mental state of the agent, don't work for every kind of action. So-called automatic actions, effortless performances over which the agent doesn't deliberate, and to which she doesn't need to pay attention, constitute exceptions to the causalist framework, or so I argue in this thesis. Not all actions are the result of a mental struggle, painful hesitation, or the weighting of evidence. Through practice, many performances become second nature. Think of familiar cases such as one's morning routines and habits: turning on the radio, brushing your teeth. Think of the highly skilled performances involved in sport and music: Jarrett's improvised piano playing, the footballer's touch. Think of agents' spontaneous reactions to their environment: ducking a blow, smiling. Psychological research has long acknowledged the distinctiveness and importance of automatic actions, while philosophy has so far explained them together with the rest of agency. Intuition tells us that automatic actions are intentional actions of ours all the same (I have run a survey which shows that this intuition is widely shared): not only our own autonomous deeds for which we are held responsible, but also necessary components in the execution and satisfaction of our general plans and goals. But do standard causal accounts deliver on the intentionality of automatic actions? I think not. Because, in automatic cases, standard appeals to intentions, beliefs, desires, and psychological states in general ring hollow. We just act: we don't think, either consciously or unconsciously. On the reductive side, Davidson's view can't but appeal to, at best, unconscious psychological states, the presence and causal role of which is, I argue, inferred from the needs of a theory, rather than from evidence in the world. On the non-reductive side, Bratman agrees, with his refutation of the Simple View, that we can't just attach an intention to every action that we want to explain. But Bratman’s own Single Phenomenon View, appealing to the mysterious notion of 'motivational potential', merely acknowledges the need for refinement without actually providing one. So I propose my own account of intentional action, the 'guidance view', according to which automatic actions are intentional: differently from Davidson and Bratman, who only offer necessary conditions in order to avoid the problem of causal deviance, I offer a full-blown account: E's phi-ing is intentional if and only If phi-ing is under E's guidance. This account resembles one developed by Frankfurt, with the crucial difference that Frankfurt – taking 'acting with an intention' and 'acting intentionally' to be synonymous – thinks that guidance is sufficient only for some movement being an action, but not for some movement being an intentional action. I argue that, on the other hand, Frankfurt's concept of guidance can be developed so that it is sufficient for intentional action too. In Chapter One I present and defend my definition of ‘automatic action’. In Chapter Two I show that such understanding of automatic actions finds confirmation in empirical psychology. In Chapter Three I show that Davidson's reductive account of intentional action does not work for automatic actions. In Chapter Four I show that the two most influential non-reductive accounts of intentional action, the Simple View and Bratman's Single Phenomenon View, don't work either. And in Chapter Five I put forward and defend my positive thesis, the 'guidance view'. Also, in the Appendix I present the findings of my survey on the intentionality of automatic actions.

nÃo hÃ<br>In this article, was analyzed the capacity of valuation and forecast on the main stock investment funds in the Brazilian market, using the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), the Fama e French (1993) factor model and the Carhart (1997) four-factor model. According to the results, we have a better performance of the CAPM vis-Ã-vis the factor models, even for the investment funds that over perform the market. This result can be seen as an evidence of the necessity to develop a factor model a la Fama and French, but specific for investment funds.<br>Neste estudo foi analisada a capacidade de apreÃamento e previsÃo de retorno para os principais fundos de investimento em aÃÃes no mercado brasileiro, utilizando o modelo Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), o modelo de trÃs fatores desenvolvido por Fama e French (1993) e o modelo de quatro fatores apresentado por Carhart (1997). Os resultados mostram uma melhor performance do CAPM vis-Ã-vis os demais modelos de fatores usados, mesmo para fundos de investimento que tenham âsuperado o mercadoâ. Esta pode ser uma evidÃncia da necessidade de se derivar um modelo de fatores a la Fama e French, mas especÃfico para fundos de investimento.

Social interaction is an essential part of the human experience and actions are the primary means by which humans interact with the surrounding world. The ability to recognize and understand other people’s actions is necessary for an efficient interaction with other agents. Our motor system can promptly and accurately coordinate these forms of interactions in our daily activity. However, how the brain is able to produce such appropriate output has yet to be fully understood. The present work aims at unveiling the processes taking place in the motor system while observing actions of interactive agents and action calling for an (interactive) involvement of the observer. The core argument is to explore the flexibility of the motor system when preparing identical and non-identical responses in complex realistic situations, and to test the automaticity of these processes by directly investigating the role played by visuospatial attention during action observation. The introductory section of this thesis will first provide an overview of the state of the art regarding the mechanism that could be at the basis of the comprehension of other’s actions, that is the ‘mirror mechanism’ (Chapter 1). Mirror neurons are neural cells which activate both during the execution of an action and during the observation of the same action performed by another individual. From their first discovery in the premotor cortex of the macaque brain in the early nineties (Di Pellegrino, Fadiga, Fogassi, Gallese and Rizzolatti, 1992), these visuomotor neurons have been extensively studied both in primates and in humans. Chapter 1 will review evidence on the existence of such mirror mechanism and on its basic properties and anatomy, with a particular focus on the human literature concerned with the Action Observation System (AOS). Convergent evidence suggests that actions are coded in the observer’s brain in such a way that resembles the actual execution of the action. As a result, an embodied simulation (i.e., from the inside) would allow to understand the observed action through the onlooker’s own motor experience. However, to simulate the actions of other people is not always the best strategy to interact with them. Indeed, we are often required to perform actions which differ from those observed. Chapter 2 will summarize recent neurophysiological findings suggesting that the human brain is able to overcome the imitative bias in favor of non-identical responses which are appropriate to the context requirements. A particular focus will be given to the literature on complementary actions, namely a type of social interactions in which the involved agents have to perform incongruent responses to reach a common goal. Put simply, it seems that while the human motor system is prone to simulate other’s action, this imitative tendency can be modulated according to the context. However, whether top-down factors might play a role in determining the embodied simulation is still controversial. In Chapter 3 a review of the literature in which the automaticity of the visuo-motor transformation has been questioned will be presented. Overall, it emerges that top-down factors, such as visuospatial attention, may influence the motor simulation of observed actions. The second part of the present thesis concerns the experimental work I undertook. Chapter 4 provides a description of the general methodology common to the experimental studies conducted with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) coupled with electromyographic (EMG) registration to measure corticospinal excitability modulations during action observation. In the first experiment (Chapter 5) a novel paradigm to study complementary actions at the level of multiple effectors will be described. Participants were presented with a soccer player kicking a ball toward them, thus implicitly requiring their response as to parry the approaching ball. Control conditions showing lateral kicks, mimicked kicks, and the ball still in penalty area were also included. This paradigm was adopted to investigate the time-course of imitative and complementary responses in lower and upper limbs. In a subsequent experiment presented in Chapter 6, a similar paradigm was adopted, but crucially it included a condition in which the imitative and the complementary responses were simultaneously elicited in the observers’ motor system. This allowed to disentangle the contribution of different levels of motor coding – namely, kinematic, predictive and response coding – during action observation. Chapters 7 and 8 will report on two experiments aimed at clarifying the influence of spatial attention allocation during observation of actions eliciting (or not) a complementary response. In particular, in Chapter 7 participants were presented with action sequences evoking a complementary gesture, such as picking up a mug placed in the video foreground, when an individual was inviting them to do so. Notably, the observed and required actions were mismatched in order to investigate the observers’ spontaneous unfolding of different motor activations. Crucially, spatial attention allocation toward specific parts of the visual scene was manipulated by means of the sudden appearance of a red dot, and responses were recorded both at a behavioral (eye-tracking) and at a neurophysiological level. In a further experiment (Chapter 8), the allocation of attention toward parts of the visual scene was modulated by means of the actor’s gaze direction, which represents a more ecologically-valid manipulation. This experimental work shows the role of spatial attention in simulation and reciprocity, thus promoting a more complete and integrated understanding on the role of top-down factors in action observation. A general discussion (Chapter 9), contextualizing the results obtained by the studies presented in the present thesis will follow. Taken together, these studies will help to better define how the motor system flexibly and dynamically modulates its activity during the course of action observation. Moreover, the present work could broadening our view on action observation processes in social contexts, towards the definition of a more complete account.<br>Le interazioni sociali rappresentano un aspetto essenziale dell’esperienza umana, e le azioni rappresentano il mezzo principale attraverso cui gli esseri umani interagiscono con il mondo circostante. L’abilità di riconoscere e comprendere le azioni altrui è necessaria per garantire un’efficace interazione con altri individui. Nella vita quotidiana il sistema motorio è in grado di coordinare queste forme di interazione sociale con prontezza e accuratezza. Tuttavia, come il nostro cervello sia capace di produrre risposte così appropriate deve essere ancora pienamente compreso. L’obiettivo della presente tesi consiste nell’indagare i processi che hanno luogo nel sistema motorio durante l’osservazione di azioni, e in particolare nel caso di azioni che richiedono un coinvolgimento (interattivo) dell’osservatore. L’argomento principale che verrà trattato riguarda proprio la flessibilità del sistema motorio nel preparare azioni simili o dissimili rispetto a quanto osservato in situazioni realistiche. Inoltre, il presente lavoro ha lo scopo di verificare l’automaticità di questi processi, esaminando direttamente il ruolo giocato dall’attenzione visuospaziale durante l’osservazione di azioni. La parte introduttiva della presente tesi fornirà una panoramica sullo stato dell’arte riguardo il meccanismo che potrebbe essere alla base della comprensione delle azioni altrui, ossia il ‘meccanismo specchio’ (Capitolo 1). I neuroni specchio sono cellule neurali che si attivano sia durante l’esecuzione, che durante l’osservazione di una stessa azione compiuta da un altro individuo. Dalla loro prima scoperta nella corteccia premotoria della scimmia (Macaca nemestrina) all’inizio degli anni Novanta (Di Pellegrino, Fadiga, Fogassi, Gallese and Rizzolatti, 1992), questi neuroni visuo-motori sono stati estensivamente studiati sia nei primati che nell’uomo. Nel Capitolo 1 verrà quindi presentata una rassegna delle prove a favore dell’esistenza di tale meccanismo specchio, nonché sulle sue proprietà e basi anatomiche. Una particolare attenzione verrà data alla letteratura relativa agli studi condotti sull’uomo, approfondendo le evidenze riguardanti il Sistema di Osservazione dell’Azione (AOS) acquisite tramite l’uso di diverse metodologie. Risultati convergenti suggeriscono che le azioni vengano codificate nel cervello dell’osservatore in modo tale da replicare l’effettiva esecuzione dell’azione. Pertanto, una simulazione incarnata (dall’interno) permetterebbe di comprendere le azioni osservate tramite l’esperienza motoria propria dell’osservatore. Tuttavia, simulare le azioni altrui non è sempre la migliore strategia per interagire con essi. Spesso, invece, è necessario mettere in atto azioni che differiscono da quelle osservate. Nel Capitolo 2 saranno riassunte evidenze in ambito neurofisiologico che suggeriscono come il cervello umano sia in grado di superare il bias imitativo in favore di risposte dissimili, che sono tuttavia appropriate alle esigenze dettate dal contesto. Un’attenzione particolare verrà data alla letteratura riguardante le azioni complementari, un tipo di interazioni sociali nelle quali gli individui coinvolti devono eseguire azioni dissimili o opposte a quelle osservate, al fine di perseguire uno scopo comune. Riassumendo, il sistema motorio umano risulta essere incline a simulare le azioni altrui, ciò nonostante questa tendenza imitativa pare possa essere modulata in funzione del contesto in cui l’azione avviene. Tuttavia, qualora fattori top-down abbiano un ruolo nel determinare la simulazione incarnata è ancora un argomento dibattuto. Nel Capitolo 3 verrà presentata una rassegna della letteratura in cui l’automaticità della trasformazione visuo-motoria è stata messa in discussione. Complessivamente, emerge come fattori top-down, quali l’attenzione visuospaziale, possano influenzare il processo di simulazione motoria delle azioni osservate. Nella seconda parte della tesi verrà descritto il lavoro sperimentale da me svolto. Il Capitolo 4 fornirà una generale descrizione della metodologia adottata e comune a tutti gli studi in cui è stata utilizzata la stimolazione magnetica transcranica (TMS) accoppiata con la registrazione elettromiografica (EMG) per misurare modulazioni dell’eccitabilità corticospinale durante l’osservazione di azioni. Nel primo esperimento (Capitolo 5) è stato utilizzato un nuovo paradigma per lo studio delle azioni complementari che coinvolge effettori multipli. Ai partecipanti è stata presentata un’azione ritraente un calciatore lanciare una palla verso di loro, richiedendo implicitamente una loro risposta al fine di parare la palla in avvicinamento. Ulteriori condizioni di controllo in cui calci laterali, calci mimati, o in cui la palla veniva presentata ferma in area di rigore sono state utilizzate. Questo paradigma è stato adottato per studiare l’andamento temporale dell’insorgere delle risposte imitative e complementari in effettori inferiori e superiori. In un successivo esperimento presentato nel Capitolo 6 è stato adottato un paradigma simile, tuttavia esso includeva una condizione nella quale le risposte imitative e complementari venivano simultaneamente elicitate nel sistema motorio dell’osservatore. Ciò ha permesso di disambiguare il contributo di differenti livelli di codifica motoria – nello specifico, cinematico, predittivo e di codifica della risposta – in funzione durante l’osservazione di azioni. I Capitoli 7 e 8 riguarderanno invece due esperimenti aventi lo scopo di chiarificare l’influenza dell’attenzione spaziale durante l’osservazione di azioni capaci di elicitare o meno una risposta complementare. In particolare, nel Capitolo 7, ai partecipanti venivano mostrate sequenze di azioni che potevano evocare una risposta complementare, quale afferrare una tazza posizionata in primo piano, quando una persona li invitava a farlo. Va notato che il movimento osservato presentava caratteristiche muscolari diverse da quello richiesto, al fine di studiare lo spontaneo manifestarsi di attivazioni motorie differenti negli osservatori. Un aspetto cruciale è che l’allocazione dell’attenzione spaziale verso specifiche parti della scena visiva veniva manipolata tramite la rapida presentazione di un pallino rosso, e le risposte sono state registrate sia a livello comportamentale (eye-tracking) che neurofisiologico. In un successivo esperimento (Capitolo 8), l’allocazione di risorse attentive verso parti della scena visiva è stata modulata tramite la direzione dello sguardo dell’attore, utilizzando quindi una manipolazione che presenta una migliore validità ecologica. Questo lavoro sperimentale ha indagato il ruolo dell’attenzione nei processi di simulazione e reciprocità, promuovendo così la definizione di una più completa e integrata comprensione del ruolo di fattori top-down nell’osservazione di azioni. Seguirà una discussione generale (Capitolo 9) volta a contestualizzare i risultati ottenuti dagli studi presentati in questa tesi. Nel complesso, questi studi aiuteranno a definire meglio come il sistema motorio sia in grado di modulare la sua attività in maniera flessibile e dinamica durante l’osservazione di azioni. Inoltre, il presente lavoro di ricerca può contribuire ad ampliare la nostra conoscenza dei processi in atto durante l’osservazione di azioni in contesti sociali, in direzione di una più completa definizione del fenomeno.

L'environnement géologique a-t-il accumulé et conservé les molécules liées à la biominéralisation des carbonates qui forment les dépôts calcaires ? Si oui, ces molécules ont-elles conservé une activité biologique? La sédimentologie montre que la Provence possédait au Crétacé il y a 120 millions d'années, un rivage tropical bordé d'une plateforme carbonatée où se sont accumulés des biocalcaires d'une grande pureté comme à Orgon. Sur ce site, le calcaire piège les molécules organiques au cours de la diagenèse sous forme d'inclusions dans la calcite des rudistes (principaux producteurs de carbonates) grâce à un processus de dissolution/recristallisation centrifuge. Plusieurs modes opératoires ont été testés afin d'extraire ces molécules. Ils permettent d'obtenir deux grands types de complexes organo-minéraux: un extrait plutôt lipidique, obtenu essentiellement à l'alcool et l'autre plutôt protéique obtenu à l'eau. Leur activité a ensuite été testée sur la peau et sur l'os. L'activité dermatologique est démontrée sur des explants de peau humaine maintenus en survie. On observe un renouvellement de l'épiderme dès 9 jours sans dérèglement, une restructuration de la jonction dermoépidermique et dans le derme un réseau de collagène densifié ainsi que la production d'acide hyaluronique. Sur l'os, les extraits ont stimulé la différenciation des cellules de la lignée ostéoblastique et également le dépôt d'hydroxyapatite à partir de culture de cellules souches. Ce travail démontre que des molécules vieilles de 120 millions d'années sont préservées, exploitables et qu'elles possèdent une série d'activités à visée thérapeutique sur la peau et sur l'os.

In two experiments, we examined the behavioural and electro-physiological effects of errors in touch-typing. The effect of errors on skilled actions is an under-studied area in cognitive psychology. The available evidence suggests that errors have different effects on discrete vs. skilled and continuous actions. Our primary aim was to study the behavioural and electro-physiological effects of errors, and explore any interactions between them such as event-related potentials (ERP) and error correction via the backspace. We asked touch-typists to type 100 sentences in the absence of visual feedback. We recorded electro-encephalogram (EEG) as well as typing performance of touch-typists. We analysed the data using independent component analysis (ICA), with an emphasis on the difference between correct and error key-presses as well as corrected and uncorrected error key-presses. We found that the error (corrected and uncorrected) key-presses in typing were slowed, and were followed by slowed key-presses. In the EEG record, we found a considerable increase in the power of theta oscillations (3-8Hz) as well as classic ERP findings (i.e. error related negativity (ERN) and positivity (Pe)). Importantly, these effects were much stronger during corrected errors compared to uncorrected errors. Our results suggest that even in a skilled action which involves more than 7 key-presses every second, it is possible to detect one's errors before the error action is completed, and that error correction can be predicted by the strength of error induced changes in the EEG record.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2007.<br>Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Oct. 22, 2007). Directed by Hephzibah Roskelly; submitted to the Dept. of English. Includes bibliographical references (p. 169-177).

The general aim of the thesis was to investigate how and to what extent the characteristics of action organization are reflected in language, and how they influence language processing and understanding. Even though a huge amount of research has been devoted to the study of the motor effects of language, this issue is very debated in literature. Namely, the majority of the studies have focused on low-level motor effects such as effector-relatedness of action, whereas only a few studies have started to systematically investigate how specific aspects of action organization are encoded and reflected in language. After a review of previous studies on the relationship between language comprehension and action (chapter 1) and a critical discussion of some of them (chapter 2), the thesis is composed by three experimental chapters, each devoted to a specific aspect of action organization. Chapter 3 presents a study designed with the aim to disentangle the effective time course of the involvement of the motor system during language processing. Three kinematics experiments were designed in order to determine whether and, at which stage of motor planning and execution effector-related action verbs influence actions executed with either the same or a different effector. Results demonstrate that the goal of an action can be linguistically re-activated, producing a modulation of the motor response. In chapter 4, a second study investigates the interplay between the role of motor perspective (agent) and the organization of action in motor chains. More specifically, this kinematics study aims at deepening how goal can be translated in language, using as stimuli simple sentences composed by a pronoun (I, You, He/She) and a verb. Results showed that the perspective activated by the pronoun You reflects the motor pattern of the “agent” combined with the chain structure of the verb. These data confirm an early involvement of the motor system in language processing, suggesting that it is specifically modulated by the activation of the agent’s perspective. In chapter 5, the issue of perspective is specifically investigated, focusing on its role in language comprehension. In particular, this study aimed at determining how a specific perspective (induced for example by a personal pronoun) modulates motor behaviour during and after language processing. A classical compatibility effect (the Action-sentence compatibility effect) has been used to this aim. In three behavioural experiments the authors investigated how the ACE is modulated by taking first or third person perspective. Results from these experiments showed that the ACE effect occurs only when a first-person perspective is activated by the sentences used as stimuli. Overall, the data from this thesis contributed to disentangle several aspects of how action organization is translated in language, and then reactivated during language processing. This constitutes a new contribution to the field, adding lacking information on how specific aspects such as goal and perspective are linguistically described. In addition, these studies offer a new point of view to understand the functional implications of the involvement of the motor system during language comprehension, specifically from the point of view of our social interactions.

The model of a strategic game is central to game theory. In a strategic game, each individual chooses an action from a given set and is affected not only by this action but also by the other individuals’ actions. We study mainly the notion of Nash equilibrium, according to which a profile of actions is stable if no individual wants to deviate from her action given the other individuals’ actions.

The model of a strategic game is central to game theory. In a strategic game, each individual chooses an action from a given set and is affected not only by this action but also by the other individuals’ actions. We study mainly the notion of Nash equilibrium, according to which a profile of actions is stable if no individual wants to deviate from his action given the other individuals’ actions.

Existing planning action domain model acquisition approaches consider different types of state traces from which they learn. The differences in state traces refer to the level of observability of state changes (from full to none) and whether the observations have some noise (the state changes might be inaccurately logged). However, to the best of our knowledge, all the existing approaches consider state traces in which each state change corresponds to an action specified by its name and all its parameters (all objects that are relevant to the action). Furthermore, the names and types of all the parameters of the actions to be learned are given. These assumptions are too strong. In this paper, we propose a method that learns action schema from state traces with fully observable state changes but without the parameters of actions responsible for the state changes (only action names are part of the state traces). Although we can easily deduce the number (and names) of the actions that will be in the learned domain model, we still need to deduce the number and types of the parameters of each action alongside its precondition and effects. We show that this task is at least as hard as graph isomorphism. However, our experimental evaluation on a large collection of IPC benchmarks shows that our approach is still practical as the number of required parameters is usually small. Compared to the state-of-the-art learning tools SAM and Extended SAM our new algorithm can provide better results in terms of learning action models more similar to reference models, even though it uses less information and has fewer restrictions on the input traces.

The concept of real action (Realakt – in German) is well known in both Latvia and Germany. In both countries, real action is contrasted with those acts of public administration that produce legal effects, thus explaining the distinction between real action and administrative acts, regulatory acts and contracts. In Germany, however, the concept of real action is broader and actually covers all activities of public administration, which do not produce legal effects. Consequently, public administration’s activities (actions) in the field of private law, activities (actions) aimed at the execution of an administrative act, simple administrative activities (actions), internal public administration activities (actions) and procedural activities (actions) are also covered by the concept of real action.

In this paper, we propose an uncertainty-aware representation Learning (UARL) method for action segmentation. Most existing action segmentation methods exploit continuity information of the action period to predict frame-level labels, which ignores the temporal ambiguity of the transition region between two actions. Moreover, similar periods of different actions, e.g., the beginning of some actions, will confuse the network if they are annotated with different labels, which causes spatial ambiguity. To address this, we design the UARL to exploit the transitional expression between two action periods by uncertainty learning. Specially, we model every frame of actions with an active distribution that represents the probabilities of different actions, which captures the uncertainty of the action and exploits the tendency during the action. We evaluate our method on three popular action prediction datasets: Breakfast, Georgia Tech Egocentric Activities (GTEA), and 50Salads. The experimental results demonstrate that our method achieves the performance with state-of-the-art.

Description Logic actions specify adaptations of description logic interpretations based on some preconditions defined using a description logic. We consider DL actions in which preconditions can be specified using DL axioms as well as using conjunctive queries, and combinatiosn thereof. We investigate complexity bounds for the executability and the projection problem for these actions, which respectively ask whether an action can be executed on models of an interpretation, and which entailments are satisfied after an action has been executed on this model. In addition, we consider a set of new reasoning tasks concerned with conflicts and interactions that may arise if two action are executed at the same time. Since these problems have not been investigated before for Description Logic actions, we investigate the complexity of these tasks both for actions with conjunctive queries and without those. Finally, we consider the verification problem for Golog programs formulated over our famility of actions. Our complexity analysis considers several expressive DLs, and we provide tight complexity bounds for those for which the exact complexity of conjunctive query entailment is known.

Profound climate change-driven environmental changes observed in Alaska prompted the National Park Service?s Alaska Leadership Council (ALC) to dedicate a half-day of their September 2019 meeting to understanding and addressing key climate change vulnerabilities. The session aimed to introduce participants to the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework?an emerging framing tool for exploring the ?universe? of potential adaptation actions?and to initiate broader discussion regarding current and potential future adaptation actions in each of Alaska?s national parks. Participating superintendents were asked to both identify ongoing actions in their parks in response to climate change and brainstorm potential future actions. This report summarizes and analyzes their responses. To gauge the extent to which participants were exploring the full adaptation decision space and to better understand how to apply the RAD framework, actions were further classified as reflecting one of the three RAD categories: resistance, acceptance, or directing of change. Roughly half of all submissions were adaptation actions. Of these adaptation actions, nearly a third were subsistence-related, reflecting the importance of subsistence in the Alaska region. Most adaptation actions were focused on resisting climate change impacts on resources, assets, and people. The exercise clarified the need to understand what constitutes an adaptation action. For example, a decision to support or conduct a research project is different than a decision to use that research to take adaptive action. More importantly, the exercise showed that evaluating the degree to which participants explored the full adaptation decision space?i.e., by classifying each action under the RAD framework?requires that the motivating intention or goal of the action be clearly articulated. For example, ?plant(ing) vegetation after disturbance? can be a resistance or a directing-change action depending on whether the motivation is to (a) plant historically occurring species in historically occurring proportions to restore pre-disturbance conditions or to (b) favor species adapted to emerging and projected conditions. This important lesson in RAD framework application underscores the need to request a higher degree of specificity about the motivations behind potential actions in adaptation planning processes. This report documents the ALC?s thinking on climate change adaptation at one point (snapshot) in time. It shows that many of the adaptation actions identified by participants focused on resisting climate change impacts, empowers assessment of the evolution of adaptation action by the NPS ALC, helps to clarify how best to use the RAD framework, and, ideally, prompts further discussion and adaptation action in Alaska.

State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs) are important vehicles for connectivity conservation. State wildlife agencies must complete State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs) to qualify for funding from the State Wildlife Grants program, which was established in 2000 to support the conservation of at-risk species and their habitat. Since that time, SWAPs have become recognized as “conservation blueprints” that compile the best available science, identify conservation priorities, and promote coordination across various partners. This report provides SWAP planners and partners with a comprehensive “menu” of connectivity actions and recommendations for addressing connectivity in SWAP planning and implementation.

High-level action programming languages such as Golog have successfully been used to model the behavior of autonomous agents. In addition to a logic-based action formalism for describing the environment and the effects of basic actions, they enable the construction of complex actions using typical programming language constructs. To ensure that the execution of such complex actions leads to the desired behavior of the agent, one needs to specify the required properties in a formal way, and then verify that these requirements are met by any execution of the program. Due to the expressiveness of the action formalism underlying Golog (situation calculus), the verification problem for Golog programs is in general undecidable. Action formalisms based on Description Logic (DL) try to achieve decidability of inference problems such as the projection problem by restricting the expressiveness of the underlying base logic. However, until now these formalisms have not been used within Golog programs. In the present paper, we introduce a variant of Golog where basic actions are defined using such a DL-based formalism, and show that the verification problem for such programs is decidable. This improves on our previous work on verifying properties of infinite sequences of DL actions in that it considers (finite and infinite) sequences of DL actions that correspond to (terminating and non-terminating) runs of a Golog program rather than just infinite sequences accepted by a Büchi automaton abstracting the program.

In the reasoning about actions community, causal relationships have been proposed as a possible approach for solving the ramification problem, i. e., the problem of how to deal with indirect effects of actions. In this paper, we show that causal relationships can be added to action formalisms based on Description Logics without destroying the decidability of the consistency and the projection problem.

The Golog action programming language is a powerful means to express high-level behaviours in terms of programs over actions defined in a Situation Calculus theory. In particular for physical systems, verifying that the program satisfies certain desired temporal properties is often crucial, but undecidable in general, the latter being due to the language’s high expressiveness in terms of first-order quantification and program constructs. So far, approaches to achieve decidability involved restrictions where action effects either had to be contextfree (i.e. not depend on the current state), local (i.e. only affect objects mentioned in the action’s parameters), or at least bounded (i.e. only affect a finite number of objects). In this paper, we present a new, more general class of action theories (called acyclic) that allows for context-sensitive, non-local, unbounded effects, i.e. actions that may affect an unbounded number of possibly unnamed objects in a state-dependent fashion. We contribute to the further exploration of the boundary between decidability and undecidability for Golog, showing that for acyclic theories in the two-variable fragment of first-order logic, verification of CTL properties of programs over ground actions is decidable

The main objective of this report is to provide information on the actions undertaken and results achieved during the second year of implementation of the Gender Action Plan for Operations, 2014-2016 (GAP). It also recommends areas of action that should receive priority attention to ensure the achievement of the GAP targets by the end of its three-year period.

This research agenda outlines pertinent issues needed to produce an informed assessment of the strategies and policies LAC and international organizations should adopt with respect to climate change. The report makes three contributions: i) identifying actions that could be valuable but have not been highlighted; ii) advising on actions that could be ineffective and costly, given limited resources; and iii) recommending an evaluation of what elements require further analysis before objectives are translated into action.

The Child Labour: Action-Research-Innovation in South and South-Eastern Asia (CLARISSA) programme uses Action Research (AR) to understand the dynamics which drive the worst forms of child labour (WFCL), and to generate participatory innovations which help to shift these underlying dynamics and mitigate their worst effects. Through 13 Action Research Groups (ARGs) in Bangladesh and 12 groups in Nepal, the programme is generating a rich understanding – particularly through children’s lived experiences – of the complex underlying drivers of harmful work and working children and their employers are themselves defining, piloting and evaluating their own innovative actions that aim to increase children’s options to avoid WFCL. This group worked on the theme 'Relationship building among the employers for collective action'.