Australian National University

About: Australian National University is a education organization based out in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Galaxy. The organization has 34419 authors who have published 109261 publications receiving 4315448 citations. The organization is also known as: The Australian National University & ANU.

On the attribution of changing pan evaporation

Abstract: [1] Evaporative demand, measured by pan evaporation, has declined in many regions over the last several decades. It is important to understand why. Here we use a generic physical model based on mass and energy balances to attribute pan evaporation changes to changes in radiation, temperature, humidity and wind speed. We tested the approach at 41 Australian sites for the period 1975–2004. Changes in temperature and humidity regimes were generally too small to impact pan evaporation rates. The observed decreases in pan evaporation were mostly due to decreasing wind speed with some regional contributions from decreasing solar irradiance. Decreasing wind speeds of similar magnitude has been reported in the United States, China, the Tibetan Plateau and elsewhere. The pan evaporation record is invaluable in unraveling the aerodynamic and radiative drivers of the hydrologic cycle, and the attribution approach described here can be used for that purpose.

The role of flavonoids in root–rhizosphere signalling: opportunities and challenges for improving plant–microbe interactions

Abstract: The flavonoid pathway produces a diverse array of plant compounds with functions in UV protection, as antioxidants, pigments, auxin transport regulators, defence compounds against pathogens and during signalling in symbiosis This review highlights some of the known function of flavonoids in the rhizosphere, in particular for the interaction of roots with microorganisms Depending on their structure, flavonoids have been shown to stimulate or inhibit rhizobial nod gene expression, cause chemoattraction of rhizobia towards the root, inhibit root pathogens, stimulate mycorrhizal spore germination and hyphal branching, mediate allelopathic interactions between plants, affect quorum sensing, and chelate soil nutrients Therefore, the manipulation of the flavonoid pathway to synthesize specifically certain products has been suggested as an avenue to improve root‐rhizosphere interactions Possible strategies to alter flavonoid exudation to the rhizosphere are discussed Possible challenges in that endeavour include limited knowledge of the mechanisms that regulate flavonoid transport and exudation, unforeseen effects of altering parts of the flavonoid synthesis pathway on fluxes elsewhere in the pathway, spatial heterogeneity of flavonoid exudation along the root, as well as alteration of flavonoid products by microorganisms in the soil In addition, the overlapping functions of many flavonoids as stimulators of functions in one organism and inhibitors of another suggests caution in attempts to manipulate flavonoid rhizosphere signals

Collecting Large, Richly Annotated Facial-Expression Databases from Movies

Abstract: Two large facial-expression databases depicting challenging real-world conditions were constructed using a semi-automatic approach via a recommender system based on subtitles.