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The assumption that the colours of the green poison frog, Dendrobates auratus, serve as a warning of unpalatability is not supported because the requirements of the theory of aposematism are not met. The theory predicts that the aposematic coloration be conspicuous to potential predators, yet this cannot be demonstrated. The only predator found for D. auratus was the theraphosid spider, Sericopelma rubronitens, which hunts using vibrational cues. Only after sampling all frogs offered did spiders reject the toxic D. auratus over nontoxic Physalaemus pustulosus. The spider's decision to reject D. auratus as prey was made without visual input, and therefore the colours and toxicity of the frogs are decoupled with respect to this predator. Discovering that the crab Armases angustum is a predator of D. auratus tadpoles suggests that D. auratus is most vulnerable to predation during the nontoxic tadpole stage. Indirect methods of estimating predation were unsuccessful. The use of plasticine model frogs to estimate avian predation yielded no useful information and although traumatic injury is usually attributed to attempted predation, this is not true for tropical anurans. The levels of traumatic injury for D. auratus and a cryptic nontoxic frog Physalaemus pustulosus were similar when the life span of the frogs was taken into account. The traumatic injuries in these frogs are a function of interactions with small invertebrates that are neither predator nor prey. The theory of aposematism also predicts that there should be low pattern variation within an aposematic species so that a single search image can be formed and avoided. The patterns of D. auratus are individually distinct and there is significant interpopulational variation in appearance due to differences in colour, pattern and animal size. Selection for conspicuous visual intraspecific communication may have resulted in these differences in appearance. Mitochondrial 16S rRNA and cytochrome b sequence data ind

<p>The objective of this study was to assess coronal discoloration due to four commonly used endodontic sealers with gutta-percha, using spectrophotometric analysis. Extracted human teeth were obturated with the experimental sealers and GP. The sealers that were tested included AH Plus, EndoRez, and Kerr Pulp Canal Sealer. The teeth were maintained in a moist environment at 37 C. Immediate pretreatment readings of the crowns of the extracted teeth with a spectrometer were used as baseline data. Subsequent readings were taken every two weeks for two months. Results were analysed using Wilcoxson Signed Rank sum test and Kruskal Wallis test.</p>

One of the main responsibilities of a sound engineer is to control the quality of the sound during the recording process. An important qualitative aspect of a recording, besides the musicality of the performance, is its timbral content. Proper level and spectral balance between the mixed elements of the recording and the absence of extraneous noises and distortion are key elements. Therefore, timbre perception acuity is an essential skill for sound engineers. / This thesis proposes a computer-assisted system as a training tool for developing and maintaining aural skills related to timbre perception. A set of criteria for the design of such a system based on current knowledge in timbre perception is presented and an exploratory implementation is described. Limits of the current system are discussed and areas that need further investigation are identified.

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Feminism in the early 1980's in the United States revolved much around social and cultural matters such as sexual liberation, self- definition and self- realization for women. Derived from these ideas within feminism comes Alice Walker's Womanism, that is the writer's own definition of the strong and independent woman of color. This paper investigates the character Shug Avery, in The ColorPurple (1983), in relation to feminism and Womanism. It is argued that she is an empowered female because of the characteristics and attributes that come along with being a Womanist, despite moral,cultural and societal conditions that indicate marginalization for Shug and all women.

A revision and a phylogenetic analysis of the genera Zelomorpha Ashmead, 1900 and Hemichoma Enderlein, 1920 were conducted. Phylogenetic analyses used molecular and morphological data. A total of 39 sequences were obtained for COI (887 bases long) and 57 for 28S (1254 bases long). DNA sequences were aligned manually and also aligned with ClustalW (Thompson et al. 1997). Parsimony, Maximum Likelihood, and Bayesian approaches were applied to phylogenetic analyses with each gene region analyzed separately and in a combined analysis. The phylogenetic analysis analyses supported the monophyletic status of the genera Zelomorpha, as defined by Sharkey et al. (2006), and Hemichoma; they upholdseld the hypothesis that the the New World species formerly placed in Biroia belonged to Zelomorpha, and corroborated the synonomy ofgenus Dichelosus with Zelomorpha (Sarmiento and Sharkey, 2005). A total of 3,242 specimens of Hemichoma and Zelomorpha collected through the New World representing 113 species were examined. In addition to the 29 species of Zelomorpha described originally in diverse genera and now moved into the Zelomorpha, 74 new species are described. Seven new species are described for the genus Hemichoma for a total of 10 species. All species are fully redescribed. Fully illustrated keys to the species of Zelomorpha and Hemichoma are provided. The phylogenetic results based on maximum parsimony suggest that, despite the colorful nature of the sister group Hemichoma, species of Zelomorpha were nocturnal and became diurnal secondarily in one lineage. The change to diurnality is linked to a decrease in eye size, to an increase in body size, and to the emergence of colorful patterns. Palatability field tests using lizards as predators of Zelomorpha concinna, a common species with one of the more characteristic and bright color patterns, suggest that the coloration has a warning function and that this wasp is highly unpalatable. Evidence was found that the short ventrally curved ovipositor is an effective defensive structure. DISCLAIMER: The text of this dissertation does not constitute the publication of new species as defined by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. The newly estrablished species names in this work will be/have been recognized as valid upon their publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

With complex systems, monolithic models become impractical and it becomes necessary to model them through subsystems and components. Unless these components and subsystems are structured, exploiting them in a methodical manner to develop a control logic for them also becomes complex. In the previous research, to characterize the input/output behavior of discrete state interacting, systems a condition language framework was defined and algorithms that can automatically generate a controller given the system model and the desired specification using this framework were presented. Though this framework and the control algorithms are ideally suited to simple systems, representation of components with large state spaces requires a more refined approach. In this thesis, we present the modelling framework namely Color condition systems, that compactly represent components with large state spaces. We also present algorithms that can automatically generate a controller that consists of a set of action type taskblocks, given the system model and the desired specification described using color condition systems. The modelling framework and the working of the algorithms are illustrated using figures and comments on the possible ways of optimizing the algorithms are also quoted. Finally, in the appendix, we also present the approach that can be taken to implement a few parts of the algorithm.

Under projektet togs två prototyper fram som innefattade tre korta pussel med målet att se hur spelare reagerade vid brutna färgnormer. Sedan sammlades åtta testspelare som ansåg sig ha flera års erfarenhet inom datorspel och iaktog dem under speltestning för att notera den tid det tog för dem att klara varje pussel. Efter detta utfördes också en intervju med resondenterna med målet att se om de identifierade normerna uppfattas existera samt ta reda på varför de agerade som de gjorde. Enligt de resultat som gavs från speltestningen och intervjun så kan vi se att majoriteten av testspelarna kunde identifiera de färgnormer som valts att testa. "Röd dryck återställer hälsa" och "Färgad nyckel öppnar dörrar med samma färg" är de färgnormer som nästan alla testspelare lyckades identifiera följt av färgnormen "Grön knapp leder till en positiv effekt medans röd knapp leder till en negativ effekt". Här var respondenterna kluvna och endast lite mer en hälften ansåg att den normen existerade. Övriga agerade efter en fjärde färgnorm, "Röd knapp är 'action-knapp'". Speltestningen visar också att förvirring vid normbrott kan orsaka längre speltid ifall spelaren anser att färgnormen existerar samt agerar efter färg. Anledningen till denna förvirring skulle kunna vara att spelarna tidigare sett ett mönster och till det mönstret en lösning. När den lösningen plötsligt inte fungerar så blir spelaren förvirrade och måste då tänka om. I intervuerna berättade de att de agerar på objektens färg när de avgör hur de ska lösa pusslet och att testspelarna anser sig bli förvirrade när färgnormen bryts. / During this project we created two prototypes comprised of three short puzzles with the goal to see how players react when they encounter broken color norms. We gathered eight test players who considered themselves to have several years of experience playing computer games and watched them as they played to record the amount of time they required to solve each puzzle. We then interviewed the test players with the goal to clarify if they recognized the color norms and why they made the choices they made in each puzzle. According to the results from the play sessions and interviews, we noticed that most of our play testers identified the color norms we chose to test. "Red potion restores health" and "A colored key opens a door of the same color" were the most recognized color norms while the color norm "Green button leads to a positive effect while a red button leads to a negative effect" was only identified by just over half of our players. The rest of the players told us they identified a fourth color norm, "Red button is an action button". The play sessions also show that confusion caused by color norms may increase the play time as long as the player can identify the norm and make decisions based on colors. The reason to this confusion may depend on a pattern the player recognized as the solution to the puzzle. When this solution does not work, the player gets confused and must rethink the situation. In the interviews the players told us that they act on the objects' color and they consider themselves to become confused when the color norm is broken.

The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to identify the relationship between color and semiotics and how a person’s opinon, regarding a game character’s different characteristics, can be affected by the use of various colors. Prior to this study people were asked, through an online survey, to write down words that they associated with different colors. The colors were then divided into four different groups depending on whether they had been associated with positive-strong words, positive-weak words, negative-strong words or negative-weak words. In order to further shed light on the effect of colors, the four palettes, consisting of the colors associated with the different words, were then used separately to give color to two characters: a man and a woman. People were then asked to describe what kind of characteristics they felt that the different color versions of the characters portrayed and if they believed that there was a link between colors and how we view different characters’ personalities. The results showed that all of the respondents believed that such link existed and showed different reactions towards the characters’ images depending on what colors were used while creating them. The majority associated an intensive shade of red with powerful and slightly negative personality traits while bright pastel colors such as light green, pink and sky blue had a tendency to make the characters appear more naive and childish. The results also showed that darker, dusty shades of grey and brown gave the characters a more negative and weak expression.