The adjustable dip-coating method followed by quick microware sintering is an appropriate approach to prepare high conductive AgNPs-based electrodes for organic light-emitting diodes or other devices. © 2020 The Authors.Serial and parallel processing in visual search have been long debated in psychology, but the processing mechanism remains an open issue. Serial processing allows only one object at a time to be processed, whereas parallel processing assumes that various objects are processed simultaneously. Here, we present novel neural models for the two types of processing mechanisms based on analysis of simultaneously recorded spike trains using electrophysiological data from prefrontal cortex of rhesus monkeys while processing task-relevant visual displays. We combine mathematical models describing neuronal attention and point process models for spike trains. The same model can explain both serial and parallel processing by adopting different parameter regimes. We present statistical methods to distinguish between serial and parallel processing based on both maximum likelihood estimates and decoding the momentary focus of attention when two stimuli are presented simultaneously. Results show that both processing mechanisms are in play for the simultaneously recorded neurons, but neurons tend to follow parallel processing in the beginning after the onset of the stimulus pair, whereas they tend to serial processing later on. © 2020 The Authors.Most of the diversity in the mating systems of birds and other animals comes at higher taxonomic levels, such as across orders. Although divergent selective pressures should lead to animal mating systems that diverge sharply from those of close relatives, opportunities to examine the importance of such processes are scarce. We addressed this issue using the Araripe manakin (Antilophia bokermanni), a species endemic to a forest enclave surrounded by xeric shrublands in Brazil. Most manakins exhibit polygynous lekking mating systems that lack territoriality but exhibit strong sexual selection. In sharp contrast, we found that male Araripe manakins defended exclusive territories, and females nested within male territories. However, territoriality and offspring paternity were dissociated males sired only 7% of nestlings from the nests within their territories and non-territorial males sired numerous nestlings. Moreover, female polyandry was widespread, with most broods exhibiting mixed paternity. Apparently, territories in this species function differently from both lekking arenas and resource-based territories of socially monogamous species. The unexpected territoriality of Araripe manakins and its dissociation from paternity is a unique evolutionary development within the manakin clade. Collectively, our findings underscore how divergences in mating systems might evolve based on selective pressures from novel environmental contexts. © 2020 The Authors.The ability of elasmobranchs to detect and use sound cues has been heavily debated in previous research and has only recently received revived attention. To properly understand the importance of sound to elasmobranchs, assessing their responses to acoustic stimuli in a field setting is vital. Here, we establish a behavioural audiogram of free-swimming male and female southern stingrays (Hypanus americanus) exposed to low-frequency tones.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/nik-smi1.html  We demonstrate that female stingrays exposed to tones (50-500 Hz) exhibit significant changes in swimming behaviours (increased time spent swimming, decreased rest time, increased surface breaches and increased side swimming with pectoral flapping) at 140 dB re 1 µPa (-2.08 to -2.40 dB re 1 m s-2) while males exposed to the same tones did not exhibit a change in these behaviours until 160 dB re 1 µPa (-1.13 to -1.21 dB re 1 m s-2). Our results are the first demonstration of field responses to sound in the Batoidea and show a distinct sensitivity to low-frequency acoustic inputs. © 2020 The Authors.We introduce the set of quasi-Herglotz functions and demonstrate that it has properties useful in the modelling of non-passive systems. The linear space of quasi-Herglotz functions constitutes a natural extension of the convex cone of Herglotz functions. It consists of differences of Herglotz functions and we show that several of the important properties and modelling perspectives are inherited by the new set of quasi-Herglotz functions. In particular, this applies to their integral representations, the associated integral identities or sum rules (with adequate additional assumptions), their boundary values on the real axis and the associated approximation theory. Numerical examples are included to demonstrate the modelling of a non-passive gain medium formulated as a convex optimization problem, where the generating measure is modelled by using a finite expansion of B-splines and point masses. © 2020 The Authors.Nano-size EVONIK AEROXIDE® P25 titanium dioxide, TiO2, powder was heat-treated at temperatures, 700-900°C, in air. An X-ray diffraction study showed that the P25 powder is composed of approximately 20 and approximately 80 mass% of rutile and anatase phases, respectively. It was also shown that the transformation from anatase to rutile induced by high-temperature heat treatment was almost completed at 750°C, whereas a small amount (less than 3 mass%) of anatase phase was still left even in the powder heat-treated at 900°C. The transformation behaviour was consistent with results obtained by Raman scattering spectroscopy. Raman experiments also indicated that high-temperature heating induced the formation of oxide ion vacancies. Powders were dispersed in methyl orange (MO) aqueous solution, and the bleach rate of MO was measured to evaluate photocatalytic activity under ultraviolet (UV)- and visible-light irradiation. After the heat treatment, the UV-light photocatalytic performance sharply deteriorated. Interestingly, visible-light photocatalytic activity was enhanced by high-temperature heating and reached the highest performance for an 800°C-heated sample, indicating that the P25 powder obtained high visible-light photocatalytic performance after heat treatment. Even after 900°C heat treatment, the photocatalytic performance was higher than that of as-received powder. Enhancement of photocatalytic activities was discussed in relation to visible light absorption and charge carrier transfer. © 2020 The Authors.