In central Europe, barnyardgrass [Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) P. Beauv.], has commonly been found in humid lowland areas. As a result of the introduction of new crops and farming practices, in the northwest Carpathians, E. crus-galli has spread from lowland (<200 m altitude) to highland (>400 m altitude) areas. We collected seed samples from local populations lying at a distance of approximately 5 km from each other and lined up along transects following the flows of two rivers. The rivers first flow through the valleys separated by mountain ridges and eventually flow into a common lowland. After ripening, the seeds of all populations were germinated at 25 C under long-day conditions. Only the seeds of some lowland populations germinated up to 75%. The frequency of germinated seeds decreased as the altitude where the population was collected increased, and above 200 m above sea level, germination was mostly zero. We then studied the phenological and morphological differentiation of plants from the original (lowland) and recently occupied (highland) areas. Seeds of the lowest and the highest localities lying on the transect of each river were sown in a common garden experiment. In plants from the highland localities, heading and seed dispersal were earlier, while tiller height and tiller mass were lower than in plants from the lowland localities. Seed mass produced per tiller in the lowland and highland plants was similar, and as a result, highland plants allocated a larger proportion of body mass to seed production than did lowland plants. Echinochloa crus-galli populations from highland localities thus produce their progeny earlier and at a lower energy cost than populations from lowland localities. The plasticity of phenological characters likely facilitated adaptation during E. crus-galli spread from lowlands to highlands. Similar adaptations in plant phenology may contribute to the spread of E. crus-galli in other geographic areas.

Heading angle is a vital parameter in maintaining a vessel's track along a planned course and should be guaranteed in a stable and reliable way. An innovative method of heading determination based on a fisheye camera, which is almost totally unaffected by electromagnetism and geomagnetism, is proposed in this paper. In addition, unlike traditional astronomical methods, it also has a certain degree of adaptability to cloudy weather. Utilising the super wide Field Of View (FOV) of the camera, it is able to simultaneously image the Moon and the horizon. The Moon is treated as the observed celestial body and the horizon works as the horizontal datum. Two experiments were conducted at sea, successfully proving the feasibility of this method. The proposed heading determination system has the merits of automation, resistance to interference and could be miniaturised, making application viable.

Objectives: The present study examined the relative contribution of recent or long-term heading to neuropsychological function in amateur adult soccer players. Participants and Methods: Soccer players completed a baseline questionnaire (HeadCount-12m) to ascertain heading during the prior 12 months (long-term heading, LTH) and an online questionnaire (HeadCount-2w) every 3 months to ascertain heading during the prior 2 weeks (recent heading, RH). Cogstate, a battery of six neuropsychological tests, was administered to assess neuropsychological function. Generalized estimating equations were used to test if LTH or RH was associated with neuropsychological function while accounting for the role of recognized concussion. Results: A total of 311 soccer players completed 630 HeadCount-2w. Participants had an average age of 26 years. Participants headed the ball a median of 611 times/year (mean=1,384.03) and 9.50 times/2 weeks (mean=34.17). High levels of RH were significantly associated with reduced performance on a task of psychomotor speed (p=.02), while high levels of LTH were significantly associated with poorer performance on tasks of verbal learning (p=.03) and verbal memory (p=.04). Significantly better attention (p=.02) was detectable at moderately high levels of RH, but not at the highest level of RH. One hundred and seven (34.4%) participants reported a lifetime history of concussion, but this was not related to neuropsychological function and did not modify the association of RH or LTH with neuropsychological function. Conclusion: High levels of both RH and LTH were associated with poorer neuropsychological function, but on different domains. The clinical manifestations following repetitive exposure to heading could change with chronicity of exposure. (JINS, 2018, 24, 147–155)

This experimental study with a controlled pre-test and post-test group design investigated the possible effects of four sessions of heading training on cognitive performance. A total of 118 participants (mean age of 22.25 years) were assigned to one of the three following groups: a heading-training group, a passing-training group and a waiting control group. The participants completed a cognitive test battery of attention (D2-test), working memory (Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task, PASAT-2) and visual spatial intelligence (Mental Rotation Test) tests before, immediately after the second training session and one week after the fourth training session. There were no between-group differences in cognitive performance after the second or the fourth heading training sessions. However, within the heading-training group, women complained more of headaches than men after the fourth training session. These results build on the results from the study of Rieder and Jansen (2011) that showed no neuropsychological consequences after one heading session, showing no cumulative effects of repeat heading.