Gaming techniques and the product development process : commonalities and cross-applications

The use of computer-based tools is now firmly embedded within the product development process, providing a wide range of uses from visualisation to analysis. However, the specialisation required to make effective use of these tools has led to the compartmentalisation of expertise in design teams, resulting in communication problems between individual members. This paper therefore considers how computer gaming techniques and strategies could be used to enhance communication and group design activities throughout the product design process

Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) nest predation at Cape Range National Park

Most of the existing sea turtle populations worldwide are in decline. In particular, loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) are listed as endangered and loggerhead nesting populations in Eastern Australia have declined by 86% since the 1970s. However, whilst Eastern Australian loggerhead populations have been extensively studied and monitored, not much is known about the Western Australian nesting population

Time-integrated directional detection of dark matter

The analysis of signals in directional dark matter (DM) detectors typically assumes that the directions of nuclear recoils can be measured in the Galactic rest frame. However, this is not possible with all directional detection technologies. In nuclear emulsions, for example, the recoil events must be detected and measured after the exposure time of the experiment. Unless the entire detector is mounted and rotated with the sidereal day, the recoils cannot be reoriented in the Galactic rest frame. We examine the effect of this `time integration' on the primary goals of directional detection, namely: (1) confirming that the recoils are anisotropic; (2) measuring the median recoil direction to confirm their Galactic origin; and (3) probing below the neutrino floor. We show that after time integration the DM recoil distribution retains a preferred direction and is distinct from that of Solar neutrino-induced recoils. Many of the advantages of directional detection are therefore preserved and it is not crucial to mount and rotate the detector. Rejecting isotropic backgrounds requires a factor of 2 more signal events compared with an experiment with event time information, whereas a factor of 1.5-3 more events are needed to measure a median direction in agreement with the expectation for DM. We also find that there is still effectively no neutrino floor in a time-integrated directional experiment. However to reach a cross section an order of magnitude below the floor, a factor of 8 larger exposure is required than with a conventional directional experiment. We also examine how the sensitivity is affected for detectors with only 2D recoil track readout, and/or no head-tail measurement. As for non-time-integrated experiments, 2D readout is not a major disadvantage, though a lack of head-tail sensitivity is

The use of a cephalonium containing dry cow therapy and an internal teat sealant, both alone and in combination

AbstractThe dry period is a critical time in the lactation cycle, being the optimum time to cure existing intramammary infection (IMI) as well as encompassing the periods of highest susceptibility to new infection. Currently, IMI in the dry period is controlled with antibiotic dry cow therapy. The aim of this randomized control trial was to investigate different dry cow therapy regimens by stratifying cows by likely infection status at drying off in herds with low somatic cell count (SCC; bulk milk SCC <250,000 cells/mL) in southwest England. All quarters in 890 cows were recruited. The recruited cows were categorized as either infected or uninfected on the basis of SCC and clinical mastitis history. Ipsilateral quarters within each cow were randomly allocated to receive 1 of 4 different treatment regimens according to their infection category. Quarters in high-SCC infected cows were allocated to receive antibiotic dry cow therapy either alone or in combination with an internal teat sealant; quarters in low-SCC uninfected cows were allocated to receive teat sealant either alone or in combination with antibiotic dry cow therapy. All quarters were sampled for bacteriology at drying off and again within 10 d post-calving. Quarters were subsequently monitored for clinical mastitis for the first 100 d of lactation. The mass of residual sealant was assessed immediately post-calving to allow assessment of the association of sealant retention with treatment efficacy. Models were constructed to assess the efficacy of the different regimens in preventing IMI. Apparent cure rates of existing IMI with major pathogens were consistently >90% in quarters receiving antibiotic. Combination treatment of high-SCC infected cows resulted in an increased likelihood of being pathogen free post-calving (odds ratio=1.40; 95% credibility interval=1.03–1.90). The benefits of combination treatment of low-SCC uninfected cows were less clear. With respect to clinical mastitis, combination treatment of high-SCC infected cows resulted in a decreased likelihood of developing clinical mastitis in the first 100 d of the subsequent lactation (odds ratio=0.68; 95% credibility interval=0.48–0.98). The retention of the internal sealant was adversely affected by its use in combination with antibiotic dry cow therapy

Bistability and macroscopic quantum coherence in a BEC of ^7Li

We consider a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of $^7Li$ in a situation where the density undergoes a symmetry breaking in real space. This occurs for a suitable number of condensed atoms in a double well potential, obtained by adding a standing wave light field to the trap potential. Evidence of bistability results from the solution of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. By second quantization, we show that the classical bistable situation is in fact a Schr\"odinger cat (SC) and evaluate the tunneling rate between the two SC states. The oscillation between the two states is called MQC (macroscopic quantum coherence); we study the effects of losses on MQC.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figures. e-mail: [email protected]

Continuous Observation of Interference Fringes from Bose Condensates

We use continuous measurement theory to describe the evolution of two Bose condensates in an interference experiment. It is shown how the system evolves in a single run of the experiment into a state with a fixed relative phase, while the total gauge symmetry remains unbroken. Thus, an interference pattern is exhibited without violating atom number conservation.Comment: 4 pages, Postscrip

A cohort study of the associations between udder conformation, milk somatic cell count, and lamb weight in suckler ewes

A cohort study of 67 suckler ewes from 1 farm was carried out from January to May 2010 to investigate associations between udder conformation, udder half milk somatic cell count (SCC), and lamb weight. Ewes and lambs were observed at lambing. Ewe health and teat condition and lamb health and weight were recorded on 4 to 5 further occasions at 14-d intervals. At each observation, a milk sample was collected from each udder half for somatic cell counting. Two weeks after lambing, ewe udder conformation and teat placement were scored. Low lamb weight was associated with ewe SCC >400,000 cells/mL (−0.73kg), a new teat lesion 14 d previously (−0.91kg), suboptimal teat position (−1.38kg), rearing in a multiple litter (−1.45kg), presence of diarrhea at the examination (−1.19kg), and rearing by a 9-yr-old ewe compared with a 6-yr-old ewe (−2.36kg). High lamb weight was associated with increasing lamb age (0.21kg/d), increasing birth weight (1.65kg/kg at birth), and increasing number of days the ewe was given supplementary feed before lambing (0.06kg/d). High udder half SCC was associated with pendulous udders (9.6% increase in SCC/cm of drop) and greater total cross-sectional area of the teats (7.2% increase of SCC/cm2). Low SCC were associated with a heavier mean litter weight (6.7% decrease in SCC/kg). Linear, quadratic, and cubic terms for days in lactation were also significant. We conclude that poor udder and teat conformation are associated with high levels of intramammary infection, as indicated by increased SCC and that both physical attributes of the udder and SCC are linked to lamb growth, suggesting that selection of suckler ewes with better udder and teat conformation would reduce intramammary infection and increase lamb growth rate

An investigation of the efficacy of a polyvalent mastitis vaccine using different vaccination regimens under field conditions in the United Kingdom

Vaccination can play a useful role in mastitis control programs, although there is a relative dearth of large, well-controlled field efficacy studies. This paper presents the findings on the use of a commercially available vaccine (Startvac, Hipra UK Ltd., Nottingham, UK) on commercial units under UK field conditions. In total, 3,130 cows were recruited from 7 farms and were randomly allocated, within farm, to 1 of 3 groups. The first group received the vaccine following the label regimen, the second group was vaccinated every 90 d following an initial vaccination course, and the third group was left unvaccinated to act as controls. Vaccine efficacy was assessed in the first 120 d of lactation. Data were available for analysis from 1,696 lactations in 1,549 cows. In total, 779 cases of clinical mastitis occurred in the 3 study groups, and we detected no significant difference in the incidence or prevalence of clinical or subclinical mastitis between any of the 3 groups. Mastitis vaccination following the label regimen was associated with a significant reduction in the severity of clinical cases. Cows in this group were at significantly decreased odds of developing clinical mastitis presenting with more than just milk changes [odds ratio: 0.58; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.35–0.98]. Similarly, each additional vaccination resulted in a cow being at decreased odds of developing clinical mastitis presenting with more than just milk changes (odds ratio: 0.87; 95% CI: 0.77–0.98). Although no cows were culled because of severe mastitis in either of the vaccinated groups, we detected no significant difference in the mastitis-related culling rate between groups. Analysis of milk production data demonstrated that, on average, cows on the label regimen produced a higher volume of milk (231 L; 95% CI: 104.1–357.4) and more milk solids (12.36 kg; 95% CI: 3.12–21.60) than unvaccinated cows in the first 120 d of lactation. Conservative analysis suggested that a return on investment of 2.57:1 could be expected under UK conditions based on increased milk yield alone

Self-Trapping, Quantum Tunneling and Decay Rates for a Bose Gas with Attractive Nonlocal Interaction

We study the Bose-Einstein condensation for a cloud of $^7$Li atoms with attractive nonlocal (finite-range) interaction in a harmonic trap. In addition to the low-density metastable branch, that is present also in the case of local interaction, a new stable branch appears at higher densities. For a large number of atoms, the size of the cloud in the stable high-density branch is independent of the trap size and the atoms are in a macroscopic quantum self-trapped configuration. We analyze the macroscopic quantum tunneling between the low-density metastable branch and the high-density one by using the istanton technique. Moreover we consider the decay rate of the Bose condensate due to inelastic two- and three-body collisions.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Parity Effects in Stacked Nanoscopic Quantum Rings

The ground state and the dielectric response of stacked quantum rings are investigated in the presence of an applied magnetic field along the ring axis. For odd number $N$ of rings and an electric field perpendicular to the axis, a linear Stark effect occurs at distinct values of the magnetic field. At those fields energy levels cross in the absence of electric field. For even values of $N$ a quadratic Stark effect is expected in all cases, but the induced electric polarization is discontinuous at those special magnetic fields. Experimental consequences for related nanostructures are discussed.Comment: typos corrected, to appear Phys. Rev. B (Rapid Communication) 15 Au