The Significance of Pulsus Alternans and Some Other Forms of Uneven Pulse.

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Comparison of Methods to Capture Bobwhites During Summer (Poster Abstract)

Live-capturing northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) using baited funnel traps during summer often is inefficient. Previous methods to attract wild bobwhites to a trap site have included bait (typically cracked corn), or use of a pen-raised female bobwhite inside the trap. It has been suggested that playing electronic recordings of the bobwhite’s ‘‘koi-lee’’ call at the trap site may improve trap success, but this idea has never been tested. Therefore, in July 1999, we collected trapping data from farms in Wilson County, North Carolina and Tall Timbers Research Station (TTRS) in Leon County, Florida. Trap sites were randomly assigned each day with 1 of 4 treatments including bait only, bait with electronic calling (bait and call), pen-raised female bobwhite (hen), or a hen with electronic calling (hen and call). Traps were set starting at sunrise and were checked after sunset. We captured 87 males, 10 females, and 3 immature bobwhites in 500 trap nights. At TTRS, number of bobwhites caught per 10 trap nights was 0.5 for bait, 0.2 for bait and call, 4.2 for hen, and 4.4 for hen and call. At Wilson, number of bobwhites caught per 10 trap nights was 1.0 for bait, 0.4 for bait and call, 1.3 for hen, and 3.3 for hen and call. Trap success for the hen only and hen and call treatments varied between sites. At TTRS, use of hens greatly improved capture success compared to using bait, but little difference was observed between hen only and hen and call treatments. Conversely, at Wilson, hen only and bait only treatments had similar capture success, but the hen and call treatment was 2.5 times more successful over the other treatments. Electronic calling appeared to have attracted bobwhites to the trap vicinity and the hen appeared to encourage bobwhites to enter the trap. This circumstance was especially evident at Wilson where the overall bobwhite abundance was low and the distribution was unequal across the landscape. We recommend using pen-raised female bobwhite and electronic calling to maximize trap success during the bobwhite breeding season on areas with low to moderate bobwhite densities

Magnetic relaxation studies on a single-molecule magnet by time-resolved inelastic neutron scattering

Time-resolved inelastic neutron scattering measurements on an array of single-crystals of the single-molecule magnet Mn12ac are presented. The data facilitate a spectroscopic investigation of the slow relaxation of the magnetization in this compound in the time domain.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figures, REVTEX4, to appear in Appl. Phys. Lett., for an animation see also http://www.dcb.unibe.ch/groups/guedel/members/ow2/trins.ht

Parity-Violating Interaction Effects in the np System

We investigate parity-violating observables in the np system, including the longitudinal asymmetry and neutron-spin rotation in np elastic scattering, the photon asymmetry in np radiative capture, and the asymmetries in deuteron photo-disintegration d(gamma,n)p in the threshold region and electro-disintegration d(e,e`)np in quasi-elastic kinematics. To have an estimate of the model dependence for the various predictions, a number of different, latest-generation strong-interaction potentials--Argonne v18, Bonn 2000, and Nijmegen I--are used in combination with a weak-interaction potential consisting of pi-, rho-, and omega-meson exchanges--the model known as DDH. The complete bound and scattering problems in the presence of parity-conserving, including electromagnetic, and parity-violating potentials is solved in both configuration and momentum space. The issue of electromagnetic current conservation is examined carefully. We find large cancellations between the asymmetries induced by the parity-violating interactions and those arising from the associated pion-exchange currents. In the np capture, the model dependence is nevertheless quite small, because of constraints arising through the Siegert evaluation of the relevant E1 matrix elements. In quasi-elastic electron scattering these processes are found to be insignificant compared to the asymmetry produced by gamma-Z interference on individual nucleons.Comment: 65 pages, 26 figures, submitted to PR

Application of a Fath-Based Integration Tool to Assess Mental and Physical Health Interventions

Background: To build on current research involving faith-based interventions (FBIs) for addressing mental and physical health, this study a) reviewed the extent to which relevant publications integrate faith concepts with health and b) initiated analysis of the degree of FBI integration with intervention outcomes. Methods: Derived from a systematic search of articles published between 2007 and 2017, 36 studies were assessed with a FaithBased Integration Assessment Tool (FIAT) to quantify faith-health integration. Basic statistical procedures were employed to determine the association of faith-based integration with intervention outcomes. Results: The assessed studies possessed (on average) moderate, inconsistent integration because of poor use of faith measures, and moderate, inconsistent use of faith practices. Analysis procedures for determining the effect of FBI integration on intervention outcomes were inadequate for formulating practical conclusions. Conclusions: Regardless of integration, interventions were associated with beneficial outcomes. To determine the link between FBI integration and intervention outcomes, additional analyses are needed. Key words: faith-based integration and interventions, faith and health studies, religion and spirituality, integrative healt

Predation on Artificial Nests of Northern Bobwhites, Colinus virginianus, by Mammalian Mesopredators: Does the Problem-Individual Paradigm Fit?

Using mark/recapture procedures, predation on artificial nests of Northern Bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) by mammalian mesopredators (Raccoons, Procyon lotor; Virginia Opossums, Didelphis virginiana; and Striped Skunks, Mephitis mephitis) was assessed in relation to the “problem-individual” paradigm. The paradigm, which is untested among mammalian mesopredators, predicts that most predation on a prey species is by a small number of individuals repeatedly involved. By examining number of captures and recaptures on artificial nests during non-nesting and nesting periods in 2000-2003, predation within and among species were gauged. Results varied by species, sampling period, and year; however, predation was by a small percentage of individuals and only within the population of Striped Skunks were individuals (2 of 49) captured on an artificial nest more than once. Raccoons, Virginia Opossums, and Striped Skunks were responsible for 10, 2, and 12% of the loss of all nests available to predators, respectively. Based on low occurrences of individuals repeatedly involved in predation on nests, the problem-individual paradigm was unsubstantiated. Although Raccoons, Virginia Opossums, and Striped Skunks (as individual predators) had only moderate impact on the population of Northern Bobwhites, they had a much greater impact collectively (preying upon 24% of all nests available). To maximize Northern Bobwhite success, the most productive management is probably best directed toward a vertebrate guild that includes mammalian, avian, and reptilian predators, and management strategies that use multiple techniques

Laboratory Experiments, Numerical Simulations, and Astronomical Observations of Deflected Supersonic Jets: Application to HH 110

Collimated supersonic flows in laboratory experiments behave in a similar manner to astrophysical jets provided that radiation, viscosity, and thermal conductivity are unimportant in the laboratory jets, and that the experimental and astrophysical jets share similar dimensionless parameters such as the Mach number and the ratio of the density between the jet and the ambient medium. Laboratory jets can be studied for a variety of initial conditions, arbitrary viewing angles, and different times, attributes especially helpful for interpreting astronomical images where the viewing angle and initial conditions are fixed and the time domain is limited. Experiments are also a powerful way to test numerical fluid codes in a parameter range where the codes must perform well. In this paper we combine images from a series of laboratory experiments of deflected supersonic jets with numerical simulations and new spectral observations of an astrophysical example, the young stellar jet HH 110. The experiments provide key insights into how deflected jets evolve in 3-D, particularly within working surfaces where multiple subsonic shells and filaments form, and along the interface where shocked jet material penetrates into and destroys the obstacle along its path. The experiments also underscore the importance of the viewing angle in determining what an observer will see. The simulations match the experiments so well that we can use the simulated velocity maps to compare the dynamics in the experiment with those implied by the astronomical spectra. The experiments support a model where the observed shock structures in HH 110 form as a result of a pulsed driving source rather than from weak shocks that may arise in the supersonic shear layer between the Mach disk and bow shock of the jet's working surface.Comment: Full resolution figures available at http://sparky.rice.edu/~hartigan/pub.html To appear in Ap

Molecular and serological dynamics of Chlamydia pecorum infection in a longitudinal study of prime lamb production

© 2018 Bommana et al. Background. Chlamydia pecorum is a globally significant livestock pathogen causing pathology and production losses. The on-farm infection and serological dynamics and the relevance of existing diagnostic tools for diagnosing C. pecorum in livestock remains poorly characterized. In this study, we characterized the antigen and antibody dynamics of this pathogen in a longitudinal study of prime lamb production, utilizing the infection focused C. pecorum-specific 16S rRNA qPCR assay and serology based chlamydial Complement fixation Test (CFT). Methods. The study consisted of 76 Border Leicester mixed sex lambs (39 females and 37 males) that were sampled bimonthly from 2-10 months of age in a commercial farm operating in Central NSW, Australia. Blood/plasma was analysed for CFT antibodies, and swabs from conjunctival, rectal and vaginal sites were analysed for C. pecorum shedding using qPCR. We assessed the temporal and overall dynamics of C. pecorum in lambs, including detailed description and comparison of qPCR and CFT, the timing of first detection by either diagnostic method, the lag between infection and antibody response; and the distribution of qPCR load and CFT antibody titre over time. Results. Over the study period, C. pecorum was highly prevalent (71.0% by qPCR, 92.1% by CFT, 96.0% by both), with 21.1% (16/76) lambs shedding ≥1;000 qPCR copies/ml (denoted as high shedders). C. pecorum shedding (as evidence of infection) were first observed at two months of age (14.4%) with a significant peak of infection occurring at six months of age (34.2%), whereas seroconversions peaked at eight months of age (81.5%). 52.6% of C. pecorum qPCR and CFT positive lambs became qPCR negative by 10 months of age, indicating clearance of chlamydial infection. Although CFT is utilised for on-farm detection of active infection, we confirm that it lagged behind qPCR detection (average lag 1.7 ± 2.1 months) and that the proportion of qPCR positives simultaneously identified by CFT was low with 2/11 (18.1%), 0/13, 17/25 (68.0%), 5/7 (71.4%) and 1/10 (10.0%) concurrent seroconversions occurring at two, four, six, eight and 10 months of age, respectively. Discussion. This work reveals rapid rates of C. pecorum infection and widespread exposure during lamb production. The comparison of molecular and serological diagnostic agreement longitudinally, supports the use of qPCR as an important ancillary tool for the detection of active infections in conjunction with chlamydial CFT for routine veterinary diagnostics. Development of rapid Point-of-Care (POC) tools for diagnosing active infection would be valuable for producers and veterinarians

Bulk-sensitive Photoemission of Mn5Si3

We have carried out a bulk-sensitive high-resolution photoemission experiment on Mn5Si3. The measurements are performed for both core level and valence band states. The Mn core level spectra are deconvoluted into two components corresponding to different crystallographic sites. The asymmetry of each component is of noticeable magnitude. In contrast, the Si 2p spectrum shows a simple Lorentzian shape with low asymmetry. The peaks of the valence band spectrum correspond well to the peak positions predicted by the former band calculation.Comment: To be published in: Solid State Communication