513 research outputs found
Dogs display owner-specific expectations based on olfaction
Most current knowledge about dogs’ understanding of, and reacting to, their environment is limited to the visual or auditory modality, but it remains unclear how olfaction and cognition are linked together. Here we investigate how domestic dogs search for their owners using their excellent olfactory sense. We raise the question whether dogs have a representation of someone when they smell their track. The question is what they expect when they follow a trail or whether they perceive an odour as a relevant or non-relevant stimulus. We adopted a classical violation-of-expectation paradigm—and as targets we used two persons that were both important to the dog, usually the owners. In the critical condition subjects could track the odour trail of one target, but at the end of the trail they find another target. Dogs showed an increased activity when the person did not correspond with the trail compared to a control condition. Moreover, we found huge individual differences in searching behaviour supporting the assumption that dogs are only able to smell when they really sniff, and that the temperature has an influence on dogs performance. Results are discussed in the light of how cognitive abilities, motivation and odour perception influence each other.Methods - Subjects. - Setup. - Procedure. - Design. - Coding and analysis. Results Discussio
Effects of surface modifications on molecular diffusion in mesoporous catalytic materials
In this work, we use pulsed-field gradient (PFG) NMR to probe molecular diffusion of liquids inside
mesoporous structures and assess the influence of surface modifications, namely, deposition of
palladium (Pd) nanoparticles over alumina (Al2O3) surfaces and passivation of titania (TiO2) surfaces
with alkyl chains, on the diffusion pattern
Statistical properties of genealogical trees
We analyse the statistical properties of genealogical trees in a neutral
model of a closed population with sexual reproduction and non-overlapping
generations. By reconstructing the genealogy of an individual from the
population evolution, we measure the distribution of ancestors appearing more
than once in a given tree. After a transient time, the probability of
repetition follows, up to a rescaling, a stationary distribution which we
calculate both numerically and analytically. This distribution exhibits a
universal shape with a non-trivial power law which can be understood by an
exact, though simple, renormalization calculation. Some real data on human
genealogy illustrate the problem, which is relevant to the study of the real
degree of diversity in closed interbreeding communities.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let
The properties of the three-nucleon system with the dressed-bag model for nn interaction. I: New scalar three-body force
A multi-component formalism is developed to describe three-body systems with
nonstatic pairwise interactions and non-nucleonic degrees of freedom. The
dressed-bag model for interaction based on the formation of an
intermediate six-quark bag dressed by a -field is applied to the
system, where it results in a new three-body force between the six-quark bag
and a third nucleon. Concise variational calculations of bound states are
carried out in the dressed-bag model including the new three-body force. It is
shown that this three-body force gives at least half the total binding
energy, while the weight of non-nucleonic components in the H and He
wavefunctions can exceed 10%. The new force model provides a very good
description of bound states with a reasonable magnitude of the
coupling constant. The model can serve as a natural bridge between dynamical
description of few-nucleon systems and the very successful Walecka approach to
heavy nuclei and nuclear matter.Comment: 26 pages, Latex, 7 figure
Tumor suppression in mice lacking GABARAP, an Atg8/LC3 family member implicated in autophagy, is associated with alterations in cytokine secretion and cell death
GABARAP belongs to an evolutionary highly conserved gene family that has a
fundamental role in autophagy. There is ample evidence for a crosstalk between
autophagy and apoptosis as well as the immune response. However, the molecular
details for these interactions are not fully characterized. Here, we report
that the ablation of murine GABARAP, a member of the Atg8/LC3 family that is
central to autophagosome formation, suppresses the incidence of tumor
formation mediated by the carcinogen DMBA and results in an enhancement of the
immune response through increased secretion of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-2 and IFN-γ
from stimulated macrophages and lymphocytes. In contrast, TGF-β1 was
significantly reduced in the serum of these knockout mice. Further, DMBA
treatment of these GABARAP knockout mice reduced the cellularity of the spleen
and the growth of mammary glands through the induction of apoptosis. Gene
expression profiling of mammary glands revealed significantly elevated levels
of Xaf1, an apoptotic inducer and tumor-suppressor gene, in knockout mice.
Furthermore, DMBA treatment triggered the upregulation of pro-apoptotic (Bid,
Apaf1, Bax), cell death (Tnfrsf10b, Ripk1) and cell cycle inhibitor (Cdkn1a,
Cdkn2c) genes in the mammary glands. Finally, tumor growth of B16 melanoma
cells after subcutaneous inoculation was inhibited in GABARAP-deficient mice.
Together, these data provide strong evidence for the involvement of GABARAP in
tumorigenesis in vivo by delaying cell death and its associated immune-related
response
Why do dogs (Canis familiaris) select the empty container in an observational learning task?
Many argue that dogs show unique susceptibility to human communicative signals that make them suitable for being engaged in complex co-operation with humans. It has also been revealed that socially provided information is particularly effective in influencing the behaviour of dogs even when the human’s action demonstration conveys inefficient or mistaken solution of task. It is unclear, however, how the communicative nature of the demonstration context and the presence of the human demonstrator affect the dogs’ object-choice behaviour in observational learning situations. In order to unfold the effects of these factors, 76 adult pet dogs could observe a communicative or a non-communicative demonstration in which the human retrieved a tennis ball from under an opaque container while manipulating another distant and obviously empty (transparent) one. Subjects were then allowed to choose either in the presence of the demonstrator or after she left the room. Results showed a significant main effect of the demonstration context (presence or absence of the human’s communicative signals), and we also found some evidence for the response-modifying effect of the presence of the human demonstrator during the dogs’ choice. That is, dogs predominantly chose the baited container, but if the demonstration context was communicative and the human was present during the dogs’ choice, subjects’ tendency to select the baited container has been reduced. In agreement with the studies showing sensitivity to human’s communicative signals in dogs, these findings point to a special form of social influence in observational learning situations when it comes to learning about causally opaque and less efficient (compared to what comes natural to the dog) action demonstrations
Granular Solid Hydrodynamics
Granular elasticity, an elasticity theory useful for calculating static
stress distribution in granular media, is generalized to the dynamic case by
including the plastic contribution of the strain. A complete hydrodynamic
theory is derived based on the hypothesis that granular medium turns
transiently elastic when deformed. This theory includes both the true and the
granular temperatures, and employs a free energy expression that encapsulates a
full jamming phase diagram, in the space spanned by pressure, shear stress,
density and granular temperature. For the special case of stationary granular
temperatures, the derived hydrodynamic theory reduces to {\em hypoplasticity},
a state-of-the-art engineering model.Comment: 42 pages 3 fi
Comprehensive assessment of meteorological conditions and airflow connectivity during HCCT-2010
This study presents a comprehensive assessment of the meteorological conditions and atmospheric flow dur- ing the Lagrangian-type “Hill Cap Cloud Thuringia 2010” experiment (HCCT-2010), which was performed in Septem- ber and October 2010 at Mt. Schmücke in the Thuringian Forest, Germany and which used observations at three measurement sites (upwind, in-cloud, and downwind) to study physical and chemical aerosol–cloud interactions. A Lagrangian-type hill cap cloud experiment requires not only suitable cloud conditions but also connected airflow condi- tions (i.e. representative air masses at the different measure- ment sites). The primary goal of the present study was to identify time periods during the 6-week duration of the ex- periment in which these conditions were fulfilled and there- fore which are suitable for use in further data examinations. The following topics were studied in detail: (i) the general synoptic weather situations, including the mesoscale flow conditions, (ii) local meteorological conditions and (iii) lo- cal flow conditions. The latter were investigated by means of statistical analyses using best-available quasi-inert trac- ers, SF6 tracer experiments in the experiment area, and re- gional modelling. This study represents the first applica- tion of comprehensive analyses using statistical measures such as the coefficient of divergence (COD) and the cross- correlation in the context of a Lagrangian-type hill cap cloud experiment. This comprehensive examination of local flow connectivity yielded a total of 14 full-cloud events (FCEs), which are defined as periods during which all connected flow and cloud criteria for a suitable Lagrangian-type ex- periment were fulfilled, and 15 non-cloud events (NCEs), which are defined as periods with connected flow but no cloud at the summit site, and which can be used as refer- ence cases. The overall evaluation of the identified FCEs provides the basis for subsequent investigations of the mea- sured chemical and physical data during HCCT-2010 (see http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/special_issue287.html). Results obtained from the statistical flow analyses and regional-scale modelling performed in this study indicate the existence of a strong link between the three measurement sites during the FCEs and NCEs, particularly under condi- tions of constant southwesterly flow, high wind speeds and slightly stable stratification. COD analyses performed using continuous measurements of ozone and particle (49nm di- ameter size bin) concentrations at the three sites revealed, particularly for COD value
Quark-model study of few-baryon systems
We review the application of non-relativistic constituent quark models to
study one, two and three non-strange baryon systems. We present results for the
baryon spectra, potentials and observables of the NN, N,
and NN systems, and also for the binding energies of three
non-strange baryon systems. We make emphasis on observable effects related to
quark antisymmetry and its interplay with quark dynamics.Comment: 82 pages, 36 figures, 18 tables. Accepted for publication in Reports
on Progress in Physic
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