TGF-β Receptors PAR-ticipate in Axon Formation

How does a newborn neuron initiate and elaborate an axon? Using cutting-edge approaches, Yi et al. (2010) provide striking evidence that TGF-β signaling via the Par polarity complex is required for axon formation by neocortical pyramidal neurons

Extending the Interaction Flow Modeling Language (IFML) for Model Driven Development of Mobile Applications Front End

International audienceFront-end design of mobile applications is a complex and multidisciplinary task, where many perspectives intersect and the user experience must be perfectly tailored to the application objectives. However, development of mobile user interactions is still largely a manual task, which yields to high risks of errors, inconsistencies and ine ciencies. In this paper we propose a model-driven approach to mobile application development based on the IFML standard. We propose an extension of the Interaction Flow Modeling Language tailored to mobile applications and we describe our implementation experience that comprises the development of automatic code generators for cross-platform mobile applications based on HTML5, CSS and JavaScript optimized for the Apache Cordova framework. We show the approach at work on a popular mobile application, we report on the application of the approach on an industrial application development project and we provide a productivity comparison with traditional approaches

Preference for pasture versus freestall housing by dairy cattle when stall availability indoors is reduced

Providing cattle with access to pasture has been shown to yield benefits, including access to more space, fewer agonistic interactions, better air quality, and the ability to perform a greater range of normal behaviors. Preference for pasture appears to depend on several parameters, including weather conditions and availability of shade. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the preference for pasture versus inside a freestall barn with variable stocking densities at the stalls. We also investigated the effect of temperature-humidity index (THI) and precipitation on this preference. Overall, cows spent on average 13.7 ± 2.6 h/d (mean ± SD) on pasture (ranging from 7.2 to 18.0 h/d across days); at night (between 2000 and 0600 h) cows spent the majority of their time (78.5 ± 27.8%) on pasture. Stall availability had no effect on time spent outside, but time spent on pasture decreased with increasing THI during the day and declined during nights with more rainfall. Stall usage changed depending on stall availability; standing with 2 and 4 feet in the stall and lying time indoors decreased with decreasing stall availability. Indoor lying time also increased with higher THI and more precipitation. In conclusion, cows preferred to be outside at night; they were much more likely to remain indoors during the day, even when overstocked

Preference for pasture versus freestall housing by dairy cattle when stall availability indoors is reduced

Providing cattle with access to pasture has been shown to yield benefits, including access to more space, fewer agonistic interactions, better air quality, and the ability to perform a greater range of normal behaviors. Preference for pasture appears to depend on several parameters, including weather conditions and availability of shade. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the preference for pasture versus inside a freestall barn with variable stocking densities at the stalls. We also investigated the effect of temperature-humidity index (THI) and precipitation on this preference. Overall, cows spent on average 13.7 ± 2.6 h/d (mean ± SD) on pasture (ranging from 7.2 to 18.0 h/d across days); at night (between 2000 and 0600 h) cows spent the majority of their time (78.5 ± 27.8%) on pasture. Stall availability had no effect on time spent outside, but time spent on pasture decreased with increasing THI during the day and declined during nights with more rainfall. Stall usage changed depending on stall availability; standing with 2 and 4 feet in the stall and lying time indoors decreased with decreasing stall availability. Indoor lying time also increased with higher THI and more precipitation. In conclusion, cows preferred to be outside at night; they were much more likely to remain indoors during the day, even when overstocked

On the influence of the magnetic field of the GSI experimental storage ring on the time-modulation of the EC-decay rates of the H-like mother ions

We investigate the influence of the magnetic field of the Experimental storage ring (ESR) at GSI on the periodic time-dependence of the orbital K-shell electron capture decay $(EC$) rates of the H--like heavy ions. We approximate the magnetic field of the ESR by a uniform magnetic field. Unlike the assertion by Lambiase et al., arXiv: 0811.2302 [nucl-th], we show that a motion of the H-like heavy ion in a uniform magnetic field cannot be the origin of the periodic time-dependence of the EC-decay rates of the H-like heavy ions.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figur

The stall-design paradox: Neck rails increase lameness but improve udder and stall hygiene

Housing conditions for dairy cows are thought to af-fect lameness, but almost no experimental work has addressed this link. The aim was to assess the effect of one feature of free-stall design, the position of the neck rail, testing the prediction that cows will be more likely to become lame if using pens with the neck rail positioned such that it prevents standing fully inside the stall. Cows (n = 32) were housed in 8 pens. Treat-ments were tested using a crossover design; treatments were allocated alternately to pens at the beginning of the experiment and switched halfway through the 10-wk experiment. Cows spent 27 ± 3 min/d standing with all 4 feet in stalls with less restrictive neck rails. In contrast, cows averaged just 1 ± 3 min/d when the neck rail was positioned restrictively. Cows spent less time standing with only the front 2 feet in the stall with less restrictive neck rails (33 vs. 49 ± 6 min/d). Gait scores improved when cows were kept in the less restrictive stalls and worsened when cows were kept in pens with the restrictive neck rail (median score 2.5 vs. 3.5 after 5 wk on treatment). Of 13 new cases of lame-ness, 11 occurred in pens with the restrictive neck-rail position. Similarly, of the 16 new cases of sole lesions, 15 occurred during the period when cows were housed in pens with a restrictive neck rail. Stalls with the neck rail positioned less restrictively had higher contamina-tion scores than stalls with the restrictive neck rails (3.7 vs. 0.4 ± 0.2), and cows using those stalls had dirtier udders and longer teat-cleaning times (8.3 vs. 7.0 ± 0.2 min for 12 cows). This study provides the first experimental evidence that aspects of stall design can reduce the risk of lameness and hoof disease. The results illustrated that changes in design that resulted in improvements in cow comfort and hoof health came at the expense of cow and stall cleanliness

On the Hyperbolicity of Lorenz Renormalization

We consider infinitely renormalizable Lorenz maps with real critical exponent $\alpha>1$ and combinatorial type which is monotone and satisfies a long return condition. For these combinatorial types we prove the existence of periodic points of the renormalization operator, and that each map in the limit set of renormalization has an associated unstable manifold. An unstable manifold defines a family of Lorenz maps and we prove that each infinitely renormalizable combinatorial type (satisfying the above conditions) has a unique representative within such a family. We also prove that each infinitely renormalizable map has no wandering intervals and that the closure of the forward orbits of its critical values is a Cantor attractor of measure zero.Comment: 63 pages; 10 figure