1,073 research outputs found
Bone intake by vultures in Namibia
The use of bones by vultures was assessed during early 2005 in the Otjiwarongo area in north-central Namibia. Bone fragments were utilized by all species, especially by
the African White-backed Vulture Gyps africanus and the Lappet-faced Vulture Torgos tracheliotos. There was an overall increase in bone fragment consumption from May onwards (taken as the beginning of the breeding period). A rough estimate of bone fragment use for all vultures of 2.49 g/vulture (consumption/total number of vultures observed) and 60.31 g/vulture (consumption/individuals of vultures observed) was determined. The results suggest that bone fragments should be added as a supplement
at vulture restaurants.Vulture News Vol. 57 2007: pp. 17-2
Fermi and non-Fermi liquid behavior in quantum impurity systems: Conserving slave boson theory
The question of Fermi liquid vs. non-Fermi liquid behavior induced by strong
correlations is one of the prominent problems in metallic local moment systems.
As standard models for such systems, the SU(N)xSU(M) Anderson impurity models
exhibit both Fermi liquid and non-Fermi liquid behavior, depending on their
symmetry. Taking the Anderson model as an example, these lectures first give an
introduction to the auxiliary boson method to describe correlated systems
governed by a strong, short-range electronic repulsion. It is then shown how to
include the relevant low-lying excitations (coherent spin flip and charge
fluctuation processes), while preserving the local gauge symmetry of the model.
This amounts to a conserving T-matrix approximation (CTMA). We prove a
cancellation theorem showing that the CTMA incorporates all leading and
subleading infrared singularities at any given order in a self-consistent loop
expansion of the free energy. As a result, the CTMA recovers the correct
infrared behavior of the auxiliary particle propagators, indicating that it
correctly describes both the Fermi and the non-Fermi regimes of the Anderson
model.Comment: 37 pages, LaTeX, style file included, 10 postscript figures; to
appear in Proceedings of the XXXVIII Cracow School of Theoretical Physics,
Zakopane, Poland, June 1-10, 199
High frequency of chlamydial co-infections in clinically healthy sheep flocks
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The epidemiological situation of ovine chlamydial infections in continental Europe, especially Germany is poorly characterised. Using the German state of Thuringia as a model example, the chlamydial sero- and antigen prevalence was estimated in thirty-two randomly selected sheep flocks with an average abortion rate lower than 1%. Seven vaccinated flocks were reviewed separately.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A wide range of samples from 32 flocks were examined. Assumption of a seroprevalence of 10% (CI 95%) at flock level, revealed that 94% of the tested flocks were serologically positive with ongoing infection (i.e. animals with seroconversion) in nearly half (47%) of the flocks. On the basis of an estimated 25% antigen prevalence (CI 95%), PCR and DNA microarray testing, together with sequencing revealed the presence of chlamydiae in 78% of the flocks. The species most frequently found was <it>Chlamydophila (C</it>.) <it>abortus </it>(50%) followed by <it>C. pecorum </it>(47%) and <it>C. psittaci </it>genotype A (25%). Mixed infections occurred in 25% of the tested flocks. Samples obtained from the vaccinated flocks revealed the presence of <it>C. abortus </it>field samples in 4/7 flocks. <it>C. pecorum </it>was isolated from 2/7 flocks and the presence of seroconversion was determined in 3/7 flocks.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results imply that chlamydial infections occur frequently in German sheep flocks, even in the absence of elevated abortion rates. The fact that <it>C. pecorum </it>and the potentially zoonotic <it>C. psittaci </it>were found alongside the classical abortifacient agent <it>C. abortus</it>, raise questions about the significance of this reservoir for animal and human health and underline the necessity for regular monitoring. Further studies are needed to identify the possible role of <it>C. psittaci </it>infections in sheep.</p
Patient Associated Factors that Affect Adherence to Warfarin Therapy in a Tertiary Referral Hospital in Kenya
Warfarin is the most widely used oral anticoagulant but non-adherence to its therapy contributes significantly to sub-optimal anticoagulation control. A crosssectional study was carried out among 147 adult outpatients at Kenyatta National Hospital to determine the level of adherence and explore the associated factors. Adherence was associated with age, gender heart valve surgery, alcohol consumption, and cost of treatment. On multivariate analysis, the independent variables associated with adequate adherence were age (OR = 0.429, 95% CI = 0.228-0.808; p = 0.009), gender (OR = 0.299, 95% CI = 0.123-0.728; p = 0.008) and the type of thromboembolic disease (OR = 0.385, 95% CI = 0.214-0.690; p = 0.001). Adherence was better among females, older age groups and patients who had undergone heart valve surgery. Adherence was poorer among males, younger participants and patients with venous thromboembolism. We suggest that medication adherence counseling to warfarin therapy should be emphasized in poor-adherent patient populations.Key words: Warfarin, adherence, patient factors, Keny
Gas diffusion through columnar laboratory sea ice: implications for mixed-layer ventilation of CO<sub>2</sub> in the seasonal ice zone
Gas diffusion through the porous microstructure of sea ice represents a pathway for oceanâatmosphere exchange and for transport of biogenic gases produced within sea ice. We report on the experimental determination of the bulk gas diffusion coefficients, D, for oxygen (O2) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) through columnar sea ice under constant ice thickness conditions for ice surface temperatures between -4 and -12 °C. Profiles of SF6 through the ice indicate decreasing gas concentration from the ice/water interface to the ice/air interface, with evidence for solubility partitioning between gas-filled and liquid-filled pore spaces. On average, DSF6 inline image was 1.3 Ă 10-4 cm2 s-1 (Âą40%) and DO2 was 3.9 Ă 10-5 cm2 s-1 (Âą41%). The preferential partitioning of SF6 to the gas phase, which is the dominant diffusion pathway produced the greater rate of SF6 diffusion. Comparing these estimates of D with an existing estimate of the airâsea gas transfer through leads indicates that ventilation of the mixed layer by diffusion through sea ice may be negligible, compared to airâsea gas exchange through fractures in the ice pack, even when the fraction of open water is less than 1%
Chasing the genes that control resistance to gastrointestinal nematodes
The host-protective immune response to infection with gastrointestinal (GI) nematodes involves a range of interacting processes that begin with recognition of the parasiteâs antigens and culminate in an inflammatory reaction in the intestinal mucosa. Precisely which immune effectors are responsible for the loss of specific worms is still not known although many candidate effectors have beenproposed. However, it is now clear that many different genes regulate the response and that differences between hosts (fast or strong versus slow or weak responses) can be explained by allelic variation in crucial genes associated with the gene cascade that accompanies the immune response and/or genes encoding constitutively expressed receptor/signalling molecules. Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes have been recognized for some time as decisive in controlling immunity, and evidence that non-MHC genes are equally, if not more important in this respect has also been available for two decades. Nevertheless, whilst the former have been mapped in mice, only two candidate loci have been proposed for non-MHC genes and relatively little is known about their roles. Now, with the availability of microsatellite markers, it is possible to exploit linkage mapping techniques to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) responsible for resistance to GI nematodes. Four QTL for resistance to Heligmosomoides polygyrus, and additional QTL affecting faecal egg production by the worms and the accompanying immune responses, have been identified. Fine mapping and eventually the identification of the genes (and their alleles) underlying QTL for resistance/susceptibility will permit informed searches for homologues in domestic animals, and human beings, through comparative genomic maps. This information in turn will facilitate targeted breeding to improve resistance in domestic animals and, in human beings, focused application of treatment and control strategies for GI nematodes
Linked Cluster Expansion Around Mean-Field Theories of Interacting Electrons
A general expansion scheme based on the concept of linked cluster expansion
from the theory of classical spin systems is constructed for models of
interacting electrons. It is shown that with a suitable variational formulation
of mean-field theories at weak (Hartree-Fock) and strong (Hubbard-III) coupling
the expansion represents a universal and comprehensive tool for systematic
improvements of static mean-field theories. As an example of the general
formalism we investigate in detail an analytically tractable series of ring
diagrams that correctly capture dynamical fluctuations at weak coupling. We
introduce renormalizations of the diagrammatic expansion at various levels and
show how the resultant theories are related to other approximations of similar
origin. We demonstrate that only fully self-consistent approximations produce
global and thermodynamically consistent extensions of static mean field
theories. A fully self-consistent theory for the ring diagrams is reached by
summing the so-called noncrossing diagrams.Comment: 17 pages, REVTEX, 13 uuencoded postscript figures in 2 separate file
Conductivity in a symmetry broken phase: Spinless fermions with corrections
The dynamic conductivity of strongly correlated electrons in
a symmetry broken phase is investigated in the present work. The model
considered consists of spinless fermions with repulsive interaction on a simple
cubic lattice. The investigated symmetry broken phase is the charge density
wave (CDW) with wave vector which occurs at
half-filling. The calculations are based on the high dimensional approach, i.e.
an expansion in the inverse dimension is used. The finite dimensionality
is accounted for by the inclusion of linear terms in and the true finite
dimensional DOS. Special care is paid to the setup of a conserving
approximation in the sense of Baym/Kadanoff without inconsistencies. The
resulting Bethe-Salpeter equation is solved for the dynamic conductivity in the
non symmetry broken and in the symmetry broken phase (AB-CDW). The
dc-conductivity is reduced drastically in the CDW. Yet it does not vanish in
the limit due to a subtle cancellation of diverging mobility and
vanishing DOS. In the dynamic conductivity the energy gap
induced by the symmetry breaking is clearly discernible. In addition, the
vertex corrections of order lead to an excitonic resonance lying within
the gap.Comment: 23 pages, 19 figures included with psfig, Revtex; Physical Review
B15, in press (October/November 1996) depending on the printer/screen driver,
it might be necessary to comment out figures 3,4,5,10,11,12,19 and have them
printed separatel
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