2,289 research outputs found
Arrhythmic perch hopping and rhythmic feeding of starlings in constant light: Separate circadian oscillators?
Perch hopping activity and food intake were recorded in starlings in different intensities of continuous illumination (LL), varying from 0.1 to 1000 lux. Circadian rhythmicity in perch hopping disappeared in 10 lux and all higher intensities. In contrast, freerunning circadian rhythms in feeding were always present. In low light intensities, the perch hopping rhythm usually phase leads feeding, increasingly so with shorter circadian period. Locomotor activity may reflect motivational states unrelated to feeding.
Intermittent Gliding in the Hunting Flight of the Kestrel, Falco tinnunculus L.
The hunting flight of the kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) consists of short bouts of flight at wind speed against the wind with the eyes in a fixed position relative to the ground, and of short flights from one such position to the next.
High speed films taken with a camera in a fixed position of a hunting kestrel of known weight and dimensions, allow estimates to be made of the amount of energy required for this behaviour.
A theoretical model shows how a bird could economise by alternating flapping flight with short gliding bouts, without changing the position of the eyes above the ground, by mere displacement of the centre of gravity relative to the head. High speed film data confirm predictions from this model.
On pole-swapping algorithms for the eigenvalue problem
Pole-swapping algorithms, which are generalizations of the QZ algorithm for
the generalized eigenvalue problem, are studied. A new modular (and therefore
more flexible) convergence theory that applies to all pole-swapping algorithms
is developed. A key component of all such algorithms is a procedure that swaps
two adjacent eigenvalues in a triangular pencil. An improved swapping routine
is developed, and its superiority over existing methods is demonstrated by a
backward error analysis and numerical tests. The modularity of the new
convergence theory and the generality of the pole-swapping approach shed new
light on bi-directional chasing algorithms, optimally packed shifts, and bulge
pencils, and allow the design of novel algorithms
Predicting crystal structures: the Parrinello-Rahman method revisited
By suitably adapting a recent approach [A. Laio and M. Parrinello, PNAS, 99,
12562 (2002)] we develop a powerful molecular dynamics method for the study of
pressure-induced structural transformations. We use the edges of the simulation
cell as collective variables. In the space of these variables we define a
metadynamics that drives the system away from the local minimum towards a new
crystal structure. In contrast to the Parrinello-Rahman method our approach
shows no hysteresis and crystal structure transformations can occur at the
equilibrium pressure. We illustrate the power of the method by studying the
pressure-induced diamond to simple hexagonal phase transition in a model of
silicon.Comment: 5 pages, 2 Postscript figures, submitte
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