771 research outputs found
Female teat size is a reliable indicator of annual breeding success in European badgers: Genetic validation
Assessing which females have bred successfully is a central requirement in many ecological field studies,
providing an estimate of the effective female population size. Researchers have applied teat measurements
previously to assess whether females, in a variety of mammalian species, have bred; however, this
technique has not been validated genetically. Furthermore, several analytical techniques are available to
classify individuals, but their misclassification rates have not been compared. We used 22 microsatellite
loci to assign maternity, with 95% confidence, within a high-density population of European badgers Meles
meles, as plural and subterranean breeding means that maternity cannot be inferred from behavioural
observations. The teat lengths and diameters of 136 females, measured May–July 1994–2005, from social
groups in which all offspring were assigned a mother, were reliable indicators of recent breeding success.
A Generalised Linear Mixed Model (GLMM) classified both breeding and non-breeding females with
lower error rates than discriminant analyses and crude teat-size criteria. The GLMM model logit probability
=
−20 + 1.8 month + 1.6 mean teat length + 1.0 mean teat diameter can be applied quickly in the field
to assess the probability with which a female badger should be assigned maternity. This is a low-cost
measure which, after validation, could be used in other badger or mammalian populations to assess the
breeding success of females. This may be a particularly useful welfare tool for veterinary practitioners,
especially during badger culls
The electronic structure of {\em R}NiC intermetallic compounds
First-principles calculations of the electronic structure of members of the
NiC series are presented, and their Fermi surfaces investigated for
nesting propensities which might be linked to the charge-density waves
exhibited by certain members of the series ( = Sm, Gd and Nd). Calculations
of the generalized susceptibility, , show strong
peaks at the same -vector in both the real and imaginary parts for
these compounds. Moreover, this peak occurs at a wavevector which is very close
to that experimentally observed in SmNiC. In contrast, for LaNiC (which
is a superconductor below 2.7K) as well as for ferromagnetic SmNiC, there
is no such sharp peak. This could explain the absence of a charge-density wave
transition in the former, and the destruction of the charge-density wave that
has been observed to accompany the onset of ferromagnetic order in the latter.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Fermi Surface as the Driving Mechanism for Helical Antiferromagnetic Ordering in Gd-Y Alloys
The first direct experimental evidence for the Fermi surface (FS) driving the
helical antiferromagnetic ordering in a gadolinium-yttrium alloy is reported.
The presence of a FS sheet capable of nesting is revealed, and the nesting
vector associated with the sheet is found to be in excellent agreement with the
periodicity of the helical ordering.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Mean-field model of the ferromagnetic ordering in the superconducting phase of ErNi_2B_2C
A mean-field model explaining most of the details in the magnetic phase
diagram of ErNi_2B_2C is presented. The low-temperature magnetic properties are
found to be dominated by the appearance of long-period commensurate structures.
The stable structure at low temperatures and zero field is found to have a
period of 40 layers along the a direction, and upon cooling it undergoes a
first-order transition at T_C = 2.3 K to a different 40-layered structure
having a net ferromagnetic component of about 0.4 mu_B/Er. The
neutron-diffraction patterns predicted by the two 40-layered structures, above
and below T_C, are in agreement with the observations of Choi et al.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures (Revtex4
Are you my baby?:Testing whether paternity affects behavior of cobreeder male acorn woodpeckers
Natural selection is expected to favor males that invest more in offspring they sire. We investigated the relationship between paternity and male behavior in the acorn woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus), a cooperative breeder that lives in family groups including offspring that remain on their natal territory, sometimes for years, and cobreeders of both sexes. Regardless of group composition, only one communal nest is attended at a time. Whereas cobreeding females share maternity equally, one male usually sires the majority of young in the group’s communal nest. Copulations are rarely observed, and thus it has not been possible to link paternity to sexual behavior. There were no differences among cobreeder males that did or did not sire young in their propensity to roost in the nest cavity at night. However, cobreeder males that attended females continuously prior to egg-laying were more likely to successfully sire young than males that did not, and the relative share of feeding visits and time spent at the subsequent nest were positively related to a male’s realized paternity. These differences in male behavior were partly due to differences among males and partly to plasticity in male behavior covarying with paternity share. Feedings by males successfully siring young also involved a larger proportion of nutritionally valuable insect prey. Males are aware of their paternity success, apparently because of their relative access to females prior to egg laying, and provide more paternal care at nests in which they are more likely to have sired young
Heavy quasiparticles in the ferromagnetic superconductor ZrZn2
We report a study of the de Haas-van Alphen effect in the normal state of the
ferromagnetic superconductor ZrZn2. Our results are generally consistent with
an LMTO band structure calculation which predicts four exchange-split Fermi
surface sheets. Quasiparticle effective masses are enhanced by a factor of
about 4.9 implying a strong coupling to magnetic excitations or phonons. Our
measurements provide insight in to the mechanism for superconductivity and
unusual thermodynamic properties of ZrZn2.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures (one color
The Static Failure of Adhesively Bonded Metal Laminate Structures: A Cohesive Zone Approach
Data on distribution, ecology, biomass, recruitment, growth, mortality and productivity of the West African bloody cockle Anadara senilis were collected at the Banc d'Aguuin, Mauritania, in early 1985 and 1986. Ash-free dry weight appeared to be correlated best with shell height. A. senilis was abundant on the tidal flats of landlocked coastal bays, but nearly absent on the tidal flats bordering the open sea. The average biomass for the entire area of tidal flats was estimated at 5.5 g·m−2 ash-free dry weight. The A. senilis population appeared to consist mainly of 10 to 20-year-old individuals, showing a very slow growth and a production: biomass ratio of about 0.02 y−1. Recruitment appeared negligible and mortality was estimated to be about 10% per year. Oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus), the gastropod Cymbium cymbium and unknown fish species were responsible for a large share of this. The distinction of annual growth marks permitted the assessment of year-class strength, which appeared to be correlated with the average discharge of the river Senegal. This may be explained by assuming that year-class strength and river discharge both are correlated with rainfall at the Banc d'Arguin.
Transport properties of the heavy fermion superconductor PrOsSb
We have measured the electrical resistivity, thermoelectric power, Hall
coefficient, and magnetoresistance (MR) on single crystals of
PrOsSb, LaOsSb and NdOsSb. All the
transport properties in PrOsSb are similar to those in
LaOsSb and NdOsSb at high temperatures, indicating
the localized character of 4-electrons. The transverse MR both in
LaOsSb and PrOsSb tends to saturate for wide field
directions, indicating these compounds to be uncompensated metals with no open
orbit. We have determined the phase diagram of the field induced ordered phase
by the MR measurement for all the principle field directions, which indicates
an unambiguous evidence for the singlet crystalline electric
field ground state.Comment: 7 pages, 10 figures, to appear in Physical Review
Nesting properties and anisotropy of the Fermi surface of LuNiBC
The rare earth nickel borocarbides, with the generic formula
NiBC, have recently been shown to display a rich variety of
phenomena. Most striking has been the competition between, and even coexistence
of, antiferromagnetism and superconductivity. We have measured the Fermi
surface (FS) of LuNiBC, and shown that it possesses nesting
features capable of explaining some of the phenomena experimentally observed.
In particular, it had previously been conjectured that a particular sheet of FS
is responsible for the modulated magnetic structures manifest in some of the
series. We report the first direct experimental observation of this sheet.Comment: 4 pages, 4 PS figure
Superconducting gap anisotropy of LuNi2B2C thin films from microwave surface impedance measurements
Surface impedance measurements of LuNi2B2C superconducting thin films as a
function of temperature have been performed down to 1.5 K and at 20 GHz using a
dielectric resonator technique. The magnetic penetration depth closely
reproduces the standard B.C.S. result, but with a reduced value of the energy
gap at low temperature. These data provide evidence for an anisotropic s-wave
character of the order parameter symmetry in LuNi2B2C. From the evaluation of
the real part of complex conductivity, we have observed constructive (type II)
coherence effects in the electromagnetic absorption below Tc.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure
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