AN ANALYSIS OF HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION OF RABBIT MEAT IN THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES

Results from a random sample of 1421 households in the southern United States suggest that the most likely consumers of rabbit meat are men, non-college graduates, those with household incomes at or below $50,000, households with children, and Louisiana residents. The current market for rabbit meat is small. However, the meat is lower in fat, cholesterol, and calories, and higher in protein than beef, chicken, turkey, or pork, and these desirable nutritional attributes may spark future demand.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Many-Impurity Effects in Fourier Transform Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy

Fourier transform scanning tunneling spectroscopy (FTSTS) is a useful technique for extracting details of the momentum-resolved electronic band structure from inhomogeneities in the local density of states due to disorder-related quasiparticle scattering. To a large extent, current understanding of FTSTS is based on models of Friedel oscillations near isolated impurities. Here, a framework for understanding many-impurity effects is developed based on a systematic treatment of the variance Delta rho^2(q,omega) of the Fourier transformed local density of states rho(q,\omega). One important consequence of this work is a demonstration that the poor signal-to-noise ratio inherent in rho(q,omega) due to randomness in impurity positions can be eliminated by configuration averaging Delta rho^2(q,omega). Furthermore, we develop a diagrammatic perturbation theory for Delta rho^2(q,omega) and show that an important bulk quantity, the mean-free-path, can be extracted from FTSTS experiments.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures. A version of the paper with high resolution, colour figures is available at http://www.trentu.ca/physics/batkinson/FTSTS.ps.gz minor revisions in response to refree report + figure 5 is modifie

The effect of uniaxial pressure on the magnetic anisotropy of the Mn_{12}-Ac single-molecule magnet

We study the effect of uniaxial pressure on the magnetic hysteresis loops of the single-molecule magnet Mn_{12}-Ac. We find that the application of pressure along the easy axis increases the fields at which quantum tunneling of magnetization occurs. The observations are attributed to an increase in the molecule's magnetic anisotropy constant D of 0.142(1)%/kbar. The increase in D produces a small, but measurable increase in the effective energy barrier for magnetization reversal. Density-functional theory calculations also predict an increase in the barrier with applied pressure.Comment: version accepted by EPL; 6 pages, including 7 figures. Small changes and added reference

On the Bethe Ansatz for the Jaynes-Cummings-Gaudin model

We investigate the quantum Jaynes-Cummings model - a particular case of the Gaudin model with one of the spins being infinite. Starting from the Bethe equations we derive Baxter's equation and from it a closed set of equations for the eigenvalues of the commuting Hamiltonians. A scalar product in the separated variables representation is found for which the commuting Hamiltonians are Hermitian. In the semi classical limit the Bethe roots accumulate on very specific curves in the complex plane. We give the equation of these curves. They build up a system of cuts modeling the spectral curve as a two sheeted cover of the complex plane. Finally, we extend some of these results to the XXX Heisenberg spin chain.Comment: 16 page

The c axis optical conductivity of layered systems in the superconducting state

In this paper, we discuss the c axis optical conductivity Re [sigma_c(omega)] in the high T_c superconductors, in the superconducting state. The basic premise of this work is that electrons travelling along the c axis between adjacent CuO_2 layers must pass through several intervening layers. In earlier work we found that, for weak inter-layer coupling, it is preferable for electrons to travel along the c axis by making a series of interband transitions rather than to stay within a single (and very narrow) band. Moreover, we found that many of the properties of the normal state optical conductivity, including the pseudogap could be explained by interband transitions. In this work we examine the effect of superconductivity on the interband conductivity. We find that, while the onset of superconductivity is clearly evident in the spectrum, there is no clear signature of the symmetry of the superconducting order parameter.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Automated Analysis of Mixed Sample Raman Spectra Using Feedforward Neural Networks and One-Vs-All Decomposition

Interest in use of Raman spectrometers in many fields of analytical science has increased due to ability to nondestructively provide information about molecular structures and component materials of a mixed sample. Advancements in Raman spectrometer hardware has allowed for compact instruments to have deployment capabilities directly on interplanetary missions, flexible usage conditions requiring no sample collection/preparation, and no need for daylight radiation shielding. As the amount of science which can be collected from a Raman spectrometer in a given amount of time increases, a bottleneck will be created in data analysis which leaves a need for a faster method of spectral data classification. In this study, a framework to allow for fast automated analysis of mixed sample Raman spectral data is proposed and an implementation of this framework is tested. Analysis of mixed sample Raman spectra was achieved by implementing a model which decomposes an N-class multilabel problem into “N” single class detection problems. The model (consisting of multiple neural networks) was trained with pure sample data and was tasked with analyzing both real and theoretical mixed sample Raman data. Performance of the model is judged by its ability to detect component materials in real mixed sample data at the same level that it is able to in ideal mixed sample data (consisting of linear combinations of training data). The model’s structure, training and testing methodologies, and results will be presented.https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/engineering_batten/1002/thumbnail.jp

Magnetic properties and critical behavior of disordered Fe_{1-x}Ru_x alloys: a Monte Carlo approach

We study the critical behavior of a quenched random-exchange Ising model with competing interactions on a bcc lattice. This model was introduced in the study of the magnetic behavior of Fe_{1-x}Ru_x alloys for ruthenium concentrations x=0%, x=4%, x=6%, and x=8%. Our study is carried out within a Monte Carlo approach, with the aid of a re-weighting multiple histogram technique. By means of a finite-size scaling analysis of several thermodynamic quantities, taking into account up to the leading irrelevant scaling field term, we find estimates of the critical exponents \alpha, \beta, \gamma, and \nu, and of the critical temperatures of the model. Our results for x=0% are in excellent agreement with those for the three-dimensional pure Ising model in the literature. We also show that our critical exponent estimates for the disordered cases are consistent with those reported for the transition line between paramagnetic and ferromagnetic phases of both randomly dilute and $\pm J$ Ising models. We compare the behavior of the magnetization as a function of temperature with that obtained by Paduani and Branco (2008), qualitatively confirming the mean-field result. However, the comparison of the critical temperatures obtained in this work with experimental measurements suggest that the model (initially obtained in a mean-field approach) needs to be modified

Rapidly-converging methods for the location of quantum critical points from finite-size data

We analyze in detail, beyond the usual scaling hypothesis, the finite-size convergence of static quantities toward the thermodynamic limit. In this way we are able to obtain sequences of pseudo-critical points which display a faster convergence rate as compared to currently used methods. The approaches are valid in any spatial dimension and for any value of the dynamic exponent. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our methods both analytically on the basis of the one dimensional XY model, and numerically considering c = 1 transitions occurring in non integrable spin models. In particular, we show that these general methods are able to locate precisely the onset of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition making only use of ground-state properties on relatively small systems.Comment: 9 pages, 2 EPS figures, RevTeX style. Updated to published versio

Avian blood parasites in an endangered columbid: Leucocytozoon marchouxi in the Mauritian Pink Pigeon Columba mayeri

There is increasing evidence that pathogens can play a significant role in species decline. This study of a complete free-living species reveals a cost of blood parasitism to an endangered host, the Pink Pigeon Columba mayeri, endemic to Mauritius. We investigated the prevalence and effect of infection of the blood parasite, Leucocytozoon marchouxi, in the free-living Pink Pigeon population. Overall, L. marchouxi infection prevalence detected was 18·3%. Juveniles were more likely to be infected than older birds and there was geographical variation in infection prevalence. Survival of birds infected with L. marchouxi was lower than that of uninfected birds to 90 days post-sampling. This study suggests that while common haematozoa are well tolerated in healthy adults, these parasites may have greater pathogenic potential in susceptible juveniles. The study is unusual given its completeness of species sampling (96%) within a short time-period, the accurate host age data, and its focus on blood parasites in a threatened bird species. Species for which long-term life-history data are available for every individual serve as valuable models for dissecting the contribution of particular pathogens to species decline