14,247 research outputs found
Insulin resistance for glucose metabolism in disused soleus muscle of mice
Results of this study on mice provide the first direct evidence of insulin resistance for glucose metabolism in skeletal muscle that has undergone a previous period of reduced muscle usage. This lack of responsiveness to insulin developed in one day and in the presence of hypoinsulinemia. Future studies will utilize the model of hindlimb immobilization to determine the causes of these changes
Behavioural and physiological responses of laying hens to automated monitoring equipment
Automated monitoring of behaviour can offer a wealth of information in circumstances where observing behaviour is difficult or time consuming. However, this often requires attaching monitoring devices to the animal which can alter behaviour, potentially invalidating any data collected. Birds often show increased preening and energy expenditure when wearing devices and, especially in laying hens, there is a risk that individuals wearing devices will attract aggression from conspecifics. We studied the behavioural and physiological response of 20 laying hens to backpacks containing monitoring devices fastened with elastic loops around the wing base. We hypothesised that backpacks would lead to a stress-induced decrease in peripheral temperature, increased preening, more aggression from conspecifics, and reduced bodyweights. This was evaluated by thermography of the eye and comb (when isolated after fitting backpacks), direct observations of behaviour (when isolated, when placed back into the group, and on later days), and weighing (before and after each 7-day experimental period). Each hen wore a backpack during one of the two experimental periods only and was used as her own control. Contrary to our hypothesis, eye temperature was higher when hens wore a backpack (No backpack: 30.2 °C (IQR: 29.0–30.6) vs. Backpack: 30.9 °C (IQR: 30.0–32.0), P < 0.001). Eye temperature of hens wearing a backpack was strongly correlated to the time spent preening (rs = 0.8, P < 0.001), suggesting that the higher temperatures may have been due to preening itself, or to a low head position or decreased heat dissipation when preening under the wings. Aggressive behaviour was very rare and no effect of the backpacks was found. In line with our hypothesis, backpacks increased preening on the day of fitting, both when isolated (No backpack: 0% (IQR: 0–1) vs. Backpack: 22% (IQR: 1–43), P < 0.01) and when back in the group (No backpack: 0% (IQR: 0–27) vs. Backpack: 43% (IQR: 5–77), P < 0.001). However, no effect on preening was observed 2–7 days afterwards. Other behavioural changes suggested that on the day of fitting hens prioritized attempts to (re)move the backpack and were less attentive to their surroundings. However, only equipment pecking (i.e., pecking the backpack or leg rings) was still affected 2–7 days after fitting (No backpack: 0 pecks/hen/minute (IQR: 0–0), vs. Backpack: 0 (IQR: 0–0.07), P < 0.05). We found no effect of our backpacks on bodyweight. In conclusion, our backpacks seem suitable to attach monitoring equipment to hens with only a very minor effect on their behaviour after a short acclimation period (≤2 days)
Photoionization Rates of Cs Rydberg Atoms in a 1064 nm Far Off-Resonance Trap
Experimental measurements of photoionization rates of Rydberg
states of Cs () in a 1064 nm far off-resonance dipole trap
are presented. The photoionization rates are obtained by measuring the
lifetimes of Rydberg atoms produced inside of a 1064 nm far off-resonance trap
and comparing the lifetimes to corresponding control experiments in a
magneto-optical trap. Experimental results for the control experiments agree
with recent theoretical predictions for Rydberg state lifetimes and measured
photoionization rates are in agreement with transition rates calculated from a
model potential.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure
Observation of blue-shifted ultralong-range Cs Rydberg molecules
We observe ultralong-range blue-shifted Cs molecular states near
Rydberg states in an optical dipole trap, where .
The accidental near degeneracy of and Rydberg states for in
Cs, due to the small fractional quantum defect, leads to non-adiabatic
coupling among these states, producing potential wells above the
thresholds. Two important consequences of admixing high angular momentum states
with states are the formation of large permanent dipole moments, Debye, and accessibility of these states via two-photon association.
The observed states are in excellent agreement with theory. Both projections of
the total angular momentum on the internuclear axis are visible in the
experiment
Flexible story generation with Norms and Preferences in computer role playing games
Interactive storytelling is a strength of table-top role playing games as they are facilitated by a game master (GM) who directs the narrative and devises game scenarios. One difficulty with the implementation is the large amount of time
Letters between F. M. Booth and W. J. Kerr
Letters concerning a position at the Utah Agricultural College, including recommendations for F. M. Booth and Mrs. F. M. Booth
X-ray Absorption Fine Structure in Embedded Atoms
Oscillatory structure is found in the atomic background absorption in
x-ray-absorption fine structure (XAFS). This atomic-XAFS or AXAFS arises from
scattering within an embedded atom, and is analogous to the Ramsauer-Townsend
effect. Calculations and measurements confirm the existence of AXAFS and show
that it can dominate contributions such as multi-electron excitations. The
structure is sensitive to chemical effects and thus provides a new probe of
bonding and exchange effects on the scattering potential.Comment: 4 pages plus 2 postscript figures, REVTEX 3.
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