3,766 research outputs found
Lameness in UK dairy cows: a review of the current status
Lameness in dairy cattle has been reported as a concern for welfare and economic reasons for over 20 years. This concern has been expressed from across the industry and has prompted the launch of a number of initiatives to address the problem. This article reviews the current status of lameness in dairy cows in the UK, outlines the current understanding of the condition and its impacts on welfare and productivity, and highlights areas where evidence is still lacking
Pressure dependence of the magnetization in the ferromagnetic superconductor UGe_2
The recent discovery that superconductivity occurs in several clean itinerant
ferromagnets close to low temperature magnetic instabilities naturally invites
an interpretation based on a proximity to quantum criticality. Here we report
measurements of the pressure dependence of the low temperature magnetisation in
one of these materials, UGe_2. Our results show that both of the magnetic
transitions observed in this material as a function of pressure are first order
transitions and do not therefore correspond to quantum critical points. Further
we find that the known pressure dependence of the superconducting transition is
not reflected in the pressure dependence of the static susceptibility. This
demonstrates that the spectrum of excitations giving superconductivity is not
that normally associated with a proximity to quantum criticality in weak
itinerant ferromagnets. In contrast our data suggest that instead the pairing
spectrum might be related to a sharp spike in the electronic density of states
that also drives one of the magnetic transitions.Comment: to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
The thermodynamics of urban population flows
Orderliness, reflected via mathematical laws, is encountered in different
frameworks involving social groups. Here we show that a thermodynamics can be
constructed that macroscopically describes urban population flows. Microscopic
dynamic equations and simulations with random walkers underlie the macroscopic
approach. Our results might be regarded, via suitable analogies, as a step
towards building an explicit social thermodynamics
Beyond Robotic Wastelands of Time: Abandoned Pedagogical Agents and New Pedalled Pedagogies
Chatbots, known as pedagogical agents in educational settings, have a long history of use,
beginning with Alan Turing’s work. Since then online chatbots have become embedded into the
fabric of technology. Yet understandings of these technologies are inchoate and often untheorised.
Integration of chatbots into educational settings over the past five years suggests an increase in
interest in the ways in which chatbots might be adopted and adapted for teaching and learning.
This article draws on historical literature and theories that to date have largely been ignored in
order to (re)contextualise two studies that used responsive evaluation to examine the use of
pedagogical agents in education. Findings suggest that emotional interactions with pedagogical
agents are intrinsic to a user’s sense of trust, and that truthfulness, personalisation and emotional
engagement are vital when using pedagogical agents to enhance online learning. Such findings need
to be considered in the light of ways in which notions of learning are being redefined in the
academy and the extent to which new literacies and new technologies are being pedalled as
pedagogies in ways that undermine what higher education is, is for, and what learning means
Structural characteristics of positionally-disordered lattices: relation to the first sharp diffraction peak in glasses
Positional disorder has been introduced into the atomic structure of certain
crystalline lattices, and the orientationally-averaged structure factor S(k)
and pair-correlation function g(r) of these disordered lattices have been
studied. Analytical expressions for S(k) and g(r) for Gaussian positional
disorder in 2D and 3D are confirmed with precise numerical simulations. These
analytic results also have a bearing on the unsolved Gauss circle problem in
mathematics. As the positional disorder increases, high-k peaks in S(k) are
destroyed first, eventually leaving a single peak, that with the lowest-k
value. The pair-correlation function for lattices with such high levels of
positional disorder exhibits damped oscillations, with a period equal to the
separation between the furthest-separated (lowest-k) lattice planes. The last
surviving peak in S(k) is, for example for silicon and silica, at a wavevector
nearly identical to that of the experimentally-observed first sharp diffraction
peak (FSDP) in the amorphous phases of those materials. Thus, for these
amorphous materials at least, the FSDP can be regarded as arising from
scattering from atomic configurations equivalent to the single family of
positionally-disordered local Bragg planes having the furthest separation.Comment: v2: changes in response to referees' comments: Figure 2 made more
readable, improved discussion of height of peaks in S(k), other minor changes
4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Physical Review
Force Dependence of the Michaelis Constant in a Two-State Ratchet Model for Molecular Motors
We present a quantitative analysis of recent data on the kinetics of ATP
hydrolysis, which has presented a puzzle regarding the load dependence of the
Michaelis constant. Within the framework of coarse grained two-state ratchet
models, our analysis not only explains the puzzling data, but provides a
modified Michaelis law, which could be useful as a guide for future
experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 3 eps figures, accepted for publication on Physical Review
Letter
Observation of a Triangular to Square Flux Lattice Phase Transition in YBCO
We have used the technique of small-angle neutron scattering to observe
magnetic flux lines directly in an YBCO single crystal at fields higher than
previously reported. For field directions close to perpendicular to the CuO2
planes, we find that the flux lattice structure changes smoothly from a
distorted triangular co-ordination to nearly perfectly square as the magnetic
induction approaches 11 T. The orientation of the square flux lattice is as
expected from recent d-wave theories, but is 45 deg from that recently observed
in LSCO
Pressure Evolution of the Ferromagnetic and Field Re-entrant Superconductivity in URhGe
Fine pressure () and magnetic field () tuning on the ferromagnetic
superconductor URhGe are reported in order to clarify the interplay between the
mass enhancement, low field superconductivity (SC) and field reentrant
superconductivity (RSC) by electrical resistivity measurements. With increasing
, the transition temperature and the upper critical field of the low field
SC decrease slightly, while the RSC dome drastically shifts to higher fields
and shrinks. The spin reorientation field also increases. At a
pressure GPa, the RSC has collapsed while the low field SC persists
and may disappear only above 4 GPa. Via careful studies of the
inelastic resistivity term, it is demonstrated that this drastic change
is directly related with the dependence of the effective mass which
determines the critical field of the low field SC and RSC on the basis of
triplet SC without Pauli limiting field.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Journal of the Physical Society of
Japa
Force-Velocity Relations of a Two-State Crossbridge Model for Molecular Motors
We discuss the force-velocity relations obtained in a two-state crossbridge
model for molecular motors. They can be calculated analytically in two limiting
cases: for a large number and for one pair of motors. The effect of the
strain-dependent detachment rate on the motor characteristics is studied. It
can lead to linear, myosin-like, kinesin-like and anomalous curves. In
particular, we specify the conditions under which oscillatory behavior may be
found.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, REVTeX; thoroughly revised version; also
available at http://www.physik.tu-muenchen.de/~frey
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