1,075 research outputs found
Ultradian, circadian and seasonal rhythms in cortisol secretion and adrenal responsiveness to ACTH and yarding in unrestrained red deer (Cervus elaphus) stags
Seasonal changes in the activity and responsiveness of the adrenal gland in red deer (Cervus elaphus) stags were quantified by measuring 24 h endogenous cortisol secretory profiles and plasma cortisol responses to either administration of exogenous ACTH or a standardised stressor during November (period of velvet growth), February (pre-rut), April (mid-rut) and July (post-rut) (southern hemisphere) using a remote blood sampling device (DracPac). Ultradian rhythms in the concentration of plasma cortisol were observed resulting from the episodic secretion of cortisol from the adrenal cortex at a mean rate of 0.8 pulses/h. Circadian rhythms in plasma cortisol concentrations were also found in 11 out of the 20 complete 24 h profiles (mean amplitude, 3.8+/-1.4 ng/ml). Seasonal rhythms in mean 24 h plasma cortisol concentrations and cortisol pulse parameters were also observed. Mean 24 h plasma cortisol concentrations were higher in November (12.5+/-1.0 ng/ml) than in February (6.3+/-1.0 ng/ml), April (4.0+/-1.0 ng/ml) or July (4.2+/-1. 0 ng/ml). Cortisol pulse height, nadir and amplitude were all significantly higher in November than at other times of the year (P<0.01). Peak cortisol concentrations following infusion of ACTH(1-24) (0.04 IU kg(-1)) were higher (P<0.05) in November (55.8+/-2.7 ng/ml) and lower (P<0.001) in April (33.7+/-1.8 ng/ml) than those in February and July (48.7+/-2.0 ng/ml and 45.4+/-2.0 ng/ml respectively). The area under the cortisol response curve was significantly smaller (P<0.05) in April (266.6+/-15.3 ng/ml/190 min) than at other times of the year (February, 366.1+/-15.3 ng/ml/190 min; July, 340.7+/-15.3 ng/ml/190 min and November, 387.8+/-21.2 ng/ml/190 min). These data demonstrate that the adrenal gland of the red deer stag exhibits ultradian, circadian and seasonal rhythms in activity, and that its responsiveness to ACTH varies with season. November, a period of reproductive quiescence in the southern hemisphere, with new antler growth and rapid weight gain, is associated with higher mean plasma cortisol concentrations and a greater responsiveness to exogenous ACTH. In contrast, the breeding season is associated with lower adrenal activity and responsiveness
Development of a simple information pump.
The Information Pump (IP) is a methodology that aims to counter the problems arising from traditional subjective product data collection. The IP is a game theory based process that aims to maximise information extracted from a panel of subjects, while maintaining their interest in the process through a continuous panelist scoring method. The challenge with implementing this arises from the difficulty in executing the 'game'. In its original format, there is an assumption that the game is played with each player using their own PC to interact with the process. While this in theory allows information and scores to flow in a controlled manner between the players, it actually provides a major barrier to the wider adoption of the IP method. This barrier is two-fold: it is costly and complex, and it is not a natural manner for exchanging information. The core objective is to develop a low cost version of the IP method. This will use the game theory approach to maintain interest among participants and maximise information extraction, but remove the need for each participant to have their own PC interface to the game. This will require replacing both the inter-player communication method and the score keeping/reporting
Three-dimensional vortex configurations in a rotating Bose Einstein condensate
We consider a rotating Bose-Einstein condensate in a harmonic trap and
investigate numerically the behavior of the wave function which solves the
Gross Pitaevskii equation. Following recent experiments [Rosenbuch et al, Phys.
Rev. Lett., 89, 200403 (2002)], we study in detail the line of a single
quantized vortex, which has a U or S shape. We find that a single vortex can
lie only in the x-z or y-z plane. S type vortices exist for all values of the
angular velocity Omega while U vortices exist for Omega sufficiently large. We
compute the energy of the various configurations with several vortices and
study the three-dimensional structure of vortices
Individual Goal Orientations, Team Empowerment, and Employee Creative Performance: A Case of Cross-Level Interactions
Intrigued by relationship between team motivational context and individual characteristics in the organizational reality, we developed and tested a cross-level model to investigate the interactive effects of team empowerment and individual goal orientations on individual creative performance through the mediating mechanism of an individual\u27s creative self-efficacy. Using multi-wave multi-source data from 63 R&D teams in three IT companies, we found that (1) team empowerment, individual learning goal orientation, and individual performance orientation are all positively related to individual creative performance through mediation of creative self-efficacy; (2) learning orientation and performance approach orientation could both supplement the effects of team empowerment on individual creative self-efficacy. Our findings point to the importance of individual goal orientation in shaping the effects of team motivation climates and provide insights for both scholars and practitioners. The specific practical implications include but are not limited to (1) individuals with learning and performance approach orientations should be identified during hiring procedures given that they could still thrive in less empowered teams and maintain a relatively high level of creative self-efficacy and creative outcomes; (2) managers should consider assigning employees who are more learning oriented to more empowering and open-ended tasks in order to obtain better creative results
A novel method to create a vortex in a Bose-Einstein condensate
It has been shown that a vortex in a BEC with spin degrees of freedom can be
created by manipulating with external magnetic fields. In the previous work, an
optical plug along the vortex axis has been introduced to avoid Majorana flips,
which take place when the external magnetic field vanishes along the vortex
axis while it is created. In the present work, in contrast, we study the same
scenario without introducing the optical plug. The magnetic field vanishes only
in the center of the vortex at a certain moment of the evolution and hence we
expect that the system will lose only a fraction of the atoms by Majorana flips
even in the absence of an optical plug. Our conjecture is justified by
numerically solving the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, where the full spinor
degrees of freedom of the order parameter are properly taken into account. A
significant simplification of the experimental realization of the scenario is
attained by the omission of the optical plug.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figure
Coupled Bose-Einstein condensate: Collapse for attractive interaction
We study the collapse in a coupled Bose-Einstein condensate of two types of
bosons 1 and 2 under the action of a trap using the time-dependent
Gross-Pitaevskii equation. The system may undergo collapse when one, two or
three of the scattering lengths for scattering of boson with ,
, are negative representing an attractive interaction. Depending
on the parameters of the problem a single or both components of the condensate
may experience collapse.Comment: 5 pages and 9 figures, small changes mad
Excitation spectrum of vortex lattices in rotating Bose-Einstein condensates
Using the coarse grain averaged hydrodynamic approach, we calculate the
excitation spectrum of vortex lattices sustained in rotating Bose-Einstein
condensates. The spectrum gives the frequencies of the common-mode longitudinal
waves in the hydrodynamic regime, including those of the higher-order
compressional modes. Reasonable agreement with the measurements taken in a
recent JILA experiment is found, suggesting that one of the longitudinal modes
reported in the experiment is likely to be the , mode.Comment: 2 figures. Submitted to Physical Review A. v2 contains more
references. No change in the main resul
Skyrmion Excitation in Two-Dimensional Spinor Bose-Einstein Condensate
We study the properties of coreless vortices(skyrmion) in spinor
Bose-Einstein condensate. We find that this excitation is always energetically
unstable, it always decays to an uniform spin texture. We obtain the skyrmion
energy as a function of its size and position, a key quantity in understanding
the decay process. We also point out that the decay rate of a skyrmion with
high winding number will be slower. The interaction between skyrmions and other
excitation modes are also discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, final version published in Phys. Rev.
Multiply quantized vortices in trapped Bose-Einstein condensates
Vortex configurations in rotating Bose-Einstein condensed gases trapped in
power-law and anharmonic potentials are studied. When the confining potential
is steeper than harmonic in the plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation,
vortices with quantum numbers larger than one are energetically favorable if
the interaction is weak enough. Features of the wave function for small and
intermediate rotation frequencies are investigated numerically.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures. Revised and extended article following referee
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