2,530 research outputs found
Consumption of a high n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid diet during gradual mild physiological stress in rats.
n-3 Polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3PUFAs) may be beneficial for anxiety and depression under stressful conditions. Studies however, typically utilise physical or sudden physiological stress, while gradual physiological stress is also relevant to human conditions. Using deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA) administration to induce gradual physiological stress, this study investigated the impact of n-3PUFAs under gradual physiological stress in rats. Animals (aged 2 months) (N=8-12/group) received daily injections of DOCA or vehicle and were concurrently fed a high n-3PUFA or control diet for eight weeks. Behavioural measures were taken throughout. Behavioural tests and physiological measures were conducted after six and eight weeks respectively. DOCA administration decreased plasma renin, plasma proteins and relative adrenal weight, and increased water intake, relative kidney weight, and anxiety in the open field. These findings demonstrate disruptions to the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, a result of mild physiological stress, that also impact on anxiety behaviours. No effects of n-3PUFAs were found
Playing a quantum game with a corrupted source
The quantum advantage arising in a simplified multi-player quantum game, is
found to be a disadvantage when the game's qubit-source is corrupted by a noisy
"demon". Above a critical value of the corruption-rate, or noise-level, the
coherent quantum effects impede the players to such an extent that the optimal
choice of game changes from quantum to classical.Comment: This version will appear in PRA (Rapid Comm.
The Influence of Political Culture on the Formation of Pre-Regime Climate Change Policies in Sweden, the United States, and Japan
This paper tests the claims of cultural theory using the formation of climate change policies in Sweden, the United States and Japan as case studies. Cultural theory is frequently employed by social scientists to explain various aspects of human behavior. The theory posits that any social group consists of three main cultural types: the egalitarian, the market-oriented, and the hierarchical. Though all groups contain elements of each, one cultural type usually predominates, giving the group its unique decision-making character. In the egalitarian group, for example, decision-making is based on broad consensus of the group, and decisions are aimed at providing equal benefits to all members. In a market culture, by contrast, the primary focus is on maximizing benefits to the individual. Decisions are often made based on market principles (i.e., relative prices). In a hierarchy-dominant society, decision-making is highly centralized, with a few powerful bodies making decisions for the entire society. This type of group tends to be very bureaucratic, with a great deal of emphasis on administrative procedure. This paper applies cultural theory at the national level and tests to what extent the theory is able to project how countries will respond in addressing the issue of global warming. For the purposes of this study, Sweden best represents the egalitarian-dominant culture; the United States best exemplifies market-dominant culture, and Japan is the most appropriate example of a culture dominated by hierarchical elements.
To test the theory, the following five questions are asked: (1) What does the theory predict about how countries will view their role in a global commons problem? (2) What does the theory predict about the nature of the policy-making process within each society? (3) What does the theory predict about each country's likely choice of policy instruments? (4) What does the theory predict about the speed of policy-making and implementation? (5) What does the theory predict about how countries will view the role of technology in solving environmental problems? And if there is a role, where does the drive to innovate originate?
The paper then describes the development of global climate change policies in each of the three countries, including a discussion of the motivations that led each country to act on the issue. Finally, it analyzes to what extent actual events in the three countries corresponded to the theory's predictions.
The theory was strongest in predicting the nature of the policy-making process and weakest in predicting the choice of policy instruments. In spite of its limitations, cultural theory suggests the importance of cultural influences in the policy-making process. Because it helps us to understand how different types of societies arrive at decisions regarding matters of international concern, moreover, the theory could prove extremely useful to those involved in developing international agreements, enabling them to formulate an agreement which is compatible with various types of societies
Reorientation of magnetic anisotropy in epitaxial cobalt ferrite thin films
Spin reorientation has been observed in CoFe2O4 thin single crystalline films epitaxially grown on (100) MgO substrate upon varying the film thickness. The critical thickness for such a spin-reorientation transition was estimated to be 300 nm. The reorientation is driven by a structural transition in the film from a tetragonal to cubic symmetry. At low thickness, the in-plane tensile stress induces a tetragonal distortion of the lattice that generates a perpendicular anisotropy, large enough to overcome the shape anisotropy and to stabilize the magnetization easy axis out of plane. However, in thicker films, the lattice relaxation toward the cubic structure of the bulk allows the shape anisotropy to force the magnetization to be in plane aligned
One Health proof of concept: Bringing a transdisciplinary approach to surveillance for zoonotic viruses at the human-wild animal interface.
As the world continues to react and respond inefficiently to emerging infectious diseases, such as Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome and the Ebola and Zika viruses, a growing transdisciplinary community has called for a more proactive and holistic approach to prevention and preparedness - One Health. Such an approach presents important opportunities to reduce the impact of disease emergence events and also to mitigate future emergence through improved cross-sectoral coordination. In an attempt to provide proof of concept of the utility of the One Health approach, the US Agency for International Development's PREDICT project consortium designed and implemented a targeted, risk-based surveillance strategy based not on humans as sentinels of disease but on detecting viruses early, at their source, where intervention strategies can be implemented before there is opportunity for spillover and spread in people or food animals. Here, we share One Health approaches used by consortium members to illustrate the potential for successful One Health outcomes that can be achieved through collaborative, transdisciplinary partnerships. PREDICT's collaboration with partners around the world on strengthening local capacity to detect hundreds of viruses in wild animals, coupled with a series of cutting-edge virological and analytical activities, have significantly improved our baseline knowledge on the zoonotic pool of viruses and the risk of exposure to people. Further testament to the success of the project's One Health approach and the work of its team of dedicated One Health professionals are the resulting 90 peer-reviewed, scientific publications in under 5 years that improve our understanding of zoonoses and the factors influencing their emergence. The findings are assisting in global health improvements, including surveillance science, diagnostic technologies, understanding of viral evolution, and ecological driver identification. Through its One Health leadership and multi-disciplinary partnerships, PREDICT has forged new networks of professionals from the human, animal, and environmental health sectors to promote global health, improving our understanding of viral disease spillover from wildlife and implementing strategies for preventing and controlling emerging disease threats
Multiwavelength analysis of four millisecond pulsars
Radio timing observations of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) in support of Fermi
LAT observations of the gamma-ray sky enhance the sensitivity of high-energy
pulsation searches. With contemporaneous ephemerides we have detected gamma-ray
pulsations from PSR B1937+21, the first MSP ever discovered, and B1957+20, the
first known black-widow system. The two MSPs share a number of properties: they
are energetic and distant compared to other gamma-ray MSPs, and both of them
exhibit aligned radio and gamma-ray emission peaks, indicating co-located
emission regions in the outer magnetosphere of the pulsars. However, radio
observations are also crucial for revealing MSPs in Fermi unassociated sources.
In a search for radio pulsations at the position of such unassociated sources,
the Nan\c{c}ay Radio Telescope discovered two MSPs, PSRs J2017+0603 and
J2302+4442, increasing the sample of known Galactic disk MSPs. Subsequent radio
timing observations led to the detection of gamma-ray pulsations from these two
MSPs as well. We describe multiwavelength timing and spectral analysis of these
four pulsars, and the modeling of their gamma-ray light curves in the context
of theoretical models.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the Pulsar 2010
Conference, Italy, 10 - 15 October 201
Fully-automated bioreactor process control eliminates hands-on time through closed-loop cloud software integration
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Paraxial propagation of a quantum charge in a random magnetic field
The paraxial (parabolic) theory of a near forward scattering of a quantum
charged particle by a static magnetic field is presented. From the paraxial
solution to the Aharonov-Bohm scattering problem the transverse transfered
momentum (the Lorentz force) is found. Multiple magnetic scattering is
considered for two models: (i) Gaussian -correlated random magnetic
field; (ii) a random array of the Aharonov-Bohm magnetic flux line. The
paraxial gauge-invariant two-particle Green function averaged with respect to
the random field is found by an exact evaluation of the Feynman integral. It is
shown that in spite of the anomalous character of the forward scattering, the
transport properties can be described by the Boltzmann equation. The Landau
quantization in the field of the Aharonov-Bohm lines is discussed.Comment: Figures and references added. Many typos corrected. RevTex, 25 pages,
9 figure
Invariant measure in hot gauge theories
We investigate properties of the invariant measure for the gauge field
in finite temperature gauge theories both on the lattice and in the continuum
theory. We have found the cancellation of the naive measure in both cases. The
result is quite general and holds at any finite temperature. We demonstrate,
however, that there is no cancellation at any temperature for the invariant
measure contribution understood as Z(N) symmetrical distribution of gauge field
configurations. The spontaneous breakdown of Z(N) global symmetry is entirely
due to the potential energy term of the gluonic interaction in the effective
potential. The effects of this measure on the effective action, mechanism of
confinement and condensation are discussed.Comment: Latex file, 65.5kB, no figure
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