1,102 research outputs found
The strong and the hungry: Bias in capture methods for mountain hares (Lepus timidus).
Estimating density, age and sex structure of wild populations is a key objective in wildlife management. Live trapping is
frequently used to collect data on populations of small and medium-sized mammals. Ideally, sampling mammal
populations by live capturing of individuals provides a random and representative sample of the target population.
Trapping data may, however, be biased. We used live-capture data from mountain hares Lepus timidus in Scotland to
assess sampling bias between two different capture methods.Wecaptured hares using baited cage traps and long nets on
five study areas in the Scottish Highlands. After controlling for the effects of body size, individuals caught in traps were
lighter than individuals caught using long nets, suggesting that the body condition of hares differed between the capture
methods. This tendency may reflect an increased risk-taking of individuals in poorer body condition and less aversion to
entering traps in order to benefit from eating bait. Overall, we caught more adult hares than juveniles and more female
hares than males. Our results show that estimates of density and population structure of mountain hares using livecapture
data could be affected by the capture method used. We suggest that live-capture studies employ more than one
capture method and test for heterogeneity in capture probability to minimise potential bias and achieve reliable
estimates of population parameters
Symbolic-Numeric Algorithms for Computer Analysis of Spheroidal Quantum Dot Models
A computation scheme for solving elliptic boundary value problems with
axially symmetric confining potentials using different sets of one-parameter
basis functions is presented. The efficiency of the proposed symbolic-numerical
algorithms implemented in Maple is shown by examples of spheroidal quantum dot
models, for which energy spectra and eigenfunctions versus the spheroid aspect
ratio were calculated within the conventional effective mass approximation.
Critical values of the aspect ratio, at which the discrete spectrum of models
with finite-wall potentials is transformed into a continuous one in strong
dimensional quantization regime, were revealed using the exact and adiabatic
classifications.Comment: 6 figures, Submitted to Proc. of The 12th International Workshop on
Computer Algebra in Scientific Computing (CASC 2010) Tsakhkadzor, Armenia,
September 5 - 12, 201
Histone deacetylase 11 inhibition promotes breast cancer metastasis from lymph nodes
Lymph node (LN) metastases correspond with a worse prognosis in nearly all cancers, yet the occurrence of cancer spreading from LNs remains controversial. Additionally, the mechanisms explaining how cancers survive and exit LNs are largely unknown. Here, we show that breast cancer patients frequently have LN metastases that closely resemble distant metastases. In addition, using a microsurgical model, we show how LN metastasis development and dissemination is regulated by the expression of a chromatin modifier, histone deacetylase 11 (HDAC11). Genetic and pharmacologic blockade of HDAC11 decreases LN tumor growth, yet substantially increases migration and distant metastasis formation. Collectively, we reveal a mechanism explaining how HDAC11 plasticity promotes breast cancer growth as well as dissemination from LNs and suggest caution with the use of HDAC inhibitors
Fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background I: Form Factors and their Calculation in Synchronous Gauge
It is shown that the fluctuation in the temperature of the cosmic microwave
background in any direction may be evaluated as an integral involving scalar
and dipole form factors, which incorporate all relevant information about
acoustic oscillations before the time of last scattering. A companion paper
gives asymptotic expressions for the multipole coefficient in terms of
these form factors. Explicit expressions are given here for the form factors in
a simplified hydrodynamic model for the evolution of perturbations.Comment: 35 pages, no figures. Improved treatment of damping, including both
Landau and Silk damping; inclusion of late-time effects; several references
added; minor changes and corrections made. Accepted for publication in Phys.
Rev. D1
The Importance of Time Congruity in the Organisation.
In 1991 Kaufman, Lane, and Lindquist proposed that time congruity in terms of an individual's time preferences and the time use methods of an organisation would lead to satisfactory performance and enhancement of quality of work and general life. The research reported here presents a study which uses commensurate person and job measures of time personality in an organisational setting to assess the effects of time congruity on one aspect of work life, job-related affective well-being. Results show that time personality and time congruity were found to have direct effects on well-being and the influence of time congruity was found to be mediated through time personality, thus contributing to the person–job (P–J) fit literature which suggests that direct effects are often more important than indirect effects. The study also provides some practical examples of ways to address some of the previously cited methodological issues in P–J fit research
Nature of Sonoluminescence: Noble Gas Radiation Excited by Hot Electrons in "Cold" Water
We show that strong electric fields occurring in water near the surface of
collapsing gas bubbles because of the flexoelectric effect can provoke dynamic
electric breakdown in a micron-size region near the bubble and consider the
scenario of the SBSL. The scenario is: (i) at the last stage of incomplete
collapse of the bubble the gradient of pressure in water near the bubble
surface has such a value and sign that the electric field arising from the
flexoelectric effect exceeds the threshold field of the dynamic electrical
breakdown of water and is directed to the bubble center; (ii) mobile electrons
are generated because of thermal ionization of water molecules near the bubble
surface; (iii) these electrons are accelerated in ''cold'' water by the strong
electric fields; (iv) these hot electrons transfer noble gas atoms dissolved in
water to high-energy excited states and optical transitions between these
states produce SBSL UV flashes in the trasparency window of water; (v) the
breakdown can be repeated several times and the power and duration of the UV
flash are determined by the multiplicity of the breakdowns. The SBSL spectrum
is found to resemble a black-body spectrum where temperature is given by the
effective temperature of the hot electrons. The pulse energy and some other
characteristics of the SBSL are found to be in agreement with the experimental
data when realistic estimations are made.Comment: 11 pages (RevTex), 1 figure (.ps
Hysteretic giant magnetoimpedance effect analyzed by first-order reversal curves
Hysteretic giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) of amorphous ribbons with a
well-defined transversal domain structure is investigated by means of
first-order reversal curves (FORC) analysis. The FORCs are not confined to the
hysteretic area, exceeding the major curve amplitude. Irreversible switches of
the transverse permeability, caused by domain wall structure transitions, may
be the origin of the observed FORC distribution. An interlinked
hysteron/anti-hysteron model is proposed to interpret it, which allows
analyzing the influence of frequency and magnetostriction upon the hysteretic
GMI effect.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figure
Composition of bird nests is a species-specific characteristic
Bird nests represent an extended phenotype of individuals expressed during reproduction and so exhibit variability in composition, structure and function. Descriptions of nests based on qualitative observations suggest that there is interspecific variation in size and composition but there are very few species in which this has been confirmed. For these species, data of the amounts of different materials indicate that nest construction behaviour is plastic and affected by a variety of factors, such as prevailing temperature, geographic location, and availability of materials. The lack of data on nest composition is hampering our understanding of how nests achieve their various functions and how different species solve the problem of building a nest that will accommodate incubation and allow successful hatching of eggs. This study deconstructed nests of four species of the Turdidae, four species of the Muscicapidae, and six species of the Fringillidae and quantified the size of the nests and their composition. These data were used to test: (1) whether nest size correlated with adult bird mass; (2) whether it was possible to distinguish between species on the basis of their nest composition; and (3) whether, within a species, it was possible to distinguish between the cup lining and the rest of the nest based on composition. Most but not all nest dimensions correlated with bird mass. Principal component analysis revealed species differences based on nest composition and discriminant analysis could distinguish cup lining from the outer nest based on material composition. Intraspecific variation in composition varied
among species and in general fewer types of material were found in the cup lining than the outer nest. These data provide insight into how nests are constructed by the different species and in conjunction with studies of the mechanical, thermal and hydrological properties of a nest, will begin to reveal how and why individual species select particular combinations of materials to build a nest
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