Effect of Sunflower and Marine Oils on Ruminal Microbiota, In vitro Fermentation and Digesta Fatty Acid Profile

Funding This work has been funded by Consejería de Educación, Junta de Castilla y León (research project LE007A07). Acknowledgments We acknowledge support of the publication fee by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI). Support received from CICYT project AGL2005-04760-C02-02 is gratefully acknowledged.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

A Study of Low Temperature Heat Capacity Anomalies in Bimetallic Alloy Clusters using J-Walking Monte Carlo Methods

Heat capacities are calculated as a function of temperature for bimetallic clusters composed of six palladium and seven nickel atoms using Monte Carlo techniques both with and without J-walking. By applying a simulated annealing strategy, the minimum energy configurations at 0 K are identified for a series of interatomic interaction strengths. A significant dependence of the spatial arrangement of atoms on the strength of the Pd-Ni interaction is observed. Calculations of the heat capacity as a function of temperature show the presence of a “melting” coexistence region similar to that observed in pure clusters. For the alloy clusters, low temperature heat capacity anomalies are observed arising from isomerizations that are reminiscent of order-disorder transitions known to occur in some bulk alloy materials. These low temperature heat capacity anomalies are observable only when the J-walking algorithm is used

Gibbs Free-Energy Changes for the Growth of Argon Clusters Absorbed on Graphite

Changes in Gibbs free energies for the process Arn-i,(a) + Ar(a) ͢ Arn,(a) are calculated by Monte Carlo simulations for Ar clusters physisorbed on a graphite substrate. Calculations are performed for clusters Ar2 through Ari2 at 10 K. Using a simulated annealing procedure, the minimum-energy configurations at 0 K are obtained. In all cases studied minimal-energy two-dimensional structures are found at a distance above the surface identical to that determined for an argon monomer. Some cluster sizes exhibit isomerization between several low-energy configurations during the simulations. This isomerization leads to sampling difficulties that are significantly reduced by using the Jwalking method. Minima in the Gibbs free energy are found for cluster sizes 7, 10, and 12. An explanation for the location of the minima in the free-energy function is given in terms of cluster structure and energetics

The Macroeconomic Implications of a Key Currency

What are the macroeconomic consequences of the dominant role of the dollar in the international monetary system? Here, we present a calibrated two country model in which exports are invoiced in the key currency, and government bonds denominated in the key currency are held internationally to facilitate trade. Domestic government bonds and money are held in each country to facilitate domestic transactions. Our model generates deviations from uncovered interest parity that are as volatile as some empirical estimates, but much too small by others. Our model also speaks to some other empirical anomalies, such as the Backus - Smith puzzle. Shocks affecting asset supplies -- such as bond financed tax cuts, and open market operations -- have large effects in our model because they generate non-Ricardian changes in household wealth. Generally, shocks emanating from the key currency country do more to destabilize the world economy than equal sized shocks coming from the other country. Similarly, monetary and fiscal policy innovations in the key currency country are more potent than those in the other country. On the other hand, the key currency country is more vulnerable to financial market turbulence, such as a sell off of key currency bonds, which can lower consumption dramatically.

Effects of Dehydration on Balance as Measured by the Balance Error Scoring System

The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of active dehydration on balance in euthermic individuals employing the Balance Error Scoring System (BESS). The results indicate that dehydration significantly negatively affects balance

Water vapor emission from IRC+10216 and other carbon-rich stars: model predictions and prospects for multitransition observations

We have modeled the emission of H2O rotational lines from the extreme C-rich star IRC+10216. Our treatment of the excitation of H2O emissions takes into account the excitation of H2O both through collisions, and through the pumping of the nu2 and nu3 vibrational states by dust emission and subsequent decay to the ground state. Regardless of the spatial distribution of the water molecules, the H2O 1_{10}-1_{01} line at 557 GHz observed by the Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS) is found to be pumped primarily through the absorption of dust-emitted photons at 6 $\mu$m in the nu2 band. As noted by previous authors, the inclusion of radiative pumping lowers the ortho-H2O abundance required to account for the 557 GHz emission, which is found to be (0.5-1)x10^{-7} if the presence of H2O is a consequence of vaporization of orbiting comets or Fischer-Tropsch catalysis. Predictions for other submillimeter H2O lines that can be observed by the Herschel Space Observatory (HSO) are reported. Multitransition HSO observations promise to reveal the spatial distribution of the circumstellar water vapor, discriminating among the several hypotheses that have been proposed for the origin of the H2O vapor in the envelope of IRC+10216. We also show that, for observations with HSO, the H2O 1_{10}-1_{01} 557 GHz line affords the greatest sensitivity in searching for H2O in other C-rich AGB stars.Comment: 35 pages, 12 figures, to be published in The Astrophysical Journa

An Exploratory Study of Lecturers' Views of Out-of-class Academic Collaboration Among Students

This article reports an exploratory study of lecturers' perceptions of out-of-class academic collaboration (OCAC) among students at a large Singapore university. Two types of OCAC were investigated: collaboration initiated by students, e.g., groups decide on their own to meet to prepare for exams, and collaboration required by teachers, e.g., teachers assign students to do projects in groups. Data were collected via one-on-one interviews with 18 faculty members from four faculties at the university. Findings suggest that OCAC, especially of a teacher-required kind, is fairly common at the university. Faculty members' views on factors affecting the success of OCAC are discussed for the light they might shed on practices to enhance the effectiveness of OCAC

Scleractinian Coral Recruitment to Reefs Physically Damaged by Ship Groundings

The southeast Florida reef system faces a number of stress factors, among which ship groundings are one of the most physically damaging. Portions of the Florida reef tract located near Port Everglades, Broward County, Florida, USA have been damaged by ship groundings. In 2004, physical damage of more than 30,000 m2 was caused by the groundings of two large cargo ships, the MV Eastwind and MV Federal Pescadores. The present study was designed to measure differences of scleractinian coral recruitment patterns (recruit diversity and richness) and rates to these injured sites in comparison to undamaged reef sites. Coral recruitment rates were measured on unglazed ceramic tiles deployed for a period of one year from February 2007 to February 2008 at five different locations: three control sites (including a high coral cover site), and the two ship grounding sites. Morphology and genetic markers including CO1 and cytb were used to identify the coral recruits. A whole genome amplification kit (REPLI-g, Qiagen) was used to obtain sufficient amounts of DNA. Results revealed low recruitment rates (0.5-2.7 recruitsm-2 yr-1) to the studied sites, suggesting a low potential for recovery of the damaged areas

Effects of Virtual Reality During Rowing Ergometry on Metabolic and Performance Parameters

Physical activity and moderate or intense exercise improve musculoskeletal and metabolic health; however, approximately 80% of Americans do not meet the minimum exercise recommendations from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) or the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Exercise intensity may be the most important factor in eliciting positive physical outcomes with exercise. PURPOSE: To assess the effectiveness of a proprietary virtual reality (VR) interface to increase metabolic and physical performance during rowing ergometry. METHODS: A novel VR software program for rowing ergometry was developed. Subsequently, sixteen apparently healthy, recreationally active individuals (12M, 4F; 35.5 ± 13.9 y; 174.5 ± 10.1 cm; 80.4 ± 12.8 kg; VO2max: 38.1 ± 5.6 mL/kg/min) were familiarized with the rowing ergometer and VR software, and then completed a VO2max test during two separate sessions. Finally, subjects performed four, 30-min rowing sessions in a randomized, counterbalanced order at maximal voluntary intensity in four different conditions: 1) no augmented visual or audio stimuli (CON), 2) no augmented visual stimuli with self-selected music (MUS), 3) screen-based environmental display (SB), and 4) a virtual reality environment (VR). Oxygen consumption, ventilation, heart rate, and the respiratory exchange ratio (RER) were measured continuously during the four experimental sessions; these data were then averaged over each 30-min testing period. Power output (W) and distance rowed (m) were measured and similarly reduced. Data (mean ± SD) were analyzed by repeated measures ANOVA and appropriate Tukey’s post hoc tests. Alpha was set at P \u3c 0.05. RESULTS: Oxygen consumption (CON: 2.23 ± 0.63 L/min; MUS: 2.30 ± 0.63 L/min; SB: 2.23 ± 0.71 L/min; VR: 2.19 ± 0.69 L/min), ventilation (CON: 74.2 ± 21.0 L/min; MUS: 77.5 ± 20.5 L/min; SB: 73.4 ± 23.9 L/min; VR: 71.7 ± 23.8 L/min), heart rate (CON: 154 ± 16 bpm; MUS: 156 ± 17 bpm; SB: 152 ± 23 bpm; VR: 154 ± 17 bpm), and RER (CON: 0.94 ± 0.04; MUS: 0.95 ± 0.04; SB: 0.94 ± 0.04; VR: 0.93 ± 0.05) were not different between conditions (all P \u3e 0.05). Performance outcomes also did not differ between conditions (CON: 126 ± 40 W, 6337 ± 763 m; MUS: 130 ± 42 W, 6486 ± 617 m; SB: 128 ± 46 W, 6358 ± 862 m; VR: 124 W ± 44 W, 6294 ± 849 m; all P \u3e 0.05). CONCLUSION: The pilot version of the VR software for rowing ergometry did not increase voluntary effort as determined by metabolic or physical performance outputs. Added features, such as greater immersion for reluctant exercisers, and competitive elements for highly motivated individuals, may elicit greater voluntary exertion with VR in rowing ergometry. Moreover, such applications may be more beneficial and improve exercise enjoyment in less experienced exercises who are not accustomed to high exercise intensities