1,107 research outputs found
Internal parasites and association with diarrhoea in sheep at an abattoir in Western Australia
Diarrhoea (scouring) is an important issue for the sheep meat industry. Scouring is a major risk factor for fleece soiling and consequential carcase contamination with microbes that cause meat spoilage and potential dangers for humans (2). There is little information on the causes of scouring in sheep at slaughter. Strongyle worm infections are commonly implicated in scouring and reduced production, yet there is no published data quantifying strongyle infections in scouring and normal sheep at abattoirs. In addition, Giardia and Cryptosporidium have been associated with scouring in ruminants, but little is known about the prevalence, genotypes present or the effect on production in sheep populations. This study carried out at an abattoir in Western Australia (WA), aimed to investigate the extent of strongyle, Giardia and Cryptosporidium infections and any association with scouring in sheep
A comparison of short-term and long-term air pollution exposure associations with mortality in two cohorts in Scotland
Air pollutionâmortality risk estimates are generally larger at longer-term, compared with short-term, exposure time scales. We compared associations between short-term exposure to black smoke (BS) and mortality with long-term exposureâmortality associations in cohort participants and with short-term exposureâmortality associations in the general population from which the cohorts were selected. We assessed short-to-mediumâterm exposureâmortality associations in the RenfrewâPaisley and Collaborative cohorts (using nested caseâcontrol data sets), and compared them with long-term exposureâmortality associations (using a multilevel spatiotemporal exposure model and survival analyses) and short-to-mediumâterm exposureâmortality associations in the general population (using time-series analyses). For the RenfrewâPaisley cohort (15,331 participants), BS exposureâmortality associations were observed in nested caseâcontrol analyses that accounted for spatial variations in pollution exposure and individual-level risk factors. These cohort-based associations were consistently greater than associations estimated in time-series analyses using a single monitoring site to represent general population exposure {e.g., 1.8% [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.1, 3.4%] vs. 0.2% (95% CI: 0.0, 0.4%) increases in mortality associated with 10-ÎŒg/m3 increases in 3-day lag BS, respectively}. Exposureâmortality associations were of larger magnitude for longer exposure periods [e.g., 3.4% (95% CI: â0.7, 7.7%) and 0.9% (95% CI: 0.3, 1.5%) increases in all-cause mortality associated with 10-ÎŒg/m3 increases in 31-day BS in caseâcontrol and time-series analyses, respectively; and 10% (95% CI: 4, 17%) increase in all-cause mortality associated with a 10-ÎŒg/m3 increase in geometic mean BS for 1970â1979, in survival analysis]. After adjusting for individual-level exposure and potential confounders, short-term exposureâmortality associations in cohort participants were of greater magnitude than in comparable general population time-series study analyses. However, short-term exposureâmortality associations were substantially lower than equivalent long-term associations, which is consistent with the possibility of larger, more persistent cumulative effects from long-term exposures
A simulated study of implicit feedback models
In this paper we report on a study of implicit feedback models for unobtrusively tracking the information needs of searchers. Such models use relevance information gathered from searcher interaction and can be a potential substitute for explicit relevance feedback. We introduce a variety of implicit feedback models designed to enhance an Information Retrieval (IR) system's representation of searchers' information needs. To benchmark their performance we use a simulation-centric evaluation methodology that measures how well each model learns relevance and improves search effectiveness. The results show that a heuristic-based binary voting model and one based on Jeffrey's rule of conditioning [5] outperform the other models under investigation
Seeking Evolution of Dark Energy
We study how observationally to distinguish between a cosmological constant
(CC) and an evolving dark energy with equation of state . We focus
on the value of redshift Z* at which the cosmic late time acceleration begins
and . Four are studied, including the
well-known CPL model and a new model that has advantages when describing the
entire expansion era. If dark energy is represented by a CC model with , the present ranges for and
imply that Z* = 0.743 with 4% error. We discuss the possible implications of a
model independent measurement of Z* with better accuracy.Comment: 9 pages, LaTeX, 5 figure
Using the quantum probability ranking principle to rank interdependent documents
A known limitation of the Probability Ranking Principle (PRP) is that it does not cater for dependence between documents. Recently, the Quantum Probability Ranking Principle (QPRP) has been proposed, which implicitly captures dependencies between documents through âquantum interferenceâ. This paper explores whether this new ranking principle leads to improved performance for subtopic retrieval, where novelty and diversity is required. In a thorough empirical investigation, models based on the PRP, as well as other recently proposed ranking strategies for subtopic retrieval (i.e. Maximal Marginal Relevance (MMR) and Portfolio Theory(PT)), are compared against the QPRP. On the given task, it is shown that the QPRP outperforms these other ranking strategies. And unlike MMR and PT, one of the main advantages of the QPRP is that no parameter estimation/tuning is required; making the QPRP both simple and effective. This research demonstrates that the application of quantum theory to problems within information retrieval can lead to significant improvements
Recommended from our members
Efficacy of increased resistant starch consumption in human type 2 diabetes
Resistant starch (RS) has been shown to beneficially affect insulin sensitivity in healthy individuals and those with metabolic syndrome, but its effects on human type 2 diabetes (T2DM) are unknown. This study aimed to determine the effects of increased RS consumption on insulin sensitivity and glucose control and changes in postprandial metabolites and body fat in T2DM. Seventeen individuals with well-controlled T2DM (HbA1c 46.6±2âmmol/mol) consumed, in a random order, either 40âg of type 2 RS (HAM-RS2) or a placebo, daily for 12 weeks with a 12-week washout period in between. At the end of each intervention period, participants attended for three metabolic investigations: a two-step euglycemicâhyperinsulinemic clamp combined with an infusion of [6,6-2H2] glucose, a meal tolerance test (MTT) with arterio-venous sampling across the forearm, and whole-body imaging. HAM-RS2 resulted in significantly lower postprandial glucose concentrations (P=0.045) and a trend for greater glucose uptake across the forearm muscle (P=0.077); however, there was no effect of HAM-RS2 on hepatic or peripheral insulin sensitivity, or on HbA1c. Fasting non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) concentrations were significantly lower (P=0.004) and NEFA suppression was greater during the clamp with HAM-RS2 (P=0.001). Fasting triglyceride (TG) concentrations and soleus intramuscular TG concentrations were significantly higher following the consumption of HAM-RS2 (P=0.039 and P=0.027 respectively). Although fasting GLP1 concentrations were significantly lower following HAM-RS2 consumption (P=0.049), postprandial GLP1 excursions during the MTT were significantly greater (P=0.009). HAM-RS2 did not improve tissue insulin sensitivity in well-controlled T2DM, but demonstrated beneficial effects on meal handling, possibly due to higher postprandial GLP1
Contrasting species and functional beta diversity in montane ant assemblages
Aim Beta diversity describes the variation in species composition between sites and can be used to infer why different species occupy different parts of the globe. It can be viewed in a number of ways. First, it can be partitioned into two distinct patterns: turnover and nestedness. Second, it can be investigated from either a species identity or a functional-trait point of view. We aim to document for the first time how these two aspects of beta diversity vary in response to a large environmental gradient. Location Maloti-Drakensberg Mountains, southern Africa. Methods We sampled ant assemblages along an extensive elevational gradient
(900â3000 m a.s.l.) twice yearly for 7 years, and collected functional-trait information related to the speciesâ dietary and habitat-structure preferences. We used recently developed methods to partition species and functional beta diversity into their turnover and nestedness components. A series of null models were used to test whether the observed beta diversity patterns differed from random expectations. Results Species beta diversity was driven by turnover, but functional beta diversity was composed of both turnover and nestedness patterns at different parts of the gradient. Null models revealed that deterministic processes were likely to be responsible for the species patterns but that the functional changes were indistinguishable from stochasticity. Main conclusions Different ant species are found with increasing elevation, but they tend to represent an increasingly nested subset of the available functional strategies. This finding is unique and narrows down the list of possible
factors that control ant existence across elevation. We conclude that diet and
habitat preferences have little role in structuring ant assemblages in montane
environments and that some other factor must be driving the non-random patterns of species turnover. This finding also highlights the importance of distinguishing
between different kinds of beta diversity
Conformal Invariance, Dark Energy, and CMB Non-Gaussianity
In addition to simple scale invariance, a universe dominated by dark energy
naturally gives rise to correlation functions possessing full conformal
invariance. This is due to the mathematical isomorphism between the conformal
group of certain 3 dimensional slices of de Sitter space and the de Sitter
isometry group SO(4,1). In the standard homogeneous isotropic cosmological
model in which primordial density perturbations are generated during a long
vacuum energy dominated de Sitter phase, the embedding of flat spatial sections
in de Sitter space induces a conformal invariant perturbation spectrum and
definite prediction for the shape of the non-Gaussian CMB bispectrum. In the
case in which the density fluctuations are generated instead on the de Sitter
horizon, conformal invariance of the horizon embedding implies a different but
also quite definite prediction for the angular correlations of CMB
non-Gaussianity on the sky. Each of these forms for the bispectrum is intrinsic
to the symmetries of de Sitter space and in that sense, independent of specific
model assumptions. Each is different from the predictions of single field slow
roll inflation models which rely on the breaking of de Sitter invariance. We
propose a quantum origin for the CMB fluctuations in the scalar gravitational
sector from the conformal anomaly that could give rise to these
non-Gaussianities without a slow roll inflaton field, and argue that conformal
invariance also leads to the expectation for the relation n_S-1=n_T between the
spectral indices of the scalar and tensor power spectrum. Confirmation of this
prediction or detection of non-Gaussian correlations in the CMB of one of the
bispectral shape functions predicted by conformal invariance can be used both
to establish the physical origins of primordial density fluctuations and
distinguish between different dynamical models of cosmological vacuum dark
energy.Comment: 73 pages, 9 figures. Final Version published in JCAP. New Section 4
added on linearized scalar gravitational potentials; New Section 8 added on
gravitational wave tensor perturbations and relation of spectral indices n_T
= n_S -1; Table of Contents added; Eqs. (3.14) and (3.15) added to clarify
relationship of bispectrum plotted to CMB measurements; Some other minor
modification
Gravitation and inertia; a rearrangement of vacuum in gravity
We address the gravitation and inertia in the framework of 'general gauge
principle', which accounts for 'gravitation gauge group' generated by hidden
local internal symmetry implemented on the flat space. We connect this group to
nonlinear realization of the Lie group of 'distortion' of local internal
properties of six-dimensional flat space, which is assumed as a toy model
underlying four-dimensional Minkowski space. The agreement between proposed
gravitational theory and available observational verifications is satisfactory.
We construct relativistic field theory of inertia and derive the relativistic
law of inertia. This theory furnishes justification for introduction of the
Principle of Equivalence. We address the rearrangement of vacuum state in
gravity resulting from these ideas.Comment: 17 pages, no figures, revtex4, Accepted for publication in Astrophys.
Space Sc
WMAP constraints on scalar-tensor cosmology and the variation of the gravitational constant
We present observational constraints on a scalar-tensor gravity theory by
test for CMB anisotropy spectrum. We compare the WMAP temperature
power spectrum with the harmonic attractor model, in which the scalar field has
its harmonic effective potential with curvature in the Einstein
conformal frame and the theory relaxes toward Einstein gravity with time. We
found that the present value of the scalar coupling, i.e. the present level of
deviation from Einstein gravity , is bounded to be smaller than
(), and () for . This constraint is much stronger than the bound from the solar
system experiments for large models, i.e., and 0.3 in
and limits, respectively. Furthermore, within the framework
of this model, the variation of the gravitational constant at the recombination
epoch is constrained as , and
.Comment: 7 page
- âŠ