Examining the relationship between different naturally-occurring maxillary beak shapes and their ability to cause damage in commercial laying hens

1. Using chicken models to avoid unnecessary harm, this study examined the relationship between naturally-occurring maxillary (top) beak shapes and their ability to cause pecking damage.2. A selection of 24 Lohmann Brown laying hens from a total population of 100 were sorted into two groups based on their maxillary beak shape, where 12 were classified as having sharp beaks (SB) and 12 as having blunt beaks (BB).3. All hens were recorded six times in a test pen which contained a chicken model (foam block covered with feathered chicken skin) and a video camera. During each test session, the number of feathers removed from the model, the change in skin and block weight (proxies for tissue damage) and the percentage of successful pecks (resulting in feather and/or tissue removal) were recorded.4. SB hens removed more feathers from the model and had a greater change in skin weight than BB hens. The mean number of pecks made at the model did not differ between the beak shape groups; however, SB hens had a greater percentage of successful pecks, resulting in feather and/or tissue removal, compared to BB hens.5. In conclusion, SB hens were more capable of removing feathers and causing damage. Birds performed more successful pecks resulting in feather and/or tissue removal as they gained experience pecking at the model.</p

Calculations of Arctic ozone chemistry using objectively analyzed data in a 3-D CTM

A three-dimensional chemical transport model (CTM) (Kaminski, 1992) has been used to study the evolution of the Arctic ozone during the winter of 1992. The continuity equation has been solved using a spectral method with Rhomboidal 15 (R15) truncation and leap-frog time stepping. Six-hourly meteorological fields from the Canadian Meteorological Center global objective analysis routines run at T79 were degraded to the model resolution. In addition, they were interpolated to the model time grid and were used to drive the model from the surface to 10 mb. In the model, processing of Cl(x) occurred over Arctic latitudes but some of the initial products were still present by mid-January. Also, the large amounts of ClO formed in the model in early January were converted to ClNO3. The results suggest that the model resolution may be insufficient to resolve the details of the Arctic transport during this time period. In particular, the wind field does not move the ClO(x) 'cloud' to the south over Europe as seen in the MLS measurements

Fabrication and Characterization of Topological Insulator Bi2_2Se3_3 Nanocrystals

In the recently discovered class of materials known as topological insulators, the presence of strong spin-orbit coupling causes certain topological invariants in the bulk to differ from their values in vacuum. The sudden change of invariants at the interface results in metallic, time reversal invariant surface states whose properties are useful for applications in spintronics and quantum computation. However, a key challenge is to fabricate these materials on the nanoscale appropriate for devices and probing the surface. To this end we have produced 2 nm thick nanocrystals of the topological insulator Bi$_2$Se$_3$ via mechanical exfoliation. For crystals thinner than 10 nm we observe the emergence of an additional mode in the Raman spectrum. The emergent mode intensity together with the other results presented here provide a recipe for production and thickness characterization of Bi$_2$Se$_3$ nanocrystals.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures (accepted for publication in Applied Physics Letters

X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy Study of the Effect of Rh Doping in Sr\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eIrO\u3csub\u3e4\u3c/sub\u3e

We investigate the effect of Rh doping in Sr2IrO4 using X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). We observed appearance of new electron-addition states with increasing Rh concentration (x in Sr2Ir1−xRhxO4) in accordance with the concept of hole doping. The intensity of the hole-induced state is however weak, suggesting weakness of charge transfer (CT) effect and Mott insulating ground states. Also, Ir Jeff = 1/2 upper Hubbard band shifts to lower energy as x increases up to x = 0.23. Combined with optical spectroscopy, these results suggest a hybridisation-related mechanism, in which Rh doping can weaken the (Ir Jeff = 1/2)–(O 2p) orbital hybridisation in the in-planar Rh-O-Ir bond networks

Modelling stratospheric polar ozone using objective analysis

We have studied the development of the austral ozone hole using a 3-D spectral chemical transport model at R15 resolution for the period 15th September to 15th October, 1991. The model is driven by objectively analyzed wind fields obtained from the Canadian Meteorological Center and uses the chemical module developed by Kaminski (1992). Although extensive processing of NO(y) and Cl(x) occurs within the model, the ozone hole that develops appears shallow and ephemeral. Analysis of the results indicate that the meridional transport of ozone is sufficient to overwhelm the substantial chemical depletion that does occur. We suggest that the low resolution objectively analyzed data used is unable to capture the essential isolated nature of the vortex

p70S6K is regulated by Focal Adhesion Kinase and is required for Src-selective autophagy

AbstractHere we report that focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is required for optimal signalling to the Akt-p70S6K-S6 pathway in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cells. Specifically, in SCCs that are genetically deficient for FAK, there is reduced phosphorylation of Akt, p70S6K and S6, and signalling to Akt-p70S6K-S6 is more sensitive to inhibition by multiple agents that suppress the pathway. By contrast, mTOR is unaffected. Indeed, pharmacological agents that inhibit the Akt-p70S6K-S6 pathway, and PDK1 that lies upstream of Akt, also impair the autophagic targeting of activated c-Src (p-Src) in FAK deficient cells. This is associated with loss of a complex between p-Src and the autophagy protein LC3, a biochemical surrogate of impaired Src-selective autophagy. In keeping with a vital role for p70S6K, inhibition by a selective inhibitor and specific siRNA also impaired Src-selective autophagy. Finally, components of the PDK1-Akt-p70S6K signalling pathway were co-located with p-Src at autophagosomes, and Src and p70S6K co-exist in the same biochemical complex. We therefore deduce that the FAK-regulated signalling module PDK1-Akt-p70S6K that controls Src's intracellular trafficking operates at Src-containing autophagosomes

Charge-spin correlation in van der Waals antiferromagenet NiPS3

Strong charge-spin coupling is found in a layered transition-metal trichalcogenide NiPS3, a van derWaals antiferromagnet, from our study of the electronic structure using several experimental and theoretical tools: spectroscopic ellipsometry, x-ray absorption and photoemission spectroscopy, and density-functional calculations. NiPS3 displays an anomalous shift in the optical spectral weight at the magnetic ordering temperature, reflecting a strong coupling between the electronic and magnetic structures. X-ray absorption, photoemission and optical spectra support a self-doped ground state in NiPS3. Our work demonstrates that layered transition-metal trichalcogenide magnets are a useful candidate for the study of correlated-electron physics in two-dimensional magnetic material.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figur

The effects of feed restriction, time of day and time since feeding on behavioral and physiological indicators of hunger in broiler breeder hens

Broiler breeder chickens are commercially feed restricted to slow their growth and improve their health and production, however, there is research demonstrating that this leads to chronic hunger resulting in poor welfare. A challenge in these studies is to account for possible daily rhythms or the effects of time since last meal on measures relating hunger. To address this, we used 3 feed treatments: AL (ad libitum fed), Ram (restricted, fed in the morning), and Rpm (restricted, fed in the afternoon) to control for diurnal effects. We then conducted foraging motivation tests and collected home pen behavior and physiological samples at 4 times relative to feeding throughout a 24-h period. The feed treatment had the largest influence on the data, with AL birds weighing more, having lower concentrations of plasma NEFA, and mRNA expression of AGRP and NPY alongside higher expression of POMC in the basal hypothalamus than Ram or Rpm birds (P &lt; 0.001). R birds were more successful at and had a shorter latency to complete the motivation test, and did more walking and less feeding than AL birds in the home pen (P &lt; 0.01). There was little effect of time since last meal on many measures (P &gt; 0.05) but AGRP expression was highest in the basal hypothalamus shortly after a meal (P &lt; 0.05), blood plasma NEFA was higher in R birds just before feeding (P &lt; 0.001) and glucose was higher in Ram birds just after feeding (P &lt; 0.001), and the latency to complete the motivation test was shortest before the next meal (P &lt; 0.05). Time of day effects were mainly found in the difference in activity levels in the home pen when during lights on and lights off periods. In conclusion, many behavioral and physiological hunger measures were not significantly influenced by time of day or time since the last meal. For the measures that do change, future studies should be designed so that sampling is balanced in such a way as to minimize bias due to these effects.</p

Hospital usage of TOXBASE in Great Britain:Temporal trends in accesses 2008 to 2015

Aim: Examining temporal trends in accesses to the UK's National Poison Information Service's TOXBASE database in Britain. Methods: Generalised additive models were used to examine trends in daily numbers of accesses to TOXBASE from British emergency departments between January 2008 and December 2015. Day-of-the-week, seasonality and long term trends were analysed at national and regional levels (Wales, Scotland and the 9 English Government Office Regions). Results: The long-term trend in daily accesses increases from 2.8 (95% CI:2.6, 3.0) per user on 1st January 2008 to 4.6 (95% CI:4.3, 4.9) on 31st December 2015, with small but significant differences in population-corrected accesses by region (p<0.001). There are statistically significant seasonal and day of the week patterns (p<0.001) across all regions. Accesses are 18 % (95% CI:14%, 22%) higher in summer than in January and at the weekend compared to weekdays in all regions; there is a 7.5% (95% CI:6.1%, 8.9%) increase between Friday and Sunday. Conclusions: There are consistent in-year patterns in access to TOXBASE indicating potential seasonal patterns in poisonings in Britain, with location-dependant rates of usage. This novel descriptive work lays the basis for future work on the interaction of TOXBASE use with emergency admission of patients into hospital