2,880 research outputs found
Personality traits in resident and migratory warbler species.
Animals are often confronted with environmental challenges and the way in which they cope with these challenges can have important fitness consequences. There is increasing evidence that individuals differ consistently in their reaction to the environment (personality traits). However, little is known about whether different life-styles (e.g., resident or migratory) influence personality traits and if so, in what manner. We compared neophobic and exploratory behaviours, both of which play an important role in personality traits, between two closely related species, the resident Sardinian warblers and the migratory garden warblers, at two different times during the year. Neophobia was tested by placing a novel object, a mop, beside the feeding dish and measuring the latency to feed (neophobia score). Exploration was tested by offering another novel object, a tube, attached to a perch at a neutral location and measuring latency to approach and investigate the tube (exploration score). Both tests were carried out at the end of the breeding season and repeated ten months later in spring. The Sardinian warblers showed consistent behavioural reactions over time. Furthermore, neophobia and exploration scores were negatively related. The garden warblers neither behaved consistently over time nor was there a correlation between neophobia and exploration. Overall, Sardinian warblers were less neophobic and more explorative than garden warblers. The different reactivity may be due to a different frequency distribution of the individuals of the two species along a reactivity axis. It can be concluded that the Sardinian warblers have personality traits. The situation is less clear in the garden warblers. Possibly, different life-styles require different organisation of behaviours
Kinetic properties of heavy solar wind ions from UlyssesâSWICS
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95282/1/grl20935.pd
Variations in solar wind fractionation as seen by ACE/SWICS over a solar cycle and the implications for Genesis Mission results
We use ACE/SWICS elemental composition data to compare the variations in
solar wind fractionation as measured by SWICS during the last solar maximum
(1999-2001), the solar minimum (2006-2009) and the period in which the Genesis
spacecraft was collecting solar wind (late 2001 - early 2004). We differentiate
our analysis in terms of solar wind regimes (i.e. originating from interstream
or coronal hole flows, or coronal mass ejecta). Abundances are normalized to
the low-FIP ion magnesium to uncover correlations that are not apparent when
normalizing to high-FIP ions. We find that relative to magnesium, the other
low-FIP elements are measurably fractionated, but the degree of fractionation
does not vary significantly over the solar cycle. For the high-FIP ions,
variation in fractionation over the solar cycle is significant: greatest for
Ne/Mg and C/Mg, less so for O/Mg, and the least for He/Mg. When abundance
ratios are examined as a function of solar wind speed, we find a strong
correlation, with the remarkable observation that the degree of fractionation
follows a mass-dependent trend. We discuss the implications for correcting the
Genesis sample return results to photospheric abundances.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
One dimensional chain of quantum molecule motors as a mathematical physics model for muscle fibre
A quantum chain model of many molecule motors is proposed as a mathematical
physics theory on the microscopic modeling of classical force-velocity relation
and tension transients of muscle fibre. We proposed quantum many-particle
Hamiltonian to predict the force-velocity relation for the slow release of
muscle fibre which has no empirical relation yet, it is much more complicate
than hyperbolic relation. Using the same Hamiltonian, we predicted the
mathematical force-velocity relation when the muscle is stimulated by
alternative electric current. The discrepancy between input electric frequency
and the muscle oscillation frequency has a physical understanding by Doppler
effect in this quantum chain model. Further more, we apply quantum physics
phenomena to explore the tension time course of cardiac muscle and insect
flight muscle. Most of the experimental tension transients curves found their
correspondence in the theoretical output of quantum two-level and three-level
model. Mathematically modeling electric stimulus as photons exciting a quantum
three-level particle reproduced most tension transient curves of water bug
Lethocerus Maximus.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures, Arguments are adde
Accumulation and bunching of positrons
Results from a positron accumulator that operates efficiently over a range of repetition rates from 100 to 1000 Hz are presented. Moderated ÎČâdecay positrons from a radioactive source are accumulated in a Penningâstyle trap. At a repetition rate of 250 Hz an accumulation efficiency of âŒ25% has been achieved. Two techniques for reducing the time spread of the positron pulses have been investigated. The most successful method reduces the pulse width from 120 ns to 20 ns.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87600/2/487_1.pd
Measurement comparison among Time-Domain, FTIR and VNA-based spectrometers in the THz frequency range
In this paper we present the outcome of the first international comparison in the terahertz frequency range among three different kinds of spectrometers. A Fourier-Transform infrared spectrometer, a vector network analyzer and a time-domain spectrometer have been employed for measuring the complex refractive index of three travelling standards made of selected dielectric materials in order to offer a wide enough range of parameters to be measured. The three spectrometers have been compared in terms of measurement capability and uncertainty
Is radiographic measurement of distal femoral torsion reliable?
BACKGROUND: Distal femur torsion (DFT) is a crucial parameter in knee replacement surgery. The reference standard for measuring DFT is posterior condylar angle (PCA) measurement using computed tomography (CT). The objective of this study was to assess the feasibility and reliability of a radiographic PCA measurement method.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied 125 osteoarthritic knees in 79 patients (42 women and 37 men) with a mean age of 71.6 ± 8.8 years (range 47 to 86 years); 32 knees were aligned, 85 in varus, and eight in valgus. DFT was measured on an antero-posterior (AP) radiograph of the knee in 90° of flexion (known as the seated AP view). The PCA was defined as the angle subtended by the tangent to the posterior condyles and the transepicondylar axis (anatomic PCA [aPCA]) or the line connecting the lateral epicondyle to the medial sulcus (surgical PCA [sPCA]). The PCA was conventionally recorded as positive in the event of external torsion and negative in the event of internal torsion. PCA measurements were performed three times by each of five observers to allow assessments of inter-observer and test-retest reliabilities.
RESULTS: aPCA was consistently negative (mean, -6.1 ± 1.6°) (range, 0 to -10°); inter-observer and test-retest reliability were satisfactory (0.54
CONCLUSION: Radiographic measurement of DFT is simple and non-invasive. Measurement reproducibility was satisfactory for aPCA but not for sPCA. aPCA showed marked inter-individual variability and tended to increase when the knee was in valgus. Mean aPCA values were comparable to those reported using CT. In contrast to CT, radiographic DFT measurement can easily be incorporated into the pre- and postoperative work-ups for knee replacement surgery, provided the patient can achieve 90° of knee flexion.
LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, prospective cohort study
Coronal Emission Measures and Abundances for Moderately Active K Dwarfs Observed by Chandra
We have used Chandra to resolve the nearby 70 Oph (K0 V+K5 V) and 36 Oph (K1
V+K1 V) binary systems for the first time in X-rays. The LETG/HRC-S spectra of
all four of these stars are presented and compared with an archival LETG
spectrum of another moderately active K dwarf, Epsilon Eri. Coronal densities
are estimated from O VII line ratios and emission measure distributions are
computed for all five of these stars. We see no substantial differences in
coronal density or temperature among these stars, which is not surprising
considering that they are all early K dwarfs with similar activity levels.
However, we do see significant differences in coronal abundance patterns.
Coronal abundance anomalies are generally associated with the first ionization
potential (FIP) of the elements. On the Sun, low-FIP elements are enhanced in
the corona relative to high-FIP elements, the so-called "FIP effect." Different
levels of FIP effect are seen for our stellar sample, ranging from 70 Oph A,
which shows a prominent solar-like FIP effect, to 70 Oph B, which has no FIP
bias at all or possibly even a weak inverse FIP effect. The strong abundance
difference exhibited by the two 70 Oph stars is unexpected considering how
similar these stars are in all other respects (spectral type, age, rotation
period, X-ray flux). It will be difficult for any theoretical explanation for
the FIP effect to explain how two stars so similar in all other respects can
have coronae with different degrees of FIP bias. Finally, for the stars in our
sample exhibiting a FIP effect, a curious difference from the solar version of
the phenomenon is that the data seem to be more consistent with the high-FIP
elements being depleted in the corona rather than a with a low-FIP enhancementComment: 35 pages, 8 figures, AASTEX v5.0 plus EPSF extensions in mkfig.sty;
accepted by Ap
Reply to comment by P. Riley and J. T. Gosling on âAre highâlatitude forwardâreverse shock pairs driven by overexpansion?â
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95455/1/jgra18795.pd
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