Sulfur amino acid requirement of the growing pig

A growth trial and a nitrogen retention trial were conducted to determine the sulfur amino acid requirement of the growing pig. Adding 0.10% DL-methionine to a 14.1% protein basal diet containing 0.21% sulfur amino acids significantly (P\u3c.05) increased daily gain and nitrogen retention. Further additions gave no beneficial effect, indicating that the sulfur amino acid requirement had been met by the initial addition of DL-methionine. Thus, the sulfur amino acid requirement of the growing pig fed a 14.1% protein diet does not exceed 0.31% of the diet.; Swine Day, Manhattan, KS, November 14, 197

Exploring the Variation in Spatial Landscape Utilisation by Cows in the Pre- and Post-Partum Period Using GNSS Technology

On-animal sensors refer to systems that monitor the location, behaviour, or physiological characteristics of livestock. These technologies provide a method to overcome many of the challenges that are associated with monitoring livestock within an extensive grazing system. A global navigation satellite system (GNSS) could be used to detect the changes in spatial utilisation associated with when a cow has a calf at foot. In this study, forty pregnant Belmont Red heifers were fitted with GNSS collars programmed to provide a location reading at 5 minute intervals. The data was cleaned and mapped in ArcGIS to identify changes in paddock area preference in the week prior to (-7d to -1d) and following (1d to 7d) parturition. A total of 14 heifers calved during this period and an overall reduction in the total area utilised was observed following parturition. Ten animals showed a preference for the eastern-side of the paddock following calving. These results suggest that paddock utilisation by cows does change around parturition but is inconsistent. Further research is required to better understand this issue, however, this information could be used to inform management decisions around resource distribution in the post-partum period to maximise productivity and animal welfare

Listening and learning : the reciprocal relationship between worker and client

The relationship between worker and client has for the best part of 100 years been the mainstay of probation, and yet has recently been eroded by an increased emphasis on punishment, blame and managerialism. The views of offenders are in direct contradiction to these developments within the criminal justice system and this article argues that only by taking account of the views of those at the 'coal face' will criminologists, policy makers and practitioners be able to effect real change in crime rates. The article thus focuses on the views of a sample of previously persistent offenders in Scotland about offending, desistance and how the system can help them. It explores not only their need for friendship and support in youth but also the close association between relationships and the likelihood of offending. It also demonstrates the views of offenders themselves about the importance of the working relationship with supervising officers in helping them desist from crime. The article concludes that the most effective way of reducing offending is to re-engage with the message of the Probation Act of 100 years ago, namely, to 'advise, assist and befriend' offenders rather than to 'confront, challenge and change' offending behaviour

A sequence analysis of behaviors in immersive virtual reality for indoor earthquake and post-earthquake evacuation

Behavioral sequence analysis (BSA) gives insights to understand and model individual behaviors. The present study uses BSA for a virtual earthquake. The virtual earthquake drill was facilitated by a head-mounted display (HMD)-based immersive virtual reality (IVR) system. Eighty-three participants experienced a full earthquake and post-earthquake evacuation in a virtual hospital building. Concurrent verbal protocol analysis (VPA) and retrospective video analysis of the footage of participants’ in-IVR behaviors have been conducted to identify the behavioral sequence of participants. As a result, behavioral transition diagrams are generated, showing the progression of behaviors exhibited in the virtual earthquake drill. A variety of behavioral paths for each individual participant is presented using a visual analytics approach. The behavioral transition diagrams and behavioral paths expose the full picture of human behaviors in an earthquake emergency, which are vital to developing behavior-oriented strategies for earthquake emergencies.Publishe

Monte Carlo Study of the Separation of Energy Scales in Quantum Spin 1/2 Chains with Bond Disorder

One-dimensional Heisenberg spin 1/2 chains with random ferro- and antiferromagnetic bonds are realized in systems such as $Sr_3 CuPt_{1-x} Ir_x O_6$. We have investigated numerically the thermodynamic properties of a generic random bond model and of a realistic model of $Sr_3 CuPt_{1-x} Ir_x O_6$ by the quantum Monte Carlo loop algorithm. For the first time we demonstrate the separation into three different temperature regimes for the original Hamiltonian based on an exact treatment, especially we show that the intermediate temperature regime is well-defined and observable in both the specific heat and the magnetic susceptibility. The crossover between the regimes is indicated by peaks in the specific heat. The uniform magnetic susceptibility shows Curie-like behavior in the high-, intermediate- and low-temperature regime, with different values of the Curie constant in each regime. We show that these regimes are overlapping in the realistic model and give numerical data for the analysis of experimental tests.Comment: 7 pages, 5 eps-figures included, typeset using JPSJ.sty, accepted for publication in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 68, Vol. 3. (1999

Upon the existence of short-time approximations of any polynomial order for the computation of density matrices by path integral methods

In this article, I provide significant mathematical evidence in support of the existence of short-time approximations of any polynomial order for the computation of density matrices of physical systems described by arbitrarily smooth and bounded from below potentials. While for Theorem 2, which is ``experimental'', I only provide a ``physicist's'' proof, I believe the present development is mathematically sound. As a verification, I explicitly construct two short-time approximations to the density matrix having convergence orders 3 and 4, respectively. Furthermore, in the Appendix, I derive the convergence constant for the trapezoidal Trotter path integral technique. The convergence orders and constants are then verified by numerical simulations. While the two short-time approximations constructed are of sure interest to physicists and chemists involved in Monte Carlo path integral simulations, the present article is also aimed at the mathematical community, who might find the results interesting and worth exploring. I conclude the paper by discussing the implications of the present findings with respect to the solvability of the dynamical sign problem appearing in real-time Feynman path integral simulations.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures; the discrete short-time approximations are now treated as independent from their continuous version; new examples of discrete short-time approximations of order three and four are given; a new appendix containing a short review on Brownian motion has been added; also, some additional explanations are provided here and there; this is the last version; to appear in Phys. Rev.

Brownian Dynamics Simulation of Polydisperse Hard Spheres

Standard algorithms for the numerical integration of the Langevin equation require that interactions are slowly varying during to the integration timestep. This in not the case for hard-body systems, where there is no clearcut between the correlation time of the noise and the timescale of the interactions. Starting from a short time approximation of the Smoluchowsky equation, we introduce an algorithm for the simulation of the overdamped Brownian dynamics of polydisperse hard-spheres in absence of hydrodynamics interactions and briefly discuss the extension to the case of external drifts

Phase-Space Metric for Non-Hamiltonian Systems

We consider an invariant skew-symmetric phase-space metric for non-Hamiltonian systems. We say that the metric is an invariant if the metric tensor field is an integral of motion. We derive the time-dependent skew-symmetric phase-space metric that satisfies the Jacobi identity. The example of non-Hamiltonian systems with linear friction term is considered.Comment: 12 page