Progeny of high muscling sires have reduced muscle response to adrenaline in sheep

This study investigated the impact of variation in Australian sheep breeding values (ASBVs) for yearling eye muscle depth (YEMD) within Merino and Poll Dorset sires on intermediary metabolism of progeny. Specifically, the change in the blood concentrations of lactate, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and glucose in response to administration of an exogenous dose of adrenaline was studied. The experiment used 20 Merino and Merino cross Poll Dorset mixed sex sheep. The sires were selected across a range of YEMD ASBVs. The sheep were fitted with indwelling jugular catheters and administered seven levels of adrenaline over a period of 4 days at 4 months of age (0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.9, 1.2 and 1.6 mu g/kg liveweight (LW)) and 16 months of age (0.1, 0.2, 0.6, 1.2, 1.8, 2.4 and 3.0 mu g/kg LW). A total of 16 blood samples were collected between -30 min and 130 min relative to administration of the adrenaline challenge and were later measured for the plasma concentrations of lactate, NEFA and glucose. These data were then used to calculate the time to maximum substrate concentration, the maximum concentration and the area under curve (AUC) between 0 and 10 min, thus reflecting the substrate's response to exogenous adrenaline. Selection for muscling led to decreased muscle response due to adrenaline, as indicated by lower maximum concentrations and AUC for lactate. The muscles' response to adrenaline was more prominent at 16 months of age than at 4 months of age. Thus, animals selected for increased muscling have lower levels of glycogenolysis in situations where endogenous adrenaline levels are increased like pre-slaughter. This may minimise the risk of poor meat quality in these animals, as they will express higher muscle concentrations of glycogen at slaughter. Adipose tissue was more sensitive to adrenaline in young lambs from high YEMD sires. This shows that high muscled growing lambs utilise their adipose tissue deposits in times of stress to produce energy. This may explain the phenotypic leanness of these animals. Blood glucose levels that are indicative of liver response to adrenaline decreased with selection for muscling. This response may indicate a potential limiting of glucose that is available within animals selected for muscling, leanness and growth for brain function

A Generic Agent Organisation Framework For Autonomic Systems

Autonomic computing is being advocated as a tool for managing large, complex computing systems. Specifically, self-organisation provides a suitable approach for developing such autonomic systems by incorporating self-management and adaptation properties into large-scale distributed systems. To aid in this development, this paper details a generic problem-solving agent organisation framework that can act as a modelling and simulation platform for autonomic systems. Our framework describes a set of service-providing agents accomplishing tasks through social interactions in dynamically changing organisations. We particularly focus on the organisational structure as it can be used as the basis for the design, development and evaluation of generic algorithms for self-organisation and other approaches towards autonomic systems

Living shorelines enhance nitrogen removal capacity over time

Living shorelines are nature-based solutions to coastal erosion that can be constructed as salt marshes with fringing oyster reefs. Each of these habitats can decrease the potential for eutrophication through increased nitrogen (N) removal via denitrification. However, the development of N cycling over time has not been studied in living shorelines. This research measured denitrification rates in a chronosequence of living shorelines spanning 0–20 years in age in Bogue Sound, NC. Analyses were conducted seasonally from summer 2014 to spring 2015 along an elevation transect through the salt marsh, oyster reef, and adjacent sandflat at all sites. Gas fluxes (N2 and O2) from sediment core incubations were measured with a membrane inlet mass spectrometer (MIMS) to assess denitrification and sediment oxygen demand. Fluxes of dissolved nutrients and the greenhouse gas N2O were measured. Sediment properties, inundation frequency, oyster filtration rates, and marsh grass stem density were also quantified. There was no significant difference in denitrification rates among habitats. N removal consistently increased from the 0- to 7-year-old sites. Denitrification efficiency was always greater than 50% and positive N2O fluxes were negligible. Our results suggest that living shorelines increase net N removal within a relatively short time period following construction, without introducing deleterious greenhouse gas emissions. This demonstrates that living shorelines can play an important role in estuarine N cycling and management

Mediational pathways of the impact of cigarette warning labels on quit attempts

OBJECTIVES: To test and develop, using structural equation modelling, a robust model of the mediational pathways through which health warning labels exert their influence on smokers’ subsequent quitting behaviour. METHODS: Data come from the International Tobacco Control Four-Country Survey, a longitudinal cohort study conducted in Australia, Canada, the UK, and the US. Waves 5–6 data (n=4988) were used to calibrate the hypothesized model of warning label impact on subsequent quit attempts via a set of policy-specific and general psychosocial mediators. The finalised model was validated using Waves 6–7 data (n=5065). RESULTS: As hypothesized, warning label salience was positively associated with thoughts about risks of smoking stimulated by the warnings (β=.58, p<.001), which in turn were positively related to increased worry about negative outcomes of smoking (β=.52, p<.001); increased worry in turn predicted stronger intention to quit (β=.39, p<.001) which was a strong predictor of subsequent quit attempts (β=.39, p<.001). This calibrated model was successfully replicated using Waves 6–7 data. CONCLUSIONS: Health warning labels seem to influence future quitting attempts primarily through their ability to stimulate thoughts about the risks of smoking, which in turn help to raise smoking-related health concerns, which lead to stronger intentions to quit, a known key predictor of future quit attempts for smokers. By making warning labels more salient and engaging, they should have a greater chance to change behaviour

Seismology of the Sun : Inference of Thermal, Dynamic and Magnetic Field Structures of the Interior

Recent overwhelming evidences show that the sun strongly influences the Earth's climate and environment. Moreover existence of life on this Earth mainly depends upon the sun's energy. Hence, understanding of physics of the sun, especially the thermal, dynamic and magnetic field structures of its interior, is very important. Recently, from the ground and space based observations, it is discovered that sun oscillates near 5 min periodicity in millions of modes. This discovery heralded a new era in solar physics and a separate branch called helioseismology or seismology of the sun has started. Before the advent of helioseismology, sun's thermal structure of the interior was understood from the evolutionary solution of stellar structure equations that mimicked the present age, mass and radius of the sun. Whereas solution of MHD equations yielded internal dynamics and magnetic field structure of the sun's interior. In this presentation, I review the thermal, dynamic and magnetic field structures of the sun's interior as inferred by the helioseismology.Comment: To be published in the proceedings of the meeting "3rd International Conference on Current Developments in Atomic, Molecular, Optical and Nano Physics with Applications", December 14-16, 2011, New Delhi, Indi

What’s hot and what’s not: making sense of biodiversity ‘hotspots’

Conserving biogeographic regions with especially high biodiversity, known as biodiversity ‘hotspots’, is intuitive because finite resources can be focussed towards manageable units. Yet, biodiversity, environmental conditions and their relationship are more complex with multidimensional properties. Assessments which ignore this risk failing to detect change, identify its direction or gauge the scale of appropriate intervention. Conflicting concepts which assume assemblages as either sharply delineated communities or loosely collected species have also hampered progress in the way we assess and conserve biodiversity. We focus on the marine benthos where delineating manageable areas for conservation is an attractive prospect because it holds most marine species and constitutes the largest single ecosystem on earth by area. Using two large UK marine benthic faunal datasets, we present a spatially gridded data sampling design to account for survey effects which would otherwise be the principal drivers of diversity estimates. We then assess γ‐diversity (regional richness) with diversity partitioned between α (local richness) and β (dissimilarity), and their change in relation to covariates to test whether defining and conserving biodiversity hotspots is an effective conservation strategy in light of the prevailing forces structuring those assemblages. α‐, β‐ and γ‐diversity hotspots were largely inconsistent with each metric relating uniquely to the covariates, and loosely collected species generally prevailed with relatively few distinct assemblages. Hotspots could therefore be an unreliable means to direct conservation efforts if based on only a component part of diversity. When assessed alongside environmental gradients, α‐, β‐ and γ‐diversity provide a multidimensional but still intuitive perspective of biodiversity change that can direct conservation towards key drivers and the appropriate scale for intervention. Our study also highlights possible temporal declines in species richness over 30 years and thus the need for future integrated monitoring to reveal the causal drivers of biodiversity change

High resolution LAsMA 12CO and 13CO observation of the G305 giant molecular cloud complex: II. Effect of feedback on clump properties

Context. Understanding the effect of feedback from young massive stars on the star-forming ability of their parental molecular clouds is of central importance for studies of the interstellar medium and star formation. Aims. We observed the G305 star-forming complex in the J = 3-2 lines of 12CO and 13CO to investigate whether feedback from the central OB stars was triggering star formation in G305 or actually disrupting this process. Methods. The region was decomposed into clumps using dendrogram analysis. A catalog of the clump properties such as their positions, luminosities, masses, radii, velocity ispersions, volume densities, and surface mass densities was created. The surface mass densities of the clumps were plotted as a function of the incident 8 µm flux. A mask of the region with 8 µm flux > 100 MJy/sr was created and clumps were categorized into three classes based on their extent of overlap with the mask, namely mostly inside (>67% overlap), partly inside (>10% and <67% overlap), and outside (<10% overlap). The surface mass density distribution of each of these populations was separately plotted. This was followed by comparing the G305 clumps with the Galactic average taken from a distance-limited sample of ATLASGAL and CHIMPS clumps. Finally, the cumulative distribution functions (CDFs) of the clump masses in G305 and their L/M ratios were compared to that of the Galactic sample to determine which mechanism of feedback was dominant in G305. Results. The surface mass densities of clumps showed a positive correlation with the incident 8 µm flux. The data did not have sufficient velocity resolution to discern the effects of feedback on the linewidths of the clumps. The subsample of clumps labeled mostly inside had the highest median surface mass densities followed by the partly inside and outside subsamples. The difference between the surface mass density distribution of the three subsamples were shown to be statistically significant using the Kolmogorov–Smirnov (KS) test. The mostly inside sample also showed the highest level of fragmentation compared to the other two subsamples. These prove that the clumps inside the G305 region are triggered. The G305 clump population is also statistically different from the Galactic average population, the latter approximating that of a quiescent population of clumps. This provided further evidence that redistribution was not a likely consequence of feedback on the giant molecular cloud (GMC). The CDFs of clump masses and their L/M ratios are both flatter than that of the Galactic average, indicating that clumps are heavier and more efficient at forming stars in G305 compared to the Galactic average. Conclusions. Feedback in G305 has triggered star formation. The collect and collapse method is the dominant mechanism at play in G305

Single-Proton Removal Reaction Study of 16B

The low-lying level structure of the unbound system $^{16}$B has been investigated via single-proton removal from a 35 MeV/nucleon $^{17}$C beam. The coincident detection of the beam velocity $^{15}$B fragment and neutron allowed the relative energy of the in-flight decay of $^{16}$B to be reconstructed. The resulting spectrum exhibited a narrow peak some 85 keV above threshold. It is argued that this feature corresponds to a very narrow ($\Gamma \ll$100 keV) resonance, or an unresolved multiplet, with a dominant $\pi (p_{3/2})^{-1} \otimes \nu (d_{5/2}^3)_{J=3/2^+}$ + $\pi (p_{3/2})^{-1} \otimes \nu (d_{5/2}^2,s_{1/2})_{J=3/2^+}$ configuration which decays by d-wave neutron emission.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, submitted to Phys. Lett.

SCOTCH − Search for Clandestine Optically Thick Compact H ii regions: II

In this study we present 18-24 GHz and high-angular-resolution (0.5 arcsec) radio wavelength Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) follow-up observations towards a sample of 39 HC H ii region candidates. These objects, taken from a sample hosting 6.7 GHz methanol masers, were chosen due to the compact and optically thick nature of their continuum emission. We have detected 27 compact radio sources and constructed their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) over the 5–24 GHz range to determine the young H ii region’s physical properties, i.e., diameter, electron density ne, emission measure, Lyman continuum flux NLy and turnover frequency νt. The flux measurements are fitted for 20 objects assuming an ionisation-bounded H ii region with uniform density model. For the remaining 7 objects that lack constraints spanning both their optically thick and thin regimes, we utilise relations from the literature to determine their physical properties. Comparing these determined parameters with those of known hypercompact (HC) and ultracompact (UC) H ii regions, we have identified 13 HC H ii regions, 6 intermediate objects that fall between HC H ii and UC H ii regions, 6 UC H ii regions and one radio jet candidate which increases the known population of HC H ii regions by ∼50 per cent. All the young and compact H ii regions are embedded in dusty and dense clumps and ∼80 per cent of the HC H ii regions identified in this work are associated with various maser species (CH3OH, H2O and OH). Four of our radio sources remain optically thick at 24 GHz; we consider these to be amongst the youngest HC H ii regions

Properties of the Bose glass phase in irradiated superconductors near the matching field

Structural and transport properties of interacting localized flux lines in the Bose glass phase of irradiated superconductors are studied by means of Monte Carlo simulations near the matching field B_Phi, where the densities of vortices and columnar defects are equal. For a completely random columnar pin distribution in the xy-plane transverse to the magnetic field, our results show that the repulsive vortex interactions destroy the Mott insulator phase which was predicted to occur at B = B_Phi. On the other hand, for ratios of the penetration depth to average defect distance lambda/d <= 1, characteristic remnants of the Mott insulator singularities remain visible in experimentally accessible quantities as the magnetization, the bulk modulus, and the magnetization relaxation, when B is varied near B_Phi. For spatially more regular disorder, e.g., a nearly triangular defect distribution, we find that the Mott insulator phase can survive up to considerably large interaction range \lambda/d, and may thus be observable in experiments.Comment: RevTex, 17 pages, eps files for 12 figures include