481 research outputs found
Adaptive Avoidance of Reef Noise
Auditory information is widely used throughout the animal kingdom in both terrestrial and aquatic environments. Some marine species are dependent on reefs for adult survival and reproduction, and are known to use reef noise to guide orientation towards suitable habitat. Many others that forage in food-rich inshore waters would, however, benefit from avoiding the high density of predators resident on reefs, but nothing is known about whether acoustic cues are used in this context. By analysing a sample of nearly 700,000 crustaceans, caught during experimental playbacks in light traps in the Great Barrier Reef lagoon, we demonstrate an auditory capability in a broad suite of previously neglected taxa, and provide the first evidence in any marine organisms that reef noise can act as a deterrent. In contrast to the larvae of species that require reef habitat for future success, which showed an attraction to broadcasted reef noise, taxa with a pelagic or nocturnally emergent lifestyle actively avoided it. Our results suggest that a far greater range of invertebrate taxa than previously thought can respond to acoustic cues, emphasising yet further the potential negative impact of globally increasing levels of underwater anthropogenic noise
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Communicating Without the Face: Holistic Perception of Emotions of People With Facial Paralysis
People with facial paralysis (FP) report social difficulties, but some attempt to compensate by increasing expressivity in their bodies and voices. We examined perceivers’ emotion judgments of videos of people with FP to understand how they interpret the combination of an inexpressive face with an expressive body and voice. Results suggest perceivers form less favorable impressions of people with severe FP, but compensatory expression is effective in improving impressions. Perceivers seemed to form holistic impressions when rating happiness and possibly sadness. Findings have implications for basic emotion research and social functioning interventions for people with FP
Homogenization in magnetic-shape-memory polymer composites
Magnetic-shape-memory materials (e.g. specific NiMnGa alloys) react with a
large change of shape to the presence of an external magnetic field. As an
alternative for the difficult to manifacture single crystal of these alloys we
study composite materials in which small magnetic-shape-memory particles are
embedded in a polymer matrix. The macroscopic properties of the composite
depend strongly on the geometry of the microstructure and on the
characteristics of the particles and the polymer.
We present a variational model based on micromagnetism and elasticity, and
derive via homogenization an effective macroscopic model under the assumption
that the microstructure is periodic. We then study numerically the resulting
cell problem, and discuss the effect of the microstructure on the macroscopic
material behavior. Our results may be used to optimize the shape of the
particles and the microstructure.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figure
A Model for the Analysis of Caries Occurrence in Primary Molar Tooth Surfaces
Recently methods of caries quantification in the primary dentition have moved away from summary ‘whole mouth’ measures at the individual level to methods based on generalised linear modelling (GLM) approaches or survival analysis approaches. However, GLM approaches based on logistic transformation fail to take into account the time-dependent process of tooth/surface survival to caries. There may also be practical difficulties associated with casting parametric survival-based approaches in a complex multilevel hierarchy and the selection of an optimal survival distribution, while non-parametric survival methods are not generally suitable for the assessment of supplementary information recorded on study participants. In the current investigation, a hybrid semi-parametric approach comprising elements of survival-based and GLM methodologies suitable for modelling of caries occurrence within fixed time periods is assessed, using an illustrative multilevel data set of caries occurrence in primary molars from a cohort study, with clustering of data assumed to occur at surface and tooth levels. Inferences of parameter significance were found to be consistent with previous parametric survival-based analyses of the same data set, with gender, socio-economic status, fluoridation status, tooth location, surface type and fluoridation status-surface type interaction significantly associated with caries occurrence. The appropriateness of the hierarchical structure facilitated by the hybrid approach was also confirmed. Hence the hybrid approach is proposed as a more appropriate alternative to primary caries modelling than non-parametric survival methods or other GLM-based models, and as a practical alternative to more rigorous survival-based methods unlikely to be fully accessible to most researchers
Supplier qualification for high value goods and services in Nigeria: A comparison of qualified and non-qualified suppliers
This study set out to understand the capabilities of suppliers of high value products and services in Nigeria. Supplier capability data was collected from almost 500 potential suppliers across 28 product categories. The findings indicate that only a small minority of potential suppliers achieved the required levels of performance and that very few companies have suitable operational capabilities or corporate citizenship behaviour. Furthermore, significant differences were found between service suppliers and product suppliers with regard to performance. The findings suggest that the majority of suppliers of products and services in Nigeria need to improve their operational capabilities and corporate citizenship behaviours or else risk losing their ability to compete in a changing market place with new barriers to entry
Magnetic properties of Ni2.18Mn0.82Ga Heusler alloys with a coupled magnetostructural transition
Polycrystalline Ni2.18Mn0.82Ga Heusler alloys with a coupled
magnetostructural transition are studied by differential scanning calorimetry,
magnetic and resistivity measurements. Coupling of the magnetic and structural
subsystems results in unusual magnetic features of the alloy. These uncommon
magnetic properties of Ni2.18Mn0.82Ga are attributed to the first-order
structural transition from a tetragonal ferromagnetic to a cubic paramagnetic
phase.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, revtex
Investigating Prosodic Accommodation in Clinical Interviews with Depressed Patients
Six in-depth clinical interviews, involving six elderly female patients (aged 60+) and one female psychiatrist, were recorded and analysed for a number of prosodic accommodation variables.
Our analysis focused on pitch, speaking time, and vowel-space ratio. Findings indicate that there is a dynamic manifestation of prosodic accommodation over the course of the interactions. There is clear adaptation on the part of the psychiatrist, even going so far as to have a reduced vowel-space ratio, mirroring a reduced vowel-space ratio in the depressed patients. Previous research has found a reduced vowel-space ratio to be associated with psychological distress; however, we suggest that it indicates a high level of adaptation on the part of the psychiatrist and needs to be considered when analysing psychiatric clinical interactions
Repurposing rapid diagnostic tests to detect falsified vaccines in supply chains
Substandard (including degraded) and falsified (SF) vaccines are a relatively neglected issue with serious global implications for public health. This has been highlighted during the rapid and widespread rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. There has been increasing interest in devices to screen for SF non-vaccine medicines including tablets and capsules to empower inspectors and standardise surveillance. However, there has been very limited published research focussed on repurposing or developing new devices for screening for SF vaccines. To our knowledge, rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) have not been used for this purpose but have important potential for detecting falsified vaccines. We performed a proof-in-principle study to investigate their diagnostic accuracy using a diverse range of RDT-vaccine/falsified vaccine surrogate pairs. In an initial assessment, we demonstrated the utility of four RDTs in detecting seven vaccines. Subsequently, the four RDTs were evaluated by three blinded assessors with seven vaccines and four falsified vaccines surrogates. The results provide preliminary data that RDTs could be used by multiple international organisations, national medicines regulators and vaccine manufacturers/distributors to screen for falsified vaccines in supply chains, aligned with the WHO global ‘Prevent, Detect and Respond’ strategy
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