EquiFACS: the Equine Facial Action Coding System

Although previous studies of horses have investigated their facial expressions in specific contexts, e.g. pain, until now there has been no methodology available that documents all the possible facial movements of the horse and provides a way to record all potential facial configurations. This is essential for an objective description of horse facial expressions across a range of contexts that reflect different emotional states. Facial Action Coding Systems (FACS) provide a systematic methodology of identifying and coding facial expressions on the basis of underlying facial musculature and muscle movement. FACS are anatomically based and document all possible facial movements rather than a configuration of movements associated with a particular situation. Consequently, FACS can be applied as a tool for a wide range of research questions. We developed FACS for the domestic horse (Equus caballus) through anatomical investigation of the underlying musculature and subsequent analysis of naturally occurring behaviour captured on high quality video. Discrete facial movements were identified and described in terms of the underlying muscle contractions, in correspondence with previous FACS systems. The reliability of others to be able to learn this system (EquiFACS) and consistently code behavioural sequences was high—and this included people with no previous experience of horses. A wide range of facial movements were identified, including many that are also seen in primates and other domestic animals (dogs and cats). EquiFACS provides a method that can now be used to document the facial movements associated with different social contexts and thus to address questions relevant to understanding social cognition and comparative psychology, as well as informing current veterinary and animal welfare practices

Deep-sea scleractinian coral age and depth distributions in the northwest Atlantic for the last 225,000 years

Author Posting. © University of Miami - Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, 2007. This article is posted here by permission of University of Miami - Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Bulletin of Marine Science 81 (2007): 371-391.Deep-sea corals have grown for over 200,000 yrs on the New England Seamounts in the northwest Atlantic, and this paper describes their distribution both with respect to depth and time. Many thousands of fossil scleractinian corals were collected on a series of cruises from 2003-2005; by contrast, live ones were scarce. On these seamounts, the depth distribution of fossil Desmophyllum dianthus (Esper, 1794) is markedly different to that of the colonial scleractinian corals, extending 750 m deeper in the water column to a distinct cut-off at 2500 m. This cut-off is likely to be controlled by the maximum depth of a notch-shaped feature in the seamount morphology. The ages of D. dianthus corals as determined by U-series measurements range from modern to older than 200,000 yrs. The age distribution is not constant over time, and most corals have ages from the last glacial period. Within the glacial period, increases in coral population density at Muir and Manning Sea-mounts coincided with times at which large-scale ocean circulation changes have been documented in the deep North Atlantic. Ocean circulation changes have an effect on coral distributions, but the cause of the link is not known.We gratefully acknowledge the support of The Comer Foundation for Abrupt Climate Change, The Henry Luce Foundation, The American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund, NSF Grant Numbers OCE-0096373 and OCE-0095331, and NOAA OE Grant Number A05OAR4601054

Density anomaly in a competing interactions lattice gas model

We study a very simple model of a short-range attraction and an outer shell repulsion as a test system for demixing phase transition and density anomaly. The phase-diagram is obtained by applying mean field analysis and Monte Carlo simulations to a two dimensional lattice gas with nearest-neighbors attraction and next-nearest-neighbors repulsion (the outer shell). Two liquid phases and density anomaly are found. The coexistence line between these two liquid phases meets a critical line between the fluid and the low density liquid at a tricritical point. The line of maximum density emerges in the vicinity of the tricritical point, close to the demixing transition

Public awareness of cancer in Britain: a population-based survey of adults

*_Objective:_* To assess public awareness of cancer warning signs, anticipated delay, and perceived barriers to seeking medical advice in the British population. 
Methods: We carried out a population-based survey using face-to-face, computer-assisted interviews to administer the Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM), a newly-developed, validated measure of cancer awareness. The sample included 2216 adults (970 male and 1246 female) recruited as part of the Office for National Statistics Opinions Survey using stratified probability sampling.

*_Results:_* Awareness of cancer warning signs was low when open-ended (recall) questions were used and higher with closed (recognition) questions; but on either measure, awareness was lower in those who were male, younger, and from lower socioeconomic status (SES) groups or ethnic minorities. The most commonly endorsed barriers to help-seeking were difficulty making an appointment, worry about wasting the doctor’s time and worry about what would be found. Emotional barriers were more prominent in lower SES groups and practical barriers (e.g. too busy) more prominent in higher SES groups. Anticipated delay was lower in ethnic minority and lower SES groups. In multivariate analysis, higher symptom awareness was associated with lower anticipated delay, and more barriers with greater anticipated delay.

*_Conclusions:_* A combination of public education about symptoms and empowerment to seek medical advice, as well as support at primary care level, could enhance early presentation and improve cancer outcomes

Synchronisation in Coupled Sine Circle Maps

We study the spatially synchronized and temporally periodic solutions of a 1-d lattice of coupled sine circle maps. We carry out an analytic stability analysis of this spatially synchronized and temporally periodic case and obtain the stability matrix in a neat block diagonal form. We find spatially synchronized behaviour over a substantial range of parameter space. We have also extended the analysis to higher spatial periods with similar results. Numerical simulations for various temporal periods of the synchronized solution, reveal that the entire structure of the Arnold tongues and the devil's staircase seen in the case of the single circle map can also be observed for the synchronized coupled sine circle map lattice. Our formalism should be useful in the study of spatially periodic behaviour in other coupled map lattices.Comment: uuencoded, 1 rextex file 14 pages, 3 postscript figure

HI distribution and kinematics of NGC 1569

We present WSRT observations of high sensitivity and resolution of the neutral hydrogen in the starburst dwarf galaxy NGC 1569. Assuming a distance of 2.2 Mpc, we find a total HI mass of 1.3 * 10^8 M_sun to be distributed in the form of a dense, clumpy ridge surrounded by more extended diffuse HI containing a few additional discrete features, such as a Western HI Arm and an HI bridge reaching out to a small counterrotating companion cloud. About 10% by mass of all HI in NGC 1569 is at unusually high velocities. Some of this HI may be associated with the mass outflow evident from H-alpha measurements, but some may also be associated with NGC 1569's HI companion and intervening HI bridge, in which case, infall rather than outflow might be the cause of the discrepant velocities. No indication of a large bubble structure was found in position-velocity maps of the high-velocity HI. The galaxy as a whole is in modest overall rotation, but the HI gas lacks any sign of rotation within 60'' (0.6 kpc) from the center, i.e. over most of the optical galaxy. Here, turbulent motions resulting from the starburst appear to dominate over rotation. In the outer disk, the rotational velocities reach a maximum of 35 \pm 6 km/s, but turbulent motion remains significant. Thus, starburst effects are still noticeable in the outer HI disk, although they are no longer dominant beyond 0.6 kpc. Even excluding the most extreme high-velocity HI clouds, NGC 1569 still has an unusually high mean HI velocity dispersion of sigma_v=21.3 km/s, more than double that of other dwarf galaxies.Comment: Figure 11a,b and Figure 14 separately in jpg forma

Ultraviolet Signposts of Resonant Dynamics in the Starburst-Ringed Sab Galaxy, M94 (NGC 4736)

M94 (NGC 4736) is investigated using images from the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (FUV-band), Hubble Space Telescope (NUV-band), Kitt Peak 0.9-m telescope (H-alpha, R, and I bands), and Palomar 5-m telescope (B-band), along with spectra from the International Ultraviolet Explorer and Lick 1-m telescopes. The wide-field UIT image shows FUV emission from (a) an elongated nucleus, (b) a diffuse inner disk, where H-alpha is observed in absorption, (c) a bright inner ring of H II regions at the perimeter of the inner disk (R = 48 arcsec. = 1.1 kpc), and (d) two 500-pc size knots of hot stars exterior to the ring on diametrically opposite sides of the nucleus (R= 130 arcsec. = 2.9 kpc). The HST/FOC image resolves the NUV emission from the nuclear region into a bright core and a faint 20 arcsec. long ``mini-bar'' at a position angle of 30 deg. Optical and IUE spectroscopy of the nucleus and diffuse inner disk indicates an approximately 10^7 or 10^8 yr-old stellar population from low-level starbirth activity blended with some LINER activity. Analysis of the H-alpha, FUV, NUV, B, R, and I-band emission along with other observed tracers of stars and gas in M94 indicates that most of the star formation is being orchestrated via ring-bar dynamics involving the nuclear mini-bar, inner ring, oval disk, and outer ring. The inner starburst ring and bi-symmetric knots at intermediate radius, in particular, argue for bar-mediated resonances as the primary drivers of evolution in M94 at the present epoch. Similar processes may be governing the evolution of the ``core-dominated'' galaxies that have been observed at high redshift. The gravitationally-lensed ``Pretzel Galaxy'' (0024+1654) at a redshift of approximately 1.5 provides an important precedent in this regard.Comment: revised figure 1 (corrected coordinate labels on declination axis); 19 pages of text + 19 figures (jpg files); accepted for publication in A

Synchronization and directed percolation in coupled map lattices

We study a synchronization mechanism, based on one-way coupling of all-or-nothing type, applied to coupled map lattices with several different local rules. By analyzing the metric and the topological distance between the two systems, we found two different regimes: a strong chaos phase in which the transition has a directed percolation character and a weak chaos phase in which the synchronization transition occurs abruptly. We are able to derive some analytical approximations for the location of the transition point and the critical properties of the system. We propose to use the characteristics of this transition as indicators of the spatial propagation of chaoticity.Comment: 12 pages + 12 figure