Absorption cross section in warped AdS_3 black hole revisited

We investigate the absorption cross section for minimal-coupled scalars in the warped AdS_3 black hole. According to our calculation, the cross section reduces to the horizon area in the low energy limit as usually expected in contrast to what was previously found. We also calculate the greybody factor and find that the effective temperatures for the two chiral CFT's are consistent with that derived from the quasinormal modes. Observing the conjectured warped AdS/CFT correspondence, we suspect that a specific sector of the CFT operators with the desired conformal dimension could be responsible for the peculiar thermal behaviour of the warped AdS_3 black hole.Comment: 16+1 pages, typos corrected, references and footnotes adde

Using in situ technique to estimate nutrient availability of six barley varieties for ruminants

Non-Peer ReviewedBarley grains are as a main source of feed for ruminants in Canada. Although barley varieties have similar chemical composition, they exhibit different rumen degradation characteristics and nutrient availability. The objective of this study was to estimate nutrient availability of the six barley varieties using nylon bags incubated for 0, 2, 4, 8, 12, 24 and 48 h in the rumen of dairy cow and determine the rumen degradation parameters of DM, CP and starch according to the first order degradation kinetics equation. The results indicated that the barley varieties showed different degradation rate (Kd) of DM, CP and starch during incubation period. CDC Trey was the highest (P<0.05) in effective degradability of DM (498.04g/kg) while AC Metcalfe showed the highest (P<0.05) effective degradability of CP (63.06g/kg) and starch (344.82g/kg) compared with other barley varieties. CDC Helgason had the largest size of rumen undegradable fraction of DM (640.21g/kg), CP (83.85g/kg, NRC 2001 model) and starch (321.85g/kg). Feeds degradation features from this study involved nutrients utilization in ruminant digestive systems. Further study to investigate and compare the structural/chemical make-up characteristics between barley varieties may provide more information as to why barley varieties exhibit different biodegradation behaviors

Using synchrotron-based FTIR microspectroscopy (SFTIRM) to reveal the differences of endosperm structural and chemical make-up among six barley varieties

Non-Peer ReviewedBarley grains are widely used for malting and feeding purposes in Canada. Although barley varieties have similar chemical composition, they exhibit different rumen degradation characteristics and nutrient availability. The objectives of this study was to determine structural make-up features and identify the structural differences in chemical functional groups in endosperm tissue among the six barley varieties using ultra-spatially resolved synchrotron-based FTIR microspectroscopy (SFTIRM). The results indicated that the barley varieties showed significant differences in terms of peak area intensities and the peak ratios of the amide I (1650 cm-1) and amide II (1550 cm-1), cellulosic compounds (ca. 1240 cm-1), and non-structural carbohydrates (NSC, starch) peak (1025 cm-1). The synchrotron-based FTIR spectroscopic information associated with structural and chemical make-up characteristics of barley grains may provide more information as to why barley varieties exhibit different biodegradation behaviors

Dispersal patterns of endogenous bacteria among grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) guts

The formation and regulation of vertebrate endogenous intestinal microbiota has been widely studied as the microbiota plays a crucial role in the host nutrition, development, and health. Despite the importance of microbiota for host health, it is still unclear whether the endogenous intestinal microorganisms are genetically distinct or whether they are genetically related with each other in different host individuals. In the present study, the dispersal situation of the endogenous intestinal bacteria in grass carp was investigated by constructing bacterial 16S rRNA gene clone libraries. The results indicate that the bacteria harbored in the grass carp gut could be separated into the following two groups: a- the private operational taxonomic units (OTUs), which include Cetobacterium somerae, Aeromonas jandaei, Citrobacter freundii, Achromobacter xylosoxidans and Bacteroides species; b- the shared OTUs, which include Vibrio cholerae, Plesiomonas shigelloides and Pasteurella speices. The results obtained in this investigation provide valuable information for assessing the mechanism of spread of the endogenous intestinal bacteria, especially the pathogenic ones. However, the mechanisms involved in different modes of bacterial dispersal in the grass carp gut still require further research

Characteristics and utilization of canola seed fractions in ruminant feeds a processing and value added research

Non-Peer Reviewe

Spin injection and electric field effect in degenerate semiconductors

We analyze spin-transport in semiconductors in the regime characterized by $T\stackrel{<}{\sim}T_F$ (intermediate to degenerate), where $T_F$ is the Fermi temperature. Such a regime is of great importance since it includes the lightly doped semiconductor structures used in most experiments; we demonstrate that, at the same time, it corresponds to the regime in which carrier-carrier interactions assume a relevant role. Starting from a general formulation of the drift-diffusion equations, which includes many-body correlation effects, we perform detailed calculations of the spin injection characteristics of various heterostructures, and analyze the combined effects of carrier density variation, applied electric field and Coulomb interaction. We show the existence of a degenerate regime, peculiar to semiconductors, which strongly differs, as spin-transport is concerned, from the degenerate regime of metals.Comment: Version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Hulless barley (Hordeum vulgare l.) with altered starch traits: rumen degradation kinetics

Non-Peer ReviewedThe objective of this study was to determine the effect of new hulless barley lines (zero-amylose waxy, CDC Fibar; 5%-amylose waxy, CDC Rattan; normal-amylose, CDC McGwire and high-amylose, HB08302) on rumen degradation kinetics and in vitro intestinal nutrient digestion with CDC Copeland included as a hulled control. Three dry Holstein cows fitted with rumen cannula were used for measuring rumen degradation of barley varieties. The estimation of intestinal digestion was determined by a modification of the three-step in vitro procedure described by Calsamiglia and Stern with duplicate of each in situ residue. Among the hulless barley lines, CDC Rattan was greater (P<0.05) in effectively degradable starch (EDST: 461 g/kg DM) but reduced (P<0.05) in rumen undegradable protein (RUP: 55g/kg DM) while CDC Fibar was greater (P<0.05) in effectively degradable crude protein (EDCP: 90 g/kg DM) and total digestible protein (TDP: 147 g/kg DM) than other hulless barley lines. CDC McGwire showed greater (P<0.05) in total digestible bypass starch (TDST: 590 g/kg DM), effectively degradable CHO (EDCHO: 581 g/kg DM) and total digestible CHO (TDCHO: 600 g/kg DM) than other hulless barley lines but no significant difference compared to CDC Copeland (P>0.05). HB08302 was greater (P<0.05) in rumen bypass starch (BST: 218 g/kg DM vs. 146 g/kg DM and 155 g/kg DM) and effective degradable NDF (EDNDF: 74 g/kg DM vs. 49 g/kg DM and 52 g/kg DM) than CDC Fibar and CDC Rattan. HB08302 was also greater in total digestible NDF (TDNDF: 93 g/kg DM vs. 62 g/kg DM and 67 g/kg DM) and intestinal digestible rumen bypass starch (IDBST: 180 g/kg DM vs. 122 g/kg DM and 130 g/kg DM) compared to CDC Fibar and CDC McGwire. HB08302 also showed greater (P<0.05) in bypass CHO (BCHO: 179 g/kg DM) and intestinal digestible bypass CHO (IDBCHO: 31 g/kg DM) than other hulless barley lines. Amylose and amylopectin were significantly correlated (P<0.001) to EDCP (r=-0.71, r=0.64) and TDP (r=-0.85; r=0.77), while amylose, ratio of amylose and amylopectin were positively correlated (P<0.01) to EDNDF, TDNDF, BST, IDBST and TDCHO (P<0.05). BCP, IDP, TDP, BNDF were positively correlated to beta-glucan levels (P<0.001) while EDST, TDST, EDCHO and TDCHO were negatively correlated to beta-glucan levels in hulless barley lines (P<0.01). in conclusion hulless barley lines with altered carbohydrate traits have the potential to increase rumen and intestinal nutrient availability to ruminants. Altered beta-glucan levels had a greater effect on rumen carbohydrates and crude protein degradation than altered starch traits

Interplay among critical temperature, hole content, and pressure in the cuprate superconductors

Within a BCS-type mean-field approach to the extended Hubbard model, a nontrivial dependence of T_c on the hole content per unit CuO_2 is recovered, in good agreement with the celebrated non-monotonic universal behaviour at normal pressure. Evaluation of T_c at higher pressures is then made possible by the introduction of an explicit dependence of the tight-binding band and of the carrier concentration on pressure P. Comparison with the known experimental data for underdoped Bi2212 allows to single out an `intrinsic' contribution to d T_c / d P from that due to the carrier concentration, and provides a remarkable estimate of the dependence of the inter-site coupling strength on the lattice scale.Comment: REVTeX 8 pages, including 5 embedded PostScript figures; other required macros included; to be published in Phys. Rev. B (vol. 54

Constructing an Index for Brand Equity: A Hospital Example

If two hospitals are providing identical services in all respects, except for the brand name, why are customers willing to pay more for one hospital than the other? That is, the brand name is not just a name, but a name that contains value (brand equity). Brand equity is the value that the brand name endows to the product, such that consumers are willing to pay a premium price for products with the particular brand name. Accordingly, a company needs to manage its brand carefully so that its brand equity does not depreciate. Although measuring brand equity is important, managers have no brand equity index that is psychometrically robust and parsimonious enough for practice. Indeed, index construction is quite different from conventional scale development. Moreover, researchers might still be unaware of the potential appropriateness of formative indicators for operationalizing particular constructs. Towards this end, drawing on the brand equity literature and following the index construction procedure, this study creates a brand equity index for a hospital. The results reveal a parsimonious five-indicator brand equity index that can adequately capture the full domain of brand equity. This study also illustrates the differences between index construction and scale development

Strain dependence of the acoustic properties of amorphous metals below 1K: Evidence for the interaction between tunneling states

We have conducted a thorough study of the acoustic properties between 10^-4 and 1 Kelvin for the amorphous metal Zr_x Cu_1-x (x=0.3 and x=0.4), by measuring the relative change of sound velocity dv/v and internal friction Q^-1 as a function of temperature and also of the applied strain, in both superconducting and normal state. We have found that when plotted versus the ratio of strain energy to thermal energy, all measurements display the same behavior: a crossover from a linear regime of ``independent'' tunneling systems at very low strains and/or high enough temperatures to a nonlinear regime where dv/v and Q^-1 depend on applied strain and the tunneling systems cannot be considered as independent.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures (submitted to PRL