Behaviour of dairy cows on organic and non-organic farms

There is an increasing number of organic dairy farms in the UK. The aim of this study is to compare behaviour of dairy cows on organic and non-organic farms. Twenty organic and 20 non-organic farms throughout the UK were visited over two winters (2004/05 and 2005/06). Organic and non-organic farms were paired for housing type, herd size, milk production traits and location. The number of cows feeding was counted every fifteen minutes for 4.5 h after new feed was available post morning milking. Behaviour at the feed-face was recorded for 60 minutes and aggressive interactions between cows were quantified. Farm type had no effect on numbers of cows feeding. There were more interactions between cows feeding at open feed-faces compared to head-bale barriers. At open feed-faces, there were more interactions on organic farms than non-organic. It is possible that organic cows were hungrier than non-organic cows after the arrival of new feed

The dynamics of neutron star crusts: Lagrangian perturbation theory for a relativistic superfluid-elastic system

The inner crust of a mature neutron star is composed of an elastic lattice of neutron-rich nuclei penetrated by free neutrons. These neutrons can flow relative to the crust once the star cools below the superfluid transition temperature. In order to model the dynamics of this system, which is relevant for a range of problems from pulsar glitches to magnetar seismology and continuous gravitational-wave emission from rotating deformed neutron stars, we need to understand general relativistic Lagrangian perturbation theory for elastic matter coupled to a superfluid component. This paper develops the relevant formalism to the level required for astrophysical applications.Comment: 31 pages, double spacing, minor typos fixe

Dynamical mean-filed approximation to small-world networks of spiking neurons: From local to global, and/or from regular to random couplings

By extending a dynamical mean-field approximation (DMA) previously proposed by the author [H. Hasegawa, Phys. Rev. E {\bf 67}, 41903 (2003)], we have developed a semianalytical theory which takes into account a wide range of couplings in a small-world network. Our network consists of noisy $N$-unit FitzHugh-Nagumo (FN) neurons with couplings whose average coordination number $Z$ may change from local ($Z \ll N$) to global couplings ($Z=N-1$) and/or whose concentration of random couplings $p$ is allowed to vary from regular ($p=0$) to completely random (p=1). We have taken into account three kinds of spatial correlations: the on-site correlation, the correlation for a coupled pair and that for a pair without direct couplings. The original $2 N$-dimensional {\it stochastic} differential equations are transformed to 13-dimensional {\it deterministic} differential equations expressed in terms of means, variances and covariances of state variables. The synchronization ratio and the firing-time precision for an applied single spike have been discussed as functions of $Z$ and $p$. Our calculations have shown that with increasing $p$, the synchronization is {\it worse} because of increased heterogeneous couplings, although the average network distance becomes shorter. Results calculated by out theory are in good agreement with those by direct simulations.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figures: accepted in Phys. Rev. E with minor change

Introductory Physics: Writing scheme teaches science to non-scientists

DOI: 10.1088/0031-9120/42/6/F05 http://iopscience.iop.org/0031-9120/42/6/F05/pdf/0031-9120_42_6_F05.pdfWriting-intensive activities can be made use of to implement a 'narrow-but-deep' approach in an undergraduate introductory physics course for non-science majors. In this approach, a carefully selected number of topics are treated not only in more detail but also with attention to developing them logically and rigorously. We teach a course that utilizes parts of an interdisciplinary text by Alan Lightman [1] and focuses on three subjects: (i) the conservation of energy, (ii) the second law of thermodynamics and (iii) the special theory of relativity

Oscillatory phase transition and pulse propagation in noisy integrate-and-fire neurons

We study non-locally coupled noisy integrate-and-fire neurons with the Fokker-Planck equation. A propagating pulse state and a wavy state appear as a phase transition from an asynchronous state. We also find a solution in which traveling pulses are emitted periodically from a pacemaker region.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

Gravitational waves from rapidly rotating neutron stars

Rapidly rotating neutron stars in Low Mass X-ray Binaries have been proposed as an interesting source of gravitational waves. In this chapter we present estimates of the gravitational wave emission for various scenarios, given the (electromagnetically) observed characteristics of these systems. First of all we focus on the r-mode instability and show that a 'minimal' neutron star model (which does not incorporate exotica in the core, dynamically important magnetic fields or superfluid degrees of freedom), is not consistent with observations. We then present estimates of both thermally induced and magnetically sustained mountains in the crust. In general magnetic mountains are likely to be detectable only if the buried magnetic field of the star is of the order of $B\approx 10^{12}$ G. In the thermal mountain case we find that gravitational wave emission from persistent systems may be detected by ground based interferometers. Finally we re-asses the idea that gravitational wave emission may be balancing the accretion torque in these systems, and show that in most cases the disc/magnetosphere interaction can account for the observed spin periods.Comment: To appear in 'Gravitational Waves Astrophysics: 3rd Session of the Sant Cugat Forum on Astrophysics, 2014', Editor: Carlos F. Sopuert

The dynamics of dissipative multi-fluid neutron star cores

We present a Newtonian multi-fluid formalism for superfluid neutron star cores, focussing on the additional dissipative terms that arise when one takes into account the individual dynamical degrees of freedom associated with the coupled "fluids". The problem is of direct astrophysical interest as the nature of the dissipative terms can have significant impact on the damping of the various oscillation modes of the star and the associated gravitational-wave signatures. A particularly interesting application concerns the gravitational-wave driven instability of f- and r-modes. We apply the developed formalism to two specific three-fluid systems: (i) a hyperon core in which both Lambda and Sigma^- hyperons are present, and (ii) a core of deconfined quarks in the colour-flavour-locked phase in which a population of neutral K^0 kaons is present. The formalism is, however, general and can be applied to other problems in neutron-star dynamics (such as the effect of thermal excitations close to the superfluid transition temperature) as well as laboratory multi-fluid systems.Comment: RevTex, no figure

Structure and deformations of strongly magnetized neutron stars with twisted torus configurations

We construct general relativistic models of stationary, strongly magnetized neutron stars. The magnetic field configuration, obtained by solving the relativistic Grad-Shafranov equation, is a generalization of the twisted torus model recently proposed in the literature; the stellar deformations induced by the magnetic field are computed by solving the perturbed Einstein's equations; stellar matter is modeled using realistic equations of state. We find that in these configurations the poloidal field dominates over the toroidal field and that, if the magnetic field is sufficiently strong during the first phases of the stellar life, it can produce large deformations.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures. Minor changes to match the version published on MNRA

Generalized Rate-Code Model for Neuron Ensembles with Finite Populations

We have proposed a generalized Langevin-type rate-code model subjected to multiplicative noise, in order to study stationary and dynamical properties of an ensemble containing {\it finite} $N$ neurons. Calculations using the Fokker-Planck equation (FPE) have shown that owing to the multiplicative noise, our rate model yields various kinds of stationary non-Gaussian distributions such as gamma, inverse-Gaussian-like and log-normal-like distributions, which have been experimentally observed. Dynamical properties of the rate model have been studied with the use of the augmented moment method (AMM), which was previously proposed by the author with a macroscopic point of view for finite-unit stochastic systems. In the AMM, original $N$-dimensional stochastic differential equations (DEs) are transformed into three-dimensional deterministic DEs for means and fluctuations of local and global variables. Dynamical responses of the neuron ensemble to pulse and sinusoidal inputs calculated by the AMM are in good agreement with those obtained by direct simulation. The synchronization in the neuronal ensemble is discussed. Variabilities of the firing rate and of the interspike interval (ISI) are shown to increase with increasing the magnitude of multiplicative noise, which may be a conceivable origin of the observed large variability in cortical neurons.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, accepted in Phys. Rev. E after minor modification

Political Competency: Understanding How College Students Develop Their Political Identity

Constructing models of how students come to understand their identity is a hallmark of student development theory. Yet, there is little published research or institutional attention devoted to the examination of students’ political identity development. In this article, the authors apply existing student development theories to this topic and describe ways that student affairs practitioners can facilitate student growth in this important dimension of adulthood