Evaluation of whisker stress in cats

Objectives The aim of this study was to determine if cats fed from a commercially advertised whisker-friendly dish vs their normal food dish would spend more time at the food dish, eat more and drop less food. Methods Forty indoor cats were enrolled in the study. Owners fasted their cats for 12 h and fed them their normal measured amount of dry food in their normal dish. Owners filmed their cats eating for up to 5 mins, and measured how much food was eaten and dropped from the dish. Owners then switched to feeding their cats from a whisker-friendly dish for a 7-day transition period. Following this transition, owners were instructed to fast their cats for 12 h and then feed them their normal food from the new dish and film them eating, as previously described. The following day the owners offered food in both dishes to determine their cat’s preference. Results No evidence was found that eating from the whisker-friendly dish increased the amount of time spent eating ( P = 0.8), decreased the amount of food dropped ( P = 0.9) or increased the amount of food eaten ( P = 0.7). The estimated probability for the cats to prefer the whisker-friendly dish was 0.74 with a 95% confidence interval. Conclusions and relevance Cats fed from a whisker-friendly dish did not spend more time eating, drop less food or eat more food in a 5-min period. Some cats appeared to prefer the new whisker-friendly dish over their normal food dish. Overall, food dish-associated whisker stress did not affect the eating habits of the study cats.

Very efficient and broad-in-scope palladium-catalyzed Hiyama cross-coupling. The role of water and copper(i) salts

A very high-yielding Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling between aryl halides and aryl(trialkoxy)silanes is achieved in the presence of Cu(i) and a measured amount of water.

Humus buildup in boreal forests: effects of litter fall and its N concentration

This synthesis paper presents a model for estimating the buildup of soil organic matter in boreal deciduous and coniferous forests. A basic model was developed using data from a well-studied Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forest (SWECON site) and based on limit values for litter decomposition and amounts of litter fall. A local validation gave a calculated humus accumulation that differed by 8% from the amount measured in the stand. This model was further validated using data for humus accumulated for 2984, 2081, and 1106 years, predicting an accumulation close to the measured amount, and for needle litter the missing fractions were 16, 17, and –6%, respectively, for the three groups. The limit value for litter decomposition is negatively related to the litter's initial N concentration; thus, N-rich litter should have a larger resistant fraction left than N poor. This relationship was validated using nine paired stands of monocultures: eight pairs of Scots pine and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) and one pair of red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.) and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco). The measured amount of SOM was related to foliar litter fall and its N concentration. In all cases the more N-rich litter gave in all cases the more N-rich Norway spruce litter gave a significantly higher accumulation of humus for Norway spruce in spite of a higher litter fall for Scots pine. Also, red alder gave more SOM than Douglas-fir and in an expected relation to the litter N concentration. A consequence of this would be that C sinks of different efficiencies or capacities would tend to accumulate SOM at different rates.

THE EFFECT OF INERTINITE ON KEROGEN APPRAISAL BY PROGRAMMED PYROLYSIS, NORTH WEST SHELF, AUSTRALIA

The oil potential of rocks containing inertinite is systematically underestimated by chemical or programmed pyrolysis techniques. Inertinite is measured as organic carbon, but does not contribute to the hydrocarbons produced during pyrolysis. When maceral data is available the measured amount of organic carbon can be recalculated to establish an Hydrogen Index based only on the kerogen which might contribute to oil and gas generation. Inertiniterich rocks that were previously discounted as being only gas prone should be reviewed.Recalculated HI:OI plots prepared from samples from the North West Shelf of Australia indicate the presence of significant amounts of oil-prone kerogen in source rocks previously evaluated as being predominantly gas-prone, upgrading the oil potential of the area.

On Split-Band Structure in Type II Radio Bursts from the Sun

(Astrophys. Letters). The measured amount of band-splitting, Δf, in the spectra of nine harmonic type II bursts is illustrated in Figure 1. Here, as in previous, smaller samples (Roberts, 1959; Maxwell and Thompson, 1962; Weiss, 1965) Δf is found to increase with frequency, f.

A New Technique for Counting Eggs ofFasciola hepaticain Cattle Faeces

The essential features of the method, which is described in detail, are a sieving technique to collect quantitatively theFasciola hepaticaeggs of a sample of cattle faeces, a new technique for transferring quantitatively the eggs to a measured amount of water, and a new technique for obtaining even distribution of the eggs within a counting chamber. Technical details for manufacturing the apparatus and the counting slide, designed to perform the different stages of the method, are given. The correctness of the resulting counts is demonstrated.

481. Simple and rapid methods for the estimation of bacterial phosphatases using di-sodium p–nitrophenylphosphate as substrate

Bacterial phosphatases of growing organisms can be simply demonstrated by incorporating di–sodium–p–nitrophenylphosphate (pNPP) into suitable media. The phosphatase content of a bacterial suspension can be assessed by incubating a measured amount of it with unbuffered or suitably buffered pNPP solutions. The yellow colour (in alkaline solution) of p-nitrophenol liberated from the substrate by phosphatase can be measured accurately and conveniently in a photoelectric absorptiometer, or estimated in a Lovibond comparator using permanent colour standards. The usefulness of the tests for differentiating between members of certain genera is demonstrated by the reactions of Bact. aerogenes and Bact. cloacae, for which a close relationship between phosphatase production and gelatine liquefaction times has been found. The optimal conditions for hydrolysis of pNPP by the phosphatase of a strain of Bact. aerogenes have been established.