Effect of jumping style on the performance of large and medium elite agility dogs

Dog agility is a rapidly progressing sport worldwide. Consequentially, research and methods to improve technique and performance are becoming highly sought after. Video data were collected of elite agility dogs during a training session, with downstream analysis examining differences in apparent topline angle and jumping speed of large and medium dogs as well as collie breeds and non-collie breeds. The study further examined any correlations between topline angle and jumping speed. Findings suggest that there is a difference between the jump kinematics of large and medium dogs (P=0.001) and between collie breeds and non-collie breeds (P<0.001) with collie breeds jumping faster than non-collie breeds (P=0.013). This information could be used to inform future training regimes and competitive strategies in a breed and size specific way, with the aim to improve long-term health and welfare of canine participants, whilst also ensuring that training and competitive expectations are within biological capabilities

Blogging: an opportunity for librarians to communicate, participate and collaborate on a global scale

Blogs are an important element of the second generation of the web; or ‘Web 2.0’ as it is commonly referred to. ‘Web 2.0’ refers to the evolution from static "read only" web pages (Web 1.0) to dynamic, interactive pages encouraging users to create, interact and share content across multiple applications (O’Reilly, 2005). Blogging, along with other Web 2.0 technologies such as social networking, wikis, social bookmarking, photo sharing, video sharing, and microblogging, form part of the emergent ‘social media’ family; a collection of online tools that encourage users to communicate, participate, and collaborate on a global scale. Many library and information professionals have embraced blogging as a platform to document their career, enhance their profile, network with other librarians; and share anecdotes about their lives as librarians. The aim of this article is to present a brief overview of the history of blogs and a short review of literature related to blogging, libraries and reference librarians. It will also provide a list of recommended blogs, a discussion of the advantages of reading and writing blogs and some top tips for starting up your own blog

Interrupting the social amplification of risk process: a case study in collective emissions reduction

One of the main approaches we have for studying the progressive divergence of understandings around a risk issue is that of social risk amplification. This article describes a case study of a particular environmental contaminant, a chemical flame retardant that could be interpreted as having produced a risk amplifying process. It describes in particular how a group of industrial organizations acted collectively to reduce emissions of this contaminant, in an apparent attempt to avert regulation and boycotts—that is, to intercept the social amplification process and avoid its secondary effects. The aim of the study was to investigate the constitutive qualities of this collective action: the qualities that defined it and made it effective in the eyes of those involved. These include institutionalisation and independence, the ability to confer individual as well as collective benefit, the capacity to attract (rather than avoid) criticism, and the ‘branding’ that helps communicate what otherwise appear to be a set of unconnected, local actions. Although the risk amplification framework has been criticised for implying that there is some externally given risk level that is subsequently amplified, it does appear to capture the mentality of actors involved in issues of this kind. They talk and act as though they believe they are participants in a risk amplification process

Early production of the passive in two Eastern Bantu languages

The passive construction is acquired relatively late by children learning to speak many languages, with verbal passives not fully acquired till age 6 in English. In other languages it appears earlier, around age 3 or before. Use of passive construction in young children was examined in two Eastern Bantu languages spoken in Kenya (Kiswahili and Kigiriama), both with frequent use of passive. The passive was used productively very early (2;1) in these languages, regardless of the method used to measure productivity. In addition non-actional passives, particularly rare in English and some other European languages, were seen at these early ages. The proportion of verbs that were passive varied between individuals, both in children's speech and in the input to children. Pragmatic and grammatical features of the passive in some languages have previously been suggested to drive early passive acquisition, but these features are not found consistently in the two languages studied here. Findings suggest that the relatively high frequency of input found in these languages is the most plausible reason for early productive use of the passive

AX J0049.4-7323 - a close look at a neutron star interacting with a circumstellar disk

Detailed evidence on the system AX J0049.4-7323 is presented here to show how the passage of the neutron star in the binary system disrupts the circumstellar disk of the mass donor Be star. A similar effect is noted in three other Be/X-ray binary systems. Together the observational data should provide valuable tools for modelling these complex interactions.Comment: 4 pages, accepted for publication in MNRA

Properties of RR Lyrae stars in the inner regions of the Large Magellanic Cloud. II. The extended sample

All galaxies that have been adequately examined so far have shown an extended stellar halo. To search for such a halo in the LMC we have obtained low-resolution spectra for 100 LMC RR Lyrae stars, of which 87 are in the field and 13 in the clusters NGC1835 and NGC2019. We measured radial velocities for 87 LMC RR Lyrae stars, and metallicities for 78 RR Lyrae stars, nearly tripling the previous sample. These targets are located in 10 fields covering a wide range of distances, out to 2.5 degrees from the center of the LMC. Our main result is that the mean velocity dispersion for the LMC RR Lyrae stars is 50+-2km/s. This quantity does not appear to vary with distance from the LMC center. The metallicity shows a Gaussian distribution, with mean [Fe/H]=-1.53+-0.02dex, and dispersion 0.20 dex in the Harris metallicity scale, confirming that they represent a very homogeneous metal-poor population. There is no dependence between the kinematics and metallicity of the field RR Lyrae star population. Using good quality low-resolution spectra from FORS1, FORS2 and GEMINI-GMOS we have found that field RR Lyrae stars in the LMC show a large velocity dispersion and that this indicate the presence of old and metal-poor stellar halo. All the evidence so far for the halo, however, is from the spectroscopy of the inner LMC regions, similar to the inner flattened halo in our Galaxy. Further study is necessary to confirm this important result.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

Dynamic distribution and stem cell characteristics of Sox1-expressing cells in the cerebellar cortex

Bergmann glia cells are a discrete radial glia population surrounding Purkinje cells in the cerebellar cortex. Although Bergmann glia are essential for the development and correct arborization of Purkinje cells, little is known about the regulation of this cell population after the developmental phase. In an effort to characterize this population at the molecular level, we have analyzed marker expression and established that adult Bergmann glia express Sox1, Sox2 and Sox9, a feature otherwise associated with neural stem cells (NSCs). In the present study, we have further analyzed the developmental pattern of Sox1-expressing cells in the developing cerebellum. We report that before becoming restricted to the Purkinje cell layer, Sox1-positive cells are present throughout the immature tissue, and that these cells show characteristics of Bergmann glia progenitors. Our study shows that these progenitors express Sox1, Sox2 and Sox9, a signature maintained throughout cerebellar maturation into adulthood. When isolated in culture, the Sox1-expressing cerebellar population exhibited neurosphere-forming ability, NSC-marker characteristics, and demonstrated multipotency at the clonal level. Our results show that the Bergmann glia population expresses Sox1 during cerebellar development, and that these cells can be isolated and show stem cell characteristics in vitro, suggesting that they could hold a broader potential than previously thought. © 2009 IBCB, SIBS, CAS. All rights reserved

Key dating features for timber-framed dwellings in Surrey

This article is made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund. Copyright @ The Vernacular Architecture Group 2013. MORE OpenChoice articles are open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0.The main component of the Surrey Dendrochronology Project is the accurate dating of 177 ‘dwellings’, nearly all by tree-ring analysis. The dates are used to establish date ranges for 52 ‘key features’, which cover many aspects of timber-framing from building type to details of carpentry. It is shown that changes of method and fashion were in many cases surprisingly rapid, almost abrupt in historical terms. Previous dating criteria for timber-framed dwellings in the county have been refined and new criteria introduced. Clusters of change from the 1440s and the 1540s are shown and some possible historical links suggested.The Heritage Lottery Fund, the Domestic Buildings Research Group (Surrey), the Surrey Archaeological Society and the historical societies of Charlwood, Farnham and Nutfield

Air cooling : an experimental method of evaluating the cooling effect of air streams on air-cooled cylinders

In this report is described an experimental method which the writer has evolved for dealing with air-cooled engines, and some of the data obtained by its means. Methods of temperature measurement and cooling are provided