Measurement of bend sprinting kinematics with three-dimensional motion capture : a test-retest reliability study

Sprint velocity decreases on the bend when compared with the straight, therefore understanding technique during bend sprinting could have important implications for aiding race performance. Few bend sprinting studies have used optoelectronic cameras to investigate kinematic variables. Limited published evidence regarding the reliability of marker sets in conditions representative of elite bend sprinting makes model selection difficult. Therefore, a test-retest protocol was conducted to establish the reliability and minimum detectable difference of a lower limb and trunk marker set during bend sprinting (radius: 36.5 m). Six participants completed five, 60 m trials at maximum effort, with data collected at 38 - 45 m. This was repeated 2 - 7 days later. Spatio-temporal (e.g. contact time) and kinematic variables (e.g. peak joint angles) were evaluated. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were used to determine the between- and within-day reliability. Between-day reliability (ICC 3, k) was fair to excellent for all variables. Compared to between-day, within-day reliability demonstrated stronger agreement for the majority of variables. Thus, same-day data collection is preferable. It has been established that the marker set is reliable for future use. In addition, the minimal detectable difference was calculated which serves as useful reference for future research in bend sprinting

Multibeam Maser Survey of methanol and excited OH in the Magellanic clouds: new detections and maser abundance estimates

‘The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.com.’ Copyright Blackwell Publishing DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.12888.xPeer reviewe

“Who’s been a good dog?”: owner perceptions and motivations for treat giving

Complex relationships commonly exist between owners and their companion animals, particularly around feeding behaviour with an owner’s affection or love for their animal most pronounced through the provision of food. It is notable that the pet food market is experiencing strong year-on-year growth in sales of dog and cat treats. Recognising the impact of treat giving in pet nutrition, the objective of the study was to investigate owner attitudes and motivations towards feeding treats (shop bought and other) to their dogs. A researcher-mediated questionnaire consisting of both quantitative and qualitative questions was used to interview dog owners (n = 280) at two locations: an out-of-town retail park and a country park in the East Midlands. Owners almost unanimously viewed the word ‘treat’ within a nutritional context, as opposed to a new toy or other pleasure. The majority (96%) of owners interviewed reported feeding treats to their dog, with 69% feeding shop-bought treats on a daily basis. A wide range of treats was reportedly given by owners and the majority of owners interviewed fed multiple treat types. No association was found between owner age and frequency of shop-bought treats fed (P = 0.659) nor between owner age and frequency of food given to the dog from the owner’s plate (P = 0.083). A wide range of foods which would not be considered balanced for the animal’s nutritional requirements was viewed as a treat by some dog owners. A range of positive and negative views around the feeding of treats were expressed by dog owners, with some citing beneficial effects while others were clearly aware of the association between treat feeding and potential weight gain/obesity. Owner views included themes around positive reinforcement and responsibility but also reflected relational aspects of the human-animal bond. The results of the study show that treat giving is commonplace in feeding regimes and that treats are embedded in the feeding behaviour of many dog owners. However, the different views expressed around the motivations for, and feeding of, dog treats, reinforce the need to better understand owner psychology linked to this area, and the role this may play in the growing pet obesity epidemic

Pion emission from the T2K replica target: method, results and application

The T2K long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment in Japan needs precise predictions of the initial neutrino flux. The highest precision can be reached based on detailed measurements of hadron emission from the same target as used by T2K exposed to a proton beam of the same kinetic energy of 30 GeV. The corresponding data were recorded in 2007-2010 by the NA61/SHINE experiment at the CERN SPS using a replica of the T2K graphite target. In this paper details of the experiment, data taking, data analysis method and results from the 2007 pilot run are presented. Furthermore, the application of the NA61/SHINE measurements to the predictions of the T2K initial neutrino flux is described and discussed.Comment: updated version as published by NIM

Dynamic model of basic oxygen steelmaking process based on multi-zone reaction kinetics : model derivation and validation

A multi-zone kinetic model coupled with a dynamic slag generation model was developed for the simulation of hot metal and slag composition during the BOF operation. The three reaction zones, (i) jet impact zone (ii) slag-bulk metal zone (iii) slag-metal-gas emulsion zone were considered for the calculation of overall refining kinetics. In the rate equations, the transient rate parameters were mathematically described as a function of process variables. A micro and macroscopic rate calculation methodology (micro-kinetics and macro-kinetics) were developed to estimate the total refining contributed by the recirculating metal droplets through the slag-metal emulsion zone. The micro-kinetics involves developing the rate equation for individual droplets in the emulsion. The mathematical models for the size distribution of initial droplets, kinetics of simultaneous refining of elements, the residence time in the emulsion, dynamic interfacial area change were established in the micro-kinetic model. In the macro-kinetics calculation, a droplet generation model was employed and the total amount of refining by emulsion was calculated by summing the refining from the entire population of returning droplets. A dynamic FetO generation model based on oxygen mass balance was developed and coupled with the multi-zone kinetic model. The effect of post combustion on the evolution of slag and metal composition was investigated. The model was applied to a 200-ton top blowing converter and the simulated value of metal and slag was found to be in good agreement with the measured data. The post-combustion ratio was found to be an important factor in controlling FetO content in the slag and the kinetics of Mn and P in a BOF process

Observation of exclusive DVCS in polarized electron beam asymmetry measurements

We report the first results of the beam spin asymmetry measured in the reaction e + p -> e + p + gamma at a beam energy of 4.25 GeV. A large asymmetry with a sin(phi) modulation is observed, as predicted for the interference term of Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering and the Bethe-Heitler process. The amplitude of this modulation is alpha = 0.202 +/- 0.028. In leading-order and leading-twist pQCD, the alpha is directly proportional to the imaginary part of the DVCS amplitude.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Observation of hard scattering in photoproduction events with a large rapidity gap at HERA

Events with a large rapidity gap and total transverse energy greater than 5 GeV have been observed in quasi-real photoproduction at HERA with the ZEUS detector. The distribution of these events as a function of the $\gamma p$ centre of mass energy is consistent with diffractive scattering. For total transverse energies above 12 GeV, the hadronic final states show predominantly a two-jet structure with each jet having a transverse energy greater than 4 GeV. For the two-jet events, little energy flow is found outside the jets. This observation is consistent with the hard scattering of a quasi-real photon with a colourless object in the proton.Comment: 19 pages, latex, 4 figures appended as uuencoded fil

The PHENIX Experiment at RHIC

The physics emphases of the PHENIX collaboration and the design and current status of the PHENIX detector are discussed. The plan of the collaboration for making the most effective use of the available luminosity in the first years of RHIC operation is also presented.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure. Further details of the PHENIX physics program available at http://www.rhic.bnl.gov/phenix

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results

Jet size dependence of single jet suppression in lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s(NN)) = 2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions at the LHC provide direct sensitivity to the physics of jet quenching. In a sample of lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s) = 2.76 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 7 inverse microbarns, ATLAS has measured jets with a calorimeter over the pseudorapidity interval |eta| < 2.1 and over the transverse momentum range 38 < pT < 210 GeV. Jets were reconstructed using the anti-kt algorithm with values for the distance parameter that determines the nominal jet radius of R = 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5. The centrality dependence of the jet yield is characterized by the jet "central-to-peripheral ratio," Rcp. Jet production is found to be suppressed by approximately a factor of two in the 10% most central collisions relative to peripheral collisions. Rcp varies smoothly with centrality as characterized by the number of participating nucleons. The observed suppression is only weakly dependent on jet radius and transverse momentum. These results provide the first direct measurement of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions and complement previous measurements of dijet transverse energy imbalance at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages plus author list (30 pages total), 8 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Physics Letters B. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/HION-2011-02