1,740 research outputs found
Characterizing the learning effect in response to biofeedback aimed at reducing tibial acceleration during running
Increased tibial acceleration has been found to be an important risk factor for tibial stress
fractures. Interventions aimed at reducing this variable which found a beneficial effect include the
use of biofeedback in gait retraining. However, no studies have focused on the time participants
take to modify tibial acceleration, therefore we aimed to find the start of a learning plateau in this
study. Six participants ran on a treadmill while multisensory feedback was given. A single-subject
analysis was used to characterise the learning effects. All participants changed peak tibial
acceleration within the first step of running in the feedback condition. Two participants further
reduced tibial acceleration to reach a plateau within 120 steps. In four of the six participants a strong
effect of the feedback was still present after a week. Further research is needed to optimise the use
of biofeedback in reducing the prevalence of tibial stress fractures
Outskirts of Nearby Disk Galaxies: Star Formation and Stellar Populations
The properties and star formation processes in the far-outer disks of nearby
spiral and dwarf irregular galaxies are reviewed. The origin and structure of
the generally exponential profiles in stellar disks is considered to result
from cosmological infall combined with a non-linear star formation law and a
history of stellar migration and scattering from spirals, bars, and random
collisions with interstellar clouds. In both spirals and dwarfs, the far-outer
disks tend to be older, redder and thicker than the inner disks, with the
overall radial profiles suggesting inside-out star formation plus stellar
scattering in spirals, and outside-in star formation with a possible
contribution from scattering in dwarfs. Dwarf irregulars and the far-outer
parts of spirals both tend to be gas dominated, and the gas radial profile is
often non-exponential although still decreasing with radius. The ratio of
H-alpha to far-UV flux tends to decrease with lower surface brightness in these
regions, suggesting either a change in the initial stellar mass function or the
sampling of that function, or a possible loss of H-alpha photons.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures, Invited review, Book chapter in "Outskirts of
Galaxies", Eds. J. H. Knapen, J. C. Lee and A. Gil de Paz, Astrophysics and
Space Science Library, Springer, in pres
Probing Yukawian gravitational potential by numerical simulations. I. Changing N-body codes
In the weak field limit general relativity reduces, as is well known, to the
Newtonian gravitation. Alternative theories of gravity, however, do not
necessarily reduce to Newtonian gravitation; some of them, for example, reduce
to Yukawa-like potentials instead of the Newtonian potential. Since the
Newtonian gravitation is largely used to model with success the structures of
the universe, such as for example galaxies and clusters of galaxies, a way to
probe and constrain alternative theories, in the weak field limit, is to apply
them to model the structures of the universe. In the present study, we consider
how to probe Yukawa-like potentials using N-body numerical simulations.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures. To appear in General Relativity and Gravitatio
Phase Diagram of the 2-Leg Heisenberg Ladder with Alternating Dimerization
Using the Lanczos method we determine the phase diagram of the 2-leg
AF-Heisenberg ladder with alternating dimerization. It consists of a resonating
valence bond phase and a dimer phase separated by a critical line. Our results
are in good agreement with previous conjectures obtained with the non linear
sigma model.Comment: REVTEX file, 10 pages, 3 figures. To appear in PL
Probing Yukawian Gravitational Potential by Numerical Simulations. II. Elliptical Galaxies
Since the Newtonian gravitation is largely used to model with success the
structures of the universe, such as galaxies and clusters of galaxies, for
example, a way to probe and constrain alternative theories, in the weak field
limit, is to apply them to model the structures of the universe. We then
modified the well known Gadget-2 code to probe alternative theories of
gravitation through galactic dynamics. In particular, we modified the Gadget-2
code to probe alternatives theories whose weak field limits have a Yukawa-like
gravitational potential. As a first application of this modified Gadget-2 code
we simulate the evolution of elliptical galaxies. These simulations show that
galactic dynamics can be used to constrain the parameters associated with
alternative theories of gravitation.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures - To appear in General Relativity and Gravitatio
Chiral radiative corrections and D_s(2317)/D(2308) mass puzzle
We show that one loop chiral corrections for heavy-light mesons in potential
model can explain the small mass of D_s(2317) as well as the small mass gap
between D_s(2317) and D(2308).Comment: To appear in EPJC. A figure and references addede
Single-electron transport driven by surface acoustic waves: moving quantum dots versus short barriers
We have investigated the response of the acoustoelectric current driven by a
surface-acoustic wave through a quantum point contact in the closed-channel
regime. Under proper conditions, the current develops plateaus at integer
multiples of ef when the frequency f of the surface-acoustic wave or the gate
voltage Vg of the point contact is varied. A pronounced 1.1 MHz beat period of
the current indicates that the interference of the surface-acoustic wave with
reflected waves matters. This is supported by the results obtained after a
second independent beam of surface-acoustic wave was added, traveling in
opposite direction. We have found that two sub-intervals can be distinguished
within the 1.1 MHz modulation period, where two different sets of plateaus
dominate the acoustoelectric-current versus gate-voltage characteristics. In
some cases, both types of quantized steps appeared simultaneously, though at
different current values, as if they were superposed on each other. Their
presence could result from two independent quantization mechanisms for the
acoustoelectric current. We point out that short potential barriers determining
the properties of our nominally long constrictions could lead to an additional
quantization mechanism, independent from those described in the standard model
of 'moving quantum dots'.Comment: 25 pages, 12 figures, to be published in a special issue of J. Low
Temp. Phys. in honour of Prof. F. Pobel
Confirmation of a pi_1^0 Exotic Meson in the \eta \pi^0 System
The exclusive reaction , at 18 GeV has been studied with a partial wave analysis on a sample
of 23~492 events from BNL experiment E852. A mass-dependent fit
is consistent with a resonant hypothesis for the wave, thus providing
evidence for a neutral exotic meson with , a mass of MeV, and a width of MeV. New
interpretations of the meson exotics in neutral system observed in
E852 and Crystal Barrel experiments are discussed.Comment: p3, rewording the paragraph (at the bottom) about the phase
variations. p4, rewording paragrath "The second method ..." . p4, at the
bottom of paragrath "The third method ..." added consistent with the results
of methods 1 and 2
The 3D Structure of N132D in the LMC: A Late-Stage Young Supernova Remnant
We have used the Wide Field Spectrograph (WiFeS) on the 2.3m telescope at
Siding Spring Observatory to map the [O III] 5007{\AA} dynamics of the young
oxygen-rich supernova remnant N132D in the Large Magellanic Cloud. From the
resultant data cube, we have been able to reconstruct the full 3D structure of
the system of [O III] filaments. The majority of the ejecta form a ring of
~12pc in diameter inclined at an angle of 25 degrees to the line of sight. We
conclude that SNR N132D is approaching the end of the reverse shock phase
before entering the fully thermalized Sedov phase of evolution. We speculate
that the ring of oxygen-rich material comes from ejecta in the equatorial plane
of a bipolar explosion, and that the overall shape of the SNR is strongly
influenced by the pre-supernova mass loss from the progenitor star. We find
tantalizing evidence of a polar jet associated with a very fast oxygen-rich
knot, and clear evidence that the central star has interacted with one or more
dense clouds in the surrounding ISM.Comment: Accepted for Publication in Astrophysics & Space Science, 18pp, 8
figure
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