Developing physical capability standards that are predictive of success on special forces selection courses

Free to read This study aimed to develop minimum standards for physical capability assessments (vertical jump, sit and reach, push-ups, seven-stage sit-ups, heaves, agility, 20-m shuttle run, loaded 5-km pack march, and 400-m swim) that candidates must pass before they can commence Australian Army Special Forces (SF) selection courses. Soldiers (Part A: n = 104; Part B: n = 92) completed the physical capability assessments before commencing a SF selection course. At the beginning of these selection courses, participants attempted two barrier assessments (3.2-km battle run and 20-km march). Statistical analysis revealed several physical capability assessments were associated with performance on the barrier assessments and selection course outcome (Part A); however, these statistical models were unable to correctly classify all candidates as likely to pass or fail the selection course. Alternatively, manual analysis identified a combination of physical capability standards that correctly classified 14% to 18% of candidates likely to fail, without excluding any candidates able to pass (Part A). The standards were applied and refined through Part B and included completing the 5-km pack march in ≤45:45 minutes : seconds, achieving ≥level five on the sit-up test, or completing ≥66 push-ups. Implementation of these standards may reduce attrition rates and enhance the efficiency of the SF recruitment process

Frozen Rotor Approximation in the Mixed Quantum/Classical Theory for Collisional Energy Transfer: Application to Ozone Stabilization

A frozen-rotor approximation is formulated for the mixed quantum/classical theory of collisional energy transfer and ro-vibrational energy flow [M. Ivanov and D. Babikov, J. Chem. Phys.134, 144107 (Year: 2011)]. Numerical tests are conducted to assess its efficiency and accuracy, compared to the original version of the method, where rotation of the molecule in space is treated explicitly and adiabatically. New approach is considerably faster and helps blocking the artificial ro-vibrational transitions at the pre- and post-collisional stages of the process. Although molecular orientation in space is fixed, the energy exchange between rotational, vibrational, and translational digresses of freedom still occurs, allowing to compute ro-vibrational excitation and quenching. Behavior of the energy transfer function through eight orders of magnitude range of values and in a broad range of ΔE is reproduced well. In the range of moderate −500 ⩽ ΔE ⩽ +500 cm−1 the approximate method is rather accurate. The absolute values of stabilization cross sections for scattering resonances trapped behind the centrifugal threshold are a factor 2-to-3 smaller (compared to the explicit-rotation approach). This performance is acceptable and similar to the well-known sudden-rotation approximation in the time-independent inelastic scattering methods

Low-cost, smartphone-based instant three-dimensional registration system for infant functional near-infrared spectroscopy applications

Significance To effectively apply functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)/diffuse optical tomography (DOT) devices, a three-dimensional (3D) model of the position of each optode on a subject’s scalp and the positions of that subject’s cranial landmarks are critical. Obtaining this information accurately in infants, who rarely stop moving, is an ongoing challenge. Aim We propose a smartphone-based registration system that can potentially achieve a full-head 3D scan of a 6-month-old infant instantly. Approach The proposed system is remotely controlled by a custom-designed Bluetooth controller. The scanned images can either be manually or automatically aligned to generate a 3D head surface model. Results A full-head 3D scan of a 6-month-old infant can be achieved within 2 s via this system. In testing on a realistic but static infant head model, the average Euclidean error of optode position using this device was 1.8 mm. Conclusions This low-cost 3D registration system therefore has the potential to permit accurate and near-instant fNIRS/DOT spatial registration

Fashioning anatomies : figurations of the sexed and gendered body on the early modern English stage

This dissertation is an investigation into the representation of the sexed and gendered body on the English stage between the years 1570 and 1635. The parameters of the study are fully set out in the introduction, however, a summary that might prove useful to the general reader is as follows: The thesis commences with an account of the 'one-sex' anatomical model - as recently set out by Thomas Laqueur in Making Sex: Body and Gender from the Greeks to Freud (Cambridge. Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1990). It then proceeds to question the dominance of such an anatomical paradigm throughout the entire Renaissance - and, in its first chapter, sets out evidence from various medical treatises in order to outline the emergence of a contrasting 'two-sex' model of human reproductive biology. Chapter two then uses evidence from a 'two-sex' model in order to re-examine the homo-erotic implications of theatrical narratives that present (or imply) spontaneous sex changes (by means of an analysis of John Lyly's Gallathea and Shakespeare's Falstaff plays). In chapter three, attention turns to the female body in early modern English society and attempts to assess the implications of an emergent 'two-sex' model on female cultural and social agency in the period (by means of an analysis of actual female-to-male cross-dressers and the anatomical representations of the female body that were undertaken in elite cultural forms such as the Court Masque). Chapter four then turns back to the professional English transvestite stage in order to examine the strategies of recuperation of the female body that were employed in a production environment that was exclusively controlled by men (and this is undertaken by means of an analysis of Middleton and Dekker's The Roaring Girl and Beaumont and Fletcher's The Maid's Tradedy). Chapter five turns its attention to an analysis of theatre and anatomy hall architecture in order to examine the ways in which one exclusive private theatre (Christopher Beeston's Phoenix, in Drury Lane) sought to exploit an architectural accident in order to provide elite audiences with a staged representation of the processes of anatomical dissection. Finally, chapter six examines four plays by John Ford: The Witch of Edmonton, The Broken Heart, Love's Sacrifice and 'Tis Pity She's A Whore in order to examine the anatomical emblazonment of the female body in two specific Private theatres. The dissertation also contains four appendices: I) Selections from the Published Debate Between Jean Riolan and Jacques Duval Concerning the Case of Marie Le Marcis, the Hermaphrodite of Rouen II) The List of Sex Changes from Johann Schenck von Graffenberg's Observationum Medicarum Rarum (Frankfurt, 1600) III) Selections From Thomas Artus' L'Isle des Hermaphrodites IV) Selections From The Boke of Duke Huon ofBurdeux, translated by Sir John Bourchier (Lord Berners] (Wynkyn de Worde, 1534) V) Anthony Wood, Athena Oxonienses. An Exact history of all the Writers and Bishops who have had their Education in the most Ancient and Famous University ofOxford(a Biography of William Petty

Mixed Quantum/Classical Calculations of Total and Differential Elastic and Rotationally Inelastic Scattering Cross Sections for Light and Heavy Reduced Masses in a Broad Range of Collision Energies

The mixed quantum/classical theory (MQCT) for rotationally inelastic scattering developed recently [A. Semenov and D. Babikov, J. Chem. Phys.139, 174108 (2013)] is benchmarked against the full quantum calculations for two molecular systems: He + H2 and Na + N2. This allows testing new method in the cases of light and reasonably heavy reduced masses, for small and large rotational quanta, in a broad range of collision energies and rotational excitations. The resultant collision cross sections vary through ten-orders of magnitude range of values. Both inelastic and elastic channels are considered, as well as differential (over scattering angle) cross sections. In many cases results of the mixed quantum/classical method are hard to distinguish from the full quantum results. In less favorable cases (light masses, larger quanta, and small collision energies) some deviations are observed but, even in the worst cases, they are within 25% or so. The method is computationally cheap and particularly accurate at higher energies, heavier masses, and larger densities of states. At these conditions MQCT represents a useful alternative to the standard full-quantum scattering theory

Czech puppet theatre in global contexts: roots, theories and encounters

This article is both an introduction to this volume as well as to the rich and enchanting world of Czech puppet theatre, with its unique combination of transnational and geographically and cultural distinctive features. Pavel Drábek's essay, incorporated in this introduction, revisits the early modern roots of Czech puppet theatre, suggesting the possible missing links between the early practices, as documented in the travelling performers' tradition, and the tradition of the marionettists of the last two centuries. The introduction traces the developments of the Czech puppet theatre into the twentieth century and its impact on cinema as well as its key role in the shaping of modern theatre theory under the aegis of the Prague School