6,904 research outputs found
Pneumatic system for controlling and actuating pneumatic cyclic devices
Pneumatic system for cyclic control of fluid flow in pneumatic devic
Spool valve cycles at controlled frequency
Spool valve accurately controls the cycle of a pneumatically-actuated system over long periods. Regulation of pressure from the external source, positioning of the adjusting plugs, and magnet selection, together afford wide variation in cyclic timing and speed of closure in either direction
Do red deer stags (Cervus elaphus) use roar fundamental frequency (F0) to assess rivals?
It is well established that in humans, male voices are disproportionately lower pitched than female voices, and recent studies suggest that this dimorphism in fundamental frequency (F0) results from both intrasexual (male competition) and intersexual (female mate choice) selection for lower pitched voices in men. However, comparative investigations indicate that sexual dimorphism in F0 is not universal in terrestrial mammals. In the highly polygynous and sexually dimorphic Scottish red deer Cervus elaphus scoticus, more successful males give sexually-selected calls (roars) with higher minimum F0s, suggesting that high, rather than low F0s advertise quality in this subspecies. While playback experiments demonstrated that oestrous females prefer higher pitched roars, the potential role of roar F0 in male competition remains untested. Here we examined the response of rutting red deer stags to playbacks of re-synthesized male roars with different median F0s. Our results show that stags’ responses (latencies and durations of attention, vocal and approach responses) were not affected by the F0 of the roar. This suggests that intrasexual selection is unlikely to strongly influence the evolution of roar F0 in Scottish red deer stags, and illustrates how the F0 of terrestrial mammal vocal sexual signals may be subject to different selection pressures across species. Further investigations on species characterized by different F0 profiles are needed to provide a comparative background for evolutionary interpretations of sex differences in mammalian vocalizations
Making meaningful decisions about time, workload and pedagogy in the digital age: the Course Resource Appraisal Model
This article reports on a design-based research project to create a modelling tool to analyse the costs and learning benefits involved in different modes of study. The Course Resource Appraisal Model (CRAM) provides accurate cost-benefit information so that institutions are able to make more meaningful decisions about which kind of courses—online, blended or traditional face-to-face—make sense for them to provide. The tool calculates the difference between expenses and income over three iterations of the course and presents a pedagogical analysis of the learning experience provided. The article draws on a CRAM analysis of the costs and learning benefits of a massive open online course to show how the tool can illuminate the pedagogical and financial viability of a course of this kind
Roaring high and low: composition and possible functions of the Iberian stag's vocal repertoire
We provide a detailed description of the rutting vocalisations of free-ranging male Iberian deer (Cervus elaphus hispanicus, Hilzheimer 1909), a geographically isolated and morphologically differentiated subspecies of red deer Cervus elaphus. We combine spectrographic examinations, spectral analyses and automated classifications to identify different call types, and
compare the composition of the vocal repertoire with that of other red deer subspecies. Iberian stags give bouts of roars (and more rarely, short series of barks) that are typically composed of two different types of calls. Long Common Roars are mostly given at the beginning or at the end of the bout, and are characterised by a high fundamental frequency (F0) resulting in poorly defined formant frequencies but a relatively high amplitude. In contrast, Short Common Roars are typically given in the middle or at the end of the bout, and are characterised by a lower F0 resulting in relatively well defined vocal tract resonances, but low amplitude. While we did not identify entirely Harsh Roars (as described in the Scottish red
deer subspecies (Cervus elaphus scoticus), a small percentage of Long Common Roars contained segments of deterministic chaos. We suggest that the evolution of two clearly distinct types of Common Roars may reflect divergent selection pressures favouring either vocal efficiency in high pitched roars or the communication of body size in low-pitched, high spectral density roars highlighting vocal tract resonances. The clear divergence of the Iberian red deer vocal repertoire from those of other documented European red deer populations reinforces the status of this geographical variant as a distinct subspecies
A trap-based pulsed positron beam optimised for positronium laser spectroscopy
We describe a pulsed positron beam that is optimised for positronium (Ps) laser-spectroscopy experiments. The system is based on a two-stage Surko-type buffer gas trap that produces 4 ns wide pulses containing up to 5 × 105 positrons at a rate of 0.5-10 Hz. By implanting positrons from the trap into a suitable target material, a dilute positronium gas with an initial density of the order of 107 cm−3 is created in vacuum. This is then probed with pulsed (ns) laser systems, where various Ps-laser interactions have been observed via changes in Ps annihilation rates using a fast gamma ray detector. We demonstrate the capabilities of the apparatus and detection methodology via the observation of Rydberg positronium atoms with principal quantum numbers ranging from 11 to 22 and the Stark broadening of the n = 2 → 11 transition in electric fields
Some Like It Hot: Linking Diffuse X-ray Luminosity, Baryonic Mass, and Star Formation Rate in Compact Groups of Galaxies
We present an analysis of the diffuse X-ray emission in 19 compact groups of
galaxies (CGs) observed with Chandra. The hottest, most X-ray luminous CGs
agree well with the galaxy cluster X-ray scaling relations in and
, even in CGs where the hot gas is associated with only the
brightest galaxy. Using Spitzer photometry, we compute stellar masses and
classify HCGs 19, 22, 40, and 42 and RSCGs 32, 44, and 86 as fossil groups
using a new definition for fossil systems that includes a broader range of
masses. We find that CGs with total stellar and HI masses
M are often X-ray luminous, while lower-mass CGs only sometimes exhibit
faint, localized X-ray emission. Additionally, we compare the diffuse X-ray
luminosity against both the total UV and 24 m star formation rates of each
CG and optical colors of the most massive galaxy in each of the CGs. The most
X-ray luminous CGs have the lowest star formation rates, likely because there
is no cold gas available for star formation, either because the majority of the
baryons in these CGs are in stars or the X-ray halo, or due to gas stripping
from the galaxies in CGs with hot halos. Finally, the optical colors that trace
recent star formation histories of the most massive group galaxies do not
correlate with the X-ray luminosities of the CGs, indicating that perhaps the
current state of the X-ray halos is independent of the recent history of
stellar mass assembly in the most massive galaxies.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
The Infrared Properties of Hickson Compact Groups
Compact groups of galaxies provide a unique environment to study the
mechanisms by which star formation occurs amid continuous gravitational
encounters. We present 2MASS (JHK), Spitzer IRAC (3.5-8 micron) and MIPS (24
micron) observations of a sample of twelve Hickson Compact Groups (HCGs 2, 7,
16, 19, 22, 31, 42, 48, 59, 61, 62, and 90) that includes a total of 45
galaxies. The near-infrared colors of the sample galaxies are largely
consistent with being dominated by slightly reddened normal stellar
populations. Galaxies that have the most significant PAH and/or hot dust
emission (as inferred from excess 8 micron flux) also tend to have larger
amounts of extinction and/or K-band excess and stronger 24 micron emission, all
of which suggest ongoing star formation activity. We separate the twelve HCGs
in our sample into three types based on the ratio of the group HI mass to
dynamical mass. We find evidence that galaxies in the most gas-rich groups tend
to be the most actively star forming. Galaxies in the most gas-poor groups tend
to be tightly clustered around a narrow range in colors consistent with the
integrated light from a normal stellar population. We interpret these trends as
indicating that galaxies in gas-rich groups experience star formation and/or
nuclear actively until their neutral gas consumed, stripped, or ionized. The
galaxies in this sample exhibit a ``gap'' between gas-rich and gas-poor groups
in infrared color space that is sparsely populated and not seen in the Spitzer
First Look Survey sample. This gap may suggest a rapid evolution of galaxy
properties in response to dynamical effects. These results suggest that the
global properties of the groups and the local properties of the galaxies are
connected.Comment: 34 pages, 26 figures, accepted for publication in AJ, higher quality
images available in publicatio
A View of Point Sources in Hickson Compact Groups: High AGN fraction but a dearth of strong AGNs
We present X-ray point source catalogs for 9 Hickson Compact Groups
(HCGs, 37 galaxies) at distances Mpc. We perform detailed X-ray point
source detection and photometry, and interpret the point source population by
means of simulated hardness ratios. We thus estimate X-ray luminosities ()
for all sources, most of which are too weak for reliable spectral fitting. For
all sources, we provide catalogs with counts, count rates, power-law indices
(), hardness ratios, and , in the full ( keV), soft
( keV) and hard ( keV) bands. We use optical emission-line
ratios from the literature to re-classify 24 galaxies as star-forming,
accreting onto a supermassive black hole (AGNs), transition objects, or
low-ionization nuclear emission regions (LINERs). Two-thirds of our galaxies
have nuclear X-ray sources with /UVOT counterparts. Two nuclei have
~ erg s, are strong
multi-wavelength AGNs and follow the known correlation for strong AGNs. Otherwise, most nuclei are X-ray faint,
consistent with either a low-luminosity AGN or a nuclear X-ray binary
population, and fall in the "non-AGN locus" in space, which also hosts other, normal, galaxies. Our results suggest
that HCG X-ray nuclei in high specific star formation rate spiral galaxies are
likely dominated by star formation, while those with low specific star
formation rates in earlier types likely harbor a weak AGN. The AGN fraction in
HCG galaxies with and erg
s is , somewhat higher than the fraction
in galaxy clusters.Comment: 77 pages (emulateapj), 28 tables, 11 figures. Accepted by ApJS on
March 5, 201
Development of prediction models for one-year brain tumour survival using machine learning:a comparison of accuracy and interpretability
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