432 research outputs found
Race-time prediction for the Vaâa paralympic sprint canoe
The 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro will see 200m sprint canoe events for the first time, using the Vaâa class. The aim of this study is to predict race times for the Vaâa over a 200m sprint event, through simulation of the hydrodynamic resistance of the hull (with outrigger) and the propulsion provided by the athlete. Such a simulation, once suitably validated, allows investigation of design and configuration changes on predicted race performance. The accuracy of the simulation is discussed through a comparison to times recorded for an athlete over a 200m race distanc
The effect of swimsuit resistance on freestyle swimming race time.
It is known that swimming equipment (suit, cap and goggles) can affect the total resistance of a swimmer, and therefore impact the resulting swimming speed and race time. After the 2009 swimming world championships (WC) the international swimming federation (FINA) banned a specific type of full body suit, which resulted in an increase in race times for subsequent WC events. This study proposes that the 2009 suits provided a reduction in swimming resistance and aims to quantify this resistance reduction for male and female freestyle events. Due to the practical difficulties of testing a large sample of swimmers a simulation approach is adopted. To quantify the race time improvement that the 2009 suits provided, an equivalent 2009 âno-suitâ dataset is created, incorporating the general trend of improving swimming performance over time, and compared to the actual 2009 times. A full race simulation is developed where the start, turn, underwater and surface swimming phases are captured. Independent resistance models are used for surface and underwater swimming; coupled with a leg propulsion model for underwater undulatory swimming and freestyle flutter kick, and a single element arm model to simulate freestyle arm propulsion. A validation is performed to ensure the simulation captures the change in swimming speed with changes to resistance and is found to be within 5% of reality. Race times for an equivalent âno-suitâ 2009 situation are simulated and the total resistance reduced to achieve the actual 2009 race times. An average resistance reduction of 4.8% provided by the 2009 suits is identified. A factor of 0.47 ± 10%, to convert resistance changes to freestyle race time changes is determine
Knock-on community impacts of a novel vector: spillover of emerging DWV-B from Varroa-infested honeybees to wild bumblebees.
This is the final version. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.The Sanger sequences that support the findings of this study have been deposited in GenBank with virus accession codes MG264907âMG265503 and Nosema accession codes MK942707âMK942712; SMRT reads have been archived in NCBI's Sequence Read Archive with BioProject accession number PRJNA542789. Prevalence and qPCR data that support the findings will be available from the Dryad Digital Repository: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.70jt240.Novel transmission routes can directly impact the evolutionary ecology of infectious diseases, with potentially dramatic effect on host populations and knock-on effects on the wider host community. The invasion of Varroa destructor, an ectoparasitic viral vector in Western honeybees, provides a unique opportunity to examine how a novel vector affects disease epidemiology in a host community. This specialist honeybee mite vectors deformed wing virus (DWV), an important re-emerging honeybee pathogen that also infects wild bumblebees. Comparing island honeybee and wild bumblebee populations with and without V. destructor, we show that V. destructor drives DWV prevalence and titre in honeybees and sympatric bumblebees. Viral genotypes are shared across hosts, with the potentially more virulent DWV-B overtaking DWV-A in prevalence in a current epidemic. This demonstrates disease emergence across a host community driven by the acquisition of a specialist novel transmission route in one host, with dramatic community level knock-on effects
Improving choices for care: a strategic research initiative on the implementation of the care act 2014
Large-scale collective motion of RFGC galaxies in curved space-time
We consider large-scale collective motion of flat edge-on spiral galaxies
from the Revised Flat Galaxy Catalogue (RFGC) taking into account the curvature
of space-time in the Local Universe at the scale 100 Mpc/h. We analyse how the
relativistic model of collective motion should be modified to provide the best
possible values of parameters, the effects that impact these parameters and
ways to mitigate them. Evolution of galactic diameters, selection effects, and
difference between isophotal and angular diameter distances are inadequate to
explain this impact. At the same time, measurement error in HI line widths and
angular diameters can easily provide such an impact. This is illustrated in a
toy model, which allows analytical consideration, and then in the full model
using Monte Carlo simulations. The resulting velocity field is very close to
that provided by the non-relativistic model of motion. The obtained bulk flow
velocity is consistent with {\Lambda}CDM cosmology.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, 2 table
Large-scale collective motion of RFGC galaxies
We processed the data about radial velocities and HI linewidths for 1678 flat
edge-on spirals from the Revised Flat Galaxy Catalogue. We obtained the
parameters of the multipole components of large-scale velocity field of
collective non-Hubble galaxy motion as well as the parameters of the
generalized Tully-Fisher relationship in the "HI line width - linear diameter"
version. All the calculations were performed independently in the framework of
three models, where the multipole decomposition of the galaxy velocity field
was limited to a dipole, quadrupole and octopole terms respectively. We showed
that both the quadrupole and the octopole components are statistically
significant.
On the basis of the compiled list of peculiar velocities of 1623 galaxies we
obtained the estimations of cosmological parameters Omega_m and sigma_8. This
estimation is obtained in both graphical form and as a constraint of the value
S_8=sigma_8(Omega_m/0.3)^0.35 = 0.91 +/- 0.05.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Scienc
High-Energy Aspects of Solar Flares: Overview of the Volume
In this introductory chapter, we provide a brief summary of the successes and
remaining challenges in understanding the solar flare phenomenon and its
attendant implications for particle acceleration mechanisms in astrophysical
plasmas. We also provide a brief overview of the contents of the other chapters
in this volume, with particular reference to the well-observed flare of 2002
July 23Comment: This is the introductory article for a monograph on the physics of
solar flares, inspired by RHESSI observations. The individual articles are to
appear in Space Science Reviews (2011
Quantum interference between non-magnetic impurities in d_x2-y2-wave superconductors
We study quantum interference of electronic waves that are scattered by
multiple non-magnetic impurities in a d_x2-y2-wave superconductor. We show that
the number of resonance states in the density-of-states (DOS), as well as their
frequency and spatial dependence change significantly as the distance between
the impurities or their orientation relative to the crystal lattice is varied.
Since the latter effect arises from the momentum dependence of the
superconducting gap, we argue that quantum interference is a novel tool to
identify the symmetry of unconventional superconductors.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Efficient photoionization for barium ion trapping using a dipole-allowed resonant two-photon transition
Two efficient and isotope-selective resonant two-photon ionization techniques
for loading barium ions into radio-frequency (RF)-traps are demonstrated. The
scheme of using a strong dipole-allowed transition at \lambda=553 nm as a first
step towards ionization is compared to the established technique of using a
weak intercombination line (\lambda=413 nm). An increase of two orders of
magnitude in the ionization efficiency is found favoring the transition at 553
nm. This technique can be implemented using commercial all-solid-state laser
systems and is expected to be advantageous compared to other narrowband
photoionization schemes of barium in cases where highest efficiency and
isotope-selectivity are required.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
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