1,634 research outputs found
J-PLUS: Identification of low-metallicity stars with artificial neural networks using SPHINX
We present a new methodology for the estimation of stellar atmospheric
parameters from narrow- and intermediate-band photometry of the Javalambre
Photometric Local Universe Survey (J-PLUS), and propose a method for target
pre-selection of low-metallicity stars for follow-up spectroscopic studies.
Photometric metallicity estimates for stars in the globular cluster M15 are
determined using this method. By development of a neural-network-based
photometry pipeline, we aim to produce estimates of effective temperature,
, and metallicity, [Fe/H], for a large subset of stars in the
J-PLUS footprint. The Stellar Photometric Index Network Explorer, SPHINX, is
developed to produce estimates of and [Fe/H], after training on a
combination of J-PLUS photometric inputs and synthetic magnitudes computed for
medium-resolution (R ~ 2000) spectra of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. This
methodology is applied to J-PLUS photometry of the globular cluster M15.
Effective temperature estimates made with J-PLUS Early Data Release photometry
exhibit low scatter, \sigma() = 91 K, over the temperature range
4500 < (K) < 8500. For stars from the J-PLUS First Data Release
with 4500 < (K) < 6200, 85 3% of stars known to have [Fe/H]
<-2.0 are recovered by SPHINX. A mean metallicity of [Fe/H]=-2.32 0.01,
with a residual spread of 0.3 dex, is determined for M15 using J-PLUS
photometry of 664 likely cluster members. We confirm the performance of SPHINX
within the ranges specified, and verify its utility as a stand-alone tool for
photometric estimation of effective temperature and metallicity, and for
pre-selection of metal-poor spectroscopic targets.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figure
Dental and physical therapy faculty collaborate in assessing and educating dental students on musculoskeletal disorders
Introduction: Research shows 54% to 93% of practicing dentists suffer from musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), with many developing afflictions early in their careers. Studies also show that dental students are developing MSDs early in their professional education. Objective: The research goal was to quantify the prevalence, anatomical location and initial onset of MSDs among first-year dental students. The study also assessed the students’ self-reported opinion as to whether there were enough educational touchpoints to improve their ergonomics in daily activities. Methods: At the conclusion of a 9-month preclinical restorative course, that included 2 lectures on MSDs, ergonomics, and postural cueing sessions, a dental and physical therapy faculty member administered a survey to 143 first-year dental students. This survey included questions about the history and presentation of the students’ MSD symptoms and their opinion on the relative value of the educational interventions. Results: There was a 96.5% response rate to the survey with 87.8% of students reporting mild to moderate pain. The cervical spine (41.7%) and hands (42.4%) were the most common areas afflicted. 55.4% reported pain commencing 1 month after starting in the simulation clinic. Over 60.9% of students “agreed” or “somewhat agreed” that the 2 sessions of hands-on ergonomic educational interventions resulted in improved biomechanics and students requested additional educational resources. Conclusion: Dental students are developing MSDs as soon as 1 month after commencing dental school. Dental education should include ongoing ergonomic training throughout the curriculum to help students prevent MSDs
Outsourcing and financial performance: A negative curvilinear effect
This study asks how a firm's degree of outsourcing across all activities influences financial performance. We argue there is an optimal degree of outsourcing, where firms outsource some activities yet integrate others, and that deviations lower performance in a negatively curvilinear fashion. We find empirical support, using 1995 and 1998 data on a sample of manufacturing businesses in the Netherlands, and show that the steepness of the curve increases under conditions of high uncertainty. We show the magnitude of the uncertainty effect on performance outcomes through a post hoc scenario analysis. Thus we provide a specific, theoretically and empirically grounded prediction of how outsourcing affects performance with implications for theory and practice
Phytoestrogens
Collectively, plants contain several different families of natural products among which are compounds with weak estrogenic or antiestrogenic activity toward mammals. These compounds, termed phytoestrogens, include certain isoflavonoids, flavonoids, stilbenes, and lignans. The best-studied dietary phytoestrogens are the soy isoflavones and the flaxseed lignans. Their perceived health beneficial properties extend beyond hormone-dependent breast and prostate cancers and osteoporosis to include cognitive function, cardiovascular disease, immunity and inflammation, and reproduction and fertility. In the future, metabolic engineering of plants could generate novel and exquisitely controlled dietary sources with which to better assess the potential health beneficial effects of phytoestrogens
South Australian Digital Youth Survey Research Report: Year 1 Results
This report was produced by The Digital Youth Research Laboratory.Jesse Cale, Tyson Whitten, Russell Brewer, Melissa de Vel-Palumbo, Andrew Goldsmith and Thomas Hol
Difference Revised: Gender and Transformation among the Amazonian Runa
In this paper, I will explore how knowledge practices among the Runa of the Ecuadorian Amazon are informed by the specificity of local gender constructions. I will argue that while men learn to be ‘proper’ persons primarily through the ingestion of substances which penetrate inside their bodies and change them from the interior, women learn to become ‘proper’ Runa through imitating and reproducing specific movements. This difference in learning regimes, I argue, is based upon a priori conceptualisation of men and women as distinct kinds of beings. I argue that the Runa conceptualise as gender difference the way in which exteriority and interiority are played out in male and female persons. Unlike other Amazonian cases, women are understood by the Runa as ‘naturally’ predisposed to exteriority. This has important repercussions in the way cultural change is thought to affect women and men, especially in contrast to other Amazonian people
In search of phylogenetic congruence between molecular and morphological data in bryozoans with extreme adult skeletal heteromorphy
peerreview_statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope. aims_and_scope_url: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=tsab20© Crown Copyright 2015. This document is the author's final accepted/submitted version of the journal article. You are advised to consult the publisher's version if you wish to cite from it
The STAR Time Projection Chamber: A Unique Tool for Studying High Multiplicity Events at RHIC
The STAR Time Projection Chamber (TPC) is used to record collisions at the
Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The TPC is the central element in a
suite of detectors that surrounds the interaction vertex. The TPC provides
complete coverage around the beam-line, and provides complete tracking for
charged particles within +- 1.8 units of pseudo-rapidity of the center-of-mass
frame. Charged particles with momenta greater than 100 MeV/c are recorded.
Multiplicities in excess of 3,000 tracks per event are routinely reconstructed
in the software. The TPC measures 4 m in diameter by 4.2 m long, making it the
largest TPC in the world.Comment: 28 pages, 11 figure
Seasonal effects on reconciliation in Macaca Fuscata Yakui
Dietary composition may have profound effects on the activity budgets, levelof food competition, and social behavior of a species. Similarly, in seasonally breeding species, the mating season is a period in which competition for mating partners increases, affecting amicable social interactions among group members. We analyzed the importance of the mating season and of seasonal variations in dietary composition and food competition on econciliation
in wild female Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata yakui) on Yakushima Island, Japan. Yakushima macaques are appropriate subjects because they are seasonal breeders and their dietary composition significantly changes among the seasons. Though large differences occurred between the summer months and the winter and early spring months in activity budgets and the consumption of the main food sources, i.e., fruits, seeds, and leaves, the level
of food competition and conciliatory tendency remained unaffected. Conversely,conciliatory tendency is significantly lower during the mating season than in the nonmating season. Moreover, conciliatory tendency is lower when 1 or both female opponents is in estrous than when they are not. Thus the mating season has profound effects on reconciliation, whereas seasonal changes in activity budgets and dietary composition do not. The detrimental effects of the mating season on female social relationships and reconciliation may be due to the importance of female competition for access to male partners in multimale, multifemale societies
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