15,523 research outputs found
Existing motor state is favored at the expense of new movement during 13-35 Hz oscillatory synchrony in the human corticospinal system
Oscillations in local field potentials in the β-frequency band (13-35 Hz) are a pervasive feature of human and nonhuman primate motor cortical areas. However, the function of such synchronous activity across populations of neurons remains unknown. Here, we test the hypothesis that β activity may promote existing motor set and posture while compromising processing related to new movements. Three experiments were performed. First, healthy subjects were instructed to make reaction time movements of the outstretched index finger in response to imperative cues triggered by transient increases in corticospinal synchrony, as evidenced by phasic elevations of β-frequency band microtremor and intermuscular synchrony. Second, healthy subjects were instructed to resist a stretch to the index finger triggered in the same way. Finger acceleration in the reaction time task and transcortical components of the stretch reflex were measured and compared with those elicited by random cue or stretch presentation. Finally, we sought a correlation between finger acceleration in the reaction time task and cortical synchrony directly measured from the electrocorticogram in two patients undergoing functional neurosurgery. We demonstrate that movements are slowed and transcortical responses to stretch are potentiated during periods of elevated β-band cortical synchrony. The results suggest that physiological periods of β synchrony are associated with a cortical state in which postural set is reinforced, but the speed of new movements impaired. The findings are of relevance to Parkinson's disease, in which subcortical and cortical β-band synchronization is exaggerated in the setting of increased tone and slowed movements
Planetological implications of mass loss from the early Sun
The element lithium is observed to be underabundant in the Sun by a factor of approx. equal to 100. To account for this depletion, Boothroyd et al. (Ap. J., in press 1991) proposed a model in which the Sun's zero-age-main-sequence mass was approx. 1.1 solar magnitude. If this is the explanation for the lithium depletion, then astronomical observations of F/G dwarfs in clusters suggest that the timescale for mass loss is approx. equal to 0.6 Gyr. Assuming this approximate timescale, the authors investigated several planetological implications of the astrophysical model
Rayleigh scattering in the transmission spectrum of HAT-P-18b
We have performed ground-based transmission spectroscopy of the hot Jupiter
HAT-P-18b using the ACAM instrument on the William Herschel Telescope (WHT).
Differential spectroscopy over an entire night was carried out at a resolution
of using a nearby comparison star. We detect a bluewards slope
extending across our optical transmission spectrum which runs from 4750 to
9250\AA. The slope is consistent with Rayleigh scattering at the equilibrium
temperature of the planet (852K). We do not detect enhanced sodium absorption,
which indicates that a high-altitude haze is masking the feature and giving
rise to the Rayleigh slope. This is only the second discovery of a Rayleigh
scattering slope in a hot Jupiter atmosphere from the ground, and our study
illustrates how ground-based observations can provide transmission spectra with
precision comparable to the Hubble Space Telescope.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
A Dynamical Analysis of the Proposed Circumbinary HW Virginis Planetary System
In 2009, the discovery of two planets orbiting the evolved binary star system
HW Virginis was announced, based on systematic variations in the timing of
eclipses between the two stars. The planets invoked in that work were
significantly more massive than Jupiter, and moved on orbits that were mutually
crossing - an architecture which suggests that mutual encounters and strong
gravitational interactions are almost guaranteed. In this work, we perform a
highly detailed analysis of the proposed HW Vir planetary system. First, we
consider the dynamical stability of the system as proposed in the discovery
work. Through a mapping process involving 91,125 individual simulations, we
find that the system is so unstable that the planets proposed simply cannot
exist, due to mean lifetimes of less than a thousand years across the whole
parameter space. We then present a detailed re-analysis of the observational
data on HW Vir, deriving a new orbital solution that provides a very good fit
to the observational data. Our new analysis yields a system with planets more
widely spaced, and of lower mass, than that proposed in the discovery work, and
yields a significantly greater (and more realistic) estimate of the uncertainty
in the orbit of the outermost body. Despite this, a detailed dynamical analysis
of this new solution similarly reveals that it also requires the planets to
move on orbits that are simply not dynamically feasible. Our results imply that
some mechanism other than the influence of planetary companions must be the
principal cause of the observed eclipse timing variations for HW Vir. If the
sys- tem does host exoplanets, they must move on orbits differing greatly from
those previously proposed. Our results illustrate the critical importance of
performing dynamical analyses as a part of the discovery process for
multiple-planet exoplanetary systems.Comment: Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical
Societ
Formation of van der Waals molecules in buffer gas cooled magnetic traps
We show that a large class of helium-containing cold polar molecules form
readily in a cryogenic buffer gas, achieving densities as high as 10^12 cm^-3.
We explore the spin relaxation of these molecules in buffer gas loaded magnetic
traps, and identify a loss mechanism based on Landau-Zener transitions arising
from the anisotropic hyperfine interaction. Our results show that the recently
observed strong T^6 thermal dependence of spin change in buffer gas trapped
silver (Ag) is accounted for by the formation and spin change of AgHe, thus
providing evidence for molecular formation in a buffer gas trap.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Plant and Sward Characteristics to Achieve High Intake in Ruminants
Key points Intake is affected by complex interactions between signals from the digestive tract, intermediary metabolism and energy supply, and behavioural signals associated with learned behaviours or sensory signals. The ideal sward needs to have characteristics that are similar to total mixed rations to achieve high intake and animal performance. Genetic manipulation of plants may offer an accelerated rate of plant improvement, but benefits need to be demonstrated in a systems context
Relationships Between the Nutrient Content of Irrigated Pasture on Offer and that Selected by Grazing Dairy Cows
An experiment was conducted to determine the dry matter, energy, crude protein and fibre intake by dairy cows in late lactation when grazing perennial pasture offered at allocations of 15, 20, 30 and 40 kg DM/cow.day. The cows consistently selected a diet 10% higher in digestibility than that on offer. In contrast, cows selected diets with crude protein levels increasing from 22% to 40%, above that in pasture on offer, as pasture allocation increased. A similar pattern was observed for the intake of white clover (Trifolium repens L). The increase in the concentration of crude protein in the diet (as allocation increased) was due to the consumption of white clover and a decrease in the consumption of the dead components of the sward. On the other hand, the neutral detergent fibre content of the diet selected was lower than that on offer, and declined as pasture allocation increased
Anomalous response of superconducting titanium nitride resonators to terahertz radiation
We present an experimental study of KIDs fabricated of atomic layer deposited
TiN films, and characterized at radiation frequencies of ~GHz. The
responsivity to radiation is measured and found to increase with increasing
radiation powers, opposite to what is expected from theory and observed for
hybrid niobium titanium nitride / aluminium (NbTiN/Al) and all-aluminium
(all-Al) KIDs. The noise is found to be independent of the level of the
radiation power. The noise equivalent power (NEP) improves with higher
radiation powers, also opposite to what is observed and well understood for
hybrid NbTiN/Al and all-Al KIDs. We suggest that an inhomogeneous state of
these disordered superconductors should be used to explain these observations
- …