174 research outputs found
The effects of a 12-Month weight loss intervention on cognitive outcomes in adults with overweight and obesity
Obesity is associated with poorer executive functioning and reward sensitivity. Yet, we know very little about whether weight loss through diet and/or increased exercise engagement improves cognitive function. This study evaluated whether weight loss following a dietary and exercise intervention was associated with improved cognitive performance. We enrolled 125 middle-aged adults with overweight and obesity (98 female) into a 12-month behavioral weight loss intervention. Participants were assigned to one of three groups: energy-restricted diet alone, an energy-restricted diet plus 150 min of moderate intensity exercise per week or an energy restricted diet plus 250 min of exercise per week. All participants completed tests measuring executive functioning and/or reward sensitivity, including the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). Following the intervention, weight significantly decreased in all groups. A MANCOVA controlling for age, sex and race revealed a significant multivariate effect of group on cognitive changes. Post-hoc ANCOVAs revealed a Group x Time interaction only on IGT reward sensitivity, such that the high exercise group improved their performance relative to the other two intervention groups. Post-hoc ANCOVAs also revealed a main effect of Time, independent of intervention group, on IGT net payoff score. Changes in weight were not associated with other changes in cognitive performance. Engaging in a high amount of exercise improved reward sensitivity above and beyond weight loss alone. This suggests that there is additional benefit to adding exercise into behavioral weight loss regimens on executive functioning, even without additional benefit to weight loss
Quintessential Maldacena-Maoz Cosmologies
Maldacena and Maoz have proposed a new approach to holographic cosmology
based on Euclidean manifolds with disconnected boundaries. This approach
appears, however, to be in conflict with the known geometric results [the
Witten-Yau theorem and its extensions] on spaces with boundaries of
non-negative scalar curvature. We show precisely how the Maldacena-Maoz
approach evades these theorems. We also exhibit Maldacena-Maoz cosmologies with
[cosmologically] more natural matter content, namely quintessence instead of
Yang-Mills fields, thereby demonstrating that these cosmologies do not depend
on a special choice of matter to split the Euclidean boundary. We conclude that
if our Universe is fundamentally anti-de Sitter-like [with the current
acceleration being only temporary], then this may force us to confront the
holography of spaces with a connected bulk but a disconnected boundary.Comment: Much improved exposition, exponent in Cai-Galloway theorem fixed,
axionic interpretation of scalar explained, JHEP version. 33 pages, 3 eps
figure
Carbon Recombination Lines from the Galactic Plane at 34.5 & 328 MHz
We present results of a search for carbon recombination lines in the Galaxy
at 34.5 MHz (C) made using the dipole array at Gauribidanur near
Bangalore. Observations made towards 32 directions, led to detections of lines
in absorption at nine positions. Followup observations at 328 MHz
(C) using the Ooty Radio Telescope detected these lines in emission.
A VLA D-array observation of one of the positions at 330 MHz yielded no
detection implying a lower limit of 10' for the angular size of the line
forming region.
The longitude-velocity distribution of the observed carbon lines indicate
that the line forming region are located mainly between 4 kpc and 7 kpc from
the Galactic centre. Combining our results with published carbon recombination
line data near 76 MHz (\nocite{erickson:95} Erickson \et 1995) we obtain
constraints on the physical parameters of the line forming regions. We find
that if the angular size of the line forming regions is , then
the range of parameters that fit the data are: \Te K, \ne \cm3 and pathlengths pc which may correspond to thin
photo-dissociated regions around molecular clouds. On the other hand, if the
line forming regions are in extent, then warmer gas (\Te K) with lower electron densities (\ne \cm3) extending
over several tens of parsecs along the line of sight and possibly associated
with atomic \HI gas can fit the data. Based on the range of derived parameters,
we suggest that the carbon line regions are most likely associated with
photo-dissociation regions.Comment: To appear in Journal of Astrophysics & Astronomy, March 200
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New final focus system for the SLAC linear collider
The final focus system of the SLC has been upgraded by replacing the final quadrupole magnets with higher gradient superconducting magnets positioned closer to the interaction point. The parameters of the new system have been chosen to be compatible with the SLD detector with a minimum of changes to other final focus components. Commissioning plans for the new system are also presented. 5 refs., 1 fig
Next-to-Leading Order QCD Analysis of Polarized Deep Inelastic Scattering Data
We present a Next-to-Leading order perturbative QCD analysis of world data on
the spin dependent structure functions , and , including
the new experimental information on the dependence of . Careful
attention is paid to the experimental and theoretical uncertainties. The data
constrain the first moments of the polarized valence quark distributions, but
only qualitatively constrain the polarized sea quark and gluon distributions.
The NLO results are used to determine the dependence of the ratio
and evolve the experimental data to a constant . We
determine the first moments of the polarized structure functions of the proton
and neutron and find agreement with the Bjorken sum rule.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures; final version to be published in Phys. Lett. B.
References updated. Uses elsart.cls version 1996/04/22, 2e-1.4
Design and construction of the MicroBooNE detector
This paper describes the design and construction of the MicroBooNE liquid
argon time projection chamber and associated systems. MicroBooNE is the first
phase of the Short Baseline Neutrino program, located at Fermilab, and will
utilize the capabilities of liquid argon detectors to examine a rich assortment
of physics topics. In this document details of design specifications, assembly
procedures, and acceptance tests are reported
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