Hydrogen maser clocks in space for solid-Earth research and time-transfer applications: Experiment overview and evaluation of Russian miniature sapphire loaded cavity

The Observatoire Cantonal de Neuchatel (ON) is developing for ESTEC a compact H-maser for space use based upon a miniature sapphire loaded microwave cavity, a technique pioneered at VNIIFTRI. Various contacts between West-European parties, headed by ESA, and the Russian parties, headed by ESA, led to the proposal for flying two H-masers on Meteor 3M, a Russian meteorology satellite in low polar orbit. The experiment will include two masers, one provided by ON and the other by VNIIFTRI. T/F transfer and precise positioning will be performed by both a microwave link, using PRARE equipment, and an optical link, using LASSO-like equipment. The main objectives of the experiment are precise orbit determination and point positioning for geodetic/geophysical research, ultra-accurate time comparison and dissemination as well as in-orbit demonstration of operation and performance of H-masers. Within the scope of a preliminary space H-maser development phase performed for ESTEC at ON in preparation to the joint experiment, a Russian miniature sapphire loaded microwave cavity, on loan from VNIIFTRI, was evaluated in a full-size EFOS hydrogen maser built by ON. The experimental evaluation confirmed the theoretical expectation that with a hydrogen storage volume of only 0.65 liter an atomic quality factor of 1.5 x 10(exp 9) can be obtained for a -105 dBm output power. This represents a theoretical Allan deviation of 1.7 x 10(exp -15) averaged on a 1000 s time interval. From a full-size design to a compact one, therefore, the sacrifice in performance due to the reduction of the storage volume is very small

The positive effect of mirror visual feedback on arm control in children with Spastic Hemiparetic Cerebral Palsy is dependent on which arm is viewed

Mirror visual feedback has previously been found to reduce disproportionate interlimb variability and neuromuscular activity in the arm muscles in children with Spastic Hemiparetic Cerebral Palsy (SHCP). The aim of the current study was to determine whether these positive effects are generated by the mirror per se (i.e. the illusory perception of two symmetrically moving limbs, irrespective of which arm generates the mirror visual feedback) or by the visual illusion that the impaired arm has been substituted and appears to move with less jerk and in synchrony with the less-impaired arm (i.e. by mirror visual feedback of the less-impaired arm only). Therefore, we compared the effect of mirror visual feedback from the impaired and the less-impaired upper limb on the bimanual coupling and neuromuscular activity during a bimanual coordination task. Children with SHCP were asked to perform a bimanual symmetrical circular movement in three different visual feedback conditions (i.e. viewing the two arms, viewing only one arm, and viewing one arm and its mirror image), combined with two head orientation conditions (i.e. looking from the impaired and looking from the less-impaired body side). It was found that mirror visual feedback resulted in a reduction in the eccentric activity of the Biceps Brachii Brevis in the impaired limb compared to the condition with actual visual feedback from the two arms. More specifically, this effect was exclusive to mirror visual feedback from the less-impaired arm and absent when mirror visual feedback from the impaired arm was provided. Across conditions, the less-impaired arm was the leading limb, and the nature of this coupling was independent from visual condition or head orientation. Also, mirror visual feedback did not affect the intensity of the mean neuromuscular activity or the muscle activity of the Triceps Brachii Longus. It was concluded that the positive effects of mirror visual feedback in children with SHCP are not just the result of the perception of two symmetrically moving limbs. Instead, in order to induce a decrease in eccentric neuromuscular activity in the impaired limb, mirror visual feedback from the ‘unaffected’ less-impaired limb is required

On the relevance of earnings components in valuation and forecasting

Pre-print also submitted to SSRN Archive. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1007/s11156-013-0347-yThis paper articulates the links between relevance of an earnings component in forecasting (abnormal) earnings and its relevance in valuation in a nonlinear framework. The analysis shows that forecasting relevance does not imply valuation relevance even though valuation irrelevance is implied by forecasting irrelevance. Firstly, I consider an accounting information system where earnings components "add up" to a fully informative earnings number. Secondly, I analyze two accounting systems where a "core" earnings component is the relevant earnings construct for valuation and the second earnings component is irrelevant but may be predictable and relevant in forecasting other accounting items. I find that dividend displacement effect on earnings and the dynamics of individual earnings components are critical in this analysis

Therapists’ and non-therapists’ constructions of heterosex: A qualitative story completion study

© 2018 The British Psychological Society Objectives: Little research has examined the discourses that shape therapists’ sense-making around heterosex. This paper explores the discourses of sexuality and gender underpinning therapists’ and non-therapists’ responses to a sexual experimentation scenario in a heterosexual relationship. It also considers the value of the novel technique of story completion (SC), in which participants are asked to write a story in response to a hypothetical scenario, for qualitative psychology and psychotherapy research. Design: This research used a comparative SC design (Kitzinger & Powell,). Participants were sequentially presented with and invited to complete two story stems: one in which a male character suggested ‘trying something new’ to his female partner and one in which the female character made the suggestion. The stems were otherwise identical. Methods: A total of 100 SCs were written by 49 (28 female; 21 male) therapists and 51 (29 female; 22 male) non-therapists. Participants were recruited mainly via UK-based email lists and Facebook groups, and therapeutic training organizations, and the data were analysed using a feminist post-structuralist thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke,). Results: Both groups of participants drew on heteronormative discourses of sexuality and gender to make sense of the stem. Engaging in sexual experimentation was often depicted as a demonstration of being normal. In some stories written by women, sex was framed as a site for negotiating ‘equality’ and reciprocity in relationships. Therapists were more likely than non-therapists to frame ‘difficulties’ within relationships as opportunities for personal growth and increased emotional depth, and their stories included greater emotional complexity. Conclusion: These findings raise questions about practitioner training and whether it results in therapists drawing on narrow and restrictive discourses of heterosex in clinical practice. Practitioner points: Training on sexual issues is largely absent from non-specialist practitioner training courses, which potentially means therapists are ill-equipped to respond to clients’ anxiety about sexual issues. Evidence from this and other research indicates that therapists’ sense-making around heterosexual sexual relationships is underpinned by narrow and restrictive discourses that entrench traditional gender relations and limit sexual agency. Psychologists are increasingly taking up positions of clinical leadership and are looked to for models of best practice. Drawing on theorizations of sexual difficulties, and of anxieties about sexual practice, that challenge traditional gender and heteronorms, and the commodification and medicalization of sex, is important for effective psychological leadership relating to the treatment of sexual issues and the furthering of social justice agendas

The unconventional myosin CRINKLED and its mammalian orthologue MYO7A regulate caspases in their signalling roles

Caspases provide vital links in non-apoptotic regulatory networks controlling inflammation, compensatory proliferation, morphology and cell migration. How caspases are activated under non-apoptotic conditions and process a selective set of substrates without killing the cell remain enigmatic. Here we find that the Drosophila unconventional myosin CRINKLED (CK) selectively interacts with the initiator caspase DRONC and regulates some of its non-apoptotic functions. Loss of CK in the arista, border cells or proneural clusters of the wing imaginal discs affects DRONC-dependent patterning. Our data indicate that CK acts as substrate adaptor, recruiting SHAGGY46/GSK3-β to DRONC, thereby facilitating caspase-mediated cleavage and localized modulation of kinase activity. Similarly, the mammalian CK counterpart, MYO7A, binds to and impinges on CASPASE-8, revealing a new regulatory axis affecting receptor interacting protein kinase-1 (RIPK1)>CASPASE-8 signalling. Together, our results expose a conserved role for unconventional myosins in transducing caspase-dependent regulation of kinases, allowing them to take part in specific signalling events

Terminal valuations, growth rates and the implied cost of capital

This article is published with open access at Springerlink.comWe develop a model based on the notion that prices lead earnings, allowing for a simultaneous estimation of the implied growth rate and the cost of equity capital for US industrial sectors. The major difference between our approach and that in prior literature is that ours avoids the necessity to make assumptions about terminal values and consequently about future growth rates. In fact, growth rates are an endogenous variable, which is estimated simultaneously with the implied cost of equity capital. Since we require only 1-year-ahead forecasts of earnings and no assumptions about dividend payouts, our methodology allows us to estimate ex ante aggregate growth and risk premia over a larger sample of firms than has previously been possible. Our estimate of the risk premium being between 3.1 and 3.9 % is at the lower end of recent estimates, reflecting the inclusion of these short-lived companies. Our estimate of the long run growth is from 4.2 to 4.7 %

Precision Pion-Proton Elastic Differential Cross Sections at Energies Spanning the Delta Resonance

A precision measurement of absolute pi+p and pi-p elastic differential cross sections at incident pion laboratory kinetic energies from T_pi= 141.15 to 267.3 MeV is described. Data were obtained detecting the scattered pion and recoil proton in coincidence at 12 laboratory pion angles from 55 to 155 degrees for pi+p, and six angles from 60 to 155 degrees for pi-p. Single arm measurements were also obtained for pi+p energies up to 218.1 MeV, with the scattered pi+ detected at six angles from 20 to 70 degrees. A flat-walled, super-cooled liquid hydrogen target as well as solid CH2 targets were used. The data are characterized by small uncertainties, ~1-2% statistical and ~1-1.5% normalization. The reliability of the cross section results was ensured by carrying out the measurements under a variety of experimental conditions to identify and quantify the sources of instrumental uncertainty. Our lowest and highest energy data are consistent with overlapping results from TRIUMF and LAMPF. In general, the Virginia Polytechnic Institute SM95 partial wave analysis solution describes our data well, but the older Karlsruhe-Helsinki PWA solution KH80 does not.Comment: 39 pages, 22 figures (some with quality reduced to satisfy ArXiv requirements. Contact M.M. Pavan for originals). Submitted to Physical Review

Measurement of the Proton and Deuteron Spin Structure Function g_1 in the Resonance Region

We have measured the proton and deuteron spin structure functions g_1^p and g_1^d in the region of the nucleon resonances for W^2 < 5 GeV^2 and $Q^2\simeq 0.5$ and $Q^2\simeq 1.2$ GeV^2 by inelastically scattering 9.7 GeV polarized electrons off polarized $^{15}NH_3$ and $^{15}ND_3$ targets. We observe significant structure in g_1^p in the resonance region. We have used the present results, together with the deep-inelastic data at higher W^2, to extract $\Gamma(Q^2)\equiv\int_0^1 g_1(x,Q^2) dx$. This is the first information on the low-Q^2 evolution of Gamma toward the Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn limit at Q^2 = 0.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure