The effects of altered distances between obstacles on the jump kinematics and apparent joint angulations of large agility dogs

Canine agility is a rapidly growing sport in the UK. However, there is a paucity of scientific research examining jump kinematics and associated health and welfare implications of the discipline. The aim of this research was to examine differences in jump kinematics and apparent joint angulation of large (> 431 mm at the withers) agility dogs (n = 54), when the distance between hurdles was altered (3.6 m, 4 m and 5 m apart) and to determine how level of skill impacted upon jump kinematics. Significant differences were observed for both the take-off (P < 0.001) and landing distances (P < 0.001) between the 3.6 m, 4 m and 5 m distances. Further differences were observed when level of skill was controlled for; take-off (F[3,55] = 5.686, P = 0.002) and landing (F[3,55] = 7.552, P < 0.001) distances differed at the 3.6 m distance, as did the take-off distance at the 4 m hurdle distance (F[3,50] = 6.168, P = 0.001). Take-off and landing speeds differed for hurdle distances (P < 0.001) and level of skill (P < 0.001). There were significant differences in apparent neck angle during take-off and landing (P < 0.001), lumbar spine angles during take-off, bascule and landing (P < 0.01), and in shoulder angles during the bascule phase (P < 0.05). The results indicate that agility dogs alter their jumping patterns to accommodate the spacing between hurdles, which ultimately may impact long term health and welfare due to altered kinematics

AN ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT FORCES OF DIFFERENT MODES OF EXERCISE AS A CAUSAL FACTOR TO THE LOW BONE MINERAL DENSITY IN JOCKEYS

The purpose of this study was to investigate the forces placed on the lower limbs of jockeys during riding and to determine whether these were comparable to the impact forces associated with traditional weight bearing activities such as walking and running. Evaluation of these forces will allow isolation of the key causes of the previously reported high incidence of low bone mineral density (BMD) associated with this population and indicate as to whether a lack of weight bearing exercise is a causative factor in this phenomenon. Eight apprentice jockeys completed 6 different activities including walking, running and riding (walk, trot, canter, gallop), where accelerometry data was collected to determine the amount of impact loading applied to the lower limbs. The impact accelerations of the lower limbs in horse riding were significantly lower than those seen in running (

GoSam-2.0: a tool for automated one-loop calculations within the Standard Model and beyond

We present the version 2.0 of the program package GoSam for the automated calculation of one-loop amplitudes. GoSam is devised to compute one-loop QCD and/or electroweak corrections to multi-particle processes within and beyond the Standard Model. The new code contains improvements in the generation and in the reduction of the amplitudes, performs better in computing time and numerical accuracy, and has an extended range of applicability. The extended version of the "Binoth-Les-Houches-Accord" interface to Monte Carlo programs is also implemented. We give a detailed description of installation and usage of the code, and illustrate the new features in dedicated examples.Comment: replaced by published version and reference adde

Percolative Effects on Noise in Pentacene Transistors

The 1/f noise in pentacene thin film transistors has been measured as a function of device thickness from well above the effective conduction channel thickness to only two conducting layers. Over the entire thickness range, the spectral noise form is 1/f, and the noise parameter varies as (gate voltage)-1, confirming that the noise is due to mobility fluctuations, even in the thinnest films. Hooge's parameter varies as an inverse power-law with conductivity for all film thicknesses. The magnitude and transport characteristics of the spectral noise are well explained in terms of percolative effects arising from the grain boundary structure.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, Publishe

Sampling Time Effects for Persistence and Survival in Step Structural Fluctuations

The effects of sampling rate and total measurement time have been determined for single-point measurements of step fluctuations within the context of first-passage properties. Time dependent STM has been used to evaluate step fluctuations on Ag(111) films grown on mica as a function of temperature (300-410 K), on screw dislocations on the facets of Pb crystallites at 320K, and on Al-terminated Si(111) over the temperature range 770K - 970K. Although the fundamental time constant for step fluctuations on Ag and Al/Si varies by orders of magnitude over the temperature ranges of measurement, no dependence of the persistence amplitude on temperature is observed. Instead, the persistence probability is found to scale directly with t/Dt where Dt is the time interval used for sampling. Survival probabilities show a more complex scaling dependence which includes both the sampling interval and the total measurement time tm. Scaling with t/Dt occurs only when Dt/tm is a constant. We show that this observation is equivalent to theoretical predictions that the survival probability will scale as Dt/L^z, where L is the effective length of a step. This implies that the survival probability for large systems, when measured with fixed values of tm or Dt should also show little or no temperature dependence.Comment: 27 pages, 10 figure

Counting Dead Women in Australia: An In-Depth Case Review of Femicide

© 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature. Gender-based fatal violence (femicide) is a preventable cause of premature death. The Counting Dead Women Australia (CDWA) campaign is a femicide census counting violent deaths of women in Australia from 2014. We conducted a cross-sectional in-depth review of CDWA cases Jan-Dec 2014 to establish evidence of antecedent factors and describe femicide in Australia. Victim (n = 81) and perpetrator (n = 83) data were extracted from the CDWA register, law databases and coronial reports. Mixed methods triangulation of socio-demographic and incident characteristics. Women ranged in age from 20 to 82 years of age (44 ± 15.4). There were 83 perpetrators, of which 13 were unknown (not yet apprehended). Known perpetrators (n = 70) ranged in age from 16 to 72 years of age (40 ± 12.7) and 89% were male (62/70). The location of the crime was most frequently the victim’s home (49/70). In cases where the relationship between the victim and perpetrator was known (n = 59), over half of femicides were committed by intimate-partners (33/59). Intimate-partner perpetrators were more likely to have a history of violence and commit murder-suicide than other perpetrators. Femicide is overwhelmingly perpetrated by males, with women most vulnerable in their own home and with their intimate partners. Furthermore, intimate-partner femicide is associated with modifiable risk factors, including previous violence and mental health issues, which represents opportunities for early intervention within healthcare settings as practitioners are well-placed to identify risk and provide support. In line with recommendations for multi-sectoral approach, future research should target identification of risk and protective factors, and improved coordination of data collection

Plasmon-graviton conversion in a magnetic field in TeV-scale gravity

Kaluza-Klein (KK) gravitons emission rates due to plasmon-graviton conversion in magnetic field are computed within the ADD model of TeV-scale gravity. Plasma is described in the kinetic approach as the system of charged particles and Maxwell field both confined on the brane. Interaction with multidimensional gravity living in the bulk with $n$ compact extra dimensions is introduced within the linearized theory. Plasma collective effects enter through the two-point correlation function of the fluctuations of the energy-momentum tensor. The estimate for magnetic stars is presented leading to the lower limit of the D-dimensional Plank mass.Comment: Submitted to Proceedings of "RusGrav-14" International Conference, 27.06-02.07 2011, Ulyanovks, Russi

Cosmological Constraints on Theories with Large Extra Dimensions

In theories with large extra dimensions, constraints from cosmology lead to non-trivial lower bounds on the fundamental scale M_F, corresponding to upper bounds on the radii of the compact extra dimensions. These constraints are especially relevant to the case of two extra dimensions, since only if M_F is 10 TeV or less do deviations from the standard gravitational force law become evident at distances accessible to planned sub-mm gravity experiments. By examining the graviton decay contribution to the cosmic diffuse gamma radiation, we derive, for the case of two extra dimensions, a conservative bound M_F > 110 TeV, corresponding to r_2 < 5.1 times 10^-5 mm, well beyond the reach of these experiments. We also consider the constraint coming from graviton overclosure of the universe and derive an independent bound M_F > 6.5 h^(-1/2) TeV, or r_2 < .015 h mm.Comment: 10 pages, references adde