4,720 research outputs found
Coke of Norfolk 1754-1842: a biography by Susanna Wade Martins [2009]
Susanna Wade Martins, Coke of Norfolk, 1754–1842. A Biography, Woodbridge, Suffolk, The Boydell Press, 2009. xii + 218 pp. £50.00. 9781843834267.
This biography does Thomas Coke full justice, in style as well as in content. It is excellently illustrated with colour and monochrome plates with helpful, discursive captions and specially drawn maps and diagrams. The bibliography and index are extensive and the book has been meticulously produced. Coke’s memory is well served by this first-rate piece of work
Biological characteristics and mortality of western butterfish (Pentapodus vitta), an abundant bycatch species of prawn trawling and recreational fishing in a large subtropical embayment
The western butterfish (Pentapodus vitta) is numerous in the bycatch of prawn trawling and recreational fishing in Shark Bay, Western Australia. We have thus determined crucial aspects of its biological characteristics and the potential impact of fishing on its abundance within this large subtropical marine embayment. Although both sexes attained a maximum age of 8 years, males grow more rapidly and to a larger size. Maturity is attained at the end of the first year of life and spawning occurs between October and January. The use of a Bayesian approach to combine independent estimates for total mortality, Z, and natural mortality, M, yielded slightly higher point estimates for Z than M. This result indicates that P. vitta is lightly impacted by fishing. It is relevant that, potentially, the individuals can spawn twice before recruitment into the fishery and that 73% of recreationally caught individuals are returned live to the water
High-Field Functional Imaging of Pitch Processing in Auditory Cortex of the Cat.
The perception of pitch is a widely studied and hotly debated topic in human hearing. Many of these studies combine functional imaging techniques with stimuli designed to disambiguate the percept of pitch from frequency information present in the stimulus. While useful in identifying potential pitch centres in cortex, the existence of truly pitch-responsive neurons requires single neuron-level measures that can only be undertaken in animal models. While a number of animals have been shown to be sensitive to pitch, few studies have addressed the location of cortical generators of pitch percepts in non-human models. The current study uses high-field functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the feline brain in an attempt to identify regions of cortex that show increased activity in response to pitch-evoking stimuli. Cats were presented with iterated rippled noise (IRN) stimuli, narrowband noise stimuli with the same spectral profile but no perceivable pitch, and a processed IRN stimulus in which phase components were randomized to preserve slowly changing modulations in the absence of pitch (IRNo). Pitch-related activity was not observed to occur in either primary auditory cortex (A1) or the anterior auditory field (AAF) which comprise the core auditory cortex in cats. Rather, cortical areas surrounding the posterior ectosylvian sulcus responded preferentially to the IRN stimulus when compared to narrowband noise, with group analyses revealing bilateral activity centred in the posterior auditory field (PAF). This study demonstrates that fMRI is useful for identifying pitch-related processing in cat cortex, and identifies cortical areas that warrant further investigation. Moreover, we have taken the first steps in identifying a useful animal model for the study of pitch perception
High Fidelity Collision Probabilities Estimated Using Brute Force Monte Carlo Simulations
The NASA Conjunction Assessment Risk Analysis team has implemented new software to estimate the probability of collision (P (sub c)) for Earth-orbiting satellites. The algorithm employs a brute force Monte Carlo (BFMC) method which differs from most other methods because it uses orbital states and covariances propagated from their orbit determination epoch times using the full set of Astrodynamics Support Workstation higher order theory models, including the High Accuracy Satellite Drag Model. This paper de-scribes the BFMC algorithm, presents comparisons of BFMC P (sub c) estimates to those calculated using other methods, and discusses the implications for conjunction risk assessment
Bino Dark Matter and Big Bang Nucleosynthesis in the Constrained E6SSM with Massless Inert Singlinos
We discuss a new variant of the E6 inspired supersymmetric standard model
(E6SSM) in which the two inert singlinos are exactly massless and the dark
matter candidate has a dominant bino component. A successful relic density is
achieved via a novel mechanism in which the bino scatters inelastically into
heavier inert Higgsinos during the time of thermal freeze-out. The two massless
inert singlinos contribute to the effective number of neutrino species at the
time of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, where the precise contribution depends on the
mass of the Z' which keeps them in equilibrium. For example for mZ' > 1300 GeV
we find Neff \approx 3.2, where the smallness of the additional contribution is
due to entropy dilution. We study a few benchmark points in the constrained
E6SSM with massless inert singlinos to illustrate this new scenario.Comment: 24 pages, revised for publication in JHE
Does Prehabilitation Prior to Ulnar Collateral Ligament Surgery Affect Return to Sport Rate or Time in Baseball Players with Partial UCL Tears?
Those who suffer a partial thickness ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) tear often undergo a period of nonoperative management including physical therapy rehabilitation. This treatment is aimed at optimizing range of motion (ROM) and strengthening the supporting structures around the elbow to help offload the UCL.
Unfortunately, some of these patients fail nonoperative management and require surgical intervention. This creates a unique set of patients who essentially underwent “prehabilitation” prior to their UCL surgery. Prehabilitation is considered a period of structured physical therapy rehabilitation aimed at strengthening structures surrounding an injured tendon or ligament, to allow for dissipation of stress away from the repaired structure after surgery.
Prehabilitation has been studied extensively and implemented into the clinical practice of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rehabilitation, and is being studied for other injuries as well. However, the efficacy of prehabilitation for UCL surgical patients with partial thickness UCL tears has not been evaluated.
This chart review:
- determines if baseball players with partial UCL tears who completed at least 4 weeks of prehabilitation prior to surgery (Prehab) had better return to play (RTP) rates and quicker return to sport (RTS) time than players who attempted 0-3 weeks of physical therapy prior to UCL surgery (No Prehab)
- compares revision, reoperation, and patient reported outcomes between Prehab and No Prehab player
ALERT Doctoral School 2012: advanced experimental techniques in geomechanics
The twenty-second session of the European Graduate School 2012 (called usually ALERT Doctoral School) entitled Advanced experimental techniques in geomechanics is organized by Cino Viggiani, Steve Hall and Enrique Romero.Postprint (published version
Detecting a light Higgs boson at the Fermilab Tevatron through enhanced decays to photon pairs
We analyze the prospects of the Tevatron for finding a Higgs boson in the two
photon decay mode. We conclude that the Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson will
likely not be discovered in this mode. However, we motivate several theories
beyond the SM, including the MSSM, that predict a Higgs boson with enhanced
branching fractions into photons, and calculate the luminosity needed to
discover a general Higgs boson at the Tevatron by a two-photon invariant mass
peak at large transverse momentum. We find that a high luminosity Tevatron will
play a significant role in discovering or constraining these theories.Comment: 20 pages, latex, 5 figure
Visual attentional load influences plasticity in the human motor cortex
Neural plasticity plays a critical role in learning, memory, and recovery from injury to the nervous system. Although much is known about the physical and physiological determinants of plasticity, little is known about the influence of cognitive factors. In this study, we investigated whether selective attention plays a role in modifying changes in neural excitability reflecting long-term potentiation (LTP)like plasticity. We induced LTP-like effects in the hand area of the human motor cortex using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). During the induction of plasticity, participants engaged in a visual detection task with either low or high attentional demands. Changes in neural excitability were assessed by measuring motor-evoked potentials in a small hand muscle before and after the TMS procedures. In separate experiments plasticity was induced either by paired associative stimulation (PAS) or intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS). Because these procedures induce different forms of LTP-like effects, they allowed us to investigate the generality of any attentional influence on plasticity. In both experiments reliable changes in motor cortex excitability were evident under low-load conditions, but this effect was eliminated under high-attentional load. In a third experiment we investigated whether the attentional task was associated with ongoing changes in the excitability of motor cortex, but found no difference in evoked potentials across the levels of attentional load. Our findings indicate that in addition to their role in modifying sensory processing, mechanisms of attention can also be a potent modulator of cortical plasticity
- …