414 research outputs found
Effectiveness of a social support intervention on infant feeding practices : randomised controlled trial
Background: To assess whether monthly home visits from trained volunteers could improve infant feeding practices at age 12 months, a randomised controlled trial was carried out in two disadvantaged inner city London boroughs.
Methods: Women attending baby clinics with their infants (312) were randomised to receive monthly home visits from trained volunteers over a 9-month period (intervention group) or standard professional care only (control group). The primary outcome was vitamin C intakes from fruit. Secondary outcomes included selected macro and micro-nutrients, infant feeding habits, supine length and weight. Data were collected at baseline when infants were aged approximately 10 weeks, and subsequently when the child was 12 and 18 months old.
Results: Two-hundred and twelve women (68%) completed the trial. At both follow-up points no significant differences were found between the groups for vitamin C intakes from fruit or other nutrients. At first follow-up, however, infants in the intervention group were significantly less likely to be given goats’ or soya milks, and were more likely to have three solid meals per day. At the second follow-up, intervention group children were significantly less likely to be still using a bottle. At both follow-up points, intervention group children also consumed significantly more specific fruit and vegetables.
Conclusions: Home visits from trained volunteers had no significant effect on nutrient intakes but did promote some other recommended infant feeding practices
Forbidden Transitions in a Magneto-Optical Trap
We report the first observation of a non-dipole transition in an ultra-cold
atomic vapor. We excite the 3P-4P electric quadrupole (E2) transition in
Na confined in a Magneto-Optical Trap(MOT), and demonstrate its
application to high-resolution spectroscopy by making the first measurement of
the hyperfine structure of the 4P level and extracting the magnetic
dipole constant A 30.6 0.1 MHz. We use cw OODR (Optical-Optical
Double Resonance) accompanied by photoinization to probe the transition
The SEGUE Stellar Parameter Pipeline. III. Comparison with High-Resolution Spectroscopy of SDSS/SEGUE Field Stars
We report high-resolution spectroscopy of 125 field stars previously observed
as part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and its program for Galactic studies,
the Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (SEGUE). These
spectra are used to measure radial velocities and to derive atmospheric
parameters, which we compare with those reported by the SEGUE Stellar Parameter
Pipeline (SSPP). The SSPP obtains estimates of these quantities based on SDSS
ugriz photometry and low-resolution (R = 2000) spectroscopy. For F- and G-type
stars observed with high signal-to-noise ratios (S/N), we empirically determine
the typical random uncertainties in the radial velocities, effective
temperatures, surface gravities, and metallicities delivered by the SSPP to be
2.4 km/s, 130 K (2.2%), 0.21 dex, and 0.11 dex, respectively, with systematic
uncertainties of a similar magnitude in the effective temperatures and
metallicities. We estimate random errors for lower S/N spectra based on
numerical simulations.Comment: 37 pages, 6 tables, 6 figures, submitted to the Astronomical Journa
The Majorana Project
Building a \BBz experiment with the ability to probe neutrino mass in the
inverted hierarchy region requires the combination of a large detector mass
sensitive to \BBz, on the order of 1-tonne, and unprecedented background
levels, on the order of or less than 1 count per year in the \BBz signal
region. The MAJORANA Collaboration proposes a design based on using high-purity
enriched Ge-76 crystals deployed in ultra-low background electroformed Cu
cryostats and using modern analysis techniques that should be capable of
reaching the required sensitivity while also being scalable to a 1-tonne size.
To demonstrate feasibility, the collaboration plans to construct a prototype
system, the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR, consisting of 30 kg of 86% enriched \Ge-76
detectors and 30 kg of natural or isotope-76-depleted Ge detectors. We plan to
deploy and evaluate two different Ge detector technologies, one based on a
p-type configuration and the other on n-type.Comment: paper submitted for the 2008 Carolina International Symposium on
Neutrino Physic
Effective risk relievers for dimensional perceived risks on mail-order purchase: a case study on speciality foods in the UK
This article examines the effective risk relievers for different dimensions of perceived risk on mail-order purchase of food products. The sample comprised 1,600 active and inactive mail-order specialty food shoppers in the UK. The analysis focused on the correlation coefficients between consumers' levels of perceived risk and their weight on the importance of the risk relievers. Amongst 15 risk relievers, the results implied that there are certain risk relievers attached to higher levels of importance by consumers, who perceive higher levels of risks in certain aspects of mail-order purchase. Therefore, mail-order companies should promote the effective risk relievers to reduce specific dimensions of perceived risks
A new measurement of antineutrino oscillation with the full detector configuration at Daya Bay
We report a new measurement of electron antineutrino disappearance using the
fully-constructed Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment. The final two of eight
antineutrino detectors were installed in the summer of 2012. Including the 404
days of data collected from October 2012 to November 2013 resulted in a total
exposure of 6.910 GW-ton-days, a 3.6 times increase over
our previous results. Improvements in energy calibration limited variations
between detectors to 0.2%. Removal of six Am-C radioactive
calibration sources reduced the background by a factor of two for the detectors
in the experimental hall furthest from the reactors. Direct prediction of the
antineutrino signal in the far detectors based on the measurements in the near
detectors explicitly minimized the dependence of the measurement on models of
reactor antineutrino emission. The uncertainties in our estimates of
and were halved as a result of these
improvements. Analysis of the relative antineutrino rates and energy spectra
between detectors gave and eV in the three-neutrino
framework.Comment: Updated to match final published versio
ASCA observations of Seyfert 1 galaxies: I. Data Analysis, Imaging and Timing
We present the first in a series of papers describing the X-ray properties of
a sample of 18 Seyfert 1 galaxies, using data obtained by \asca. The imaging
data reveal a number of serendipitous hard X-ray sources in some source fields,
but none contribute significantly to the hard X-ray flux of the AGN. All but
one of the Seyferts show evidence for variability on timescales of
minutes-hours, with the amplitude anti-correlated with the source luminosity,
confirming previous results. In at least 8 sources, there is evidence that the
variability amplitude below 2 keV is greater than that in the hard X-ray band,
perhaps indicating variable components other than the power-law in the soft
band. Ultra-rapid variability, implying significant power at frequencies ~Hz is detected in at least 5 sources, but is difficult to detect in
most cases, due to the sampling and signal-to-noise ratio. In Mrk 766 and
MCG-6-30-15 there is also an indication that the high--frequency power--spectra
are variable in shape and/or intensity. There is similar evidence in NGC 4151,
but on longer time scales.Comment: 30 pages, 5 figures. LaTeX with encapsulated postscript. To appear in
the Astrophysical Journal. Also available via
http://lheawww.gsfc.nasa.gov/~nandra/pubs/paper1/abstract.htm
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