181,241 research outputs found
The problem of off duty time in long duration space missions. Volume 3 - An annotated bibliography
Annotated bibliography on studies pertaining to off duty time during long duration manned space flight
Retrospective study of more than 9000 feline cutaneous tumours in the UK: 2006â2013
The aim of the study was to utilise a large database available from a UK-based, commercial veterinary diagnostic laboratory to ascertain the prevalence of different forms of cutaneous neoplasia within the feline population, and to detect any breed, sex or age predilections for the more common tumours
Contralateral inhibition of click- and chirp-evoked human compound action potentials
Cochlear outer hair cells (OHC) receive direct efferent feedback from the caudal auditory brainstem via the medial olivocochlear (MOC) bundle. This circuit provides the neural substrate for the MOC reflex, which inhibits cochlear amplifier gain and is believed to play a role in listening in noise and protection from acoustic overexposure. The human MOC reflex has been studied extensively using otoacoustic emissions (OAE) paradigms; however, these measurements are insensitive to subsequent âdownstreamâ efferent effects on the neural ensembles that mediate hearing. In this experiment, click- and chirp-evoked auditory nerve compound action potential (CAP) amplitudes were measured electrocochleographically from the human eardrum without and with MOC reflex activation elicited by contralateral broadband noise. We hypothesized that the chirp would be a more optimal stimulus for measuring neural MOC effects because it synchronizes excitation along the entire length of the basilar membrane and thus evokes a more robust CAP than a click at low to moderate stimulus levels. Chirps produced larger CAPs than clicks at all stimulus intensities (50â80 dB ppeSPL). MOC reflex inhibition of CAPs was larger for chirps than clicks at low stimulus levels when quantified both in terms of amplitude reduction and effective attenuation. Effective attenuation was larger for chirp- and click-evoked CAPs than for click-evoked OAEs measured from the same subjects. Our results suggest that the chirp is an optimal stimulus for evoking CAPs at low stimulus intensities and for assessing MOC reflex effects on the auditory nerve. Further, our work supports previous findings that MOC reflex effects at the level of the auditory nerve are underestimated by measures of OAE inhibition
Moderate spectral resolution observations of 3 micron absorption features in highly obscured objects
The 3 micron absorption spectra of sources seen in or behind molecular clouds generally show a variety of absorption features. Three separate absorptions are used to explain these features. The cooled-grating array spectrometer (CGAS) at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility was used to obtain spectra of the late-type mass-loss star OH 0739-12 and the protostars MonR2 IRS-2 and IRS-3 (solid circles). The differences between the spectra are discussed
Design and Focused Ion Beam Fabrication of Single Crystal Diamond Nanobeam Cavities
We present the design and fabrication of nanobeam photonic crystal cavities
in single crystal diamond for applications in cavity quantum electrodynamics.
First, we describe three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain simulations
of a high quality factor (Q ~ 10^6) and small mode volume (V ~ 0.5
({\lambda}/n)^3) device whose cavity resonance corresponds to the zero-phonon
transition (637nm) of the Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) color center in diamond. This
high Q/V structure, which would allow for strong light-matter interaction, is
achieved by gradually tapering the size of the photonic crystal holes between
the defect center and mirror regions of the nanobeam. Next, we demonstrate two
different focused ion beam (FIB) fabrication strategies to generate thin
diamond membranes and nanobeam photonic crystal resonators from a bulk crystal.
These approaches include a diamond crystal "side-milling" procedure as well as
an application of the "lift-off" technique used in TEM sample preparation.
Finally, we discuss certain aspects of the FIB fabrication routine that are a
challenge to the realization of the high-Q/V designs
Modelling Social Structures and Hierarchies in Language Evolution
Language evolution might have preferred certain prior social configurations
over others. Experiments conducted with models of different social structures
(varying subgroup interactions and the role of a dominant interlocutor) suggest
that having isolated agent groups rather than an interconnected agent is more
advantageous for the emergence of a social communication system. Distinctive
groups that are closely connected by communication yield systems less like
natural language than fully isolated groups inhabiting the same world.
Furthermore, the addition of a dominant male who is asymmetrically favoured as
a hearer, and equally likely to be a speaker has no positive influence on the
disjoint groups.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. In proceedings of AI-2010, The
Thirtieth SGAI International Conference on Innovative Techniques and
Applications of Artificial Intelligence, Cambridge, England, UK, 14-16
December 201
National evaluation of the neighbourhood nurseries: integrated report
Report description: The NNI was launched in 2001 to provide high quality childcare in the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods of England, to help parents into employment, reduce child poverty and boost childrenâs development. By 2005 45,000 new childcare places had been created in approximately 1,400 neighbourhood nurseries.
This report brings together the findings of the four individual strands of the National Evaluation of Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative as shown above and makes a number of recommendations.
The report shows the rationale for the governmentâs strategy in targeting disadvantaged neighbourhoods and in focusing on high quality childcare to provide the link between raising parental employment and income and improving childrenâs life chances
NGC1333/IRAS4: A multiple star formation laboratory
We present SCUBA observations of the protomultiple system NGC1333/IRAS4 at
450um and 850um. The 850um map shows significant extended emission which is
most probably a remnant of the initial cloud core. At 450um, the component 4A
is seen to have an elongated shape suggestive of a disk. Also we confirm that
in addition to the 4A and 4B system, there exists another component 4C, which
appears to lie out of the plane of the system and of the extended emission.
Deconvolution of the beam reveals a binary companion to IRAS4B. Simple
considerations of binary dynamics suggest that this triple 4A-4BI-4BII system
is unstable and will probably not survive in its current form. Thus IRAS4
provides evidence that systems can evolve from higher to lower multiplicity as
they move towards the main sequence. We construct a map of spectral index from
the two wavelengths, and comment on the implications of this for dust evolution
and temperature differences across the map. There is evidence that in the
region of component 4A the dust has evolved, probably by coagulating into
larger or more complex grains. Furthermore, there is evidence from the spectral
index maps that dust from this object is being entrained in its associated
outflow.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures. To appear in MNRAS. Uses mn.sty. Also available
at http://www.astro.phys.ethz.ch/papers/smith/smith_p_m.htm
A rural agricultural-sustainable energy community model and its application to Felton Valley, Australia
Energy and food security require a delicate balance which should not threaten or undermine community prosperity. Where it is proposed to derive energy from conventional fossil fuel resources (such as coal, shale oil, natural gas, coal seam gas) located in established rural areas, and particularly where these areas are used for productive agricultural purposes, there are often both intense community concern as well as broader questions regarding the relative social, economic and environmental costs and benefits of different land uses and, increasingly, different energy sources. The advent of mainstream renewable energy technologies means that alternative energy options may provide a viable alternative, allowing energy demand to be met without compromising existing land uses. We demonstrate how such a Sustainable Energy Rural Model can be designed to achieve a balance between the competing social goals of energy supply, agricultural production, environmental integrity and social well-being, and apply it to the Felton Valley, a highly productive and resilient farming community in eastern Australia.
Research into available wind and solar resources found that Felton Valley has a number of attributes that indicate its suitability for the development of an integrated renewable energy precinct which would complement, rather than displace, existing agricultural enterprises. Modelling results suggest a potential combined annual renewable energy output from integrated wind and solar resources of 1,287 GWh/yr from peak installed capacity of 713 MW, sufficient to supply the electrical energy needs of about 160,000 homes, in combination with total biomass food production of 31,000 tonnes per annum or 146 GWh/yr of human food energy. The portfolio of renewable energy options will not only provide energy source diversity but also ensures long-term food security and regional stability.
The Felton Valley model provides an example of community-led energy transformation and has potential as a pilot project for the development of smart distributed grids that would negate the need for further expansion of coal mining and coal fired power stations
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