3,549 research outputs found
Train the engine or the brakes? Influence of momentum on the change of direction deficit
Purpose: Currently, it is unclear which physical characteristics may underpin the change of direction deficit (COD-D). This investigation sought to determine if momentum, speed-, and jump-based measures may explain variance in COD-D.
Methods: Seventeen males from a professional soccer academy (age: 16.76 Ā± 0.75 years; height: 1.80 Ā± 0.06 m; body mass: 72.38 Ā± 9.57 kg) performed 505 tests on both legs, a 40-m sprint and single leg countermovement and drop jumps.
Results: Regression analyses did not reveal any significant predictors for COD-D on either leg. āLargeā relationships were reported between COD-D and 505 time on both limbs (r = 0.65-0.69; p < 0.01) but COD-D was not associated with linear momentum, speed- or jump-based performances. When the cohort was median split by COD-D, effect sizes suggested that the sub-group with the smaller COD-D were 5% faster in the 505 test (d = -1.24; p < 0.001) but 4% slower over 0-10-m (d = 0.79; p = 0.33) and carried 11% less momentum (d = -0.81; p = 0.17).
Conclusion: Individual variance in COD-D may not be explained by speed- and jump-based performance measures within academy soccer players. However, when grouping athletes by COD-D, faster athletes with greater momentum are likely to display a larger COD-D. It may therefore be prudent to recommend more eccentric-biased or technical focused COD training in such athletes and for coaches to view the change of direction action as a specific skill that may not be represented by performance time in a COD test
Evolution of displacements and strains in sheared amorphous solids
The local deformation of two-dimensional Lennard-Jones glasses under imposed
shear strain is studied via computer simulations. Both the mean squared
displacement and mean squared strain rise linearly with the length of the
strain interval over which they are measured. However, the
increase in displacement does not represent single-particle diffusion. There
are long-range spatial correlations in displacement associated with slip lines
with an amplitude of order the particle size. Strong dependence on system size
is also observed. The probability distributions of displacement and strain are
very different. For small the distribution of displacement has
a plateau followed by an exponential tail. The distribution becomes Gaussian as
increases to about .03. The strain distributions consist of
sharp central peaks associated with elastic regions, and long exponential tails
associated with plastic regions. The latter persist to the largest studied.Comment: Submitted to J. Phys. Cond. Mat. special volume for PITP Conference
on Mechanical Behavior of Glassy Materials. 16 Pages, 8 figure
Mapping Children's Discussions of Evidence in Science to Assess Collaboration and Argumentation
The research reported in this paper concerns the development of children's skills of interpreting and evaluating evidence in science. Previous studies have shown that school teaching often places limited emphasis on the development of these skills, which are necessary for children to engage in scientific debate and decision-making. The research, undertaken in the UK, involved four collaborative decision-making activities to stimulate group discussion, each was carried out with five groups of four children (10-11 years old). The research shows how the children evaluated evidence for possible choices and judged whether their evidence was sufficient to support a particular conclusion or the rejection of alternative conclusions. A mapping technique was developed to analyse the discussions and identify different "levels" of argumentation. The authors conclude that suitable collaborative activities that focus on the discussion of evidence can be developed to exercise children's ability to argue effectively in making decisions
Observations of the Extended Distribution of Ionized Hydrogen in the Plane of M31
We have used the Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper (WHAM) to observe the spatially
extended distribution of ionized hydrogen in M31 beyond the stellar disk. We
obtained five sets of observations, centered near the photometric major axis of
M31, that extend from the center of the galaxy to just off the edge of the
southwestern HI disk. Beyond the bright stellar disk, but within the HI disk,
weak H-alpha is detected with an intensity I(H-alpha) = 0.05 (+0.01 / -0.02)
Rayleighs. Since M31 is inclined 77 degrees with respect to the line of sight,
this implies that the ambient intergalactic ionizing flux onto each side of M31
is Phi_0 <= 1.6 x 10^4 photons cm^-2 s^-1. Just beyond the outer boundary of
the HI disk we find no significant detection of H-alpha and place an upper
limit I(H-alpha) <= 0.019 Rayleighs.Comment: To appear in ApJ Letters; 12 pages, 4 figure
Simple de Sitter Solutions
We present a framework for de Sitter model building in type IIA string
theory, illustrated with specific examples. We find metastable dS minima of the
potential for moduli obtained from a compactification on a product of two Nil
three-manifolds (which have negative scalar curvature) combined with
orientifolds, branes, fractional Chern-Simons forms, and fluxes. As a discrete
quantum number is taken large, the curvature, field strengths, inverse volume,
and four dimensional string coupling become parametrically small, and the de
Sitter Hubble scale can be tuned parametrically smaller than the scales of the
moduli, KK, and winding mode masses. A subtle point in the construction is that
although the curvature remains consistently weak, the circle fibers of the
nilmanifolds become very small in this limit (though this is avoided in
illustrative solutions at modest values of the parameters). In the simplest
version of the construction, the heaviest moduli masses are parametrically of
the same order as the lightest KK and winding masses. However, we provide a
method for separating these marginally overlapping scales, and more generally
the underlying supersymmetry of the model protects against large corrections to
the low-energy moduli potential.Comment: 37 pages, harvmac big, 4 figures. v3: small correction
Unusual Higgs or Supersymmetry from Natural Electroweak Symmetry Breaking
This review provides an elementary discussion of electroweak symmetry
breaking in the minimal and the next-to-minimal supersymmetric models with the
focus on the fine-tuning problem -- the tension between natural electroweak
symmetry breaking and the direct search limit on the Higgs boson mass. Two
generic solutions of the fine-tuning problem are discussed in detail: models
with unusual Higgs decays; and models with unusual pattern of soft
supersymmetry breaking parameters.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures; invited review by MPL
The Bolocam 1.1 mm Lockman Hole Galaxy Survey: SHARC II 350 micron Photometry and Implications for Spectral Models, Dust Temperatures, and Redshift Estimation
We present 350 micron photometry of all 17 galaxy candidates in the Lockman
Hole detected in a 1.1 mm Bolocam survey. Several of the galaxies were
previously detected at 850 microns, at 1.2 mm, in the infrared by Spitzer, and
in the radio. Nine of the Bolocam galaxy candidates were detected at 350
microns and two new candidates were serendipitously detected at 350 microns
(bringing the total in the literature detected in this way to three). Five of
the galaxies have published spectroscopic redshifts, enabling investigation of
the implied temperature ranges and a comparison of photometric redshift
techniques.
Lambda = 350 microns lies near the spectral energy distribution peak for z =
2.5 thermally emitting galaxies. Thus, luminosities can be measured without
extrapolating to the peak from detection wavelengths of lambda > 850 microns.
Characteristically, the galaxy luminosities lie in the range 1.0 - 1.2 x 10^13
L_solar, with dust temperatures in the range of 40 K to 70 K, depending on the
choice of spectral index and wavelength of unit optical depth. The implied dust
masses are 3 - 5 x 10^8 M_solar. We find that the far-infrared to radio
relation for star-forming ULIRGs systematically overpredicts the radio
luminosities and overestimates redshifts on the order of Delta z ~ 1, whereas
redshifts based on either on submillimeter data alone or the 1.6 micron stellar
bump and PAH features are more accurate.Comment: In Press (to appear in Astrophysical Journal, ApJ 20 May 2006 v643 1)
47 pages, 10 figures, 4 table
Exploring the views of students on the use of Facebook in university teaching and learning
Facebook use among students is almost ubiquitous; however, its use for formal academic purposes remains contested. Through an online survey monitoring student use of module Facebook pages and focus groups, this study explores studentsā current academic uses of Facebook and their
views on using Facebook within university modules. Students reported using Facebook for academic purposes, notably peerāpeer communication around group work and assessment ā a use not always conceptualised by students as learning. Focus groups revealed that students are not ready or equipped for the collaborative style of learning envisaged by the tutor and see Facebook as their personal domain, within which they
will discuss academic topics where they see a strong relevance and purpose, notably in connection with assessment. Students use Facebook for their own mutually deļ¬ned purposes and a change in student mind- and skill-sets is required to appropriate the collaborative learning beneļ¬ts of Facebook in formal educational contexts
Graviton 1-loop partition function for 3-dimensional massive gravity
The graviton 1-loop partition function in Euclidean topologically massive
gravity (TMG) is calculated using heat kernel techniques. The partition
function does not factorize holomorphically, and at the chiral point it has the
structure expected from a logarithmic conformal field theory. This gives strong
evidence for the proposal that the dual conformal field theory to TMG at the
chiral point is indeed logarithmic. We also generalize our results to new
massive gravity.Comment: 19 pages, v2: major revision, considerably stronger conclusions,
added comparison with LCFT partition function, confirmation of LCFT
conjecture, added autho
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