5,945 research outputs found
Neuropsychological evaluation of blast-related concussion: Illustrating the challenges and complexities through OEF/OIF case studies
Background/objective: Soldiers of Operations Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Iraqi Freedom (OIF) sustain blast-related mild traumatic brain injury (concussion) with alarming regularity. This study discusses factors in addition to concussion, such as co-morbid psychological difficulty (e.g. post-traumatic stress) and symptom validity concerns that may complicate neuropsychological evaluation in the late stage of concussive injury.
Case report: The study presents the complexities that accompany neuropsychological evaluation of blast concussion through discussion of three case reports of OEF/OIF personnel.
Discussion: The authors emphasize uniform assessment of blast concussion, the importance of determining concussion severity according to acute-injury characteristics and elaborate upon non-concussion-related factors that may impact course of cognitive limitation. The authors conclude with a discussion of the need for future research examining the impact of blast concussion (particularly recurrent concussion) and neuropsychological performance
Evaluation Context Impacts Neuropsychological Performance of OEF/OIF Veterans with Reported Combat-Related Concussion
Although soldiers of Operations Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Enduring Freedom (OEF) encounter combat-related concussion at an unprecedented rate, relatively few studies have examined how evaluation context, insufficient effort, and concussion history impact neuropsychological performances in the years following injury. The current study explores these issues in a sample of 119 U.S. veterans (OEF/OIF forensic concussion, n = 24; non-OEF/OIF forensic concussion, n = 20; OEF/OIF research concussion, n = 38; OEF/OIF research without concussion, n = 37). The OEF/OIF forensic concussion group exhibited significantly higher rates of insufficient effort relative to the OEF/OIF research concussion group, but a comparable rate of insufficient effort relative to the non-OEF/OIF forensic concussion group. After controlling for effort, the research concussion and the research non-concussion groups demonstrated comparable neuropsychological performance. Results highlight the importance of effort assessment among OEF/OIF and other veterans with concussion history, particularly in forensic contexts
Time Ordering in Kicked Qubits
We examine time ordering effects in strongly, suddenly perturbed two-state
quantum systems (kicked qubits) by comparing results with time ordering to
results without time ordering. Simple analytic expressions are given for state
occupation amplitudes and probabilities for singly and multiply kicked qubits.
We investigate the limit of no time ordering, which can differ in different
representations.Comment: 26 pages, 5 figure
Film calibration for the Skylab/ATM S-056 X-ray telescope
The sensitometry and film calibration effort for the Skylab/ATM S-056 X-ray telescope is summarized. The apparatus and procedures used are described together with the two types of flight film used, Kodak SO-212 and SO-242. The sensitometry and processing of the flight film are discussed, and the results are presented in the form of the characteristic curves and related data. The use of copy films is also discussed
Case management and Think First completion
“The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Probation Journal, Vol 53 Issue 3, 2006, Copyright The Trade Union and Professional Association for Family Court and Probation Staff, by SAGE Publications Ltd at: http://prb.sagepub.com/ " DOI: 10.1177/0264550506066771This article considers the findings of a small-scale study of the practice of case managers supervising offenders required to attend the Think First Group. It explores the interface between one-to-one and group-based work within multi-modal programmes of supervision and seeks to identify those practices that support individuals in completing a group.Peer reviewe
Self-organized critical neural networks
A mechanism for self-organization of the degree of connectivity in model
neural networks is studied. Network connectivity is regulated locally on the
basis of an order parameter of the global dynamics which is estimated from an
observable at the single synapse level. This principle is studied in a
two-dimensional neural network with randomly wired asymmetric weights. In this
class of networks, network connectivity is closely related to a phase
transition between ordered and disordered dynamics. A slow topology change is
imposed on the network through a local rewiring rule motivated by
activity-dependent synaptic development: Neighbor neurons whose activity is
correlated, on average develop a new connection while uncorrelated neighbors
tend to disconnect. As a result, robust self-organization of the network
towards the order disorder transition occurs. Convergence is independent of
initial conditions, robust against thermal noise, and does not require fine
tuning of parameters.Comment: 5 pages RevTeX, 7 figures PostScrip
BaFe2As2 Surface Domains and Domain Walls: Mirroring the Bulk Spin Structure
High-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) measurements on
BaFe2As2-one of the parent compounds of the iron-based superconductors-reveals
a (1x1) As-terminated unit cell on the (001) surface. However, there are
significant differences of the surface unit cell compared to the bulk: only one
of the two As atoms in the unit cell is imaged and domain walls between
different (1x1) regions display a C2 symmetry at the surface. It should have
been C2v if the STM image reflected the geometric structure of the surface or
the orthorhombic bulk. The inequivalent As atoms and the bias dependence of the
domain walls indicate that the origin of the STM image is primarily electronic
not geometric. We argue that the surface electronic topography mirrors the bulk
spin structure of BaFe2As2, via strong orbital-spin coupling
Evidence for Strong Itinerant Spin Fluctuations in the Normal State of CeFeAsO(0.89)F(0.11) Iron-Oxypnictides
The electronic structure in the normal state of CeFeAsO0.89F0.11 oxypnictide
superconductors has been investigated with x-ray absorption and photoemission
spectroscopy. All the data exhibit signatures of Fe d-electron itinerancy.
Exchange multiplets appearing in the Fe 3s core level indicate the presence of
itinerant spin fluctuations. These findings suggest that the underlying physics
and the origin of superconductivity in these materials are likely to be quite
different from those of the cuprate high-temperature superconductors. These
materials provide opportunities for elucidating the role of magnetic
fluctuations in high-temperature superconductivity.Comment: Shorter version. Accepted in Phys. Rev. Let
Phonon density of states and heat capacity of La_(3−x)Te_4
The phonon density of states (DOS) of La_(3−x)Te_4 compounds (x=0.0,0.18,0.32) was measured at 300, 520, and 780 K, using inelastic neutron scattering. A significant stiffening of the phonon DOS and a large broadening of features were observed upon introduction of vacancies on La sites (increasing x). Heat-capacity measurements were performed at temperatures 1.85 ≤ T ≤ 1200 K and were analyzed to quantify the contributions of phonons and electrons. The Debye temperature and the electronic coefficient of heat capacity determined from these measurements are consistent with the neutron-scattering results, and with previously reported first-principles calculations. Our results indicate that La vacancies in La_(3−x)Te_4 strongly scatter phonons and this source of scattering appears to be independent of temperature. The stiffening of the phonon DOS induced by the introduction of vacancies is explained in terms of the electronic structure and the change in bonding character. The temperature dependence of the phonon DOS is captured satisfactorily by the quasiharmonic approximation
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