478 research outputs found
Brain regions concerned with perceptual skills in tennis: An fMRI study
Sporting performance makes special demands on perceptual skills, but the neural mechanisms underlying such performance are little understood. We address this issue, making use of fMRI to identify the brain areas activated in viewing and responding to video sequences of tennis players, filmed from the opponent’s perspective. In a block-design, fMRI study, 9 novice tennis players watched video clips of tennis play. The main stimulus conditions were (1) serve sequences, (2) non-serve behaviour (ball bouncing) and (3) static control sequences. A button response was required indicating the direction of serve (left or right for serve sequences, middle button for non-serve and static sequences). By comparing responses to the three stimulus conditions, it was possible to identify two groups of brain regions responsive to different components of the task. Areas MT/MST and STS in the posterior part of the temporal lobe responded either to serve and to non-serve stimuli, relative to static controls. Serve sequences produced additional regions of activation in parietal lobe (bilateral IPL, right SPL) and in right frontal cortex (IFGd, IFGv), and these areas were not activated by non-serve sequences. These regions of parietal and frontal cortex have been implicated in a “mirror neuron” network in the human brain. It is concluded that the task of judgement of serve direction produces two different patterns of response: activations in MT/MST and STS concerned with primarily with the analysis of motion and body actions, and activations in parietal and frontal cortex associated specifically with the task of identification of direction of serve
The New Generation Atlas of Quasar Spectral Energy Distributions from Radio to X-rays
We have produced the next generation of quasar spectral energy distributions
(SEDs), essentially updating the work of Elvis et al. (1994) by using
high-quality data obtained with several space and ground-based telescopes,
including NASA's Great Observatories. We present an atlas of SEDs of 85
optically bright, non-blazar quasars over the electromagnetic spectrum from
radio to X-rays. The heterogeneous sample includes 27 radio-quiet and 58
radio-loud quasars. Most objects have quasi-simultaneous ultraviolet-optical
spectroscopic data, supplemented with some far-ultraviolet spectra, and more
than half also have Spitzer mid-infrared IRS spectra. The X-ray spectral
parameters are collected from the literature where available. The radio,
far-infrared, and near-infrared photometric data are also obtained from either
the literature or new observations. We construct composite spectral energy
distributions for radio-loud and radio-quiet objects and compare these to those
of Elvis et al., finding that ours have similar overall shapes, but our
improved spectral resolution reveals more detailed features, especially in the
mid and near-infrared.Comment: 46 pages, 10 figures, 10 tables, Accepted by ApJS. Composite SED data
files for radio-loud and radio-quiet quasars (rlmsedMR.txt, rqmsedMR.txt) are
included in the source (Other formats -> Source). Supplemental figures are
not include
National Athletic Trainers' Association Position Statement: Management of Sport Concussion
To provide athletic trainers, physicians, and other health care professionals with best-practice guidelines for the management of sport-related concussions
Survey of the quality of experimental design, statistical analysis and reporting of research using animals
For scientific, ethical and economic reasons, experiments involving animals should be appropriately designed, correctly analysed and transparently reported. This increases the scientific validity of the results, and maximises the knowledge gained from each experiment. A minimum amount of relevant information must be included in scientific publications to ensure that the methods and results of a study can be reviewed, analysed and repeated. Omitting essential information can raise scientific and ethical concerns. We report the findings of a systematic survey of reporting, experimental design and statistical analysis in published biomedical research using laboratory animals. Medline and EMBASE were searched for studies reporting research on live rats, mice and non-human primates carried out in UK and US publicly funded research establishments. Detailed information was collected from 271 publications, about the objective or hypothesis of the study, the number, sex, age and/or weight of animals used, and experimental and statistical methods. Only 59% of the studies stated the hypothesis or objective of the study and the number and characteristics of the animals used. Appropriate and efficient experimental design is a critical component of high-quality science. Most of the papers surveyed did not use randomisation (87%) or blinding (86%), to reduce bias in animal selection and outcome assessment. Only 70% of the publications that used statistical methods described their methods and presented the results with a measure of error or variability. This survey has identified a number of issues that need to be addressed in order to improve experimental design and reporting in publications describing research using animals. Scientific publication is a powerful and important source of information; the authors of scientific publications therefore have a responsibility to describe their methods and results comprehensively, accurately and transparently, and peer reviewers and journal editors share the responsibility to ensure that published studies fulfil these criteria
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Does Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Youth Anxiety Outperform Usual Care in Community Clinics? An Initial Effectiveness Test
Objective: Most tests of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for youth anxiety disorders have shown beneficial effects, but these have been efficacy trials with recruited youths treated by researcher-employed therapists. One previous (nonrandomized) trial in community clinics found that CBT did not outperform usual care (UC). The present study used a more stringent effectiveness design to test CBT versus UC in youths referred to community clinics, with all treatment provided by therapists employed in the clinics. Method: A randomized controlled trial methodology was used. Therapists were randomized to training and supervision in the Coping Cat CBT program or UC. Forty-eight youths (56% girls, 8 to 15 years of age, 38% Caucasian, 33% Latino, 15% African-American) diagnosed with DSM-IV anxiety disorders were randomized to CBT or UC. Results: At the end of treatment more than half the youths no longer met criteria for their primary anxiety disorder, but the groups did not differ significantly on symptom (e.g., parent report, eta-square = 0.0001; child report, eta-square = 0.09; both differences favoring UC) or diagnostic (CBT, 66.7% without primary diagnosis; UC, 73.7%; odds ratio 0.71) outcomes. No differences were found with regard to outcomes of comorbid conditions, treatment duration, or costs. However, youths receiving CBT used fewer additional services than UC youths (χ21 = 8.82, p = .006). Conclusions: CBT did not produce better clinical outcomes than usual community clinic care. This initial test involved a relatively modest sample size; more research is needed to clarify whether there are conditions under which CBT can produce better clinical outcomes than usual clinical care.Psycholog
Graphene/-RuCl: An Emergent 2D Plasmonic Interface
Work function-mediated charge transfer in graphene/-RuCl
heterostructures has been proposed as a strategy for generating highly-doped 2D
interfaces. In this geometry, graphene should become sufficiently doped to host
surface and edge plasmon-polaritons (SPPs and EPPs, respectively).
Characterization of the SPP and EPP behavior as a function of frequency and
temperature can be used to simultaneously probe the magnitude of interlayer
charge transfer while extracting the optical response of the interfacial doped
-RuCl. We accomplish this using scanning near-field optical
microscopy (SNOM) in conjunction with first-principles DFT calculations. This
reveals massive interlayer charge transfer (2.7 10 cm)
and enhanced optical conductivity in -RuCl as a result of
significant electron doping. Our results provide a general strategy for
generating highly-doped plasmonic interfaces in the 2D limit in a scanning
probe-accessible geometry without need of an electrostatic gate.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figure
Infrared nanoscopy of Dirac plasmons at the graphene-SiO2 interface
We report on infrared (IR) nanoscopy of 2D plasmon excitations of Dirac
fermions in graphene. This is achieved by confining mid-IR radiation at the
apex of a nanoscale tip: an approach yielding two orders of magnitude increase
in the value of in-plane component of incident wavevector q compared to free
space propagation. At these high wavevectors, the Dirac plasmon is found to
dramatically enhance the near-field interaction with mid-IR surface phonons of
SiO2 substrate. Our data augmented by detailed modeling establish graphene as a
new medium supporting plasmonic effects that can be controlled by gate voltage.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure
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