4,996 research outputs found
Application of ERTS-1 imagery to the harvest model of the US Menhaden fishery
Preliminary results of an experiment to demonstrate the utility of ERTS-1 imagery for providing significant information to the harvest model of the menhaden industry are reported. Fisheries and related environmental data were obtained discontinuously throughout the 1973 menhaden (a surface schooling, coastal species) fishing season in Mississippi Sound. The unexpected complexity of the physical environment in Mississippi Sound precluded simplistic analysis of fish/environment relationships. Preliminary indications are that an association does exist between fish availability and differences in water transparency (turbidity) within the Sound. A clearer relationship is developing between major turbid features, imaged by ERTS-1 and location of successful fishing attempts. On all occasions where relatively cloudfree ERTS-1 overflight days coincided with fishery activity, overlays of catch location of ERTS-1 images show an association of school position with interfaces between imaged turbid features. Analysis is currently underway to determine persistence of such associations in an attempt to define minimum satellite return time necessary to maintain continuity of associations
Spin-dependent electrical transport in ion-beam sputter deposited Fe-Cr multilayers
The temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity and
magnetoresistance of Xe-ion beam sputtered Fe-Cr multilayers has been
investigated. The electrical resistivity between 5 and 300 K in the fully
ferromagnetic state, obtained by applying a field beyond the saturation field
(H_sat) necessary for the antiferromagnetic(AF)-ferromagnetic(FM) field-induced
transition, shows evidence of spin-disorder resistivity as in crystalline Fe
and an s-d scattering contribution (as in 3d metals and alloys). The sublattice
magnetization m(T) in these multilayers has been calculated in terms of the
planar and interlayer exchange energies. The additional spin-dependent
scattering \Delta \rho (T) = \rho(T,H=0)_AF - \rho(T,H=H_sat)_FM in the AF
state over a wide range of temperature is found to be proportional to the
sublattice magnetization, both \Delta \rho(T) and m(T) reducing along with the
antiferromagnetic fraction. At intermediate fields, the spin-dependent part of
the electrical resistivity (\rho_s (T)) fits well to the power law \rho_s (T) =
b - cT^\alpha where c is a constant and b and \alpha are functions of H. At low
fields \alpha \approx 2 and the intercept b decreases with H much the same way
as the decrease of \Delta \rho (T) with T. A phase diagram (T vs. H_sat) is
obtained for the field- induced AF to FM transition. Comparisons are made
between the present investigation and similar studies using dc magnetron
sputtered and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) grown Fe-Cr multilayers.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Raman signatures of classical and quantum phases in coupled dots: A theoretical prediction
We study electron molecules in realistic vertically coupled quantum dots in a
strong magnetic field. Computing the energy spectrum, pair correlation
functions, and dynamical form factor as a function of inter-dot coupling via
diagonalization of the many-body Hamiltonian, we identify structural
transitions between different phases, some of which do not have a classical
counterpart. The calculated Raman cross section shows how such phases can be
experimentally singled out.Comment: 9 pages, 2 postscript figures, 1 colour postscript figure, Latex 2e,
Europhysics Letters style and epsfig macros. Submitted to Europhysics Letter
Physical profiles of elite male field hockey and soccer players - application to sport-specific tests
Background. The physical demands of field hockey and soccer, based on match analysis, are comparable. As a consequence many exercise scientists and coaches have
started to use the same type of field tests for hockey and soccer for the purposes of talent identification and training prescription. The validity of this practice is unknown and
the data supporting the similarity of the physical attributes of soccer and hockey players are lacking.
Objectives. To compare the physical attributes of elite South African hockey and soccer players.
Methods. Elite hockey players (N=39: 22±3 years; mean ± standard deviation) and soccer players (N=37; 24±4 years) completed a set of physical tests including a 10 m
and 40 m sprint test, a repeated sprint test (sprint fatigue resistance), a 1RM bench press and a push-up test.
Results. There were no differences in the 10 m (1.8±0.1 s both groups) and 40 m (5.4±0.2 s v. 5.3±0.2 s; hockey v. soccer) sprint times and distance run in the repeated
sprint test (754±14 m v. 734±51 m). The hockey players were stronger (82±16 v. 65±13 kg) and did more push-ups (49±12 v. 38±10 push-ups) than the soccer players.
Conclusions. It is acceptable to use the same type of sport-specific tests to measure sprint capacity and sprint fatigue resistance for hockey and soccer players. However, it is questionable whether the normative data derived for upper body strength for soccer players are relevant for hockey players, and vice versa. South African Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 19 (3) 2007: pp. 74-7
Some Results on the Boundary Control of Systems of Conservation Laws
This note is concerned with the study of the initial boundary value problem
for systems of conservation laws from the point of view of control theory,
where the initial data is fixed and the boundary data are regarded as control
functions. We first consider the problem of controllability at a fixed time for
genuinely nonlinear Temple class systems, and present a description of the set
of attainable configurations of the corresponding solutions in terms of
suitable Oleinik-type estimates. We next present a result concerning the
asymptotic stabilization near a constant state for general systems.
Finally we show with an example that in general one cannot achieve exact
controllability to a constant state in finite time.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, conferenc
Diet, nutrition and the prevention of type 2 diabetes
Objectives: The overall objective of this study was to evaluate and provide evidence
and recommendations on current published literature about diet and lifestyle in the
prevention of type 2 diabetes.
Design: Epidemiological and experimental studies, focusing on nutritional
intervention in the prevention of type 2 diabetes are used to make disease-specific
recommendations. Long-term cohort studies are given the most weight as to strength
of evidence available.
Setting and subjects: Numerous clinical trials and cohort studies in low, middle and
high income countries are evaluated regarding recommendations for dietary
prevention of type 2 diabetes. These include, among others, the Finnish Diabetes
Prevention Study, US Diabetes Prevention Program, Da Qing Study; Pima Indian
Study; Iowa Women’s Health Study; and the study of the US Male Physicians.
Results: There is convincing evidence for a decreased risk of diabetes in adults who are
physically active and maintain a normal body mass index (BMI) throughout
adulthood, and in overweight adults with impaired glucose tolerance who lose weight
voluntarily. An increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes is associated with
overweight and obesity; abdominal obesity; physical inactivity; and maternal diabetes.
It is probable that a high intake of saturated fats and intrauterine growth retardation
also contribute to an increased risk, while non-starch polysaccharides are likely to be
associated with a decreased risk. From existing evidence it is also possible that omega-3 fatty acids, low glycaemic index foods and exclusive breastfeeding may play a
protective role, and that total fat intake and trans fatty acids may contribute to the risk.
However, insufficient evidence is currently available to provide convincing proof.
Conclusions: Based on the strength of available evidence regarding diet and lifestyle in the prevention of type 2 diabetes, it is recommended that a normal weight status in the lower BMI range (BMI 21–23) and regular physical activity be maintained throughout adulthood; abdominal obesity be prevented; and saturated fat intake be less than 7% of the total energy intake
L^2 stability estimates for shock solutions of scalar conservation laws using the relative entropy method
We consider scalar nonviscous conservation laws with strictly convex flux in
one spatial dimension, and we investigate the behavior of bounded L^2
perturbations of shock wave solutions to the Riemann problem using the relative
entropy method. We show that up to a time-dependent translation of the shock,
the L^2 norm of a perturbed solution relative to the shock wave is bounded
above by the L^2 norm of the initial perturbation.Comment: 17 page
A comparison of covered vs bare expandable stents for the treatment of aortoiliac occlusive disease
ObjectiveThis trial was conducted to determine if covered stents offer a patency advantage over bare-metal stents in the treatment of aortoiliac arterial occlusive disease.MethodsThe Covered Versus Balloon Expandable Stent Trial (COBEST), a prospective, multicenter, randomized controlled trial, was performed involving 168 iliac arteries in 125 patients with severe aortoiliac occlusive disease who were randomly assigned to receive a covered balloon-expandable stent or bare-metal stent. Patient demographic data, clinical signs and symptoms, TransAtlantic Inter-Society Consensus (TASC) classification, and preprocedure and postprocedure ankle-brachial index measurements were recorded. The primary end points included freedom from binary restenosis and stent occlusion of the treated area, as determined by ultrasound imaging or quantitative visual angiography, or both. Postprocedural follow-up was at 1, 6, 12, and 18 months.ResultsAortoiliac lesions treated with a covered stent were significantly more likely to remain free from binary restenosis than those that were treated with a bare-metal stent (hazard ratio [HR], 0.35; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.15-0.82; P = .02). Freedom from occlusion was also higher in lesions treated with covered stents than in those treated with a bare-metal stent (HR, 0.28; 95% CI, 0.07-1.09); however, this did not reach statistical significance (P = .07). Subgroup analyses demonstrated a significant difference in freedom from binary restenosis for covered stents in TASC C and D lesions compared with a bare stent (HR, 0.136; 95% CI, 0.042-0.442). This difference was not demonstrated for TASC B lesions (HR, 0.748; 95% CI, 0.235-2.386).ConclusionsCOBEST demonstrates covered and bare-metal stents produce similar and acceptable results for TASC B lesions. However, covered stents perform better for TASC C and D lesions than bare stents in longer-term patency and clinical outcome
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