215 research outputs found

    The use of a battery of tracking tests in the quantitative evaluation of neurological function

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    A tracking test battery has been applied in a drug trail designed to compare the efficacy of L-DOPA and amantadine to that of L-DOPA and placebo in the treatment of 28 patients with Parkinson's disease. The drug trial provided an ideal opportunity for objectively evaluating the usefulness of tracking tests in assessing changes in neurologic function. Evaluating changes in patient performance resulting from disease progression and controlled clinical trials is of great importance in establishing effective treatment programs

    Nereid: Light Curve for 1999-2006 and a Scenario for its Variations

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    Nereid is a small irregular moon of Neptune that displays large-, moderate-, and small-amplitude photometric variations on both fast and slow time scales. The central mystery of Nereid is now to explain the physical mechanism of these unique brightness changes and why they change with time. To characterize Nereid's variability, we have been using the SMARTS telescopes on Cerro Tololo for synoptic monitoring from 1999 to 2006. We present a well-sampled photometric time series of 493 magnitudes on 246 nights mostly in the V-band. In combination with our earlier data (for 774 magnitudes over 362 nights), our 20-year data set is the most comprehensive for any small icy body in our Solar System. Our yearly light curves show that Nereid displays various types of behaviors: large amplitude brightenings and fadings (1987 to 1990); moderate-amplitude variation about the average phase curve (1993-1997, 2003, 2005), moderate-amplitude variation and systematically brighter by roughly one-quarter magnitude throughout the entire season (2004); and nearly constant light curves superimposed on a surprisingly large-amplitude opposition surge (1998, 1999, 2000, 2006). Other than in 2004, Nereid's variations were closely centered around a constant phase curve that is well fit with a Hapke model for the coherent backscattering opposition surge mechanism with angular scale of 0.7+-0.1 degrees. In our entire data set from 1987-2006, we find no significant periodicity. We propose that the year-to-year changes in the variability of Nereid are caused by forced precession (caused by tidal forces from Neptune) on the spin axis of a nonspherical Nereid, such that cross-sectional areas and average albedos change as viewed from Earth.Comment: Icarus in press, 45 manuscript page

    Quantitative evaluation of neuropharmacological trials

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    Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/116906/1/cpt1974153229.pd

    The Diverse Solar Phase Curves of Distant Icy Bodies. Part I: Photometric Observations of 18 Trans-Neptunian Objects, 7 Centaurs, and Nereid

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    We have measured the solar phase curves in B, V, and I for 18 Trans-Neptunian Objects, 7 Centaurs, and Nereid and determined the rotation curves for 10 of these targets. For each body, we have made ~100 observations uniformly spread over the entire visible range. We find that all the targets except Nereid have linear phase curves at small phase angles (< 2 deg) with widely varying phase coefficients (0.0 to 0.4 mag/deg). At phase angles > 3 deg, the Centaurs (54598) Bienor and (32532) Thereus have phase curves that flatten. The recently discovered Pluto-scale bodies (2003 UB313, 2005 FY9, and 2003 EL61), like Pluto, have neutral colors compared to most TNOs and small phase coefficients (< 0.1 mag/deg). Together these two properties are a likely indication for large TNOs of high-albedo, freshly coated icy surfaces. We find several bodies with significantly wavelength-dependent phase curves. The TNOs (50000) Quaoar, (120348) 2004 TY364 (47932), and 2000 GN171 have unusually high I-band phase coefficients (0.290+/-0.038, 0.413+/-0.064, 0.281+/-0.033 mag/deg, respectively) and much lower coefficients in the B and V bands. Their phase coefficients increase in proportion to wavelength by 0.5 - 0.8 mag/deg/um. The phase curves for TNOs with small B-band phase coefficients (< 0.1 mag/deg) have a similar but weaker wavelength dependence. Coherent backscatter is the likely cause for the wavelength dependence for all these bodies. We see no such dependence for the Centaurs, which have visual albedos ~0.05.Comment: 5 tables, 5 figures made explicit author affiliation
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