622 research outputs found
Trunk sway in mildly disabled multiple sclerosis patients with and without balance impairment
Multiple sclerosis (MS) causes a broad range of neurological symptoms. Most common is poor balance control. However, knowledge of deficient balance control in mildly affected MS patients who are complaining of balance impairment but have normal clinical balance tests (CBT) is limited. This knowledge might provide insights into the normal and pathophysiological mechanisms underlying stance and gait. We analysed differences in trunk sway between mildly disabled MS patients with and without subjective balance impairment (SBI), all with normal CBT. The sway was measured for a battery of stance and gait balance tests (static and dynamic posturography) and compared to that of age- and sex-matched healthy subjects. Eight of 21 patients (38%) with an Expanded Disability Status Scale of 1.0-3.0 complained of SBI during daily activities. For standing on both legs with eyes closed on a normal and on a foam surface, patients in the no SBI group showed significant differences in the range of trunk roll (lateral) sway angle and velocity, compared to normal persons. Patients in the SBI group had significantly greater lateral sway than the no SBI group, and sway was also greater than normal in the pitch (anterior-posterior) direction. Sway for one-legged stance on foam was also greater in the SBI group compared to the no SBI and normal groups. We found a specific laterally directed impairment of balance in all patients, consistent with a deficit in proprioceptive processing, which was greater in the SBI group than in the no SBI group. This finding most likely explains the subjective symptoms of imbalance in patients with MS with normal CBT
The VIPERS Multi-Lambda Survey. I. UV and NIR Observations, multi-color catalogues and photometric redshifts
We present observations collected in the CFHTLS-VIPERS region in the
ultraviolet (UV) with the GALEX satellite (far and near UV channels) and the
near infrared with the CFHT/WIRCam camera (-band) over an area of 22 and
27 deg, respectively. The depth of the photometry was optimized to measure
the physical properties (e.g., SFR, stellar masses) of all the galaxies in the
VIPERS spectroscopic survey. The large volume explored by VIPERS will enable a
unique investigation of the relationship between the galaxy properties and
their environment (density field and cosmic web) at high redshift (0.5 < z <
1.2). In this paper, we present the observations, the data reductions and the
build-up of the multi-color catalogues. The CFHTLS-T0007 (gri-{\chi}^2) images
are used as reference to detect and measure the -band photometry, while
the T0007 u-selected sources are used as priors to perform the GALEX photometry
based on a dedicated software (EMphot). Our final sample reaches ~25
(at 5{\sigma}) and ~22 (at 3{\sigma}). The large spectroscopic sample
(~51,000 spectroscopic redshifts) allows us to highlight the robustness of our
star/galaxy separation, and the reliability of our photometric redshifts with a
typical accuracy 0.04 and a catastrophic failure rate {\eta} <
2% down to i~23. We present various tests on the band completeness and
photometric redshift accuracy by comparing with existing, overlapping deep
photometric catalogues. Finally, we discuss the BzK sample of passive and
active galaxies at high redshift and the evolution of galaxy morphology in the
(NUV-r) vs (r-K_s) diagram at low redshift (z < 0.25) thanks to the high image
quality of the CFHTLS. The images, catalogues and photometric redshifts for 1.5
million sources (down to 25 or 22) are released and
available at this URL: http://cesam.lam.fr/vipers-mls/Comment: 14 pages, 16 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A. Version to be
publishe
An Ishihara-style test of animal colour vision
ABSTRACT Colour vision mediates ecologically relevant tasks for many animals, such as mate choice, foraging and predator avoidance. However, our understanding of animal colour perception is largely derived from human psychophysics, and behavioural tests of non-human animals are required to understand how colour signals are perceived. Here, we introduce a novel test of colour vision in animals inspired by the Ishihara colour charts, which are widely used to identify human colour deficiencies. In our method, distractor dots have a fixed chromaticity (hue and saturation) but vary in luminance. Animals can be trained to find single target dots that differ from distractor dots in chromaticity. We provide MATLAB code for creating these stimuli, which can be modified for use with different animals. We demonstrate the success of this method with triggerfish, Rhinecanthus aculeatus, which quickly learnt to select target dots that differed from distractor dots, and highlight behavioural parameters that can be measured, including success of finding the target dot, time to detection and error rate. We calculated discrimination thresholds by testing whether target colours that were of increasing colour distances (ÎS) from distractor dots could be detected, and calculated discrimination thresholds in different directions of colour space. At least for some colours, thresholds indicated better discrimination than expected from the receptor noise limited (RNL) model assuming 5% Weber fraction for the long-wavelength cone. This methodology could be used with other animals to address questions such as luminance thresholds, sensory bias, effects of sensory noise, colour categorization and saliency
First Detection of Polarization of the Submillimetre Diffuse Galactic Dust Emission by Archeops
We present the first determination of the Galactic polarized emission at 353
GHz by Archeops. The data were taken during the Arctic night of February 7,
2002 after the balloon--borne instrument was launched by CNES from the Swedish
Esrange base near Kiruna. In addition to the 143 GHz and 217 GHz frequency
bands dedicated to CMB studies, Archeops had one 545 GHz and six 353 GHz
bolometers mounted in three polarization sensitive pairs that were used for
Galactic foreground studies. We present maps of the I, Q, U Stokes parameters
over 17% of the sky and with a 13 arcmin resolution at 353 GHz (850 microns).
They show a significant Galactic large scale polarized emission coherent on the
longitude ranges [100, 120] and [180, 200] deg. with a degree of polarization
at the level of 4-5%, in agreement with expectations from starlight
polarization measurements. Some regions in the Galactic plane (Gem OB1,
Cassiopeia) show an even stronger degree of polarization in the range 10-20%.
Those findings provide strong evidence for a powerful grain alignment mechanism
throughout the interstellar medium and a coherent magnetic field coplanar to
the Galactic plane. This magnetic field pervades even some dense clouds.
Extrapolated to high Galactic latitude, these results indicate that
interstellar dust polarized emission is the major foreground for PLANCK-HFI CMB
polarization measurement.Comment: Submitted to Astron. & Astrophys., 14 pages, 12 Fig., 2 Table
SpineCreator: a Graphical User Interface for the Creation of Layered Neural Models.
There is a growing requirement in computational neuroscience for tools that permit collaborative model building, model sharing, combining existing models into a larger system (multi-scale model integration), and are able to simulate models using a variety of simulation engines and hardware platforms. Layered XML model specification formats solve many of these problems, however they are difficult to write and visualise without tools. Here we describe a new graphical software tool, SpineCreator, which facilitates the creation and visualisation of layered models of point spiking neurons or rate coded neurons without requiring the need for programming. We demonstrate the tool through the reproduction and visualisation of published models and show simulation results using code generation interfaced directly into SpineCreator. As a unique application for the graphical creation of neural networks, SpineCreator represents an important step forward for neuronal modelling
QUBIC: The QU Bolometric Interferometer for Cosmology
One of the major challenges of modern cosmology is the detection of B-mode
polarization anisotropies in the CMB. These originate from tensor fluctuations
of the metric produced during the inflationary phase. Their detection would
therefore constitute a major step towards understanding the primordial
Universe. The expected level of these anisotropies is however so small that it
requires a new generation of instruments with high sensitivity and extremely
good control of systematic effects. We propose the QUBIC instrument based on
the novel concept of bolometric interferometry, bringing together the
sensitivity advantages of bolometric detectors with the systematics effects
advantages of interferometry. Methods: The instrument will directly observe the
sky through an array of entry horns whose signals will be combined together
using an optical combiner. The whole set-up is located inside a cryostat.
Polarization modulation will be achieved using a rotating half-wave plate and
interference fringes will be imaged on two focal planes (separated by a
polarizing grid) tiled with bolometers. We show that QUBIC can be considered as
a synthetic imager, exactly similar to a usual imager but with a synthesized
beam formed by the array of entry horns. Scanning the sky provides an
additional modulation of the signal and improve the sky coverage shape. The
usual techniques of map-making and power spectrum estimation can then be
applied. We show that the sensitivity of such an instrument is comparable with
that of an imager with the same number of horns. We anticipate a low level of
beam-related systematics thanks to the fact that the synthesized beam is
determined by the location of the primary horns. Other systematics should be
under good control thanks to an autocalibration technique, specific to our
concept, that will permit the accurate determination of most of the systematics
parameters.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, submitted to Astronomy and Astrophysic
Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) for the Subaru Telescope: Overview, recent progress, and future perspectives
PFS (Prime Focus Spectrograph), a next generation facility instrument on the
8.2-meter Subaru Telescope, is a very wide-field, massively multiplexed,
optical and near-infrared spectrograph. Exploiting the Subaru prime focus, 2394
reconfigurable fibers will be distributed over the 1.3 deg field of view. The
spectrograph has been designed with 3 arms of blue, red, and near-infrared
cameras to simultaneously observe spectra from 380nm to 1260nm in one exposure
at a resolution of ~1.6-2.7A. An international collaboration is developing this
instrument under the initiative of Kavli IPMU. The project is now going into
the construction phase aiming at undertaking system integration in 2017-2018
and subsequently carrying out engineering operations in 2018-2019. This article
gives an overview of the instrument, current project status and future paths
forward.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures. Proceeding of SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and
Instrumentation 201
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Using insights from (public) services management to improve student engagement in higher education
This paper argues that current approaches used to assess and monitor student engagement in UK higher education are failing to fulfil their potential by superficially helping institutions to appear professional and innovative yet failing to accurately measure and improve engagement. Drawing on service management literature including (Public) Service Dominant theory, this paper argues that current strategies are failing to deliver for three main reasons. They do not capture the full value students derive from their engagement experience, they underplay the impact of peers within the ecosystem and they do not effectively engage employees. The paper concludes by exploring the implications of these omissions for further research and practice
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