20,869 research outputs found
Visual feedback maintains mean concentric barbell velocity, and improves motivation, competitiveness, and perceived workload in male adolescent athletes
It is unknown whether instantaneous visual feedback of resistance training outcomes can enhance barbell velocity in younger athletes. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to quantify the effects of visual feedback on mean concentric barbell velocity in the back squat, and to identify changes in motivation, competitiveness, and perceived workload. In a randomised-crossover design (Feedback vs. Control) feedback of mean concentric barbell velocity was or was not provided throughout a set of 10 repetitions in the barbell back squat. Magnitude-based inferences were used to assess changes between conditions, with almost certainly greater differences in mean concentric velocity between the Feedback (0.70 ±0.04 m·s-1) and Control (0.65 ±0.05 m·s-1) observed. Additionally, individual repetition mean concentric velocity ranged from possibly (repetition number two: 0.79 ±0.04 vs. 0.78 ±0.04 m·s-1) to almost certainly (repetition number 10: 0.58 ±0.05 vs. 0.49 ±0.05 m·s-1) greater when provided feedback, while almost certain differences were observed in motivation, competitiveness, and perceived workload, respectively. Providing adolescent male athletes with visual kinematic information while completing resistance training is beneficial for the maintenance of barbell velocity during a training set, potentially enhancing physical performance. Moreover, these improvements were observed alongside increases in motivation, competitiveness and perceived workload providing insight into the underlying mechanisms responsible for the performance gains observed. Given the observed maintenance of barbell velocity during a training set, practitioners can use this technique to manipulate training outcomes during resistance trainin
A standardised protocol for the assessment of lower limb muscle contractile properties in football players using Tensiomyography
Tensiomyography is used to measure skeletal muscle contractile properties, most notably muscle displacement (Dm) and contraction time (Tc). Professional football medical departments are currently using the equipment to profile the muscle function of their squad and subsequently evaluate change due to injury or intervention. However, at present there are no published standardised operating procedures for identifying probe position for muscle assessment. In this technical report we propose standardised operating procedures for the identification of precise probe position as part of an on-going study in male professional footballers
Systematic Renormalization in Hamiltonian Light-Front Field Theory
We develop a systematic method for computing a renormalized light-front field
theory Hamiltonian that can lead to bound states that rapidly converge in an
expansion in free-particle Fock-space sectors. To accomplish this without
dropping any Fock sectors from the theory, and to regulate the Hamiltonian, we
suppress the matrix elements of the Hamiltonian between free-particle
Fock-space states that differ in free mass by more than a cutoff. The cutoff
violates a number of physical principles of the theory, and thus the
Hamiltonian is not just the canonical Hamiltonian with masses and couplings
redefined by renormalization. Instead, the Hamiltonian must be allowed to
contain all operators that are consistent with the unviolated physical
principles of the theory. We show that if we require the Hamiltonian to produce
cutoff-independent physical quantities and we require it to respect the
unviolated physical principles of the theory, then its matrix elements are
uniquely determined in terms of the fundamental parameters of the theory. This
method is designed to be applied to QCD, but for simplicity, we illustrate our
method by computing and analyzing second- and third-order matrix elements of
the Hamiltonian in massless phi-cubed theory in six dimensions.Comment: 47 pages, 6 figures; improved referencing, minor presentation change
Systematic Renormalization in Hamiltonian Light-Front Field Theory: The Massive Generalization
Hamiltonian light-front field theory can be used to solve for hadron states
in QCD. To this end, a method has been developed for systematic renormalization
of Hamiltonian light-front field theories, with the hope of applying the method
to QCD. It assumed massless particles, so its immediate application to QCD is
limited to gluon states or states where quark masses can be neglected. This
paper builds on the previous work by including particle masses
non-perturbatively, which is necessary for a full treatment of QCD. We show
that several subtle new issues are encountered when including masses
non-perturbatively. The method with masses is algebraically and conceptually
more difficult; however, we focus on how the methods differ. We demonstrate the
method using massive phi^3 theory in 5+1 dimensions, which has important
similarities to QCD.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures. Corrected error in Eq. (11), v3: Added extra
disclaimer after Eq. (2), and some clarification at end of Sec. 3.3. Final
published versio
New insights into the outflows from R Aquarii
R Aquarii is a symbiotic binary surrounded by a large and complex nebula with
a prominent curved jet. It is one of the closest known symbiotic systems, and
therefore offers a unique opportunity to study the central regions of these
systems and the formation and evolution of astrophysical jets. We studied the
evolution of the central jet and outer nebula of R Aqr taking advantage of a
long term monitoring campaign of optical imaging, as well as of high-resolution
integral field spectroscopy. Narrow-band images acquired over a period of more
than 21 years are compared in order to study the expansion and evolution of all
components of the R Aqr nebula. The magnification method is used to derive the
kinematic ages of the features that appear to expand radially. Integral field
spectroscopy of the OIII 5007A emission is used to study the velocity structure
of the central regions of the jet. New extended features, further out than the
previously known hourglass nebula, are detected. The kinematic distance to R
Aqr is calculated to be 178 pc using the expansion of the large hourglass
nebula. This nebula of R Aqr is found to be roughly 650 years old, while the
inner regions have ages ranging from 125 to 290 years. The outer nebula is
found to be well described by a ballistic expansion, while for most components
of the jet strong deviations from such behaviour are found. We find that the
Northern jet is mostly red-shifted while its Southern part is blue-shifted,
apparently at odds with findings from previous studies but almost certainly a
consequence of the complex nature of the jet and variations in ionisation and
illumination between observations.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Recommended from our members
Are open educational resources the future of e-learning?
Increased interest in more open approaches to learning, in particular Open Educational Resources is reflected in the programmes of international organisations, national initiatives and the actions of individual institutions. However, while some see OER as an indicator of the future of learning, others are much more sceptical and doubt their long-term success. This paper considers the vision of OER as part of future learning solutions in the society driven by technology and knowledge. Supported by an examination of specific national contexts and linked to research from relevant initiatives arguments in favour of using OER are outlined. These include their value in both developing and developed countries, and flexible ways of use in structured courses and in informal, learner-driven environments. This is balanced by highlighting concerns that relate mainly to current issues of certification, quality and intellectual property rights, but also potential problems such as the lack of instructor-learner interaction and the dominance of OER initiatives from English-speaking universities. The paper concludes that OER have an immense potential as long as the elements that contribute to their success are identified and harnessed, and barriers effectively dealt with
Young children's cognitive achievement: home learning environment, language and ethnic background
For decades, research has shown differences in cognitive assessment scores between White and minority ethnic group(s) learners as well as differences across different minority ethnic groups. More recent data have indicated that the home learning environment and languages spoken can impact cognitive assessment and other corollary outcomes. This study uses the Millennium Cohort Study to jointly assess how minority ethnic group, home learning environment and home languages predict child cognitive assessment scores. Regression analyses were conducted using two assessment measures. The following is hypothesised: (1) cognitive achievement scores vary by minority ethnic group, (2) more home learning environment in early childhood leads to higher cognitive development scores and (3) English only in the home yields the highest cognitive scores while no English in the home yields the lowest. Findings reveal that there are differences in cognitive scores along ethnic group categories although there are also some unexpected findings. Home learning environment does not play as large a role as was predicted in raising the assessment scores overall for learners while speaking English in the home does, irrespective of ethnic background
Methods to improve recruitment to randomised controlled trials : Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis
Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Glueballs in a Hamiltonian Light-Front Approach to Pure-Glue QCD
We calculate a renormalized Hamiltonian for pure-glue QCD and diagonalize it.
The renormalization procedure is designed to produce a Hamiltonian that will
yield physical states that rapidly converge in an expansion in free-particle
Fock-space sectors. To make this possible, we use light-front field theory to
isolate vacuum effects, and we place a smooth cutoff on the Hamiltonian to
force its free-state matrix elements to quickly decrease as the difference of
the free masses of the states increases. The cutoff violates a number of
physical principles of light-front pure-glue QCD, including Lorentz covariance
and gauge covariance. This means that the operators in the Hamiltonian are not
required to respect these physical principles. However, by requiring the
Hamiltonian to produce cutoff-independent physical quantities and by requiring
it to respect the unviolated physical principles of pure-glue QCD, we are able
to derive recursion relations that define the Hamiltonian to all orders in
perturbation theory in terms of the running coupling. We approximate all
physical states as two-gluon states, and use our recursion relations to
calculate to second order the part of the Hamiltonian that is required to
compute the spectrum. We diagonalize the Hamiltonian using basis-function
expansions for the gluons' color, spin, and momentum degrees of freedom. We
examine the sensitivity of our results to the cutoff and use them to analyze
the nonperturbative scale dependence of the coupling. We investigate the effect
of the dynamical rotational symmetry of light-front field theory on the
rotational degeneracies of the spectrum and compare the spectrum to recent
lattice results. Finally, we examine our wave functions and analyze the various
sources of error in our calculation.Comment: 75 pages, 17 figures, 1 tabl
A Renormalization Group Approach to Relativistic Cosmology
We discuss the averaging hypothesis tacitly assumed in standard cosmology.
Our approach is implemented in a "3+1" formalism and invokes the coarse
graining arguments, provided and supported by the real-space Renormalization
Group (RG) methods. Block variables are introduced and the recursion relations
written down explicitly enabling us to characterize the corresponding RG flow.
To leading order, the RG flow is provided by the Ricci-Hamilton equations
studied in connection with the geometry of three-manifolds. The properties of
the Ricci-Hamilton flow make it possible to study a critical behaviour of
cosmological models. This criticality is discussed and it is argued that it may
be related to the formation of sheet-like structures in the universe. We
provide an explicit expression for the renormalized Hubble constant and for the
scale dependence of the matter distribution. It is shown that the Hubble
constant is affected by non-trivial scale dependent shear terms, while the
spatial anisotropy of the metric influences significantly the scale-dependence
of the matter distribution.Comment: 57 pages, LaTeX, 15 pictures available on request from the Author
- …