Report Contrasting CRESSI’s Approach of Social Innovation with that of Neoclassical Economics

Deliverable 1.

Spatially valid proprioceptive cues improve the detection of a visual stimulus

Vision and proprioception are the main sensory modalities that convey hand location and direction of movement. Fusion of these sensory signals into a single robust percept is now well documented. However, it is not known whether these modalities also interact in the spatial allocation of attention, which has been demonstrated for other modality pairings. The aim of this study was to test whether proprioceptive signals can spatially cue a visual target to improve its detection. Participants were instructed to use a planar manipulandum in a forward reaching action and determine during this movement whether a near-threshold visual target appeared at either of two lateral positions. The target presentation was followed by a masking stimulus, which made its possible location unambiguous, but not its presence. Proprioceptive cues were given by applying a brief lateral force to the participant’s arm, either in the same direction (validly cued) or in the opposite direction (invalidly cued) to the on-screen location of the mask. The d′ detection rate of the target increased when the direction of proprioceptive stimulus was compatible with the location of the visual target compared to when it was incompatible. These results suggest that proprioception influences the allocation of attention in visual spac

Distances to Galactic high-velocity clouds. Complex C

We report the first determination of a distance bracket for the high-velocity cloud (HVC) complex C. Combined with previous measurements showing that this cloud has a metallicity of 0.15 times solar, these results provide ample evidence that complex C traces the continuing accretion of intergalactic gas falling onto the Milky Way. Accounting for both neutral and ionized hydrogen as well as He, the distance bracket implies a mass of 3-14x10^6 M_sun, and the complex represents a mass inflow of 0.1-0.25 M_sun/yr. We base our distance bracket on the detection of CaII absorption in the spectrum of the blue horizontal branch star SDSS J120404.78+623345.6, in combination with a significant non-detection toward the BHB star BS 16034-0114. These results set a strong distance bracket of 3.7-11.2 kpc on the distance to complex C. A more weakly supported lower limit of 6.7 kpc may be derived from the spectrum of the BHB star BS 16079-0017.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Total sleep deprivation alters endothelial function in rats: a nonsympathetic mechanism

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Sleep loss is suspected to induce endothelial dysfunction, a key factor in cardiovascular risk. We examined whether sympathetic activity is involved in the endothelial dysfunction caused by total sleep deprivation (TSD). DESIGN: TWO GROUPS: TSD (24-h wakefulness), using slowly rotating wheels, and wheel control (WC). PARTICIPANTS: Seven-month-old male Wistar rats. INTERVENTIONS: Pharmacological sympathectomy (reserpine, 5 mg/kg, intraperitoneal), nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibition (N (G)-nitro-L-arginine, 20 mg/kg, intraperitoneally 30 min before experiment) and cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibition (indomethacin, 5 mg/kg, intraperitoneally 30 min before experiment). MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: In protocol 1, changes in heart rate (HR) and blood pressure were continuously recorded in the sympathectomized and non-sympathectomized rats. Blood pressure and HR increased during TSD in non-sympathectomized rats. In protocol 2, changes in skin blood flow (vasodilation) were assessed in the sympathectomized and non-sympathectomized rats using laser-Doppler flowmetry coupled with iontophoretic delivery of acetylcholine (ACh), sodium nitroprusside (SNP), and anodal and cathodal currents. ACh- and cathodal current-induced vasodilations were significantly attenuated after TSD in non-sympathectomized and sympathectomized rats (51% and 60%, respectively). In protocol 3, ACh-induced vasodilation was attenuated after NOS and COX inhibition (66% and 49%, respectively). Cathodal current-induced vasodilation decreased by 40% after COX inhibition. In TSD compared to WC a decrease in ACh-induced vasodilation was still observed after COX inhibition. No changes in SNP- and anodal current-induced vasodilation were detected. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that total sleep deprivation induces a reduction in endothelial-dependent vasodilation. This endothelial dysfunction is independent of blood pressure and sympathetic activity but associated with nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase pathway alterations

Kinematics of Metal-Poor Stars in the Galaxy. III. Formation of the Stellar Halo and Thick Disk as Revealed from a Large Sample of Non-Kinematically Selected Stars

(Abbreviated) We present a detailed analysis of the space motions of 1203 solar-neighborhood stars with metal abundances [Fe/H] <= -0.6, on the basis of a recently revised and supplemented catalog of metal-poor stars selected without kinematic bias (Beers et al. 2000). This sample, having available proper motions, radial velocities, and distance estimates for stars with a wide range of metal abundances, is by far the largest such catalog to be assembled to date. Unlike essentially all previous kinematically selected catalogs, the metal-poor stars in our sample exhibit a diverse distribution of orbital eccentricities, e, with no apparent correlation between [Fe/H] and e. This demonstrates, clearly and convincingly, that the evidence offered by Eggen, Lynden-Bell, and Sandage (1962) for a rapid collapse of the Galaxy, an apparent correlation between the orbital eccentricity of halo stars with metallicity, is basically the result of their proper-motion selection bias. However, even in our non-kinematically selected sample, we have identified a small concentration of high-e stars at [Fe/H] = -1.7, which may originate, in part, from infalling gas during the early formation of the Galaxy. The implications of our results for the formation of the Galaxy are also discussed, in particular in the context of the currently favored CDM theory of hierarchical galaxy formation.Comment: 51 pages, including 17 figures, to appear in AJ (June 2000), full paper with all figures embedded available at http://pluto.mtk.nao.ac.jp/people/chiba/preprint/halo5

Effect multifasenvoedering op fosforuitscheiding en technische resultaten van vleesvarkens

Multifasenvoedering leidt ten opzichte van tweefasenvoedering niet tot slechtere technische resultaten bij vleesvarkens. Door toepassing van multifasenvoedering kan de fosforuitscheiding in het traject van opleg tot afleveren met 17% verminderd wordenten opzichte van tweefasenvoedering

Дослідження підходів до оцінки стану конкурентоспроможності підприємств

Мета статті – наведення підходів до оцінки стану конкурентоспроможності підприємств

Abundances of metal-weak thick-disc candidates

High resolution spectra of 5 candidate metal-weak thick-disc stars suggested by Beers & Sommer-Larsen (1995) are analyzed to determine their chemical abundances. The low abundance of all the objects has been confirmed with metallicity reaching [Fe/H]=-2.9. However, for three objects, the astrometric data from the Hipparcos catalogue suggests they are true halo members. The remaining two, for which proper-motion data are not available, may have disc-like kinematics. It is therefore clear that it is useful to address properties of putative metal-weak thick-disc stars only if they possess full kinematic data. For CS 22894-19 the abundance pattern similar to those of typical halo stars is found, suggesting that chemical composition is not a useful discriminant between thick-disc and halo stars. CS 29529-12 is found to be C enhanced with [C/Fe]=+1.0; other chemical peculiarities involve the s process elements: [Sr/Fe]=-0.65 and [Ba/Fe]=+0.62, leading to a high [Ba/Sr] considerably larger than what is found in more metal-rich carbon-rich stars, but similar to LP 706-7 and LP 625-44 discussed by Norris et al (1997a). Hipparcos data have been used to calculate the space velocities of 25 candidate metal-weak thick-disc stars, thus allowing us to identify 3 bona fide members, which support the existence of a metal-poor tail of the thick-disc, at variance with a claim to the contrary by Ryan & Lambert (1995).Comment: to be published in MNRA