Radiative Corrections to Chargino Production with Polarized Beams

We show that radiative corrections to chargino production in electron-positron annihilation with polarized beams can be large especially in the case of right handed electrons. In addition, there is some dependency on the squark masses that allows us to extract information about the squark spectrum from the chargino production.Comment: 4 pages, including 4 figures. Talk given at Linear Collider Workshop 2000--LCWS, Fermilab, Chicago, October 24-28, 200

Injury incidence and physiological requirements of a domestic amateur women's rugby union team in New Zealand : a thesis submitted to Massey University in fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Women’s rugby union has undergone a period of transition to become, reportedly, the fastest growing form of the game worldwide. Although the game is played nationally and internationally, it was not until 1991 that the first Rugby World Cup for women (RWC(W)) was held. Despite increased popularity and growth, the published studies investigating the epidemiological aspects of match and training in women’s rugby union is limited. Of the published studies to date, none have reported on aspects related to women’s rugby union participants in New Zealand. Therefore, the overall aim of this thesis was to explore and document the epidemiology of injuries in an amateur women’s rugby union team in New Zealand. As fatigue has been indicated as a possible injury risk factor, the physiological demands of match participation in amateur women’s rugby union were also assessed. Specific aims of the thesis were (1) The identification of the physiological and heart-rate demands of match participation for amateur women rugby union players; (2) The identification of the most common site, type, severity, and frequency of injuries that occur to women in rugby union training and match related activities (Systematic Review); (3) The identification of the most common site, type, severity, and frequency of injuries that occur to women in rugby union training and match related activities in New Zealand. The methodological approaches utilised in this thesis included an epidemiological analysis (Chapter 3), and a prospective observational cohort analysis (Chapters 2, 4 and 5). In measuring the movement demands of amateur domestic women’s rugby union (Chapter 2), player movements were monitored using microtechnology GPS devices. Players’ heart rates were also continuously monitored during match participation using a portable monitor. A mean total distance per match of 3,546.6 ±1,329.2 m was recorded over 28 matches. This resulted in a mean distance of 38.3 ±13.7 m.min-1 which was less than women’s football (79.3 to 118.0 m.min-1: mean 101.0 ±11.9 m.min-1), hockey (79.0 to 115.0 m.min-1: mean: 98.5 ±15.6 m.min-1) and women’s elite rugby union (54.8 to 68.0 m.min-1; mean: 61.4 ±9.3 m.min-1). Although Forwards recorded a lower total distance (3,409.7 ±1,201.9 m vs. 3,692.3 ±1,440.5 m) and m.min-1 (36.7 ±12.4 m.min-1 vs. 40.0 ±14.9 m.min-1) than Backs, they had a similar player-load (PL) (3.8 ±1.3 au.min-1 vs. 3.9 ±1.4 au.min-1), PL 2-dimensional (2.9 ±1.0 au.min-1 vs. 2.9 ±1.1 au.min-1), PL Forward (1.8 ±0.7 au.min-1 vs. 1.7 ±0.7 au.min-1), PL side (1.9 ±0.7 au.min-1 vs. 1.9 ±0.7 au.min-1) and PL vertical (2.9 ±1.0 au.min-1 vs. 3.0 ±1.2 au.min-1) when compared to Backs. Forwards recorded a higher maximum heart rate than Backs (191 b.min-1 vs. 188 b.min-1), indicating a higher cardiovascular stress and physiological strain for Forwards compared with Backs. The results of this study suggested that the physical and physiological profile of the playing group, at the amateur domestic level of women’s rugby union, were quite similar and may be suggestive of generalised, rather than specialised, training regimes that fail to prepare players for the position specific demands needed at higher levels of competition. The systematic review (Chapter 3) of literature reporting on women’s rugby union incorporated both rugby-15 and rugby-7s match and training related published studies. Only 10 articles identified through systematic searches of PubMed, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science Core Collection, Scopus, CINAHL(EBSCO) and ScienceDirect databases using keywords were included in the review. The incidence of injuries in rugby-15s varied from 3.6 (95% CI: 2.5-5.3) per 1,000 match-hr (including training and games) to 37.5 (95% CI: 26.5-48.5) per 1,000 match-hr, with a pooled incidence of 19.6 (95% CI: 17.7-21.7) per 1,000 match-hr. For rugby-7s, the injury incidence varied from 46.3 (95% CI: 38.7-55.4) per 1,000 match-hr to 95.4 (95% CI: 79.9-113.9) per 1,000 match-hr with a pooled incidence of 62.5 (95% CI: 54.7-70.4) per 1,000 player-hr. The tackle was the most commonly reported injury cause, with the ball carrier recording more injuries than the tackler at the collegiate, and RWC(W) levels of participation. Concussions and sprains/strains were the most commonly reported injuries at the collegiate level of participation. The incidence of injury in women’s rugby-15s and rugby-7s was lower than in men’s professional rugby-15s and rugby-7s competitions, but similar to male youth rugby-15s players. Differences in reporting methodologies limited comparisons of results between studies. Of note, the systematic review failed to identify any New Zealand based studies in women’s rugby union. A key finding of the systematic review was that there were no women’s rugby union training-specific studies identified. By conducting a prospective cohort observational study on the training sessions of an amateur women’s rugby union team, over two-years (Chapter 4), it was identified that the total injury incidence was 11.4 (95% CI: 8.3 to 15.6) per 1,000 training hrs. There were 12 injuries that resulted in a time-loss injury incidence of 3.6 (95% CI: 2.0 to 6.3) per 1,000 training-hrs. The tackle was the most common cause for total (3.0 [95% CI: 1.6 to 5.6] per 1,000 training-hrs.) injuries, but collisions (1.5 [95% CI: 0.6 to 3.6] per 1,000 training-hrs.) with the ground or another person were the most common cause for time-loss injuries. The training injuries occurred most often to the lower limb and during the latter part of training sessions. These injuries were mostly minor in nature, resulting in minimal time-loss away from training. The time-loss injury incidence (3.6 [95% CI: 2.0 to 6.3] per 1,000 training-hrs.) for the amateur women’s rugby 15s team players was higher than that reported for National (1.2 [95% CI: 0.4 to 3.1] per 1,000 training-hrs.) and RWC(W) (0.2 [95% CI: 0.0 to 2.2] to 3.0 [95% CI: 1.8 to 5.0] per 1,000 training-hrs.) competitions. The incidence of match injuries (Chapter 5) was conducted utilising a prospective cohort observational study on an amateur women’s rugby union, over two consecutive seasons. A total of 138 injuries were recorded resulting in an injury incidence of 247.0 (95% CI: 209.1 to 291.9) per 1,000 match-hrs. A total of 57 injuries resulted in a time-loss injury incidence of 102.0 (95% CI: 78.7 to 132.3) per 1,000 match-hrs. Although Forwards (261.8 [95% CI: 209.7 to 326.9] per 1,000 match-hrs.) recorded a higher total injury incidence than Backs (230.2 [95% CI: 178.7 to 296.4] per 1,000 match-hrs.), Backs recorded higher time-loss injury incidence (107.4 [95% CI: 74.2 to 155.6] per 1,000 match-hrs.) than Forwards (97.3 [95% CI: 67.6 to 140.1] per 1,000 match hrs). The lower limb sustained the highest injury incidence, with the knee having the greatest proportion of these injuries for both total (48.3 [95% CI: 33.1 to 70.5] per 1,000 match-hrs.) and time-loss (21.5 [95% CI: 12.2 to 37.8] per 1,000 match-hrs.) injuries. Sprains and strains recorded the highest incidence of all the injuries recorded and the lower limb body region recorded the most days lost and had the highest mean days lost per injury. The incidence of concussion (16.1 [95% CI: 8.4 to 31.0] per 1,000 match-hrs.) over the study was higher than previous studies reporting on women’s rugby union at the RWC(W) (3.5 [95% CI: 1.7 to 7.0] per 1,000 match hrs) and collegiate rugby union (1.6 [95% CI: 1.1 to 2.3] per 1,000 player match-hrs.) levels of participation. The tackle was recorded as being the most common injury cause and this was expected. Upon further analysis, it was identified that the action of being the ball carrier, rather than the tackler, during a tackle situation was associated with a notably higher injury incidence than any other match event. Future research is warranted to identify risk factors involved in the tackle unique to women participants. This PhD thesis has contributed knowledge regarding the incidence of injuries in amateur women rugby union players in New Zealand which has not been undertaken before. In addition, this PhD thesis has contributed further knowledge regarding the physiological demands of amateur women’s rugby union match participation (see Chapter 6)

Radiatively Corrected Chargino Pair Production at LEP2

One-loop radiative corrections to the production cross section of a pair of light charginos in e+e- colliders are calculated within the MSSM. Top and bottom quarks and squarks are considered in the loops, and they are renormalized using the MS-bar scheme. If the center of mass energy is equal to 192 GeV, positive corrections typically of 10% to 15% are found when the squark mass parameters are equal to 1 TeV.Comment: 6 pages, including 5 figures. Latex. Talk given by M.A.D. at the International Workshop "Beyond the Standard Model: From Theory to Experiment", 13--17 October 1997, Valencia, Spai

A study of the cultural, social, political and economic factors in the production of a global house-type

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.The research, undertaken within the context of recent studies on the mutual relation between society and its built environment, concerns a particular item in that environment - the specialised dwelling form of the bungalow - and the various historical forces which have produced it. It also explores the meaning of that form for, and its influences on, the society where it exists. The study has two dimensions: 'a cultural history of the bungalow' and a discussion of various themes which the investigation of that history suggests. The bungalow is probably the only house-type which, both in name (from 'bangla', meaning of, or belonging to Bengal) and form exists in almost every continent. In investigating its origins in India, and later development in Britain, North America, Australia, Africa and Europe, the study explores the historical forces which, in producing it, have also shaped the modern world: colonialism, industrialisation, urbanisation and suburbanisation, and the emergence of a global economy and culture. In different historical contexts, the bungalow has been variously peasant's hut, colonial dwelling, specialised vacation house, country retreat, tropical dwelling, and suburban home. In tracing these developments, the chapters discuss the economic. political, cultural, social and other influences on dwelling and urban form; the symbolic function of architecture and environments; the relationship between social form-and built form, ideology and environment, and dwelling type and property ownership. The role of economic and social power in shaping environments is discussed in relation to 'town and country planning' in Britain. Chapters on India and Africa explore, in the context of debates on 'Westernisation' the transfer of values and standards in housing and planning, as part of a larger transformation of material culture. In investigating the social production and meaning of the bungalow, the study attempts a comparative, inter-disciplinary approach to the-historical study of the built. environment, drawing on social and cultural explanations of built form, the political economy of urbanisation and studies of the world system

Kinetics of the reaction between phosphorus vapour and oxygen: comparison of the effect of hydrogen, deuterium and helium on the lower explosion limit of phosphorus-oxygen mixtures. Displacement of the explosion limits by the action of ultraviolet light. Study of the photochemical initiation of the stable reaction between phosphorous vapour and oxygen

The effect of the foreign gases Hydrogen, Helium and Deuterium on the lover explosion limit of P4-02 mixtures has been studied, and the values for the inert gas effect determined in each case. Comparison of these values showed conclusively that hydrogen ha: a greater inert gas effect than is predicted by theory, A partial explanation of this may lie in the assumptions made as to the nature and physical constants of the chain carriers.The absorption spectrum of phosphorus vapour was obtained for different pressures of phosphorus vapour. Definite absorption was seen to take place in the region of and below the mercury line at 2537A °.Illumination of P4 -02 mixtures at pressures below the lower explosion limit produced two effects, viz. (a) a displacement of the lower limit towards smaller pressures (b) a reaction between the P4 and 02 molecules below the lower limit.Further experimental work was carried out on the displacement of the lower limit in order to test the statement that the explosion limits in a chain reaction are independent of the rate of initiation of the chains. loo During this work it was shown that the displacement is not permanent but slowly decays on allowing the reaction mixtures to stand before proceeding to explosion. A period of five to six minutes is necessary before normal conditions are regained. Illumination of P4 vapour alone resulted in a displacement of the lower limit of only half the value of that obtained when oxygen was present, although the slopes of the corresponding decay curves were similar. Moreover the displacement was the same for different pressures of oxygen, although it was obviously effected by a change in the condition of the walls.All the evidence obtained which was based on the transfer experiments, showed that the displacement of the lower limit was a wall effect and was not due to the production of active centres in the gas. This wall effect was due in the first case to the formation of P2 molecules from the P4 molecules.Illumination of phosphorus- oxygen mixtures above the upper explosion limit resulted in a displacement of this limit towards higher pressures. It was suggested that the explosion limit found under normal conditions is low owing to the fact that the rate of starting of the chains is too slow for the relationship predicted by chain theory to hold.The stable reaction between P4 -02 molecules initiated by the ultraviolet light was shown to be a chain reaction, the kinetics of which was studied and the rate of reaction was found to be given by =_ d[02]/dt = [P4][02]2 x I x constant.The effect of inert gases on the reaction rate was studied and it was shown that the velocity constant was independent of the concentration of inert gas present.Phosphorus vapour on exposure to ultraviolet light was shown to be converted into red phosphorus. The rate of transformation was measured and the reaction found to be approximately unimolecular

Kangaroo Island Propolis: Improved Characterisation and Assessment of Chemistry and Botanical Origins through Metabolomics

Introduction: Propolis, a sticky substance produced by bees from plant resins, has a long history of safe use medicinally. Kangaroo Island, SA (KI) lacks many introduced European plants bees preferentially collect resin from; consequentially, propolis from KI is produced from resinous native plants. Several identifiably reproducible pure-source KI propolis types exist. Research into medical use of compounds from KI native plants is limited. Metabolomics is a growing field of interest in natural products chemistry, including beehive products. Metabolomic and similarity-scoring assessment of KI propolis, through statistical evaluation of 1D 1H-NMR fingerprints, provides an entry point for research into medical use of KI native plant compounds. Many avenues to product discovery in pharmaceutical chemistry are suffering diminishing returns: metabolomics-guided natural products assessment has the potential for further identification of novel therapeutic compounds from resinous plants. Aim: To assess and identify, via metabolomic investigation of NMR fingerprints, major propolis types on KI, and to produce, from this, similarity-scoring tools for assessment of propolis samples. Method: KI propolis samples, identified as pure-source by TLC, and resinous KI plants were analysed by 1H-NMR and HPLC. Data points of interest were normalised and binned to form individual sample ‘fingerprints’. Data from these fingerprints were analysed by hierarchical clustering and principal component analysis (PCA) to confirm provisionally-identified pure-source propolis types and identify subtypes within propolis and resinous plant species. From this, calculator tools were created to score similarity (out of 1000) of 1H-NMR fingerprints to the average spectrum of pure-source propolis types, as well as to calculated mixtures of these average spectra. Assessment of the chemistry of two major KI propolis types identified (CP- and F-type) was made by fractionation and NMR, with one compound, 6,8-diprenyleriodictyol, isolated from CP-type propolis in quantity, submitted for epigenetic and other biological assays. Results: Source resinous plants were demonstrated, through hierarchical clustering and PCA, to cluster with propolis types arising from these sources, with closely related plants and sub-chemotypes clustering separately, confirming specificity. A number of previously-identified pure-source propolis types and known botanical sources were shown to have very high similarity (> 800/1000) to the expected propolis type. Calculator tools were observed to accurately predict the content of mixed propolis samples to within ± 10%. A number of methylflavanones, and two novel terminally-hydroxylated prenyldihydrochalcones were isolated from F-type propolis. 6,8-diprenyleriodictyol demonstrated a range of promising activity in biological assays. Conclusion: Metabolomic evaluation of 1H-NMR fingerprints can reliably identify and assess pure-source KI propolis and identify botanical origin of source resins. Similarity scoring calculators can accurately identify mixed-source propolis samples. KI propolis types are a rich source of pharmaceutically-interesting flavanones and related compounds, many of which are prenylated. 6,8-diprenyleriodictyol displays strong anti-inflammatory and anticancer activity, especially against Burkitt’s lymphoma. A number of possible epigenetic pathways for this activity were observed

The Measurement of Eye Movements in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Structured Review of an Emerging Area

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), or concussion, occurs following a direct or indirect force to the head that causes a change in brain function. Many neurological signs and symptoms of mTBI can be subtle and transient, and some can persist beyond the usual recovery timeframe, such as balance, cognitive or sensory disturbance that may pre-dispose to further injury in the future. There is currently no accepted definition or diagnostic criteria for mTBI and therefore no single assessment has been developed or accepted as being able to identify those with an mTBI. Eye-movement assessment may be useful, as specific eye-movements and their metrics can be attributed to specific brain regions or functions, and eye-movement involves a multitude of brain regions. Recently, research has focused on quantitative eye-movement assessments using eye-tracking technology for diagnosis and monitoring symptoms of an mTBI. However, the approaches taken to objectively measure eye-movements varies with respect to instrumentation, protocols and recognition of factors that may influence results, such as cognitive function or basic visual function. This review aimed to examine previous work that has measured eye-movements within those with mTBI to inform the development of robust or standardized testing protocols. Medline/PubMed, CINAHL, PsychInfo and Scopus databases were searched. Twenty-two articles met inclusion/exclusion criteria and were reviewed, which examined saccades, smooth pursuits, fixations and nystagmus in mTBI compared to controls. Current methodologies for data collection, analysis and interpretation from eye-tracking technology in individuals following an mTBI are discussed. In brief, a wide range of eye-movement instruments and outcome measures were reported, but validity and reliability of devices and metrics were insufficiently reported across studies. Interpretation of outcomes was complicated by poor study reporting of demographics, mTBI-related features (e.g., time since injury), and few studies considered the influence that cognitive or visual functions may have on eye-movements. The reviewed evidence suggests that eye-movements are impaired in mTBI, but future research is required to accurately and robustly establish findings. Standardization and reporting of eye-movement instruments, data collection procedures, processing algorithms and analysis methods are required. Recommendations also include comprehensive reporting of demographics, mTBI-related features, and confounding variables

Anonymous and gene-linked microsatellite markers reveal no correlation between heterozygosity and song complexity in a wild population of song sparrows

ABSTRACT Correlations between heterozygosity and fitness are commonly reported in the literature, but there is disagreement about the frequency of such correlations and the mechanisms which underlie them. Using a multi-year data set acquired from a wild population of song sparrows I investigated the relationship between heterozygosity and song complexity, an important sexually selected trait thought to be an indicator of genetic quality. Heterozygosity was determined at 17 putatively neutral microsatellites and 5 microsatellites derived from the expressed sequence tag of zebra finch brain proteins. Song and syllable repertoire size were taken as measures of song complexity. Neither genetic marker type was predictive of song complexity. A further test failed to support the hypothesis that heterozygosity-fitness correlations at marker loci are due to closely linked coding genes. These results indicate that heterozygosity is unlikely to play a major role in individual song complexity in this outbred population of song sparrows