1,146 research outputs found
Coastal ecosystems: A critical element of risk reduction
The conservation of coastal ecosystems can provide considerable coastal protection benefits, but this role has not been sufficiently accounted for in coastal planning and engineering. Substantial evidence now exists showing how, and under what conditions, ecosystems can play a valuable function in wave and storm surge attenuation, erosion reduction, and in the longer term maintenance of the coastal profile. Both through their capacity for self repair and recovery, and through the often considerable cobenefits they provide, ecosystems can offer notable advantages over traditional engineering approaches in some settings. They can also be combined in "hybrid" engineering designs. We make 10 recommendations to encourage the utilization of existing knowledge and to improve the incorporation of ecosystems into policy, planning and funding for coastal hazard risk reduction
Brake response time before and after total knee arthroplasty: a prospective cohort study
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although the numbers of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) are increasing, there is only a small number of studies investigating driving safety after TKA. The parameter 'Brake Response Time (BRT)' is one of the most important criteria for driving safety and was therefore chosen for investigation.</p> <p>The present study was conducted to test the hypotheses that patients with right- or left-sided TKA show a significant increase in BRT from pre-operative (pre-op, 1 day before surgery) to post-operative (post-op, 2 weeks post surgery), and a significant decrease in BRT from post-op to the follow-up investigation (FU, 8 weeks post surgery). Additionally, it was hypothesized that the BRT of patients after TKA is significantly higher than that of healthy controls.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>31 of 70 consecutive patients (mean age 65.7 +/- 10.2 years) receiving TKA were tested for their BRT pre-op, post-op and at FU. BRT was assessed using a custom-made driving simulator. We used normative BRT data from 31 healthy controls for comparison.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were no significant increases between pre-op and post-op BRT values for patients who had undergone left- or right-sided TKA. Even the proportion of patients above a BRT threshold of 700 ms was not significantly increased postop. Controls had a BRT which was significantly better than the BRT of patients with right- or left-sided TKA at all three time points.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The present study showed a small and insignificant postoperative increase in the BRT of patients who had undergone right- or left-sided TKA. Therefore, we believe it is not justified to impair the patient's quality of social and occupational life post-surgery by imposing restrictions on driving motor vehicles beyond an interval of two weeks after surgery.</p
Reef fishes at all trophic levels respond positively to effective marine protected areas
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) offer a unique opportunity to test the assumption that fishing pressure affects some trophic groups more than others. Removal of larger predators through fishing is often suggested to have positive flow-on effects for some lower trophic groups, in which case protection from fishing should result in suppression of lower trophic groups as predator populations recover. We tested this by assessing differences in the trophic structure of reef fish communities associated with 79 MPAs and open-access sites worldwide, using a standardised quantitative dataset on reef fish community structure. The biomass of all major trophic groups (higher carnivores, benthic carnivores, planktivores and herbivores) was significantly greater (by 40% - 200%) in effective no-take MPAs relative to fished open-access areas. This effect was most pronounced for individuals in large size classes, but with no size class of any trophic group showing signs of depressed biomass in MPAs, as predicted from higher predator abundance. Thus, greater biomass in effective MPAs implies that exploitation on shallow rocky and coral reefs negatively affects biomass of all fish trophic groups and size classes. These direct effects of fishing on trophic structure appear stronger than any top down effects on lower trophic levels that would be imposed by intact predator populations. We propose that exploitation affects fish assemblages at all trophic levels, and that local ecosystem function is generally modified by fishing
Search for a Technicolor omega_T Particle in Events with a Photon and a b-quark Jet at CDF
If the Technicolor omega_T particle exists, a likely decay mode is omega_T ->
gamma pi_T, followed by pi_T -> bb-bar, yielding the signature gamma bb-bar. We
have searched 85 pb^-1 of data collected by the CDF experiment at the Fermilab
Tevatron for events with a photon and two jets, where one of the jets must
contain a secondary vertex implying the presence of a b quark. We find no
excess of events above standard model expectations. We express the result of an
exclusion region in the M_omega_T - M_pi_T mass plane.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures. Available from the CDF server (PS with figs):
http://www-cdf.fnal.gov/physics/pub98/cdf4674_omega_t_prl_4.ps
FERMILAB-PUB-98/321-
Measurement of the B0 anti-B0 oscillation frequency using l- D*+ pairs and lepton flavor tags
The oscillation frequency Delta-md of B0 anti-B0 mixing is measured using the
partially reconstructed semileptonic decay anti-B0 -> l- nubar D*+ X. The data
sample was collected with the CDF detector at the Fermilab Tevatron collider
during 1992 - 1995 by triggering on the existence of two lepton candidates in
an event, and corresponds to about 110 pb-1 of pbar p collisions at sqrt(s) =
1.8 TeV. We estimate the proper decay time of the anti-B0 meson from the
measured decay length and reconstructed momentum of the l- D*+ system. The
charge of the lepton in the final state identifies the flavor of the anti-B0
meson at its decay. The second lepton in the event is used to infer the flavor
of the anti-B0 meson at production. We measure the oscillation frequency to be
Delta-md = 0.516 +/- 0.099 +0.029 -0.035 ps-1, where the first uncertainty is
statistical and the second is systematic.Comment: 30 pages, 7 figures. Submitted to Physical Review
Search for New Particles Decaying to top-antitop in proton-antiproton collisions at squareroot(s)=1.8 TeV
We use 106 \ipb of data collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab to
search for narrow-width, vector particles decaying to a top and an anti-top
quark. Model independent upper limits on the cross section for narrow, vector
resonances decaying to \ttbar are presented. At the 95% confidence level, we
exclude the existence of a leptophobic \zpr boson in a model of
topcolor-assisted technicolor with mass M_{\zpr} 480 \gev for natural
width = 0.012 M_{\zpr}, and M_{\zpr} 780 \gev for =
0.04 M_{\zpr}.Comment: The CDF Collaboration, submitted to PRL 25-Feb-200
Double Diffraction Dissociation at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider
We present results from a measurement of double diffraction dissociation in
collisions at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. The production cross
section for events with a central pseudorapidity gap of width
(overlapping ) is found to be [] at [630]
GeV. Our results are compared with previous measurements and with predictions
based on Regge theory and factorization.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, using RevTeX. Submitted to Physical Review
Letter
A Measurement of the Differential Dijet Mass Cross Section in p-pbar Collisions at sqrt{s}=1.8 TeV
We present a measurement of the cross section for production of two or more
jets as a function of dijet mass, based on an integrated luminosity of 86 pb^-1
collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab. Our dijet mass spectrum is
described within errors by next-to-leading order QCD predictions using CTEQ4HJ
parton distributions, and is in good agreement with a similar measurement from
the D0 experiment.Comment: 18 pages including 2 figures and 3 tables. Submitted to Phys. Rev. D
Rapid Communication
Search for Gluinos and Scalar Quarks in Collisions at TeV using the Missing Energy plus Multijets Signature
We have performed a search for gluinos (\gls) and squarks (\sq) in a data
sample of 84 pb of \ppb collisions at = 1.8 TeV, recorded by
the Collider Detector at Fermilab, by investigating the final state of large
missing transverse energy and 3 or more jets, a characteristic signature in
R-parity-conserving supersymmetric models. The analysis has been performed
`blind', in that the inspection of the signal region is made only after the
predictions from Standard Model backgrounds have been calculated. Comparing the
data with predictions of constrained supersymmetric models, we exclude gluino
masses below 195 \gev (95% C.L.), independent of the squark mass. For the case
\msq \approx \mgls, gluino masses below 300 \gev are excluded.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
Diffractive Dijet Production at sqrt(s)=630 and 1800 GeV at the Fermilab Tevatron
We report a measurement of the diffractive structure function of
the antiproton obtained from a study of dijet events produced in association
with a leading antiproton in collisions at GeV at the
Fermilab Tevatron. The ratio of at GeV to
obtained from a similar measurement at GeV is compared with
expectations from QCD factorization and with theoretical predictions. We also
report a measurement of the (-Pomeron) and ( of parton in
Pomeron) dependence of at GeV. In the region
, GeV and , is
found to be of the form , which obeys
- factorization.Comment: LaTeX, 9 pages, Submitted to Phys. Rev. Letter
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