"Feeling" others' painful actions: the sensorimotor integration of pain and action information.

Sensorimotor regions of the brain have been implicated in simulation processes such as action understanding and empathy, but their functional role in these processes remains unspecified. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to demonstrate that postcentral sensorimotor cortex integrates action and object information to derive the sensory outcomes of observed hand-object interactions. When subjects viewed others' hands grasping or withdrawing from objects that were either painful or nonpainful, distinct sensorimotor subregions emerged as showing preferential responses to different aspects of the stimuli: object information (noxious vs. innocuous), action information (grasps vs. withdrawals), and painful action outcomes (painful grasps vs. all other conditions). Activation in the latter region correlated with subjects' ratings of how painful each object would be to touch and their previous experience with the object. Viewing others' painful grasps also biased behavioral responses to actual tactile stimulation, a novel effect not seen for auditory control stimuli. Somatosensory cortices, including primary somatosensory areas 1/3b and 2 and parietal area PF, may therefore subserve somatomotor simulation processes by integrating action and object information to anticipate the sensory consequences of observed hand-object interactions

Superluminality in the Fierz--Pauli massive gravity

We study the propagation of helicity-1 gravitons in the Fierz--Pauli massive gravity in nearly Minkowski backgrounds. We show that, generically, there exist backgrounds consistent with field equations, in which the propagation is superluminal. The relevant distances are much longer than the ultraviolet cutoff length inherent in the Fierz--Pauli gravity, so superluminality occurs within the domain of validity of the effective low energy theory. There remains a possibility that one may get rid of this property by imposing fine tuning relations between the coefficients in the non-linear generalization of the Fierz--Pauli mass term, order by order in non-linearity; however, these relations are not protected by any obvious symmetry. Thus, among others, superluminality is a problematic property to worry about when attempting to construct infrared modifications of General Relativity.Comment: 11 pages, no figure

Engine dynamic analysis with general nonlinear finite element codes. Part 2: Bearing element implementation overall numerical characteristics and benchmaking

Finite element codes are used in modelling rotor-bearing-stator structure common to the turbine industry. Engine dynamic simulation is used by developing strategies which enable the use of available finite element codes. benchmarking the elements developed are benchmarked by incorporation into a general purpose code (ADINA); the numerical characteristics of finite element type rotor-bearing-stator simulations are evaluated through the use of various types of explicit/implicit numerical integration operators. Improving the overall numerical efficiency of the procedure is improved

Mystery of Excess Low Energy States in a Disordered Superconductor in a Zeeman Field

Tunneling density of states measurements of disordered superconducting (SC) Al films in high Zeeman fields reveal a significant population of subgap states which cannot be explained by standard BCS theory. We provide a natural explanation of these excess states in terms of a novel disordered Larkin-Ovchinnikov (dLO) phase that occurs near the spin-paramagnetic transition at the Chandrasekhar-Clogston critical field. The dLO superconductor is characterized by a pairing amplitude that changes sign at domain walls. These domain walls carry magnetization and support Andreev bound states, which lead to distinct spectral signatures at low energy.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, plus supplementary section describing methods (2 pages

Identification and full genomic sequence of nerine yellow strip virus

This study reports the first complete genome sequence of nerine yellow stripe virus (NeYSV, GenBank MT396083). The genome consists of 10165 nucleotides, excluding the 3’ terminal poly(A) tail. A single open reading frame encodes a large polyprotein of 3294 amino acids with typical potyvirus features. The nuclear inclusion b and coat protein region shares 95% identity with previously reported NeYSV partial sequence (NC_043153.1). Phylogenetic analysis of polyprotein amino acid sequence showed that NeYSV clustered with hippeastrum mosaic virus (YP_006382256.1)

Dephasing Times in a Non-degenerate Two-Dimensional Electron Gas

Studies of weak localization by scattering from vapor atoms for electrons on a liquid helium surface are reported. There are three contributions to the dephasing time. Dephasing by the motion of vapor atoms perpendicular to the surface is studied by varying the holding field to change the characteristic width of the electron layer at the surface. A change in vapor density alters the quasi-elastic scattering length and the dephasing due to the motion of atoms both perpendicular and parallel to the surface. Dephasing due to the electron-electron interaction is dependent on the electron density.Comment: 4 pages, Revte

Density of States, Entropy, and the Superconducting Pomeranchuk Effect in Pauli-Limited Al Films

We present low temperature tunneling density of states measurements of Pauli-limited Al films in which the Zeeman and orbital contributions to the critical field are comparable. We show that films in the thickness range of 6-7 nm exhibit a reentrant parallel critical field transition which is associated with a high entropy superconducting phase, similar to the high entropy solid phase of 3He responsible for the Pomeranchuk effect. This phase is characterized by an excess of states near the Fermi energy so long as the parallel critical field transition remains second order. Theoretical fits to the zero bias tunneling conductance are in good agreement with the data well below the transition but theory deviates significantly near the transition. The discrepancy is a consequence of the emergence of e-e interaction correlations as one enters the normal state.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures; to be published in Phys. Rev.

Singlet-Triplet Excitations in the Unconventional Spin-Peierls System TiOBr

We have performed time-of-flight neutron scattering measurements on powder samples of the unconventional spin-Peierls compound TiOBr using the fine-resolution Fermi chopper spectrometer (SEQUOIA) at the SNS. These measurements reveal two branches of magnetic excitations within the commensurate and incommensurate spin-Peierls phases, which we associate with n = 1 and n = 2 triplet excitations out of the singlet ground state. These measurements represent the first direct measure of the singlet-triplet energy gap in TiOBr, which is determined to be Eg = 21.2 +/- 1.0 meV.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted for publicatio