Conveying Audience Emotions through Humanoid Robot Gestures to an Orchestra during a Live Musical Exhibition

In the last twenty years, robotics have been applied in many heterogeneous contexts. Among them, the use of humanoid robots during musical concerts have been proposed and investigated by many authors. In this paper, we propose a contribution in the area of robotics application in music, consisting of a system for conveying audience emotions during a live musical exhibition, by means of a humanoid robot. In particular, we provide all spectators with a mobile app, by means of which they can select a specific color while listening to a piece of music (act). Each color is mapped to an emotion, and the audience preferences are then processed in order to select the next act to be played. This decision, based on the overall emotion felt by the audience, is then communicated by the robot through body gestures to the orchestra. Our first results show that spectators enjoy such kind of interactive musical performance, and are encouraging for further investigations

Substantia Nigra Volumetry with 3-T MRI in De Novo and Advanced Parkinson Disease

Background: Magnetization transfer–prepared T1-weighted MRI can depict a hyperintense subregion of the substantia nigra involved in the degeneration process of Parkinson disease. / Purpose: To evaluate quantitative measurement of substantia nigra volume by using MRI to support clinical diagnosis and staging of Parkinson disease. / Materials and Methods: In this prospective study, a high-spatial-resolution magnetization transfer–prepared T1-weighted volumetric sequence was performed with a 3-T MRI machine between January 2014 and October 2015 for participants with de novo Parkinson disease, advanced Parkinson disease, and healthy control participants. A reproducible semiautomatic quantification analysis method that entailed mesencephalic intensity as an internal reference was used for hyperintense substantia nigra volumetry normalized to intracranial volume. A general linear model with age and sex as covariates was used to compare the three groups. / Results: Eighty participants were evaluated: 20 healthy control participants (mean age ± standard deviation, 56 years ± 11; 11 women), 29 participants with de novo Parkinson disease (64 years ± 10; 19 men), and 31 participants with advanced Parkinson disease (60 years ± 9; 16 women). Volumetric measurement of hyperintense substantia nigra from magnetization transfer–prepared T1-weighted MRI helped differentiate healthy control participants from participants with advanced Parkinson disease (mean difference for ipsilateral side, 64 mm3 ± 14, P < .001; mean difference for contralateral side, 109 mm3 ± 14, P < .001) and helped distinguish healthy control participants from participants with de novo Parkinson disease (mean difference for ipsilateral side, 45 mm3 ± 15, P < .01; mean difference for contralateral side, 66 mm3 ± 15, P < .001) and participants with de novo Parkinson disease from those with advanced Parkinson disease (mean difference for ipsilateral side, 20 mm3 ± 13, P = .40; mean difference for contralateral side, 43 mm3 ± 13, P = .004). / Conclusion: Magnetization transfer–prepared T1-weighted MRI volumetry of the substantia nigra helped differentiate the stages of Parkinson disease

SLS Block 1-B and Exploration Upper Stage Navigation System Design

The SLS Block 1B vehicle is planned to extend NASA's heavy lift capability beyond the initial SLS Block 1 vehicle. The most noticeable change for this vehicle from SLS Block 1 is the swapping of the upper stage from the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion stage (ICPS), a modified Delta IV upper stage, to the more capable Exploration Upper Stage (EUS). As the vehicle evolves to provide greater lift capability and execute more demanding missions so must the SLS Integrated Navigation System to support those missions. The SLS Block 1 vehicle carries two independent navigation systems. The responsibility of the two systems is delineated between ascent and upper stage flight. The Block 1 navigation system is responsible for the phase of flight between the launch pad and insertion into Low-Earth Orbit (LEO). The upper stage system assumes the mission from LEO to payload separation. For the Block 1B vehicle, the two functions are combined into a single system intended to navigate from ground to payload insertion. Both are responsible for self-disposal once payload delivery is achieved. The evolution of the navigation hardware and algorithms from an inertial-only navigation system for Block 1 ascent flight to a tightly coupled GPS-aided inertial navigation system for Block 1-B is described. The Block 1 GN&C system has been designed to meet a LEO insertion target with a specified accuracy. The Block 1-B vehicle navigation system is designed to support the Block 1 LEO target accuracy as well as trans-lunar or trans-planetary injection accuracy. This is measured in terms of payload impact and stage disposal requirements. Additionally, the Block 1-B vehicle is designed to support human exploration and thus is designed to minimize the probability of Loss of Crew (LOC) through high-quality inertial instruments and Fault Detection, Isolation, and Recovery (FDIR) logic. The preliminary Block 1B integrated navigation system design is presented along with the challenges associated with meeting the design objectives. This paper also addresses the design considerations associated with the use of Block 1 and Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) avionics for Block 1-B/EUS as part of an integrated vehicle suite for orbital operations

Does higher gadolinium concentration play a role in the morphologic assessment of brain tumors? Results of a multicenter intraindividual crossover comparison of gadobutrol versus gadobenate dimeglumine (the MERIT Study).

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Gadobenate dimeglumine has proved advantageous compared with other gadolinium-based contrast agents for contrast-enhanced brain MR imaging. Gadobutrol is a more highly concentrated agent (1.0 mol/L). This study intraindividually compared 0.1-mmol/kg doses of these agents for qualitative and quantitative evaluation of brain tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Adult patients with suspected or known brain tumors underwent 2 identical MR imaging examinations at 1.5T, 1 with gadobenate dimeglumine and the other with gadobutrol, both at a dose of 0.1-mmol/kg body weight. The agents were injected in randomized order separated by 3–14 days. Imaging sequences and acquisition timing were identical for the 2 examinations. Three blinded readers evaluated images qualitatively for diagnostic information (lesion extent, delineation, morphology, enhancement, global preference) and quantitatively for CNR and LBR. RESULTS: One hundred fourteen of 123 enrolled patients successfully underwent both examinations. Final diagnoses were intra-axial tumors, metastases, extra-axial tumors, "other" tumors, and "nontumor" (49, 46, 8, 7, and 4 subjects, respectively). Readers 1, 2, and 3 demonstrated preference for gadobenate dimeglumine in 46 (40.7%), 54 (47.4%), and 49 (43.0%) patients, respectively, compared with 6, 7, and 7 patients for gadobutrol ( P < .0001, all readers). Highly significant ( P < .0001, all readers) preference for gadobenate dimeglumine was demonstrated for all other qualitative end points. Inter-reader agreement was good for all evaluations (κ = 0.414–0.629). Significantly superior CNR and LBR were determined for gadobenate dimeglumine ( P < .019, all readers). CONCLUSIONS: Significantly greater morphologic information and lesion enhancement are achieved on brain MR imaging with 0.1-mmol/kg gadobenate dimeglumine compared with gadobutrol at an equivalent dose. CNR : contrast-to-noise ratio GBCA : gadolinium-based contrast agent GRE : gradient-recalled echo LBR : lesion-to-background ratio NSF : nephrogenic systemic fibrosis SE : spin-echo SI : signal intensit

Dipolar degrees of freedom and Isospin equilibration processes in Heavy Ion collisions

Background: In heavy ion collision at the Fermi energies Isospin equilibration processes occur- ring when nuclei with different charge/mass asymmetries interacts have been investigated to get information on the nucleon-nucleon Iso-vectorial effective interaction. Purpose: In this paper, for the system 48Ca +27 Al at 40 MeV/nucleon, we investigate on this process by means of an observable tightly linked to isospin equilibration processes and sensitive in exclusive way to the dynamical stage of the collision. From the comparison with dynamical model calculations we want also to obtain information on the Iso-vectorial effective microscopic interaction. Method: The average time derivative of the total dipole associated to the relative motion of all emitted charged particles and fragments has been determined from the measured charges and velocities by using the 4? multi-detector CHIMERA. The average has been determined for semi- peripheral collisions and for different charges Zb of the biggest produced fragment. Experimental evidences collected for the systems 27Al+48Ca and 27Al+40Ca at 40 MeV/nucleon used to support this novel method of investigation are also discussed.Comment: Submitted for publication on Phys. Rev. C. 0n 24-oct-201

Frontal and Cerebellar Atrophy Supports FTSD-ALS Clinical Continuum

Background: Frontotemporal Spectrum Disorder (FTSD) and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) are neurodegenerative diseases often considered as a continuum from clinical, epidemiologic, and genetic perspectives. We used localized brain volume alterations to evaluate common and specific features of FTSD, FTSD-ALS, and ALS patients to further understand this clinical continuum. Methods: We used voxel-based morphometry on structural magnetic resonance images to localize volume alterations in group comparisons: patients (20 FTSD, seven FTSD-ALS, and 18 ALS) versus healthy controls (39 CTR), and patient groups between themselves. We used mean whole-brain cortical thickness (CT¯¯¯¯¯) to assess whether its correlations with local brain volume could propose mechanistic explanations of the heterogeneous clinical presentations. We also assessed whether volume reduction can explain cognitive impairment, measured with frontal assessment battery, verbal fluency, and semantic fluency. Results: Common (mainly frontal) and specific areas with reduced volume were detected between FTSD, FTSD-ALS, and ALS patients, confirming suggestions of a clinical continuum, while at the same time defining morphological specificities for each clinical group (e.g., a difference of cerebral and cerebellar involvement between FTSD and ALS). CT¯¯¯¯¯ values suggested extensive network disruption in the pathological process, with indications of a correlation between cerebral and cerebellar volumes and CT¯¯¯¯¯ in ALS. The analysis of the neuropsychological scores indeed pointed toward an important role for the cerebellum, along with fronto-temporal areas, in explaining impairment of executive, and linguistic functions. Conclusion: We identified common elements that explain the FTSD-ALS clinical continuum, while also identifying specificities of each group, partially explained by different cerebral and cerebellar involvement

Multifragmentation threshold in ^{93}Nb+{nat}Mg collisions at 30 MeV/nucleon

We analyzed the $^{93}Nb$ on $^{nat}Mg$ reaction at 30 MeV/nucleon in the aim of disentangling binary sequential decay and multifragmentation decay close to the energy threshold, i.e. $\simeq 3$ MeV/nucleon. Using the backtracing technique applied to the statistical models GEMINI and SMM we reconstruct simulated charge, mass and excitation energy distributions and compare them to the experimental ones. We show that data are better described by SMM than by GEMINI in agreement with the fact that multifragmentation is responsible for fragment production at excitation energies around 3 MeV/nucleon.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures, 5 tables Soumis \`a Nuclear Physics

Projected Quasi-particle Perturbation theory

The BCS and/or HFB theories are extended by treating the effect of four quasi-particle states perturbatively. The approach is tested on the pairing hamiltonian, showing that it combines the advantage of standard perturbation theory valid at low pairing strength and of non-perturbative approaches breaking particle number valid at higher pairing strength. Including the restoration of particle number, further improves the description of pairing correlation. In the presented test, the agreement between the exact solution and the combined perturbative + projection is almost perfect. The proposed method scales friendly when the number of particles increases and provides a simple alternative to other more complicated approaches

Isotope correlations as a probe for freeze-out characterization: central 124Sn+64Ni, 112Sn+58Ni collisions

124Sn+64Ni and 112Sn+58Ni reactions at 35 AMeV incident energy were studied with the forward part of CHIMERA multi-detector. The most central collisions were selected by means of a multidimensional analysis. The characteristics of the source formed in the central collisions, as size, temperature and volume, were inspected. The measured isotopes of light fragments (3 <= Z <=8) were used to examine isotope yield ratios that provide information on the free neutron to proton densities.Comment: 4 pages, Contribution to 8th International Conference on Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions, Moscow 200

Mass and charge identification of fragments detected with the Chimera Silicon-CsI(Tl) telescopes

Mass and charge identification of charged products detected with Silicon-CsI(Tl) telescopes of the Chimera apparatus is presented. An identification function, based on the Bethe-Bloch formula, is used to fit empirical correlation between Delta E and E ADC readings, in order to determine, event by event, the atomic and mass numbers of the detected charged reaction products prior to energy calibration.Comment: 24 pages, 7 .jpg figures, submitted to Nucl.Instr.