655 research outputs found
A Finite Element Model of Electrode Placement During Stimulus Evoked Electromyographic Monitoring of Iliosacral Screw Insertion
Pelvic ring fractures that occur as a result of substantial orthopedic trauma are frequently repaired using iliosacral screws to stabilize the fracture. Stimulus evoked electromyography, using pulsed current stimuli provided through the drill bit cathode, has been advocated to prevent nerve root injury during iliosacral screw insertion. Our objective was to examine the effects of anode location, drill bit position, and anatomical structure on the nerve monitoring technique. A three-dimensional finite element model was constructed from computed tomography data to evaluate the effectiveness of five anode locations at four stations of drill bit insertion. Results indicate that the anode location should be at the midline or on the side contralateral to drill bit insertion. Locating the anode at other positions, such that the nerve root is outside of the primary electromagnetic field, leads to an attenuated electromyographic response that will ultimately lead to the failure of the monitoring technique
Sonoluminescence: Two-photon correlations as a test of thermality
In this Letter we propose a fundamental test for probing the thermal nature
of the spectrum emitted by sonoluminescence. We show that two-photon
correlations can in principle discriminate between real thermal light and the
quasi-thermal squeezed-state photons typical of models based on the dynamic
Casimir effect. Two-photon correlations provide a powerful experimental test
for various classes of sonoluminescence models.Comment: 6 pages, revtex 3; revised to include more discussion of finite
volume effects; physics conclusions unchanged; to appear in Physics Letters
Spontaneous decay in the presence of dispersing and absorbing bodies: general theory and application to a spherical cavity
A formalism for studying spontaneous decay of an excited two-level atom in
the presence of dispersing and absorbing dielectric bodies is developed. An
integral equation, which is suitable for numerical solution, is derived for the
atomic upper-state-probability amplitude. The emission pattern and the power
spectrum of the emitted light are expressed in terms of the Green tensor of the
dielectric-matter formation including absorption and dispersion. The theory is
applied to the spontaneous decay of an excited atom at the center of a
three-layered spherical cavity, with the cavity wall being modeled by a
band-gap dielectric of Lorentz type. Both weak coupling and strong coupling are
studied, the latter with special emphasis on the cases where the atomic
transition is (i) in the normal-dispersion zone near the medium resonance and
(ii) in the anomalous-dispersion zone associated with the band gap. In a
single-resonance approximation, conditions of the appearance of Rabi
oscillations and closed solutions to the evolution of the atomic state
population are derived, which are in good agreement with the exact numerical
results.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, typos fixed, 1 figure adde
Dimers, Effective Interactions, and Pauli Blocking Effects in a Bilayer of Cold Fermionic Polar Molecules
We consider a bilayer setup with two parallel planes of cold fermionic polar
molecules when the dipole moments are oriented perpendicular to the planes. The
binding energy of two-body states with one polar molecule in each layer is
determined and compared to various analytic approximation schemes in both
coordinate- and momentum-space. The effective interaction of two bound dimers
is obtained by integrating out the internal dimer bound state wave function and
its robustness under analytical approximations is studied. Furthermore, we
consider the effect of the background of other fermions on the dimer state
through Pauli blocking, and discuss implications for the zero-temperature
many-body phase diagram of this experimentally realizable system.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, accepted versio
Supersymmetry without R-parity : Constraints from Leptonic Phenomenology
R-parity conservation is an {\it ad hoc} assumption in the most popular
version of the supersymmetric standard model. Most studies of models which do
allow for R-parity violation have been restricted to various limiting
scenarios. The single-VEV parametrization used in this paper provides a
workable framework to analyze phenomenology of the most general theory of SUSY
without R-parity. We perform a comprehensive study of leptonic phenomenology at
tree-level. Experimental constraints on various processes are studied
individually and then combined to yield regions of admissible parameter space.
In particular, we show that large R-parity violating bilinear couplings are not
ruled out, especially for large .Comment: 56 pages Revtex with figures incorporated; typos (including
transcription typo in Table II) and minor corrections; proof-read version, to
appear in Phys. Rev.
Using the past to constrain the future: how the palaeorecord can improve estimates of global warming
Climate sensitivity is defined as the change in global mean equilibrium
temperature after a doubling of atmospheric CO2 concentration and provides a
simple measure of global warming. An early estimate of climate sensitivity,
1.5-4.5{\deg}C, has changed little subsequently, including the latest
assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The persistence of such large uncertainties in this simple measure casts
doubt on our understanding of the mechanisms of climate change and our ability
to predict the response of the climate system to future perturbations. This has
motivated continued attempts to constrain the range with climate data, alone or
in conjunction with models. The majority of studies use data from the
instrumental period (post-1850) but recent work has made use of information
about the large climate changes experienced in the geological past.
In this review, we first outline approaches that estimate climate sensitivity
using instrumental climate observations and then summarise attempts to use the
record of climate change on geological timescales. We examine the limitations
of these studies and suggest ways in which the power of the palaeoclimate
record could be better used to reduce uncertainties in our predictions of
climate sensitivity.Comment: The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in
Progress in Physical Geography, 31(5), 2007 by SAGE Publications Ltd, All
rights reserved. \c{opyright} 2007 Edwards, Crucifix and Harriso
A core ontology of macroscopic stuff
Domain ontologies contain representations of types of stuff (matter, mass, or substance), such as milk, alcohol, and mud, which are represented in a myriad of ways that are neither compatible with each other nor do they follow a structured approach within the domain ontology. Foundational ontologies and Ontology distinguish between pure stuff and mixtures only, if it contains stuff. We aim to fill this gap between foundational and domain ontologies by applying the notion of a `bridging' core ontology, being an ontology of categories of stuff that is formalised in OWL. This core ontology both refines the DOLCE and BFO foundational ontologies and resolves the main type of interoperability issues with stuffs in domain ontologies, thereby also contributing to better ontology quality. Modelling guidelines are provided to facilitate the Stuff Ontology's use
Psicoanalisi e prospettive evoluzionistiche dell'attaccamento: un progetto di prevenzione per la tutela della salute mentale perinatale
Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment
This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and
W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with
the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated
luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and
the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto
the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions
f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV
and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw
> 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour,
are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017
+/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second
include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables,
revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio
Observation of a new chi_b state in radiative transitions to Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(2S) at ATLAS
The chi_b(nP) quarkonium states are produced in proton-proton collisions at
the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS
detector. Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.4
fb^-1, these states are reconstructed through their radiative decays to
Upsilon(1S,2S) with Upsilon->mu+mu-. In addition to the mass peaks
corresponding to the decay modes chi_b(1P,2P)->Upsilon(1S)gamma, a new
structure centered at a mass of 10.530+/-0.005 (stat.)+/-0.009 (syst.) GeV is
also observed, in both the Upsilon(1S)gamma and Upsilon(2S)gamma decay modes.
This is interpreted as the chi_b(3P) system.Comment: 5 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 1 table,
corrected author list, matches final version in Physical Review Letter
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