650 research outputs found
Assessment of intuitiveness and comfort of wearable haptic feedback strategies for assisting level and stair walking
Nowadays, lower-limb prostheses are reaching real-world usability especially on ground-level walking. However, some key tasks such as stair walking are still quite demanding. Providing haptic feedback about the foot placement on the steps might reduce the cognitive load of the task, compensating for increased dependency on vision and lessen the risk of falling. Experiments on intact subjects can be useful to define the feedback strategies prior to clinical trials, but effective methods to assess the efficacy of the strategies are few and usually rely on the emulation of the disability condition. The present study reports on the design and testing of a wearable haptic feedback system in a protocol involving intact subjects to assess candidate strategies to be adopted in clinical trials. The system integrated a sensorized insole wirelessly connected to a textile waist belt equipped with three vibrating motors. Three stimulation strategies for mapping the insole pressure data to vibrotactile feedback were implemented and compared in terms of intuitiveness and comfort perceived during level and stair walking. The strategies were ranked using a relative rating approach, which highlighted the differences between them and suggested guidelines for their improvement. The feedback evaluation procedure proposed could facilitate the selection and improvement of haptic feedback strategies prior to clinical testing
LARES/WEBER-SAT and the equivalence principle
It has often been claimed that the proposed Earth artificial satellite
LARES/WEBER-SAT-whose primary goal is, in fact, the measurement of the general
relativistic Lense-Thirring effect at a some percent level-would allow to
greatly improve, among (many) other things, the present-day (10^-13) level of
accuracy in testing the equivalence principle as well. Recent claims point
towards even two orders of magnitude better, i.e. 10^-15. In this note we show
that such a goal is, in fact, unattainable by many orders of magnitude being,
instead, the achievable level of the order of 10^-9.Comment: LaTex, 4 pages, no figures, no tables, 26 references. Proofs
corrections included. To appear in EPL (Europhysics Letters
New Physics Potential with a Neutrino Telescope
Active Galactic Nuclei are considered as sources of neutrinos, with neutrino
energies extending up to 10^{18} eV. It is expected that these highly energetic
cosmic neutrinos will be detected by the neutrino telescopes, presently under
construction. The detection process is very sensitive to the total muon
neutrino cross-section. We examine how the total cross section changes at high
energies, by the single production of excited fermions (excited muon and
muon-neutrino). For parameters (masses, couplings) of the excited fermions
allowed by the experimental constraints, we find that for energies of the
incoming muon-neutrino above 100 TeV the cross-section for single production of
(excited muon and muon-neutrino) supersedes the standard total cross-section.Comment: 12 pages and 2 figures; typset using revtex; postscript files for the
figures provide
Galileo, the European GNSS program, and LAGEOS
With the ASI-INFN project “ETRUSCO-2 (Extra Terrestrial Ranging to Unified Satellite COnstellations-2)” we have the opportunity to continue and enhance the work already done with the former ETRUSCO INFN experiment. With ETRUSCO (2005-2010) the SCF LAB (Satellite/lunar laser ranging Characterization Facility LABoratory) team developed a new industry-standard test for laser retroreflectors characterization (the SCF-Test). This test is an integrated and concurrent thermal and optical measurement in accurately laboratory-simulated space environment. In the same period we had the opportunity to test several flight models of retroreflectors from NASA, ESA and ASI. Doing this we examined the detailed thermal behavior and the optical performance of LAGEOS (Laser GEOdynamics Satellites) cube corner retroreflectors and many others being used on the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) constellations currently in orbit, mainly GPS, GLONASS and GIOVE-A/GIOVE-B (Galileo In Orbit Validation Element) satellites, which deploy old-generation aluminium back-coated reflectors; we also SCFTested for ESA prototype new-generation uncoated reflectors for the Galileo IOV (In-Orbit Validation) satellites, which is the most important result presented here. ETRUSCO-2 inherits all this work and a new lab with doubled instrumentation (cryostat, sun simulator, optical bench) inside a new, dedicated 85m2 class 10000 (or better) clean room. This new project aims at a new revision of the SCF-Test expressly conceived to dynamically simulate the actual GNSS typical orbital environment, a new, reliable Key Performance Indicator for the future GNSS retroreflectors payload. Following up on this and using LAGEOS as a reference standard target in
terms of optical performances, the SCF LAB research team led by S. Dell’Agnello is designing, building and testing a new generation of GNSS retroreflectors array (GRA) for the new European GNSS constellation Galileo
Fundamental physics and absolute positioning metrology with the MAGIA lunar orbiter
MAGIA is a mission approved by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) for Phase A study. Using a single large-diameter laser retroreflector, a large laser retroreflector array and an atomic clock onboard MAGIA we propose to perform several fundamental physics and absolute positioning metrology experiments: VESPUCCI, an improved test of the gravitational redshift in the Earth–Moon system predicted by General Relativity; MoonLIGHT-P, a precursor test of a second generation Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) payload for precision gravity and lunar science measurements under development for NASA, ASI and robotic missions of the proposed International Lunar Network (ILN); Selenocenter (the center of mass of the Moon), the determination of the position of the Moon center of mass with respect to the International Terrestrial Reference Frame/System (ITRF/ITRS); this will be compared to the one from Apollo and Lunokhod retroreflectors on the surface; MapRef, the absolute referencing of MAGIA's lunar altimetry, gravity and geochemical maps with respect to the ITRF/ITRS. The absolute positioning of MAGIA will be achieved thanks to: (1) the laboratory characterization of the retroreflector performance at INFN-LNF; (2) the precision tracking by the International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS), which gives two fundamental contributions to the ITRF/ITRS, i.e. the metrological definition of the geocenter (the Earth center of mass) and of the scale of length; (3) the radio science and accelerometer payloads; (4) support by the ASI Space Geodesy Center in Matera, Italy. Future ILN geodetic nodes equipped with MoonLIGHT and the Apollo/Lunokhod retroreflectors will become the first realization of the International Moon Reference Frame (IMRF), the lunar analog of the ITRF
A direct search for the CP-violating decay Ks->3p^0 with the KLOE detector at DAFNE
We have searched for the decay Ks->3p^0 with the KLOE experiment at DAFNE
using data from e^+ e^- collisions at a center of mass energy W= m(phi) for an
integrated luminosity L=450 pb^-1. The search has been performed with a pure Ks
beam obtained by tagging with Kl interactions in the calorimeter and detecting
six photons. We find an upper limit for the branching ratio of 1.2x10^-7 at 90%
C.L.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures. To be submitted to Physics Letter
Measurements of the Absolute Branching Ratios for the Dominant KL Decays, the KL Lifetime, and Vus with the KLOE Detector
From a sample of about 10^9 Phi mesons produced at DAFNE, we have selected KL
mesons tagged by observing KS->pi+pi- decays. We present results on the major
KL branching ratios, including those of the semileptonic decays needed for the
determination of Vus. These branching ratio measurements are fully inclusive
with respect to final-state radiation. The KL lifetime has also been measured.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Lett.
Measurement of the KL meson lifetime with the KLOE detector
We present a measurement of the KL lifetime using the KLOE detector. From a
sample of 4 x 10^8 KS KL pairs following the reaction e+ e- -> phi -> KS KL we
select 15 x 10^6 KL -> p0 p0 p0 decays tagged by KS -> pi+ pi- events. From a
fit of the proper time distribution we find tau_L = (50.92 +- 0.17{stat} +-
0.25{syst})$ ns. This is the most precise measurement of the KL lifetime
performed to date.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figure
Determination of CP and CPT violation parameters in the neutral kaon system using the Bell-Steinberger relation and data from the KLOE experiment
We present an improved determination of the CP and CPT violation parameters
Re(epsilon) and Im(delta) based on the unitarity condition (Bell-Steinberger
relation) and on recent results from the KLOE experiment. We find Re(epsilon) =
(159.6 \pm 1.3)10^-5 and Im(delta) = (0.4 \pm 2.1)10^-5, consistent with no CPT
violation.Comment: Submitted to JHE
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