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Accessibility of 3D Game Environments for People with Aphasia: An Exploratory Study
People with aphasia experience difficulties with all aspects of language and this can mean that their access to technology is substantially reduced. We report a study undertaken to investigate the issues that confront people with aphasia when interacting with technology, specifically 3D game environments. Five people with aphasia were observed and interviewed in twelve workshop sessions. We report the key themes that emerged from the study, such as the importance of direct mappings between users’ interactions and actions in a virtual environment. The results of the study provide some insight into the challenges, but also the opportunities, these mainstream technologies offer to people with aphasia. We discuss how these technologies could be more supportive and inclusive for people with language and communication difficulties
Anxiety, anticipation and contextual information: a test of attentional control theory
We tested the assumptions of Attentional Control Theory (ACT) by examining the impact of anxiety on anticipation using a dynamic, time-constrained task. Moreover, we examined the involvement of high- and low-level cognitive processes in anticipation and how their importance may interact with anxiety. Skilled and less-skilled tennis players anticipated the shots of opponents under low- and high-anxiety conditions. Participants viewed three types of video stimuli, each depicting different levels of contextual information. Performance effectiveness (response accuracy) and processing efficiency (response accuracy divided by corresponding mental effort) were measured. Skilled players recorded higher levels of response accuracy and processing efficiency compared to less-skilled counterparts. Processing efficiency significantly decreased under high- compared to low-anxiety conditions. No difference in response accuracy was observed. When reviewing directional errors, anxiety was most detrimental to performance in the condition conveying only contextual information, suggesting that anxiety may have a greater impact on high-level (top-down) cognitive processes, potentially due to a shift in attentional control. Our findings provide partial support for ACT; anxiety elicited greater decrements in processing efficiency than performance effectiveness, possibly due to predominance of the stimulus-driven attentional system
Emulating Solid-State Physics with a Hybrid System of Ultracold Ions and Atoms
We propose and theoretically investigate a hybrid system composed of a
crystal of trapped ions coupled to a cloud of ultracold fermions. The ions form
a periodic lattice and induce a band structure in the atoms. This system
combines the advantages of scalability and tunability of ultracold atomic
systems with the high fidelity operations and detection offered by trapped ion
systems. It also features close analogies to natural solid-state systems, as
the atomic degrees of freedom couple to phonons of the ion lattice, thereby
emulating a solid-state system. Starting from the microscopic many-body
Hamiltonian, we derive the low energy Hamiltonian including the atomic band
structure and give an expression for the atom-phonon coupling. We discuss
possible experimental implementations such as a Peierls-like transition into a
period-doubled dimerized state.Comment: 5 pages + appendi
Basic concepts in quantum computation
Section headings: 1 Qubits, gates and networks 2 Quantum arithmetic and
function evaluations 3 Algorithms and their complexity 4 From interferometers
to computers 5 The first quantum algorithms 6 Quantum search 7 Optimal phase
estimation 8 Periodicity and quantum factoring 9 Cryptography 10 Conditional
quantum dynamics 11 Decoherence and recoherence 12 Concluding remarksComment: 37 pages, lectures given at les Houches Summer School on "Coherent
Matter Waves", July-August 199
Rotationally Invariant Hamiltonians for Nuclear Spectra Based on Quantum Algebras
The rotational invariance under the usual physical angular momentum of the
SUq(2) Hamiltonian for the description of rotational nuclear spectra is
explicitly proved and a connection of this Hamiltonian to the formalisms of
Amal'sky and Harris is provided. In addition, a new Hamiltonian for rotational
spectra is introduced, based on the construction of irreducible tensor
operators (ITO) under SUq(2) and use of q-deformed tensor products and
q-deformed Clebsch-Gordan coefficients. The rotational invariance of this
SUq(2) ITO Hamiltonian under the usual physical angular momentum is explicitly
proved, a simple closed expression for its energy spectrum (the ``hyperbolic
tangent formula'') is introduced, and its connection to the Harris formalism is
established. Numerical tests in a series of Th isotopes are provided.Comment: 34 pages, LaTe
Parity Doubling Among the Baryons
We study the evidence for and possible origins of parity doubling among the
baryons. First we explore the experimental evidence, finding a significant
signal for parity doubling in the non-strange baryons, but little evidence
among strange baryons. Next we discuss potential explanations for this
phenomenon. Possibilities include suppression of the violation of the flavor
singlet axial symmetry () of QCD, which is broken by the triangle
anomaly and by quark masses. A conventional Wigner-Weyl realization of the
chiral symmetry would also result in parity
doubling. However this requires the suppression of families of \emph{chirally
invariant} operators by some other dynamical mechanism. In this scenario the
parity doubled states should decouple from pions. We discuss other explanations
including connections to chiral invariant short distance physics motivated by
large arguments as suggested by Shifman and others, and intrinsic
deformation of relatively rigid highly excited hadrons, leading to parity
doubling on the leading Regge trajectory. Finally we review the spectroscopic
consequences of chiral symmetry using a formalism introduced by Weinberg, and
use it to describe two baryons of opposite parity.Comment: 32 pages, 8 figures; v2 revised and expanded; submitted to Phys. Re
Ice-lens formation and geometrical supercooling in soils and other colloidal materials
We present a new, physically-intuitive model of ice-lens formation and growth
during the freezing of soils and other dense, particulate suspensions.
Motivated by experimental evidence, we consider the growth of an ice-filled
crack in a freezing soil. At low temperatures, ice in the crack exerts large
pressures on the crack walls that will eventually cause the crack to split
open. We show that the crack will then propagate across the soil to form a new
lens. The process is controlled by two factors: the cohesion of the soil, and
the geometrical supercooling of the water in the soil; a new concept introduced
to measure the energy available to form a new ice lens. When the supercooling
exceeds a critical amount (proportional to the cohesive strength of the soil) a
new ice lens forms. This condition for ice-lens formation and growth does not
appeal to any ad hoc, empirical assumptions, and explains how periodic ice
lenses can form with or without the presence of a frozen fringe. The proposed
mechanism is in good agreement with experiments, in particular explaining
ice-lens pattern formation, and surges in heave rate associated with the growth
of new lenses. Importantly for systems with no frozen fringe, ice-lens
formation and frost heave can be predicted given only the unfrozen properties
of the soil. We use our theory to estimate ice-lens growth temperatures
obtaining quantitative agreement with the limited experimental data that is
currently available. Finally we suggest experiments that might be performed in
order to verify this theory in more detail. The theory is generalizable to
complex natural-soil scenarios, and should therefore be useful in the
prediction of macroscopic frost heave rates.Comment: Submitted to PR
Decreased Aerobic Exercise Capacity After Long-Term Remission From Cushing Syndrome: Exploration of Mechanisms.
BACKGROUND: Although major improvements are achieved after cure of Cushing syndrome (CS), fatigue and decreased quality of life persist. This is the first study to measure aerobic exercise capacity in patients in remission of CS for more than 4 years in comparison with matched controls, and to investigate whether the reduction in exercise capacity is related to alterations in muscle tissue. METHODS: Seventeen patients were included. A control individual, matched for sex, estrogen status, age, body mass index, smoking, ethnicity, and physical activity level was recruited for each patient. Maximal aerobic capacity (VO2peak) was assessed during incremental bicycle exercise to exhaustion. In 8 individually matched patients and controls, a percutaneous muscle biopsy was obtained and measures were made of cross-sectional areas, capillarization, and oxphos complex IV (COXIV) protein content as an indicator of mitochondrial content. Furthermore, protein content of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and eNOS phosphorylated on serine1177 and of the NAD(P)H-oxidase subunits NOX2, p47phox, and p67phox were measured in the microvascular endothelial layer. FINDINGS: Patients showed a lower mean VO2peak (SD) (28.0 [7.0] vs 34.8 [7.9] ml O2/kg bw/min, P < .01), maximal workload (SD) (176 [49] vs 212 [67] watt, P = .01), and oxygen pulse (SD) (12.0 [3.7] vs 14.8 [4.2] ml/beat, P < .01) at VO2peak. No differences were seen in muscle fiber type-specific cross-sectional area, capillarization measures, mitochondrial content, and protein content of eNOS, eNOS-P-ser1177, NOX2, p47phox, and p67phox. INTERPRETATION: Because differences in muscle fiber and microvascular outcome measures are not statistically significant, we hypothesize that cardiac dysfunction, seen in active CS, persists during remission and limits blood supply to muscles
On the Influence of Alloy Composition on the Additive Manufacturability of Ni-Based Superalloys
The susceptibility of nickel-based superalloys to processing-induced crack formation during laser powder-bed additive manufacturing is studied. Twelve different alloys—some of existing (heritage) type but also other newly-designed ones—are considered. A strong inter-dependence of alloy composition and processability is demonstrated. Stereological procedures are developed to enable the two dominant defect types found—solidification cracks and solid-state ductility dip cracks—to be distinguished and quantified. Differential scanning calorimetry, creep stress relaxation tests at 1000 °C and measurements of tensile ductility at 800 °C are used to interpret the effects of alloy composition. A model for solid-state cracking is proposed, based on an incapacity to relax the thermal stress arising from constrained differential thermal contraction; its development is supported by experimental measurements using a constrained bar cooling test. A modified solidification cracking criterion is proposed based upon solidification range but including also a contribution from the stress relaxation effect. This work provides fundamental insights into the role of composition on the additive manufacturability of these materials
Determination of iodine value of palm oil based on triglyceride composition
The triglyceride (TG) composition of palm oil is normally determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The HPLC chromatograms indicated a good separation of most of the TG components in the oil. The TG can be classified based on either the TG groups, i.e., triunsaturated, monosaturated, disaturated, or trisaturated, or the number of double bonds, i.e., zero, one, two, three, or four double bonds. The more unsaturated the fatty acid, the greater the iodine value (IV). Therefore, it is hypothesized that the IV of an oil can be determined based upon the TG composition of the oil. Based on the TG groups, stepwise regression analysis showed that the areas of the disaturated, trisaturated, and triunsaturated TG peaks could predict the IV with a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.990. The regression based on the number of double bonds yielded a good regression equation with R2=0.992. The important variables were the peak area of the fatty acids that contained zero, one, two, and three double bonds. This study concludes that the TG composition can be used to predict the IV of palm oil. The best prediction model is obtained by using the number of double bonds in the TG as the independent variable
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