971 research outputs found
Computational polarimetric microwave imaging
We propose a polarimetric microwave imaging technique that exploits recent
advances in computational imaging. We utilize a frequency-diverse cavity-backed
metasurface, allowing us to demonstrate high-resolution polarimetric imaging
using a single transceiver and frequency sweep over the operational microwave
bandwidth. The frequency-diverse metasurface imager greatly simplifies the
system architecture compared with active arrays and other conventional
microwave imaging approaches. We further develop the theoretical framework for
computational polarimetric imaging and validate the approach experimentally
using a multi-modal leaky cavity. The scalar approximation for the interaction
between the radiated waves and the target---often applied in microwave
computational imaging schemes---is thus extended to retrieve the susceptibility
tensors, and hence providing additional information about the targets.
Computational polarimetry has relevance for existing systems in the field that
extract polarimetric imagery, and particular for ground observation. A growing
number of short-range microwave imaging applications can also notably benefit
from computational polarimetry, particularly for imaging objects that are
difficult to reconstruct when assuming scalar estimations.Comment: 17 pages, 15 figure
Amplitude Modulation and Relaxation-Oscillation of Counterpropagating Rolls within a Broken-Symmetry Laser-Induced Electroconvection Strip
We report a liquid-crystal pattern-formation experiment in which we break the
lateral (translational) symmetry of a nematic medium with a laser-induced
thermal gradient. The work is motivated by an improved measurement (reported
here) of the temperature dependence of the electroconvection threshold voltage
in planar-nematic 4-methoxybenzylidene-4-butylaniline (MBBA). In contrast with
other broken-symmetry-pattern studies that report a uniform drift, we observe a
strip of counterpropagating rolls that collide at a sink point, and a strong
temporally periodic amplitude modulation within a width of 3-4 rolls about the
sink point. The time dependence of the amplitude at a fixed position is
periodic but displays a nonsinusoidal relaxation-oscillation profile. After
reporting experimental results based on spacetime contours and wavenumber
profiles, along with a measurement of the change in the drift frequency with
applied voltage at a fixed control parameter, we propose some potential
guidelines for a theoretical model based on saddle-point solutions for
Eckhaus-unstable states and coupled complex Ginzburg-Landau equations.
Published in PRE 73, 036317 (2006).Comment: Published in Physical Review E in March 200
Karhunen-Lo`eve Decomposition of Extensive Chaos
We show that the number of KLD (Karhunen-Lo`eve decomposition) modes D_KLD(f)
needed to capture a fraction f of the total variance of an extensively chaotic
state scales extensively with subsystem volume V. This allows a correlation
length xi_KLD(f) to be defined that is easily calculated from spatially
localized data. We show that xi_KLD(f) has a parametric dependence similar to
that of the dimension correlation length and demonstrate that this length can
be used to characterize high-dimensional inhomogeneous spatiotemporal chaos.Comment: 12 pages including 4 figures, uses REVTeX macros. To appear in Phys.
Rev. Let
The Catechol-O-Methyltransferase (COMT) val158met Polymorphism Affects Brain Responses to Repeated Painful Stimuli
Despite the explosion of interest in the genetic underpinnings of individual differences in pain sensitivity, conflicting findings have emerged for most of the identified "pain genes". Perhaps the prime example of this inconsistency is represented by catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), as its substantial association to pain sensitivity has been reported in various studies, but rejected in several others. In line with findings from behavioral studies, we hypothesized that the effect of COMT on pain processing would become apparent only when the pain system was adequately challenged (i.e., after repeated pain stimulation). In the present study, we used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to investigate the brain response to heat pain stimuli in 54 subjects genotyped for the common COMT val158met polymorphism (val/val = n 22, val/met = n 20, met/met = n 12). Met/met subjects exhibited stronger pain-related fMRI signals than val/val in several brain structures, including the periaqueductal gray matter, lingual gyrus, cerebellum, hippocampal formation and precuneus. These effects were observed only for high intensity pain stimuli after repeated administration. In spite of our relatively small sample size, our results suggest that COMT appears to affect pain processing. Our data demonstrate that the effect of COMT on pain processing can be detected in presence of 1) a sufficiently robust challenge to the pain system to detect a genotype effect, and/or 2) the recruitment of pain-dampening compensatory mechanisms by the putatively more pain sensitive met homozygotes. These findings may help explain the inconsistencies in reported findings of the impact of COMT in pain regulation.United States. National Institutes of Health (R01AT005280)United States. National Institutes of Health (R21AT00949)United States. National Institutes of Health (KO1AT003883)United States. National Institutes of Health (R21AT004497)National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (U.S.) (PO1-AT002048)United States. National Institutes of Health (M01-RR-01066)United States. National Institutes of Health (UL1 RR025758-01)United States. National Institutes of Health (P41RR14075)United States. National Institutes of Health (DE-FG03-99ER62764)Swedish Society for Medical Researc
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Well-Loved Music Robustly Relieves Pain: A Randomized, Controlled Trial
Music has pain-relieving effects, but its mechanisms remain unclear. We sought to verify previously studied analgesic components and further elucidate the underpinnings of music analgesia. Using a well-characterized conditioning-enhanced placebo model, we examined whether boosting expectations would enhance or interfere with analgesia from strongly preferred music. A two-session experiment was performed with 48 healthy, pain experiment-naïve participants. In a first cohort, 36 were randomized into 3 treatment groups, including music enhanced with positive expectancy, non-musical sound enhanced with positive expectancy, and no expectancy enhancement. A separate replication cohort of 12 participants received only expectancy-enhanced music following the main experiment to verify the results of expectancy-manipulation on music. Primary outcome measures included the change in subjective pain ratings to calibrated experimental noxious heat stimuli, as well as changes in treatment expectations. Without conditioning, expectations were strongly in favor of music compared to non-musical sound. While measured expectations were enhanced by conditioning, this failed to affect either music or sound analgesia significantly. Strongly preferred music on its own was as pain relieving as conditioning-enhanced strongly preferred music, and more analgesic than enhanced sound. Our results demonstrate the pain-relieving power of personal music even over enhanced expectations. Trial Information Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01835275
A Longitudinal Study of the Reliability of Acupuncture Deqi Sensations in Knee Osteoarthritis
Deqi is one of the core concepts in acupuncture theory and encompasses a range of sensations. In this study, we used the MGH Acupuncture Sensation Scale (MASS) to measure and assess the reliability of the sensations evoked by acupuncture needle stimulation in a longitudinal clinical trial on knee osteoarthritis (OA) patients. The Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) was used as the clinical outcome. Thirty OA patients were randomized into one of three groups (high dose, low dose, and sham acupuncture) for 4 weeks. We found that, compared with sham acupuncture, real acupuncture (combining high and low doses) produced significant improvement in knee pain (P = .025) and function in sport (P = .049). Intraclass correlation analysis showed that patients reliably rated 11 of the 12 acupuncture sensations listed on the MASS and that heaviness was rated most consistently. Overall perceived sensation (MASS Index) (P = .014), ratings of soreness (P = .002), and aching (P = .002) differed significantly across acupuncture groups. Compared to sham acupuncture, real acupuncture reliably evoked stronger deqi sensations and led to better clinical outcomes when measured in a chronic pain population. Our findings highlight the MASS as a useful tool for measuring deqi in acupuncture research
Particle dynamics in sheared granular matter
The particle dynamics and shear forces of granular matter in a Couette
geometry are determined experimentally. The normalized tangential velocity
declines strongly with distance from the moving wall, independent of
the shear rate and of the shear dynamics. Local RMS velocity fluctuations
scale with the local velocity gradient to the power . These results agree with a locally Newtonian, continuum model, where the
granular medium is assumed to behave as a liquid with a local temperature
and density dependent viscosity
Dynamic scaling and quasi-ordered states in the two dimensional Swift-Hohenberg equation
The process of pattern formation in the two dimensional Swift-Hohenberg
equation is examined through numerical and analytic methods. Dynamic scaling
relationships are developed for the collective ordering of convective rolls in
the limit of infinite aspect ratio. The stationary solutions are shown to be
strongly influenced by the strength of noise. Stationary states for small and
large noise strengths appear to be quasi-ordered and disordered respectively.
The dynamics of ordering from an initially inhomogeneous state is very slow in
the former case and fast in the latter. Both numerical and analytic
calculations indicate that the slow dynamics can be characterized by a simple
scaling relationship, with a characteristic dynamic exponent of in the
intermediate time regime
Direct observation of twist mode in electroconvection in I52
I report on the direct observation of a uniform twist mode of the director
field in electroconvection in I52. Recent theoretical work suggests that such a
uniform twist mode of the director field is responsible for a number of
secondary bifurcations in both electroconvection and thermal convection in
nematics. I show here evidence that the proposed mechanisms are consistent with
being the source of the previously reported SO2 state of electroconvection in
I52. The same mechanisms also contribute to a tertiary Hopf bifurcation that I
observe in electroconvection in I52. There are quantitative differences between
the experiment and calculations that only include the twist mode. These
differences suggest that a complete description must include effects described
by the weak-electrolyte model of electroconvection
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