4,865 research outputs found
A robot hand testbed designed for enhancing embodiment and functional neurorehabilitation of body schema in subjects with upper limb impairment or loss.
Many upper limb amputees experience an incessant, post-amputation "phantom limb pain" and report that their missing limbs feel paralyzed in an uncomfortable posture. One hypothesis is that efferent commands no longer generate expected afferent signals, such as proprioceptive feedback from changes in limb configuration, and that the mismatch of motor commands and visual feedback is interpreted as pain. Non-invasive therapeutic techniques for treating phantom limb pain, such as mirror visual feedback (MVF), rely on visualizations of postural changes. Advances in neural interfaces for artificial sensory feedback now make it possible to combine MVF with a high-tech "rubber hand" illusion, in which subjects develop a sense of embodiment with a fake hand when subjected to congruent visual and somatosensory feedback. We discuss clinical benefits that could arise from the confluence of known concepts such as MVF and the rubber hand illusion, and new technologies such as neural interfaces for sensory feedback and highly sensorized robot hand testbeds, such as the "BairClaw" presented here. Our multi-articulating, anthropomorphic robot testbed can be used to study proprioceptive and tactile sensory stimuli during physical finger-object interactions. Conceived for artificial grasp, manipulation, and haptic exploration, the BairClaw could also be used for future studies on the neurorehabilitation of somatosensory disorders due to upper limb impairment or loss. A remote actuation system enables the modular control of tendon-driven hands. The artificial proprioception system enables direct measurement of joint angles and tendon tensions while temperature, vibration, and skin deformation are provided by a multimodal tactile sensor. The provision of multimodal sensory feedback that is spatiotemporally consistent with commanded actions could lead to benefits such as reduced phantom limb pain, and increased prosthesis use due to improved functionality and reduced cognitive burden
Temperature dependent effective potential method for accurate free energy calculations of solids
We have developed a thorough and accurate method of determining anharmonic
free energies, the temperature dependent effective potential technique (TDEP).
It is based on \emph{ab initio} molecular dynamics followed by a mapping onto a
model Hamiltonian that describes the lattice dynamics. The formalism and the
numerical aspects of the technique are described in details. A number of
practical examples are given, and results are presented, which confirm the
usefulness of TDEP within \emph{ab initio} and classical molecular dynamics
frameworks. In particular, we examine from first-principles the behavior of
force constants upon the dynamical stabilization of body centered phase of Zr,
and show that they become more localized. We also calculate phase diagram for
He modeled with the Aziz \emph{et al.} potential and obtain results which
are in favorable agreement both with respect to experiment and established
techniques
Lattice dynamics of anharmonic solids from first principles
An accurate and easily extendable method to deal with lattice dynamics of
solids is offered. It is based on first-principles molecular dynamics
simulations and provides a consistent way to extract the best possible harmonic
- or higher order - potential energy surface at finite temperatures. It is
designed to work even for strongly anharmonic systems where the traditional
quasiharmonic approximation fails. The accuracy and convergence of the method
are controlled in a straightforward way. Excellent agreement of the calculated
phonon dispersion relations at finite temperature with experimental results for
bcc Li and bcc Zr is demonstrated
Ferromagnetic Film on a Superconducting Substrate
We study the equilibrium domain structure and magnetic flux around a
ferromagnetic (FM) film with perpendicular magnetization M_0 on a
superconducting (SC) substrate. At 4{\pi}M_0<H_{c1} the SC is in the Meissner
state and the equilibrium domain width in the film, l, scales as
(l/4{\pi}{\lambda}_{L}) = (l_{N}/4{\pi}{\lambda}_{L})^{2/3} with the domain
width on a normal (non-superconducting) substrate, l_{N}/4\pi\lambda_L >> 1.
Here \lambda_L is the London penetration length. For 4{\pi}M_0 > H_{c1} and
l_{N} in excess of about 35 {\lambda}_{L}, the domains are connected by SC
vortices. We argue that pinning of vortices by magnetic domains in FM/SC
multilayers can provide high critical currents.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to PR
From electronic structure to catalytic activity: A single descriptor for adsorption and reactivity on transition-metal carbides
Adsorption and catalytic properties of the polar (111) surface of
transition-metal carbides (TMC's) are investigated by density-functional
theory. Atomic and molecular adsorption are rationalized with the
concerted-coupling model, in which two types of TMC surface resonances (SR's)
play key roles. The transition-metal derived SR is found to be a single
measurable descriptor for the adsorption processes, implying that the
Br{\o}nsted-Evans-Polanyi relation and scaling relations apply. This gives a
picture with implications for ligand and vacancy effects and which has a
potential for a broad screening procedure for heterogeneous catalysts.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Формирование гипохолестеролемии при холестеролопатиях
гипохолестеролемияХОЛЕСТЕРИНхолестеролопати
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