3,672 research outputs found
Muscle fatigue increases beta-band coherence between the firing times of simultaneously active motor units in the first dorsal interosseous muscle
Synchronization between the firing times of simultaneously active motor units (MUs) is generally assumed to increase during fatiguing contractions. To date, however, estimates of MU synchronization have relied on indirect measures, derived from surface electromyographic (EMG) interference signals. This study used intramuscular coherence to investigate the correlation between MU discharges in the first dorsal interosseous muscle during and immediately following a submaximal fatiguing contraction, and after rest. Coherence between composite MU spike trains, derived from decomposed surface EMG, were examined in the delta (1–4 Hz), alpha (8–12 Hz), beta (15–30 Hz), and gamma (30–60 Hz) frequency band ranges. A significant increase in MU coherence was observed in the delta, alpha, and beta frequency bands postfatigue. In addition, wavelet coherence revealed a tendency for delta-, alpha-, and beta-band coherence to increase during the fatiguing contraction, with subjects exhibiting low initial coherence values displaying the greatest relative increase. This was accompanied by an increase in MU short-term synchronization and a decline in mean firing rate of the majority of MUs detected during the sustained contraction. A model of the motoneuron pool and surface EMG was used to investigate factors influencing the coherence estimate. Simulation results indicated that changes in motoneuron inhibition and firing rates alone could not directly account for increased beta-band coherence postfatigue. The observed increase is, therefore, more likely to arise from an increase in the strength of correlated inputs to MUs as the muscle fatigues
Finsler geometry on higher order tensor fields and applications to high angular resolution diffusion imaging.
We study 3D-multidirectional images, using Finsler geometry. The application considered here is in medical image analysis, specifically in High Angular Resolution Diffusion Imaging (HARDI) (Tuch et al. in Magn. Reson. Med. 48(6):1358–1372, 2004) of the brain. The goal is to reveal the architecture of the neural fibers in brain white matter. To the variety of existing techniques, we wish to add novel approaches that exploit differential geometry and tensor calculus. In Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI), the diffusion of water is modeled by a symmetric positive definite second order tensor, leading naturally to a Riemannian geometric framework. A limitation is that it is based on the assumption that there exists a single dominant direction of fibers restricting the thermal motion of water molecules. Using HARDI data and higher order tensor models, we can extract multiple relevant directions, and Finsler geometry provides the natural geometric generalization appropriate for multi-fiber analysis. In this paper we provide an exact criterion to determine whether a spherical function satisfies the strong convexity criterion essential for a Finsler norm. We also show a novel fiber tracking method in Finsler setting. Our model incorporates a scale parameter, which can be beneficial in view of the noisy nature of the data. We demonstrate our methods on analytic as well as simulated and real HARDI data
Radio interferometric observations of two core-dominated triple radio sources at z>3
Aims. We selected two radio quasars (J1036+1326 and J1353+5725) based on
their 1.4-GHz radio structure, which is dominated by a bright central core and
a pair of weaker and nearly symmetric lobes at ~10" angular separation. They
are optically identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) at
spectroscopic redshifts z>3. We investigate the possibility that their
core-dominated triple morphology can be a sign of restarted radio activity in
these quasars, involving a significant repositioning of the radio jet axis.
Methods. We present the results of high-resolution radio imaging observations
of J1036+1326 and J1353+5725, performed with the European Very Long Baseline
Interferometry (VLBI) Network (EVN) at 1.6 GHz. These data are supplemented by
archive observations from the Very Large Array (VLA).We study the large- and
small-scale radio structures and the brightness temperatures, then estimate
relativistic beaming parameters. Results. We show that the central emission
region of these two high-redshift, core-dominated triple sources is compact but
resolved at ~10 milli-arcsecond resolution. We find that it is not necessary to
invoke large misalignment between the VLBI jet and the large-scale radio
structure to explain the observed properties of the sources.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Burning of tropical brazilian rainforest of sandy soil: does it affect soil organic matter?
This study aimed to investigate the impact of vegetation burning on the content and chemical composition of soil organic matter (SOM) along a profile of a sandy Acrisol in Southwestern Amazon, Brazil, within 3 years after experiment beginning(YAB).The study was performed in Rio Branco, Acre State, and the forest burning was performed under controlled conditions. Samples from 6 depth(0-100cm depth)were collected under burned forest (BF) and primary forest (PF) at 1 YAB and 3 YAB. Besides Cand N contents, humic substances and biomarkers were determined. Under PF, the C content decreased with depth from 12 to 2 g kg-1.C/N ratio ranged from 7.6 at the surface to values around 3 at 1 m depth, indicating a predominance of microbial products. Humin fraction was not detected in the whole profile. Burning of vegetation promoted an increase of C and of humic acids only at 0-5 cm. The n-alkane distribution showed a shift towards smaller chains in the 0-5 cm of BF, indicating main contribution of microbial products. Also PAH’s of high molecular weight were detected in this site. Vegetation burning imparts alterations on the SOM composition, but these tend to disappear within 3 years
Biomarker analysis in soils of the Amazon rainforest after vegetation fire.
The objective of this study was to determine the origin of organic matter incorporated in Amazon forest soils subjected to vegetation fire by analyzing the aliphatic biomarkers (n-alkanes) present in lipid extracts of soil samples
Study of and and
We study the decays of and to the final states
and based on a single
baryon tag method using data samples of
and events collected with
the BESIII detector at the BEPCII collider. The decays to
are observed for the first time. The
measured branching fractions of and
are in good agreement with, and much
more precise, than the previously published results. The angular parameters for
these decays are also measured for the first time. The measured angular decay
parameter for , , is found to be negative, different to the other
decay processes in this measurement. In addition, the "12\% rule" and isospin
symmetry in the and and
systems are tested.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures. This version is consistent with paper published
in Phys.Lett. B770 (2017) 217-22
Observation of and confirmation of its large branching fraction
The baryonic decay is observed, and the
corresponding branching fraction is measured to be
, where the first uncertainty is statistical
and second systematic. The data sample used in this analysis was collected with
the BESIII detector operating at the BEPCII double-ring collider with
a center-of-mass energy of 4.178~GeV and an integrated luminosity of
3.19~fb. The result confirms the previous measurement by the CLEO
Collaboration and is of greatly improved precision, which may deepen our
understanding of the dynamical enhancement of the W-annihilation topology in
the charmed meson decays
Improved measurement of the absolute branching fraction of
By analyzing 2.93 fb of data collected at GeV with the
BESIII detector, we measure the absolute branching fraction , which is consistent with previous measurements within
uncertainties but with significantly improved precision. Combining the Particle
Data Group values of , , and the lifetimes of the and
mesons with the value of measured in this work, we determine the following ratios of
partial widths: and .Comment: 9 pages; 8 figure
Observation of radiative decay and evidence for
A search for radiative decays of the -wave spin singlet charmonium
resonance is performed based on events
collected with the BESIII detector operating at the BEPCII storage ring. Events
of the reaction channels and are
observed with a statistical significance of and ,
respectively, for the first time. The branching fractions of and are measured to be
and , respectively, where the first errors are
statistical and the second are systematic uncertainties.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure
Observation of an anomalous line shape of the mass spectrum near the mass threshold in
Using events collected by the BESIII experiment
in 2012, we study the
process and observe a significant abrupt change in the slope of the
invariant mass distribution at the
proton-antiproton () mass threshold. We use two models to
characterize the line shape around
: one which explicitly incorporates the opening of a
decay threshold in the mass spectrum (Flatt\'{e} formula), and another which is
the coherent sum of two resonant amplitudes. Both fits show almost equally good
agreement with data, and suggest the existence of either a broad state around
with strong couplings to final states or a
narrow state just below the mass threshold. Although we cannot
distinguish between the fits, either one supports the existence of a
molecule-like state or bound state with greater than significance
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