Study of celestial/inertial test facility Final report

Test facility and equipment for evaluation of optical sensors employed in celestial navigation and guidance system

Expectations and Beliefs in Immersive Virtual Reality Environments: Managing of Body Perception

Real and Perceived Feet Orientation Under Fatiguing and Non-Fatiguing Conditions in an Immersive Virtual Reality Environment ABSTRACT Lower limbs position sense is a complex yet poorly understood mechanism, influenced by many factors. Hence, we investigated the position sense of lower limbs through feet orientation with the use of Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR). Participants had to indicate how they perceived the real 1050 orientation of their feet by orientating a virtual representation of the feet that was shown in an IVR 1051 scenario. We calculated the angle between the two virtual feet (α-VR) after a high-knee step-in-1052 place task. Simultaneously, we recorded the real angle between the two feet (α-R) (T1). Hence, we 1053 assessed if the acute fatigue impacted the position sense. The same procedure was repeated after 1054 inducing muscle fatigue (T2) and after 10 minutes from T2 (T3). Finally, we also recorded the time 1055 needed to confirm the perceived position before and after the acute fatigue protocol. Thirty healthy 1056 adults (27.5 ± 3.8: 57% female, 43% male) were immersed in an IVR scenario with a representation 1057 of two feet. We found a mean difference between α-VR and α-R of 20.89° [95% CI: 14.67°, 27.10°] 1058 in T1, 16.76° [9.57°, 23.94°] in T2, and 16.34° [10.00°, 22.68°] in T3. Participants spent 12.59, 17.50 1059 and 17.95 seconds confirming the perceived position of their feet at T1, T2, T3, respectively. 1060 Participants indicated their feet as forwarding parallel though divergent, showing a mismatch in the 1061 perceived position of feet. Fatigue seemed not to have an impact on position sense but delayed the 1062 time to accomplish this task.The Effect of Context on Eye-Height Estimation in Immersive Virtual Reality: a Cross-Sectional Study ABSTRACT Eye-height spatial perception provides a reference to scale the surrounding environment. It is the result of the integration of visual and postural information. When these stimuli are discordant, the perceived spatial parameters are distorted. Previous studies in immersive virtual reality (IVR) showed that spatial perception is influenced by the visual context of the environment. Hence, this study explored how manipulating the context in IVR affects individuals’ eye-height estimation. Two groups of twenty participants each were immersed in two different IVR environments, represented by a closed room (Wall - W) and an open field (No Wall - NW). Under these two different conditions, participants had to adjust their virtual perspective, estimating their eye height. We calculated the perceived visual offset as the difference between virtual and real eye height, to assess whether the scenarios and the presence of virtual shoes (Feet, No Feet) influenced participants’ estimates at three initial offsets (+100 cm, +0 cm, -100 cm). We found a mean difference between the visual 1679 offsets registered in those trials that started with 100 cm and 0 cm offsets (17.24 cm [8.78; 25.69]) 1680 and between 100 cm and -100 cm offsets (22.35 cm [15.65; 29.05]). Furthermore, a noticeable mean difference was found between the visual offsets recorded in group W, depending on the presence or absence of the virtual shoes (Feet VS No Feet: -6.12 [-10.29, -1.95]). These findings describe that different contexts influenced eye-height perception.Positive Expectations led to Motor Improvement: an Immersive Virtual Reality Pilot Study ABSTRACT This pilot study tested the feasibility of an experimental protocol that evaluated the effect of different positive expectations (verbal and visual-haptic) on anterior trunk flexion. Thirty-six participants were assigned to 3 groups (G0, G+ and G++) that received a sham manoeuvre while immersed in Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR). In G0, the manouvre was paired with by neutral verbal statement. In G+ and G++ the manouvre was paired with a positive verbal statement, but only G++ received a visual-haptic illusion. The illusion consisted of lifting a movable tile placed in front of the participants, using its height to raise the floor level in virtual reality. In this way, participants experienced the perception of touching the floor, through the tactile and the virtual visual afference. The distance between fingertips and the floor was measured before, immediately after, and after 5 minutes from the different manouvres. A major difference in anterior trunk flexion was found for G++ compared to the other groups, although it was only significant compared to G0. This result highlighted the feasibility of the present study for future research on people with mobility limitations (e.g., low back pain or kinesiophobia) and the potential role of a visual-haptic illusion in modifying the performance of trunk flexion

CP (and CPT) violation studies at the Super Flavour Factories

In this talk we present the perspectives about measurements of CP and CPT violating quantities at future Super Flavour Factories. In particular we will focus on the expected sensitivities reachable after 5 years of data taking with the SuperB detector: this dataset will allow to perform measurements on B meson, D meson and tau lepton systems with greatly enhanced precision over the current results.Comment: Proceedings of CKM2010, the 6th International Workshop on the CKM Unitarity Triangle, University of Warwick, UK, 6-10 September 201

Searches for rare B decays with missing energy at SuperB

We present the current experimental status and the perspectives at SuperB on the searches for rare B decays with missing energy in the final state. Experimental improvements due to the detector design will be illustrated. The expected constraints on parameters entering New Physics models will also be discussed

Recent results from the BaBar experiment

We present some of the most recent results from the analysis of the full dataset collected by the BaBar experiment. They include searches for rare decays in the charm sector, the first evidence for the hb(1S) bottomomium state and results from the analysis of the data collected above the Υ(4S) mass

A Bioarchaeological Study of Osteoarthritis of Agro-pastoralists from Mistihalj, Bosnia and Herzegovina: A Lifestyle Set in Time

Activity stresses are an important factor in the development, patterning, and severity of osteoarthritis. This bioarchaeological thesis explores the prevalence and patterning of osteoarthritis between individuals buried at a Late Medieval Necropolis and a church Crypt built in the 19th century at the Mistihalj site in Bosnia and Herzegovina to understand the physiological effects of their peasant agro-pastoralist lifestyle. Composite scores of osteoarthritis were generated for visual observations of upper limb joints (shoulder, elbow, and wrist) and lower limb joints (hip, knee, and ankle) of 37 female and 39 male adult (between 20 and 50 or more years of age) skeletons. These were analyzed and compared by limb, age, sex, and time period. Low ranking peasant status for individuals was inferred by the location and type of burial. Odds ratio analyses show a positive correlation between the prevalence of osteoarthritis and age among Necropolis individuals. Correlation by age is expected, as the prevalence of osteoarthritis increases due to senescence and longer exposure to activities. A positive correlation between the severity of osteoarthritis and burial location between male skeletons overall and among older adults suggests that distinctive factors, perhaps differential workloads, played a role in the effects of this condition among these individuals. The reasons for the lack of any other significant differences in the osteoarthritic effects within and between the individuals from the two burial locations are discussed, including systemic factors that might lead to generalized osteoarthritis. However, overall these data suggest that the individuals within and between these time periods were generally involved in similar activities reflecting long term traditional lifestyles that continued over centuries. This thesis adds to the nascent bioarchaeological knowledge about past populations from Bosnia and Herzegovina and contributes to an anthropological understanding of lifestyles and their effect on physiological health

Search for B → lν, B → K(∗)ν¯ν, and B → K(∗)ll at B factories

A review of the searches for the B → lν, B → K(∗)ν¯ν, and B → K(∗)ll rare decays performed with data samples collected by the BaBar and Belle detectors will be presented

Considerations about the Argentinian crisis and the socials politics in the province of Mendoza

Con el presente trabajo se intenta realizar un análisis de la crisis Argentina y las políticas sociales en la provincia de Mendoza desde una perspectiva crítica. Asumimos el rol de sujetos preocupados por el acelerado proceso de exclusión y desafiliación social que se ha dado desde los 80 hasta la actualidad en la Argentina. El devenir de los procesos históricos estudiados puede inscribirse en distintos discursos, generando debates y conflictos entre las diferentes interpretaciones en el campo de las ciencias sociales y la teoría política. En este sentido analizamos los valores compartidos y sustentados por el neoliberalismo como parte de la cultura política y los efectos en la mayoría de la población de la Argentina en interrelación con la condición de ser ciudadano.This present job tries to make an analysis about Argentinean crisis and the socials politics in the province of Mendoza from a critical perspective. We assume the roll of worried subjects for the accelerated exclusion and social disaffiliation process that had been seen from the 80s until our days in Argentina. The progress of the historics processes studied can engrave in differents speeches, making discussions and conflicts among the differents interpretations in the camp of the socials sciences and politic theory. In this sense we analyze the shared and held values for the neoliberalism as a part of the politic culture, and the effects in the majority of the population in Argentina in interrelation with the condition of being citizen.Fil: Cusimano, Stella Maris. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y SocialesFil: Manoni, Flavia. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociale