15 research outputs found
Periodicities and Plasma Density Structure of Jupiterâs Dawnside Magnetosphere
The ability to quantify variations in magnetic field topology and density within Jupiterâs magnetosphere is an important step in understanding the overall structure and dynamics. The Juno spacecraft has provided a rich data set in the dawnside magnetosphere. The recent Grid Agnostic MHD for Extended Research Applications (GAMERA) global simulation study by Zhang et al. (2021) showed a highly structured plasmadisc with closed magnetic field lines mapping between the outer dawn-tail flank and the high latitude polar region. To test these model predictions, we examined Junoâs magnetic field data and electron/energetic particle data to categorize portions of orbits 1-15 into one of three regions based on plasma confinement: the flux pileup region, the intermediate region, and the plasmadisc region. For each region we examined periodicities from magnetic field fluctuations and particle density fluctuations on the 1-10 hours time scale. Periodicities on this time scale could relate to internal (e.g. plasmadisc structure) or external processes (e.g. Kelvin-Helmholtz vortices). Similar analysis was performed on the GAMERA simulation with the data split into two regions, an outer (150 \u3e R \u3e 60) region and an inner (R \u3c 60) region. Finally, using published density moments from Huscher et al. (2021) we compared the relative density variations of the Juno moments and the GAMERA simulation to further understand the overall structure and dynamics of the plasmadisc. The agreement between data and simulation supports the existence of such a highly structured plasmadisc
Electron Distributions in Kinetic Scale Field Line Resonances: A Comparison of Simulations and Observations
Observations in kinetic scale field line resonances, or eigenmodes of the geomagnetic field, reveal highly fieldâaligned plateaued electron distributions. By combining observations from the Van Allen Probes and Cluster spacecraft with a hybrid kinetic gyrofluid simulation we show how these distributions arise from the nonlocal selfâconsistent interaction of electrons with the wavefield. This interaction is manifested as electron trapping in the standing wave potential. The process operates along most of the field line and qualitatively accounts for electron observations near the equatorial plane and at higher latitudes. In conjunction with the highly fieldâaligned plateaus, loss cone features are also evident, which result from the action of the upwardâdirected wave parallel electric field on the untrapped electron populations
Impact of muscle activation on ranges of motion during active elbow movement in children with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy
Background
Children with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy are restricted in their daily activities due to limited active ranges of motion of their involved upper limb, specifically at the elbow. Their impaired muscles are frequently targeted by anti-spastic treatments that reduce muscle tone. But these treatments do not necessarily improve the limb function. There is a lack of comprehensive knowledge of the quantitative relations between muscle activation and joint active ranges of motion. Consequently, the objective of this study is to quantify the impact of muscle activation on the elbow active ranges of motion.
Methods
During voluntary elbow pronation/supination and extension/flexion movements, kinematic and electromyographic measurements were collected from the involved upper limb of 15 children with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy (mean age = 8.7 years, standard deviation = 2.2) and the dominant upper limb of 15 age-matched children who are typically developing. Representative indicators of the muscle activation, such as the muscle co-activation, were extracted from the electromyographic measurements.
Findings
Muscle co-activation in the involved upper limb accounted for 78% and 59% of the explained variance of the supination and extension limited active ranges of motion respectively. The agonist and antagonist muscle activations were both longer in the involved upper limb.
Interpretations
This study succeeded in quantifying the impact of longer antagonist muscle activation on decreased elbow active ranges of motion in children with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy. Longer agonist muscle activation suggests that strengthening agonist muscles could increase the extension and supination ranges of motion, which constitutes a perspective of future clinical studies
Do disease specific characteristics add to the explanation of mobility limitations in patients with different chronic diseases? A study in The Netherlands.
STUDY OBJECTIVES: To determine whether disease specific characteristics, reflecting clinical disease severity, add to the explanation of mobility limitations in patients with specific chronic diseases. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross sectional study of survey data from community dwelling elderly people, aged 55-85 years, in the Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: The additional explanation of mobility limitations by disease specific characteristics was examined by logistic regression analyses on data from 2830 community dwelling elderly people. MAIN RESULTS: In the total sample, chronic non-specific lung disease, cardiac disease, peripheral atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, stroke, arthritis and cancer (the index diseases), were all independently associated with mobility limitations. Adjusted for age, sex, comorbidity, and medical treatment disease specific characteristics that explain the association between disease and mobility mostly reflect decreased endurance capacity (shortness of breath and disturbed night rest in chronic non-specific lung disease, angina pectoris and congestive heart failure in cardiac disease), or are directly related to mobility function (stiffness and lower body complaints in arthritis). For atherosclerosis and diabetes mellitus, disease specific characteristics did not add to the explanation of mobility limitations. CONCLUSIONS: The results provide evidence that, to obtain more detailed information about the differential impact of chronic diseases on mobility, disease specific characteristics are important to take into account