3,322 research outputs found
Comparison of regional blood flow values measured by radioactive and fluorescent microspheres
Fluorescent microspheres (FM) have become an attractive alternative to radioactive microspheres (RM) for the measurement of regional blood flow (RBF). The aim of the present study was to investigate the comparability of both methods by measuring RBF with FM and RM. Eight anaesthetised pigs received simultaneous, left atrial injections of FM and RM with a diameter of 15 mum at six different time points. Blood reference samples were collected from the descending aorta. RBF was determined in tissue samples of the myocardium, spleen and kidneys of all 8 animals. After radioactivity of the tissue samples was determined, the samples were processed automatically for measuring fluorescence using a recently developed filter device (SPU). RBF was calculated with both the isotope and spectrometric data of both methods for each sample resulting in a total of 10,512 blood flow values. The comparison of the RBF values yielded high linear correlation (mean r(2) = 0.95 +/- 0.03 to 0.97 +/- 0.02) and excellent agreement (bias 5.4-6.7%, precision 9.9-16.5%) of both methods. Our results indicate the validity of MS and of the automated tissue processing technique by means of the SPU. Copyright (C) 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel
How to not induce SNAs: The insufficiency of directional force.
People respond faster to smaller numbers in their left space and to larger numbers in their right space. Here we argue that movements in space contribute to the formation of spatial-numerical associations (SNAs). We studied the impact of continuous isometric forces along the horizontal or vertical cardinal axes on SNAs while participants performed random number production and arithmetic verification tasks. Our results suggest that such isometric directional force do not suffice to induce SNAs. [Abstract copyright: Copyright: © 2023 Michirev et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
How visual information influences dual-task driving and tracking
The study examined the impact of visual predictability on dual-task performance in driving and tracking tasks. Participants (N = 27) performed a simulated driving task and a pursuit tracking task. In either task, visual predictability was manipulated by systematically varying the amount of advance visual information: in the driving task, participants drove at night with low beam, at night with high beam, or in daylight; in the tracking task, participants saw a white line that specified the future target trajectory for 200, 400 or 800 ms. Concurrently with driving or tracking, participants performed an auditory task. They had to discriminate between two sounds and press a pedal upon hearing the higher sound. Results show that in general, visual predictability benefited driving and tracking; however, dual-task driving performance was best with highest visual predictability (daylight), dual-task tracking performance was best with medium visual predictability (400 ms). Braking/reaction times were higher in dual tasks compared to single tasks, but were unaffected by visual predictability, showing that its beneficial effects did not transfer to the auditory task. In both tasks, manual accuracy decreased around the moment the foot pressed the pedal, indicating interference between tasks. We, therefore, conclude that despite a general beneficial impact of predictability, the integration of visual information seems to be rather task specific, and that interference between driving and audiomotor tasks, and tracking and audiomotor tasks, seems comparable
Atomic multipole relaxation rates near surfaces
The spontaneous relaxation rates for an atom in free space and close to an
absorbing surface are calculated to various orders of the electromagnetic
multipole expansion. The spontaneous decay rates for dipole, quadrupole and
octupole transitions are calculated in terms of their respective primitive
electric multipole moments and the magnetic relaxation rate is calculated for
the dipole and quadrupole transitions in terms of their respective primitive
magnetic multipole moments. The theory of electromagnetic field quantization in
magnetoelectric materials is used to derive general expressions for the decay
rates in terms of the dyadic Green function. We focus on the decay rates in
free space and near an infinite half space. For the decay of atoms near to an
absorbing dielectric surface we find a hierarchy of scaling laws depending on
the atom-surface distance z.Comment: Updated to journal version. 16 page
Microstructure and mechanical properties of AISi 304l austenitic stainless steel processed by various schedules of rolling
The paper studies various rolling schedules implemented at 500°С (incl. direct, reverse, and cross rolling) and their effect on the structure formation and mechanical properties in AISI 304L stainless steel samples. Both TEM and SEM research techniques were applied. An ultrafine grain-subgrain microstructure was found to be formed inside elongated original grains. Rolling-processed microstructural elements were close in their size with the minimum value observed after a reverse rolling (240 nm
Inhibition of Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase Prevents IL-1β-Induced Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Human Chondrocytes
Interleukin (IL)-1β is an important pro-inflammatory cytokine in the progression of osteoarthritis (OA), which impairs mitochondrial function and induces the production of nitric oxide (NO) in chondrocytes. The aim was to investigate if blockade of NO production prevents IL-1βinduced mitochondrial dysfunction in chondrocytes and whether cAMP and AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) affects NO production and mitochondrial function. Isolated human OA chondrocytes were stimulated with IL-1β in combination with/without forskolin, L-NIL, AMPK activator or inhibitor. The release of NO, IL-6, PGE2 , MMP3, and the expression of iNOS were measured by ELISA or Western blot. Parameters of mitochondrial respiration were measured using a seahorse analyzer. IL-1β significantly induced NO release and mitochondrial dysfunction. Inhibition of iNOS by L-NIL prevented IL-1β-induced NO release and mitochondrial dysfunction but not IL-1β-induced release of IL-6, PGE2 , and MMP3. Enhancement of cAMP by forskolin reduced IL-1β-induced NO release and prevented IL-1β-induced mitochondrial impairment. Activation of AMPK increased IL-1β-induced NO production and the negative impact of IL-1β on mitochondrial respiration, whereas inhibition of AMPK had the opposite effects. NO is critically involved in the IL-1β-induced impairment of mitochondrial respiration in human OA chondrocytes. Increased intracellular cAMP or inhibition of AMPK prevented both IL-1β-induced NO release and mitochondrial dysfunction
Iterated Binomial Sums and their Associated Iterated Integrals
We consider finite iterated generalized harmonic sums weighted by the
binomial in numerators and denominators. A large class of these
functions emerges in the calculation of massive Feynman diagrams with local
operator insertions starting at 3-loop order in the coupling constant and
extends the classes of the nested harmonic, generalized harmonic and cyclotomic
sums. The binomially weighted sums are associated by the Mellin transform to
iterated integrals over square-root valued alphabets. The values of the sums
for and the iterated integrals at lead to new
constants, extending the set of special numbers given by the multiple zeta
values, the cyclotomic zeta values and special constants which emerge in the
limit of generalized harmonic sums. We develop
algorithms to obtain the Mellin representations of these sums in a systematic
way. They are of importance for the derivation of the asymptotic expansion of
these sums and their analytic continuation to . The
associated convolution relations are derived for real parameters and can
therefore be used in a wider context, as e.g. for multi-scale processes. We
also derive algorithms to transform iterated integrals over root-valued
alphabets into binomial sums. Using generating functions we study a few aspects
of infinite (inverse) binomial sums.Comment: 62 pages Latex, 1 style fil
Person localization using sensor information fusion
Nowadays the incredible grow of mobile devices market led
to the need for location-aware applications. However, sometimes person
location is di cult to obtain, since most of these devices only have a GPS
(Global Positioning System) chip to retrieve location. In order to sup-
press this limitation and to provide location everywhere (even where a
structured environment doesn't exist) a wearable inertial navigation sys-
tem is proposed, which is a convenient way to track people in situations
where other localization systems fail. The system combines pedestrian
dead reckoning with GPS, using widely available, low-cost and low-power
hardware components. The system innovation is the information fusion
and the use of probabilistic methods to learn persons gait behavior to
correct, in real-time, the drift errors given by the sensors.This work is part-funded by ERDF - European Regional Development Fund through
the COMPETE Programme (operational programme for competitiveness) and by
National Funds through the FCT Fundao para a Cincia e a Tecnologia (Portuguese
Foundation for Science and Technology) within project FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-
028980 (PTDC/EEI-SII/1386/2012). Ricardo also acknowledge FCT for the support
of his work through the PhD grant (SFRH/DB/70248/2010)
Resolved Sideband Cooling of a Micromechanical Oscillator
Micro- and nanoscale opto-mechanical systems provide radiation pressure
coupling of optical and mechanical degree of freedom and are actively pursued
for their ability to explore quantum mechanical phenomena of macroscopic
objects. Many of these investigations require preparation of the mechanical
system in or close to its quantum ground state. Remarkable progress in ground
state cooling has been achieved for trapped ions and atoms confined in optical
lattices. Imperative to this progress has been the technique of resolved
sideband cooling, which allows overcoming the inherent temperature limit of
Doppler cooling and necessitates a harmonic trapping frequency which exceeds
the atomic species' transition rate. The recent advent of cavity back-action
cooling of mechanical oscillators by radiation pressure has followed a similar
path with Doppler-type cooling being demonstrated, but lacking inherently the
ability to attain ground state cooling as recently predicted. Here we
demonstrate for the first time resolved sideband cooling of a mechanical
oscillator. By pumping the first lower sideband of an optical microcavity,
whose decay rate is more than twenty times smaller than the eigen-frequency of
the associated mechanical oscillator, cooling rates above 1.5 MHz are attained.
Direct spectroscopy of the motional sidebands reveals 40-fold suppression of
motional increasing processes, which could enable reaching phonon occupancies
well below unity (<0.03). Elemental demonstration of resolved sideband cooling
as reported here should find widespread use in opto-mechanical cooling
experiments. Apart from ground state cooling, this regime allows realization of
motion measurement with an accuracy exceeding the standard quantum limit.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure
Atomic matter wave scanner
We report on the experimental realization of an atom optical device, that
allows scanning of an atomic beam. We used a time-modulated evanescent wave
field above a glass surface to diffract a continuous beam of metastable Neon
atoms at grazing incidence. The diffraction angles and efficiencies were
controlled by the frequency and form of modulation, respectively. With an
optimized shape, obtained from a numerical simulation, we were able to transfer
more than 50% of the atoms into the first order beam, which we were able to
move over a range of 8 mrad.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
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