7,334 research outputs found
Wireless integrated circuit for the acquisition of electrocorticogram signals
Journal ArticleAbstract-We present the design and characterization of amplifiers and control logic for an integrated circuit designed to record electrocorticograms (ECoG) from the surface of the brain. The chip, which was fabricated in a 0.6-ÎŒm BiCMOS process, contains 100 amplifiers, control logic, and circuits for wireless power and transmission of data. ECoG signals, sensed by electrodes, are capacitively coupled to the amplifiers. Each amplifier has a gain of 59.2 dB, a maximum bandwidth of 240 Hz, an input referred noise of 2.8 ÎŒV, and consumes 4.5 ÎŒW of power. The output of each amplifier is connected to a 10-bit ADC via an adaptive-bias buffer and transmission gate whose transparency is set by the control logic. The control logic timeshares the ADC by multiplexing through one of five preset patterns of 32 on-chip signals. The digitized waveforms are then broadcasted wirelessly using a 900 MHz FSK transmitter. The entire chip consumes 7.2 mW of power during operation
Prior events predict cerebrovascular and coronary outcomes in the PROGRESS trial
<p><b>Background and Purpose:</b> The relationship between baseline and recurrent vascular events may be important in the targeting of secondary prevention strategies. We examined the relationship between initial event and various types of further vascular outcomes and associated effects of blood pressure (BP)âlowering.</p>
<p><b>Methods:</b> Subsidiary analyses of the Perindopril Protection Against Recurrent Stroke Study (PROGRESS) trial, a randomized, placebo-controlled trial that established the benefits of BPâlowering in 6105 patients (mean age 64 years, 30% female) with cerebrovascular disease, randomly assigned to either active treatment (perindopril for all, plus indapamide in those with neither an indication for, nor a contraindication to, a diuretic) or placebo(s).</p>
<p><b>Results:</b> Stroke subtypes and coronary events were associated with 1.5- to 6.6-fold greater risk of recurrence of the same event (hazard ratios, 1.51 to 6.64; P=0.1 for large artery infarction, P<0.0001 for other events). However, 46% to 92% of further vascular outcomes were not of the same type. Active treatment produced comparable reductions in the risk of vascular outcomes among patients with a broad range of vascular events at entry (relative risk reduction, 25%; P<0.0001 for ischemic stroke; 42%, P=0.0006 for hemorrhagic stroke; 17%, P=0.3 for coronary events; P homogeneity=0.4).</p>
<p><b>Conclusions:</b> Patients with previous vascular events are at high risk of recurrences of the same event. However, because they are also at risk of other vascular outcomes, a broad range of secondary prevention strategies is necessary for their treatment. BPâlowering is likely to be one of the most effective and generalizable strategies across a variety of major vascular events including stroke and myocardial infarction.</p>
Symmetries of Differential Equations via Cartan's Method of Equivalence
We formulate a method of computing invariant 1-forms and structure equations
of symmetry pseudo-groups of differential equations based on Cartan's method of
equivalence and the moving coframe method introduced by Fels and Olver. Our
apparoach does not require a preliminary computation of infinitesimal defining
systems, their analysis and integration, and uses differentiation and linear
algebra operations only. Examples of its applications are given.Comment: 15 pages, LaTeX 2.0
Peaks in the Hartle-Hawking Wave Function from Sums over Topologies
Recent developments in ``Einstein Dehn filling'' allow the construction of
infinitely many Einstein manifolds that have different topologies but are
geometrically close to each other. Using these results, we show that for many
spatial topologies, the Hartle-Hawking wave function for a spacetime with a
negative cosmological constant develops sharp peaks at certain calculable
geometries. The peaks we find are all centered on spatial metrics of constant
negative curvature, suggesting a new mechanism for obtaining local homogeneity
in quantum cosmology.Comment: 16 pages,LaTeX, no figures; v2: some changes coming from revision of
a math reference: wave function peaks sharp but not infinite; v3: added
paragraph in intro on interpretation of wave functio
Heterotic Models from Vector Bundles on Toric Calabi-Yau Manifolds
We systematically approach the construction of heterotic E_8 X E_8 Calabi-Yau
models, based on compact Calabi-Yau three-folds arising from toric geometry and
vector bundles on these manifolds. We focus on a simple class of 101 such
three-folds with smooth ambient spaces, on which we perform an exhaustive scan
and find all positive monad bundles with SU(N), N=3,4,5 structure groups,
subject to the heterotic anomaly cancellation constraint. We find that
anomaly-free positive monads exist on only 11 of these toric three-folds with a
total number of bundles of about 2000. Only 21 of these models, all of them on
three-folds realizable as hypersurfaces in products of projective spaces, allow
for three families of quarks and leptons. We also perform a preliminary scan
over the much larger class of semi-positive monads which leads to about 44000
bundles with 280 of them satisfying the three-family constraint. These 280
models provide a starting point for heterotic model building based on toric
three-folds.Comment: 41 pages, 5 figures. A table modified and a table adde
Establishing haematological and biochemical reference intervals for free-ranging Scottish golden eagle nestlings (Aquila chrysaetos)
Health assessment of individuals is an important aspect of monitoring endangered wildlife populations. Haematological and biochemical values are a common health assessment tool, and whilst reference values are well established for domestic species, they are often not available for wild animal species. This study established 31 haematological and biochemical reference intervals for golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) nestlings in Scotland, in order to improve the understanding of the speciesâ health and support conservation efforts. Reference intervals were created from 47 nestlings (ages 2â7.5 weeks old) across 37 nests, to date, the largest sample of wild individuals of this species and age cohort sampled for these purposes. Upper reference intervals for concentrations of lymphocytes, total protein, cholesterol, triglycerides, uric acid, and monocytes, calculated in this study, are higher than those found for adult raptors and the interval span is higher than that observed in adult raptors for concentrations of AST, albumin, eosinophil, LDH, and monocyte count. Statistically significant positive correlations were found with age and concentrations of haemoglobin, lymphocytes, serum pH, and creatine kinase, and significant negative correlations with age for concentrations of thrombocytes, heterophils, total protein, globulin, and lactate dehydrogenase. Packed cell volume was significantly higher for females than males, and concentration of calcium and eosinophils were higher for individuals in good body condition than those in moderate body condition. The reference intervals produced by this study will be of important use to the veterinary and conservation management communities and will aid the long-term monitoring of the Scottish golden eagle population health
The ACS Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters. III. The Double Subgiant Branch of NGC 1851
Photometry with HST's ACS reveals that the subgiant branch (SGB) of the
globular cluster NGC 1851 splits into two well-defined branches. If the split
is due only to an age effect, the two SGBs would imply two star formation
episodes separated by 1 Gyr. We discuss other anomalies in NGC 1851
which could be interpreted in terms of a double stellar population. Finally, we
compare the case of NGC 1851 with the other two globulars known to host
multiple stellar populations, and show that all three clusters differ in
several important respects.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figures, accepted for pubblication on Ap
Ketamine as the anaesthetic for electroconvulsive therapy:the KANECT randomised controlled trial
C.AS. reports grants from Vifor Pharma, outside the submitted work. I.C.R. (deceased) declared personal fees from AstraZeneca, Sanofi Aventis and Sunovion, and non-financial support from Lundbeck, between 2009 and 2014 and all outside the submitted work. Volume 212, Issue 5 May 2018 , p. 323 Ketamine as the anaesthetic for electroconvulsive therapy: the KANECT randomised controlled trial â CORRIGENDUM Gordon Fernie, James Currie, Jennifer S. Perrin, Caroline A. Stewart... https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2018.76 Published online: 06 April 2018 Summary: This notice describes a correction to the above mentioned paper.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
High Precision Astrometry with MICADO at the European Extremely Large Telescope
In this article we identify and discuss various statistical and systematic
effects influencing the astrometric accuracy achievable with MICADO, the
near-infrared imaging camera proposed for the 42-metre European Extremely Large
Telescope (E-ELT). These effects are instrumental (e.g. geometric distortion),
atmospheric (e.g. chromatic differential refraction), and astronomical
(reference source selection). We find that there are several phenomena having
impact on ~100 micro-arcsec scales, meaning they can be substantially larger
than the theoretical statistical astrometric accuracy of an optical/NIR
42m-telescope. Depending on type, these effects need to be controlled via
dedicated instrumental design properties or via dedicated calibration
procedures. We conclude that if this is done properly, astrometric accuracies
of 40 micro-arcsec or better - with 40 micro-arcsec/year in proper motions
corresponding to ~20 km/s at 100 kpc distance - can be achieved in one epoch of
actual observationsComment: 15 pages, 9 figures, 3 tables. Accepted by MNRA
The masses, radii and luminosities of the components of U Geminorum
We present a phase-resolved spectroscopic study of the secondary star in the
cataclysmic variable U Gem. We use our data to measure the radial velocity
semi-amplitude, systemic velocity and rotational velocity of the secondary
star. Combining this with literature data allows us to determine masses and
radii for both the secondary star and white dwarf which are independent of any
assumptions about their structure. We use these to compare their properties
with those of field stars and find that both components follow field
mass-radius relationships. The secondary star has the mass, radius, luminosity
and photometric temperature of an M2 star, but a spectroscopic temperature of
M4. The latter may well be due to a high metallicity. There is a troubling
inconsistency between the radius of the white dwarf inferred from its
gravitational redshift and inclination and that inferred from its temperature,
flux, and astrometric distance.
We find that there are two fundamental limits to the accuracy of the
parameters we can derive. First the radial velocity curve of the secondary star
deviates from a sinusoid, in part because of its asphericity (which can be
modelled) and in part because the line flux is not evenly distributed over its
surface. Second we cannot be certain which spectral type is the best match for
the lines of the secondary star, and the derived rotational velocity is a
function of the spectral type of the template star used.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for MNRA
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