9,866 research outputs found
Collision and Diffusion in Microwave Breakdown of Nitrogen Gas in and around Microgaps
The microwave induced breakdown of N2 gas in microgaps was modeled using the
collision frequency between electrons and neutral molecules and the effective
electric field concept. Low pressure breakdown at the threshold electric field
occurs outside the gap, but at high pressures it is found to occur inside the
microgap with a large threshold breakdown electric field corresponding to a
very large electron oscillation amplitude. Three distinct pressure regimes are
apparent in the microgap breakdown: a low pressure multipactor branch, a
mid-pressure Paschen branch, both of which occur in the space outside the
microgap, and a high pressure diffusion-drift branch, which occurs inside the
microgap. The Paschen and diffusion-drift branches are divided by a sharp
transition and each separately fits the collision frequency model. There is
evidence that considerable electron loss to the microgap faces accompanies the
diffusion-drift branch in microgaps.Comment: 4 figure
Diffraction of a Dipole Field by a Perfectly Conducting Half Plane
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/116080/1/rds19672111339.pd
A Technique for Foreground Subtraction in Redshifted 21 cm Observations
One of the main challenges for future 21 cm observations is to remove
foregrounds which are several orders of magnitude more intense than the HI
signal. We propose a new technique for removing foregrounds of the redshifted
21 cm observations. We consider multi-frequency interferometer observations. We
assume that the 21 cm signals in different frequency channels are uncorrelated
and the foreground signals change slowly as a function of frequency. When we
add the visibilities of all channels, the foreground signals increase roughly
by a factor of ~N because they are highly correlated. However, the 21 cm
signals increase by a factor of ~\sqrt{N} because the signals in different
channels contribute randomly. This enables us to obtain an accurate shape of
the foreground angular power spectrum. Then, we obtain the 21-cm power spectrum
by subtracting the foreground power spectrum obtained this way. We describe how
to obtain the average power spectrum of the 21 cm signal.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure; To appear on the Astrophysical Journa
Parity Violation in Neutron Capture Reactions
In the last decade, the scattering of polarized neutrons on compound nucleus
resonances proved to be a powerful experimental technique for probing nuclear
parity violation. Longitudinal analyzing powers in neutron transmission
measurements on p-wave resonances in nuclei such as La and Th
were found to be as large as 10%. Here we examine the possibilities of carrying
out a parallel program to measure asymmetries in the ) reaction on
these same compound nuclear resonances. Symmetry-violating ) studies
can also show asymmetries as large as 10%, and have the advantage over
transmission experiments of allowing parity-odd asymmetries in several
different gamma-decay branches from the same resonance. Thus, studies of parity
violation in the reaction using high efficiency germanium
detectors at the Los Alamos Lujan facility, for example, could determine the
parity-odd nucleon-nucleon matrix elements in complex nuclei with high
accuracy. Additionally, simultaneous studies of the E1 and matrix
elements invol ved in these decays could be used to help constrain the
statistical theory of parity non-conservation in compound nuclei.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figur
Effects of robot therapy on upper body kinematics and arm function in persons post stroke: a pilot randomized controlled trial
Background: Robot-based rehabilitation for persons post-stroke may improve arm function and daily-life activities as measured by clinical scales, but its effects on motor strategies during functional tasks are still poorly investigated. This study aimed at assessing the effects of robot-therapy versus arm-specific physiotherapy in persons post-stroke on motor strategies derived from upper body instrumented kinematic analysis, and on arm function measured by clinical scales. Methods: Forty persons in the sub-acute and chronic stage post-stroke were recruited. This sample included all those subjects, enrolled in a larger bi-center study, who underwent instrumented kinematic analysis and who were randomized in Center 2 into Robot (R_Group) and Control Group (C_Group). R_Group received robot-assisted training. C_Group received arm-specific treatment delivered by a physiotherapist. Pre- and post-training assessment included clinical scales and instrumented kinematic analysis of arm and trunk during a virtual untrained task simulating the transport of an object onto a shelf. Instrumented outcomes included shoulder/elbow coordination, elbow extension and trunk sagittal compensation. Clinical outcomes included Fugl-Meyer Motor Assessment of Upper Extremity (FM-UE), modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) and Functional Independence Measure (FIM). Results: R_Group showed larger post-training improvements of shoulder/elbow coordination (Cohen's d = - 0.81, p = 0.019), elbow extension (Cohen's d = - 0.71, p = 0.038), and trunk movement (Cohen's d = - 1.12, p = 0.002). Both groups showed comparable improvements in clinical scales, except proximal muscles MAS that decreased more in R_Group (Cohen's d = - 0.83, p = 0.018). Ancillary analyses on chronic subjects confirmed these results and revealed larger improvements after robot-therapy in the proximal portion of FM-UE (Cohen's d = 1.16, p = 0.019). Conclusions: Robot-assisted rehabilitation was as effective as arm-specific physiotherapy in reducing arm impairment (FM-UE) in persons post-stroke, but it was more effective in improving motor control strategies adopted during an untrained task involving vertical movements not practiced during training. Specifically, robot therapy induced larger improvements of shoulder/elbow coordination and greater reduction of abnormal trunk sagittal movements. The beneficial effects of robot therapy seemed more pronounced in chronic subjects. Future studies on a larger sample should be performed to corroborate present findings. Trial registration: www.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03530358. Registered 21 May 2018. Retrospectively registered
A randomized controlled trial on the effects induced by robot-assisted and usual-care rehabilitation on upper limb muscle synergies in post-stroke subjects
Muscle synergies are hypothesized to reflect connections among motoneurons in the spinal cord activated by central commands and sensory feedback. Robotic rehabilitation of upper limb in post-stroke subjects has shown promising results in terms of improvement of arm function and motor control achieved by reassembling muscle synergies into a set more similar to that of healthy people. However, in stroke survivors the potentially neurophysiological changes induced by robot-mediated learning versus usual care have not yet been investigated. We quantified upper limb motor deficits and the changes induced by rehabilitation in 32 post-stroke subjects through the movement analysis of two virtual untrained tasks of object placing and pronation. The sample analyzed in this study is part of a larger bi-center study and included all subjects who underwent kinematic analysis and were randomized into robot and usual care groups. Post-stroke subjects who followed robotic rehabilitation showed larger improvements in axial-to-proximal muscle synergies with respect to those who underwent usual care. This was associated to a significant improvement of the proximal kinematics. Both treatments had negative effects in muscle synergies controlling the distal district. This study supports the definition of new rehabilitative treatments for improving the neurophysiological recovery after stroke
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