23,551 research outputs found
Subject-specific finite element modelling of the human hand complex : muscle-driven simulations and experimental validation
This paper aims to develop and validate a subject-specific framework for modelling the human hand. This was achieved by combining medical image-based finite element modelling, individualized muscle force and kinematic measurements. Firstly, a subject-specific human hand finite element (FE) model was developed. The geometries of the phalanges, carpal bones, wrist bones, ligaments, tendons, subcutaneous tissue and skin were all included. The material properties were derived from in-vivo and in-vitro experiment results available in the literature. The boundary and loading conditions were defined based on the kinematic data and muscle forces of a specific subject captured from the in-vivo grasping tests. The predicted contact pressure and contact area were in good agreement with the in-vivo test results of the same subject, with the relative errors for the contact pressures all being below 20%. Finally, sensitivity analysis was performed to investigate the effects of important modelling parameters on the predictions. The results showed that contact pressure and area were sensitive to the material properties and muscle forces. This FE human hand model can be used to make a detailed and quantitative evaluation into biomechanical and neurophysiological aspects of human hand contact during daily perception and manipulation. The findings can be applied to the design of the bionic hands or neuro-prosthetics in the future
A Circumbinary Planet in Orbit Around the Short-Period White-Dwarf Eclipsing Binary RR Cae
By using six new determined mid-eclipse times together with those collected
from the literature, we found that the Observed-Calculated (O-C) curve of RR
Cae shows a cyclic change with a period of 11.9 years and an amplitude of
14.3s, while it undergoes an upward parabolic variation (revealing a long-term
period increase at a rate of dP/dt =+4.18(+-0.20)x10^(-12). The cyclic change
was analyzed for the light-travel time effect that arises from the
gravitational influence of a third companion. The mass of the third body was
determined to be M_3*sin i' = 4.2(+-0.4) M_{Jup} suggesting that it is a
circumbinary giant planet when its orbital inclination is larger than 17.6
degree. The orbital separation of the circumbinary planet from the central
eclipsing binary is about 5.3(+-0.6)AU. The period increase is opposite to the
changes caused by angular momentum loss via magnetic braking or/and
gravitational radiation, nor can it be explained by the mass transfer between
both components because of its detached configuration. These indicate that the
observed upward parabolic change is only a part of a long-period (longer than
26.3 years) cyclic variation, which may reveal the presence of another giant
circumbinary planet in a wide orbit.Comment: It will be published in the MNRA
Calorimetric Evidence of Strong-Coupling Multiband Superconductivity in Fe(Te0.57Se0.43) Single Crystal
We have investigated the specific heat of optimally-doped iron chalcogenide
superconductor Fe(Te0.57Se0.43) with a high-quality single crystal sample. The
electronic specific heat Ce of this sample has been successfully separated from
the phonon contribution using the specific heat of a non-superconducting sample
(Fe0.90Cu0.10)(Te0.57Se0.43) as a reference. The normal state Sommerfeld
coefficient gamma_n of the superconducting sample is found to be ~ 26.6 mJ/mol
K^2, indicating intermediate electronic correlation. The temperature dependence
of Ce in the superconducting state can be best fitted using a double-gap model
with 2Delta_s(0)/kBTc = 3.92 and 2Delta_l(0)/kBTc = 5.84. The large gap
magnitudes derived from fitting, as well as the large specific heat jump of
Delta_Ce(Tc)/gamma_n*Tc ~ 2.11, indicate strong-coupling superconductivity.
Furthermore, the magnetic field dependence of specific heat shows strong
evidence for multiband superconductivity
Semimetal to semimetal charge density wave transition in 1T-TiSe
We report an infrared study on 1-TiSe, the parent compound of the
newly discovered superconductor CuTiSe. Previous studies of this
compound have not conclusively resolved whether it is a semimetal or a
semiconductor: information that is important in determining the origin of its
unconventional CDW transition. Here we present optical spectroscopy results
that clearly reveal that the compound is metallic in both the high-temperature
normal phase and the low-temperature CDW phase. The carrier scattering rate is
dramatically different in the normal and CDW phases and the carrier density is
found to change with temperature. We conclude that the observed properties can
be explained within the scenario of an Overhauser-type CDW mechanism.Comment: 4 pages, 4 page
Charge collective modes in an incommensurately modulated cuprate
We report the first measurement of collective charge modes of insulating
Sr14Cu24O41 using inelastic resonant x-ray scattering over the complete
Brillouin zone. Our results show that the intense excitation modes at the
charge gap edge predominantly originate from the ladder-containing planar
substructures. The observed ladder modes (E vs. Q) are found to be dispersive
for momentum transfers along the "legs" but nearly localized along the "rungs".
Dispersion and peakwidth characteristics are similar to the charge spectrum of
1D Mott insulators, and we show that our results can be understood in the
strong coupling limit (U >> t_{ladder}> t_{chain}). The observed behavior is in
marked contrast to the charge spectrum seen in most two dimensional cuprates.
Quite generally, our results also show that momentum-tunability of inelastic
scattering can be used to resolve mode contributions in multi-component
incommensurate systems.Comment: 4+ pages, 5 figure
Fermi surface topology and low-lying quasiparticle structure of magnetically ordered Fe1+xTe
We report the first photoemission study of Fe1+xTe - the host compound of the
newly discovered iron-chalcogenide superconductors. Our results reveal a pair
of nearly electron- hole compensated Fermi pockets, strong Fermi velocity
renormalization and an absence of a spin-density-wave gap. A shadow hole pocket
is observed at the "X"-point of the Brillouin zone which is consistent with a
long-range ordered magneto-structural groundstate. No signature of Fermi
surface nesting instability associated with Q= pi(1/2, 1/2) is observed. Our
results collectively reveal that the Fe1+xTe series is dramatically different
from the undoped phases of the high Tc pnictides and likely harbor unusual
mechanism for superconductivity and quantum magnetic order.Comment: 5 pages, 4 Figures; Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. (2009
Augmented EPA with augmented EFIE method for packaging analysis
It is evident that the low frequency full wave electromagnetic modelling is necessary for IC packaging analysis. Considering the complexity, it is very difficult to solve the whole problem directly. Even though the domain decomposition method is a legitimate approach for these types of problems, the domain decomposition method based on the equivalence principle has the low frequency breakdown issue. In this paper, we developed a low frequency augmented equivalence principle algorithm (AEPA) with the augmented electric field integral equation (AEFIE) for packaging and IC analysis. On the equivalence surfaces, not only the electric current and the magnetic current, but also the electric charge and the magnetic charge are used to capture the low frequency couplings. Inside each AEPA box, AEFIE is applied to maintain the low frequency accuracy. As a result, we are able to solve low frequency domain decomposition problems and apply it to IC packaging analysis.published_or_final_versionThe 2010 IEEE Electrical Design of Advanced Packaging & Systems Symposium (EDAPS), Singapore, 7-9 December 2010. In Proceedings of EDAPS, 2010, p. 1-
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