Nem egyensúlyi spin transzport és korrelációk nanostruktúrákban = Out-of-equilibrium spin transport and correlations in nanoscale structures

A projekt atomi és mesterséges atomi struktúrák illetve felületek, vékony rétegek vizsgálatát célozta ab initio illetve térelméleti módszerek együttes használatával, különös tekintettel a mágneses tulajdonságokra illetve az idő és spinfüggő nem egyensúlyi transzporttulajdonságokra. Céljaink között szerepelt egyfelől olyan nem egyensúlyi módszerek alkalmazása/fejlesztése és egyszerű rendszerekbeli tesztelése, mely lehetővé teszi korrelált rendszerekben az egyensúlyi és nem egyensúlyi transzport leírását. Kiemelt szerepet kapott egy felxibilis numerikus renormálási csoport kód kifejlesztése, publikálása és alkalmazása, illetve nem egyensúlyi közelítések kidolgozása. Kutatásunk további fontos komponense volt a kvantum dot rendszerek, atom-klaszterek, nanoszemcsék, mágneses szennyezők, dinamikai tulajdonságainak (ac vezetőképesség, zaj spektrum) vizsgálata, illetve vékony rétegek és felületek transzport és mágneses tulajdonságainak elméleti vizsgálata. Különös figyelmet szenteltünk a spin-pálya kölcsönhatás indukálta effektusok, így a felületi mágneses anizotrópia, a spin-pálya kölcsönhatás indukálta spin relaxáció, az anomális Hall effektus és a spin Hall effektus tanulmányozásának. A projekthez kapcsolódóan majd 50 publikáció született, közöttük 9 megjelent Physical Review Letters, és 23 Physical Review B publikáció, két 2 PhD disszertáció, valamint egy nyilvános flexibilis NRG programcsomag a hozzá tartozó dokumentációval [http://www.phy.bme.hu/~dmnrg/]. | The main goal of this project was to combine ab initio and field theoretical methods to study and understand the properties of atomic clusters, artificial atomic structures and surfaces, with special emphasis on spin- and time-dependent and non-equilibrium transport properties. Among others, we developed theoretical tools which we tested on simple systems, and used to study dynamical and non-equilibrium transport properties of correlated systems. Some of the main technical achievements of this project were the development and application of a flexible open-access numerical renormalization group code, and the elaboration of approximate non-equilibrium methods. Besides the methodological development, our research mainly focused on ac transport properties and noise spectra of quantum dot systems and of clusters of magnetic atoms, and aimed at the characterization of the properties of magnetic impurities and clusters in the vicinity of a surface and in nano-grains. We also studied a wide range of spin-orbit coupling-induced phenomena in systems of reduced dimension such as surface anisotropy, spin-orbit interaction induced spin relaxation, anomalous and spin Hall effects, and magnetic states. Close to 50 publications emerged as a result of this project, including 2 PhD dissertations, 9 Physical Review Letters, and 23 Physical Review B papers, an open access computer package with complete documentation [http://www.phy.bme.hu/~dmnrg/]

Accuracy and comparison of sensor-based gait speed estimations under standardized and daily life conditions in children undergoing rehabilitation

Background: Gait speed is a widely used outcome measure to assess the walking abilities of children undergoing rehabilitation. It is routinely determined during a walking test under standardized conditions, but it remains unclear whether these outcomes reflect the children's performance in daily life. An ankle-worn inertial sensor provides a usable opportunity to measure gait speed in the children's habitual environment. However, sensor-based gait speed estimations need to be accurate to allow for comparison of the children's gait speed between a test situation and daily life. Hence, the first aim of this study was to determine the measurement error of a novel algorithm that estimates gait speed based on data of a single ankle-worn inertial sensor in children undergoing rehabilitation. The second aim of this study was to compare the children's gait speed between standardized and daily life conditions. Methods: Twenty-four children with walking impairments completed four walking tests at different speeds (standardized condition) and were monitored for one hour during leisure or school time (daily life condition). We determined accuracy by comparing sensor-based gait speed estimations with a reference method in both conditions. Eventually, we compared individual gait speeds between the two conditions. Results: The measurement error was 0.01 ± 0.07 m/s under the standardized and 0.04 ± 0.06 m/s under the daily life condition. Besides, the majority of children did not use the same speed during the test situation as in daily life. Conclusion: This study demonstrates an accurate method to measure children's gait speed during standardized walking tests and in the children's habitual environment after rehabilitation. It only requires a single ankle sensor, which potentially increases wearing time and data quality of measurements in daily life. We recommend placing the sensor on the less affected side, unless the child wears one orthosis. In this latter case, the sensor should be placed on the side with the orthosis. Moreover, this study showed that most children did not use the same speed in the two conditions, which encourages the use of wearable inertial sensors to assess the children's walking performance in their habitual environment following rehabilitation. Keywords: Clinical assessments; Data processing algorithm; Everyday life; Pediatric rehabilitation; Walking; Wearable inertial sensor

Hidrosztatikus nyomással kiváltott elektronszerkezeti változások szilárd testekben = Hydrostatic pressure induced changes in the electronic structure of solids

A pályázat célkitűzése volt fázisátalakuláshoz közeli rendszerek paramétereinek finom hangolása hidrosztatikus nyomás alkalmazásával, valamint az egyes fázisok jellemzése nyomás alatt végzett elektromos és mágneses mérésekkel. A nyomás elsődleges hatása az átfedési integrálok módosítása, különösen az általunk vizsgált rendszerek irányított pályái esetén. Ennek az egyik alapvető következménye a korrelált elektronrendszerek nyomás által indukált fém-szigetelő átmenete. Ezt a jelenségkört a BaVS3 d-elektron rendszerén, valamint kolosszális mágneses ellenállást mutatató manganátokban tanulmányoztuk. Nyomás hatására erősödik a mágneses félvezetők lokalizált momentumai közti csatolás, így a nyomás függvényében végzett kísérletek egyedülálló lehetőséget biztosítottak a ferromágneses fázis kialakulásának megértéséhez. A nagy mágneses terű mágnesezettség mérésekhez épített, magnetooptikai Kerr-effektuson alapuló mérőrendszerrel a mágnesezettséget 10-200 nm vastagságú rétegeken is nagy pontossággal meg tudtuk határozni. Az anomális Hall jel és a mágnesezettség között kísérletileg kimutatott skálatörvénnyel igazoltuk, hogy az anomális Hall jel térfüggése a mágnesesen felhasadt sávok eltolódásától származik. Az eredményeket 10 tudományos közleményben publikáltuk, összesített impakt-faktoruk: 41.770. A publikációk pdf formában letölthetők erről az internet címről: http://dept.phy.bme.hu/K62441 | The aim of the project was to fine tune the microscopic parameters by application of hydrostatic pressure in materials that are in the vicinity of a phase transition, and to characterize the various phases by transport and magnetic measurements. The primary effect of the pressure is the modification of the wave function overlap, especially in case of the oriented orbitals characteristic to the materials studied in the project. A basic consequence is the pressure induced insulator-metal transition. We have investigated this phenomenon in the d- electron system of BaVS3, as well as in various manganates exhibiting colossal magnetoresistance (CMR). The application of pressure enhances the coupling between the localized moments in magnetic semiconductors, and thus supplied unique opportunities to study the development of ferromagnetism in these systems. In order to determine the magnetization of 10-200 nm thin (In,Mn)Sb films we have developed a sensitive MOKE technique (magnetooptical Kerr effect). We have established a scaling relation between the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) and the magnetization, and demonstrated that the field dependence of the AHE is due to the shift of the magnetically split bands. The results were published in 10 papers, the cumulative impact factor of 41.770. The publications can be downloaded from http://dept.phy.bme.hu/K6244

Minimum toe clearance: probing the neural control of locomotion

Minimum toe clearance (MTC) occurs during a highly dynamic phase of the gait cycle and is associated with the highest risk of unintentional contact with obstacles or the ground. Age, cognitive function, attention and visual feedback affect foot clearance but how these factors interact to influence MTC control is not fully understood. We measured MTC in 121 healthy individuals aged 20-80 under four treadmill walking conditions; normal walking, lower visual field restriction and two Stroop colour/word naming tasks of two difficulty levels. Competition for cognitive and attentional resources from the Stroop task resulted in significantly lower mean MTC in older adults, with the difficult Stroop task associated with a higher frequency of extremely low MTC values and subsequently an increased modelled probability of tripping in this group. While older adults responded to visual restriction by markedly skewing MTC distributions towards higher values, this condition was also associated with frequent, extremely low MTC values. We reveal task-specific, age-dependent patterns of MTC control in healthy adults. Age-related differences are most pronounced during heavy, distracting cognitive load. Analysis of critically-low MTC values during dual-task walking may have utility in the evaluation of locomotor control and fall risk in older adults and patients with motor control deficits

Spin- és töltésdinamika szilárd testekben és nanoszerkezetekben = Spin and charge dynamics in solids and nanostructures

Napjaink szilárdtestfizikai kutatásainak központi területét jelentik azok a kvantum-jelenségek, amelyekben az elektron töltése és spinje egyaránt lényeges szerepet játszik. A projekt keretében ilyen jelenségeket tanulmányoztunk hagyományos módszerekkel (ESR spektroszkópia, elektromos és mágneses mérések), valamint olyan új spektroszkópia eljárásokkal, melyek nanotechnológiai megoldásokat alkalmaznak (alagút- és pont-kontaktus-spektroszkópia, Andrejev-spektroszkópia). A kísérleti és elméleti módszerekkel vizsgált anyagcsaládok egzotikus alapállapottal rendelkező erősen anizotrop kölcsönható elektronrendszerek, mint például: i, szupravezető átalakulás közelében lévő kuprátok, ii., ritkaföldfém vegyületek nem-konvencionális sűrűséghullámai, illetve iii., átmeneti fém oxidok a kvantum kritikus pont tartományában. A legfontosabb új eredmények a versengő kölcsönhatású rendszerek fázisdiagramjára, az antiferromágneses anyagok spin-gerjesztéseinek közvetlen meghatározására, valamint ferromágneses anyagokban a töltéshordozók spin-polarizáltságának mérésére vonatkoznak. Ez utóbbi, az alapvetően új nanotechnológiai méréstechnika alkalmazása mellett, a modern kvantum elméletek nanoszerkezetekre történő kiterjesztését is igényelte. Az eredményeket nívós nemzetközi folyóiratokban közöltük. A 40 kiemelt publikáció között 6 db. Physical Review Letters és 27 db. Physical Review B cikk szerepel. | Electrons have spin and charge, and the quantum phenomena where both of these properties are relevant represent the hottest subjects in condensed matter research today. We investigated these features by bulk characterization methods (ESR spectroscopy, transport and magnetization measurements) supplemented with novel spectroscopic ones utilizing nanotechnology (tunneling-, point-contact, and Andreev-spectroscopy). Highly anisotropic interacting electron systems with exotic ground states have been studied both experimentally and theoretically. The prime examples are: i., cuprates in the vicinity of a superconducting transition, ii., rare-earth compounds with unconventional density waves and iii., transition metal oxides close to a quantum critical point. The most important new results deal with the determination of phase diagrams for systems of competing interactions, direct measurement of spin excitations in antiferromagtic structures, and determination of spin polarization of the charge carriers in ferromagnetic structures. The latter required novel nanoscale techniques, and the application of quantum theories for nanostructures. The results were published leading scientific journals. The top 40 publication include 6 Physical Review Letters and 27 Physical Review B papers

Reliability of Wearable-Sensor-Derived Measures of Physical Activity in Wheelchair-Dependent Spinal Cord Injured Patients

Physical activity (PA) has been shown to have a positive influence on functional recovery in patients after a spinal cord injury (SCI). Hence, it can act as a confounder in clinical intervention studies. Wearable sensors are used to quantify PA in various neurological conditions. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the inter-day reliability of PA measures. The objective of this study was to investigate the single-day reliability of various PA measures in patients with a SCI and to propose recommendations on how many days of PA measurements are required to obtain reliable results. For this, PA of 63 wheelchair-dependent patients with a SCI were measured using wearable sensors. Patients of all age ranges (49.3 ± 16.6 years) and levels of injury (from C1 to L2, ASIA A-D) were included for this study and assessed at three to four different time periods during inpatient rehabilitation (2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, and if applicable 6 months after injury) and after in-patient rehabilitation in their home-environment (at least 6 months after injury). The metrics of interest were total activity counts, PA intensity levels, metrics of wheeling quantity and metrics of movement quality. Activity counts showed consistently high single-day reliabilities, while measures of PA intensity levels considerably varied depending on the rehabilitation progress. Single-day reliabilities of metrics of movement quantity decreased with rehabilitation progress, while metrics of movement quality increased. To achieve a mean reliability of 0.8, we found that three continuous recording days are required for out-patients, and 2 days for in-patients. Furthermore, the results show similar weekday and weekend wheeling activity for in- and out-patients. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the reliability of an extended set of sensor-based measures of PA in both acute and chronic wheelchair-dependent SCI patients. The results provide recommendations for sensor-based assessments of PA in clinical SCI studies

25th annual computational neuroscience meeting: CNS-2016

The same neuron may play different functional roles in the neural circuits to which it belongs. For example, neurons in the Tritonia pedal ganglia may participate in variable phases of the swim motor rhythms [1]. While such neuronal functional variability is likely to play a major role the delivery of the functionality of neural systems, it is difficult to study it in most nervous systems. We work on the pyloric rhythm network of the crustacean stomatogastric ganglion (STG) [2]. Typically network models of the STG treat neurons of the same functional type as a single model neuron (e.g. PD neurons), assuming the same conductance parameters for these neurons and implying their synchronous firing [3, 4]. However, simultaneous recording of PD neurons shows differences between the timings of spikes of these neurons. This may indicate functional variability of these neurons. Here we modelled separately the two PD neurons of the STG in a multi-neuron model of the pyloric network. Our neuron models comply with known correlations between conductance parameters of ionic currents. Our results reproduce the experimental finding of increasing spike time distance between spikes originating from the two model PD neurons during their synchronised burst phase. The PD neuron with the larger calcium conductance generates its spikes before the other PD neuron. Larger potassium conductance values in the follower neuron imply longer delays between spikes, see Fig. 17.Neuromodulators change the conductance parameters of neurons and maintain the ratios of these parameters [5]. Our results show that such changes may shift the individual contribution of two PD neurons to the PD-phase of the pyloric rhythm altering their functionality within this rhythm. Our work paves the way towards an accessible experimental and computational framework for the analysis of the mechanisms and impact of functional variability of neurons within the neural circuits to which they belong

Towards a Mobile Gait Analysis for Patients with a Spinal Cord Injury: A Robust Algorithm Validated for Slow Walking Speeds

Spinal cord injury (SCI) patients suffer from diverse gait deficits depending on the severity of their injury. Gait assessments can objectively track the progress during rehabilitation and support clinical decision making, but a comprehensive gait analysis requires far more complex setups and time-consuming protocols that are not feasible in the daily clinical routine. As using inertial sensors for mobile gait analysis has started to gain ground, this work aimed to develop a sensor-based gait analysis for the specific population of SCI patients that measures the spatio-temporal parameters of typical gait laboratories for day-to-day clinical applications. The proposed algorithm uses shank-mounted inertial sensors and personalized thresholds to detect steps and gait events according to the individual gait profiles. The method was validated in nine SCI patients and 17 healthy controls walking on an instrumented treadmill while wearing reflective markers for motion capture used as a gold standard. The sensor-based algorithm (i) performed similarly well for the two cohorts and (ii) is robust enough to cover the diverse gait deficits of SCI patients, from slow (0.3 m/s) to preferred walking speeds

Towards a Mobile Gait Analysis for Patients with a Spinal Cord Injury: A Robust Algorithm Validated for Slow Walking Speeds

Spinal cord injury (SCI) patients suffer from diverse gait deficits depending on the severity of their injury. Gait assessments can objectively track the progress during rehabilitation and support clinical decision making, but a comprehensive gait analysis requires far more complex setups and time-consuming protocols that are not feasible in the daily clinical routine. As using inertial sensors for mobile gait analysis has started to gain ground, this work aimed to develop a sensor-based gait analysis for the specific population of SCI patients that measures the spatio-temporal parameters of typical gait laboratories for day-to-day clinical applications. The proposed algorithm uses shank-mounted inertial sensors and personalized thresholds to detect steps and gait events according to the individual gait profiles. The method was validated in nine SCI patients and 17 healthy controls walking on an instrumented treadmill while wearing reflective markers for motion capture used as a gold standard. The sensor-based algorithm (i) performed similarly well for the two cohorts and (ii) is robust enough to cover the diverse gait deficits of SCI patients, from slow (0.3 m/s) to preferred walking speeds

Predictive Model for the Electrical Transport within Nanowire Networks

Thin networks of high aspect ratio conductive nanowires can combine high electrical conductivity with excellent optical transparency, which has led to a widespread use of nanowires in transparent electrodes, transistors, sensors, and flexible and stretchable conductors. Although the material and application aspects of conductive nanowire films have been thoroughly explored, there is still no model which can relate fundamental physical quantities, like wire resistance, contact resistance, and nanowire density, to the sheet resistance of the film. Here, we derive an analytical model for the electrical conduction within nanowire networks based on an analysis of the parallel resistor network. The model captures the transport characteristics and fits a wide range of experimental data, allowing for the determination of physical parameters and performance-limiting factors, in sharp contrast to the commonly employed percolation theory. The model thus constitutes a useful tool with predictive power for the evaluation and optimization of nanowire networks in various applications