33 research outputs found
The impact of tilt grain boundaries on the thermal transport in perovskite SrTiO3 layered nanostructures. A computational study
Stacking of interfaces at different length-scales affect the lattice thermal conductivity of strontium titanate layered nanostructures improving their thermoelectric performance
Progress in low-field benchtop NMR spectroscopy in chemical and biochemical analysis
The employment of spectroscopically-resolved NMR techniques as analytical probes have previously been both prohibitively expensive and logistically challenging in view of the large sizes of high-field facilities. However, with recent advances in the miniaturisation of magnetic resonance technology, low-field, cryogen-free “benchtop” NMR instruments are seeing wider use. Indeed, these miniaturised spectrometers are utilised in areas ranging from food and agricultural analyses, through to human biofluid assays and disease monitoring. Therefore, it is both intrinsically timely and important to highlight current applications of this analytical strategy, and also provide an outlook for the future, where this approach may be applied to a wider range of analytical problems, both qualitatively and quantitatively
A Functionally Relevant Tool for the Body following Spinal Cord Injury
<div><p>A tool such as a prosthetic device that extends or restores movement may become part of the identity of the person to whom it belongs. For example, some individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) adapt their body and action representation to incorporate their wheelchairs. However, it remains unclear whether the bodily assimilation of a relevant external tool develops as a consequence of altered sensory and motor inputs from the body or of prolonged confinement sitting or lying in the wheelchair. To explore such relationships, we used a principal component analysis (PCA) on collected structured reports detailing introspective experiences of wheelchair use in 55 wheelchair-bound individuals with SCI. Among all patients, the regular use of a wheelchair induced the perception that the body’s edges are not fixed, but are instead plastic and flexible to include the wheelchair. The PCA revealed the presence of three major components. In particular, the functional aspect of the sense of embodiment concerning the wheelchair appeared to be modulated by disconnected body segments. Neither an effect of time since injury nor an effect of exposure to/experience of was detected. Patients with lesions in the lower spinal cord and with loss of movement and sensation in the legs but who retained upper body movement showed a higher degree of functional embodiment than those with lesions in the upper spinal cord and impairment in the entire body. In essence, the tool did not become an extension of the immobile limbs; rather, it became an actual tangible substitution of the functionality of the affected body part. These findings suggest that the brain can incorporate relevant artificial tools into the body schema via the natural process of continuously updating bodily signals. The ability to embody new essential objects extends the potentiality of physically impaired persons and can be used for their rehabilitation.</p> </div
Loadings of the statements on the three principal components extracted.
<p>The labels on the x-axis refer to the statements shown in panel A. Black bars indicate the statements with the highest loadings (≥0.5) for each component. <b>A.</b> Statements used to assess wheelchair embodiment.</p
Relationship between the nerve level of the SCI and movement.
<p>Among all patients with SCI recruited for this study, the level of lesions ranged from C3 to L1, as highlighted in the figure.</p
Functional aspect of the sense of embodiment concerning the wheelchair.
<p>The mean subjective ratings for the statements with the highest loadings in Component 1 in the three subject groups with complete injuries (tetraplegia, high paraplegia and lower paraplegia). The error bars indicate the standard error of the mean (SEM). The asterisks (*) indicate significant results from the post hoc comparisons (p<.05).</p
Structure and Properties of Some Layered U<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> Phases: A Density Functional Theory Study
U<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> is the boundary composition between the fluorite
and the layered structures of the UO<sub>2→3</sub> system and
the least studied oxide in the group. δ-U<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> is the only layered structure proposed so far experimentally, although
evidence of fluorite-based phases has also been reported. Our DFT
work explores possible structures of U<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> stoichiometry
by starting from existing M<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> structures (where
M is an actinide or transition metal) and replacing the M ions with
uranium ions. For all structures, we predicted structural and electronic
properties including bulk moduli and band gaps. The majority of structures
were found to be less stable than δ-U<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub>. U<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> in the R-Nb<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> structure was found to be a competitive structure in terms of stability,
whereas U<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> in the Np<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> structure was found to be the most stable overall. Indeed, by including
the vibrational contribution to the free energy using the frequencies
obtained from the optimized unit cells we predict that Np<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> structured U<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> is the most thermodynamically
stable under ambient conditions. δ-U<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> only becomes more stable at high temperatures and/or pressures.
This suggests that a low-temperature synthesis route should be tested
and so potentially opens a new avenue of research for pentavalent
uranium oxides
Overview of the participants grouped according to the presence or absence of subjective (illusory ownership as measured by Q3 in the questionnaire) and objective (proprioceptive drift) measures of rubber hand illusion.
<p>The category with the highest prevalence in each group is indicated in bold.</p
A–C) Cambridge Depersonalization Scale (CDS) items with significant differences between the healthy subjects and the SCI patients A) Item 3 ‘Parts of my body feel as if they don't belong to me’; B) Item 27 ‘I have to touch myself to make sure that I have a body or a real existence’; C) Item 28 ‘I seem to have lost some bodily sensations (e.g. of hunger and thirst) so that when I eat or drink, it feels an automatic routine’.
<p>Higher scores indicate increasing agreement with the statement. D) Significant correlation between the standard deviation of the proprioceptive judgment (i.e. accuracy in their baseline judgment) and the total CDS score.</p
Demographic and clinical data of the individuals with spinal cord injury.
<p>Demographic and clinical data of the individuals with spinal cord injury.</p