Finger extensor variability in TMS parameters among chronic stroke patients

BACKGROUND: This study determined the reliability of topographic motor cortical maps and MEP characteristics in the extensor digitorum communis (EDC) evoked by single-pulse TMS among patients with chronic stroke. METHODS: Each of ten patients was studied on three occasions. Measures included location of the EDC hotspot and center of gravity (COG), threshold of activation and average amplitude of the hotspot, number of active sites, map volume, and recruitment curve (RC) slope. RESULTS: Consistent intrahemispheric measurements were obtained for the three TMS mapping sessions for all measured variables. No statistically significant difference was observed between hemispheres for the number of active sites, COG distance or the RC slope. The magnitude and range of COG movement between sessions were similar to those reported previously with this muscle in able-bodied individuals. The average COG movement over three sessions in both hemispheres was 0.90 cm. The average COG movement in the affected hemisphere was 1.13 (± 0.08) cm, and 0.68 (± 0.04) cm) for the less affected hemisphere. However, significant interhemispheric variability was seen for the average MEP amplitude, normalized map volume, and resting motor threshold. CONCLUSION: The physiologic variability in some TMS measurements of EDC suggest that interpretation of TMS mapping data derived from hemiparetic patients in the chronic stage following stroke should be undertaken cautiously. Irrespective of the muscle, potential causes of variability should be resolved to accurately assess the impact of pharmacological or physical interventions on cortical organization as measured by TMS among patients with stroke

PID-control of laser surface hardening of steel

We discuss control strategies for the laser surface hardening of steel. The goal is to acchieve a prescribed hardening depth avoiding surface melting. Our mathematical model consists of a system of ODEs for the phase volume fractions coupled with the heat equation. The system is solved semi-implicitely using the finite element method. To obtain a uniform hardening depth the first attempt is to use PID control to achieve a constant temperature in the hot spot of the laser beam on the surface. However, the numerical results prove that this is not sufficient. We show that the best strategy is to control the temperature close to the lower boundary of the hardening zone. Then one can compute the optimal temperature in the hot spot of the beam and use it as the set-point for the pyrometer control of the real process

Local spin valve effect in lateral (Ga,Mn)As/GaAs spin Esaki diode devices

We report on a local spin valve effect observed unambiguously in lateral all-semiconductor all-electrical spin injection devices, employing p+-(Ga,Mn)As/n+-GaAs Esaki diode structures as spin aligning contacts. We discuss the observed local spin-valve signal as a result of interplay between spin-transport-related contribution and tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance of magnetic contacts. The magnitude of the spin-related magnetoresistance change is equal to 30 Ohm which is twice the magnitude of the measured non-local signal.Comment: submitted to Appl. Phys. Let

Simulationsbasierte Regelung der Laserhärtung von Stahl

Bei der Oberflächenhärtung mit Hilfe von Laserstrahlen ist eine konstante Einhärtetiefe erwünscht, wobei gleichzeitig Anschmelzungen vermieden werden sollen. Um Anschmelzungen zu verhindern, kann die Temperatur im Auftreffpunkt des Lasers gemessen werden und die Laserleistung entsprechend geregelt werden. Eine konstante Temperatur führt bei geometrisch komplizierten Bauteilen jedoch nicht zu einer konstanten Einhärtetiefe. In dieser Arbeit wird ein Verfahren aufgezeigt, wobei durch numerische Simulationen eine nichtkonstante Oberflächentemperatur berechnet wird, die eine konstante Einhärtetiefe liefert. Die berechnete Oberflächentemperatur kann als Solltemperatur im realen Prozess benutzt werden

A molecular dynamics view of hysteresis and functional fatigue in martensitic transformations

Shape memory alloys (SMA) exhibit a number of features which are not easily explained by equilibrium thermodynamics, including hysteresis in the phase transformation and ?reverse? shape memory in the high symmetry phase. Processing can change these features: repeated cycling can ?train? the reverse shape memory effect, while changing the amount of hysteresis and other functional properties. These effects are likely to be due to creation of persistent localised defects, which are impossible to study using non-atomistic methods. Here we present a molecular dynamics simulation study of this behaviour. To ensure the largest possible system size, we use a two dimensional binary Lennard-Jones model, which represents a reliable qualitative model system for martensite/austenite transformations. The evolution of the defect structure and its excess energy is investigated in simulations of cyclic transformation/ reverse transformation processes with 160,000 atoms. The simulations show that the transformation proceeds by non-diffusive nucleation and growth processes and produces distinct microstructure. Upon transformation, lattice defects are generated which affect subsequent transformations and vary the potential energy landscape of the sample. Some of the defects persist through the transformation, providing nucleation centres for subsequent cycles. Such defects may provide a memory of previous structures, and thereby may be the basis of a reversible shape memory effect

Menopause and the Menstrual Equity Agenda

I was in fifth grade, the year 1978, and the weathered purple- and orange-covered paperback copy of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. was finally mine to check out of the school library for an entire week. I read it cover to cover that first night, and surely a dozen times over in the years that followed. I have since reflected upon the extraordinary gifts Judy Blume bestowed in Margaret: enabling children to be seen, respected, and met right when and where it mattered. She validated the most mundane, yet oddly prolific, questions about periods that were clearly on the minds of many. Four decades later, it is fair to say that the most meaningful moments of my legal career have been spent considering the very same topic—menstruation—in a quest to ensure its political centrality to issues of social justice, democratic participation, and gender equality. For my own part, commitment to menstrual equity has entailed examining our current laws and systems to see where discrimination and bias exist and persist—from public benefits to tax codes to education—and then forging the arguments to reverse that. And then, importantly, reimagining, crafting, and advancing new and more equitable policies in their place

Identification, simulation and optimal control of heat transfer in cooling line of hot strip rolling mill

The numerical simulation of mechanical properties of hot-rolled products has a major significance for material characterisation as well as material development. The basis for these is the knowledge about the material-specific phase transformations in combination with the initial microstructure from the deformation steps before entering into the cooling line. Additionally, the technological conditions in the run-out table (ROT) are essentially for transformation kinetics. In order to simulate these processes, the plant-specific heat transfer coefficient must be measured. Therefore, steel samples with thermocouples inside are transported with defined velocities through the cooling line of the continuous pilot plant at the Institute of Metal Forming in Freiberg. Furthermore, the material and its movement must be taken into account as characteristics of the ROT (e.g. amount and distribution of the cooling medium, the streaming situation in several segments, the nozzle geometry and, as a consequence, the water jet shape, and the impact pressure of the cooling medium on the surface of the rolled material) as influencing parameters. This paper describes the possibilities for determining and simulating the heat transfer in the cooling line with industrial conditions. Moreover, this paper discusses the optimal control of the cooling line to achieve the desired temperature and phase distribution on the run-out table. The resulting information contributes to new technology and material developments at the pilot plant, as well as for the transfer of results into the industry

Pressure Effect and Specific Heat of RBa2Cu3Ox at Distinct Charge Carrier Concentrations: Possible Influence of Stripes

In YBa2Cu3Ox, distinct features are found in the pressure dependence of the transition temperature, dTc/dp, and in DeltaCp*Tc, where DeltaCp is the jump in the specific heat at Tc: dTc/dp becomes zero when DeltaCp*Tc is maximal, whereas dTc/dp has a peak at lower oxygen contents where DeltaCp*Tc vanishes. Substituting Nd for Y and doping with Ca leads to a shift of these specific oxygen contents, since oxygen order and hole doping by Ca influences the hole content nh in the CuO2 planes. Calculating nh from the parabolic Tc(nh) behavior, the features coalesce for all samples at nh=0.11 and nh=0.175, irrespective of substitution and doping. Hence, this behavior seems to reflect an intrinsic property of the CuO2 planes. Analyzing our results we obtain different mechanisms in three doping regions: Tc changes in the optimally doped and overdoped region are mainly caused by charge transfer. In the slightly underdoped region an increasing contribution to dTc/dp is obtained when well ordered CuO chain fragments serve as pinning centers for stripes. This behavior is supported by our results on Zn doped NdBa2Cu3Ox and is responsible for the well known dTc/dp peak observed in YBa2Cu3Ox at x=6.7. Going to a hole content below nh=0.11 our results point to a crossover from an underdoped superconductor to a doped antiferromagnet, changing completely the physics of these materials.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures Proccedings of the 'Stripes 2000' Conference, Rome (2000